Blast at St. Louis Bouchercon 2011

Bouchercon 2011 at St. Louis was terrific. It is truly amazing to see so many authors all in one place. This was my second Bouchercon. The host hotel, the Renaissance St. Louis Grand, was sold out quickly, so I stayed at the historic St. Louis Union Station Marriott, which was such a treat; it's converted from the original St. Louis railroad station. I shared a room with my fellow New York Sister in Crime, Cathi Stoler, the author of Telling Lies. While attending a paragraph-reading party at Left Bank Books, in which Cathi read a paragraph from Telling Lies, I had the honor of meeting my Twitter friends, Chad Rohrbacher and Ron Earl Phillips.

Lobby of St. Louis Union Station Marriott

L to R, top to bottom: Catriona McPherson, Kathleen A. Ryan, Cathi Stoler, Clare Toohey

Left Bank Books, St. Louis

My New York Sister-in-Crime, Hilary Davidson, Anthony Award winner for Best First Novel, The Damage Done

Duane Swierczynski, Anthony Award Winner for Best Paperback Original, Expiration Date

Reed Farrel Coleman, Three-time Shamus Award winning author and fellow Long Islander!

I was honored to moderate a panel called, "Writing From the Headlines" with authors Pamela Callow, Diane Fanning, Ryan David Jahn, Karen E. Olson, and Rick Reed.

I was thrilled to finally meet in person the fabulous Patti Abbott.

I met a new friend, author Catriona McPherson. What a sweetheart!

Glad to see folks I've had the privilege of meeting before, at last year's Bouchercon in San Francisco, or at book signings in New York City, such as Brad Parks, Joelle Charbonneau, Barb Goffman, and of course seeing another fellow New York Sister in Crime, Clare Toohey.

Plans are underway for Bouchercon 2012 ~ in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-7.