The Special Relationship: American Noir vs the British Golden Age Thriller

The end of a Crime Fiction convention is always a melancholic affair; following a few intense days, the lack of sleep and over indulgence in Gin takes its toll coupled to saying farewell to friends and colleagues. The Crimefest organisers Adrian Muller, Myles Allfrey and Programming Chair Donna Moore always ensure the last event is one that lifts the spirits. In 2016, we all left after much laughter thanks to Mike Ripley and Peter Guttridge’s SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUEDO which is archived Here.

Crimefest 2017 was no exception with the amusing American Noir vs the British Golden Age Thriller with writer / critics Barry Forshaw representing the US and Mike Ripley representing the UK and Peter Guttridge representing NATO and keeping the peace.

I predict that Ripley’s KISS KISS BANG BANG and Forshaw’s American Noir will feature heavily in competition in the Non-Fiction categories of all major international awards for Crime, Mystery and Thriller Fiction next year. 

During Crimefest 2014 Barry Forshaw, Mike Ripley and Peter Guttridge presented an enlightening and amusing overview of the British Golden Age thriller, which we recorded and archived HERE and is well worth a view, with a few chuckles.

Shots were delighted to be given permission by the Crimefest Organisers as well as Mike Ripley, Peter Guttridge and Barry Forshaw to film the closing panel American Noir vs the British Golden Age Thriller – in our usual ‘gonzo’ style.

It is split into five sections, though we will leave Part One till the end as the camera picture for some reason was not as sharp as the other sections, but is watchable.

So pour yourself a generous measure of Bombay Gin, and view the American Noir vs the British Golden Age Thriller

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part One

More information about Mike Ripley’s KISS KISS, BANG BANG available from HarperCollins Here and Shots Magazine Here

More information about Barry Forshaw’s AMERICAN NOIR available from Pocket Essentials Here and Shots Magazine Here

If you’ve enjoyed this presentation, then we’d urge you to explore the work of these key writer/literary [and film] critics.

Their body of work can be purchased [with discounts] from the Shots Bookstore –

Barry Forshaw’s work is available here

Mike Ripley’s work is available here

Peter Guttridge’s work is available here

Diamond Geezers : Martin Edwards in conversation with Peter Lovesey

One the many highlights of the Crimfest 2017 weekend in Bristol was the Peter Lovesey interview by the current chair of the Crime Writers Association [CWA], Martin Edwards.

Apart from both authors being celebrated writers within the Crime and Mystery Community [as both are award-winning writers], they are also the nicest guys in the business. Many years ago when I was a CWA judge for the Short Story Dagger Award, Peter was our Chair. I was a bit of fan-boy at the judging meetings during that time as I was somewhat in awe of being in the same room as this legendary writer.

I’ve known Martin Edwards even longer, though we first met in person during the Las Vegas Bouchercon 2003. I soon discovered that Martin and I live about 20 minutes apart in the North West of England. In another curious twist of fate I would later learn that his legal practise represented me when I had some legal issues that need resolving.

Shots were delighted to have been granted permission by Myles and Adrian of Crimefest as well as Peter and Martin to record this interview, which we carried out in our traditional ‘gonzo’ style, split into five sections.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

And remember Peter Lovesey will be a Guest of Honour at Bouchercon, The World Crime and Mystery Convention hosted in Dallas TX [2019]

Peter Lovesey was one of Crimefest 2017’s Guest of Honour and here’s his amusing speech from the Gala Dinner

Observations from Crimefest 2016

 Photos © 2016 A Karim, Peter Rozovsky & Jo Evans

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit, but also the spirit of his friends.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Prior to a full report of the Crimefest 2016 event, which will appear in due course at the CWA Member Publication Red Herrings Magazine, [as well as in Jeff Peirce’s The Rap Sheet]; I thought I’d share some of my observations of this wonderful weekend.

Jeff Peirce kindly posted an array of photos I took earlier here, as well as the results from the 2016 CWA Dagger Longlist Nominations here and the Crimefest Awards from the Gala Dinner here.

I have compiled these series of video observations [and a few photos] from the Crimefest weekend for our readers, and those unable to make the event, to get a flavour of what went on.

