More from Baltimore Bouchercon

JOHN HARVEY & THALIA PROCTOR

The panels have started today. The first panels being at 8:30 am. Despite the early start the panels have been packed and in some cases it has been standing room only even with the large sizes of the rooms.

All the panels have music titles which is really good and they do make for interesting conversations. So far some of the panels this morning have included Bouchercon 101 which covered everything you ever wanted to know about attending or hosting a Bouchercon, The Dot Gets the Com: e-zines the new anthologies, Walk on the Wilde Side. One of the most well attended panels in the morning was of course Like a Hurricane: Three Guys Talking. The three guys in question were Lee Child, Ace Atkins and William Kent Krueger. Fellow Shots mag contributor Ali Karim also had a panel which he was moderating this morning entitled I Can't stand up for Falling Down: Booze, hootch & Firewater and its place in crime fiction.

This afternoon the panels have ranged from one on young adults called This one is for the Children: keeping one Step ahead of some serious YA readers., Thank the Lord for the NightTime:Why is the Supernatural so Damm Fun and my own panel London Calling: The Dark Places we Go. My panelists were Val McDermid, Mo Hayder, Ann Cleeves and Natasha Cooper. It was an excellent panel with standing room only in the room to my delight. It was a shame that it was only an hour long because there were certainly a lot more questions that could have been asked.

Later on this evening there is going to be the Opening Ceremonies where there is going to be the presentation of the Barry, Macavity and CrimeSpree Awards!

Watch this space for the results!

THE BRITS HAVE ARRIVED!
Anne Cleeves, Martin Edwards and Martyn Waites