I’m falling behind on my posts again, but this time I have a good reason. Earlier this month I attended Bouchercon—The World Mystery Convention. It was four days surrounded by 1,500 fellow mystery lovers, about 600 of them authors, indulging in my love of writing, reading, and mystery.
This was my first Bouchercon and I went as both a fan and a published author, lucky enough to be assigned to a panel on historical research. That means I was both excited and very nervous. My panel was Thursday morning and we arrived Wednesday evening. After checking in (and getting our giant bag of books, Yea!) we stopped by the room where the panel would take place. It was huge. Take a look.
(That person waaaaay down there on the stage–that’s me. Yikes!)
Seeing this room took me from nervous, to complete wreck! I barely slept, terrified I’d forget everything, up to and including my own name. My nerves got increasingly worse as we entered the crowded room and took our seats. Then Deanna Raybourn said, “If you start to panic, just give me a nod and I’ll jump in.” I was so grateful, but as it turned out, once I started talking, I was fine. We were talking about books and research. It was fun and the time just flew by! 
Talking Historical Research Panel (Anne Cleeland, Susanna Calkins, Katrina Carrasco, David Corbett, Deanna Raybourn, and me!)
This is also an opportunity to catch up with people you know on-line and meet them in person! I was thrilled to meet several friends from my debut author group, Authors 18. I met Gale Massey (The Girl From Blind River) and Aimee Hix (What Doesn’t Kill You) at the Debut Author Breakfast. Then met up with Carolyn Walker (Immortal Descent), Shari Randall (Curses, Boiled Again!), and Kari Bovee (Girl With A Gun) for brunch the next day!
Once the panel and the Debut Author Breakfast was over, I could relax and enjoy the rest of the convention. Bouchercon is huge, but it’s also casual and friendly. There are plenty of panels during the day and opportunities to mix and mingle in the evening. For an introvert like me, “mix and mingle” are not necessarily words I get excited about, but in this case, everyone was talking about books so I was totally in my element!