First stage of the whirlwind Spring is over!

I had a terrific time at Malice Domestic. My husband, Jim and I drove down to Arlington VA from Ottawa the Wednesday before, so we could do some sightseeing. We spent Thursday in the blissful heat tramping the grassy acres of the Mall and exploring a couple of the museums. The next day we drove around our old neighbourhood in Northwest DC, where we lived in the early 1980’s while on a posting to the Canadian Embassy in Washington. I’d forgotten how fabulously beautiful this part of the world is in spring, overflowing with eye-blinding azaleas and flowering dogwood.

But that was the end of my vacation and I was quickly into the Malice mayhem, starting with Malice’s version of speed dating, the Malice Go ‘Round. Teaming up with Elizabeth Zelvin, the two of us sped from table to table filled with eager fans and spewed out our 3 minute clip on our books. It must’ve worked for several fans came up to me afterwards to say they loved the sound of the setting and the native theme and were off to buy my books. But, boy, it was tiring. By the end of the 2 hours, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. But it was a terrific event and I hope the conference organizers keep it a part of the regular programming.

Since my panel wasn’t on until Sunday, I could relax and enjoy the conference on Saturday. I particularly enjoyed the interviews of the Guest Author, Charlaine Harris and the International Guest Author, Lindsey Davis. As a writer I am always very interested in hearing what other authors have to say about their writing.

Saturday night I had the honour of hosting a table at the banquet. I particularly enjoyed talking to fans Elaine, Jan and Lexa. In fact Lexa was top bidder on my ‘Call of the Wild’ silent auction donation of three Meg Harris mysteries, a braid of sweetgrass, a tiny birchbark canoe and a dream catcher. C.R. Corwin, author of the Morgue Mama series, and his charming wife also sat at my table. And I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to hear Louise Penny’s name announced as winner of the Agatha for Best Novel. It was a great moment for Cool Canadian Crime writing.

I was up bright and early next morning for my 9:00 a.m. panel on the Agatha Legacy and surprisingly so were many others. We had a good turnout. I was joined by Mary Jane Maffini, C.R. Corwin and Denise Swanson, with Maureen Collins as the moderator, who did a stellar job of keeping us on track.

After the Agatha tea, Mary Jane Maffini and I sped off to Oakmont PA for Monday’s Festival of Mystery. I should however qualify ‘sped off’. We were making good time on I70 until we ran full tilt into congestion that crawled for I don’t know how many miles until we were detoured off the highway and had to find our way around the highway closure. It cost us easily an hour. But we eventually made it to our night’s lodging.

What can I say about Festival of Mystery? It was a glorious free-for-all with over 50 authors and hundreds of fans, many of whom had lined up several hours before the doors opened. The giant book fair, organized by Mystery Lovers Bookshop, was preceded by a tea at the Oakmont Public Library, where I met many librarians and several ‘friends’ of another local library, who later bought one of my books. And then the melee began, the doors opened and the fans raced in. We authors were seated behind stacks of our books with balloons floating on either end of the table. My tablemates were Rosemary Harris, author of ‘Pushing Up Daisies’ and Mary Ellen Hughes, author of the Jo McCallister series. The next several hours were a blur of talking about my Meg Harris series, signing books and watching the stack gradually descend.

I was sorry that my first book, DEATH’S GOLDEN WHISPER, hadn’t been reprinted in time for this event, for many new readers want to start with the first. But my publisher promises that it will be out soon. However, my latest book THE RIVER RUNS ORANGE did very well, making the top ten best sellers list for trade paperbacks. And I enjoyed talking to Rosemary and Mary Ellen when we had a quiet moment to chat.

The evening ended at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, where owners, Richard Goldman and Mary Alice Gorman fed pizza to the ravenous crowd of authors. I want to offer a special thanks to Richard and Mary Alice and a host of volunteers for putting on such a terrific event. I look forward to participating again.

The next day Mary Jane and I set out on our 11 hour drive back to Ottawa, but not before satisfying our shopping hunger. We ended up spending an hour and a half and a lot of money in a local Chico’s store, which unfortunately are not in Canada. We ended up not leaving the Pittsburgh area until 12:30 p.m.. Fortunately my husband had decided not to come to Oakmont with us, otherwise he would’ve become apoplectic watching the minutes tick by. Like most men, he’s not a fan of shopping, particularly female shopping.

All in all it was a terrific trip and I plan to do it again, probably not next year, but in 2010 after my next book comes out in Fall of 2009. Next year is Hawaii and Left Coast Crime!

And now onto a whirlwind of store signings….