Latest / Reality Writes / Ashland Mystery Fest Recap—Highlights, Behind-the-Scenes & T-Shirt Guns

Transcript

Ashland Mystery Fest Recap—Highlights, Behind-the-Scenes & T-Shirt Guns · Reality Writes

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Reality Rights.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: I am author Ellie Alexander, and this is the podcast where we talk about all things writer-ish, bookish, and um I have a sneaking suspicion today.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is that right, tech guy?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's right, because as of yesterday, I am the holiday tech guy.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, say it isn't so.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's gotta be.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my reasoning is, you know, I love Thanksgiving.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I really do.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I do a lot of the cooking.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it comes too late.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, especially when it's like right at the end of November, there's just it doesn't leave enough time for all the cool holiday stuff.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it's gotta be done.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: This guy's dream world, darlings.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: The night of Halloween, midnight of Halloween, he would be fully transitioning the entire house to Christmas.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I say absolutely not to that.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: No way, no chance, no how.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh I mean, I I haven't been uh I haven't been as bad uh since we moved to California because it's a little harder to do it here when it's you know 75 and sunny in November.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want an eggnog glatte when it's 80 degrees out?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: No, not so much.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't want an eggnog glatte most of the time anyway, but uh, but yeah, definitely not when it's 80.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this week, darlings, we are gonna do an Ashland Mystery Fest 2025 recap.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm calling this the good, the bad, and the ugly.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even though there wasn't really much bad or ugly.
• 1:47
  unknown: Right.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: But we've got a couple things to talk about for sure.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, definitely.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess we should have worked a little harder on coming up with the three descriptors, but yeah, it it works.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but there was far more good than than anything.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh, third annual.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: That was amazing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Third annual.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was incredible.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well, let's start, let's get right to it, and let's start with the good.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the highlights.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was it genuinely was all good.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was really hard.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I should save this for the bad, I guess.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: But um Well, you know, everybody right now is like, wait, I don't know, you gotta start with the bad.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Re-entering the real world after Ashland Mystery Fest was hard.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: That was that was bad for me.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Not bad, but like, oh, I just want to live in our own little cozy village with all the most amazing people who came.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well seven.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and so for like for the darlings out there who aren't familiar with it, the Ashland Mystery Fest always started it three years ago.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the first two years, Ellie and I went up to Ashland um like the day before the mystery fest.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: That was stupid.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: That was bad.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like we didn't we didn't learn from the first year and we repeated it the second year.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was just right, yeah.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So this year, this year we did it a little differently.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: We went up a week early, so we had lots of time to prep and hang out and plan and do all the things.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: That felt so much nicer.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just as the festival continues to grow, I feel like there's more to do.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um okay, so if we segue into the good, the good, the highlights of good for me are a just the incredible authors who came.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: We had authors who came from Hannah Dennison, came from the UK, and Gretchen Rue came from the other side of Canada, and Esme and Mia from Chicago and North Carolina.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of our debuts, Andrew came from Adrian came from New Jersey, and Tish came from Houston.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um the readers who came over 30 states.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Readers came, darlings.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: You came from 30 states.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Spain, Argentina, the UK, like incredible.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the team at Travel Ashland talking about like growing the festival.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they were all phenomenal.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: All of the community business partners, just the entire vibe of the weekend was so joyous.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that for sure was like the key highlight for me.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: My cheeks hurt from smiling uh with dot.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean it's amazing to see kind of the transformation from that very first year.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I talk about it, it's only been three years, but it has changed dramatically.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the amount of work that it's taken to get it to where it is now is just phenomenal.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, hats off to everyone at Travel Ashland and all the community businesses that um, you know, chose to participate.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um even the ones that didn't participate officially, you know, it was fun walking around town and seeing like, you know, the sandwich boards outside shops with, you know, chalk messages, welcoming mystery fest, you know, goers and everything.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: That was really cool.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was fun to see the whole community get into it now.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the whole vision initially behind the festival was that this is meant to make you feel like you are stepping into the pages of a cozy mystery and you are like the detective or the sleuth for the weekend because Ashland is quintessentially cozy.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it was stunning, of course, as always.