Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Bouchercon, Day 5: A preliminary wrap-up

Eddie Muller was the #Bcon2010 toastmaster. He's also a native San Franciscan and was a member of Friday's "San Francisco noir" panel. He had this to say about the city as a breeding ground for noir after someone said people come there to reinvent themselves:
"We breed people who exploit those people when they come to San Francisco. ... There are people who are waiting here to exploit those who come here to find themselves."
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Three authors who impressed me with their intelligence, humor, critical acuity, willingness to stake out provocative positions, or some combination of these: John Connolly, Denise Mina, Val McDermid.
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Three of my panelists whom I enjoyed listening to as they talked about their native country of South Africa at the bar: Jassy Mackenzie, Michael Sears, Stanley Trollip.
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Two panelists with whom I ate dim sum in Chinatown on Sunday: Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Christopher G. Moore. (Their spouses were there, too, and I'm happy to have them as panelists-in-law.)
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Panelists who were exceedingly pleasant to work and spend time with: the lot of them. Really.

One hears whispered tales of difficult panelists, but none was mine. The aforementioned plus James R. Benn, Cara Black, Lisa Brackmann, Henry Chang and Stuart Neville were good company, and concise, entertaining and informative in their answers. I enjoyed our discussions on stage and off. Thanks, guys.
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© Peter Rozovsky 2010

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20 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

SO jealous

October 19, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks for the comment. Bouchercons are always good fun, and I have a few more posts coming up to stoke your jealousy.

Bouchercons have now been scheduled through 2014 (a scary thought). Here's the list, to help you with your travel plans:

2011: St. Louis
2012: Cleveland
2013: Albany (New York)
2014: Long Beach (California)

October 19, 2010  
Blogger Barbara said...

Among panel moderators, you set the bar VERY high, Peter. I only made it to the second of yours, but your questions were terrific.

October 19, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Many thanks. I had a large, interesting group of authors for that second panel, and interesting books compel good questions. The hard part is not coming up with good questions, but rather choosing which of many possible questions to ask.

October 19, 2010  
Blogger pattinase (abbott) said...

Glad you have fun and am glad the next two are in my stomping ground. Hope we run in to each other in Philly.

October 19, 2010  
Anonymous kathy d. said...

Great wrap-up but it's just tantalizing. It's like having appetizers before the main event.

The blog's loyal readers can't wait to read more in-depth coverage of what sounds like a fantastic conference and panels.

October 20, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Patti: So you didn't come to San Francisco? That was not to be taken for granted just because our paths never crossed. Unbelievable though it may sound, the bar closed at midnight. With no place to gather, quite a number of people missed one another or didn't know until the third or fourth day that the other one had shown up.

It will be exceedingly hard for anyone to miss anyone else in Philadelphia, though.

October 20, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks, Kathy. You should think of Bouchercon reports as tapas or dim sum rather than as a conventional two-, three- or four-course meal. Each report is a small but tantalizing part of the whole.

Tomorrow's I'll discuss a fascinating aspect of one session, and I'd still like to report on at least one additional event. Finally, I'll hope to find a satisfactory way to write about my own panels.

October 20, 2010  
Blogger Dana King said...

Looks like I missed a good one. So it goes. I would loved to have seen Declan Hughes and John Connolly together. Connolly is always fun and insightful, and there is no more passionate advocate for my favorite sub-genre (PI fiction) than Mr. Hughes.

October 20, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

I still plan to put up a separate post about Hughes, Connolly, and the books and authors they chose.

In re P.I.s, I mentioned that someone has said that any police protagonist who is a renegade cop, who clashes with his superiors, who wants to do the job right, and who still has a friend on the force is really a P.I.

My only complaint about this Bouchercon was that the bar closed too early. This is being a looked into with a view to preventing its recurrence, I am told.

October 20, 2010  
Blogger Gary Corby said...

Is this some vegemite I see before me?

It was fantastic to meet you again, Peter!

October 24, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

You appeared to be having a good time meeting lots of people. Vegemite is a wonderful social lubricant.

October 24, 2010  
Blogger Other Lisa said...

I had a great time being on your panel, Peter!

And I concur, my only real complaint was that the bar closed too damn early...

Lisa Brackmann

November 02, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Lisa, I hope you'll attend future Bouchercons so we can show you that the midnight closing was a shocking exception to an enjoyable rule.

November 02, 2010  
Blogger Other Lisa said...

I'm really hoping to be in St. Louis next year. Fingers crossed!

November 03, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

I will guarantee you that if the bar is not open later in St. Louis, I'll-- well, I'll be very surprised. The issue has been noted at the highest levels of Bouchercondom.

November 03, 2010  
Blogger Other Lisa said...

HuhHuhHuh, you said "Bouchercondom."

November 04, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

I am glad you brought that up before I had to, you delightfully dirty-minded guttersnipe.

November 04, 2010  
Blogger Other Lisa said...

That was my best Beevis & Butthead...

November 05, 2010  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Yes, I recognize that such a thought would never occur to you in your normal high-minded crime-writing, globe-hopping, Vegemite-gobbling persona.

November 05, 2010  

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