Like many of us in the world of Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, I just love reading the dark side of Literature and have many colleagues, and friends within publishing, writing, editing, promotion, reading and reviewing, many scattered around the world.

I find great enjoyment in discovering insightful and page-turning fiction, in a world that appears to get dumber by the day, it provides me insight and escape from our existence. I also find the atmosphere within the Crime, Mystery and Thriller community to be collegiate, hence my use of the Nietzsche quote [above], as we all support one another in a business that is getting tougher and tougher by the day, due the economy, technological change, our shortening attention spans, dwindling time, and the distractions that circle us like vultures in a Mike Stotter western.

These videos are captured using my Iphone as well as my trusty Canon Camera, and were not planned. They are short clips, filmed in gonzo style and purely for fun. Please bear in mind there was a great deal of good natured banter, socialising, laughter and drinking going on.

L- R Clockwise : Mike Stotter,,Scott Turner, Mason Cross, Mike Stotter, Mark Billingham, Ali Karim and Peter Rozovsky [with camera]

The Presentation of the 2016 CWA Dagger Longlists occurred on Friday Night, and managed by the Chair of the Crime Writers Association, Len L.C. Tyler, assisted by judging chairs / judges.

So after the Longlists were announced, there was a surprise for writer / critic & Crimefest’s official quiz-master Peter Guttridge who after presenting the John Creasy New Blood Dagger Longlist for best Debut, was caught by surprise by being presented with the CWA Margery Allingham Award from former Dr Who, Peter Davison [who also played Allingham’s Albert Campion on TV] for his short story Heart Shaped Box. The Judging panel described Guttridge’s story as -

“A clever and unusual story where Margery Allingham’s definition of a mystery – ‘box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge’ – is explored by the narrator. It becomes rather more than the fascinating intellectual exercise the reader first takes it for, as a man aims to murder his wife and her lover in such an extraordinary way that his obvious motive won’t be enough to incriminate him.”

Another highlight was catching up with 2009 CWA Diamond Dagger awarded writer Andrew Taylor in conversation with the 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger awarded writer Peter James. The event understandably was standing room only as both Taylor and James are not only bestselling writers but have won numerous awards and accolades due to their narrative skill; with Peter James holding the current No 1 position in the UK hardcover charts with Love You Dead.

At the Gala Dinner on Saturday, Peter James was presented with his Diamond Dagger, and he gave a very amusing, though poignant speech which should give a boost to writers everywhere, who dream of a career as a novelist.

Earlier in the afternoon, Crimefest Special Guest, Ian Rankin was interviewed by The Telegraph’s Crime Fiction Critic Jake Kerridge. During their exchange Ian discussed the role of the author in trying to make sense of the reality that surrounds him/her and the reader - via the detective. Because when it comes to making sense of the reality we find ourselves in, we are the Detective, piecing together what is really going on, and perhaps why?

Ian also was asked by the audience about how he comes up with character names, including Malcolm Fox, John Rebus as well as the names from charity auctions.

And Ian Rankin also talked about the link between the reality and the fictional portrayal of the changing face of law enforcement in Scotland.

Later at the Gala Dinner, Ian Rankin gave a very interesting and amusing speech, balancing the reality of the judicial process against the fictional one, indicating the surreal nature of life.

Another surprise was Martin Edwards receiving the HRF Keating Award for his Mystery Writers of America [MWA] Edgar Awarded ‘The Golden Age of Murder’

A real-life detective story, investigating how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction, writing books casting new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors’ darkest secrets.

This is the first book about the Detection Club, the world’s most famous and most mysterious social network of crime writers. Drawing on years of in-depth research, it reveals the astonishing story of how members such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers reinvented detective fiction.

Other highlights included a rare appearance from writer / critic and Shots ‘Getting Away With Murder’ columnist The Talented Mr Mike Ripley to Bristol, where he participated in a panel discussion chaired by Journalist and Award-Winning Crime Writer Ruth Dudley Edwards on the Comic Crime Novel, with James Runcie, Nev Fountain and Douglas Lindsay.

