Bouchercon

Judy and I will be taking off for the Bouchercon in Toronto on Wednesday. Toronto isn't all that far, but it will take a full day's traveling for us to get there. Naturally all my usual travel anxieties are setting in. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I thought the new airport security measures actually made me safer, but I don't. They seem to me to be the equivalent of busy-work, and some of them seem ridiculous. From what I can see, they've made air travel highly unpleasant, if not impossible, prolonged the agony of the trip, and done nothing at all that's practical. But what do I know? I'm sure that after we arrive in Toronto and clear customs, we'll have a great time, and I might even enjoy a day or two of the convention before I start to worry about the trip home. My panel is at 2:00 on Saturday, and it's on "being prolific" or something like that. I'm not worried about that part of things. I can always find something to say if called on. And I have no trouble keeping quiet if not called on.

It's been 24 years since we first attended a Bouchercon. That one was in Washington, D.C. It was very small. I doubt that more than 250 people attended. Maybe not that many. One-track programming, and only a few programs at that. But we had a wonderful time, which is why we've been to so many Bouchercons since then. We've missed only three, I believe. The best one was in Austin, because I could just get in the car and drive to it. What a pleasure that was!