Another Crime Bake has come and gone, another
trip to Brigadoon. More fabulous interaction with top-name mystery and crime writers, happy fans, a supportive and generous writing community, and people who are just plain fun, apart from being supremely talented. Yeah, all that and more.
Reps from the New England chapters of
Sisters in Crime and
Mystery Writers of America did a great job.
First, kudos to those who worked at it. Here's
Edith Maxwell and
Michelle Dorsey, co-chairs who ran the event, and made it great for everyone else.
Here's the first stop when one arrived, registration. Thanks to these volunteers, led by Kathryn (L).
And thanks to Tom Lyons, of the
New England Mobile Book Fair, who, along with his staff, carts tons of books to the event so that people can get signed copies of their favorite authors.
To find out more about Tom and the bookstore,
click here.
Note: I'll be signing books at the New England Mobile Book Fair on Saturday, Nov. 24th, from 1-3, as part of their big celebration
for Small Business Saturday.
Come on down and start holiday shopping- books make great gifts!
With music, and samples from the Wine and Spirits store next door!
Friday night of the event, we all greet each other and start chatting.
And Edith with the incomparable
Kate Flora, who was later feted at the event with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her untiring service to the writing community.
She even got a tiara, of which I was quite jealous
(and yes, like Kate, I have previously worn one).
Being the great sport she is, she even wore it, at request, to the morning-after breakfast
(shown below, with Michelle Clark)
Taking the bull by the horns: Elizabeth,
Dave Zeltserman, and
Lisa Lieberman, all on a search for hard-to-find morning coffee (at a
hotel convention!)
Barb Ross, who for once, could (mostly) relax and enjoy the conference.
And
Vincent O'Neil, who may not be as stylish, but interesting in his own way... :-)
Some debut authoresses with me that I'm pretty proud of.
Nicole Asselin has her first book,
Death at First Pitch, coming out soon.
Max Folsom, on the right, got a manuscript critique from me at Crime Bake two years ago, and now her debut novel,
One Bad Day After Another, was one of the five finalists for the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
I ain't sayin', but maybe I know talent when I see it...
I guess gray is in this year...
Like the other Bruce (Springsteen), everyone loves Bruce Coffin
Here's
Mark Cecil, an interesting guy with some writing to check out
So it's more than just hanging out for a good time.
We have panel discussions on many different subjects.
And there were pitch sessions with agents
Tilia and Elizabeth with Paula
Then there's the pre-banquet gather.
New attendee Joe gets dazzled by Hank and Jonathan
All leading to the Awards Banquet.
Here's Vickie and Rachel, delightful dinner (and later poker) companions.
(Like me, Vickie has an
IMDB credit- ask us about our stardom!)
Just don't ask her how her hotel room was...
The Night of Stars
A hard-working gang, before the awards work start.
And there are also book signings!
Here, Sarah (yay, librarians!) gets her copy signed.
And after dinner and all that, we gather to talk more about books, biz, and life.
Chris and Michelle. You'd think they like each other.
More meals- breakfast and caffeine.
Hello, Paula Sewell
And then it's time for goodbyes, until the next event.
But this part can take hours...
So finally time for rest for those who made it possible-
so much so I only got one pic of her instead of the usual 40 or so.