This morning was the awards brunch, and I sat with some very companionable ladies from Wisconsin and Tucson, as well as friend and author Neil Plakcy and author Mike Belfeler.
Once breakfast was out of the way the Guests of Honor were…well…honored. Lee Goldberg, our toastmaster, regaled us on tales of readers inquiring about his books (“Weren’t you worried that you’d be sued for malpractice on the medical advice Dick Van Dyke gave out in Diagnosis Murder if he had no medical training?”) before he presented Rhys Bowen who sang us a song about being a mystery writer. Lee told a superhero story about Barry Eisler and when Barry came to the stage, he set the story straight, though it was still a Spider-Man-worthy escape.
A cavalcade of thanks were offered to those who put together the convention (anybody who dares should be canonized, in my opinion) and then the awards were handed out.
Barbara Peters of Poison Pen Press and bookstore gave out the Dilys (Independent Bookseller Award for the most fun to sell in the past year). That went to John Chercover for Trigger City. The Bruce Alexander Historical award went to Kelli Stanley for Nox Dormienda. The Hawaii 50 police procedural award went to friend Neil Plakcy for Mahu Fire, and the Lefty, the humor award went to Tim Maleeny for Greasing the Piñata (which could have won it by its title alone!)
I will be attending a few more panels today and then flying home this evening (naturally, since the weather is BEAUTIFUL this morning), so my summing up of the convention will have to wait until Thursday morning when, red-eyed, I return. See you on the mainland.
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