Damn Near Dead Panel

Saturday, September 16

Participants

bleekerbooks: Graham Powell
bustedflushpress: David Thompson
crimeflix: Jason Starr
duaneswier: Duane Swierczynski
g_so: Gerald So
hardcasecrime: Charles Ardai
macavityabc: Bill Crider
mysdawg2003: Aldo Calcagno
raybanks77: Ray Banks
sarahweinman:: Sarah Weinman
sean_doolittle: Sean Doolittle

bustedflushpress: hey, Harry Hunsicker was just at the store for a signing, and he wanted me to say to everyone... so "hi"

macavityabc: Hi, all. And Harry, too.

duaneswier: Hey, Bill.

bleekerbooks: Hello.

hardcasecrime: Wait till you see the cover of my next book -- a beautiful naked woman holding a gun and covered by nothing except a stuffed teddy bear.

hardcasecrime: Jeez. Now Bill and Harry must be wondering what the hell I'm talking about.

bleekerbooks: "She bears it all!"

g_so: really, Charles?

macavityabc: Anytime you mention a naked woman and a guy, I figure it's okay, no matter what you were talking about.

hardcasecrime: Yep. Wish there were some way to upload the art. Really snazzy.

crimeflix: Save that for cover of Bust part trois

duaneswier: "Bare"

bleekerbooks: Part *trois*?

bustedflushpress: hey, when is BUST 2 out?

hardcasecrime: BUST 2 will be out next October.

crimeflix: Part three will be called........BARE

hardcasecrime: Assuming that Jason and Ken finish writing it this October...

duaneswier: Raymundo!

raybanks77: Well, ain't this a fine collection people?

bleekerbooks: No, not really.

raybanks77: Y'know, I still haven't read BUST. I probably should, shouldn't I?

crimeflix: October, David...next October

bustedflushpress: cool... can't wait!

macavityabc: If you haven't read BUST, you should be doing that, not this.

crimeflix: Thanks, Bill....by the way....can't resist asking "Hot enough for you?"

bleekerbooks: I told them it was (duh!) hot in Texas.

duaneswier: We should all team up and ask Graham questions.

crimeflix: Loved Red White and Blue Murder, the one I picked up in Houston

macavityabc: Hot, humid, and nasty. The swamplands. But you know what happens if you ask that question, having read the book. Glad you liked it.

duaneswier: "Which story did you read first, Graham? Was it mine? Did you like mine best?"

bleekerbooks: No.

bleekerbooks: Actually I'm old-fashioned - I read them in order.

hardcasecrime: Are there any civilians here, or just us old pros?

crimeflix: whoops

hardcasecrime: ("We" old pros?)

bleekerbooks: "Old"?

duaneswier: "Us"?

macavityabc: There's only one really Old Guy here.

hardcasecrime: Well, 'old' seems to fit today's theme.

duaneswier: Charles, before I met him, I swore he was 60-something.

hardcasecrime: Though I was thinking it's a little funny to hold an event for DAMN NEAR DEAD online...when most of the people we were writing about probably aren't big users of the Internets.

duaneswier: Very true. We should at least TYPE IN ALL CAPS

bustedflushpress: lol

sean_doolittle: ha

hardcasecrime: I'm curious: How many people here have actually had experience w/ a geezer criminal?

raybanks77: Depends how old a geezer is.

sean_doolittle: Thanks for the greetings, everybody. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell window I'm supposed to type in.

crimeflix: KEN BRUEN HERE...............HOW ARE YOU ALL?......................................................

bustedflushpress: oh, bullshite

crimeflix: sorry, couldn't resist

hardcasecrime: Let's say a geezer is anyone 20 years older than you are at any given point in time. (So when you're 18, 38 is a geezer.)

duaneswier: My God. Ken is a senior citizen, isn't he?

bleekerbooks: There was a car chase in Houston with a 50 year old on the lam from a robbery... of a dry cleaner's.

g_so: all right. let's introduce ourselves to start.

hardcasecrime: Ah, 50. That's a baby.

macavityabc: We had the question about what a geezer is when we did a panel on DAMN NEAR DEAD at ConMisterio. Nobody knew.

crimeflix: Jason

duaneswier: I'm Swierczynski. I play bass.

macavityabc: Bill

g_so: Gerald

bleekerbooks: Geezer is a state of mind.

raybanks77: Ray

bustedflushpress: David

hardcasecrime: I'm Charles Ardai, though today I think I'm wearing my "Richard Aleas" mask.

bustedflushpress: no, Charles, because "Fathers and Sons" was an Ardai story ;-)

bleekerbooks: Graham. I play the drooms.

duaneswier: (nice Beatle accent there, Graham)

crimeflix: My grandfather....well the current guy my grandmother is living with...is 98....was a low level mobster in 20's and 30's.....

hardcasecrime: Oh, that's good. The closest I come is my father, who's been in jail twice.

g_so: If you have a question for anyone, type ?, I'll acknowledge you, then go ahead with your question.

duaneswier: My grandfather used to run numbers and liquor back during Prohibition... so my dad tells me.

macavityabc: ?

hardcasecrime: (Not for anything particularly cool. Still, that's a 75-year-old jailbird.)

g_so: Go ahead, Bill.

macavityabc: This has absolutely nothing to do with DND. But I want to know from Charles if Peter Jackson's going to direct HER MAJESTY'S DRAGON. Or whatever the right title is.

hardcasecrime: He hasn't decided yet, as I understand it. He's said he plans to spend the next little while directing THE LOVELY BONES and having his special effects studio, WETA, work on designs for the dragons.

crimeflix: Hey, Ray, is Guthrie gonna show?

hardcasecrime: But I get this all indirectly, from reading articles online and such. Naomi's the one who actually talks to PJ, not me...

raybanks77: You never know with Guthrie - he does keep strange hours.

crimeflix: I mean being that y'all are married an' all?

raybanks77: Heh. Engaged to be married, J.

crimeflix: Cool

duaneswier: Which means Al doesn't put out yet.

raybanks77: He refuses to set a date.

crimeflix: Union Libre as we Mexicans say

bleekerbooks: Actually it means he hasn't stopped. Yet.

g_so: ?

sean_doolittle: Go ahead, Gerald :)

macavityabc: Gerald is trying to get control again.

g_so: Do any of you have a favorite story in DND, and what is it?

hardcasecrime: I'm extremely fond of Megan Abbott's.

bleekerbooks: Oh, man, why you gotta go there?

raybanks77: I have a major soft spot for Duane's.

duaneswier: Aw.

g_so: it's open-ended, Graham. :)

duaneswier: Actually, at the risk of this being a cricle jerk... I'm still googly-eyes over Bill's.

macavityabc: Duane's hit me in a soft spot, too.

duaneswier: I loved that it was a sequel to his Blog project story.

crimeflix: I like Megan's as well, very much.....I haven't read them all yet because my copies haven't arrived yet.

