A rogues gallery of edgy ex-cops, gritty private investigators and shady fixers live in the head and in the books of Reed Farrel Coleman.
He is the author of more than 30 novels, mostly about what happens when regular police detectives can't reach a conclusion in a case.
His newest book, "Blind to Midnight" features the tagline: When you're in trouble, you call 911. When the cops are in trouble, they call Nick Ryan.
Coleman will be the featured speaker at Killer Nashville, the annual international writer's conference planned for Aug. 20-23 at the Embassy Suites in Franklin. The writers' weekend features networking, writing tips, police presentations and book signings. Fans can buy books and meet the authors in a conference room.
Coleman is so prolific,
he has six different crime series featuring six lead protagonists (Nick Ryan, Moe Prager, Gus Murphy, Gulliver Dowd, Dylan Klein and Joe Serpe). And, after author Robert B. Parker died, Coleman took up the writing of the series about the troubled Chief of Police Jesse Stone in the fictional town of Paradise, Massachusetts.
There are 10 keynote speakers and about 140 panel sessions scheduled in the four-day conference. In 2026, the conference will be celebrating its 26th year of existence.
Heather Graham, who has written more than 100 novels with more than 75 million copies in print, will address the convention. Graham is best known for her "Krewe of Hunters" paranormal series, which debuted in 2011.
Noelle W. Ihli is also scheduled to speak. Ihli writes thrillers, including most recently, "The Last to Drown."
The Killer Nashville concept was the idea of Clay Stafford, who got his start in the movie business.
Stafford did some acting (soap opera "The Days of Our Lives"), some directing, some publicity work, some movie accounting. He worked on documentaries and PBS specials. He worked in front and behind the camera on shows like "Magnum P.I." and "Murder She Wrote."
His career took a turn when he began writing books. He wrote a series of children's books in which he rewrote classics for young audiences − "White Fang," "Huckleberry Finn," "The Wind in the Willows."
A friend in the movie business suggested Tennessee would be a good place to live. So Stafford gave it a try. He met a woman named Jacqueline, married her, and stayed. The Staffords currently live in Franklin.
In the early 2000s, Clay Stafford was working for a local arts organization when he suggested bringing in uber-famous author Michael Connelly, who penned the hard-boiled Bosch detective series.
The organization, however, didn't want to go big.
"They said no," Stafford said.
It wasn't long before Killer Nashville was created. And Michael Connelly came to Middle Tennessee to be Stafford's guest of honor.
He's had a stellar list of authors in his now 21 years overseeing the conference. Connelly, Joyce Carol Oates and Janet Evanovich have come for long weekends at Killer Nashville.
Stafford isn't stopping at 21 years. Killer Nashville has a contract to continue at the Embassy Suites through 2028.
For information: killernashville.com/
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: International crime writers gather in Franklin for 'Killer Nashville’
