More News from LCC

It's day three of Left Coast Crime and only one day to go. Since I didn't talk about yesterday's panels yesterday, I will today - in brief.

My first panel of the day (I slept late and didn't attend the actual first set of the day) was called Dicks with Baggage; The Modern PI. It was pretty interesting. There are a certain set of guidelines that originated with the classic PI novel that are still followed today in regards to characterization and motivation. Most authors today have put a more modern twist on this whether the character be a woman, someone who is more technologically savvy, or some other approach. Panelists including Lori Armstrong, Parnell Hall, James Mitchell, and Anthony Bidulka.

My second panel of the day was Sex and Violence. Panelists Tasha Alexander, Marcus Sakey, Bill Cameron, David Corbett and Eric Stone. This was a pretty funny panel. It seemed that the authors all agreed that there can never be too much of either sex or violence in a book, and no real line that shouldn't be crossed, as long as it had a purpose in the story. Questions were posed in an attempt to make David Corbett blush and the winner was the man who suggested that Tasha Alexander read the sex scene from Corbett's book aloud to the audience - she read one paragraph and that was certainly enough to do it.

Next up was Shaken, Stirred, and Blended: Sleuths That Cross Genre Lines. Jeanne Stein, Lee Killough, Kat Richardson, and Margaret Lucke discussed their mysteries, each of which have a paranormal twist to them. Urban fantasy was more than mentioned and they tried to pin down a definition, but really couldn't. Stein described it as urban, contemporary, gritty, and without a happy ending. Sounds good to me - I bought both her and Richardson's books, btw. Stein also thanks Joss Whedon for breaking the previous perception of vampires!

The Good Old Days: Writing About the Past was a pretty interesting panel. Stephanie Barron and Lauren Haney were joined on this panel by debut novelists Sharon Rowse, Brian Thornton, and Geri Westerson. Each author talked about the event, or events, or footnotes that inspired their books.

Finally Laura Caldwell, Jeff Buick, Teresa Schwegal and CJ Lyons were on the Thrills and Chills ITW panel. Buick moderated, but joined in on some of the discussion. Each of the ladies talked about how their careers influenced their books and their methods for writing and for developing their characters.

Day Two at LCC - Buying Mania

Rather than go into the panels I attended today, let me take the opportunity to express exactly the extent of my book addiction. Panel discussions will return tomorrow.

I really tried to behave this weekend. My ticket to LCC was not cheap, but I had decided that there was no way I could miss out on a mystery convention right here in Denver. There are over 100 authors at the convention and if I could afford to, I probably would have purchased at least one book by each.

As it is, I went into this with books by about 20 authors. I have not read all of these books, but I have read most of them. Some were accumulations from my days as a bookseller; books I intended to get to eventually and are still sitting in the ever growing TBR pile. I blame this on my first days in college when I feared that I would run out of things to read with no income as a freshman. Not so, my mom - oh great mom that she is - would tell me on bad days to relax and go buy myself some books, her treat. Somehow, the fear stuck, though, and I tend to buy madly when I have the funds.

Yesterday I bought 4 books. #1 I had been looking into buying for a while, #2 was the first book in a series that I had read a later installment of, #3 the author presented her series in an intriguing way and I wanted to check it out, and #4 was a paranormal mystery that I was curious about and thought my sisters would like. #5 was a gift for Mike. Not too bad.

Today, all constraint seemed to have flown out the window. I bought Jeanne Stein's The Becoming, first book in her vampire bounty hunter series, same reason as the above paranormal mystery, I like the genre and I bought an extra for my sisters. I also bought both of Marcus Sakey's books. He was on the Sex and Violence panel and, well, need I really say more? His books, by the way, have gotten glowing reviews by other bookbitch reviewers, including Stacy herself. I also bought Bill Cameron's debut, Lost Dog. Hm, he was on the same panel as Sakey... I bought Blood Ties by Lori Armstrong, again after hearing her speak, this time on the Dicks with Baggage, Modern PI panel. Finally, I bought CJ Lyons's debut medical thriller, Lifelines.

With my sisters' copies, that's 13 books in 2 days - mixed hardcovers, mass markets, and trades btw. I have cut myself off. I have a bagful of books that I already own that I will get signed tomorrow, but I swear I will not be buying anything else. I promise.

Day One at Left Coast Crime

I'll preface this by saying I am beat and I still have work to do tonight so you'll have to forgive me for not going into too much detail in regards to the panel discussions. As some of you know, today kick-started this year's annual Left Coast Crime convention which is in Denver this year. Being so close, I felt that it was time to get my feet wet and finally attend one. Here's a recap of the day and the four panels I attended.

First up was Sidekicks, The Good the Bad and the Ugly where authors Priscilla Royal, James Calder, Karen Olson and Maria Hudgins discussed the role of the sidekick in a mystery and the various forms he/she can take.

Second panel of the day was Cozymania. Leslie Caine, Rita Larkin, Terri Thayer and Deb Baker talked about their respective series, how and why they got started writing, and what it means to be cozy. Interestingly enough, Larkin pointed out that the term came about thanks to Agatha Christie herself.

The third panel was called Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard. Mario Acevedo acted as moderator (and drew names for the devil duck!) while jokesters Marc Lecard, George Getz, and Jess Loury talked about the use of humor in mysteries.

Last but not least was the psychological thriller panel called Mind Games and Manhunts. Robert Greer, Christine Jorgensen, Peter May, and Laura Benedict all talked about the distinctions between mysteries and thrillers.

So far I've gotten to meet Toni McGee Causey, author of the amazingly hilarious Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, Laura Benedict whose debut thriller Isabella Moon made my toes curl, quirky Mario Acevedo, and the very sweet and amusing Simon Wood.

I recommend looking into ALL of the authors I mentioned above. They were each incredibly interesting and, given the chance, I would have purchased books by each. I did limit myself. I walked out with Greywalker by Kat Richardson (she'll be speaking later this weekend) a paranormal mystery. Wine of Violence, Priscilla Royal's very first book in her medieval series. Marc Lecard's Vinnie's Head, Simon Wood's Paying the Piper, and Pari Noskin Taichert's first Sasha Solomon mystery, The Clovis Incident.