I know what you’re thinking: it’s too late, it’s hard to make plans for a spring Saturday. Geez, I don’t even write!

Put those thoughts aside, Negative Nelly and Ned. You DO want to go to the Maine Crime Wave. You don’t have to be a writer. Readers, fans and the idly curious are more than welcome.

Here are some of the great panels and happenings:

• Debut authors reveal how they got published
• Attorneys and law enforcement officers unveil inside info about crime & punishment
• Top authors describe how they develop ideas into selling manuscripts
• Break-out craft sessions give you the inside scoop on Plot, Character, & Scenes

And let’s say you ARE a writer?

• A special hands-on manuscript workshop for four attendees
• And join us at 4:00 p.m. for Two Minutes in the Slammer, an opportunity to read your own prose
• Experts describe how to write a winning query letter

On top of it, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills gives us the insider’s point of view about crime in Maine.

We eat lunch! It’s included!

And the night before, Tess Gerritsen is honored with the first-ever Maine Crime Master award.

Tess — who’s a great speaker — also talks about the life of a book in the first morning discussion. Writers (like me, Dick Cass, Bruce Coffin and Brendan Rielly) discuss how we got our books published and what it’s like to be newly minted published writers. Some other writers talk about where they get their ideas…

You get the picture.

There are also coffee and pastries and free parking at the University of Southern Maine Glickman Library, right off Interstate 295.

So easy to get to! So fun to be at!

And I promise, the first person who approaches me at the event and says they came because they read one of my posts about it on this blog gets a free autographed copy of my novel COLD HARD NEWS.

So what’s not to like?

There’s still time to register. Just go to mainewriters.org. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Maureen Milliken is the author of the Bernie O’Dea mystery series. Follow her on Twitter at@mmilliken47 and like her Facebook page at Maureen Milliken mysteries. Sign up for email updates at maureenmilliken.com. She hosts the podcast Crime&Stuff with her sister Rebecca Milliken.