Bouchercon...I'm ready for you!!!!

I'm so excited....Bouchercon is just a few days away. MURDER. AT. THE. BEACH. What could be more fun than that?! This will be my fourth time at this fabulous meeting of mystery readers, authors, publishers etc, and I can't wait!

All my stuff happens on the Thursday, which frees me up for hanging out at the bar, er, "networking"  for the rest of the conference. 

First, I will be on an awesome panel called "Chills, Thrills, and Mysteries  in the 17th to 19th centuries" (Thursday, November 13, 2014 2:30-3:30 pm Regency A), to be moderated by Laura Brennan, with some wonderful authors Emily Brightwell, Charles Finch, Eleanor Kuhns and Suzanne (SK) Rizzolo.  Seriously, how much am I looking forward to chatting with these writers? A lot!

Then, a few hours later, I will be at the Murder at The Beach "Hollywood Premiere" Opening Ceremonies 6:30 pm.  I'm honored to say that my first novel, A MURDER AT ROSAMUND'S GATE was nominated for a Sue Feder Historical Macavity Award (so exciting!). The winners will be announced during this session.

And just in case you are wondering, the answer is, "No I do not have anything ready to say on the off chance the world flips upside down and my name is called." There's not much need to prepare when you're up for an award alongside fabulous authors like:

• Robert Kresge: Saving Lincoln (ABQ Press)
• Catriona McPherson: Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses (Minotaur Books)
• David Morrell: Murder as a Fine Art (Little, Brown)
• Stuart Neville: Ratlines (Soho Crime)

The cliche is true: It truly is an honor to be nominated.

But thankfully none of the other nominees start with a "Su-" sound, so I won't be halfway to the stage before I realize it wasn't my name called. ("Ahem, I was just taking a little walk. You know, to congratulate the winner. Right during the ceremony. That's okay isn't it? No? Should I just sit down then? Okay, I'll do that.")

However, I'll write about the experience afterwards and let you know how it goes! Wish me luck! (and them too, of course! ;-) )