BOUCHERCON OR BUST

This week is the annual Bouchercon: a writer’s rendezvous, swap-meet, conference, gab fest, liars club, etc. You get the idea. When more than four hundred crime and mystery writers and camp-folloers get together to discuss murder and mayhem, I can tell you it’s a lot more fun than an insurance convention.

The conference is held annually in the honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor, and author. The venue is Long Beach, California, that is in and of itself not a bad place to meet. The Queen Mary is just across the harbor, the restaurants are good, and the bars reasonably priced.

I will be announcing two new books that are coming out this winter, Diamonds For Death, the newest Sharon O’Mara thriller, and the beginning of a new series with Chicago Swing featuring Detective Tony Alfano. Preliminary reviews have been great, more on pre-release information in a later blog.

One thing I’m looking forward to is meeting writer’s I’ve met on line and at other conferences. Always good to catch up and see how everyone is doing. There have been a lot of great new books this year and having a chance to meet their authors will be special. Most of us work alone in cramped little warrens piled with books and research materials, have a pasty pallor, and an insensitivity to sunlight (rumors abound that the first vampires were actually suspense writers). Getting together at these events is great for our complexions, ADHD, and sourcing vitamin D.

I will have my own twenty minutes of fame on Friday afternoon in the Author Focus Program where I take the floor to talk up my books and stories. It’s at 5:00 in conference room Harbor C – last of the focus sessions for the day – I understand the bar is just around the corner where we can continue the discussion.

Looking forward to seeing all my friends and to meeting new ones.

More later . . . . . . . . .