Thursday, October 9:  Last weekend’s conference whirlwind tour started with Bouchercon in Baltimore.  The 2008 mystery conference dubbed Charmed to Dead featured such legends as Lee Child, Harlan Coburn and Laura Lippman.  I was on a Thursday morning panel entitled “Does Sex Really Sell Books?” along with Ted Hertel, Lori Armstrong, Meg Chittenden and David Corbett.  Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a lively discussion that was great fun.  I had the chance to visit Baltimore’s Mystery Loves Company bookstore.  What a wonderful place!  I could have gotten lost in all the books and couldn’t leave without buying a few books.  I also had a truly lovely visit with Wilda Williams of Library Journal, which is one of my favorite sources for book reviews.

 

Wilda Williams and Mary Burton

Wilda Williams and Mary Burton

Friday, October 10:  It was back to Richmond for the James River Writers Conference, which featured such greats as David Baldacci and Adriana Trigiani.  I participated on an afternoon panel:  The Fun and Money of the Romance Game that also featured Jenny Gardiner, Judi McCoy and Cathy Maxwell.  Again, we had another tremendous audience that had so many good questions.

 

Cathy Maxwell, Mary Burton, Jenny Gardiner and Judi McCoy

Cathy Maxwell, Mary Burton, Jenny Gardiner and Judi McCoy

Saturday, October 11:  The day started off on a grand note with the Virginia Romance Writers monthly meeting featuring the fabulous Caridad Pinero author of paranormals and romantic suspense.   Her presentation on dialogue was so insightful and had me visiting my local library to check out all the books she referenced.  If that wasn’t enough, I headed back up I-95 to visit the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico to gather background information for my latest book.  The museum was beyond impressive and I was sorry I arrived so late in the day and couldn’t have stayed longer.  I will definitely return!