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: But fall put on a glorious show forever.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: We had perfect weather the entire weekend.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so for me, that's always a highlight too, like walking around town and bumping into readers and seeing everyone with their tote bags and their name badges and um their books or all the swag they've gone and gotten.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's so sweet.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and the the number of attendees keeps growing.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we were a little worried that like, you know, uh the like current conditions and everything were gonna make it hard for people to get there just with airport delays and stuff.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but I think it worked out for pretty much everybody.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know there were a few delayed flights and things, but um, but I think uh for the most part, everybody had a good time getting there, which you know is great for for Ashland.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it was so great to, like you said, to see the fall colors and everybody get to experience that.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that I loved is the first night of the opening reception, Ellen Byron came up to me and she was like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe you had welcome wine and like Harry and David at the airport when we landed.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that was like the Medford airport was doing that for some reason for the weekend.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I was like, Oh yeah, we definitely yeah, I don't know, Rolly Mate in this prefest event every year, but you should land in Ashland.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, technically Medford, the Rogue Valley, and Gabriel by like yeah, a lovely glass of wine and a and a pear tasting, right?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, totally, yeah.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, that that was funny.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then to see that video of it was great.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, totally planned it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: We it was 100% uh yeah, yeah.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't, darling.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: I had no idea.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but if any, I want to hear from the darlings.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: I want to hear what highlights were for you.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um, were you one of the lucky recipients of landing and getting to taste some lovely like Rogue Valley red wines right when you got off the plane?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: We need to know.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: We need to know.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and your experience really starts with for those who do fly in, your experience with the coziness of the area really starts when you fly in because I don't think no matter where you're coming from, the Medford Airport is probably pretty damn small compared to what you're used to.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's uh it is one just one not even long building with like I don't know, half a dozen gates, maybe eight gates total.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that's it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: No, I was talking to a couple readers who were flying out and they were like, Oh, I don't, you know, our flight is at like noon or one o'clock.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if we should if we're gonna have time to come to the closing reception.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Oh, you're gonna be damn fine.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like you will walk right through.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: It will maybe take you 10 minutes at most.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that's just like to walk through the airport and get to your gate.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, once you're through security, you are at your gate.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it doesn't matter what gate you're flying out of, you you are at your gate.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the great things on my good list was that this year we had the historic Ashland Armory as the base for all of the key events.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that was so lovely.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the things that I wasn't expecting was that readers would just sort of use it as a little place of respite.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: I would notice readers who would come like before panels and be like chatting with each other or going through their agenda and program for the weekend or coming early to chat with authors.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: The nature of the fest is designed to be very intimate and immersive.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: So you as a reader are having breakfast with the authors or you're hanging out.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not this sort of like, oh, the authors are all gonna be up on a stage and you can come meet them for two minutes and get a book sign.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's great.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: That happens at some of the bigger conventions, but this is designed to be small.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it was so fun to see that play out in real life.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and even though the the like at its core, the the whole design of the festival is to uh like highlight as much of Ashland as possible.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so because of that, we plan various things around town.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, there are different panels at at other venues and stuff.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was really nice to have kind of a central place where all the main stuff was was happening, um, so that people knew where to go.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like could be because we had check-in there and you know, all the additional merch that you could buy and stuff was there, the crime scene was there.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it was a kind of a core place for for people to um to start and experience the festival uh throughout.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I want everyone who comes to feel welcomed, like you're getting like a big giant hug.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: You probably did get a hug from me, whether you wanted one or not.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: You're like back off, Ellie.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um I love getting to witness the friendships that are made.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, year after year now, seeing the same people return who maybe met the first year, and now they're all buddied up and they're heading around town to try to solve the crime scene.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: That piece is just the chef's kiss for me in terms of what I want from an experience myself with a book festival.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel the same way with a lot of the authors who attend, you know, especially some of the authors who've been with us like three years now, like they really were able to take the lead on a few things, which is fun.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then um, you know, the the challenge will be like how we rotate in new authors every year to make sure we're constantly um keeping it fresh and then also having a taste of familiar faces.