sean_doolittle: I haven't gotten my copies yet either :)

bustedflushpress: i know Jason...i am VERY late... this one-man operation thing puts me behind on everything... you should have them on monday.

sean_doolittle: Just busting chops, David old man. . .no worries.

crimeflix: Yeah, no big deal at all!

hardcasecrime: Megan has expanded her story into a short novel that I read the first half of, and it's just brilliant. S&S is going to publish it under the title QUEENPIN, I believe.

bleekerbooks: Duane's and Megan's were great, Victor's was great, and I really liked John Harvey's.

bustedflushpress: present company excluded, my favorites are Laura Lippman's and Charlie Stella's... i love the aging porn star and elderly telephone porn ring.

g_so: Diplomatic. :)

duaneswier: Oh yeah.

duaneswier: And Gischler's "Duffers" was just nuts.

bustedflushpress: and megan's is BRILLIANT, as bruen would say

g_so: so detailed, Megan's was.

duaneswier: ?

g_so: Go ahead, Duane.

hardcasecrime: It was a great idea for a theme anthology. Really got the old brain cooking. Inspired a lot of good ideas.

duaneswier: This is for any contributor. How hard was it to write a story featuring a geezer character? Did the story come easy? Or was it a... bear?

macavityabc: ?

hardcasecrime: Inside-baseball question: Have you submitted copies of the book to the Edgar judges yet?

crimeflix: Yeah, I saw it was submitted.

bustedflushpress: yes, i submitted it to the edgar's earlier this month.

hardcasecrime: Great!

macavityabc: How's the book doing, David?

crimeflix: It's funny....Ken has, like, ten stories eligible

raybanks77: I couldn't believe the Dagger nom - it's like he's ESTABLISHMENT now

g_so: Duane asked was it easy to write a story with a geezer character.

macavityabc: When you're my age, it's easier to write a geezer than a teeny-bopper. Or whatever they're called now.

crimeflix: I thought it was pretty easy, yes. Well, easy for a guy who doesn't find writing short stories very easy

raybanks77: It was easy enough, I suppose. I'd already written it. So it was even easier.

hardcasecrime: Geezers are easy to write because they don't move around much. They're like turtles.

duaneswier: 'TIS FOOKED...........

crimeflix: Ken!

raybanks77: Easy, Kenneth

sean_doolittle: It was so easy that I wrote mine for a completely different anthology. Victor Gischler read it and said, "This should've been for Duane's book."

bustedflushpress: i swear, it's a bruen type-alike contest

g_so: I saw that Jason's was inspired by his grandmother's significant other.

raybanks77: Which anthology, Sean?

crimeflix: Well, the voice was....not the total nastinees and self-involvement

sean_doolittle: Wall Street Noir. What does a kid from Nebraska know about Wall Street? Exactly what I said.

g_so: Duane impersonated Pelecanos once, too, at a chat.

bustedflushpress: you can discuss corn futures

duaneswier: That's never been proven in court.

crimeflix: Megan Abbott is Pelecanos in a skirt...right, Charles?

sean_doolittle: heh heh

bustedflushpress: Murder by Ethanol

hardcasecrime: I think she was Lehane in a skirt. Someone else was Pelecanos.

crimeflix: Oh, right...Theresa

duaneswier: Al Guthrie is Pelecanos in a skirt.

bustedflushpress: lol

raybanks77: Pelecanos is Al Guthrie in a skirt

hardcasecrime: That's a kilt, damn it.

crimeflix: And Ray is Lehane in a skirt

raybanks77: I've seen kilts - that ain't no kilt.

bleekerbooks: Megan is Patricia Highsmith reincarnated.

raybanks77: And that isn't his sporran.

hardcasecrime: Man, now you're getting mean.

sean_doolittle: what's a sporran?

hardcasecrime: Highsmith was bad enough the first time around, I hear...

hardcasecrime: A sporran is that little dangly thing that keeps your kilt down.

raybanks77: Part of the haggis family, but while the haggis is a roving one-legged baldy thing, the sporran is hairy.

sean_doolittle: Hairy sausage. Got it.

bleekerbooks: To clarify: Megan WRITES LIKE Patricia Highsmith reincarnated.

crimeflix: I hope so

crimeflix: :)

bleekerbooks: Highsmith was from Fort Worth, believe it or not.

bustedflushpress: ?

g_so: Go ahead, David.

g_so: then Bill, sorry.

bustedflushpress: i have a question for Charles... do you ever see HCC doing an anthology, and if so, a particular theme?

hardcasecrime: The folks at Dorchester hate anthologies and have basically forbidden it.

hardcasecrime: But I do think about it from time to time.

bustedflushpress: groovy

g_so: Go ahead, Bill.

hardcasecrime: Maybe for our 50th title.

macavityabc: My question was for David. I wanted to know how the book was selling. I'm planning on living on the royalties.

bustedflushpress: here's to the 50th title

bustedflushpress: i hope you live a long time, bill

macavityabc: Me too.

raybanks77: Oh, he will. If only to get all that lovely royalty money.

bustedflushpress: ;-)

g_so: what title are you up to now, Charles?

bustedflushpress: the biggest problem is distribution, which is what i'm contuing to work on

hardcasecrime: We've bought up to #38. A new Max Allan Collins called DEADLY BELOVED.

duaneswier: Wow. Excellent news.

g_so: ah, neat.

bustedflushpress: charles, do you ever see yourself doing 2 a month?

crimeflix: terrific

hardcasecrime: Yeah -- we did 2/month when we started, but we also skipped months.

g_so: next q, anyone?

bustedflushpress: yeah, about DND, dammit. ;-)

hardcasecrime: We might go back to it. It's mostly a matter of my time. You know, the one-man operation thing.

bleekerbooks: ?

hardcasecrime: DND: great anthology or the GREATEST anthology?

duaneswier: What's this "Hard Case" thing all the kids keep talking about? :)

g_so: Go ahead, Graham.

crimeflix: Wait, this isn't the Megan Highsmith chat?

g_so: :)

duaneswier: DAMN NEAR LESBIAN

hardcasecrime: I think it's the Al Sporran chat.

bleekerbooks: Where did you get your geezers from? Friends, relatives, or what?

macavityabc: The Hard Case thing is kind of like a sporran.

crimeflix: DAMN NEAR MEGAN

hardcasecrime: A sporran is a sort of hard case, I guess.

raybanks77: But it's hairy. Never forget the hairy aspect.

macavityabc: My geezer is me, just with fewer teeth and a more colorful past.

g_so: wow.

duaneswier: Graham, my geezer was partly based on my grandfather. Everything is true, except the writing and sex part.

hardcasecrime: Where did I get my geezer from: Actually, I patterned my dying Mob boss on my grandmother. Go figure.

raybanks77: I'm unashamed to say I made mine up - and I think it shows.

bleekerbooks: What do you mean, Ray?