We present some short amusing clips from that panel -

It was apt that Adrian Muller and Myles Allfrey closed Crimefest 2016, with Mike Ripley’s “Sorry I haven’t a Cluedo” aided by Peter Guttridge, where two teams battled in an amusing quiz related to Crime Fiction. Laura Wilson captained the Female Crime-Writers with her colleagues Susan Moody and Alison Bruce, while Ian Rankin captained the Male Crime-Writers Andrew Taylor and Thomas Mogford

Shots Blog will feature the full video of Mike Ripley’s “Sorry I haven’t a Cluedo” as well as an edited video of Ian Rankin in conversation with Jake, with The Rap Sheet Report to follow in due course.

The Shots Team hope to see you at 2017’s Crimefest, with full details available from www.crimefest.com

L-R TOP : Mike Stotter, Ayo Onatade, Mike Ripley, Mike Ripley & Ian Rankin, 

L-R BOTTOM : Mike Ripley, Peter Guttridge and Ali Karim

Peter Rozovsky's Book To Die For - Roses, Roses by Bill James

Peter Rozovsky writes the Detectives Beyond Borders Blog. He has written essays and introductions for Following the Detectives: Real Locations in Crime Fiction and The Cultural Detective: Reflections on the Writing Life in Thailand. He reviews international crime fiction for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is a newspaper subeditor, a freelance writer and crime-fiction editor, and the father of Noir at the Bar.

Some of us remember where we were when John F. Kennedy was shot or World War II ended; I remember where I was when I first read Bill James. I was having coffee and a scone and passing the time of day at my local secondhand bookshop when the owner said, "Hey, you might like this" and handed me Roses, Roses, tenth novel in James' Harpur & Iles series.

Two pages in, I was Siddhartha Gautama under the Bodhi tree. I was Hugh Hefner at that magical moment when his mother said, "Hugh! Stop studying so much. Go find a nice girl." I read a third of the book, brushed the crumbs from my upper lip, and said: "I'll take it."

What makes Bill James so much fun to read? Here is part of what James told me in an interview: “I tend to get bored reading books where the dialogue is very sequential and reasonable.”

The same goes with James’ narration. Here is a snippet from I Am Gold, Book 27 in the series:

"Harpur thought the greeting, regreeting, fizzled with emptiness and formula. Naturally it did. It came from the manual — Besieging for Dummies, or something like. And, just as naturally, this boy, this boy `John' in there could recognize smooth-textured bullshit. Very likely these calls would contain nothing but. In fact, perhaps ultimately there'd be so much he would get disorientated by it, half smothered by it, gently and mercilessly chinwagged into collapse and surrender by it. But, maybe he recognized this hazard and left the phone dead for spells while he got his breath back."

That’s not a take on hostage negotiations one is likely to find in most crime novels.

What makes the series great, other than James’ ability to make routine passages deliciously funny? Its delicious looks at the upward aspirations of its gangsters. Its funny, touching takes on family life. It’s teaming of the vain, violent, ungovernable ACC Desmond Iles and his partner, DCI Colin Harpur, who sometimes deflects and sometimes slyly returns Iles' insults, yet who is capable of betrayals of his own. Its "brilliant combination of almost Jacobean savagery and sexual betrayal with a tart comedy of contemporary manners," according to John Harvey, who ought to know a thing or two about crime fiction. And the gorgeous prose:

"If you knew how to look, a couple of deaths from the past showed now and then in Iles' face."

That's from In Good Hands, and it's haunting and beautiful. James can also be laugh-out-loud funny while remaining just as haunting, as in, the opening of The Detective is Dead:

"When someone as grand and profitable as Oliphant Kenward Knapp was suddenly taken out of the business scene, you had to expect a bloody big rush to grab his domain, bloody big meaning not just bloody big, but big and very bloody. Harpur was looking at what had probably been a couple of really inspired enthusiasts in the takeover rush. Both were on their backs. Both, admittedly, showed only minor blood loss, narrowly confined to the heart area. Both were eyes wide, mouth wide and for ever gone from the stampede."

The series hits its stride around its seventh book and becomes a kind of grand and cracked portrait of Britain's shifting urban and social landscape at the end of the twentieth century, of the murky boundaries between police and criminals, of suburban social climbers who happen to be killers and drug dealers, of the strange ways people build families in changing times. The books are violent, dark, and often very funny. And their author just may be the best prose stylist who has ever written crime fiction in English.

CrimeFest - Final Day and Round Up!

