In any normal year, I might already be packing for a California getaway and feeling the excitement build for everything that Bouchercon has to offer, including seeing so many friends from all around the world.
I’m not packing, of course, but still excited for this week’s Virtual Bouchercon 2020 and pleased to have several roles in the coming conference—and looking forward to seeing many of those friends too, even if virtually!
I’ll be participating in the panel “Fiction vs. Fact: Do You Make the Whole Thing Up?” on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. PDT/4:30 p.m. EDT, along with Avanti Centrae, John Galligan, Greg Levin, Haris Orkin. Our moderator is Gabriel Valjan, and he’s already sent out some great questions—do tune in!
Two of my stories are up for awards at Bouchercon. “Better Days” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and “Hard Return” from the anthology Crime Travel are both in contention for the Anthony Award for Best Short Story, and “Better Days” is also a finalist for the Macavity Award in the same category. My wife Tara Laskowski’s novel One Night Gone is up for these same awards too—though in the best first novel categories, of course!
It looks like the Macavity Awards will be presented via a pre-recorded video available once the conference starts—can’t wait!—and the Anthony Awards will be presented live at the end of the conference on Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT/8 p.m. EDT.
Connected to the conference, the Bouchercon anthology I spent much of the summer editing is now heading out into the world. California Schemin’ features a great line-up of writers, including conference guests of honor Cara Black, Anthony Horowitz, Catriona McPherson, Walter Mosley, Anne Perry, and Scott Turow, as well as Jennifer Berg, David Boop, Chris Dreith, Dixon Hill, Kim Keeline, R.J. Koreto, Joyce Krieg, Ellen Clair Lamb, Eileen Rendahl, Christopher Ryan, Linda Townsdin, Gabriel Valjan, and Carrie Voorhis. You can pick up this anthology in e-book, paperback, or hardcover here.
I’ll be featuring several contributors to the anthology at The First Two Pages this month, beginning with Jennifer Berg writing about her story “Schemes in the Dark”—her first-ever-published short story! And Jungle Red Writers featured several contributors this week talking about how California influenced their particular stories.
Look forward to seeing everyone later this week!