Bouchercon 2017, Part II: Cricket lesson

Craig Sisterson (right) with
William Deverell. Photos by
Peter Rozovsky

Craig Sisterson is a small land mass in the South Pacific, about 600 square kilometers in area, 700 meters high, and characterized at times by sparse facial vegetation. He also created New Zealand's Ngaio Marsh crime fiction awards, and he's been a jovial companion at crime fiction conventions in England and North America.

At the recent Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto, he gave me a lesson in cricket, explaining the sport's tactics and pointing to fellow hotel guests and saying things like, "He's a short third man" and "She's a fine leg," by which he meant that those are the names of the cricket fielding positions corresponding to where those guests were standing in relation to us, had Craig and I been bowlers, strikers, wicket keepers, umpires, or silly mid offs. The bemused smiles and puzzled stares of those so anointed did not detract from Craig's lesson, and I now know much more than I once did about cricket.

Toronto City Hall

Antti Tuomainen, Karen Sullivan

I also took some pictures.

Colin Cotterill

Ian Truman

Elizabeth Heiter, Stuart Neville

© Peter Rozovsky 2017

James Ziskin

Karin Salvalaggio, Mindy Mejia, Lori Roy

Anita Thompson, Kay Kendall

David McKee, John McFetridge

Barry Lancet

Baron Birtcher

Emelie Schepp

Two smart authors, one of them Sharp

Zoe Sharp and John Lawton in New
York. Photos by Peter Rozovsky

Bouchercon is a great opportunity to hang out with people who believe that a good piece of writing should be at least 141 characters long and that those characters should form an elegantly written whole that, nonetheless, deserves a second look before it leaves the writer's desk and goes public.

A week after returning from Bouchercon in Toronto, I visited the Mysterious Bookshop in New York to hear fellow attendees Zoe Sharp and John Lawton read from their new novels. (Sharp's is Fox Hunter. Lawton's is Friends and Traitors.)  Lawton said spies (if I remember correctly) are made in the nursery. The man talked Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and what made those celebrated British defectors what they were, and he never mentioned geopolitics.

John Lawton,
Bouchercon 2017,
Toronto

Sharp bemoaned the idea of the strong female character in crime fiction. A male character kicks ass, he’s just a character. A female character does the same, and she’s singled out. Worth thinking about, I’d say.

Zoe Sharp at Noir at the Bar, Bouchercon, Toronto

Alluding to recent news headlines, Sharp said she hopes the new word “Harveyed” enters the language, to which a woman in the audience replied “and leaves the workplace,” to nods of assent and quiet cheers.

Read Lawton, read Sharp, and go hear both authors if you can. They’re worth reading and also listening to.

© Peter Rozovsky 2017

Bouchercon 2017: A Report from Loonie Land

My 10th Bouchercon included a few firsts and superlatives:

1) The first panel on which I sat as a panelist rather than a moderator.

2) My first Bouchercon outside the United States.

3) The most cold medicine I'd ever taken at a Bouchercon and, as a consequence ...

Zoe Sharp reads at the pre-con Noir at the Bar.
Photos by Peter Rozovsky.

4) The least gin I'd ever drunk at a Bouchercon. (I made up for this by drinking  more wine and eating more oatmeal.)

Jacques Filippi

5) This was the first Bouchercon to which I'd arrived by car (from Montreal to Toronto in the company of Jacques Filippi and Karen Salvalaggio, the latter of whom learned much about maple doughnuts, while all three of us practiced swearing in Yiddish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Quebecois French). It was in no way Jacques' fault that a normally five-and-half-hour trip took eight. The soothing presence of Karin, Jacques, and Tim Hortons eased any angst that the endless highway construction might otherwise have caused.

Karin Salvalaggio

6) It was the first Bouchercon for whose story anthology I served as a judge.

7) My first panels, as either panelist or moderator, with David Poulsen, Alex Gray, Margaret Cannon, Thomas Enger, Leonardo Wild, and Timothy Williams.

