Left Coast Crime 2013

On the first full day of the conference, I sat in on a very interesting presentation. Even more interesting were the two women I sat next to.

They each looked like everyone's favorite aunt, maybe even grandmother. I overheard part of their conversation. Knitting, patterns, a craft magazine. I fell for it. 

After saying hello, I asked them what type of crime fiction they most enjoyed reading. The woman nearest me answered, "I like a little violence in mine." Then she thumbed to her friend, "She likes even more."

Since my mama didn't raise me to be stupid, I immediately handed each of them a bookmark. Lo and behold, one of them had The Missings on her phone. How cool was that?

Here are a few photos:

LJ Sellers, Marlyn Beebe,
Gayle Carline, Andrew E. Kaufman, moi, and Jodie Renner

At my first ever signing table!

Fellow Colorado author, Chuck Greaves and I 

at the Sisters in Crime reception.

L.J. Sellers talking to a fan.

Mark Stevens and Darrell James

Laura DiSilverio and a nice looking guy.

The Awards Banquet

Toastmaster David Corbett

Guest of Honor, Laura Lippman

Guest of Honor, Craig Johnson

NOTE: The new season of Longmire begins in June!

Special Guest Lou Diamond Phillips who plays
Henry Standing Bear in the Longmire series.
(Thanks to Lourdes Venard for the photo.)

It's all better with friends.

Left Coast Crime Spawns Creativity

After LCC, held in Santa Fe this year, I had a much needed visit with my sister in Tucson. This is an emotional time of year for us. Today, April 2nd, is my mom's birthday. I was with her to celebrate her 75th, three years ago. She died three days later. Pictures from LCC and Tucson are on my Facebook page.

But the LoML made this message for me, and when we pulled into our garage I knew I was in a good place. I particularly love the image of him cutting the letters out and putting them on the door.

But I digress.

In Santa Fe, strange things can happen. My hotel was haunted (and a Roman Catholic archbishop knew it). Let me tell you a bit about Sister George. She was rather fond of cigars when she was alive. I didn't know about any of this until I was on the shuttle for Albuquerque, but my roommate and I had spent some time trying to figure out where the smell of tobacco was coming from in our room.

But even more strange . . . a few of us got together and decided it would be fun to do a blog with several contributors. Of course, we did this pretty much in a bar over drinks.

And even more strange . . . we've followed through. I'll be announcing a new blog loud and clear, but you guys get a heads-up. It should be awesome. We have a name . . . Crime Fiction Collective.

LJ Sellers, who was my roommate at LCC and made the decision to become self-employed as an independent author even though she'd been traditionally published, is our headliner. (Other than me, of course. LOL). Judy Borger writes mysteries geared toward providing an escape for manic moms; Andrew Kaufman swears his current book is not horror, but since it began hitting the high notes among the horror fans he decided to go with it; Marlyn Beebe is a librarian and our resident reviewer; and Jodie Renner is LJ's editor and will fill that slot. In addition, we'll have guest bloggers with related topics. ie: technology; screenwriting; audio book production; cover design; formatting; etc.

We've targeted April 18th as Opening Day, and plan on having two weeks of giveaways to celebrate.

This could be a real hoot, and hopefully our fragile new friendships will be able to weather whatever comes down the pike.



CR: Top Suspense by Top Suspense Group, a truly wonderful collection of short stories. If you get this book, I'm sure you'll be introduced to at least one new author you'll enjoy.

It's all better with friends.