Seen in Seattle

  I just spent a long  weekend in Bellevue, WA for Left Coast Crime:
Seattle Shakedown, and I had a great time. More than 500 mystery writers
and readers. Saw a lot of old friends (including SleuthSayers Michael Bracken and Brian Thornton) and made some new ones. 
Excellent organization and a very nice hotel. If I have a
complaint it is that the out-of-staters will get a completely false idea
about our weather.  It was dry and fiftyish the whole time.  I don't
suppose the committee is responsible for that, though. A few
things you should never miss at LCC: The first is Author Speed-Dating.
Forty writers have two minutes at each table to explain why you should
buy their books.  Having been on both sides, I can tell you that
listening is a lot more fun than being the one giving the same speech 20
times.  On the bright side you really hone your speech, because you get
to see exactly what holds people's attention. Next is the New
Author's Breakfast. Each novelist gets one minute to dazzle you.  To me
the standout at both events was Jason Powell, a young New York City firefighter whose novel about that occupation  sold out before
I could get to the dealer's room. My wife ordered it from our local
bookstore that day.   And then there's the banquet.  I co-hosted a
table with Steve Steinbock, who reviews books for Ellery Queen Mystery
Magazine.  Notice the cool display of mag covers he provided.  One of
our fellow diners told me "Your novel Greenfellas is on my bedside
table. I read two pages every night and fall asleep."  I said: "Thanks?" But
most of the wisdom is imparted at panels.  The ones I attended
included: two on short stories (yay!), politics, social issues,  humor,
slang, historical (2). villains, and editors. A favorite moment
from that last panel.  The moderator began by asking if there was anyone
who had no idea what an editor did.  Zoe Quinton, a panelist, raised
her hand.  Turned out she was lying. Hennrikus, Witten, Other Guy, Corbett, Byron And speaking of panels I got
to moderate one.  We struggled for a title that was clear and came up
with 20 Panels in One: YOU Choose the Topics.  But when I told people
about it someone made a suggestion that was brilliant and I will use it
if we ever do it again: Panel Improv!    The idea is, audience members
write  topics in a hat and we discuss whatever happens to be drawn out. 
My intrepid associates were Ellen Byron, David Corbett, J.H. Hennrikus
and Matt Witten and they were all brilliant. Our brilliant audience The first topic we
received was "The Trials and Tribulations of Squirrels." With some
anxiety I asked if any panelist wanted to discuss that.  David explained
that his dog had killed  a squirrel and they had to hire a lawyer to
sue the dog. And we  were off and running.  Got a lot of compliments
about it.   That's enough.  Next time I will, as usual, provide you with brilliant quotations from the authors I encountered.