Bouchercon roundup, part V: the view from the bar

John Rickards attended his first Bouchercon and naturally, spent much of his time surrounded by drink (no matter what those sober pictures of him would have you believe.) If you thought my report was chockful of gossip and cheap innuendo, well, John’s account just puts me to utter shame. But in between reports on bar exploits, incoherent winos, the “first 500 agents” ad, and the occasional panel or two, he formulated what seems like an incredibly good idea:

The other product of the night was the formation of ideas for ‘the Drunkies’, a series of booze-themed awards for crime writers that, believe it or not, I’m actually giving serious thought to trying to launch as the UK scene is bereft of such a thing. I rather like the idea of ‘the Debut Drunkie’ for any book by an author who’s just reached legal drinking age in their country of residence and ‘the Ken Bruen Liver Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement’ for someone of years of service to both writing and drinking, preferrably both at the same time.

And, in fact, this would be perfect as either the “Night before the Daggers” entertainment or at an undisclosed location near the Harrogate premises next summer. Whatever the case, I’m so there.