The Toronto street where I lived when not
dining with Karin, Jacques, and Martin
Edwards

Eryk Pruitt

8) My first experience of Sarah Weinman as a moderator. Sarah chaired the "History of the Genre" panel in which I took part, alongside Poulsen, Gray, Cannon, and Martin Edwards. Moderating: one more thing Sarah does well.

Noir at the Bar

Jen Conley, Jay Stringer

Karen Sullivan, Zoe Sharp

S.G. Wong, Thomas Enger

David Morrell, Ann Cleeves,
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

William Deverell, Craig Sisterson

Jennifer Soosar

Christopher Brookmyre,
Colin Cotterill

John McFetridge

Lou Berney

Eric Beetner

Kay Kendall, Ryan Aldred

Jamie Mason

Three guys from Montreal:
Kevin Burton Smith,
Jacques Filippi, me

Emelie Schepp

Craig Robertson

© Peter Rozovsky 2017

Bouchercon 2017: A photographic gallery of Canadians

Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto happens in two weeks. Here are some photos I shot at previous Bouchercons. I've been attending Bouchercons since 2008, but these photos date from the modern era, which began in 2014 (Long Beach), when I bought my first good digital camera.

First up is John McFetridge, who writes terrific crime novels, always volunteers to help out at Bouchercon, and has a big role in hosting the 2017 version in the city where he lives.

Next, Sarah Weinman, a member of a panel I moderated at Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh. Sarah will return the favor in Toronto when she leads a panel called "History of the Genre," on which I make my first Bouchercon appearance as a panelist.

Sticking to the Canadian theme for a Canadian Bouchercon, here's Jacques Filippi, co-editor with John McFetridge of the upcoming Montreal Noir collection from Akashic Books. This is a rare bar photo, from Bouchercon 2015.

Finally, Dietrich Kalteis, on a panel in Bouchercon 2014, with Cara Black. Dietrich is from Vancouver, so the photo has 50 percent Canadian content.

© Peter Rozovsky 2017

There goes the bride: A Bouchercon 2009 chase scene

I'm preparing for my two panels at Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto. In the meantime, here's a post about an odd spectacle from Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis.

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(Photos courtesy of Anita Thompson)

Our small gang had set out for a late lunch and agent's party at Bouchercon when we met what appeared to be a body of vestal virgins delivering pizza.

"Have you seen a bride?" one of them asked me.

Alas, I had not.

I don't know if they ever found what they were looking for, but Bridesmaid #1 seemed determined to lead the satin-swathed entourage through every park and monument in downtown Indianapolis if she had to.

Later we saw a banquet setting up at the restaurant where we'd gone for the lunch/agent's shindig — a wedding reception, perhaps? — but no bridal party.

Sounds like a mystery to me.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009

Bouchercon panels are up!

Panel schedules for Bouchercon 2017 have been posted, and I'll take part in two sessions, including my first as a panelist rather than a moderator.

On Thursday, Oct. 12, at 11:30 a.m., Sarah Weinman will lead me, Margaret Cannon, Martin Edwards, Alex Gray, and David A. Poulsen in a session called "History of the Genre: Covering decades of good mysteries and its subgenres." Sarah is the North American Martin Edwards, and Martin is the British Sarah Weinman. No sharper and more knowledgeable crime fiction minds exist on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Margaret is crime fiction critic for the Toronto Globe and Mail, and Alex and David are two authors new to me, which is one of the pleasures of Bouchercon panels.

On Friday at 5 p.m., I resume the moderator's role, talking crime fiction in Norway, Thailand, Cambodia, Iceland, Ecuador, and Italy, Thomas Enger, Christopher G. Moore, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Leonardo Wild, and Timothy Williams. The panel is called "Across the Ponds," I've already begun assembling my questions,  and I'll see you there.

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Follow these links for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday schedules.