The "Famous Fans" panel
Left
to right: Michael Connelly, Sue Grafton,
Anthony Mason, Edward D. Hoch and Peter
Lovesey. Here also, the photographer
discovers the limitations of his digital camera.
Edward
D. Hoch, left, and Peter Lovesey
sign books.
Michael Connelly signing.
Left Coast Crime booth. Yes, this is the Hyatt.
Another scene from the booksellers of the darned.
British books for sale at The Sleuth of Baker Street.
More British books.
Raffle drawing at the DorothyL cocktail party.
Thursday
1 p.m. session: Famous Fans
Interlude: The Book Dealer's Room
4 p.m. session: Kiss Me Kate
Anthony Mason (mod.), Peter Lovesey, Edward D. Hoch, Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly
It was a shame I came late to this session. Everything about it was top-flight. It was held in the Regency ballroom, one of the hotel's largest, and the sound quality was excellent. Anthony Mason's questions were pertinent and brought out great responses from the panelists. The questions ranged from what they read and how it affected their writing; what books they've read lately that impressed them; how they keep track of the minutiae of their characters' lives; and if they reread their books.
The interviews were full of great quotes:
Sue Grafton: I like to read biographies of writers who really trashed their lives. People like Edna St. Vincent Millay. It makes me feel so much better.
Ed Hoch: I read all major fiction, but it turns out that 3/4ths of them are mysteries. And even then I can hardly keep up with them. I'm reading all the time. I have no trouble keeping what I read and what I write separate.
Grafton recommended Stewart O'Nan's "Speed Queen," with its "most unusual setting." A woman who is on Death Row and about to be executed has sold the rights to her story to Stephen King. King has submitted 50 questions, and the book consists of 50 sections. We do not know what he asked, so we're left to put together the pieces from her response. "And I'm reading this and saying, ‘Damn why didn't I think of that.' "
Connelly was reluctant to recommend a book because he reads galleys sent by the publishers, and they won't be made available for months. But he did suggest a book called"Blue Edge of Midnight" that will be out in about 6 or 7 months.
The question came up if authors would be willing to go back and write about an earlier character, and Lovesey replied that would not be interested in going back to his Victorian series featuring Sgt. Cribb. "I wrote those books during a certain time of my life and I really don't see a need to go back to it."
But during a general discussion about good books, he recommended cultivating an interest in really bad books. He mentioned a series that appeared long ago by James Corbitt, who was fond of writing about "a single-chamber revolver" and "a woman wearing a lilac-blue silk dress that matched her collection." Lovesey said that he once placed an ad in a Bristol newspaper seeking information about Corbitt, which was answered by his two sons. They got together to talk about the old man, and since then, Lovesey has built up a collection of Corbitt novels that is greater than, say, his collection of Agatha Christie.
Grafton: "I wouldn't want to read bad books, because I end up saying ‘I hope I don't write this bad.' "
Interlude: The Book Dealers' Room
I mention this only because it was such as shock to me, and because I have the photos to prove it. Entering the book dealers' room after wandering through the rest of the Hyatt Regency was something of a surprise. The place looked like a converted basement: exposed pipes, high lights, concrete floor covered with carpet. It had all the ambience of a parking garage. Those who were at Bouchercon in Milwaukee two years ago will remember that the dealers were housed in what appeared to be a ballroom at Versailles.
There was other shocks in the dealers' room of a far more pleasant kind. At least two British dealers were their with their stock, and one feels like falling into an alternative universe to see familiar faces like Linsey Davis, Robert Crais and Ian Rankin with their titles tricked out with distinctive cover designs of a type unseen in the states. Then there are authors whose books, for whatever reason, will not cross the pond yet, but who are highly recommended, like John Baker. For Anglophiles like myself, it's was a pleasurable rush thumbing through these books.
Then there are the older books, with their original covers carefully Broadarted and with price tags multiplying many times what they went for originally. My favorite: an Anthony Boucher titled, "The Seven Sneezes." At one point, I was reading a lovely letter from Dashiell Hammett that he wrote in Alaska around 1942. It was encased in a plastic sheet protector, and the asking price was only a mere two grand or so. There was also the original, sole copy of the "Red Harvest" screenplay, that had never been filmed, for around nine grand. The owner of the table was away, and I resisted the temptation to make off with the swag. Somehow.
Laurie R. King (mod./panelist); Val McDermid and Dana Stabenow
A very funny session, mixed with some interesting insights into the creative process. It was marred only by low lighting at the panelist's table and a very iffy sound mix that made it difficult to keep accurate notes.
The tone was set with Laurie R. King's introductions, starting with Val McDermid: "To might right, and the only time she's on the right," and progressing to describing her books as varied, "from what might be called ‘lesbian cozies' to the sort of books you don't want to give to your mother." She also mentioned Dana Stabenow's series, hinting at events in one series that presumably have angered her fans, because Stabenow's response was: "You're pissed? Take a number."
They went on from there to toss out the theme of the panel (characters named Kate) and got down to talking about their works and what their inspiration come from and how much their experiences inform their writing:
McDermid: I don't feel the need to do method writing. I mean, I write about serial killers. It's like learning to walk in someone else's shoes, and in the beginning some of us are more comfortable in familiar shoes.
Each took a different approach to how she started a book. King said she started with "an emotional core that I want to muster throughout the book." Stabenow begins with a place "that speaks to me." Sometimes, she take a place she's familiar with, like the coastal Alaskan town she grew up in, and transpose to another place and build her story around that.
McDermid starts with the story, "something that makes my brain fizz. So I tuck it into my head and try to figure out how the story might work." She gave a long description of how she sees her books as a three-legged stool consisting of character, story and place, and how in the end, all three should play an equal role. She also mentioned that she works from about a 10-page plot summery, which King admired for her persistence. Stabenow recalled having to trash 70 pages from one book because her Kate refused to do what the outline called for.
Since I'm writing this after the fact, I'll also mention that I attended the DorothyL party, and while it may be a cheezy thing to write that a good time was had by all, it is the truth. You should have been there.
