Did somebody say Bouchercon?

And if so, the answer is probably best found here.

I’m keeping this brief for Kol Nidre looms large tonight, but this year’s BCon was unusual for me for a variety of reasons:

• I hardly drank.
• I went to bed early.
• I got some reading done (Sam Savage’s FIRMIN, which is the wonderfully weird, wise and heartfelt tale of literature, longing and heartbreak from the perspective of a rat.)
• The only panel I attended was my own.
• I spent maybe half an hour in the dealer room (primarily to add my scrawl to 120 copies of DAMN NEAR DEAD – no hand cramps because it’s all about rhythm.)
• I saw enough of Madison to feel familiar with the geography (and the cows, and the sounds of drunken UW students) but still be hopelessly stumped on the navigational front.
• I grilled my own salmon only to have it taken away for sitting out too long.
• I was more nervous than usual at the Anthonys (for an award which deservedly went to Janet Rudolph.)

And most importantly of all with regards to the convention’s future, I was elected to the Standing Committee as a member-at-large for the next three years. Once I’ve recovered my wits I plan to embrace this new opportunity with a vengeance. Because if not for a last-minute bid for 2009 that was prepared in just a few weeks by Jim Huang & Mike Bursaw, there wouldn’t be a Bouchercon, let alone in Indianapolis. Whether it’s because the community takes the convention for granted, is too caught up in its own petty grievances and self-absorption, or any other potential reason, the future is a subject that’s discussed tentatively at best and hardly ever at worst. And my hope is that this will change very soon.

Otherwise, congrats to all the award winners, it was great to see so many of you (albeit very briefly for the most part) and the blog will return to normal on Tuesday morning.