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I'd have to say one of the good things for me was um was kind of getting to dive back into creative work prior to the festival.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I I work in the the creative part of the tech world, but I don't do creative stuff myself in my day job.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I manage creative operations.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I do a lot of numbers and planning and forecasting and headcount and things like that.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But in my night job, um my my second my second job, um I get to play around and and have fun designing things.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so that that was super fun.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we came up with a list of, well, you came up with a list of like, I don't know, a dozen different sayings, like mystery, you know, and reading bookish related sayings that you were like, hey, can you see if you can make designs of any of these?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, I think I had time to do like four or five before the festival, but um it was uh it was a little wild because even though we, you know, we plan this every year, we already have dates for next year.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we were I was making merch right up until the like right up until the very end to the night before we were leaving.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was a lot of fun.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it it it's it's stress, but it's good stress.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, it was great.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: You we you did stickers, but one of my favorite things is you made a bunch of bookish t-shirts and book bags, yeah.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that at many of the panels uh we could just throw those out to the audience.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: I really wanted a t-shirt gun.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's my point because I wanted to be up at the top of the armory and just be like, shoo, you get a shirt, you get a shirt.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the cheapest one I could find was$750.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was out of the budget.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And also, I probably should not be operating a t-shirt gun.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: That feels like that would go real wrong real fast.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: The the best, like uh we'll we'll work on something for next year.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll I'll make, but it's gonna be more of like a t-shirt slingshot, not a not a because the t-shirt gun, yeah, you're right.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like anything with like compressed air, and I mean, there was that one that I found that was like$3,500 that was like a Gatling gun.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: You could you just you pull the trigger and it it fired like 12 t-shirts a second or something, just like I was that would be amazing, but that also be no the gun would be expensive, and so would the t-shirts at the end of the day.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're like, you get a shirt, you get a shirt, you get a shirt, you get a shirt, just be yeah.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, for the people in the first couple of rows, that could be that could be dangerous.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's right.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: We'll do a nice, a nice, easy slingshot with like a nice arc on it, so you're not like shooting right at people.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that'd be good.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I love the energy that everyone brought.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was really amazing to do the sleuth dinner this year.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: So the year before we did an Agatha Christie themed dinner, every year, the flagship dinner on Saturday night ties in to the Build a Mystery Live panel.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a group of authors who, with the help of the darlings in attendance, build a story within an hour, which is just bonkers if you think about that, but it's so fun and creative.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then on Saturday night, the entertainment is that that final story gets read.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And every year, then there is a theme in terms of how you might want to dress up.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: So last year was Agatha Christie.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: This year was Come as Your Favorite Sleuth.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And wow, did uh did you all bring it, darlings?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you did.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: I want to hear some of your favorite if you attended costumes uh in the comments.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I loved all of the Velmas, I think there were like eight Velmas at least, yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Which was so great because Lee Hollis wrote for Scooby-Doo.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: He wrote the Scooby-Doo mystery.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So like he's there posing with all the Velmas.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like that was the best for your favorites.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um oh wow, there were so many.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there were uh there were a few poiros um that that I thought were really good.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there nobody did any of the the rest of the Scooby-Doo crew, though.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was like Velma's the clear favorite.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um Velma's the clear winner.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, understandably, bookish.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: It makes sense.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there were uh several Nancy Drews um that were good.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um Frankie Fisher, cat was oh yeah, Friiny, Frany Fisher was, yeah, that was amazing.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, there were a couple of Friney Fishes, but yeah, cat, I think Katz was was uh it was definitely uh the best.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know they were excited too uh with you know with those costumes.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um we went as um Monk and Sharona from the TV series Monk, kind of a horrific uh version of Monk and Sharona, but uh but no, so actually that will go in the ugly column for me is the it is so the ugly it was well it was it was good because I I got I was like uh right when right when Ellie told me that the theme for the the flagship uh dinner was going to be uh your favorite sleuth, I was like, it's monk, it's gotta be monk, I gotta do monk.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so I I went all out.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: I I got I bought everything.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I my costume was perfect.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: I ordered this like taupe shirt, um, you know, just for your basic nondescript, like kind of tan shirt.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and I um I'm a big guy, so I ordered an extra large.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everything came and I just I kept putting it in a box that I was gonna take um down to or up to Ashland.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had my costume box and it had the jacket, had the pants and the shoes, and I had tweezers, I had a spray bottle and a rag.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I had the wig, I had everything and the shirt.