Wow, where did the time go?
There’s only a few hours left until my Saturday post is due and I haven’t
had a moment to write a word since striking out from NYC’s JFK airport early
Tuesday for Left Coast Crime’s 2014 Calamari mystery convention in Monterey,
California. Monterey is approximately
120 miles south of San Francisco in the heart of some of the most beautiful
coastline and fertile agricultural land on earth. But it’s all been one giant blur to me, punctuated
by terrific weather. Not that I’ve had
much of a chance to enjoy it.
Left Coast Crime conventions are always great fun, but for
me this one’s been particularly consuming…as I have been of a batch of homemade
cookies offered by the 2014 Bouchercon folk at their hospitality table to anyone
signing up for its November 13-16 Murder at the Beach convention in Long
Beach. I think it’s fair to say—from a
cookie perspective—that I’ve registered a baker’s dozen number of times.
To give you a taste (not of the cookies) of the sorts of
suspicious characters frequenting these conventions, here are my efforts at
trying to capture them unaware in their native habitats, but it’s been hard.
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| Lefty Nominee and left hand |
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| US Guest of Honor |
Many are just far too wily to surprise.
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| Annamaria superior |
Others just have an instinct for the camera.
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| Party Animals |
This one I caught trying to beat me at my own game.
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| Stalker |
No matter. The days
have been filled with meeting old friends and new, and basking in gracious
honors bestowed upon all of us in the Murder is Everywhere family to share:
Cara is the convention’s US Guest of Honor, Cara, Lisa, and I are nominated for
the 2014 Calamari Award for Best Mystery in a Foreign Setting, and alum Tim
Hallinan is up for The Lefty for 2013’s Best Humorous Mystery Novel. The awards will be announced later tonight
but it really doesn’t matter who wins (honest), because not only do we already
feel like winners, we each have plaques to prove it!
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| Tim, Lisa, and Jeff holding validation of efforts |
Besides, it’s hard to let such things go to your head when
Cannery Row is literally next door and the Salinas Valley is just up the
road. These were the stomping grounds
of a literary master who, though never lucky enough to be honored with a
Calamari award nomination, did manage to make a name for himself. Perhaps you’ve heard of him: He moved to New York City late in life, lived
in two separate apartments on the corner of 72nd Street and Third
Avenue, purchased his eyeglasses at E.B. Meyrowitz, and bore the initials “JS.”
He also happened to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. That’s him up there with the dark hair giving
his Nobel acceptance speech and looking down on his gray-headed, similarly bespectacled,
NYC neighbor and lifelong admirer.
Jeff—Saturday
Posts
Love the post, and the photos! It was great meeting you Wednesday night at dinner - and I, too, am loving the Calamari Con!
ReplyDeleteCounselor, we've just formed a mutual admiration society :). Looking forward to many more great occasions together, Susan.
ReplyDeleteSuch an honor! Thanks for the photos - kinda felt like I was there. Enjoy your awards ceremony and all the activities surrounding it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, J&J, and enjoy your up and coming trip to Greece.
DeleteI, the stalker? Perjury! My defense team will present evidence on Monday. In this case, the jury may post their deliberations here at any time.
ReplyDeleteMy, oh my, Annamaria, guilty conscience have we? There were dozens of other folks in that photo and you assumed I was talking about you? Can't imagine why you'd jump to that conclusion.
DeleteObviously, Annamaria, you are completely innocent. You are clearly stationary in your own assigned seat, while clearly the real stalker is out of his seat, on his feet, accomplishing the actual feat of stalkerization.
ReplyDeleteThe jury returns a verdict of not guilty (at least, of THIS crime...)
Remember, Everett, that there is a "fair and impartial" part to your juror's handbook. :)
ReplyDeleteI am fair, Jeff (just look at my picture...), AND impartial: I defend AmA against everyone equally. Don't blame me if you step in front of a lorry, that's between you and the lorry...
DeleteHmm, Everett, I wonder what possessed you to raise in the same sentence the visual of your "picture" and being run over by a lorry? :)
DeleteI have the best left hand in contemporary literature.
ReplyDeleteAnd, since you only type with four fingers, it's good to see that you put the left hand to good use, rather than just letting it be a no-good lay-about.
DeleteWhatever your left hand is doing, Tim, it's the product if your right brain that we love the best.
DeleteAnd the cutest cuticles in the business.
Delete