Bouchercon 2002, Austin Texas

I like Texas. I don’t think I could live there, but I sure like visiting. And it was a wonderful location for a convention. The weather was warm, Austin has wonderful night life, and once you figure it out, it’s pretty easy to get around. The Hotel we were at was in a pretty nice spot, lots of stores near by, and restaurants as well. It would have been better if we had been downtown, but.... you can’t have it all.

The convention itself was nice. Some really interesting panels, and for the most part things were run pretty smoothly. Considering the scoop of putting this together, I think they did a darn good job. But, as with anything like this, it’s the people that make it fun and memorable. This year was no exception.

Upon arriving in Austin we went and took care of getting our rental car set up, and dumped the luggage into it. We then waited for friends to arrive and share a ride to the hotel. Brigid and Sarah both arrived on time and we set off. Now at his point in our little tale it is important to know that driving with Texans is very different than other places. They like to drive really fast, and often do not stay in the same lane very long. This, along with a bad direction/map print out from Yahoo made for a long ride. We turned around and restarted about four times. Some how we still made it to the hotel in the half hour I thought it would take. We pulled up with two minutes to spare and unloaded the car. The bell boys at the hotel were terrific and took great care of us. We checked in (because that’s what you do...) and checked the room over. Two beds, ashtrays, shower. Good enough. Off we go. So we hit the lobby and got coffee and sat in the lobby bar area for a smoke. And then it started....

I spotted Richard Barre and went over to say Hi. I finally got to meet his wife Sue, who is a wonderful person. Seeing The Barre’s made it feel official. Bouchercon was finally here. To add to it, Richard has two books coming out soon and that makes me very happy. We then met up with Brigid and went off to look for the H.E.B. store that we ordered a cake from. This meant more driving with Texans. We managed to find it with out to much trouble, and we got the cake and other important items (beer and cokes). Ruth is a wonderful shopper and we got out pretty quick. The bell boys ran the stuff up to our room for us and we started to see other people. A lot of them were friends from rec.arts.mystery newsgroup, including Judi and Jeff C, and Beth and Jeff T. Stephen Booth was also already there, and looking happy and ready for anything, which is pretty typical. And, as is typical at these things, memories started to blur. And I don’t drink!! So from here on things may not be in exact order, but they are as close as I remember them.

There was a lot of hugging. As I grow older I really like the hugging. I know it’s not hard boiled, but there you go. I spotted more and more authors. It was nice to see Dennis Lehane at the convention. (even better to see him finally get an award for Mystic River!!) I headed for the Amtrack Station around 9:30. The train was running late, which as it turns out, they always do.

Finally around 10:15 I finally saw my sister get off the train. I expected after the delays and being a total of over two hours late she would be crabby. Not so!!!! She rode down with some other conventioneers and had a wonderful time. After a quick cab ride back to the hotel ( I wasn’t driving again!), we got Jennifer unloaded and headed for the bar. Many people already there, and more coming. Ruth had the cake out, and a big ol’ birthday card for everyone to sign. Beers started flowing and we were really there. The beer of choice seemed to be Shiner Bock. A local brew and kid of dark. I used to love bock beers! After closing the bar we headed off to our room for what was to be our earliest night. lights out at 1:00. Our roommate Jeremy had us laughing a lot.

The next day we were up early, around 8:00, and met for breakfast with Mark Billingham and Paul Johnston. They actually got some sleep after arriving after midnight following a long long flight and a layover in New Jersey. They looked pretty fresh and good to go, even if they really weren’t quite ready. This turned out to be the most time I would get to spend with them at once, because the rest of the convention just got more and more hectic. Let me just say that any time spent with these two blokes is time well spent!! The intelligence in their writing comes from the fact that they are both very bright and witty guys. We all went our own ways in search of registration, the dealer room and panels. Here the whirlwind begins in full.

I spent a lot of time in the dealer room. A lot of good books. Crime In Store came through and had a whole box waiting for us. Great people to buy books from. (Thanks Thalia, David and every one else!) I actually managed to box up and ship two boxes the first day. A few more boxes followed, plus two suitcases with nothing but books. The other dealers were also great, and we tried to spread the spending around. Ruth has started a new tradition of buying one expensive book per convention, and this year it was Ian Rankin’s The Watchman. And not a bad price either!! JD at Sleuths of Baker Street also recommended some new authors for us, so we should be able to go at least a week with out buying books!

Ruth actually sat through entire panels, while I, the nervous energy guy, wandered around taking pictures of many different panels. The panels I actually saw were quite good and usually very funny. There was some disorganization involved here though. Panels only had one mic, and with no riser for the panelists, it was sometimes hard to see. But the people on them overcame this and were able to entertain. The whole idea of panels, in my view at least, is to expose people to new authors. In this respect it worked. I bought books from people I hadn’t heard from before and really look forward to reading them.

This year we did hit a few parties as well. The Lee Child Reacher Creature party was fun, as was the Tart Party. I also swung by the Little Brown Party and got a preread of the next Pelecanos, Soul Circus. We also swung by the Meet The Brits party. Having met many of them already, I actually spent time meeting some Americans I hadn’t met yet.

Also Friday night I finally got to meet the infamous Paul Houseman from Booked 4 Murder in Madison Wis. We ended up hanging out with him quite a bit on Saturday. He’s a really nice guy, and I don’t care what my sister says, I like his haircut.

Saturday started with a breakfast with Brian Wiprud. He seemed a little overwhelmed by my ability to intake large quantities of breakfast food. Saturday also included my being on my first ever panel. I was a bit nervous, but seeing some familiar faces in the seats made it easier. (thanks guys!). The panel went pretty well and I wouldn’t mind doing it again. After this, we went to relax a bit and went out to dinner with Paul at a place called McClusky’s. Good beef!! We ate well and then headed for the Broken Spoke to see a band called The Derailers. We had a wonderful time. Dancing and watching every one drink Texas beer was a real hoot. Thanks Brian Wiprud for putting this together.

Sunday always kind of sucks. Saying good-byes and leaving is a drag. We left a little later this year, but it still wasn’t any better. After a long long flight home it was nice to sleep in my own bed, but my head was still buzzing.

My general thoughts of the convention are this. Great people, great city. I got to spend time with people that I usually only e-mail with. Not enough time, but that’s the nature of the beast. It was great to finally meet these folks I only know from typed messages. Including Iain McDowall, Laura Wilson, Jane Davis, Becky Riordan, Sue Barre, Brian Wiprud, Mellissa, Charlie Cale, Pam and Ed, Fidelis, and many others. It was also great to see old friends. I am also really happy Jennifer and Sarah got along so well. Watching them together was a riot! I saw Gary Phillips blush! AND thanks Sparkle, for making me feel special. Deborah also. You rock.

So, anyone I missed mentioning, I’m sorry, my mind is a blur.

Bouchercon is a wonderful convention. An excuse to leave the rest of the world behind for a while and be with people who like mysteries as much as yourself. And trying to write down all the thoughts from those four days is a Herculean task. But what I remember most, is being really happy for all four days. And that is a great memory.

Jon