By Julie, enjoying fall in Somerville.
I missed the first New England Crime Bake, but have been to every one since. The first one I went to was the debut of the Level Best Book’s anthology. My friend Regina ran around, getting everyone’s signature on their story. “This is a goal for us,” she said to me. “To be in this book.” Two years later Regina passed away, but I think of her at every Crime Bake, and know thrilled she’d be to collect signatures on the latest Level Best anthology. I thought of her every time I signed my story in the three anthologies I was in. (My story, “Her Wish”, was inspired by Regina.)
This is part of what Crime Bake means to me. Partly a wonderful conference with fellow writers, where I learn and get inspired. But mostly it is a reunion with dear friends. Part inspiration, part therapy session, part gossip fest. The Wickeds are all together physically, which is a rare treat and my favorite part of the weekend.
What else am I looking forward to this year?
- William Kent Krueger is the Guest of Honor. I’ve seen him on a couple of panels this past year, and know how lucky we are.
- Learning about branding. We have a Friday night keynote about it, and a Sunday session on using podcasting to create a brand.
- Celebrating the debut novelists. We started this last year–during “Death and Desserts” everyone with a debut novel gets a ribbon and congratulations.So great to cheer on folks who had their dream come true–I was one of them last year!
- Spending time with Donna Andrews repping MWA and Diane Vallere repping Sisters in Crime.
We’ll report back on how the weekend went. Follow the hashtag #CrimeBake, and we’ll post this weekend.
Readers: Do you have a favorite annual conference or gathering, small or large, that you attend and look forward to all year? Writers, what’s your favorite meeting of the fans-and-fellow-authors tribe?