On the first official day of Bouchercon...

I learned that I must mention Brett Battles in all blog posts.

Did I mention I met Brett Battles? I met Brett! I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that.

What I learned at panels

Al "wise ass" Guthrie has the best t shirt.

You know you're in for a good panel when it starts with Al being asked to explain his pussy snorkel "don't go down without it" t shirt.

Duane Swierczynski says if the ending of a book sucks it can blow future sales. He says he's not holding his breath for a sequel to the Bible.

Eating haggis is an extreme sport.

Jan Burke has a "dear God don't let me die in this jurisdiction" list. I'll be talking more about the Crime Lab Project in the next few weeks.

Okay, now, quite seriously, you do not want to give John Connolly an opportunity to talk about shrinkage on a panel. It just isn't a good idea. John might have a need for therapy. Just... maybe. Of course, why else would he be on a panel called, If I could get away with it - crimes I've enjoyed imagining a wee bit too much. I think he has more than one. There was the cell phone thing, and then there was discussion about duct taping a naked guy face forward to a metal pole on a cold night... Okay, that was brought up by someone else, but John really ran with it.

John also called Brett Battles a wimp during his panel. (Did I mention I met Brett Battles? He's so sweet. Really. I'm not just saying that because he threatened to kick my ass, or because I feel bad that John Connolly called him a wimp in front of a few hundred people. Really.)

Quotes of the day
"It's the Scottish way. Every day is the worst day of your life."
- Russel D. McLean

"I wouldn't spank any other bottom."
- Tribe (speaking to yours truly)

Okay, to the good stuff. I woke Sean Chercover up at 7:30. Serves him right for partying half the night. I was a good girl, I was, and went to bed at a respectable hour, so I was up and ready to go, so I had breakfast with Bill Cameron.

We went to the convention hotel and ran into Clan de Jordan in the lobby, as well as Russel McLean. I have pictures and they will be posted next week. Lovely pictures. They were waiting for Mark Billingham who did a complete no-show on them. Lazy Brit. Anyway, upstairs for Bill to register and I saw John Connolly, who apparently went through the seven levels of airport hell to get there.

Saw Al Guthrie and Duane Swierczynski. See, this is where it gets tricky. I saw Brett Battles downstairs as well - did I mention I met Brett? And he's a doll. Seriously. Anyway, I'm going to start forgetting all the people I saw...

My moment of the day actually started early, when I was in the lobby at the convention hotel, waiting for Bill, and I went to set my bag on a chair and get my cell phone to call Brett Battles. Because Brett is important. I never made the call, though, because a woman sitting in a chair nearby looked up and did the Oh my God, you're Sandra Ruttan thing. And it was KIM ladies and gentlemen! Yes, Kim, who played faithfully and won an ARC of my book! And I had it with me, so it was presents and photos and fun. I was glad we met up at a time when nothing was scheduled, because once the program starts it's so frickin' busy.

I actually sat in front of Kim at John Connolly's panel on abusing people too, and then we saw here again later at the Bloody Brits Press launch party.

Speaking of which, that was cool, and I met DL-er Neil Plakcy as well. Val McDermid was serving wine and beer and she did a fantastic job... as always. I had seen her earlier, but we had a cool story on the way to the bookstore for the press launch. The cab driver told Bill and myself that he loved that bookstore, so I asked who he read. He said Val McDermid right off, and we told him Val was at the bookstore. He did a complete Oh My God reaction and said he'd have to go home and load his books into the trunk and come back. Then he told us he was part of a cab drivers book club group - how cool is that? They've done a dozen books so far, and they did a book by Val. It seemed fitting as we headed off to the launch of BBP, founded by Val and her wife, Keli. (Kelly? I'm not sure on the spelling off-hand.) And major congrats go to Val and Keli on their recent wedding.

Anyway, it was all fun, but prior to the BBP launch, I went for dinner with some of the KY boys. Brett Battles was off schmoozing with more important people, like his publisher, but Rob Gregory Brown, Marc Lecard, Bill Cameron and I went for dinner. We didn't mean to leave Sean Chercover out, but he'd been following Ken Bruen around like a puppy dog all day. It was great to start meeting fellow Killer Year members and have a chance to hang out, but if I tell you about the discussion about anal probing that came up over dinner, they might inflict bodily harm on me. So, I'll just say a pleasant time was had by all gentlemen, anyway.

The Crimespree party was a blast, and I FINALLY got to meet Cornelia Read! She's so cool. Brett Battles was there too. And Rob, Sean, Bill, myself, Marcus... Oh yeah! Finally met Marcus somewhere between dinner and the BBP launch. That was fun. Sarah Weinman broke the news that Dave White wouldn't be coming to B'con after all, damn him. Oh, and I finally caught up with John Rickards. Wahoo. His t shirt wasn't as brazen as Al Guthrie's. This parenting thing seems to really be taking the edge off John. Next thing you know he'll be writing about puppy dogs and flower arrangements.

I met Tribe at the Crimespree party! And I met half of the First Offenders in the bar... earlier. Sometime. I met Declan Hughes, someone I saw at Harrogate but never spoke to.

I met Jess Lourey too!

Oh, and I went up to JA Konrath and put my arm around him. He was pulling away in fear and trepidation, so I said, "Do you know who I am?" and he said "I have no idea." I told him, and then he hugged me. There aren't many people I'd introduce myself to that way, but Satan? Really, he's very sweet. At least, that's what I'll say until the cheque bounces.

And I'm sure I've forgotten someone, who will later set me straight in the comments and whine about me forgetting them. Oh, met Jeri Westerson. See? You have to make a list...

All of the Killer Year crew have been fantastic. I'm running off now to have breakfast with Bill and Rob, and then to get ready for my panel. I haven't got a clue what that's about, so it should be as surprising for me as everyone who attends.

And have I mentioned that Cornelia Read is SO cool?

Oh, and I can't wait to hear how well Mark Billingham did at pool today - he was heading off to do some serious playing with Jon Wood last I saw him.

And honey, if you're reading this, Mark says he's doing his own event in Calgary at Wordfest - if you get a chance can you check into that? If it's Friday, we need three tickets, because Kerry flies in that morning.

Speaking of which, EvilKev made a blog post. It is below and it contains very important Spinetingler news. And lies and slander about yours truly.

See what happens when you leave a guy alone for a few days?

I got six hours of sleep last night. I'm doing well for a convention so far. And the only drink I had was the one glass of wine at Val's book launch party. So there.

Exceptionally well behaved, I am. Anyone who says different is lying. Really.