Edgar Week Begins at Black Orchid

The party last night, in one word…HOPPING. I think there were more authors in attendance per square inch than the store has ever had before, or certainly not in my previous Edgar week experiences. It was gorgeously sunny to begin with until the stormclouds hit, and at that point many of us convened at a nearby bar to keep the party feeling going.

Anthony Rainone has a pretty good roundup of last night (as well as Monday night’s event at the Mercantile Library) but some of the folks he didn’t mention who attended included HarperCollins publicist Danielle Bartlett, Berkley editor Jim Hogan, Lisa Respers France (who made me double over in laughter so many times) Tess Gerritsen, Sheila York, Margaret Maron, Laurie King, Naomi Novik (whose second installment of the Temeraire trilogy is just out now, and I really have to get a copy now, that’s how much I loved HER MAJESTY’S DRAGON) Joe Long, and Jonathan Matthews, who flew in direct from Manchester to make sure that people actually sold books. And the 20something crowd was well represented in the form of Dave White (who does have a penchant for telling the same jokes over and over again) and Jason Pinter, making his first public appearance wearing his thriller writer hat.

And while the party was going on, many writers were recruited to “go to work” — sign stock, that is. It was kind of trippy, but very cool to sit at the back and sign copies of BALTIMORE & DUBLIN NOIR. I suppose I could get used to this…

Off to Borders and today’s events. See you soon, or later, depending.