Thursday, September 27, 2007

Oh, the places you'll go

I arrived in Alaska last night, coming to Anchorage for this year's Bouchercon. Naturally the first thing I did was head to the hotel bar, where I saw friends that I haven't seen since last year's conference in Wisconsin. Now if you had told me when I first began writing that such a seemingly solitary pursuit would take me from San Francisco to New York, let alone from Alabama to Alaska, it's fair to say I would have been skeptical. But the friends I've made in the writing community make the trips for this neurotic flier almost painless and the events akin to a homecoming. Funny how sitting alone behind a keyboard, making up stories, can open up a whole new world.

Last week I flew to LA for a library event and saw fellow MI author and friend Sue Ann Jaffarian, whose books are a constant delight. Next week I'll be in San Mateo, CA at "M Is For Mystery" bookstore in conversation with the eloquent and enigmatic Keith Raffel. Never would have met those nice folks if I hadn't decided to be anti-social, stay home and write books.

Anchorage is colder than I expected but so far the rain has been minimal. The mountains are spectacular, as you'd expect, and the number of bars per capita is incredible, which probably comes in handy once the sun leaves town to spend the winter in Hawaii. My panel tomorrow deals with creating a sense of place in your novels, strangely appropriate given all the places writing has taken me this past year.

10 comments:

Deb Baker said...

Tim, it's so true. I have more friends through my writing than any other time in my life. Have fun at B'con

Anonymous said...

I went to Omaha for a writer's conference once!

Joe Moore said...

Pablo, what conference was it in Omaha. Was it worth going?
Joe

Keith Raffel said...

When I see Tim a week from today in San Mateo, I'm going to find out just what he means by that "enigmatic" epithet!

Sue Ann Jaffarian said...

I feel the same way, Tim. All those years of thinking I was an oddball, when the reality was I just hadn't found my peeps. I'm still an oddball. I just don't stick out so much among the rest of the oddballs that make up the mystery community.

Enjoy Anchorage!

Felicia Donovan said...

"Naturally the first thing I did was head to the hotel bar..."

Attaboy, Tim. Soak up as much local flavor as you can. Have fun!

Mark Combes said...

Yeah Tim, what do you mean by calling Raffel "enigmatic?" I'd pick another adjective.....

Who loves ya more than me Keith!

Anonymous said...

Joe,
I tried to leave this comment yesterday, but it didn't take, it seems.

The conference was at the University of Omaha, and it was more a literary conference than a writers conference. It was concerned with Midwestern regional literature.

It did get me my first short story published.

Joe Moore said...

Thanks, Paul. And congrats on the short story pub.

Nina Wright said...

And aren't you glad you were there to accept your award in person?!

Here's our deafening applause from a distance: HOORAY!

Nina