The Georgia Writers Museum and the Southeast Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America are joining together to host the Southern Fried Crime Conference, Sept. 27-28.

The conference will take place just 10 minutes from Georgia Writers Museum at The Lodge on Lake Oconee.

Guests can register for the weekend, which includes most meals and two evening events, “Crime & Wine,” and “A Novel Idea.” Guests can also join the conference for one day or one session.

More information and registration are available at: www.georgiawritersmuseum.org/southern-fried-crime-con/

Southern Fried Crime Con is a full weekend of workshops, networking and suspense. Sessions include “Craft of Writing Crime & Mystery” on Friday and “The Business of Books” on Saturday. The con offers a varied, educational experience for authors at all stages of writing and publishing. Eight speakers will discuss topics such as: “Using True Crime to Write Better Crime Fiction,” “Everything You Wanted to Know About Publishing But Were Afraid To Ask,” “The Hero’s Journey for Mysteries: How to Apply this Powerful Framework to the Mystery Novel” and more.

On Friday evening, the Crime & Wine event features Law Enforcement Hall of Fame member Sheryl “Mac” McCollum, founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI) and Georgia author of “Cold Case: Pathways to Justice.” She will lead guests through an in-depth look at an unsolved, cold-case file. She and her team will follow up and report on practical leads suggested during the evening’s event.

On Saturday, after a second day of workshops and networking, “A Novel Idea” presents on landing book speaking engagements and book marketing. A Novel Idea was created in 2015 with budding and well-established authors in mind. They aim to make navigating the writing and publishing processes easier. Appetizers and drinks will be included at this event as well.

Georgia Author of the Year Wanda Morris will be the keynote speaker for the inaugural Southern Fried Crime Con. Her novel, “Anywhere You Run,” was named one of the Top 10 Crime Fiction Books for 2022 by The New York Times. It was also selected as one of the Best Books of 2022 by NPR, Publishers Weekly, Amazon, and Library Journal.

Southern Fried Crime Con is sponsored in part by Mystery Writers of America, South Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The cost is $300 for the full conference, which includes Crime & Wine, A Novel Idea, and keynote, or $145 for one day (includes lunch, but does not include the evening event), or $40 a la carte, per session. SEMWA members are offered a $25 discount (https://semwa.com/join/). Check out Georgia Writers Museum’s website (www.georgiawritersmuseum.org/southern-fried-crime-con) to learn more about this thrilling retreat.