Kari's Kave: Malice Fun!

 Oh my...I am still recovering!

Malice was so much fun but exhausting. Or maybe I'm just getting old :-)

The opening ceremonies were great. I got my certificate that said I was a nominee for an Agatha in the Best First Novel category.

 It was such an honor being up against such fabulous authors: Janet Bolin, Kaye George, Rochelle Staab, and Sara Henry. I too, still think that Liz Lipperman should have been nominated :-)

Liz rocks!

That's why I'm clutching my certificate to my chest...Liz had that look in her eye that said, "It's mine, now hand it over!"

Seriously, though, she is the most supportive person I know.

The Berkley dinner was at Ruth Chris and was delicious. I met Jeff Cohen and Maggie Sefton. Such nice people who made me feel right at home. And our publicist Kayleigh Clark is a sweetheart.

Sara ended up winning the Agatha for our category, and it was very well deserved. She also won the Mary Higgins Clark award. That's one author to keep you eye on, she's that good! And just as nice in person.

We had to sit far apart on our panel because the moment we met, we knew we could get into a whole lot of trouble together!

Avery Aames who won the Agatha last year did a fabulous job of introducing the nominees. She even gave us all a tag line so people would know what our stories were about and told them to buy our books. Very supportive, classy, and funny lady. I had the pleasure of sitting at the Berkley table with her and all the other fabulous Berkley authors like Krista Davis, Erika Chase, and Rebecca Hale. Soooooo much fun! And so was the after party :-) Those Midnight Inkers like Jessie Chandler and their editor Terri Bishoff are a riot.

Hanging with my agent, Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency, made the whole trip worthwhile. She is such an amazing person and an even harder worker. If I had won, I would have shouted her name across the room :-)

Liz has the same agent, so we both get to be Book Cents Babes.
Talk about a good time. Our room turned out to be party central. When the bar closed, the bar in our room opened:-) The only downside was NO sleep! I am literally just beginning to feel like myself again.

I repeat, I am getting old!

Joni Sauer-Folger is also a Book Cents Babe and a brand new Midnight Ink author. It was great getting to hang with her again. We've never laughed so much in our lives, but I can't tell you about it.

What happens at Malice...stays at Malice :-)

I finally got to meet my fabulous editor, Faith Black. She is so much fun and such a sweetheart. She also works hard and has a wonderful eye. I know I wouldn't have been nominated for an Agatha without her help, and I would have shouted her name just as loudly if I had won.

But seriously, just being nominated was amazing! I felt like a rock star walking around with my green ribbon :-)

 

Liz also has Faith for an editor, and they hit it off as much as we did. Then again, Liz hits it off with everyone. She said she didn't know anyone, yet within five minutes of being there, she'd already spoken to a heck of a lot more people than I had after being there for hours. And of course they all love her because she's a riot. Just ask Jenn McKinlay! Liz had her in stitches at the Berkley table. Heck, she had us ALL in stitches.

 Liz introduced me to the writing team called Sparkle Abbey. Authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter who write the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. They are a riot! They wore matching t-shirts with one saying Sparkle and the other saying Abbey. They made the conference feel more like an RWA conference than a mystery convention, and it was awesome.

So much fun!

I really hated to leave. I had a hard time going to this convention solo. I haven't been to a conference of any kind alone in 16 years! I always go with my longtime critique partner and best friend, Barbara Mahoney Witek. (Cross your fingers that Midnight Ink picks her up really soon because she rocks and so does her writing!) She wanted to go so badly but had her second son's confirmation that weekend. After hearing all the stories, she has sworn not to miss another conference ever unless someone has died. Then again with a  mystery conference, that's entirely possible. When we are together, we laugh non-stop and get into all kinds of fun situations. I am proud that I made myself mingle and have fun anyway. It helped that I had the BC Crew with me :-)

Finally, the first author's breakfast was wonderful, and the panel I was on was a riot, but what I loved best was the author signing. It felt awesome for "real" fans to tell me how much they loved my book. And that's what it's all about. Not to mention I got to sit by Leann Sweeney!

Now back to reality and deadlines and my writing cave...and dreaming about the next conference I can attend :-)