Bouchercon – First Impressions

I arrived in Dallas earlier today to attend the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. It’s the 50th anniversary of the conference, which in itself is exciting. I picked up my name tag and the huge book containing schedules, guests of honor, readers attending, and authors. Two things struck me – I found my name listed under authors, as well as my photograph talking about my writing endeavors, including the upcoming publication of Salvation Station in April.

Having submitted those things months ago, I completely forgot my picture and name would appear in the program. So it was a nice surprise and a small thrill. The second thing that struck me was the yellow ribbon on my name badge proclaiming that I’m a “First Time Attendee.” So, after this, I will officially no longer be a Bouchercon virgin.

I’ve already given out a couple of Salvation Station bookmarks, which also serves as my business card, providing my author site and contact information. I gave some out to friends before I left and everyone has noted what a cool idea it is to combine the two. A nice take-away people can also use.

I’m excited to be here in the heart of Texas and looking forward to learning lots from the experts on crime and mystery writing.