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I put the shirt, the shirt just came, you know, vacuum sealed in a bag, and so I just threw it in a box.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Half an hour before the dinner on Saturday night, we're getting ready at the hotel, and I'm like, okay, I'm just I get my stuff out, I put my pants on, put a t-shirt on, and I go to put the shirt on, and I'm like, whoa.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh no.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I could like I went to colour, like, try to button it, and I couldn't get it within like six inches at two sides within six inches of each other.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I took it off and looked, and they had sent me a small, and I was like, oh no.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: At this point in time, we have to be at dinner to like set up the table in like 20 minutes, right?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So there's no time to revamp.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's no time, and and there's nothing else to do.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I squeezed myself into a small button-up shirt.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank God I ordered one that was like made of kind of stretchy material, but I was seriously like it was so constricted, I couldn't take a full breath the whole time at dinner.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I a couple of times I thought I was gonna pass out.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then and uh so I was stressed about that, and then trying to find a parking space by the hotel so we could get all the stuff to set up the table in there and everything.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um, if you're listening on, you know, what your favorite podcast platform, be sure to come and watch the video version of of this podcast because I'll throw some pictures up in the video.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you'll you'll get to see what uh oh it was bad.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was real bad.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I was I gotta I was a little panicked there.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: It all worked out, but like I can't believe that shirt made it.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like it didn't rip.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: I thought for sure the buttons were gonna come flying off, but it just didn't, yeah.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you severed through.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: That was that was real commitment to the character.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's sure.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I loved that I had the most horrendous 80s wig that is just just like disaster piece of hair.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And first of all, most darlings did not recognize me, which I really appreciated.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: That was great.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we went for an after party um with a group of our patrons, and I went up to uh the bartender to order my drink, and she was like, Oh my god, I love your hair.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is such a good look.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, You do creative?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: They were I mean, I guess it was good.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was pretty good for like a$15 wig.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I might have to bring the 80s big hair back.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was totally yeah, no, that was fun.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was fun to see the creativity that everybody put into the costumes and stuff, and and I made it through the night.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: I I was never like I it was just taking that shirt off.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was just like, oh you know, so you'd be able to breathe, yeah, it was fun.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: So it made the after party that much better because I could actually breathe.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what a concept.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as always, the dinners around town, the the dinner at the Winchester, where um a group of actors put on a murder mystery for us.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: So many of the panels, I tried to get to a lot more panels this year.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say this goes in the bad category for me, and it's never having enough time.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I've tried to be cognizant because I'm the one that puts the schedule together.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: I create all of the panels with the help of uh the authors for the year, you know, we come up with an idea, but I am responsible.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: My key job is to come up with all of the content, put it in a spreadsheet.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I was so thoughtful about not over-scheduling myself that I had to jump in for a couple of things because there was an author who couldn't attend, which is totally fine.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so next year, again, I'm saying this for the fourth year in a row, I have to schedule more downtime for myself because it's so fun to also just get to go be an audience member at these panels because they're so interactive.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: The one had been wildly popular.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, two of them um each year because they're at small venues outside.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like you mentioned, the goal is to really get you to experience all of the town of Ashland and be walking through the plaza and go pop into Lithia Park, get a coffee.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the season of the witch panel at the Peerless and uh the influence.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Panel at the Columbia Hotel.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Those have been so popular.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we got, we've started to get feedback from attendees this year, and they want more of those.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: So noted.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: So for all the darlings out there listening and listening to Ellie complain about not having enough time, um, the one thing you need to realize too is that like she wants to go to everything.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: So she she complains like this, but then in the moment, I'm saying, hey, you should just skip that and we'll go like get, you know, get a beer or just sit and not talk and just like stare at the beautiful scenery or whatever somewhere in a park.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: And but no, no, no, I got I have to go be here and I want to go over there and I want to go over there, I want to go over there, and and then every night, oh, I'm so tired, I'm so exhausted.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yeah, I wonder why.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder why.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's a little self-inflicted, but um a thousand percent self-inflicted, and I think that's important too, because I was talking to readers who were like, Yeah, I worked in downtime into my schedule.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go like take a nap or take a long stroll.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Oh yeah, I should probably do that too.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but seeing all the things like I think we had 58 different events throughout four days this year, which is just mind-blowing.