Not that I was gone that long, but it's been a busy long weekend. My fellow Femme Fatale, Dana Cameron, came to town for the Baltimore Book Festival and some signings in Richmond and Annapolis, and we decided to do some driveby signings while she was here. (In my glossary, if you call or email in advance to let them know you're coming by to sign stock, it's a drop-in; if you just show up, it's a driveby.) We didn't even get started till 3 p.m., and we managed to hit seven bookstores in Northern Virginia in four hours. (At left: Dana poses with one of the giant painted fiberglass crabs that festoon various locations in Baltimore as part of the Crabtown Project.)
The crabs, incidentally, will be auctioned off on November 19 to benefit Baltimore's Believe in Our Schools campaign. Which means, I suppose, that if I really tried, I could buy my favorite of the crabs, Checkers the Taxi Crab (shown at left). But I have no idea where I'd put it, so perhaps I will remain content with my memories. Although Dana and I were discussing the concrete coyotes one Boston tech firm uses to repel armies of invading critters. Would a fiberglass crab work, too?
Getting back to the weekend...after our marathon of drivebys, Dana and I recuperated by having dinner at the Lebanese Taverna with Maria Lima, and then visited one more bookstore before calling it a night and heading back to my house, where they were both staying so they could get an early start down to Richmond for their signing at Creatures 'n' Crooks.
While Maria and Dana did Richmond, I stayed home to finish my revisions for No Nest for the Wicket and mail them off to Ruth Cavin. We met up again for dinner at our friend Carla Coupe's house, and were joined by Eileen Dreyer, who was in town attending a forensic nurses' conference, so three-fourths of the Durango Sluts were temporarily reunited.
Sunday, I headed up to Baltimore for the festival. I caught most of Maria's and Dana's noon panel with Jacqueline Winspear and Lucia St. Clair Robson and paneled myself at five with Marcia Talley, Jack Bludis, John French, and Vince Sneed (editor of Dark Furies, in which John has a story). Since the subject was short stories, I had to confess myself a bit of an imposter--I've published more than twice as many books as short stories, so I can't claim all that much expertise. In fact, I think the reason Kathy Harig of Mystery Loves Company included me is because of my involvement with Chesapeake Crimes I and II, the short story anthologies published to benefit our local chapter of Sisters in Crime.
On Monday, Dana and I visited the Baltimore Aquarium before heading out to Annapolis. Marcia Talley gave us a tour of the town and took us to dinner at an excellent seafood restaurant, Cantler's, before the three of us headed over to the B&N store for an event with Noreen Wald/Nora Charles, Laura Durham, and Chris Freeburn. Many thanks to Darleen for arranging a fun event--and for the goodies...at left, Dana shows proper appreciation for the wonders of chocolate.
More photos from the weekend are in a separate photo gallery. We all had lots of fun; let's hope we sold lots of books; and I celebrated my return home with a long nap.
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