Bouchercon - Day 3

Sorry for the gaps in between posts here; I've been finishing up work for the next issue of Crimespree, which is going to be STELLAR by the way - make sure you pick up a copy when it comes out if you don't have a subscription already.

But now back to Bouchercon. I believe I left off at Saturday, which also happened to be Alafair Burke's birthday! More on that later.

I started Saturday at the panel "In the Midst of Strangers." This panel dealt with the question, "Is the serial killer overdone?" On the panel were Jonathan Hayes, Chelsea Cain, Joel Goldman, and Wendy Corsi Staub. It was moderated by Con Lehane. The conversation was an interesting one and the question always intrigues me. There are so many things that question could be aimed at, why serial killers? Personally, I ask that regularly of memoirs, but I digress. The serial killer, like most anything else, can get old if it becomes formulaic and redundant. But as long as writers are taking a unique stab at it (ha!), putting their own twist on the plot it can and does continue to work. Jonathan Hayes is an absolutely fascinating person, and witty. I enjoyed being able to see him in action on this panel.



After the first panel, I headed down to the dealer room to hang out with Alafair while she was signing at the Bouchercon 2011 table. So I was able to wish her a happy birthday again. And as an extra special treat, I was able to meet her sister and her mother. I am now officially a fan of the entire Burke family!

The other panel I attended on Saturday was called "Monkey is Back." Maybe I was going with a theme for Saturday because the topic of "Monkey is Back" was "Are there no new stories?" This panel started out a little rough because it was scheduled to be moderated by David Thompson. His absence was felt and recognized; the panel was outstanding in his honor. On the panel were Steve Hamilton, Val McDermid, Reed Farrel Coleman, Daniel Woodrell and Michael Wiley. Talk about feeling utter fan girl! All of these authors are witty and charming and engaging. They were fascinating.

Each author started out talking about his/her setting. Then they moved on to theme. Val McDermid admitted she doesn't really know what her books are about until after she's finished it. But an idea that runs through all of her books is the gap between "justice" and "the law." Michael agreed with Val and said he tries not to think about theme at first but rather telling a story. And many times he focuses those stories on people, intelligent people, making very bad decisions at important points in their lives. Steve explained that this was actually the first time he looked back at THE LOCK ARTIST to discover it was, in essence, a WIZARD OF OZ story, a story of going home. But that concept didn't occur to him as he wrote; he didn't consciously include the parallels. How fascinating. Daniel said it was with the assistance of others after several books that he discovered his books deal with making some sort of family out of whatever you have.

Everyone contributed on this panel and their enjoyment in what they do came through so strong and clear. This was an amazing line-up of authors. If you haven't read someone on this panel, I encourage you do to so. They all contribute an amazing amount to the genre.


This was my final panel for Saturday. I attended a small event with the folks from Harper Collins and William Morrow. Very nice gathering, wonderful people, enjoyable time. Then our little posse made our way to a sports bar called Harringtons. Happened to be one of the nights the Giants were playing. It was a raucous crowd, but it was also amazing the way baseball brought all these people together, even us outsiders.


And we ended the night once again back at the hotel bar with everyone. It's such a great time to share stories and meet new people. We all share a common love of crime fiction and that...like baseball at Harringtons....is magical.

Top 10 Things I Learned at Bouchercon 2010

Your first Bouchercon always holds a very special place in your heart and your memories. So Indy will always be special for me in that respect. However, San Francisco will always be special for me as well. It was nothing short of spectacular and yes, partly because I am still so very much the fan girl. Bouchercon for me is equivalent to turning a movie junkie loose on the red carpet before the Oscars. These are all my movie stars and I'm permitted to run loose among them - and no one arrests me for it! ;-) For me Bouchercon San Francisco was five days of walking on air.

Last year I talked about the 10 things I learned in Indy. So, I'll continue the tradition and share the top 10 things I learned this year in San Francisco. And then throughout the week I'll share my highlights from those five days, including my panel! So, here we go:

10.Judy Bobalik is the BEST roommate. And NO! You cannot steal her. She's MY roomie!

9. Growing up, I always wanted a brother - I have two younger sisters. Now I've got one through my Crimespree family, and I simply couldn't have imagined one more terrific than Jeremy Lynch. He and I shared the experience of being first-time moderators this year. Spending time with Jeremy, his wife Jill and his mother Sharon was definitely one of the great highlights of this trip!
8. There was NO WHERE I would have preferred to be Friday night than in China Town watching Gar Anthony Haywood announce Brad Parks as the winner of the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel. While circumstances prevented him from being in attendance, the PWA also awarded Robert Crais the Lifetime Achievement Award. I think that makes 2010 a year to remember for the Shamus!

