What is Bouchercon?...
Posted by admin , On December 2, 2011 , in Uncategorized , No Comments
Bouchercon, the Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention, is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher.
It is held annually in the fall, each year being hosted in a different city by a different group of volunteers. The convention typically starts on Thursday and finishes on Sunday.
Each year, Bouchercon nominates and votes the Anthony Awards for excellence in crime fiction, including but not limited to: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Short Story, Best Critical Non-Fiction, and Best Paperback Original.
People who attend are fans, authors, agents, booksellers, publishers and other people who read and enjoy mystery and crime fiction. The first one was held in Santa Monica, California (CA) in 1970. The guest of honor was Robert Bloch of Psycho fame.
Registered attendees of each Bouchercon are designated as ‘members’, and vote at the annual business meeting (held during the convention) on necessary business items. Bouchercon’s governing body is its Standing Committee, which changes year to year, being made up of people who have hosted and will host the convention, and three at large members who are elected by the membership.
Heres a report from one attendee:
Bouchercon and week one of the upcoming tour
A convention before a tour might seem like a nutty idea. Big (by mystery standards) fan conventions, like Bouchercon, can be exhausting.
But they can also be energizing — and so far, that’s what I’m experiencing here. I’ve met some lovely folks, made new friends, seen old friends, and generally had a great time. I even got to hear some good news today from Robert Pepin, here from France and one of my favorite people to catch up with at Bouchercons — who tells me the French edition of Bloodlines will be published soon.
Laura Lippman and Meg Chittenden were stellar on the Crime Lab Project panel.
David Corbett moderated, or rather, encouraged bad behavior on the part Laurie R. King, Chris Grabenstein, John Connolly and yours truly on a panel that was a blast.
Unexpected bonus: Madison is about 20-30 degrees cooler than Los Angeles is right now, so I’m loving this weather…
After this weekend, the tour really gets into gear. Some of you know that I’m working on behalf of forensic science advocacy through the Crime Lab Project — a portion of sales at these events will go toward the CLP. Most of the stores I’ll be visiting will ship books to any part of the U.S., and some also ship internationally.
On Tuesday, October 3, I’ll be back in California and beginning the tour for Kidnapped. That kicks off in San Diego at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore at 7:00PM. At this event, I’ll be joined by Greg Thompson, Director of Forensic Services for the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Greg will talk about what’s going on at the San Diego Sheriff’s Regional Crime Lab.
After the event in San Diego, I’ll be heading north to speak at the annual meeting of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, in being held this year in San Francisco. On Wednesday, October 4, I’ll be at M is for Mystery bookstore in San Mateo at 7:00 PM.
On Thursday, October 5, I’ll be at the Book Passage in Corte Madera at 1:00 PM. Then at 7:30 PM, I’ll be at the Capitola Book Café.
On Saturday, October 7, I’ll sign at the Book Carnival in Orange at 1:00 PM.
I’d better get some sleep, huh?
POSTED BY JAN BURKE AT 12:12 AM
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3 COMMENTS:
Lee said…
Jan,
It was a real pleasure joining you and Hallie Ephron on the Murder Really Bugs Me panel on Frday afternoon at Bouchercon. I’d also like to say that I, as a former police detective – now writer, really appreciate your dedication to the Crime Lab Project. Please feel free to call on me anytime for another panel or project. It would be an honor to do so.
9:54 AM, OCTOBER 01, 2006
enda said…
jan, hope to see you in capitola. would love to take you out to dinner afterwards at patrice’s place.best, enda
6:59 PM, OCTOBER 03, 2006
Jan said…
Hey there, Lee — I’m sure we’ll be working together in the future!
Enda, how good to hear from you! I fly out really early the next morning, so the media escort will probably be taking me back to San Francisco, but hope we’ll get some time together!
I’ll try to give you a call when I reach the city.
1:03 AM, OCTOBER 04, 2006
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