Just back from a day in Ft. Worth and five at Bouchercon in Vegas. Those of you who don’t know what Bouchercon is, patience, I’ll get to that over the next few days. Right now, too wiped to do much more than run my mouth. Cool thing: got the Key to the City of Ft. Worth! Never had a key to a city before. Glad it’s Ft. Worth, too, not Vegas. First time I was in Vegas was two years ago, a month after 9/11. Went because I had a commitment, but I was in a real bad mood. Hated the place. When they scheduled this convention I thought good, I’ll go back, give Vegas another chance. Know what? I was right the first time. A big joyless machine for sucking money from your pocket. Huge casinos on the Strip, parking lots behind, cracking stucco houses for two more blocks and then endless desert. Water, water everywhere, being wasted in huge fountains, dancing geysers, phony waterfalls. And then the hotel asks you to reuse your towels to save laundry water. And I’m such a sucker, I did.