raybanks77: Um, I was being self-effacing.

g_so: ah.

macavityabc: Is that a first?

raybanks77: Suck it up - it's rare.

duaneswier: Ray Banks is actually a senior. 77 years old, like his handle says. I saw him removing the makeup at B'Con last year. Paging Dorian Gray....

sean_doolittle: Stop self-effacing, Banks. You'll go blind.

raybanks77: But it feels so good

hardcasecrime: ?

g_so: Go ahead, Charles.

hardcasecrime: For Duane: Are there any authors you were hoping to get but who didn't make it in? (I'm thinking esp. of old timers.)

duaneswier: Yes.

sean_doolittle: Tell us who all you rejected! Kidding.

raybanks77: No, TELL US! TELL US WHO WE ARE BETTER THAN!

duaneswier: I approached a bunch of my favorites who liked the idea, but were just too busy. I have to say though--nobody is an "also ran."

raybanks77: Liar. I know for a fact you approached Stuart Woods.

hardcasecrime: I'm trying to think who the oldest living crime writers are. Possibly Donald Hamilton at 90 and Robert Terrall at 91. Can anyone think of anyone older?

bleekerbooks: Richard Prather is in his 90s.

hardcasecrime: Not quite -- Prather's 85. I was just talking to him the other day.

bustedflushpress: yeah, who cares who didn't make it... duane amassed an amazing list

bustedflushpress: donald hamilton is alive?? and richard prather?? wow.

macavityabc: You bet.

duaneswier: That's great.

bleekerbooks: Oh, really? I was misinformed.

hardcasecrime: Yeah, Hamilton's alive and living in Sweden. Not in great health, alas.

crimeflix: Spillane?

duaneswier: Actually, I did reject two stories. One I'll keep mum about. But the other is Dave White's first story. I don't think he'd mind saying why.

raybanks77: Especially considering he's not here...

duaneswier: It was an excellent story. But the twist ending depended on the theme of the anthology. gave it away from the start.

hardcasecrime: Spillane was 88 when he died.

raybanks77: ?

hardcasecrime: Once I thought about publishing an anthology whose theme was "Stories in which the bad guy gets away with his crime. No one wanted it. Couldn't figure out why.

sean_doolittle: ha

duaneswier: That would have been awesome. Charles.

crimeflix: I could contribute to that one.

hardcasecrime: Well, the idea's yours if you want to run with it

g_so: Go ahead, Ray.

raybanks77: I'd like to ask Duane and David: how in the name of Almighty God did you two get together and decide to give this anthology business a try?

duaneswier: I'll let David respond first...

crimeflix: BAD GUYS FINISH FIRST

bustedflushpress: duane + david + alcohol = DAMN NEAR DEAD

bleekerbooks: I heard that Demon Rum was involved.

bustedflushpress: or an evening we won't discuss

duaneswier: duane + david + alcohol + roofie = DAMN NEAR DEAD

duaneswier: Ken, Jason and Al were present, too, so they're part to blame. Dusty Rhoades, too.

bustedflushpress: seriously, duane and talked about the idea...and discovered we were both a little warped. i'd always thought the group of people with the MOST REASON for being fuckin' pissed are the elderly

hardcasecrime: Sequel: FETUS NOIR: DAMN NEAR BORN

g_so: lol.

duaneswier: And see, I though David asked me to edit this because of "Hilly Palmer's Last Case," a story I wrote about an aging P.I. I learned a few months ago that David had never heard of it.

duaneswier: (FETUS NOIR would be super.)

duaneswier: "The Last Good Trimester" by James Crumley

bleekerbooks: "To Helen's Back Labor".

g_so: Who says titles are difficult?

bustedflushpress: ?

crimeflix: TO THE POWER OF FETUS

raybanks77: My Dark Placentas.

duaneswier: Ah!

g_so: Go ahead, David.

bustedflushpress: actually, a remark first. what amazed me most was how inventive everyone was with their stories...and fairly dissimilar, and McKenna & I were astonished whenever duane would send another story on, and it'd be better than the one before...jason's, therefore, was first ;-)

bustedflushpress: so, congrats to duane for doing a great job

bustedflushpress: okay, wait, i didn't have a question after all

duaneswier: I wish I could take credit, but it's all about the contributors.

raybanks77: Of which you were one, Duane

duaneswier: Except me, Ray. Except me. Besides, Thompson was my editor on that one, so blame him.

hardcasecrime: Indeed, congrats. Editing anthologies is tough, thankless work. Kudos to he who takes it on and produces something good when the smoke clears.

bustedflushpress: well, you busted your butt to get everyone excited about the idea

raybanks77: I didn't need to get excited. I just needed to be asked. I'm a hoor.

bustedflushpress: funny story about duane's. he was running behind, was considering NOT contributing a story. Thought that writing the intro would be good enough. We had to convince him to do it, and he powered that sucker out in a couple days. What an idiot.

macavityabc: The boy's a genius.

duaneswier: I work best under deadlines. What can I say?

raybanks77: Easily bullied.

macavityabc: ?

bustedflushpress: hey, mckenna's joined us

sean_doolittle: He's a big puppy, Swierczynski

raybanks77: He kills puppies. Just by patting them.

duaneswier: *Looking* at them, Ray.

g_so: Go ahead, Bill.

macavityabc: Charles, back to the living old guys. Any chance of a Hard Case book by Prather or Hamilton?

hardcasecrime: We have a Prather coming in December.

macavityabc: Great.

hardcasecrime: One of his rare non-Shell Scotts, called THE PEDDLER.

g_so: There was one by Hamilton. Night Walker.

macavityabc: Yeah, I guess I meant NEW book by either of them.

hardcasecrime: Both Prather and Hamilton have last, unpublished books they've been working on forever. But I haven't read them, so I can't say how publishable they are...

crimeflix: I'll finish them for them :)

macavityabc: When you're older, it's more difficult to do everything. Both those guys are heroes of mine.

bleekerbooks: Me, too.

g_so: Next q?

duaneswier: I went through a few months reading all of the Matt Helm books. Superb. They're so underrated--especially the early books.

crimeflix: I love their stuff too. Seriously, hope you get their new ones.

hardcasecrime: Thanks. We'll see.

sean_doolittle: Duane, how difficult was it to edit an antho on top of working the day job and writing THE BLONDE?

raybanks77: Which is an EXCELLENT novel.

duaneswier: I'll best honest: David had it right earlier. I'm an idiot. I should known better than to try to 1.) do the day job 2.) write a novel 3.) edit an anthology and 4.) tour for the previous novel at the same time, but I'm like Ray: a total hoor. I have a hard time saying no. Especially to good ideas (like DND)

bustedflushpress: and duane and i have MORE great ideas

g_so: ooh, foreshadowing.

macavityabc: Send a body double for the tour. Matt Damon, maybe.

