The sky is lazy blue, the sun boldly out, the distant mountaintops sugared with new snow, and I’m feeling pretty damn happy. I’m at the end of Left Coast Crime, a wonderful mystery conference in Reno, Nevada, where six hundred people have come together to celebrate the genre for which we all share a great love.
Over the last three days, I’ve spent time with old friends and made a slew of new ones. I was privileged to share the dais with some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, talented, and, very often, humorous writers imaginable. I played poker (and won!), drank a lot of wine, kvetched about this crazy publishing business we’re all a part of, and had the time of my life. The whole experience was beautifully capped when my book Sulfur Springs received the Lefty Award for Best Novel.
The world awaits, with all its uncertainties and challenges, but because of my time here in Reno, the river of goodwill I’ve been swept up in for days, and the great outpouring of affection I’ve felt, I return to that world with my heart full of energy and my spirit buoyed with hope.
