Yummy....

Oh, boy.....





One of my very favorite things about Bouchercon is finding great places to eat. There's a diner in Indianapolis - I swear, I'm booking a few hours in Indy on my way to St. Louis for next year's B'con, so I can have their cinnamon toast. OMG, their cinnamon toast. And the restaurants in Anchorage in 2007 - some of the best I've ever enjoyed. Seriously - world class dining.

So, we've added a restaurant section to the San Francisco page of the site, and I've listed some of my fave eateries.

Some of them are pretty fancy....






Some are less so...





But they all have in common excellent food, great service, and a fun atmosphere. What more could you want? And if there's a San Francisco restaurant you love, let me know and I'll add it to the list.


And just because I'm always looking for a reason to insert an Aerosmith video......






Bon appetit!

Having a fan girl moment....

So, when you chair Bouchercon there are a lot of moments like this....






...and this....





Because you know that, sooner than you think, people will arrive in San Francisco, and be ready for a good time, and will rightfully expect that you've arranged panels, and festive parties, and fun events, and oh, lordy. In my nightmares, it looks something like this.....





(Hat tip to Jen Jordan and one of my very favorite blogs for the alpacas and the - I don't know what they are. Lemurs?)


In my calmer moments, I know Bouchercon will be more like this - well, not exactly like this, but it'll certainly be tons o'fun, and I love this clip ;-)






And then there are days like today.....






...when everything is fabulous, the sky is blue, flowers are blooming, and life is beautiful.

The reason today is better than my usual Friday is....I'm just so darned excited about the authors who are coming to Bouchercon. Check out our attendees page . I'll bet at least one of your very favorite writers is on the list.

Fan girl moment? Oh, yeah!


Have a great weekend, everyone - here's some Dire Straits to get it started....

Paneling

No, not this kind....





This kind....




(And can I just say, you haven't lived until you've seen this group do a panel. Rumor has it we may see some of them together again this year. Fingers crossed.)

Anyway. Of all the email I receive about Bouchercon, the most frequent topic is the program, or more accurately, panels. In general, the themes are:

• We hate traditional panels and don't want to see them ever again.
  
• The only reason we come to Bouchercon is to see the traditional panels. We want lots of them.
  
• I want to be on a panel. No, wait! Two panels! No! Three panels! No, no! All the panels!
  
• I don't want to be on a panel. I come to Bouchercon to be alone.
  

It can be a tad confusing.





So, we do the best we can to put together a program that's entertaining and informative and has a little something for every taste.

How exactly do we do that, you ask? Good question.

This is what's going to happen: After the 4th of July weekend (during which we will drink lots of beer and eat lots of hot dogs, in preparation for the task ahead) we'll start sending questionnaires out, via email, to those who have offered to participate in the program. We'll then use the responses to start building our program schedule, which will be finalized during September.




And here's your part.

First, If you want to participate on a panel, you need to be registered by the end of this month. When we start putting together the panels we're going to be working primarily with the registration list as of June 30. Will there be exceptions? Sure. This is Bouchercon, not D-Day. (Although, the two share some rather frightening similarities ;-) But you can do yourself, and us, a huge favor by registering now.

And second, watch for email from us, and when you receive a program questionnaire, respond to it (or don't blame us if you get a panel topic you hate).

An important note: If you want to be part of the program, we'll do our best to make that happen, but there will very likely be more volunteers than there are program slots: registering now will give you the best opportunity for participation.


And finally (and putting on my Cranky Pants for a moment - they're black and very cute) here are the answers to some questions I've recently been asked. See if you can guess what they are:

• No.
  
• Yes, of course.
  
• Maybe, we'll have to check into that.
  
• Are you kidding me?
  
• OMG WTF.
  

Anthony Award Nominations

We're very happy to announce these terrific nominees for the 2010 Anthony Awards. Recipients will be announced at the Anthony Awards brunch on Sunday, October 17 in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency (more to come on how to make brunch reservations).


BEST NOVEL

THE LAST CHILD - John Hart [Minotaur Books]
THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH - Charlie Huston [Ballantine Books]
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE - Stieg Larsson, translated by Reg Keeland [Quercus/Knopf]
THE BRUTAL TELLING - Louise Penny [Minotaur Books]
THE SHANGHAI MOON - S.J. Rozan [Minotaur Books]


BEST FIRST NOVEL

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE - Alan Bradley [Delacorte Press]
STARVATION LAKE - Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
A BAD DAY FOR SORRY - Sophie Littlefield [Minotaur Books]
THE TWELVE/THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST - Stuart Neville [Harvill Secker/Soho Press]
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM - Stefanie Pintoff [Minotaur Books]


BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

BURY ME DEEP - Megan Abbott [Simon & Schuster]
TOWER - Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman [Busted Flush Press]
QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE - Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
STARVATION LAKE - Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK - G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
AIR TIME - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Mira]


BEST SHORT STORY

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" - Ace Atkins, CROSSROAD BLUES [Busted Flush Press]
"Femme Sole" - Dana Cameron, BOSTON NOIR [Akashic Books]
"Animal Rescue" - Dennis Lehane, BOSTON NOIR [Akashic Books]
"On the House" - Hank Phillippi Ryan, QUARRY: Crime Stories by New England Writers [Level Best Books]
"Amapola" - Luis Alberto Urrea, PHOENIX NOIR [Akashic Books]


BEST CRITICAL NONFICTION WORK

TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION - P.D. James [Bodleian Library/Knopf]
THE LINE UP: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives - Otto Penzler, ed. [Little, Brown and Co]
HAUNTED HEART: The Life and Times of Stephen King - Lisa Rogak [Thomas Dunne Books]
DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS: An Agatha Christie Short Story Companion - Elena Santangelo [Bella Rosa Books]
THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith - Joan Schenkar [St. Martin's Press]

Congratulations to all the nominees!