The convention was great. It was smaller than Bouchercon usually is -- a lot of people felt like Anchorage was too far to go, though really, it's four hours beyond Seattle, not such a big deal. I think it's similar to trying to get Manhattanites to Staten Island: much more of a psychological barrier than anything else. The folks who didn't go missed a great con in a terrific city, though. Because it was small, I got to really spend time with people: Dana Stabenow, whose Alaska Sisters in Crime chapter organized the thing; Laurie King, Jim and Karyn Sallis (Jim, who got the Lifetime Achievement Award, is the only human being besides me whom my cat actually likes), Laura Lippman, David Corbett, Dana Cameron, Ted Fizgerald, Gary Niebuhr, Tim Maleeny, Eric Stone, John Bilheimer, Roberta Isleib... oh so many people. The panels were good, and included a whole Alaska track with law-enforcement people and dogs. I had two panels, one I moderated called "Raising the Genre Flag," where we explored what the genres are for, what stories they tell that 'mainstream' literature doesn't; and one moderated by Laura Lippman on the thrills and horrors of the book tour. Both were a blast. I met Keith Gilman, a PA cop and the winner of the St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Novel contest. Watch for his book next year. No basketball, because I didn't think enough players would be going, though in the end there were enough, but seeing as how I'd broken my toe I selfishly didn't mind that there was no game. There was, however, poker, so I made a few bucks.

Love Alaska!