I'm a little frazzled. I have to leave for the airport in about an hour and a half and I'm not yet completely packed. So please excuse me if I babble a little.
I'm heading to Indianapolis for Bouchercon, along with Alison and Neil and many of our FOFOs. Lori and Jeff aren't joining us this year, and we're sad about that.
You see, First Offenders was first conceived at Bouchercon in Chicago four years ago. Alison, Lori, Jeff, and I were on a panel for first time authors. None of us had been to a conference like this before, and we didn't know anyone. Except each other. So we stuck together like glue. We met a lot of great people there (Bryon sort of kind of apologized for writing that he'd never read Sacred Cows because I'd won and he hadn't) and we ended up having a super time getting to know each other. (Somehow we ended up hanging with Dan Judson, thus the infamous White Hen dinner we all shared.)
Sometime after midnight on the last night of the conference, Jeff said we should start a blog. A group blog. At that time, there really weren't the plethora of group writer blogs like there are now, so we figured we'd start something. We toyed with some names (Feels Like the First Time got knocked down pretty quick) and ended up with First Offenders, figuring we could change it to Repeat Offenders after we all published again. Well, we did publish again but the name stuck.
The last time we were all together was at the next Bouchercon in Madison, Wisconsin. Three years ago. It's hard getting everyone together from all over the country.
It's just not the same without all of us, but Alison, Neil and I will be raising our glasses to our fellow FOs, and they won't be far away in our thoughts.
I wonder if there's a White Hen near the hotel...
What are your favorite memories of Bouchercon or any conference?
Karen
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