duaneswier: I'd need two Matt Damons for my pudgy body

duaneswier: What's good is, a lot of the work was done in pieces, not all at once until the end

raybanks77: ?

sean_doolittle: And yet you were the one giving ME work beers in Birmingham, Alabama. That's a samaritan right there, friends.

duaneswier: My pleasure, Sean. I'll always give a brotha a Yuengling.

bleekerbooks: Too much information, Duane.

duaneswier: :)

g_so: Go ahead, Ray.

crimeflix: I just edited an anthology myself which is just out.....BLOODLINES...and I have to say it's a shit load of work to do an anthology...and I think it may have even been harder for me (us) because we had to do contracts and negotiate with agents as well.

raybanks77: Q for Thompson - what great ideas do you and Duane have? Anything non-sexual?

bustedflushpress: duane and i need to talk more at b'con... more alcohol

duaneswier: I just picked up BLOODLINES. I can't wait, even though I know dick about horse racing.

bustedflushpress: jason, BLOODLINES looks fantastic!! mckenna's here and she agrees ;-)

duaneswier: Jason assembled an incredible roster.

bustedflushpress: the guy's a genius

sean_doolittle: Jason's book looks awesome.

crimeflix: Thanks....we think it came out pretty cool. It's really only about 1/3 crime/noir...Lee Child wrote a great story to start it off....and there's a novella by Joe Lansdale that is wonderful

sean_doolittle: Big Lansdale fan here. . ..

duaneswier: Same here.

bleekerbooks: Yeah, he rocks.

macavityabc: Lansdale's is about mule racing, right?

crimeflix: Yes, mule racing at the turn of the century....Woodrell and Scott Phillips. Also some turf writers like Bill Nack and Laura Hillebrand etc...

raybanks77: And Woodrell's in it...

bustedflushpress: wait, is ken bruen in it? i hear he writes short stories, too

g_so: How did you determine how many stories to finally include, Duane and David?

duaneswier: Great question. It was hard to say no. I think we planned... what, 20 stories? Ended up with 27.

bustedflushpress: i think we just took stories until we had to wrap it up. i think duane expected more people to say no.

duaneswier: Of course.

macavityabc: And when they didn't, he felt obligated.

duaneswier: Or, more people to say yes, but back out later (understandably)

duaneswier: Hah, Bill.

hardcasecrime: It feels like a good sized book. 20-30 stories is fairly normal for an anthology.

macavityabc: Good thing David had plenty of dough to pay everyone.

hardcasecrime: I did one with 50 stories once, many from dead authors, and it was a nightmare.

duaneswier: There's that bank in Houston David doesn't like to talk about.

bleekerbooks: What was that one, Charles?

duaneswier: Was it a rights nightmare, Charles?

hardcasecrime: It was the 50th Anniversary collection for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and yes, the rights were a nightmare. Eleanor Sullivan chose the stories, and they were reprints, so that side of it was fine. Just the rights that gave me ulcers. But that was when I was 21 and could take the punishment.

bustedflushpress: last year, right, charles?

crimeflix: It taught you a lot about rights though, I'm sure

hardcasecrime: Yep. I'm hitting the big two-two this year.

duaneswier: We got the stories in the wrong order, David!

sean_doolittle: You don't look a day over 19, Charles.

bleekerbooks: ?

hardcasecrime: I think you meant 91.

crimeflix: You look like shit for 22

g_so: Go ahead, Graham.

bleekerbooks: Question for David and Duane - I have the book open here in front of me, and why are there no pages numbers in the table of contents?

duaneswier: Cost too much money.

bustedflushpress: that's my fault... leave duane out of it. we completely overlooked it!

duaneswier: I wanted a larger cut and I ordered Thompson to kill his fancy page numbers.

bustedflushpress: and then i noticed reed didn't do it in HARD-BOILED BROOKLYN

hardcasecrime: Copycat.

macavityabc: I think the no page numbers deal was very avant-garde.

bustedflushpress: so i figured he set a standard for mediocrity and i set my sights for that

bleekerbooks: I did read an anthology once that had NO table of contents.

duaneswier: : )

bustedflushpress: uh, yeah, i meant avant-garde

hardcasecrime: I'd like to do an anthology once that had no page numbers, no ToC, and no stories. Just blank pages.

duaneswier: ANTI NOIR

hardcasecrime: It would be like a John Cage composition. NO NOIR

macavityabc: I want to contribute.

bleekerbooks: Yeah, if that's not Punk Rock, I don't know what is.

bustedflushpress: mckenna says congrats for the john cage comment!!!

sean_doolittle: I'm going to submit a story right here and now:

hardcasecrime: I met John Cage once. He didn't say much.

duaneswier: Ken just submitted his

bleekerbooks: I already finished mine: " ."

raybanks77: That's fantastic

duaneswier: ...........................................

bustedflushpress: :))

raybanks77: A tour de force

sean_doolittle: That laughy mouth is scaring me

crimeflix: Anybody know what the latest on FUCK NOIR is?

bustedflushpress: jennifer submitted it to me, and i told her i just can't do it yet

bustedflushpress: :))

sarahweinman entered the room.

crimeflix: I told Ken recently that I loved a recent story of his.....he said, I wish I remember writing it.

raybanks77: Weinman.

g_so: Here's Sarah.

hardcasecrime: Hey, Sarah. So how was the bear?

macavityabc: Hi, Sarah

sarahweinman: finally, free from the shackles of Brooklyn!

duaneswier: Sarah!

sarahweinman: :-)

bustedflushpress: mckenna and david say hi, sarah

raybanks77: The bear? Is there something we should know about?

sean_doolittle: Hey Sara!

raybanks77: You rasslin' grizzlies now?

hardcasecrime: Yes. But I'll let Jason explain. He's better at exegesis than I am.

macavityabc: Exegesis? That lowered the level.

duaneswier: Paws for concern.

raybanks77: Why the big paws?

raybanks77: Badum-bum tssshhh.

sarahweinman: I'd like to know too...

hardcasecrime: [JEOPARDY music plays.]

crimeflix: Hey sarah, how was shopping at THE MAUL?

bustedflushpress: you capitalize words, punctuate sentence, AND use big words... you should be banned from yahoo.

duaneswier: Did you buy a POLAR fleece?

sarahweinman: why do I get the feeling I should have had more caffeine

raybanks77: Because you're sleepy?

sarahweinman: too obvious

raybanks77: You need to hibernate?

macavityabc: We're allowed caffiene?

duaneswier: Nice 'un, Ray.

g_so: question, anyone? :)

raybanks77: Secretly, I'm still firin' 'em out.

hardcasecrime: For Sarah: Any cool happenings at the Fest? Any fisticuffs break out?

crimeflix: was the fest un-bear-able?

duaneswier: ?

g_so: Go ahead, Duane.

duaneswier: Sarah, we all shared our least favorite DND story. Which did you like the least?

g_so: Duane lies.

