Malice Domestic

Happy May, everyone!  I'm definitely happy.  Pick and Chews, the fourth book in my Barkery & Biscuits mystery series is a May release.  Its official release date isn't until May 8, but that didn't stop it from appearing at Malice Domestic, the conference for traditional mystery fans and authors that I attended last weekend.

It was a fun conference, as usual.  I've been attending a lot of Malices since I started writing mysteries.  This year, it was in a different hotel from the one where it was most recently held for a few years.  This one was a Marriott in what they called North Bethesda, Maryland, but it apparently was north of Bethesda rather than being in the north area of that town.

Despite being on a waiting list, I was able to participate in Malice Go Round, an event in which readers sit at tables and two authors visit them for a short period of time to discuss their latest releases, and then move on to the next table.  It's always fun but exhausting.  I talked a lot about Pick and Chews, and gave out bookmarks to remind readers what book I described to them.

At the conference, I visited with buddies I knew from the Los Angeles area as well as others I know more from attending conferences.  I signed copies of my books for those who acquired them.  I attended panels and enjoyed meals with fellow writers and readers, including the awards banquet.  And I was particularly delighted to meet an attendee who had a service dog who happened to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel--my breed!

I'm back home now after getting little done on the manuscript for which I'm under deadline.   I at least finished the edits on the two copyedited manuscripts before I left, so I should have some time to spend on this--although life seems to be getting in the way more than usual this time.  But that's okay.

Still... it's time for me to get back to work on it!