A Long (Beach) Engagement

So it’s done: I have registered to take part in this year’s Bouchercon, which is to be held in Long Beach, California, from November 13 through 16. I deliberated over this move for a while, as I’m not usually much of a convention-goer (the last Bouchercon I went to was in St.Louis back in 2011). But my friend and colleague, the hyper-energetic Ali Karim, finally convinced me, saying that if he could fly all the way from Great Britain to participate, I could certainly arrange the shorter journey from Seattle to Southern California.

My activities during Bouchercon will likely be limited to sitting through panel talks, cheering the various award winners, haunting the book-sales room, and bellying up to the nearest bar whenever it seems wise or necessary. There will be chances to meet authors whose work I have relished, but who I have never met, and still greater opportunities to check in with fellow attendees I know but have not spoken with for a while, such as Gary Phillips, Megan Abbott, Otto Penzler, Kelli Stanley, Max Allan Collins, Janet Rudolph, Linwood Barclay, J. Robert Janes, Lee Goldberg, Sarah Weinman, R.J. Ellory, and Kevin Burton Smith. A full rundown of folks who’ll be on hand for these festivities is here.

And if you’d like to register yourself for this November’s event in Long Beach (where Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer once trained as a policeman), all of the details can be found here.