Wednesday, May 11, 2016

A Brief Malice Domestic Recap



It was exhilarating and exhausting, as usual. This year I was there to let people know about two new books of mine that both came out in early April.



Here’s me at Malice Go Round, giving one minute of information on each book. This is an event described as Speed Dating, But with Authors. A pair of authors visits 20 tables of 8-10 people each, staying for 4 minutes and taking 1 minute to change tables. We tell the listeners about our books and give them bookmarks and sometimes other things so they’ll remember us. I paired up with Jim Jackson, James M. Jackson is his author name. His newest book is ANT FARM, in his Seamus McCree series. My new ones are FAT CAT TAKES THE CAKE (by Janet Cantrell) and REQUIEM IN RED (by Kaye George). This event was Friday morning after I checked in Thursday night.

This picture was taken by Patti Phillips when I was at her table.

After Malice Go Round, I walked over to Booeymonger’s with Judy Penz Sheluk, who was at Malice for the first time. This sandwich and salad place is where the Guppies have gathered for lunch ever since the convention moved to Bethesda from Crystal City in Virginia. I got to chat with several Guppies there.

Later that afternoon, I met with my agent, Kim Lionetti. This is the only time I see her face to face, once a year. That night Berkley, my Fat Cat publisher took us out to dinner at The American Tap Room.

Early Saturday, 7:30, was the Sisters in Crime breakfast, where all the Guppies wear boas or reasonable facsimiles. Jan Rubens, who came with Jim Jackson, took this picture of ALL the Gups that attended. After I wore a feather boa one year and threw it away the same day, I wear my chartreuse scarf.



I admit I deflated a bit and stayed in the hotel for lunch, then went to my panel, “Death for Dessert: Sweet Murder” in the afternoon. Our admirable moderator was Nancy J. Parra and the panelists were Kathy Aarons, Maggie Barbieri, me, and Jessie Crocket/Jessica Estevao. We all write cozy mysteries with dessert recipes in the back. We discovered that Jessie is actually the only one of us who is a good cook. 


This photo was shot by Julie Hennrikus.

I raced to the wine and cupcake reception given by my agency, BookEnds, guided by Terrie Moran, who had also guided me to the dinner the night before. If these people keep guiding me, I’ll never learn how to get anywhere. Actually, I may not anyway, so I’m grateful for that!

Our panel signed books soon after that, then we did a cocktail or so, then the Banquet with the Agatha Awards.

I highly regret that I wasn’t able to make it to the New Authors Breakfast the next morning at 7. I chalked it up to getting older, but I came down with a cold and bronchitis as soon as I got home, so I’ll blame that instead. I’m making plans to hold a mystery conference/convention where nothing starts earlier than 10.

My own camera, as usual, stayed safely tucked inside my suitcase for the whole trip. Someday I’ll take pictures!


Another fun time talking to and seeing so many of my online pals!

15 comments:

  1. I've never been to Malice, so I enjoyed it vicariously through your post. Thanks for sharing, and I hope you've recovered completely from the aftermath illness. I tend to do the same thing when I travel...I blame it on exhaustion and the inability to regulate the temperature in the hotel room. Marilyn (aka cj petterson)

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  2. The older I get, the harder Malice is. Strange! I tend to want to do it all and that's physically impossible. The bronchitis is hanging on, but much better. Thanks for stopping by, Marilyn/cj!

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  3. Kaye, this is a wonderful retrospective. I'm so glad I got to see you passing from one elevator to the next. Wish we could have spent more time together. I'll come to your conference where no meeting begins before 10 AM!

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  4. And it will last for 2 weeks and be free! Right after my first million--or maybe billion.

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  5. Sorry to hear about your bronchitis! I did think later that I didn't see you again after Saturday and never had a chance to say goodbye!

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  6. Yes, Marla, my Sunday plans fell apart. I was just getting sick then, I think--had no energy. Used it all up Friday and Saturday. It was great to see you, though!

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  7. So nice to see old friends and meet new ones at Malice!

    This year I was fortunate in that all my "have-to's" were done by Saturday afternoon (in the past I have managed to have a Sunday panel) and I could relax at that point.

    Take care of yourself and get better.

    See you next year, I hope!

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  8. I hope so, too! I'll try to pace myself better and get through the whole thing!

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  9. I missed Malice, so with apologies to William Cowper, I offer this little alteration of "The Diverting History of John Gilpin":

    Now let us sing, Long live the King!
    And Kaye George, long live she!
    And when she next doth ride abroad
    May I be there to see!

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  10. Kaye, I hope you're feeling better. It was lovely to finally meet you in person! I'm also onboard for your conference with late morning start times!

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  11. Great blog, Kaye! And I especially like your idea of a conference where nothing starts until 10.

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  12. Oh, Kaye, I hope you are feeling better. So nice to see you at Malice. And I also vote for those 10 AM start times!

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  13. Kathy, you're hired as my Personal Poet.

    Vicki, Ellen, and Shari, all I need are good lotto numbers and it'll happen.

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  14. It sounds like a great deal of fun! It is nice to be there vicariously. What are the Guppies? I've seen the term elsewhere too but am not quite sure what it denotes. I think of going to Bouchercon sometime as a way to see my favorite mystery authors, and that convention seems a bit more reader/fan friendly. Naturally if you hold your own convention, I'd try to find a way to attend.

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  15. Good, I'll put you down. All I need are a few million dollars.

    The Guppies is the only online chapter of Sisters in Crime, with about 600 members right now, I think. The members are from all over the globe. We don't have meetings, but do have a main yahoo discussion group and lots of sub-groups for different needs and interests. And great subsidized online classes. The name came from calling the early group the Great UnPublished, a small group of unpublished mystery authors helping each other try to get published. So many authors stay on, even after they get published, because of the friends they've made, that it's turned into a terrific mentoring group. Here's the webpage.

    https://sincguppies.wildapricot.org/admin/

    If that doesn't work, maybe try without that last node.

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