Okay, this is my final post about CrimeFest. 

So what did I wear at the gala dinner?  When packing for Bristol I was not sure what I was going to wear so I bought along with me an alternative top to go with the black trousers that I was going to wear.  In the end, I went with a pair of black trousers, a green bustier and a brown silk jacket.  I know that Ali Karim took some pictures so as soon as I manage to get him to let me have copies I will post them.  

Prior to the dinner a reception took place which was hosted by Million for a Morgue.  This was a fundraiser to raise funds for a state of the art morgue  at the University of  Dundee.  Professor Sue Black whom I have heard speak before was extremely passionate in explaining why the facility was needed.

In order to raise funds 1o crime writers have put themselves forward in support of the venture and the crime writer that garners the most votes will have the morgue named after them.  The ten crime writers are Val McDermid, Lee Child, Jeffrey Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, Kathy Reichs, Jeff Lindsay, Stuart McBride, Mark Billingham, Peter James and Harlan Coben.  Luckily for us three of them (Lee Child, Jeffrey Deaver and Peter James) were in attendance at the reception and used the opportunity to “pitch” to all of us their different reasons why we should vote for them.  I must admit that I did like one of Jeffery Deaver’s reasons which was that he looked the most like a mortician!  More information about the Million For A Morgue campaign can be found here.

Dinner itself was really good fun.  I had on my table the lovely Sophie Calder from Titan Books whom I had met earlier in the evening. Titan Books publish Hard Case Crime, which have some of the loveliest pulp covers for their books.  Rather sadly, I have had to stop reading them on the train to work.  The number of glares and funny looks that I have received whilst reading them is unbelievable. Literary agent Oli Munson (Blake Friedmann) who made good the promise that he had made to me on Twitter and bought me a gin & tonic during the festival, Michael Ridpath former Vice Chair of the Crime Writers' Association, Tom Harper former Chair of the Crime Writer’s Association and fellow Shots contributor Kirstie Long.  There were also three  other ladies on the table whom I rather sadly did not get a chance to talk to.

Some awards were also given out during the evening.  These awards were -

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARDS
The Audible Sounds of Crime Awards are for the best abridged and unabridged crime audiobooks first published in the UK in 2011 in both printed and audio formats, and available for download from audible.co.uk, Britain’s largest provider of downloadable audiobooks. Courtesy of sponsor Audible UK, the winning authors and audiobook readers share the £1,000 prize equally and each receives a commemorative award provided by Bristol Blue Glass.

Best-Abridged Crime Audiobook:
Lee Child for The Affair, read by Kerry Shale (Random House Audiobooks)

Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:
S. J. Watson for Before I Go To Sleep, read by Susannah Harker (Random House Audio with AudioGO)

GOLDSBORO LAST LAUGH AWARD
The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2011. The £500 prize is sponsored by Goldsboro Books, the book collector’s bookseller. The winner also receives a commemorative award courtesy of Bristol Blue Glass.

Declan Burke for Absolute Zero Cool (Liberties Press)

eDUNNIT AWARD
The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction eBook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format in the British Isles in 2011. The winning author receives £500, an eReader, as well as a commemorative award courtesy of Bristol Blue Glass.

Denise Mina for The End of the Wasp Season (Orion)

I have to admit that I was really pleased that Declan Burke won the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award.  Absolute Zero Cool was one of my top five favourite books last year and it is without a doubt a zinger of a book.  Dark, witty and incredibly funny I would urge people to read it. 

So did I stay up late after the dinner?  Yes I did. I found myself having a really interesting conversation with Damien Seaman about Noir novels and our favourite ones.  I also caught up with Ali Karim’s really lovely daughter Sophia who attends University in Bristol.  By the time I managed to drag myself off to bed it was 3:00am in the morning.  I even surprised myself by going to bed without a hangover! How good was that!

Getting to bed was not as easy as I had hoped.  Kirstie  (whom I was sharing a room with) had sent me a message to say that her key card for the room was not working properly.  Mine did not work when I wandered up to my room.  The hotel in their infinite wisdom had replaced the cards but had slipped them under the door.  This of course did not help me as I was still down in the bar when this happened. In the end, I managed to track down one of the night staff and got them to open the door.   Unfortunately, the replacement, replacement keys did not work so every time we left the room we had to track down a member of staff to let us in.  You can imagine how happy we were about that.

