Bouncing back from BoucherCon
But first, check out this week's installment of
Thriller Chiller Theater, Shirley Damsgood's story, Little Boy Lost.
I attended BoucherCon 2006. This was my first convention as a new author. This was also my first time in the MidWest (outside of Chicago). Madison is a beautiful city. Very friendly and clean (what else did I expect from these Scandinavians?), lots of great restaurants, even more booze, and plenty of wonderful company from my fellow authors. For me the high points were the HarperCollins' author party at the swanky Restaurant Magnus, the panels I was on: Mystery meets woo-woo (using fantasy) and You Knew Us When (first authors), and my author signings at the Mystery One booth.
Just so you don't get the wrong impression, we drank a lot. Thursday and Friday night we actually ran out of places to drink. These hotels had the audacity to close their bars. Anyway, I got the chance to meet those snarky bloggers at
First Offenders: a classy bunch of women,
Karen Olson,
Alison Gaylin, and
Lori Armstrong, and their adopted work-in-progress,
Jeff Shelby.
I owe a debt to Richard Katz of
Mystery One Bookshop. He offered to stock my book at the last minute. As expected, CrimeSpree Magazine played an important role in hosting this BoucherCon.
Karen Olson and Jeff Shelby take a break from pickling their livers. Trey Barker (right) wishes he had brought his Glock .45 to put Jeff out of his misery.
Further proof that BoucherCon is anything but a high-minded literary event. Thanks to my fellow Denver writers,
Lori Lacefield and Elle LothLorien, who kept me just sober enough to avoid getting arrested.