Last
week I wrote about the fun I'd had the weekend before at the Los Angeles Times
Festival of Books. Today, I'm writing
about how much fun I had last weekend at Malice Domestic!
Malice
is a conference focusing on cozy mysteries, and it's for authors and
readers. I've been attending annually
for a while and always enjoy it. This
year was no exception. I got to see some
long-time friends and make new ones as well.
At
registration we received a Malice Domestic tote bag as always. It contains the conference's program and some
other items such as magazines and books--quite a few books from other attending
authors. And I was delighted to hear
from other attendees that they received copies of BAD TO THE BONE, my third
Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, which is a May release--although it was a few
days before its official lay-down date.
When
I arrived I was on the waiting list for the event called "Malice Go
Round" in which readers sit at tables and pairs of authors go through the
circuit to meet them, sitting with them and talking about their latest books for
two minutes--and rarely a moment more!
It's always fun and I was hoping to be chosen to participate--and I was. In fact, I was the last one on the waiting
list who got chosen.
On
Saturday I was on a panel called The "Paws" that Detect: Animal
Companions. Yes, another panel focusing
on cozies with a pet theme and I enjoyed this one, too. There was a book signing afterward and I met
some more of my readers--always fun!
There
are lots of meals at Malice with other attendees. The main official ones I attended were the
Sisters in Crime breakfast, as well as the Agatha Awards dinner. I also had a lunch with my wonderful Midnight
Ink editor and other authors.
And,
yes, I attended some panels as well to hear how other people do what they do
with cozies.
Plus,
I visited the local Barnes & Noble.
It had a couple of copies of BAD TO THE BONE early, too! I signed them and they were put on the
Customer Service desk for people to see and buy. That felt bittersweet since that B&N is
going to close in a few months, as so many, unfortunately, have been
doing. Sigh.
Still,
the conference was a lot of fun. Will I
do it again next year? Probably. It will be in a different hotel which is
probably a good thing. This year's,
which has been the host hotel for a while, is undergoing a renovation and was a
bit difficult to navigate. The area where
it's located is okay, but from what I heard next year's will have a lot more
around it, too.
So
perhaps next year you'll hear another Malice retrospective from me!
3 comments:
Glad Malice was a good experience. So, they're moving hotels. The good thing about the Hyatt was the subway station was right underneath. The bad thing was it was far from both airports. Too bad about that Barnes & Noble closing. I signed books there a number of times. And just when it was on the news that e-book sales are down and paperbacks sales are up.
I heard that about ebooks and print books too, and although I do like ebooks I was really pleased to hear about the resurgence of print books. That's still how I prefer to read.
Hey, Ladies,
I hope Malice changes hotels. The Hyatt never has enough servers. The fact the conference is spread out over several levels makes it hard to mingle.
It was great to see you, Linda, but we seemed to always be passing each other in the halls.
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