Let the Bouchercon madness begin

So, unless you’re living under a rock, you might be aware that the 35th Annual World Mystery Convention–otherwise known as Bouchercon—begins officially tomorrow morning, but a whole slew of cool folks are flying in sometime today to get the festivities started at a hotel bar of their choice. So what does this mean for all those poor folks staying behind? It means that you’ll have to rely on the grapevine, half-mumbled truths, would-be rumors and other mumblings to figure out what’s happening while the convention’s ongoing. In other words, this blog’s pretty much going dormant till Monday, unless by some miracle, I can stagger back to the apartment and post something (hey, if some folks can post from the airport on the way in, maybe I ought to pull my weight as well.)

But if you’re around, please do come and heckle me at my panel on Thursday at 4:00 called “New Wave Murder.” Maybe by then we’ll have figured out what the hell we’re supposed to talk about. And for a less party-driven perspective, Judy Stoffman at the Toronto Star serves up a preview:

For only the second time in its raucous 35-year history, the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention will meet in Toronto. From tomorrow until Sunday, 1,500 fans are expected to mingle with 350 authors, including celebrity scribes Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Val McDermid, Peter Robinson, Lindsey Davis, Bernard Cornwell, Maureen Jennings, Rick Mofina and Ian Rankin.

“Basically it’s a collection of fans, authors, booksellers, agents, publishers and media coming into one place to celebrate the mystery genre and all the subgenres therein: the police procedural, hard-boiled, cosies, thrillers—if there is crime in it, it can be included,” says bookseller Al Navis, owner of Almark & Co. in Thornhill, which specializes in books about the Kennedy assassination. Navis is the event’s chief organizer, as he was in 1992 when Bouchercon was also held here.

“When you get so many people of like mind together, a lot of great things happen.”

Damn straight. So if I don’t see you at the bar, I’ll be back–hopefully at reasonably full strength–on Monday.