Conferences About Books! by Rebecca Cantrell
I love reading. I grew up in a family of readers, but once
I entered school I discovered that most of my classmates did not
yearn to sneak away and read during recess. They wanted to play soccer
or Frisbee or jump rope. I was aghast, but muddled through, convinced
that I was the last reader left in the world.
Then I grew up, wrote books, and discovered book conferences. I love them all.
I loved my first Left Coast Crime in Waikoloa, Hawaii (finally a conference in driving
distance) where I watched over Kelli Stanley when she was completely agog after she won
the Bruce Alexander award.Then at my second Left Coast Crime in Los Angeles I was
literally struck dumb when I won the Bruce Alexander award myself (video evidence exists,
but I'm not pointing you toward it). Every year the International Thriller Writers
conference is like summer camp, where I meet all the old camper/authors and new ones
in New York.
The best thing about conferences? They are full of people who, like me,
simply love to read. Everyone read under their covers at night, everyone knows fictional
characters that are more influential than real ones, and everyone wants to talk about
their favorite books. I love to sign books and talk to writers and readers until the wee
hours. Books, books, books!
It's like coming home.
(See how I dodged another favorite question? I hate to list off
favorites, except my favorite color, which is blue)
And, I almost forgot, today a guy I met at a conference, and a
really talented writer from this very blog, has a book coming out.
And I'm not even going to make you guess who it is. Our very own
Graham Brown! His novel, BLACK SUN, is available today.
It's a thriller, of course. Here's what I know.
BLACK RAIN, Graham's last book, was a scary page turner,
set in the jungle. This one promises to be just as good. Here's the description
from his web site
...They gave us the power...
Left us their words...
And asked us the question:
Do You Believe?2012 is coming.
Forget everything you think you know.
Damn it, Graham, am I going to lose more sleep because I can't put the book down,
again? Well, I suppose there are worse things. (actually, losing sleep because I can't
put down a great book is one of my favorite things, but don't tell Graham, I might
need to use that guilt later).
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When I attended my first Communication Central cofrcnenee last year, I felt like I had been inducted into a secret society. I learned so much, and it was a pleasure to meet so many of the greats of editing whose books, blog posts, and discussion list messages I had followed so closely over my career. I am thrilled that CC will be returning to Baltimore this year (2012) and I’m looking forward to what’s in store!