Greetings from London, where I'm about to get some much-needed rest after several days of, ah, serious socializing. (That's what you get for going to bed at 4 AM pretty much every night.) Which is to say that LCC was pretty damn brilliant and Adrian Muller & Myles Allfrey and their team of volunteers should get some kind of medals.
If you want to know who the ITW nominated for various categories, go here. Peter Guttridge won the Lefty and Tony Broadbent the Bruce Alexander (and so, congrats to the winners and those who tied for second place.) But something tells me what most of you are really after is some sort of report, which shall be handled in bite sized increments. (For more details, go ask John.)
Coming soon to a theater or bookstore near you: NIGHT BUS TO DUNDEE, THE CHOMPING DIVAS OF ABERDEEN, THE MAMMAROLOGIST, and Penguin's Ragtag Group of Contortionists.
Russel's passport photo looks more like Barry Eisler.
Don't share an elevator with Sam Neill.
My short story panel (and thank you to the kind souls who showed up at 9 AM) was going quite all right until the fire alarm. Which would be the first of many.
Stuart spends far too much time working.
Ray and Donna should stop worrying about their moderating skills because they were both ridiculously excellent. As is SATURDAY'S CHILD, which in a bit of a coincidence John and I both were reading at the same time on the way into London.
Bistro Three, Severnshed and The Mud Dock are great places to eat. Good thing because I was averaging about a meal a day.
I should seriously stop drinking Stella.
I want Alex Barclay's fashion sense (and the Clowns Scare Me t-shirt.)
Having complimentary free wireless in the room rocked. So did the free breakfast but oddly, the one time I partook was the one day it cost me money.
Murder By the Book's David Thompson and McKenna Jordan are awesome, though it was slightly ironic to meet them in Bristol.
I was somewhat embarrassed not to recognize Kevin straight off until the pattern continued all Friday night. So save this for next time, after the Switzerland visit.
Man, I had a great time. Thanks to everyone I met, old friends and new ones, for making it so.
It was great to finally meet you, too, Sarah.
And it was an awesome convention, all hail Adrian and Myles.
Now, must take a nap -
Posted by: Rae | March 20, 2006 at 04:23 AM
Mmm, nap... can't nap, must work...
Nice to see you Mz W! Alcohol and sleep deprivation make for strange bedfellows, but not as strange as John and Russel. Allegedly.
Posted by: Stuart MacBride | March 20, 2006 at 04:57 AM
Extremely good to meet you, Sarah, and TYFTKW on SC. Donna insists that Mean Streets would be her first and last panel, but I won't hear of such a thing.
Posted by: Ray | March 20, 2006 at 07:30 AM
Sam Neill? Like, the guy from "Jurassic Park" Sam Neill? The "Omen III: The Final Conflict" Sam Neill?
Posted by: Duane Swierczynski | March 20, 2006 at 07:31 AM
Brilliant to see you again, Sarah. Looking forward to you attempting to recreate the Bristolian female Saturday night attire. Although I suspect Russell will get there first. And I'm still laughing over his Lionel Blair comment.
Posted by: Martyn Waites | March 20, 2006 at 08:04 AM
Great meeting you Sarah.
Posted by: Charlie Williams | March 20, 2006 at 09:05 AM
Thank the Lord, she's back!
Posted by: Ingrid (I.J.Parker) | March 20, 2006 at 09:07 AM
I'd forgotten all about the Lionel Blair thing. That nearly killed me, I was laughing so hard.
Posted by: John Rickards | March 20, 2006 at 09:30 AM
Sarah
Very nice to meet you, although I guess you can't be sure it really was me with that photo.
Martyn - Be careful what you wish for... I was thinking I need a new look for Harrogate next...
And that Lionel Blair, what a trooper...
Posted by: Russel | March 20, 2006 at 10:18 AM
Very nice to meet you, Sarah.
Posted by: Declan Hughes | March 20, 2006 at 06:24 PM
Lovely to meet you, Sarah.
Posted by: Philip Patterson | March 21, 2006 at 06:42 AM
It was great meeting Sarah, Donna Moore, Ray Banks, Charlie Williams, and so many others! What a great conference. Adrian & co. did a superb job. And I'm with Duane: do you mean JURASSIC PARK's Sam Neill?? We wanna hear more.
Posted by: David Thompson | March 21, 2006 at 11:53 AM
Don't forget about the Dilys award going to Colin Cotterill for his book THIRTYTHREE TEETH. The book was marvelous. Highly recommended but start with the first one -- THE CORONER'S LUNCH.
Deb
Aliens & Alibis Books
Columbia,SC
Posted by: Deb Andolino | March 21, 2006 at 03:36 PM
Lovely to finally have a face to go with the blog-voice, Sarah. But I can't believe that with all the time you and I spent in the bar, we still never had that drink together! I owe you one in Madison. But it probably won't be a Stella.
Posted by: Louise Ure | March 22, 2006 at 05:56 PM
I completely forgot about the Dilys - so thanks for the mention Deb. I'm with you on the "highly recommended" bandwagon for this author.
Posted by: Andi | March 23, 2006 at 07:44 PM