Back from Bouchercon

Had a very interesting time and spoke with some very interesting people. Twice I saw Christina Faust of Money Shot fame but I was on the second or third level each time and she was on the ground floor. Alas. One less fan who got to offer his admiration.

I wound up going solo to the PWA Shamus awards at the Slippery Noodle. Still a good time. I was in the presence of big names but stayed low. I did offer my services for next years awards. Fun evening. Great bar.

The Michael Connelly interview was entertaining and enlightening. Michael Koryta did a fine job of conducting the interview. He was light, humorous, and groveled appropriately.

Finally, what a fantastic city Indianapolis was. The coordinators of this years event really left a great impression on a first timer. Nice job.

And that was it. I would really like to go back in the future.

Early Review of Shadows of the Emerald City

You have to scroll down, but I'm in there. Check out the review of Emerald City Confidential here.

Hard-Boiled Detective/B-Girl 10/18/09 (con.t)

A link to help the celebration: Bogie

Hard Boiled Detective/ B-Girl Day October 18

In my quest to establish a national/international day of something, I dreamed up Hard Boiled Detective/ B-Girl Day to be celebrated annually October 18. This was before I ever heard of Bouchercon. I chose the day to honor the release of The Maltese Falcon (1o/18/41). The name of the day might be a little too long for parties, so feel free to shrink it down to Dicks and Chicks.

Author's Spotlight

Hey-
I'm in the Author's Spotlight section at mindwingsaudio.com. Check it out.

USS Mount Baker AE-4

I spent some time this morning at the RHPL doing a little research into my late father's life during WWII. I didn't know much aside from family folklore. One such tale involved the renaming of my father's ship in Panama so that it could get through the canals after a rowdy shore leave. I knew the name of his ship (originally launched as the SS Surprise out of a Tampa shipyard, then renamed and renamed again as mentioned above), I knew the years he served, and I knew I had some pictures of him during the war years that didn't involve him or some of his shipmates with their arms around topless girls in grass skirts; after I discovered those and asked my mother about them, the pictures mysteriously disappeared.

The Mt. Baker was an ammo ship used to transport munitions primarily in the Atlantic. I'm piecing bits together by looking at time lines to see where he might have been during a given campaign. I know now that at the time he was supplying ships in the north Atlantic waters, the seas were rife with German U-boats. He sometimes spoke about places he had been during the war, including North Africa and southern Italy. There's a chance he was part of the 1400 vessel assault on Sicily. In the winter of 1944, he shipped out of San Francisco carrying supplies and mail to men in the south Pacific theatre.

I've had an idea for a story based on him for a while. I'm just waiting for it to gel.

The Craw

Tonight I did all my writing in my head. Well, except for this.

I picked up a couple of ideas but nothing concrete wanted to come out of my fingers tonight. Except this. Really, it's a lament to the procrastination of the actual writing I should be doing.

I have second-guessing stuck in my craw right now. I'm doubting I can do this.

Of course, tomorrow I'll look at this post and think otherwise.