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I I want to clone myself and I want to be at them all.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's yeah, bad category.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: I can't, I gotta let it go.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I I it's it's yeah, but I just want to be I want to be clear though for anyone for any of the darlings out there who haven't been who are thinking about coming, like just to understand, you can't attend to everything.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's just you can't.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's stuff going on happening concurrently, and and it's designed that way on purpose because everybody's different, everybody has different interests, and and you know, so there are different panels happening at the same time, and um, and there's space limitations on some of the the panels.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: The main panels are now all at the armory and they will be moving forward, which is great because that can seat hundreds, and you know, you there's plenty of space for those, but um, but it it it's important to know going into it that you just you can't do everything, and I think that's awesome because every can well, there's really only one other festival I go to uh whenever it happens.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Star Wars celebration, yeah.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's the same thing, like I want to do everything, but you just can't.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: You you gotta pick the stuff you want to hit and just enjoy it.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you're gonna have FOMO, but um, that's what you that's why you go back year after year, right?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I do really take notes about what's super popular and what to repeat, and again, how to keep it fresh for next year.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: I already have a long list of panel ideas.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: We came up with a few great ones at dinner with Gigi and Lee at um Alchemy.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I made copious notes on the drive home.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think this leads us.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked a lot a lot about the good.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked a lot about the bad being challenges, like more time or an ill-fitting costume, which is really like such a minor thing.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think with growth, you know, there were a few like logistics that will work out for next year.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like there always will be.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, always will be as you grow every time that happens.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they were pretty minor, but like, you know, seating at the armory for the opening and closing, like, does everyone is this more, does it turn into an event more that's sit down versus like flowing to meet the authors, like those kind of things that um will work out.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: But um, I would say the one teachable moment, I won't really call it ugly, but um, it is a teachable moment, is that ultimately this is a festival for readers.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: There are lots of big conferences.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's a difference there.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Semantics matter.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a festival.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: There are conferences that are much more focused on writers.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we always have um a few workshops and panels on writing, and and that's super important to me because I am a writing teacher.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I love having my writer crew attend the festival too.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: But there is a certain type of writer who um may see this opportunity as a way to just constantly self-promote over the weekend.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And let me tell you, it's not a good look.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's so uncomfortable.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's not what the festival is designed for, it's not a good experience for readers.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you are pushing your books on readers while readers at a festival, that's not a way to build an authentic relationship with them.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: It makes it super uncomfortable for the authors who are featured at the festival and invited.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we only had like two little minor instances of that.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But if you are someone who is, you know, maybe a new writer out in the world or aspiring to be a writer, I absolutely encourage you to attend a festival like this and make relationships, meet readers, like do all of that authentically.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, you don't get on the microphone when you're asking a question at a big panel and use that as an opportunity to like promote your book.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's not fun, that's not the tone.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's gross, it's just gross, like it doesn't like it, just it takes the fun and the joy out of everything because it makes everybody uncomfortable, it makes some people, like me, angry.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so um, it's just not it's just not something to do.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's the you know, um I'd say there's that, and then there's probably um also this is the the size of the Ashland Mystery Festival is designed to be intimate, and yep, it is also designed to work logistically, and so there's only so much, even with what 14 authors, yeah, 58 events with 14 authors, and I know that there were some writers and authors in the Rogue Valley who were would like love to have been included in the Ashland Mystery Festival.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it we just can't grow it more than it is right now.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just like there's a there's a there's a limit to the size because then it becomes a then then it becomes like a bad experience for people and and we just don't we can't do that.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like it the feedback we get is that it people are just loving it and having a great time and and we just can't grow beyond that because Ashland is a small town.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and to kind of loop onto that, going back to like what the mission of the festival is.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: My goal every year in the 14 authors, plus, you know, the two or three um new debut up and coming authors, the next generation of writers out there that um we invite to the festival is to give the darlings a really broad uh scope of work, of you know, where people are coming from geographically, what they're writing about, age-wise, culturally, like all of those things.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I feel so proud of um accomplishing that, I feel like.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: And these are all all also authors, that's a mouthful, um, whose work I have read and adored.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: But the the goal of the festival is to do what's happening, you know, bring readers from 30 states and all over the world to Ashland to experience Ashland.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's not a festival that's like designed for local writers in Ashland.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: That could be its own festival, like bring it up.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not doing that.
