Chicago, Chicago

Mes Amis

I am here in Chicago taking a break from the con and out on the streets (No, I have not lost all my money and had to go outr on the street in that fashion!). Its a wonderful place here and I wish I could see more of it.

Anyhoo, I have to be quick here, but the con is amazing. Jen has already made tremendous fun of my accent ("Say Murrrder, Hmm-Hmm") and the Rickards has made sure I woke up with a stinking headache this morning. I have had an opportunity to meet so many people including Ken Bruen and John Connolly who are both fantastic writers and wonderful people who didn't run away too quickly when confronted with a beardy, slightly awestruck Scot. I have briefly met the Banks but he dissapeared suddenly and I have been unable to trace him since. Has the Rendell arrived and swallowed him whole? Rumours have also surfaced that I have a publishing deal but they are not true. It was nice of someone to start that one, though. Wonderful Jane has been here and I'm sure even she, with all her amazing powers cannot sell something that is not entirely finished!

The panels have been fun. But most of the action happens around the bar. Of course, the short story panel went well and I don't think I made too much of a tit of myself. Steve Hockensmith accused me of pleasuring myself but we later discovered he meant when I was writing, did I write for my own pleasure? It still doesn't sound right, does it? The entire panel were fantastic to meet and despite the fact none of us were sure how to proceed we managed to keep it going, make a few jokes, discuss bad language and the problems of the term "mystery". I also accidentally told Linda about how I'd snuck in a few Scots swearwords into the AHMM stories. She'll be editing the next one far more closely, I bet!

I am sorry to have missed Al and Ray's panel but when I track em down I'm sure they'll let me know how it went.

So tonight there is yet more drinking to be done. I meant to attend a few panels this afternoon but after a wasted morning (Damn you, Budweiser!) and my getting lost this afternoon, I think my hopes may be dashed. But I've met so many wonderful people and hopefully not scared too many of them either. Anyway, I am off to brave the wilds and will return in a few days with a fuller report and then, of course, the official dissection of events will be in the next CSS update (when I talk about the event with a more focussed hand and more critical eye on those panels I managed to find - this hotel is a fuckin' labarynth!)