Bouchercon 2017: It’s In the Books (so to speak)

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Bouchercon, here’s a quick primer: it’s the annual convention for mystery and thriller readers and writers from all over the world. Named in honor of Anthony Boucher, an acclaimed mystery critic, editor, and author, it bills itself as the “World Mystery Convention” and it attracts over a thousand attendees each year. This year, in fact, I heard the number was close to seventeen hundred.

Bouchercon 2017 was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is just a memory at this point, but a good one and I would like to share some takeaways I gleaned while I was there.

1. I do not work hard enough.
2. I do not read enough.
3. Another standalone novel might be in my near future (or as near as possible in the writing world) (and, yes, I have an idea for a story).
4. There are way too many great authors out there whose books I haven’t read yet (more on that below).
5. Bouchercon seems geared more toward thrillers than the types of mysteries I write, but I still learned a lot and I hope to apply that knowledge in my work.
6. Bouchercon is a great place to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
7. When my son uses all our cellular data for the month it is impossible to send photos to my email from my phone, hence the absence of photos in this post.
8. My husband is awesome (this is not news to me, but I was reminded of it). He made reservations at the restaurant at the top of the CN Tower and took me there for a surprise dinner.

I always come away from conventions with a curious mix of feelings: inadequacy and inspiration. I spend my days meeting authors who are far more prolific than I, but I go home with an urgency to get to work with new ideas and renewed energy. All in all, it’s a good feeling.

Here are some authors whose books I have resolved to read asap: Ruth Ware, Linda Landrigan, Ragnar Johasson, and Kelly Armstrong.

And here are some titles I’ve added to my TBR:

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (no, I haven’t read that before {hangs head in shame})

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

Green for Danger by Christiana Brand

The Last Child by John Hart

Have you read any of these books or authors?

Until next time,

Amy