That's the Twitter hashtag for the 2010 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention being held this weekend in San Francisco. In a few hours I'm taking a puddle jumper from Owls Head, Maine, to Boston. From there it's a straight shot to the Left Coast.
I attended last year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis. At that time I was an anonymous conventioneer; I had a book coming out, but that's hardly notable at a conference that attracts some of the biggest names in crime fiction. Still, I had a great experience being wined and dined by my agent and publisher and listening to some thought-provoking presentations. After many years of hoping, I began to imagine seeing The Poacher's Son in print.
Now I'm attending the conference as a published author myself. I won't be running any panels, but I expect to sit in on a bunch of them. I'll spend hours in the book room no doubt. And I'm sure I'll be a fixture in the lounge.
If you're attending Bouchercon and you've read The Poacher's Son and you see me wandering aimlessly, I hope you'll say, "Hello."
(Unless you hated the book. In that case, let's just make like two ships and pass in the night.)