The Big Thank You!

Huge thanks to RT Book Review and their reviewers, for nominating CITY OF DRAGONS for a 2010 Reviewers Choice Award in Historical Mystery!

I'm honored to be in the company of Jeri Westerson, Rhys Bowen, Charles Todd, and Deanne Raybourn, and am looking forward to attending the RT Book Convention in April (my first!)

It's hard to believe that November is here--especially with summer temperatures in Giants-loving, World Series winner San Francisco. Boy, typing those words felt good! ;)

October flew by on a supersonic broomstick. First there was Litcrawl, which was a load of fun--Michelle Gagnon, Simon Wood, Julianne Balmain and Seth Harwood and I all read from our books for "Mystery and Mayhem" at the Mission District Police Station. Wonderful crowd for the festival!

Bouchercon by the Bay was an incredible experience. I am awed every year by the sheer amount of dedication, time, energy and passion that Bcon volunteers bring to this event, and continually amazed at the miracle they make happen. San Francisco was an exceptional Bouchercon--and the City's weather cooperated and played nice.

I was busy from Thursday morning (a guest at the Bouchercon newbie's breakfast) through very late Thursday night (with a very cool Subterranean Noir Manifesto event in North Beach, through Peter Maravelis and the celebrated City Lights Bookstore).

Friday through Sunday zoomed by. I greatly enjoyed moderating a panel on books to movies (with the incomparable Val McDermid and terrific panelists Paul Levine, Derek Haas and Alexandra Sokoloff); was honored to be a panelist on the "San Francisco Noir Panel" moderated by Peter, with fabulous writers Domenic Stansberry, Lisa Lutz, David Corbett, and the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, all of whom were also part of the Noir Manifesto evening; met a ton of wonderful readers, spent some time with friends and colleagues and rooted for award-nominated pals; and did all the stuff authors usually do at Bouchercon--except for the bar. I came home before midnight, like a good girl.

Once it was over, I caught the post-Bouchercon virus--and have spent the last few weeks fighting the typical nasty cough, sore throat, etc. etc. I'm almost back to normal. Watched a lot of movies in the meantime--and can't recommend DEAD OF NIGHT, a 1945 classic by the British Ealing Studios, highly enough. Not a noir, just a great horror movie.

In the meantime, the GIANTS won, my galleys of THE CURSE-MAKER arrived, and I've been in the midst of plans for a brand-new (and very content-rich) website, launching soon--complete with prizes and a party!

On November 20th, I'll be stepping away from pressing deadlines to read at the recently-restored Sunset Branch library in San Francisco, with authors Mark Coggins, Deborah Grabien, Michelle Richmond, Mary Germaine Hountalas, and Lois Ungaretti. The theme is "West Side Stories: Mystery and History."

Thanks for reading Writing in the Dark, and stay tuned for updates on the new website ... it's shaping up to be quite a springy fall! :)