Breaking wicked awesome news: Barb Ross’s debut cozy, CLAMMED UP, is #17 on this week’s Barnes and Noble mass market bestseller list! Congratulations, Barb. So well deserved. Champagne! Chocolate! Jumping up and down!
This week 5 out of 6 Wickeds will be attending Bouchercon in Albany, NY. It’s a big conference designed for fans of crime and mystery fiction (as opposed to writers of same), and is the first time any of us have attended.
Jessie: Honestly, I am feeling both excited and overwhelmed by Bouchercon. It’s an enormous event with a vast array of panels to attend and an even greater number of people to get to meet. On a practical level there’s a lot for me to organize on the home front so things will run smoothly in my absence. Those school lunches don’t seem to want to pack themselves! And speaking of packing, there is always the question of how much to bring and how much space to leave for new books you wish to bring home.
Edith: I’m just glad my foodie panel, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” which Barb is also on, is Friday morning at 9. We’ll 
get that over with and then can relax for the rest of the conference! Here’s the goody I packaged up to give away, clipped to bookmarks: a seed packet of organic salad mix (from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine, of course). I’m also glad that Jessie and Liz are driving to Albany with me. And since I get 57 mpg in my Prius, cost of gas is negligible. (And we have lots of room to take home books, Jessie!)
Kensington Publishing will be giving away copies of Barb’s, Liz’s, and my books Saturday afternoon, 12:30 to 4:30 in the Bookroom for those of you who are going!
Julie: I am very excited about my first Bouchercon! Not sure what to wear/pack, since we will be inside most of the time, and there appears to be a lot of walking. I will also be attending a Sisters in Crime national board meeting, since I am going to be joining the board. Excited (and nervous) about that. And of course, going to be running to my friends’ panels. I suspect there will be books involved…glad I am driving!
Barb: A first for me, too. I’m writing this post Monday evening and I’m just beginning to get my arms around my schedule. Bookmarks, gummy lobsters, business cards, pens, a few copies of Clammed Up, Blood Moon and The Death of an Ambitious Woman. What am I forgetting?
Sherry: That leaves me — number six — the one who isn’t going. No worries about what to pack or where to go or if my panel will go well. Yep, I’m trying to make myself feel better since it seems like every author I know is going, including the entire Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime! And Barb Goffman better check the back seat of her car before she leaves because I might be hiding in it. I hope you all have a fabulous time! Did someone pack the wine?
Liz: So excited to be going again! I’ve gone once to this conference a few years ago and had a great time, met some amazing new authors and had an all-around great experience. This time will be completely different being there as an author myself, so I’m looking forward to it! And to showing Flat Sherry around.
Readers: Anybody going to Bouchercon this year? Even if you’re not, what do you think we should say about our books during our panels?
Sherry, we don’t leave for another hour and a half. Pack a bag and come over. There’s room in the car. 🙂
I should have gotten up earlier! Have a wonderful time!
I’ve got the wine covered.
Whew!
Safe travels to you all! I look forward to hearing of your adventures.