Sunday morning came too early for my liking but I still managed to get up and head down for breakfast before Kirstie managed to stir. I had a lovely breakfast with Meg Gardiner again.  Such excellent company! I the proceeded to chat with various people before the start of what is in my opinion always one of the best events CrimeFest – Criminal Mastermind.  Criminal Mastermind is based on the original Mastermind programme. The difference is that the specialist topic is always on crime fiction and the general knowledge round also.  Maxim Jakubowski acts a quizmaster.  This year (and unlike I have done for the last couple of years where I have acted as timekeeper and scorer) I acted as timekeeper whilst Liz Hatherell acted as scorer.

The crime fiction aficionados that consented to brave the chair were crime writer Peter Guttridge whose specialist topic was the Richard Stark’s Parker novels, crime fiction blogger Peter Rozovsky who chose Dashiell Hammett as his specialist topic; Jake Kerridge, crime fiction reviewer for the Telegraph whose topic was the Albert Campion novels of Margery Allingham and Rhian Davies a crime fiction blogger whose topic was UK debut crime novels since 2010.

The first round was a close race between  the two Peter’s – Guttridge and Rozovsky.  Peter Guttridge had 11 correct answers plus one pass whilst Peter Rozovsky had 10 correct answers and two passes.  Jake Kerridge had 7½ correct answers and two passes. Rhian Davies had in the first round 8 correct answers and 1 passes.  The second round was once again a close race between the two leaders.  Peter Guttridge managed a score of 4 correct answers and 5 passes and whereas Peter Rozovsky had 5 correct answers and 5 passes as well.  Jake Kerridge and Rhian Davies did not do as well and managed to score 1 correct answer and 2 passes and 2 correct answers and 1 pass respectively.  The winner was Peter Guttridge who managed to have 1 less pass than Peter Rozovsky.  Criminal Mastermind is always exciting and a perfect way to end the festival.  Congratulations need to go to all of those that took part.   The questions were tough.  Peter Guttridge’s questions were devised Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake) son Tod. The questions on Dashiell Hammett were done by his French translator and the questions on Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion novels were done by crime fiction critic Sarah Weinman.

So CrimeFest is over for 2012.  The dates for 2013 have already been announced.  Next year CrimeFest will take place between 30^th May and 2^nd June. One must say a huge thank you to the organisers for organising such a wonderful festival. It was the best so far. Brilliant panels most of them standing room only! Good company and lost of fun. I am looking forward to 2013 already!

CrimeFest Day 1 Part 2

It looks like I am going to have to decamp to Starbucks on a daily basis if I want to have good free internet access.  Not too keen on traipsing up the high street.  Will have to see how it goes.  

One of the good things about attending CrimeFest, Harrogate, Bouchercon etc is the fact that you get the opportunity to catch up with people.  This was the case on Thursday.  It was lovely to see Matt and Denise Hilton, Adrian and Ann Magson, Mari Hannah, Cath Bore, Karen Meek, Peter Guttridge, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Chris Ewan, Chris Carter and many more and all of them before any of the panels had started.  Hanging around the reception area waiting for my room to be ready was evidently the best place to be!

So did I manage to get to any panels?  Yes, I did despite the fact that I had a spoke put in the wheels because of trying to get my room sorted out!

I did in fact attend the first panel They’re All Out To Get You – It’s a Conspiracy, which had Dean Crawford, Adrian Magson, Chris Ewan and Emlyn Rees participating along with Tom Harper as participating moderator.  I did actually tweet about this as it was taking place.  The room was full and a lively discussion took place.  Emlyn Rees stated that he was initially in denial over the fact whether or not he actually read any thrillers until he looked on his bookshelves and realised that he did.  Chris Ewan who is best known for his Good Thief series has written his first standalone novel, which comes out in August.  He explained that he found it challenging to write a criminal conspiracy novel. I did not find this surprising as his Good Thief series are anything but thrillers.  They are thrilling books to read but are more comic capers!  Adrian Magson pointed out that he had not realised that he wrote conspiracy thrillers until after a review pointed it out.  Conspiracy thrillers seem to be popular due to the recession.  People do not trust the Government.  They are not being told the truth; they feel disenfranchised and therefore see conspiracy thrillers as an escape.

