MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Looking ahead!

On Friday I received an email telling me of my panel assignment for the Malice Domestic conference in April. I've been looking forward to this conference for some time now. It's one of the largest 'cosy' conferences in the US and it's held in Bethesda, MD.

I first started going to it with my writing buddies around 1989 (close enough)and continued every year until 2001. By then it had moved into downtown Washington, DC and was much bigger. I thought it had lost its charm and besides, I didn't have a novel, only our short story anthologies that weren't readily available in the US market.

But this year I'll go back to Bethesda, where it returned last year, as Erika Chase and armed with my first novel. It's the first of three is a cosy series from Berkley Prime Crime, part of the Penguin group. I'm excited because the Berkley line is well-known in the US and has a very large group of ardent readers. I found that when I owned Prime Crime Books, too. The cosy lovers usually read the BPC series.

My panel is called Southern Mysteries and I'm in good company with several authors I've read and enjoyed over the years. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity, as is Erika.

And so it begins. The next step in promoting a book, taking it from an internet experience based on Facebook, Twitter and blogs to a more personal level meeting readers and other authors. And, getting a chance to talk about the book along with the process of writing it.

The next big opportunity comes in June with Bloody Words 2012 in Toronto. This one is real special because it focuses on the Canadian mystery experience bringing writers, readers and people from the publishing world together for a weekend of pure indulgence. I'm registered (as is Erika) and am looking forward to meeting many names and faces from the internet.

Have you registered yet?

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com