• 29:43
  unknown: Right.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, we're head on.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're not we're not volunteering, yeah.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um A, because it it, I mean, I know we say this and and we're it's it's not any sort of humble brag, not so humble brag, whatever, but it is a lot of work.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: And there are a lot of people that put in a lot of work.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of work.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: The work that Ellie and I do is is it it's a lot of work, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the what it takes uh to put the festival on.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: And again, another huge shout out to the whole team at Travel Ashland because like it couldn't happen without them.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and leveling it up every year is just incredible.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, like again, going back to this being a teaching opportunity, if you're a new writer and you're wanting to participate in something like that, there are great conferences where you as an author can pay, buy your ticket, and then the likelihood is of getting on a panel because these are happening at like big hotel conference rooms, and there are probably a hundred panels with a hundred different authors throughout the weekend.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, absolutely that's a great match.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: But this is not that, this is an immersive creator festival.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I just I like to put that out there because um there was there were a couple festival authors, Ashland mystery festival authors, who had a couple bad experiences um with a few particular authors, and that's just not fun.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not do that, right?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, I mean that's the thing.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like and and again, like I don't want this to come across as shade to anybody who's written a book or is a published author or anything like that.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: That is like hats off to you.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is an amazing accomplishment, but this is this festival is what it is, and it you know, there's there's a certain way that it's always going to be done, and and that's you know, we're just we're trying to make something that's like joyful and fun and happy and just a great experience for mystery readers.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so and the authors who are invited that that you know participate.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: And authors who came from um, you know, there were lots of authors who came who had been featured in previous years, made came as attendees and had a great time and made new relationships.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: So all of that happened.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's just um Cherry, I remember um she was saying, like, it's it would be like if you are at a rock concert and like you stop the concert and you've brought your own guitar and you're like, okay, I know you all are on stage, but I'm just gonna sing my own little for Ryan.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if that's happening in a panel, that's just really hard if you're an author that is, you know, on that panel.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Non-yeah.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: So well, and and if you're a reader, you're coming because you are interested in the authors who are being showcased in the festival.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you part of the experience is not to then be like, you know, kind of uh hounded by other people that aren't part of the festival.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: That it makes a bad experience for everybody, and it it is just it's unfortunate.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we just don't we don't want to see that happen.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: But um but yeah Oh, and you know what?