raybanks77: :|

duaneswier: [-(

macavityabc: ?

sarahweinman: well it was great to have books and food in the same space (Farmer's Market in Borough Hall)

crimeflix: Lot of signing?

sarahweinman: kind of

duaneswier: Did Sara Gran make it?

crimeflix: by the way...I'm Jason, Sarah

sarahweinman: hey, I knew that, that's your handle on RARA-Avis right?

g_so: Go ahead, Bill.

macavityabc: So besides Duane and KEN BRUEN does anybody else knock out a short story in a day or so? Or does it take longer?

raybanks77: I honestly don't remember - probably took about three days or summat.

crimeflix: Oh, right....It takes me forever, Bill. I don't know how Ken does it. Actually, I do know how he does it...he doesn't stop writing...there's no pausing to, you know, think...It's just straight ahead writing.

macavityabc: Takes me forever, too. I've written novels in less time.

duaneswier: I may have written it quick, but the idea took a long time.

sarahweinman: I wrote the first draft of "Out of Clay" (TD story) in a day, all 5500 words of it.

g_so: why does it drag out for you, do you think?

macavityabc: It's tough to get a short story right because of the space. In a novel, you can make mistakes.

duaneswier: Good point, Bill.

crimeflix: I find it, in general, very hard to write to a subject.
Damn Near Dead was easier in that respect.

macavityabc: Just the opposite with me, Jason. I love to write to a subject.

sarahweinman: but it's also easier to keep an entire short story in your head,
so that when you do sit down to write it, there it is. In theory.

hardcasecrime: Larry Block often turns his short stories out in a day. And of course a lot of the pulp writers did.

sarahweinman: they had to

hardcasecrime: Right.

crimeflix: It's not that I don't like it....I just find it harder to come up with ideas.

sean_doolittle: Me too, Jason.

raybanks77: Plus, you know it has to be good when you find out who the other contributors are.

raybanks77: That kills me.

sarahweinman: peer pressure.

macavityabc: I asked Marty Greenberg about writing to a subject. He said some writers don't like it, while others kind of need it.

sarahweinman: it's like deadlines.

crimeflix: Speaking of Ken--he's amazing at [the short story]. It comes naturally for him. Not me.

macavityabc: Me, neither.

hardcasecrime: The better I know a subject, the harder it is for me to write to. I've worked on or near Wall Street for years, and Wall Street Noir drove me nuts. But ask me to write a story about Tibetan unicyclists, and I can knock that baby out in a day.

crimeflix: Interesting, Charles.

sarahweinman: next up: TIBETAN UNICYCLIST NOIR

duaneswier: ROAD MONKS

raybanks77: About the sound of one wheel spinning...

duaneswier: "I was at one with the universe when this dame walked in..."

sean_doolittle: Good one.

sean_doolittle: Sarah, your Galleycat pard Ron is here in Omaha covering the downtown Omaha lit fest while you're covering Brooklyn. Who got the better deal?

sarahweinman: I vote for Ron :-)

bleekerbooks: Wait - Omaha lit fest?

sean_doolittle: Exactly, Graham. Exactly. (actually, it's a hell of an effort)

sarahweinman: actually at one point I got to use someone's video camera to shoot footage so I decided to get one of the farmer's market people on camera. "So, what does Brooklyn being the literary capital mean to you?" "NOTHING"

bustedflushpress: ?

g_so: Go ahead, David.

bustedflushpress: question for everyone: just curious, has anyone gotten e-mail or in-person feedback about their DND stories? i'd love to know it's getting out there and being read and enjoyed.

macavityabc: A couple of people at ConMisterio mentioned my story to me. I think the book was a big hit there.

mysdawg2003: Hey, I'm late to the party

sarahweinman: maybe from a couple of people, that's about it so far

g_so: Hi, Aldo.

duaneswier: El Jefe!

macavityabc: Hi, Aldo.

hardcasecrime: I rarely get feedback about short stories, unless someone objects to something I wrote.

sarahweinman: Aldo!

mysdawg2003: Hi All

hardcasecrime: Like "People in Brazil don't speak Spanish"

crimeflix: Hey Aldo

raybanks77: Ola, El Jefe. I got the head you ordered.

crimeflix: Jason here

hardcasecrime: Or "August in Brazil is winter, not summer."

sarahweinman: or "A Glock doesn't have a safety"

duaneswier: "TIbetans don't unicycle."

hardcasecrime: Now that's just not true.

sarahweinman: it is if they are vampires

raybanks77: "Cats don't have antlers..." Pfft.

bleekerbooks: "Duane is not a Polish name."

sarahweinman: that's something else I learned today

duaneswier: I keep telling people, I'm black.

macavityabc: Have you guys heard of The Bradbury Defense? Bradbury said that some kid told him about a mistake in one of his Martian stories. "So I hit him."

raybanks77: That's the way to do it.

duaneswier: That's awesome.

hardcasecrime: It was probably Harlan Ellison.

sean_doolittle: ha

bleekerbooks: Another satisfied customer.

raybanks77: I might just do that as a pre-emptive move.

sarahweinman: oy, Harlan...

duaneswier: Harlan would have grabbed Ray's tit.

raybanks77: And I would have let him.

macavityabc: I think Harlan prefers women.

raybanks77: I think he'd change his mind once he grabbed me.

raybanks77: Christ, why did I type that?

macavityabc: And who wouldn't.

duaneswier: And a chat legend is born.

bleekerbooks: And tomorrow, it will be posted on Chatterrific.

sarahweinman: for all the world to see

macavityabc: As Freud said, Ray, there are no mistakes.

mysdawg2003: lol Bill

bleekerbooks: Having read Ray's stories, I'd say that's crap.

raybanks77: And sometimes a cigar is just a great big dick.

macavityabc: Did he say that, too?

raybanks77: Freud was scared of ferns. I don't take advice from that kind of fellow.

macavityabc: I thought that was Monica somebody or other.

bleekerbooks: Knock off the "Transporter" jokes, Sean's back.

hardcasecrime: How do people keep getting dropped by accident?

sean_doolittle: Sorry folks. Harlan Ellison called.

g_so: i think it's the number of people in the room. this is the most in a while.

bleekerbooks: Who says it's by accident?

sarahweinman: there are spies...everywhere...lurking...

macavityabc: . . . there are no accidents, Freud said.

crimeflix: I haven't been kicked off yet...maybe Yahoo moderator is a Buddhist? Kicked Duane's ass out

duaneswier: The gods hate me.

raybanks77: The GOD, you heathen.

bleekerbooks: What I did, I pressed Escape when I wanted to kill something I was typing. And it closed the conference.

hardcasecrime: I think it's racist, Duane. Yahoo doesn't care about black people.

duaneswier: Damn straight yo.

g_so: no, the chatroom is buggy, like most chatrooms.

bleekerbooks: The Dogs hate you too.

