My trip to Omaha and Mayhem in the Midlands was highly successful and quite enjoyable.
Spent 4 days hanging with fellow authors, fans and friends, talking about writing – how much better can it get?
Where else can you hang out in a bar with the likes of Laura Lippman, Denise Hamilton, Kent Krueger, Pari Noskin Taichert and many more?
I moderated one panel (Kick Ass Females or She Who Must Be Obeyed) and participated on two others, spent a LOT of time in the book room and perusing auction items, especially one particular one. There was an Advanced Reader Copy of Kent Krueger’s upcoming release, Copper River. I made up my mind, it was mine. I’m not going to say how much I paid, but it was worth it. Of course, I can’t hold a candle to starrcat, who was bound and determined to buy a character name in an upcoming Krueger book and got in a bidding war with another woman. Both of them got their wish as Kent graciously acceded to naming two characters. (Of course, we won’t mention the fact that I bought a character name a couple of years ago, which will appear in Kent’s 2007 release, Thunder Bay. Evidently, my character, Maria, will be having teh hawt sex. ::g::)
Saturday night was our traditional friends’ dinner at the Flatiron, a nearby and most excellent restaurant.
Sunday was a quiet day, with only the final activity, the closing brunch and roast/toast of our wonderful Guest of Honor, Laura Lippman. Denise Hamilton, toastmaster, did a great investigative job on Laura’s background, providing a witty and thoughtful introduction and excellent questions.
Too soon thereafter, most of the gang vanished as they left for flights homeward. Since I didn’t leave until the asscrack of dawn on Monday, I rested for the afternoon, and then journeyed to Fleming’s, another fabulous local restaurant. I’d considered going out with Donna Andrews and some other friends to visit the Dark Angel, a memorial statue that is local legend, but was overly tired. Donna did, however, bring me back a ton of photos, as I intend to transplant said Angel and use it in my next book. Yay for digital cameras!
If you want to see a photo of me in the bar on Saturday, check out Pari’s entry on Murderati – Scroll down to the bottom of the post.
I’m sure Donna will be posting photos at some point, when she does, I’ll link to them. I’m such a failure at the picture taking.
My flight back was as uneventful as my flight there – except for the dozens of young teens, many on their first plane ride. The noise factor was truly incredible.
Home by 10:00 a.m. on Monday and I spent the day napping and reading email. Today was work (an all day client meeting) and tomorrow, I get back into the swing.
I love cons. I love being able to hang out with writers and fans, but damn, it sure is nice to be home. 
ETA: Oh yeah, I wasn’t planning on buying anything – wanting to keep down the clutter. Yeah, right. I spent $160 on the auction and nearly half that in the book room. Keel me now. I chalk it up to having had a lovely conversation with my new editor. Matters will be re-released in January ’07, and Unnecessary Evil in October of ’07 – assuming I finish! EEEee!
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You had a lovely conversation with [Small, Shy Editor Man]? Surely not in person? He’s so quiiiiet in person.
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Nope, not in person, on the phone.
He was extremely polite and kind and rather excited about my stuff – which is such an improvement over the previous people.
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why did you bring the hot weather back east!??! heh
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OMG, I wish I knew, because ick.
How’s the time off?
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OMG – you have real pub dates!! That is so freakin’ awesome.
Margery, who sorely missed being at Mayhem
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Yep, yay to pub dates!! It’s all too real.
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Yay for the book news!!!
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Thanks, I’m still a bit overwhelmed by the speed of it all!
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Obviously, I need to go into publishing! Then I can hang out with the famous and the soon-to-be famous, like you!!
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ROFL! You probably make more now than anyone in publishing. Besides, I’ll always hang out with fellow fen.
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:: stern look ::
Sit Butt in Chair, and apply fingers to Keyboard and Imagination to Story until done!
:: fierce look ::
(but with love)
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LOL – Rear has firmly been applied to chair and work commenced.
Made some significant headway on the Matters tweaks and plan to finish that this week, then start back on book 2. Have some really cool ideas.
I definitely work better with a deadline looming.
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Crud — you mean the whole adrenaline junkie, never met a deadline I didn’t play chicken with thing is a family trait?
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never met a deadline I didn’t play chicken with thing is a family trait…
Oh hell, you mean it’s contagious? ::g::