Kindness, thy name is Clay Stafford

"Kindness: n. the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate." That definition is from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). It describes the man who created and continues to produce Killer Nashville, the pre-eminent conference for writers of mystery, thrillers, horror, and fantasy. That man is Clay Stafford, an entertainment entrepreneur for Blackguard, Inc. which works with writers, TV, movies, agents, publishers, radio, and other venues. Clay, himself, is an award-winning author, screenwriter, movie and TV producer, actor, and educator. I just returned from this year's Killer Nashville and remain awed by Clay's genuine interest in writers, published or not.

Clay Stafford exudes kindness. My interactions with him are only two years old (both with my attendance at Killer Nashville), but I can tell you that his approach to Killer Nashville is oriented toward encouraging writers, promoting writers, bringing best-selling authors and unpublished authors together for mutual growth, and fellowship that starts at breakfast and does not end even when the conference does. Everything is couched in kindness from registration to the comfort of the facility, organizing and presenting panels, the awards banquet, and endless chances to network. It is no exaggeration that Clay makes time for everyone.

Clay encouraged me to attend, to sit in on several panels (Writing the Literary Novel, Writing Faith-Based Literature, and How To Master Setting) which I enjoyed, asked me to present a medal to one of the writers, and then asked me to have breakfast with him on the last day of the conference. One would never know he is a person of significant stature in the world of writers and entertainment.

One last thing. When the envelope was opened for a key award and he saw that I was the winner, he immediately went to David Morrell, famous creator of Rambo, and, since he knew Morrell had been a professor of mine at the University of Iowa, asked David to make the presentation. Clay was scheduled to make the presentation, but he immediately shifted and made it even more special for me. "Kindness"? Yes, I think that noun fits the man, Clay Stafford.

Who am I?

After months, actually years, of resisting my family's desire to check out my forebears, I submitted to one of those companies that takes one's money in exchange for information about one's heritage.

But money's not all they take. They need a bodily fluid. They supply a little vial into which one places said bodily fluid. Then one waits for a long time to get the results. The company I was gently persuaded into using wanted a bit of saliva for their analysis. But I figured most of the time physicians want a sample, it's urine.

I decided to just go ahead in the real world and supply the saliva and wait. I was brought up being told that I was mostly Irish, with 1/16th Cherokee, and Jewish. I'm expecting to discover that I am Chinese, Lithuanian, and Eskimo. It's enough to make a guy spit up, but I'll let you know what they find. I doubt anyone is interested.

Come Sail Away

I see ads on TV for cruise ships and vacations to beach communities in the Caribbean. You've seen them, too. They all have one thing in common. Everyone pictured having the time of their life is young, fit, and testimonies to extroversion. I cannot relate. Have you ever seen a pudgy, lily-white, Social Security recipient dancing around beneath the tiki torches and scarfing up colorful drinks with little umbrellas in them?

What We Watch

My long-suffering wife and I enjoy watching British murder mysteries. In fact, we reserve Sunday evening specifically for their viewing. Netflix, Hulu, and other sources provide a smorgasbord of great stories. However, I must admit a couple of things. One is that we watch for different reasons while agreeing that the story's the thing. But my wife likes to point out the gardens while I'm saying, "Look, there's a body over there!"

We have also come to the conclusion that there are only 47 actors in the UK. We'll be watching an exciting episode and simultaneously say, "Oh, she was also in The Midsomer Murders," or "That guy was the killer in Broadchurch!"