crimeflix: There is only the self.

sarahweinman: that's assuming we believe in the self

sean_doolittle: Good one charles

crimeflix: who is asking that question?

sarahweinman: perhaps we are all figments of no one's imagination

g_so: go ahead, anyone.

duaneswier: We're all characters in an Emerson LaSalle novel.

crimeflix: Who wonders this?

hardcasecrime: Funny how you can get a contact high in a chatroom.

sarahweinman: damn straight

sean_doolittle: I heard LaSalle was in poor health. Anybody know?

sarahweinman: as for Emerson, he has to get on YouTube

duaneswier: I heard he has rickets.

mysdawg2003: When was the last time we were all here at the same time? Where's Paul (Dave)?

bleekerbooks: He smells of whelks.

macavityabc: Send him a lemon.

sean_doolittle: I thought it was ferrets. You're probably right.

raybanks77: I heard he has scrofula and a dose of the shivering heeby-jeebies.

g_so: question?

mysdawg2003: ?

g_so: Saved by Aldo.

mysdawg2003: Where's Dave? Did all you old geezers kill him off or something?

duaneswier: Dave has a date.

sarahweinman: He was otherwise engaged

g_so: that's your question?

raybanks77: Dave doesn't like to hang out with us now he has a girlfriend and a book deal.

duaneswier: Um... yeah, what Sarah said

sarahweinman: well that was the same thing, but I don't know if Dave wanted his date immortalized on the Internet

mysdawg2003: No excuse....

sarahweinman: then again, maybe he does.

crimeflix: I guess that "Hi, I'm a writer" line works better than it used to

mysdawg2003: Hi, I'm reader doesn't work either

bleekerbooks: I hear, "Hi, I'm a middle-school English teacher" works better.

duaneswier: "Hi, I'm Ken Bruen" works.

g_so: :)

macavityabc: Or, "Hi, I'm KEN BRUEN."

bleekerbooks: Bill beat me to the punch.

sarahweinman: ha!

duaneswier: (Ken is going to bitch slap us when he reads this later.)

raybanks77: I intend to duck.

macavityabc: Ken has time to read?

crimeflix: When the next question is " Really? What company do you work for?" you know you're fooked.

bleekerbooks: I think we need to start the Bad Bruen contest.

sarahweinman: Ken reads like a book a day

mysdawg2003: ?

g_so: go, aldo.

crimeflix: Hi I'm Ken Bruen doesn't even work for Ken Bruen

mysdawg2003: Duane, is there a volume 2 in store?

duaneswier: David? :)

hardcasecrime: DAMN NEARER DEAD

g_so: Damn Near Reincarnation.

sarahweinman: DAMN NEAR COMATOSE

bustedflushpress: i loved duane's subtitle

bleekerbooks: DEADER THAN EVER.

hardcasecrime: Or just: DEAD.

macavityabc: DEAD AND LOVING IT.

mysdawg2003: Hey, Harry says you can die twice....

sarahweinman: Damn Near Undead?

bustedflushpress: DAMN NEAR DEAD 2: GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN

duaneswier: Yep.

g_so: vamp noir, Sarah?

sarahweinman: hey, horror's coming back...

duaneswier: DAMN NEAR UNDEAD would be cool. Zombie noir.

bustedflushpress: megan abbott's editing the next BFP anthology

raybanks77: Cool. Means I can write that zombie novel.

raybanks77: I want in DAMN NEAR UNDEAD.

bustedflushpress: A HELL OF A WOMAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FEMALE NOIR

hardcasecrime: Yeah, but only girls get to submit stories.

raybanks77: I want IN IT.

hardcasecrime: Guys get to submit, too.

hardcasecrime: Just not stories.

crimeflix: Before I forget, Ken and I put a big DAMN NEAR DEAD reference in Slide....I mean, unless Charles cuts it.

sarahweinman: Megan's anthology is going to be awesome

bustedflushpress: seriously, jason?? that's awesome

duaneswier: I can't wait

bustedflushpress: sarah'll have a story in HELL OF A WOMAN

crimeflix: yes, seriously

sarahweinman: I have to write it first :-)

bustedflushpress: megan's also lined up some others

bustedflushpress: like laura lippman. sara gran hopes to do one. sandra scoppetone.

duaneswier: Sara Gran would be genius.

hardcasecrime: I think she should get a story from Patricia Highsmith. I hear she turns 'em out in a day.

bustedflushpress: vicki hendricks

raybanks77: Sara Gran IS genius.

macavityabc: Wait. I thought Megan WAS Patricia Highsmith.

hardcasecrime: In a skirt.

bleekerbooks: Reincarnated.

crimeflix: And she kind of looks like Dennis Lehane in a skirt

bleekerbooks: Only shorter.

raybanks77: I thought I was Lehane in a skirt.

duaneswier: Looks like it's a running theme to have a cuss word in a Busted Flush anthology.

sarahweinman: and she can outdrink all of us

duaneswier: Which means you have to do FUCK NOIR.

bustedflushpress: that's why i want to do, jennifer's antho!

bustedflushpress: F*CKED

bustedflushpress: but it isn't fair to her to ask her to wait until 2008

duaneswier: Careful, though. By the time you publish your 14th anthology, it'll be something like DOODYHEAD NOIR

crimeflix: Maybe that's how DAVE WHITE got his date....went to match.com, saw the listing for a girl who looks like LEHANE IN A SKIRT BUT SHORTER...and thought, I'm there

raybanks77: Dave White gets his dates the same way the rest of us do - a stopwatch, a rag and a vial of chloroform...

sarahweinman: As long as it's not Plushies and Furries Noir

duaneswier: Even us married folk, Ray.

raybanks77: Especially us married folk, Duane.

duaneswier: :)

hardcasecrime: Funny -- I was just talking with a film producer who wants to do a documentary on plushies and furries.

g_so: really?

bustedflushpress: um, what are plushies and furries?

hardcasecrime: 1) Yes

bustedflushpress: am i totally out of it?

sarahweinman: David, google it

sean_doolittle: plushies are like haggis only smooth

hardcasecrime: 2) People who dress up in animal costumes for erotic thrills.

duaneswier: You're so sweet, David. Innocent.

sarahweinman: it's refreshing

bleekerbooks: We'll fix that.

hardcasecrime: Costumes like...bears.

raybanks77: What Sean said. But swinging on a rope.

bustedflushpress: hey, has anyone read Max Kinnings??

hardcasecrime: Just as an example.

bustedflushpress: he wrote HITMAN

bustedflushpress: THE FIXER

sarahweinman: I remember when those books came out, but never read 'em.

bustedflushpress: he wrote a third book, asked me to read it, and it was brilliant... but all about different forms of eroticism, including the plushie/furrie thing... i'd forgotten

bustedflushpress: they're great

g_so: any questions, Sarah?

bustedflushpress: especially HITMAN

bleekerbooks: ?

