2018 Lakefly Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery/Murder

The 2018 Lakefly Writers Conference has some great offerings for mystery/murder writers:



On Friday, May 11, Coroner Corner will feature Winnebago County Coroner Barry Busby and Deputy Conorer Cheryl Brehmer. Busby and Brehmer will talk about body identification, notification of family, and working with the police and the district attorney. Audience questions are welcomed. Please note, the content of this program may include graphic language so this workshop might not be appropriate for everyone.


Mystery writer Lori Rader-Day will kick off Saturday morning with the keynote. Rader-Day is the author of the Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning novel Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour, winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Her third novel, The Day I Died, was an Indie Next Pick and is a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association’s Book of the Year. Rader-Day's short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Good Housekeeping, and others. Her next novel, Under a Dark Sky, will be published by Harper Collins in August. Find her at loriraderday.com.

Get a behind-the-scenes view of criminal cases from the defensive side of the courtroom with Writing Defense. This panel discussion will feature private defense attorneys Jerome Buting, Kathleen Stilling and Ryan Ulrich, who will answer your questions related to jury selection, defense strategy, preparing a witness for trial and whatever else you want to know to make your legal thriller come to life!

Back by popular demand, Det. Jeremy Wilson will round out the crime/murder workshops. Wilson is currently assigned to the Investigative Services Bureau of the Oshkosh Police Department, where he works as a Detective. Since joining the Oshkosh Police Department, Jeremy has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, worked undercover and as a forensic phone analyst. Det. Wilson has previously spoken at the conference about blood splatter, crime scene collection and digital forensics – we can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this year!

Lastly, Laura Jean Baker will talk about her collaboration with her lawyer-husband Ryan Ulrich that lead to her memoir, Motherhood Affidavits, and how she interwove her husband's real-life cases into stories of her own.

The Lakefly Writers Conference will be held May 11-12, 2018, at the Oshkosh Convention Center. Cost is $75 and includes lunch on Saturday. For more information or to register, please go to https://www.lakeflywriters.org/

The event is sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.