Welcome to my last post about Left Coast Crime 2016! Part of why I've done this is to give myself a place to 'remember' what transpired. And a place to refer back in case a certain author's name is 'on the tip of my tongue', but no name appears. I appreciate everyone who has stopped by to read about LCC! So, here's a couple of shots of what I saw of Phoenix for this trip. We vacation here fairly often, so I'll catch up with the outdoors on our next trip. These are from the 18th floor of the Hyatt, which is where our room was located. Phoenix is great in the winter and early spring. Maybe a little rougher in the summer. Heatwise, I mean. The weather during this trip was perfect golfing weather. And that big guy I'm married to, well, he had a great time.
I promised to give a summary of the awards that were presented at the Saturday night banquet and here they are (starred entry is winner):
Best Humorous Mystery
Best Historical Mystery
(Bruce Alexander Memorial, covering events before 1960)
Best LCC Regional Mystery
(Mountain Time Zone and west to Hawaii)
Best World Mystery
(set anywhere outside the LCC region)
Finally, I want to give a bit of a shout-out to a few authors that were especially kind, made me laugh, or their book sounded so very interesting or maybe all three. Ha!
Becky Clark was one of the first authors I even saw at the conference. She was sitting near me when I ate breakfast early Thursday morning. Then I saw her at the Speed Dating. And on the 18th floor. And in the atrium. She has a very cheerful personality and so I've decided if her books reflect her humor, they will be a lot of fun. Her first book was Banana Bamboozle and it's followed by Marshmallow Mayhem. Check them out!
I had a good time chatting with Erika Chase on more than one occasion. She writes the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries, the latest of which is Law and Author. Erika also has another series, written under the name Linda Wiken. The first book in the Dinner Club cozies will be published in July. It's called Toasting Up Trouble and features the Culinary Capers Dinner Club. Recipes included.
Another author that caught my eye or my interest with her book was Kris Calvin. Her debut book is One Murder More and the protagonist is a lobbyist in California, Maren Kane. Kris herself is a former elected official and so politics is her specialty. I'm not very fond of politics myself, but she made her book sound like one I'd be glad to sample. So I shall! Plus her 'swag' was in the form of a door hanger that says 'Don't Bother Me - I'm Reading'. Perfect!!
One last list of authors and their latest books. Had chats with all these ladies:
Frankie Bow - The Cursed Canoe (Hawaii)
Sandra Bolton - Key Witness (New Mexico)
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As you can probably tell, I had a wonderful time at Left Coast Crime 2016! Thanks for reading about my adventure. Left Coast Crime 2017 will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii and the dates are March 16-19, 2017. Honolulu Havoc will give a Lifetime Acheivement Award to both Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman. Guests of Honor will be Dana Stabenow and Colin Cotterill. Toastmaster will be Laurie R. King and the Ghost of Honor will be Earl Derr Biggs, creator of Charlie Chan. Am I going? Well, you never know! You should think about it if you love mysteries.
Thanks for sharing all the LCC posts, Kay! I enjoyed reading them all and of course, getting to know some new-to-me-authors and the books you've shared! My wishlist is sure growing longer after reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed them, Melody. I had fun writing them and am also glad you found some new authors.
DeleteI think you should go next year! I'm sure your hubby would have great fun golfing in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing all this information with us, Kay. I've enjoyed reading about your week and will refer back to your posts when I'm ready for more mysteries.
We talked about it. We'll see. Glad you enjoyed these and definitely refer back.
DeleteMany thanks for your lovely posts, Kay. I've loved them all... so nice to see all the excellent photos too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cath! I enjoyed sharing my experience and talking about new authors.
DeleteWhat a great time! And glad to get a heads up on some authors/books I have never read. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour second go-around, Gayle, but this time with links to authors, right?
DeleteWhat a fabulous conference--especially the parts that were interactive.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd like to attend again at some point.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading about your adventures so thank you for sharing these. I would love to go to one of these conferences so who knows maybe one day and I think you should definitely try to go :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to make another one at some point. Maybe not Hawaii, but perhaps one after that.
DeleteSounds like an amazing time. I enjoyed your posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Yvonne. It was a good time.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a great time. I'm going to have to go back over your posts. Books and golfing would be a perfect trip for me and my guy too - me for the books and he'd be golfing. lol
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a lot of fun. I'd like to do it again sometime.
DeleteThanks for writing about this convention. I had fun living vicariously through you and I am glad you got to attend it!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you!
DeleteGreat wrap-up! I enjoyed reading all your posts and also Cathy's on her blog.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd take a pad and jot down the names of the authors I haven't gotten to read yet that you saw there, and my list was so long that I had to make two columns! This is from a confessed-mystery/crime fiction/suspense nut! I am super excited to do my research, see which authors I'll choose first to investigate and try out.
Again, thank you, thank you! I joked around & told hubs we need to go to the next one-- only 5 1/2 hours away by plane from us, but of course it's the money that we have to consider. We spent our honeymoon on Oahu and Maui, so we'd love to go back :)
Yes, the Hawaii adventure next year sounds fun. Don't know if we'll get to go, but I'm planning on trying to make another of these in a year or two.
DeleteThese posts have all been wonderful. I can't believe how very few of the authors I have even heard of.
ReplyDeleteA lot of them are new or new-ish. Takes more work when you are starting out I suspect.
DeleteI LOVED attending this conference vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds wonderful and there is a part of me that dreams of attending next year in Hawaii... but then I remember how introverted I am, especially in large groups, and I reconsider.
I admire your outgoing nature and willingness to take part in all the conference events.
Hmmm...well, the outgoing part is not easy. I have to work at it, but everyone here was so nice. That helped. I'm definitely planning on attending again at some point. Not sure it will be Hawaii, but perhaps the year after that.
DeleteFun to re-live LCC through you! I think we were at a bunch of the same events.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Clea! Yes, I'm sure we were at many of the same events. I had such a good time and the panel that you were on Thursday with Ann Cleeves as moderator - wow. So very glad I attended. Planning on reading your new book soon. I'll let you know.
DeleteSounds like you had a marvelous time, Kay. I have enjoyed your posts very much. You've made me want to go now. One of these days. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to go at some point, Wendy. Let's hope for Sacramento in 2018. We could meet up - :-)
DeleteOh, so many murderous titles! You had a great trip, Kay!
ReplyDeleteI did indeed.
DeleteWhat a great time! Are you going to take that award winning list and make it a blue print for your reading?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm going to try a few of them. My mystery group reads award-nominated and award-winning books each June. There are lots of mystery awards. :-)
DeleteHello Kay, Thanks VERY much for the mention! It means a lot to this newbie author. Like you, I had a grand time at LCC. I had no idea it would be so much fun connecting with my favorite people - readers and writers. I loved every minute!
ReplyDeleteI loved it too, Lida. So pleased to get to meet you and all the other authors. I was on a high for days after I got home. :-)
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