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Next year you're getting booted, I'm telling you.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and again, the these were two minor incidences.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, but I think it's worth I think it is just important to know that because I think they're um, you know, like if you're somebody that's new in writing, you might not understand how different festivals work and like or conferences.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: So do some research, look into that.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like absolutely well, so that was the bad slash ugly.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I can I add a fourth category and the hilarious uh sure.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you you alluded to the kind of themed dinners and stuff, and one of the ones that is uh you know fantastic is the the mystery dinner.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: So uh um the like one of the one of the one of the official Ashland Mystery Fest authors always writes a mystery, and this year it was Lee Hollis who wrote wrote this mystery.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the festival hires actors to act out this mystery during dinner at uh the Winchester uh in uh inn in Ashland.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um and the restaurant there is fantastic.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and this year it was amazing.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: The the the the mystery was was hilarious, the actors were phenomenal, all of that.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: But our particular instance, because it happens on multiple nights, but our particular instance happened to be like next level.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um next level.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: We were at a table with Courtney and totally.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: We we were at a table with Lee and uh Gigi and uh Ellie and myself and and then uh Kat and Jeff, a couple of readers, uh, and and uh Padrons like friends, actually, like comma, comma, comma, yeah.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh this this very sweet uh woman came up to you, uh Alice, this older woman, and she she said, um Alice has I know Alice from Ashland, so Alice has come to numerous yeah.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've met we're a reader, but she's Ashland local.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: She's she's Ashlyn Core.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: No, every LC table has flown in from some other place for Mr.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 35:19
  unknown: Okay.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: But but Alice and her husband are at the next table over, but there's cut there's a because of the this is a historic house that the the main Winchester building is built into, and so there's a like a half wall with glass panes in it between our table and theirs, and they're at the other end of this long table, and her and her husband are sitting there, and they're sitting across from Courtney and Spencer to the cozy mystery influencers that that had attended the the festival again for the third year, right?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, they're OG.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh yeah, well, and they had a great panel at at the Columbia uh hotel too.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: But um anyway, so Alice comes up to you and says, Ellie, I can't these these two young women across from me, they are convinced that I am that I'm the murderer, that I I'm God, that I am I am in on the mystery.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like they think I'm going to be the murderer.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and she was like, she was genuinely concerned that she was gonna like, I don't know if she thought she was gonna ruin it for people or that she but she was just but then we convinced her, no, this could be really fun.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, no, she she loved she loved being included, that's for sure.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: But but then I said, you know what we should do?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: We should get one of the actors to walk her back to the table because she'd come over to our table and then she was you know going to the restroom or something.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so you went and got the main actor that it was uh that she was actually the director too, right?
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Of of the of the um play that they were putting on.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: And she escorted Alice back to the table and then made a big deal of like you know, taking her to her seat and then like winking, like, okay, you know, we'll go, I'll come get you later.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Alice was like, No, no, no, no.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Courtney and Spencer were convinced that Alice was part of it.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: So clued in, like, I'm watching them, they look like they uh fully interrogating someone as if they are hardboiled detectives.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, it was incredible.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think I you know, for a lot of the other people in that were at that dinner, maybe they didn't know exactly what was going on.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but for the people at our two tables in particular, that was because the mystery was perfect for everybody else, but ours was, like I said, was next level because of that.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was like because the reveal, they like they were like, Wait, what?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're not involved, you know, and it's just like, yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, it was at the end, everybody sort of votes on who the killer is, and Alice caught a few Alice got some votes, yeah.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Alice, who's Alice?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: Did we get something?
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: I know, yeah.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the actors really played up the fact that Alice got some votes.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I think Alice got more votes than one of the actors themselves, so yeah, that was incredible.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think Alice should be the killer.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was incredible.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that that was super fun.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that that's the kind of thing that happens at National Mystery Festival.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: You might just get it and you might you might become a killer.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: You never know.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Unexpectedly.
• 38:30
  unknown: Yeah.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, on that note, darlings, I would love to hear from you in the comments if you attended this year.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: What highlights were for you, as well as if you have never attended, what would make you want to come?
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like bring a friend.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: Come join us in Ashland next year.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be the same weekend, October 15th through the 18th, 2026.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: And the way this works is I had a wrap-up call with the team, and we are on to planning for 2026.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's no rest for the weary.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, in fact, we got back uh and just yesterday putting away the Halloween decorations and getting out the Thanksgiving decorations.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: I found another tub full of t-shirts.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm already making stuff for next year.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so no, we would love to hear from everyone though.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like what if you've if you went, what what what did you love?
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want to see more of?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: What what didn't you see that you would love to see there?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then if you're if you haven't been, like let us know.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how can we get you to Ashland?
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: What can we do to put you in this new city?
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we have cookies.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: There there were some good cookies there, I will say, in all seriousness.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, it's true.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, on that note, till next time.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.