By Edith, still coming down from the whirlwind that is Malice Domestic.
Wickeds, it’s always a success to to go to Malice and meet our fans and our wonderful fellow authors. Share your highlights of the conference with our reading community! (And how is it we didn’t get one picture of all of us together?!)
Liz: Having missed last year’s Malice, it was even better to be there with everyone this year! So great to see everyone, as usual, and I had a lot of fun on the pet panel. Our moderator gave us really thoughtful, interesting questions that gave us a chance to talk about social issues involving animals, which made for an interesting discussion. And of course so happy for all the amazing Agatha award winners!
Barb: Malice is like the high school reunion you actually want to attend. It was so great to see everyone. I spent way too much time in my room working on copy-edits, but highlights for me were the Kensington book giveaway, the Sisters in Crime Breakfast, and the Sisters in Crime Chapter Presidents’ meeting. So many dedicated people working so hard! Thanks to our fearless leader Sherry Harris for keeping it all together.
Sherry: Thank you, Barb! The breakfast was wonderful and the board is doing so much work. It is inspiring. For me Malice is all about the talking — raise your hand if you are hoarse this morning! It started the minute I walked in the lobby and saw blogger Dru Ann Love. It went on all weekend until the very last minute before going home when we dropped Agatha award winner (woo-hoo!) Ellen Byron off at her relatives’ house (they live near me). The only downside to Malice is it’s never long enough to have a conversation with everyone I want to. Julie and I also had a great time hosting a table at the Malice banquet!
Julie: What a great time! I did my first Malice Go Round, with Debra Goldstein as my partner. We had two minutes each to pitch our books, and did it 20 times. A great way to meet 160 people! The Kensington book event was another great way to meet a lot of folks. I was also delighted to see so many folks in 3D that I knew online. Lee, the Nicoles, different bloggers. This really was a wonderful Malice. Such a great community.
Edith: So many highlights! It’s always a thrill to be introduced as an Agatha nominee, and I was in brilliant company with my fellow historical mystery authors.
I didn’t win again, alas, but Sujata’s book, Widows of Malabar Hill, is stunning and you should read it. She definitely deserved a teapot. I also loved hanging out with some of my Killer Characters blogmates and a few of Ramona DeFelice Long’s seven AM sprint buddies, getting big hugs from Dru and Kristopher Zgorski (of the Bolo Books blog), signing my story “Sushi Lessons” in the Mystery Most Edible anthology, meeting the Ellery Queen Magazine editor, hosting a banquet table, and so much more.
Jessie: As always, my favorite part of Malice is catching up with all the far-flung friends I only see at conferences. The programming is always a lot of fun but the spontaneous moments in the hallways and elevators are always the best part for me. It never feels long enough and always leaves me wanting more!
Readers: What are your favorite gatherings, large or small?
Hi Wickeds! Love this post–and it was SO lovely to see you at Malice!
Thanks, and likewise!
Malice looks like so much fun! I’m glad you all had a good time and got to see one another. Maybe one of these years I will have a chance to attend myself.
It is! I hope you can go, Marla.
Malice. Hands down. So great to see you all again! Although I still have post-Malice fatigue.
I do, too. Great to see you – and your mom!
My husband was in the military for along time, and getting together with friends who live far away is always the best, like a trip back in time. As we get older we appreciate getting together with friends and family more than ever, so we try to do it as often as possible. For the times we can’t be together, Facebook and Facetime are the best!
I know!
Malice was so much fun! It made me realize that I spend far too much time sitting alone in my house staring at a computer screen. It is so great to talk to like-minded people and simply have a great time. (Note to self: do it more often!)
Indeed, Sheila.
It was a great conference. The best part of these gatherings is always meeting new people or seeing people I usually interact with online, for sure!
Exactly
Sounds like a great time was had by all. Wish I could be there, but I don’t see that happening with my work schedule any time soon.
Looking forward to Left Coast Crime when it is here in March. Only 10 months to go!
Hope you can come east some fall, Mark!
It looks like you had a marvelous time. Love reading about Malice.