7. Mark Billingham and Daniel Woodrell absolutely ROCK! 'Nough said.

6. Reed Farrel Coleman and his wife once had a fight over whether Steve Hamilton was ugly or not. He's NOT by the way! He IS funny, smart and talented. Loved having the chance to meet him in person.

5. Books and sports can bring perfect strangers together. I experienced both this weekend.

4. Christa Faust is stunningly gorgeous, classy, witty and smart as a whip - even first thing Sunday morning! And you simply can't hate her for it because she's genuinely nice, gracious and generous as well. But don't repeat this because we don't want to damage her reputation!

3. When given the chance, don't ever pass up the opportunity to see Val McDermid.

2. Meeting virtual friends in real life is as much a part of the amazing experience as meeting the authors.

1. And yes, #1 is the same as last year's #1, but you can't be reminded of this too often: I LOVE being a part of the Crimespree family!

Gettin' Ready

THREE DAYS! THREE DAYS to San Francisco and 2010's Bouchercon. I've been a bit crazy getting ready: preparing for my panel, finishing up the memoir scrapbooks for the authors who will be at the convention, making arrangements for my critters while I'm gone...you know, all that fun stuff. Today is going to be a day of laundry, packing and dog washes.

While I'm doing all that craziness, however, you can be checking out the fantastic signing line-up at the Bouchercon 2011/Crimespree table. Authors will be available at the following times to sign for you. There will not be books available at the table, but we will be in the book room and there are gads of booksellers there all too happy to accommodate you. Or you can bring your own books from home. Heck, some of the authors might even be willing to sign YOU if you ask nice. I hear those literary tattoos are all the rage these days. But, I digress, here's the entire schedule as it stands:

Thursday:

Kelli Stanley - 11:00 a.m.
Tasha Alexander - 11:00
Libby Fischer Hellmann - 2:30
Martyn Waites - 3:00
Todd Ritter - 3:00
Brett Battles - 3:30
Stephen Jay Schwartz - 3:30
Meg Gardiner - 4:00

Friday:

Val McDermid - 10:30
Meredith Cole - 11:00
Rebecca Cantrell - 11:00
Joe Finder - 11:30
Jonathan King - 12:00*
Duane Swierczynski - 12:30
David Corbett - 1:00
Shane Gericke - 1:00
Toby Ball - 1:30
Hilary Davidson - 2:00
Douglas Corleone - 2:00
Lou Berney - 2:30
Cara Black - 2:30
Steve Hockensmith - 3:00
Sophie Littlefield - 3:00
Juliet Blackwell - 3:00
Christa Faust - 3:30
Carla Buckley - 3:30

Saturday:

Alafair Burke - 10:00
Bill Crider - 10:30
Marcus Sakey - 11:00
R.J. Ellory - 11:00
Brad Parks - 11:00
Hank Phillippi Ryan - 11:30
Andrew Grant - 11:30
Bryan Gruley - 12:00
Ken Bruen - 2:00**
Reed Farrel Coleman - 2:00**
Michelle Gagnon - 2:00
Megan Abbott - 3:00
Sara Gran - 3:00

*Jonathon King will have free USB drives with video and a sample chapter from his new book Midnight Guardians, the fifth book in his Edgar-winning Max Freeman series.

** Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman will be signing together at the table. We have been informed that this is the only formal signing they will do together. Come get your copies of TOWER signed by both authors at the same time!

You can also sign up for Bouchercon 2011 while you're at the table! The registration price will be $150 until January 1st. Plus, if you register by January 1st you get the discount rate in addition to a chance at some free books. There have been some extremely luscious donations of books - lots of books - to be raffled off to early registrants. As you can see, this is THE place to be. And if you aren't coming to Bouchercon this year, you can stop by the website to register for next year's blowout in St. Louis. Registration online or by mail before January 1st also makes you eligible for the discounted registration and the book raffle.

O.k. so that's the lowdown on Bouchercon for right now. I have not had time to prepare my interview with Hilary Davidson yet. I got new editing software, so I'm having to learn how to use it as I go, but that will be coming up in the not too distant future, as well as some video from Bouchercon.

Not sure if you know about this, but HARDCOVER MYSTERIES will have its first episode on Monday. It's on the Discovery Channel and they have a phenomenal line-up of authors who are going to be highlighted on this series. You can check out information on the website and the show debuts at 9:00p.m. Eastern tomorrow.

If I'm able, I'll get some photos posted from San Francisco, but blog posts will be light overall until I return. When I return, count on lots of recap! In the meantime, here are a few still shots I took from Hilary's event in Pennsylvania. Have a great week everyone!