Meeting Sara Paretsky in San Francisco

Karen Odden - Every other Thursday

Last weekend was the Left Coast Crime mystery conference, held in San Francisco, a city I haven't visited in nearly 21 years--and I know this because last time I was there, I was pregnant with my son who is now 21. Here I am at a San Francisco antique shop with my sisters Kristin, who was living there at the time (left), and Jen (center), and my daughter Julia. When it came to the steep hills, Jen carried Julia piggyback when my three-year-old got tired. 

San Francisco is such a striking, beautiful city. Here is the mermaid sculpture near the Ferry building. Isn't she gorgeous?

LCC is probably my favorite of the mystery conferences. It's medium-sized ... not so ginormous that my inner introvert feels overwhelmed but large enough that I feel heart-full by the end of it, seeing all my friends. 

Events began with a pre-LCC night at the Best Bookstore in Union Square. 

My friend Rob Osler had organized a night of flash fiction; 10 writers would read short pieces -- no more than 1,000 words -- with Fog as a character. Most people wrote about fog in San Francisco, or somewhere in the US. I wrote about fog in London. (Big surprise there, I know.) One of the readers was Sara Paretsky(!). Another was Gary Phillips(!). Others were Rob Osler, Gigi Pandian,  Audrey Lee, John Copenhaver, Faye Snowden, James D.F. Hannah ... these are legends of the mystery world, people who have received Edgar nominations and NYT "best books" labels, and so on. I was the least famous person there. 

Six of us had gathered beforehand to have dinner at Johnny Foley's Irish House, and I pinched myself a bit. "You're sitting across from Sara Paretsky. Don't stare," I thought to myself. But she was so down-to-earth and genuinely warm and interested in all of us that within minutes she made it easy to just relax and enjoy her company. 

For those who don't know (I'm not sure who those people are, likely they are much younger than I), Sara wrote the V.I. Warshawski mysteries set in Chicago. With these, Sara revolutionized the mystery novel genre, moving women out of the supporting roles of side-kick or victim (or femme fatale, once in a great while) and casting her heroine as a kick-ass woman detective solving crimes. The first novel was Indemnity Only, and she followed it with nearly two dozen more. They're international bestsellers and have been translated into 30 languages. In 1991, there was a film made starring Kathleen Turner. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, given her wonderful feminist bent, Sara Paretsky is also the first president of Sisters in Crime, the international group, established in 1987, as an advocacy group for women mystery writers. (This earned her the Woman of the Year award from Ms magazine.) Back in the 1980s, women writers in the mystery genre were not getting reviewed with the same frequency that the men were (they had numbers to back this up); and they weren't getting into bookstores the way men were. So a group of women who had gathered at the 1986 Bouchercon (good things happen at conferences!) decided they would advocate for themselves and each other. Sisters in Crime now has around 5,000 members worldwide and advocates on behalf of all writers (sisters and misters, all siblings). I've belonged to the group for years and have the honor of serving on their board.

For the Wednesday evening FOG event, we had a fabulous MC -- Elsa Touche -- and the event space at the store was PACKED, as you can see here. 

We all took turns reading our pieces. (Below: Rob, Faye, Gary.)

A few days later, Sara attended the panel where I was presenting at LCC, and then she came to the book sales room to buy a book. From me. Okay, so I gave her one -- I refused to let her buy it -- and the gift came from a grateful heart. I had a difficult time in high school. I was the kid who spent my lunches in the library, so I wouldn't have to sit by myself at a table. Sometimes I'd read those V.I. Warshawski books, to feel vicariously kick-ass instead of kicked out. 

And here I am, forty-five years later, with Sara herself. 

Have you ever met one of your literary heroes ... perhaps one from childhood?