Previous Guests of Honor

2013 Guest of Honor D.P. Lyle

D. P. Lyle, MD is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Scribe, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction, including the SAMANTHA CODY and DUB WALKER thriller series and the ROYAL PAINS media tie-in novels. His essay on Jules Verne’s THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND…

2013 Guest of Honor Anne Perry

Anne Perry is the award-winning, bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including A Sunless Sea, Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Callander Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the…

2012 Guest of Honor Peter Straub

Peter Straub is the author of more than 17 novels, several poetry and short story collections, seven novellas, and a collection of nonfiction essays. Although he is most famous for his work in the horror genre, he has also received acclaim for his poems, literary novels, and thrillers. As one of the century’s most honored horror…

2012 Guest of Honor Heywood Gould

Bestselling Author and Screenwriter Heywood Gould got his start as reporter for the NY Post. Later he financed years of rejection with the usual colorful jobs – cabdriver, mortician’s assistant, bartender. Gould is the author of thirteen books and nine screenplays, including Fort Apache – the Bronx, Boys From Brazil, Cocktail, and Rolling Thunder. He has directed four features, One Good Cop,…

2012 Guest of Honor C.J. Box

C. J. Box is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels including the Joe Pickett series. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent…

2011 Guest of Honor Donald Bain

Donald Bain is the author of more than 100 books, many of them bestsellers. He currently writes the USA Today bestselling series of 37+ original novels based upon the television series, Murder, She Wrote.  They’re published by Obsidian, a new imprint from Penguin (NAL/​Dutton), and are written “in collaboration” with TV’s most famous mystery writer,…

2011 Guest of Honor Robert Dugoni

New York Times Bestselling Author Robert Dugoni was born in Pocatello, Idaho and raised in Burlingame, California. Growing up the middle child in a family of ten siblings, Robert jokes that he didn’t get much of a chance to talk, so he wrote. By the seventh grade he knew he wanted to be a writer.…

2010 Guest of Honor Jeffery Deaver

  Jeffery Deaver is a former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the Times of London, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, theSydney Morning Herald and the Los Angeles Times. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into…

2009 Guest of Honor J.A. Jance

  J.A. Jance was introduced to Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series in the second grade.  She read the first one and was hooked and knew, from that moment on, that she wanted to be a writer. The first book Jance wrote, a slightly fictionalized version of a series of murders that happened in Tucson…

2008 Guest of Honor Dr. Bill Bass (Jefferson Bass)

  Dr. Bill Bass is a world-renowned Forensic Anthropologist.  He is the author or co-author of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career, Death’s Acre.  He is also a dedicated teacher, honored as National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of…

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Contact Killer Nashville
Killer Nashville
P.O. Box 680759
Franklin, TN 37068-0759
(615) 599-4032
Future Killer Nashville Conferences
August 20-23, 2020
August 19-22, 2021

Publisher’s Weekly

Publishers Weekly has named Killer Nashville and its founder Clay Stafford as playing "an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers" throughout "the nation's book culture." (PW 6/10/13)
2014-09-17T12:38:03-06:00
Publishers Weekly has named Killer Nashville and its founder Clay Stafford as playing "an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers" throughout "the nation's book culture." (PW 6/10/13)

Jessie Bishop Powell

"To me, writing success means recognition by a traditional press in the form of a contract to publish a physical book with real pages and an authentic cover.  Killer Nashville, Five Star Publishing, and Deni Dietz made all of those things possible for me." - Jessie Bishop Powell, The Marriage at the Rue Morgue
2014-09-17T12:39:40-06:00
"To me, writing success means recognition by a traditional press in the form of a contract to publish a physical book with real pages and an authentic cover.  Killer Nashville, Five Star Publishing, and Deni Dietz made all of those things possible for me." - Jessie Bishop Powell, The Marriage at the Rue Morgue

David Burnsworth

"Whether you are only thinking about writing, in the middle of eighty-thousand words, or feel you’re ready for publication, Killer Nashville is the event for you.” - David Burnsworth, Southern Heat
2014-09-17T12:40:56-06:00
"Whether you are only thinking about writing, in the middle of eighty-thousand words, or feel you’re ready for publication, Killer Nashville is the event for you.” - David Burnsworth, Southern Heat

Rosalyn Rikel

"I decided to pitch [my manuscript] at the Killer Nashville conference in 2011.  Deni Deitz from Five Star Publishing was the person who ‘caught my pitch,’ challenged me to let her see the full manuscript, and later decided to publish Millicent’s Tower.  Thanks to Deni and Five Star, I am now taking pleasure in sharing my book and my story — plus the excitement of writing another one!  Stay tuned!!!” - Rosalyn Rikel, Millicent’s Tower
2014-09-17T12:44:54-06:00
"I decided to pitch [my manuscript] at the Killer Nashville conference in 2011.  Deni Deitz from Five Star Publishing was the person who ‘caught my pitch,’ challenged me to let her see the full manuscript, and later decided to publish Millicent’s Tower.  Thanks to Deni and Five Star, I am now taking pleasure in sharing my book and my story — plus the excitement of writing another one!  Stay tuned!!!” - Rosalyn Rikel, Millicent’s Tower

Mark Troy

“Persistence pays off. So does the feedback from the Claymore judges, the agents and editors at Killer Nashville, and the contacts with the other writers.  I was delighted whenThe Law of the Splintered Paddle was named the second runner up and even more delighted when, after another revision, Five Star Mysteries offered to publish it."  - Mark Troy, The Splintered Paddle
2014-09-17T12:46:40-06:00
“Persistence pays off. So does the feedback from the Claymore judges, the agents and editors at Killer Nashville, and the contacts with the other writers.  I was delighted whenThe Law of the Splintered Paddle was named the second runner up and even more delighted when, after another revision, Five Star Mysteries offered to publish it."  - Mark Troy, The Splintered Paddle

Judy Dailey

“Killer Nashville was a wonderful experience.  Because of Killer Nashville, I now have a contract with Five Star Publishing for my cozy, Animal, Vegetable, Murder. I couldn’t be happier.”  - Judy Dailey, Animal, Vegetable, Murder
2014-09-17T12:47:54-06:00
“Killer Nashville was a wonderful experience.  Because of Killer Nashville, I now have a contract with Five Star Publishing for my cozy, Animal, Vegetable, Murder. I couldn’t be happier.”  - Judy Dailey, Animal, Vegetable, Murder

Steven Cooper

"Killer Nashville provides authors wonderful opportunities to advance up the literary ladder.  I am flattered by the recognition and grateful to Killer Nashville for giving my work a forum." - Steven Cooper, Desert Remains
2014-09-17T12:50:21-06:00
"Killer Nashville provides authors wonderful opportunities to advance up the literary ladder.  I am flattered by the recognition and grateful to Killer Nashville for giving my work a forum." - Steven Cooper, Desert Remains

Ross Cavins

"Killer Nashville is one of the best writing conferences in the nation, and to be a finalist in its companion award competition is of the highest honor." - Ross Cavins, Barry Versus the Apocalypse
2014-09-17T12:53:03-06:00
"Killer Nashville is one of the best writing conferences in the nation, and to be a finalist in its companion award competition is of the highest honor." - Ross Cavins, Barry Versus the Apocalypse

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