It's over. Ended for another year. The frantic rush to get packed, the looong ten-hour drive to Cleveland, Ohio, the three or four days (depending on when you left for home) jam-packed with a wide array of panels and topics, the hours on end of schmoozing with old and new author friends and readers. And let's not forget the food and liquid libation.
This was the blur of Bouchercon 2012. As is the case with most mystery cons, the energy level was high and most authors scurried home ready to tackle the latest writing projects. That's the pay-off of attending a conference. They are encouraging and energizing, as well as providing access to other writers' ideas and suggestions.
The author guests of honour this year were Elizabeth George, Les Roberts, Mary Higgins Clark, and Robin Cook with the devilishly clever John Connolly keeping things moving on as Toastmaster. All were a delight to see and hear.
The Canadians rocked, hosting the Meet the Canucks dessert event, complete with honking geese, the Hang-in game, and free books. There were about 16 robust authors from across the country helping to spread the Canadian crime writing word.
The only glitch was when Canadian bookseller, Don Longmuir from Scene of the Crime Books, was stopped at the border for nine hours by American customs officials. Despite having the proper paperwork, he was not allowed to bring his books across the border to sell in the dealer room. Something about taking away jobs from Americans. Rubbish! (Notice me being polite!)
Canadian authors were left high and dry, along with many American authors, the reason being Don was selling all the paperbacks. Not one of the other book dealers was carrying them, not even those by American authors. The others were all carrying first edition mysteries, used and collectibles. As you can imagine, there were an awful lot of unhappy authors around. However, their enthusiasm was not dampened in tackling the panel topics and readers' questions.
The exciting news is that the bid from the Toronto gang to host Bouchercon in 2017 was accepted. Let's make sure we really wave the flag and have lots of Canadian authors attending this event. We'll do Canada proud...and, you'll have a great time, as well.
Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ and BURIED, coming Dec., 2012, available for pre-order
www.erikachase.com
Welcome back, Linda, MJ, Robin and Brenda. I'm certain you did the rest of us proud at the Canucks' event. Frustrating about Don's books. Not the first time this has happened either. What ever happened to Free Trade?
ReplyDelete