MysteryPeople‘s Crime Fiction Coordinator Scott Montgomery is currently in St. Louis fulfilling his duties as Stuntman at the big national mystery fest, Bouchercon. Before he left, he gave us this write up of one of the panels he’ll be hosting while there:
At the 2011 Bouchercon, I’ll be hosting a special evening panel titled Bad Seed: Sex, Violence, and Bad Langauge; Everything That Makes A Book Great. It will look at how authors use these rougher elements in their craft. I hand picked each of the authors. They’re smart, funny, and some of the best writers around. To give you an idea of what we’ll be discussing, here are my sinful six-
Jonathan Woods’ Bad JuJu is a collection of gonzo pulp that ranges from over the top crime to an erotic ghost story you can’t shake. A favorite is his funny and squirm inducing “What The F**k Was That!”
Ben Whitmer’s Pike is the closest thing to modern hard boiled that I’ve read. He makes no apologies for his hero, who even shoots a dog in a character revealing scene.
Christa Faust gave us one of the best heroines in recent years with lethal porn star Angel Dare in Money Shot and the upcoming Choke 
Hold. With other female writers like Megan Abbot and Vicki Hendricks, she presents sexuality as realistically and vividly as any man.
Chris Holms is a newcomer, whose short story for Needle magazine has been nominated for The Anthony Award at Bouchercon. His debut book, Dead Harvest, is already getting great buzz.
Craig Johnson may not seem to fit with this group when you think of his Gary Cooperish character, Sheriff Walt Longmire, but you may have forgotten about his capable and completely foul mouthed deputy Victoria Morretti, who has developed as much of a following as the series’ hero.
Scott Phillips is a combination of all three elements artfully done. He uses his sleaze-tinged stories to look at the hypocrisy of the American myth with books like the acclaimed The Ice Harvest of his latest, The Adjustment. I’ve said before that Scott may be going to Hell for our personal entertainment.
So if your sensibilities aren’t too delicate, pick up one of these book, even if you don’t want to admit to all of them. And if you’re in St. Louis, come by Thursday night at 9pm and sit in on the panel.
BookPeople 
“…she presents sexuality as realistically and vividly as any man.”
Did you bother to consider the implications of this assertion before you typed it? Or are you serious?
Wow. Let me check that against the original text that was sent in. I’m sure he meant “anyone.”
Unfortunately, Scott is out of town until next week, so I can’t have him address it immediately. I don’t want to speak for him, so I’ll make sure he replies when he returns.
From Scott:
“My apologies. By trying to describe a complex subject in one sentence,
I implied something else entirely. I meant to acknowledge that Christa
Faust is part of a group of female crime fiction authors who write
about sexuality in realistic and complex terms, pushing the
envelope in smart, interesting ways that I personally believe most of
the current male authors have not.
Ironically, on the panel Christa and I were on (at Bouchercon), this trend was
discussed. Some of the the other female authors and I also talked about this
during the conference. We all realized how nuanced and complex this
certain topic of the genre is right now and how much it needs to be
explored in both the writing and the discussion of it.”