On Saturday, the Desert Sleuths held their annual Write Now! Conference. It was a wonderful event, filled with authors and writing tips. Later this week, I hope to have all of that summarized. It's a great deal of material, and may take a couple blogs. And, it couldn't have been held at a nicer venue, the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix.
They invited me as a guest. And, it was such an honor since I was their first Fan Guest of Honor. They presented me with a certificate that says, "In recognition of her contribution to the writing community, the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime is proud to announce that Lesa Holstine is the Guest of Honor at Write Now! 2010. This award includes a one-year dues-free chapter membership." Thank you! And, then they presented me with the most beautiful engraved bookmark, eight inches long, that says, "Lesa Holstine. Guest of Honor. Write Now 2010."
Thank you to President Roni Olson, and Event Chairman Chantelle Osman. They, along with the other members of Desert Sleuths, treated me like gold on Saturday. And, another big thank you to Judy Starbuck. If I hadn't met Judy at Poisoned Pen Bookstore quite a while ago, none of this would have happened.
So, until the blog is posted, here are picture highlights of the day. (Unfortunately, I have no picture of author Sheila Lowe, who had to leave early. But, I'm sure she'd rather I showed her book anyways.) Sheila kicked off the conference, discussing handwriting analysis. Robin Burcell was our speaker before the book signing break. More on Robin on the later posts, but she's an author, an FBI-trained forensic officer, and a retired police officer. And, she finished the night at the Poisoned Pen with a presentation as well.
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| Robin Burcell |
Following lunch, I received my award from President Roni Olson, who introduced me to the audience. Then, we had the funniest keynote presentation I've ever heard from author James O. Born. My summary later this week will not do justice to Jim's humor. It was too visual, and you really had to see it as well as hear him. Jim is a Special Agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He's an author of crime novels under his own name, and under James O'Neal, he writes futuristic crime novels.
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| Fan Guest of Honor Lesa Holstine & Keynote Speaker James O. Born |
The last speaker of the day was Barbara Peters, owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore and editor-in-chief of Poisoned Pen Press discussing the history of crime novels, and where they're going. She also brought along Bryan Gruley, author of Starvation Lake and The Hanging Tree.
Many of us ended up at the Poisoned Pen afterward to hear Peters interview Gruley, Born and Burcell.
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| Jim Born and Bryan Gruley |
But, before we left, the Desert Sleuths launched their new anthology, How Not to Survive a Vacation, a collection of crime short stories. It will be available soon in area bookstores, and I'll be hosting them on September 25 at 2 p.m. for Authors @ The Teague.
So, thank you, to all of the members of Desert Sleuths for the honor of being your first Fan Guest of Honor. I want to thank you so much for making this a special event for me. It was a wonderful day, and I'm looking forward to next year's conference! Thank you.