duaneswier: Was it called FUZZ?

g_so: Go ahead, Graham.

raybanks77: FURBALL

bleekerbooks: David, what's the next book for Busted Flush?

bustedflushpress: glad you asked!! STONE CITY, by Mitchell Smith

macavityabc: A classic.

bustedflushpress: one of the best noir novels EVER WRITTEN

duaneswier: I loved it.

mysdawg2003: Can't wait.....

raybanks77: I haven't read it as yet.

sean_doolittle: that'll be a good one

g_so: ?

bustedflushpress: originally published in 1990

sarahweinman: absolutely

bustedflushpress: from simon & schuster

crimeflix: Better than MONKS ON UNICYCLES?

sarahweinman: ?

duaneswier: the ultimate prison novel

g_so: How would each of you define "noir"?

g_so: Your q next, Sarah.

raybanks77: I'll nick Eddie Muller's: "An empathetic dive into an existential darkness."

macavityabc: I'm into the rara-avis definition; Screwed.

bleekerbooks: Jack Bludis's defintion.

macavityabc: Right.

sarahweinman: instead of order out of chaos, it's chaos out of order.

hardcasecrime: "Noir" is the fiction of despair and the circumstances that induce despair.

hardcasecrime: Or something like that.

duaneswier: I'm with Bill on that one. Haardboiled = tough; noir = screwed

bustedflushpress: SCREWED, another BFP title

duaneswier: Or, as Al Guthrie once said, "The crucifixion was noir; the resurrection, hardboiled."

raybanks77: If you're to believe a person I shared a panel with once, it's the search for a homeless man's monkey.

bleekerbooks: You're channeling Rickards.

bleekerbooks: A writer at the Ausin B'Con (forgot who) said, "Noir is all about frustration."

crimeflix: The thing is only people in mystery community seem to understand these difference....90 percent of book buying public has no idea what it means.

macavityabc: I like the monkey definition a lot.

sarahweinman: that's why everything's defined as a "thriller" these days anyway

duaneswier: Very true.

g_so: Go ahead with your question, Sarah.

crimeflix: I like Al's description....thriller certainly means more to book buyers, IMHO

sarahweinman: For the floor...one short story that ranks among your absolute favorites and why

macavityabc: What we need is a new organization Noir Writers of America. NWA.

duaneswier: They'd be too depressed to send out newsletters.

hardcasecrime: NWA. I love it.

sean_doolittle: nice, bill

sarahweinman: wasn't that a rap group in the late 80s

hardcasecrime: Pronounced "Nwah," of course.

crimeflix: or Noir Writing Assholes

hardcasecrime: Favorite short stories: "Collecting Ackermans" and "Out the Window" by Lawrence Block. Batch of short-shorts by Fred Brown. "The Day of the Bullet" by Stanley Ellin.

macavityabc: Sorry, folks, but my favorite story is SF. "Desertion" by Clifford Simak. Best. Ending. Ever.

bleekerbooks: An obscure favorite: "Undertaker, Please Drive Slow" by Ron Goulart. And Fred Brown, too.

raybanks77: "Homeless" by Andrew Vachss. VERY short. First one I ever read that felt absolutely perfect in every conceivable way. Not a word wasted.

duaneswier: Oooh... with you there on the Fred Brown.

hardcasecrime: *Anything* by Stanley Ellin, actually.

duaneswier: "The Pit" by Joe Lansdale

sarahweinman: and ooh, thanks for reminding me about Stanley Ellin

bleekerbooks: "The Pit" is just harsh.

mysdawg2003: ?

g_so: "Fat" by Raymond Carver is one of my faves because there is no fat on it as a story.

bleekerbooks: Also from the Black Lizard anthology, "Death And The Dancing Shadows", by James Reasoner.

mysdawg2003: What is everyone working on at the moment?

g_so: I also like "Araby" by Joyce and "Wants" by Grace Paley.

raybanks77: "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" is another one...I do like that.

duaneswier: There's a George Garrett story that I LOVED. Can't remember the damn title...

sean_doolittle: What was Hemingway's famous one-line story? For Sale, Baby shoes, never used? That' pretty noir.

macavityabc: Flannery O'Connor is great. Nearly every story.

duaneswier: Absolutely diabolical.

sarahweinman: oh god yeah

raybanks77: And she was a woman - take THAT, Sandra Scoppetone!

macavityabc: Aldo, I have a novel due to St. Martin's in November. I should be working on it right now. But this is more fun.

duaneswier: Aldo, I have a novel due to St. Martin's in October. I'm trying to finish before B'Con. (Take that, Bill!)

g_so: I'm working on poems. Slightly voluntarily. :)

hardcasecrime: I have to finish the sequel to LITTLE GIRL LOST. The deadline, she is looming.

sarahweinman: I want to finish a first draft before BCon. Will this happen? Ha

raybanks77: I have to re-write the last chapter of the third Innes by the end of the year, but I'm also working on something else.

bleekerbooks: I'm working on a couple of stories, destined (I hope) for THRILLING DETECTIVE and HARDLUCK STORIES.

g_so: I'd be glad to read it, Graham.

sean_doolittle: perpetually behind deadline on a new novel

macavityabc: "Something else." Vague and mysterious.

duaneswier: (I'm sending beers your way, Sean.)

bustedflushpress: ray, when does that come out?

bleekerbooks: When is SATURDAY'S CHILD out in the US.

raybanks77: I am extremely vague.

crimeflix: I'm working on SLIDE...a new novel....and about to start a graphic novel for DC COMICS

raybanks77: Third Innes should be out next Sept, I think.

raybanks77: Second Innes out next May.

duaneswier: That's awesome, Jason!

duaneswier: I love me the funny books.

raybanks77: Aw man, I am so jealous.

sarahweinman: ?

duaneswier: A new series, or are you jumping in with a series character?

g_so: go ahead, Sarah,

crimeflix: It's an original that Ken and I are doing

duaneswier: Brilliant.

crimeflix: A supernatural thriller

sarahweinman: Well since Aldo asked the writing question, I'll do the same for reading - what was the last book you finished reading?

macavityabc: SHADOW OF THE WIND

duaneswier: Just read CARTE BLANCHE by Carlo Lucarelli.

sean_doolittle: it's been all manuscripts here lately

hardcasecrime: IT'S SUPERMAN by Tom DeHaven. Fun, though not quite as good as it might have been.

crimeflix: original...standalone, not a series

g_so: KILL ALL THE LAWYERS by Paul Levine.

raybanks77: THE ZERO, Jess Walter

sarahweinman: really, Charles? I'd heard good things about it

hardcasecrime: It's good. It's just not spectacular. He spends too much of his time on his own invented character when we want to read about Supes, and Lois, and Lex.

bleekerbooks: Just got THE NIGHT GARDENER by Pelecanos today.