Emlyn Rees felt that it was a rollercoaster in terms of information.   An example that he used was Umberto Eco’s Foucault's Pendulum.  Dean Crawford stated that he felt that it was a war of the worlds, which was very realistic in the 50s.  One just had to look at the recent news and information that was available to write about.  Chris Ewan and Emlyn Rees referenced Dr David Kelley and David Shayler as prime examples.  The panellists also commented on the fact that even though theorists are real it does not mean that the conspiracy is.  Adrian Magson pointed out that he would not use a real life event as the basis of a novel.  Questions were asked but the most interesting one was by Ruth Dudley Edwards who asked why did conspiracy theorists tend to be male?

Unfortunately I managed to miss Matt Hilton’s panel.  Not because I wanted to but mainly because I finally managed to get into my room!  I did go to see Frederick Forsyth being interviewed by Peter Guttridge and unsurprisingly it was standing room only! I will put my hands up now and say that whilst I am fan of his early works especially The Day of The Jackal and the Odessa File, I have not been too keen on his stuff for quite some time now.  He did explain that he does have a new book coming out that will have some technology in it – cyberspace!  However, he also pointed out that it might well be his last book.  Frederick Forsyth is not a computer geek. He does not use email and uses a typewriter to type his novels.  90% of his plotting is without a word being written.  It is all research and then the story. He writes one A4 page per chapter to describe what is happening.

He went on to explain that he lived most of his life via the Cold War. He had been a journalist at 23 after coming out of the Air Force but did not know that he wanted to be a writer.  It took him 35 days to write his classic 1971 novel The Day of The Jackal.  It was written without any corrections.  It was also turned down by four publishers before it was picked up by Hutchinson’s.  He stated that he felt that the original film was terrific but that it was nothing to do with him and that Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Roger Moore all wanted to play the Jackal, the role that was subsequently played by Edward Fox.

He stated that for the Odessa File he managed to interview Simon Wiesenthal and it was he that proposed Simon Rushman as the villain. Rushman was known as the Bucher of Viga and he was exposed living in Argentina because of the film.  Frederick Forsyth explained that in this day and age it was a lot more difficult for terrorists to get away unobserved.

He was asked about his reading tastes and he explained that he mainly read non-fiction but did enjoy and had read all John Le Carré’s.  He also enjoyed reading tom Clancy with whom he was good friends, David Baldacci, John Grisham (however he had not liked the last three and Michael Connelly.  He tended to do his reading on the plane.

I was not that impressed with Frederick Forsyth himself, but maybe it was because I could not hear him properly and also he had this tendency to talk in threes!

Peter Rozovsky has a slightly more serious blog post about the interview over on his blog.  For some reason I cannot link to the actual post.  However, it is easy to find.

The evening was good fun.  This year I did not do the quiz!  I just decided not to take part.  I did have a lovely evening as I ended up being taken out to dinner with the lovely people from Quercus along with Elly Griffiths, Martin Walker and Asa Larsson.  Also in attendance were the ever-delightful Nicci Praca (who organised the dinner) and my erstwhile fellow Shots colleagues Mike Stotter and Ali Karim.  By the time we managed to stagger back to the hotel it was after 11:00pm and by the time I got to bed it was 1:45am.  It looks as if late nights are going to be a regular occurrence! How I managed to be up by 7:00am I don't know.  Coffee has a lot to answer for.

My whinge is that the Marriott charge £15.00 per day for Wi-Fi access and there is not even free Wi-Fi in the lobby area.  I am sorry but in this day and age it is so wrong.  I am wondering if I am being too annoying over this but don’t actually think so because it does not cost that much for Wi-Fi and nowadays most hotels even if they do charge you for using Wi-Fi in your room tend to have it free in the public area.  Come on Marriott you need to change your policy over this!  Does anyone know if the Marriott have a twitter account and if so what their Twitter handle is?

Well I have various panels to attend and the short story nominations to announce as well later on.  One decision to make is what I am going to wear!  Choices, choices!

By the way, I am tweeting (when I can remember to charge my phone) using the #CrimeFest2012.  Look out for my erratic tweets!