Left Coast Crime - What An Experience!

Last week, my wife and I attended the Left Coast Crime 2017 convention in Hawaii. Four days of great panels and talks. Just shy of 500 people, all fans of mystery novels, readers and authors alike. It was a rush of inputs, all valuable, many exciting, such as meeting authors whose books I've been reading for decades. I also met fans who are SERIOUS readers and dedicated to supporting mystery writers. Some of these fans are the book-a-day devotees who in many respects know the world of mysteries better than those of us who write them.

We writers draw sustenance from these readers. They support us in this business of making up stories for a living. And we learn from them, too.

My thanks to all of them.

If you are a fan of mysteries, you will likely find such a convention a great experience. There were over 70 panels where authors talked about writing and answered questions from readers. (I served on 2 panels.) I listened to many panels and all were informative and often funny. Even for writers, it's fascinating to hear raconteurs telling stories about how they tell stories.

At the closing panel...Famous authors from our left to right:
Lee Goldberg, Collin Cotterill, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman, Dana Stabenow, and Laurie King.

Left Coast Crime was also instructive to me because I've been chosen to be the Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime 2018 in Reno. I hope to see you all there!

Click here to go to the LCC 2018 website

Writers Beware. For Some Kids, This Profession Does Not Compute.

I got out of snow country for a little bit and found myself sitting on a bench on the American River in Sacramento, computer on my lap, working on my 2018 Owen McKenna mystery. (The August 2017 installment is currently in the editing pipeline. More on that in a future post.)

While we are still in winter at home for another two-plus months, this river in the Central Valley was rushing with snow melt, trees were in blossom, and a thousand birds were excited about spring.

Along came a school class with an eager teacher telling her students about those birds. After they began to move on, a girl left the group and walked toward me. She was about ten years old, wore large, tortoise-shell glasses, and she looked studious. It was clear from her inquisitive look that she was very bright and engaged.

When she got near me, she looked at my laptop computer and asked, "Are you a scientist?" Her tone was one of anticipation and her face was bright with enthusiasm. Imagine how exciting it would be to meet a real-life scientist.

I said, "No, I'm a writer."

She frowned, and the corners of her mouth dropped in disappointment.

To offer a clarification that might make her feel better about my profession, I said, "I write books."

At that, confusion seemed to join with severe letdown. She scrunched up her face in wrinkled dismay. She might as well have said, 'Why on earth would anyone do something so dumb?!'

Instead, she said nothing. She turned away and walked back to her group, shoulders slumped, her body language suggesting that I'd just taken all the joy out of life.

So, writers, be prepared. Your profession may go down well with some kids. But with others... Not so much!

From 12 Feet Of Snow To Palm Trees In 80 Minutes

Yes, there are a few other places in the world that get as much snow as Tahoe. Not a lot of them. But they're out there. (As of this writing, the Mt. Rose snow survey shows 650 inches of snow has fallen as of March 1st. That's 54 feet.)

The snow gets so deep, you can't see to pull out onto the road. Your back and arms get brutalized by shoveling. Your snowblower can't always throw it high enough to get over the banks. And when you go a few days without fresh snow, those banks near the highway get nasty with dirt.

 

So what do you do? Whenever possible, you head to palm tree country. (Which we just did.)

Yes, there are other places in the world that have palm trees like much of California.



But there are very few places on the planet where you can drive from massive amounts of snow to palm trees in 80 minutes, the time it takes to cruise down the mountain from Donner Summit (Hwy 80) or Echo Summit (Hwy 50).

In California, not only is snow optional and easy to escape (like many mountains around the world), but the climate just down the road is warm enough for palm trees (unlike most mountains wherever you go).

We live in an amazing place.

California Drought?

Four or five years in the making.
One year in the unmaking.
Was it random chaos? Were the weather gods just testing us? Or is this the new weather gyrations of climate change?
Whatever, Californians are tired of shoveling and tired of jumping into kayaks when the town floods. But, all things considered, we'll take it.

The drought map one year ago...

The drought map today...