crimeflix: I'm reading Steve Hamilton's new novel...A Stolen Season.....Great so far

sarahweinman: I just finished THE EXQUISITE by Laird Hunt and the ARC of Jeff Parker's new book

bustedflushpress: Bob Cook's DISORDERLY ELEMENTS, reprinted by Felony & Mayhem

hardcasecrime: Am reading Charlie Stella's latest; only a few chapters in, but they're excellent chapters.

duaneswier: I'm about to start WORLD WAR Z, by Max Brooks.

bustedflushpress: Mckenna finished L. A. REX

g_so: is that Shakedown, Charles?

hardcasecrime: Yep.

sarahweinman: oooooh I so want to read that, Duane

duaneswier: I can't resist the zombies.

crimeflix: By the way, I am reading from my new novel LIGHTS OUT with Steve Hamilton this Tuesday at 6:30 at Colliseum Books in NYC

g_so: Sean is having difficulties getting back into the room.

macavityabc: I'm reading CAPTAIN ALATRISTE. I seem to be into Spanish novels lately.

duaneswier: Somebody finally carded him.

crimeflix: Shakedown looks great

sarahweinman: Duane what did you think of CARTE BLANCHE

duaneswier: I liked it. Not usually my thing--historical noir. But it was well done. Plus, at 108 pages, you can't beat it.

sarahweinman: yeah I did too but his later stuff (ALMOST BLUE and DAY AFTER DAY) were more to my liking. And also short.

macavityabc: 108 pages? Sounds like KEN BRUEN novel.

g_so: or a Cole Ford.

duaneswier: (Gold Star to Gerald!)

raybanks77: Short is good.

duaneswier: Short rules.

raybanks77: Unless you need to reach a light switch.

sean_doolittle: Don't know if you'll see this folks--I think I've been barred at the door. Hope to see at least most of you in Madison. . . .

duaneswier: See you, Sean.

sean_doolittle left the room.

macavityabc: Who's going to B'con?

sarahweinman: moi

crimeflix: I'll be there

hardcasecrime: I am not, alas. I'm all con-ned out.

raybanks77: Nup.

bleekerbooks: Not I.

duaneswier: I'll be there.

macavityabc: Me too

raybanks77: I can only manage every other year.

bustedflushpress: i'll be there! and mckenna will be with me in spirit.

bleekerbooks: Is Baltimore next year?

macavityabc: Wait till the big royalties start rolling in, Ray.

hardcasecrime: Next year, when it's in Alaska (which I assume most people won't got to) I'm thinking of holding an alternate Bouchercon here in New York.

duaneswier: TIS ALASKA......................

sarahweinman: ah, Alaska.

bleekerbooks: I have to say - what the hell were they thinking?

sarahweinman: Well everything else is in NYC next year

bustedflushpress: mckenna and i are both hitting alaska

raybanks77: Big royalties. Yeah. Uh-huh.

sarahweinman: Comic con, BEA, Thrillerfest

hardcasecrime: I mean, we wouldn't call it Bouchercon, but it would be a place for people to gather if they're not inclined to go to Alaska.

crimeflix: what? no mckenna? say it ain't so?

bleekerbooks: Whoops, I guess SOMEbody's going.

macavityabc: And the Alaskans volunteered to have the con. That's the important thing.

sarahweinman: exactly

raybanks77: How often am I likely to go to Alaska for a reason? I'll be there. Nice and cold.

bustedflushpress: jason, mckenna hopes to do new york the week after

crimeflix: Great, maybe I'll see her here.

hardcasecrime: Ah, the Alaskans. I wonder if they unicycle there.

sarahweinman: the bigger question is whether anyone's bidding for 2009

duaneswier: Budapest.

raybanks77: 2009 is at my house.

hardcasecrime: Really?

raybanks77: Yes, really.

sarahweinman: no. Prague.

macavityabc: The Tibetan Alaskans unicycle, I hear.

hardcasecrime: I'd go if it were in Budapest. All my relatives are there.

bustedflushpress: maybe houston, someday

bleekerbooks: Shreveport, Louisiana.

raybanks77: Houston would be good.

duaneswier: Philly would be cool.

hardcasecrime: Philly would be. Any word on Goodiscon?

crimeflix: Left Coast Helsinki

macavityabc: So volunteer. They've done Philly twice.

duaneswier: Bill, I'd love to. But I can't balance a checkbook, let alone help run a con.

bustedflushpress: mckenna and i MIGHT go to goodiscon, duane

duaneswier: It's still happening. Should be a blast.

hardcasecrime: Good. I'm looking forward to the boxing match.

duaneswier: THAT will be fantastic.

hardcasecrime: Unless I'm drafted to fight in it.

sarahweinman: ha!

duaneswier: It's you Vs. Starr.

hardcasecrime: Is hair pulling allowed?

duaneswier: Of course

bleekerbooks: Sean would have an advantage.

hardcasecrime: Folks, I see it's 8:35, which is a geezer's proper bedtime. So...I'm going to sign off.

macavityabc: Nighty night.

bustedflushpress: take care, charles

duaneswier: Take care, Charles,

raybanks77: Really, it's 1:35 over here.

g_so: Thanks for attending, Charles.

raybanks77: Nighty, Charles

crimeflix: Wait, Duane, great line for my COZY on our panel at B-con...skinning the cat

hardcasecrime: Gracias, all. Glad to be a part of the fun...

duaneswier: nice!

bustedflushpress: if pete hamill goes out on tour, tell him to get down to houston

sarahweinman: bye Charles

crimeflix: I must run me own self...been a blast

duaneswier: I'd better go, too.

g_so: Thanks, Jason and Duane.

raybanks77: Well, it's not going to shave itself...

macavityabc: Toodles, guys.

duaneswier: (Our goal: to leave Ray with the check.)

sarahweinman: yeah same here

bustedflushpress: thanks, gerald, for putting this together

raybanks77: Hey, not AGAIN.

sarahweinman: it was great fun

duaneswier: This was a blast.

g_so: My pleasure, David.

crimeflix: as McKenna would say........Se y'all soon

raybanks77: Who had the tiramasu?

duaneswier: Hah!

bustedflushpress: lol

macavityabc: Just don't let Harlan Ellison see the transcript.

raybanks77: Or grab my titty.

crimeflix: or Dennis Lehane

bustedflushpress: hey, everyone, look for me at b'con to help sign/sell books!

duaneswier: Seacrest.... out.

bustedflushpress: i should have books at various booths

macavityabc: I'm out guys. Thanks, Gerald and all.

raybanks77: And I should probably go myself. It is rather late-early. A lovely time was had by all.

g_so: Thanks again for staying up, Ray.

bustedflushpress: night, everyone... take care!! from david and mckenna

raybanks77: Ta-ta folks!

bleekerbooks: I better go, too. The wife has dinner ready. If I'm five minutes late, I lose a finger.

g_so: all right, Graham. Thanks.

bleekerbooks: See ya later.