Left Coast Crime was terrific--and I say that not just because Grave Endings won the Calavera Award (for best regional mystery), though I have to admit that my win has colored my experience. A beautiful hotel; a fun opening event with a live band and actors walking around in ghostlike costumes; great panels (in the now infamous thriller panel, hijacked by Joe Konrath, I didn't learn that much about thrillers, but I was hugely entertained by the panelists, in particular Lee Goldberg); great people; a convention committee and volunteers who exuded grace and warmth and anticipated our needs.
Including LCC book plates, in case the bookstores ran out of copies of an author's books. Very thoughtful. So was the lip balm in the LCC bag.
My trip to El Paso from L.A. was pleasant--even more so becasue I recognized some of the other travelers on my Southwest flight, including Gay Totl Kinman. The weather in El Paso was decidely un-El Paso-ish. Cool, rainy. Standing outside the terminal, waiting for the hotel shuttle van to pick us up, we felt chilled by the blustery wind. But it was a short ride from the airport to the hotel, and I was impressed by the hotel staff's attention to my particular needs. They provided me with a refrigerator and microwave ( brought kosher food with me from home and rendered the microwave kosher), and a large urn filled with boiling water so that I could have a cup of coffee or tea on the Sabbath without having to leave my room.
I was fortunate to be on two panels. The first, Thursday afternoon (the day I arrived)--"Writing Violence: What's Too Much, What's Too Little?"--was moderated by a newly bearded Barry Eisler, who writes the wonderful John Rain series (Rain is a paid assassin with moral complexity--clearly, an unconventional protagonist). Barry did a fabulous job moderating the panel, which includedthe articulate and engaging Christopher Rice (son of Anne) and Jennifor Colt, who shared with us some rather gorily comic scenes from her books. Barry tailored questions to each of us on the panel and kept the discussion lively.
After the panel and signing, I was picked up by the lovely and gracious Benita Neuman of the El Paso Jewish Federation. Benita drove me to a supermarket in the east side of El Paso that has a large selection of kosher foods. I bought some items (cheese, spreads, diet peach Snapple, challah rolls and grape juice for Sabbath), and Benita and I chatted about mysteries and El Paso.
Benita returned me to the hotel in time for the opening reception. There was food (not kosher, so I can't tell you about it), song (a live band), and a skit written by L.C. Hayden (a fellow nominee for the Calavera, and one of the organizers of Left Coast) and performed with great humor and gusto by, among others, Susan McBride, Donna Andrews (Susan and Donna tied for the Lefty Award at LCC), and the inimitable (thank God!) Parnell Hall. The skit put new lyrics to El Paso's famous musical rendition (I sang "Down in the west Texas town of El Paso" on the way to the airport and found myself humming the tune throughout the weekend. Along with so many other attendees).
After the opening reception, I returned to my hotel room and watched "The Apprentice." Yes, I'm hooked. And "Without A Trace." I love the show, and Anthony La Paglia.
My second panel, Friday morning, titled "Internal Borders: Sleuths Crossing Cultures," was moderated by veteran panel moderator, reviewer, and mystery fan Andi Shechter (she's organizing Left Coast Crime in Seattle for 2007). The El Paso LCC guest of honor, S.J. Rozan, was on the panel, along with Michele Martinez, and Gammy Singer. I enjoyed the panel, and people in the audience told me they did, too.
I found flowers for Shabbat in my hotel room when I returned after my panel and signing--the flowers and a note were from Benita Neumann and the Jewish Federation. What a lovely lady, and what a lovely gesture.
Friday night I lit my tea candles, welcomed the Sabbath. Then I had dinner--rotisserie chicken that I had warmed in my microwave before Shabbat, along with couscous and stir-fried asparagus (the recipe is from Ken Wilson, an L.A. media escort and a great chef). And a few squares of dark chocolate for dessert. That night I spent several enjoyable hours reading Susan McBride's second book in her new Debutante Dropout series, The Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Then to bed (somewhat tricky, since I could hear the band playing below).
Saturday I attended several panels and chatted with readers and writers. My room was on the third floor--and many of the panels were on that floor, so I didn't have to use the stairs often (I don't use elevators on the Sabbath). The most humorous one, as I mention above, was the hijacked thriller panel, featuring Linda Johnston, Lee Goldberg, half of the P.J. Parish writing team, and all of David Ellis. I also attended a meeting hosted by the newly formed International Thriller Writers. An interesting meeting, and I'm considering joining the organization. Some of my books are mysteries, others are suspense novels. Some are thrillers...
Saturday night was the awards dinner. Grave Endings had been nominated for the Calavera Award, so I was excited. But I've been nominated for awards before (six times for the Agatha for Best Novel) and have become accustomed to losing (a la Susan Lucci), so I had no expectation of winning.
And I wasn't even at the dinner. Months before I knew that there would be a Saturday night dinner, or that my book would receive a nomination, I had accepted an invitation to speak to the Jewish Federation of El Paso on that same night. As Molly Blume's grandmother, Bubbie G, says: You can't sit on two horses with one behind.
Since my talk was about Grave Endings, Benita Neuman thought it would be fun to hold the event at... Martin's Funeral Home. She arranged to havesome put yellow crime scene tape in front of the entrance, and inside the lobby. A funeral home was a first for me as a venue for a talk, and probably for the El Paso Times. That's probably why they covered the event.
It was a wonderful evening. Cheryl Gordon of the Federation, who extended the invitation to me and arranged for the evening, picked me up from the Camino Real and took me to the funeral home. The audience was warm (and alive). We sold books. And when I returned to the hotel, I learned that I had won from Donna Andrews and, a second later, from Bob Levinson, whom I had asked to accept the award on my behalf on the off chance that I would win, and who feigned a dolorous expression to throw me off.
And I understand that Bob (his latest thriller, Ask A Dead Man, has been receiving glowing reviews, including a starred one from Publishers Weekly) used my appearance at the funeral home to great comic effect, along with a few words of Yiddish. Way to go, Bob. Bob also took photos of me with the award, a fabulous ceramic statuette with a woman's figure and the head of a skeleton ("calavera" means "skull," I learned), which I plan to post on my site as soon as I figure out how to do it.
Left Coast Crime in El Paso continued the tradition, begun at another convention, of having a book exchange. I swapped some of the books I'd received in my bag (I'd read them before) and picked up a few that looked promising. Also on the table with the books was a single pair of black shoes. Interesting...
At the airport Sunday afternoon I was certain that my award would trigger a search--the head of the statuette is connected to the neck with a nail. But my pretty skeleton and I were whisked through security.
On my flight back to L.A. I read one of the books I picked up at LCC. Alone, by Lisa Gardner (I don't mean I read the book alone--that's the title). A good read, and a truly nasty villain.
I wonder if anyone picked up those shoes...
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