There and back again

The conference was great. We got there without sliding off the road, and are now back home again. (Turns out there were some debris-related delays on Saturday afternoon, so points to us for lounging at home rather than getting stuck on the road.)

Highpoints of the event were:

1) Walking into every session room and finding it full of mostly middle-aged (or older) attendees, almost universally gray-haired, glasses-wearing, and more pudgy than not, most with their nose in a book as they waited for things to get rolling. Ahhhh, kindred spirits! I felt right at home.

2) Meeting Donna Andrews and Hallie Ephron and making new friends Sunny Frazier (Fools Rush In) and Cindy Sample (Dying for a Date) and Debra Purdy Kong (Taxed to Death, Fatal Encryption).

3) Meeting everyone else I had the chance to chat with, of both the author and fan variety.

4) Going way, way, way over budget in the bookstore (and that's on top of all the freebies). I won't be wanting for anything to read for a very long time.

5) Dinner with my beloved at Roy's. Every time we eat there we set a new personal record for how much we've spent on dinner for two, and it's always worth it.

6) Upgrading to an ocean-view room.

7) Receiving lots of compliments on my wardrobe. Even nicer than usual because I'd made those things myself.

Toastmaster Lee Goldberg (of Monk fame) was consistently hilarious, and much fuss was made over Guest of Honor Barry Eisler, widely considered hot and handsome, but really it's all about the hair. My husband meant to get a haircut pre-conference, but forgot, which I think put him in BE territory in the sexy-shaggy-locks department. I admit I'm biased.

Being the at-best-half-assed blogger that I am, I didn't take any photos.
Sorry.