Sorry about posting this so "after the fact"… I kept thinking that I wanted to post the 2009 Anthony Award nominees and winners, who were announced at Bouchercon 2009 last month. Another case of better late than never… Read more on 2009 Anthony Awards Given at Bouchercon 2009……

Here's my last batch of photos from Bouchercon 2009. Some are from me, 1, 4 and 6 are from Anita Thompson, and I may add some from Ali Karim if he puts them up. (Left: A wary waitress.) (Right: Anita Thompson in profil perdu.) (Left: The rubber duck that came with my room. The duck looks less cheerful than it ought to, as if wistful for the wide-open ducky spaces far from this bath tub in ...

The first night at Bouchercon, we went to the Thursday Evening Extravaganza at Gameworks. All the games were free, plus there was music with a live D.J. Well, I'm half Greek. You may not know this, but Greeks are compulsive dancers. Once Austin Camacho and his squeeze took the floor, I quickly followed. The evidence is below and, mercifully, quite dark. Just look for the moving stripes.

... the catalyst for his debut novel, FACES OF THE GONE, which will release in December. I met Brad at Bouchercon this year and to put it bluntly, he impressed the hell out of me. I'm ... of in the near future! Neil Plakcy is our third memoirist and another author I had the pleasure of meeting at Bouchercon. While he was born in Pennsylvania, warmer climates beckoned him. Neil now calls Hollywood, ...

... middle of summer. Of course I'm already lined up for several conferences in 2010, Epicon in New Orleans, Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha, and of course the Public Safety Writers Association's conference in Las Vegas and in the fall, Bouchercon in San Francisco. As usual, I'm being optimistic and planning ahead. Anyone know of some places that would like to have me come and speak?

... the same boat, striving to get published. There were also others who had made it to the promised land of publication and were happy to share their experiences. That was quite a while back. Since then, I've been to Bouchercon, the National RWA conference, Love is Murder, and Spring Fling, to name a few conferences. Each held something unique for me to remember. I got my first contract at ...

... ;s a bit eclectic, subjectwise, but always interesting. Write First, Clean Later The name of the blog is my words to live by. Author and editor LJ Sellers (who I met in an elevator at Bouchercon last year!) has two fabulous books out: The Sex Club and Secrets to Die For. Her blog includes wonderfully informative pieces on the craft of writing. Mystery Writing is Murder Elizabeth Spann Craig's ...

I've been thinking a lot lately about advice I've gotten concerning writing. The most recent came at Bouchercon, at the editors and agents panel. Every one of them said the same thing: Write the best book  you can. What does that really mean? The best book? Every book we write feels like the best book, or at least it should, before we start sending it out into the world. We write and ...

... Baker. I can't wait. I've been in (and still am in) deadline hell, so in case you've popped by here, you've noticed I haven't posted since Bouchercon. But I promise that I'll be better in 2010. Truly, truly! In the meantime, here are a couple of updates: Eggsecutive Orders is due out January 5, 2010, but -- here's the cool part -- Michelle Obama and Cristeta Comerford ...

A little over two years ago, I was staying at the Anchorage Hilton in Anchorage, Alaska for the yearly Bouchercon mystery writers convention. The conference generally draws in the neighborhood of 1,200-1,500 attendees, but was an intimate 500-600 in 2007, mostly due to the time, cost and effort required of people from the lower Forty Eight to get to Anchorage. I arrived late at night, and ...