Dead or Alive

Bouchercon 2010 is quickly approaching and this year I will be moderating a panel. OH. MY. GOD! The title of the panel is "Dead or Alive" and it will be held at 11:30 on Thursday morning. So, I hope if you are attending the Bouchercon by the Bay this year, you'll come lend some moral support. I'm equal parts excited and nervous.  I'm also going to need a volunteer to sit front and center and get the pictures to prove this event actually happens!

I have quite a bit to be excited about since my panel of authors is simply magnificent. I'm supposed to sit up there with them and act professional when what I'll really want to do is go all fan girl. But, I have been practicing my professional behavior and I think I can do this. ;-) I thought I'd share a little about them with you today.

People keep telling me that as the moderator I'm in charge. Can someone make sure they tell Brad Parks this? I'm just kidding. I'm thrilled to pieces to have the author of FACES OF THE GONE as part of the panel. A former journalist, Brad released his debut novel in 2009 and the sequel is due on bookshelves in early 2011. Brad is smart and funny. He's an exceptionally talented writer AND singer. I don't think we'll be doing any stage shows during this panel, but you never can tell. FACES OF THE GONE is also a Shamus Award nominee this year. We'll learn the outcome of those awards Friday night.

It's hard to read this blog and not know I think Hilary Davidson is amazingly talented. So, to say I'm over the moon that she is also on the "Dead or Alive" panel is no exaggeration at all. Hilary's fiction debut, THE DAMAGE DONE, is on bookstore shelves tomorrow! But of course she's been writing freelance, travel writing, short fiction, and gluten-free information for some time. Hilary will shed some light on the female writer/female protagonist vantage point for the panel.

Douglas Corleone is also a debut author this year. His novel, ONE MAN'S PARADISE, won the MWA/Minotaur First Crime Novel Award this year. You'll be hearing more about that book here when I catch up on my reviews! In the mean time, though, Doug is a former lawyer from New York, now living in Hawaii writing about a lawyer. If Doug is as humorous in person as he is in his writing, we're going to have to put he and Brad at separate ends of the table. They will most definitely find trouble if they're together.

And my final panelist is R.J. (Roger) Ellory. If you caught last week's audio book review of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, you know how amazing I think Roger's writing is. You'll be hearing a lot more about his books here in the future. I picked up a couple of his books as soon as I knew he would be on my panel and I will be forever grateful that he was included in the "Dead or Alive" panel. I am now addicted to Ellory's work. Roger is our veteran crime fiction author. The people in the U.K. may be a tad bit more aware of how wonderful he is, but we're going to work on fixing that on this side of the pond, o.k? His books are standalones and most definitely blow genre definition to smithereens. They don't fit neatly into any one package. There's crime going on, so he qualifies to be on our panel and that's all that's important.

This is such an eclectic group and I'm so excited about that. I think it is going to make for great discussion. So, as I said, I hope you'll join the fun if you're attending Bouchercon. The more the merrier. Come help me celebrate four wonderfully talented writers.