What do writers do during the Super Bowl?

Well, first we hold a board meeting for the L.A. chapter of Sisters in Crime. That's exciting. I'll have you know I voted in favor of approving the minutes of the last meeting, and nobody even had to lobby me. Never mind that I didn't attend the last meeting. That's unimportant.

Then we had a general meeting and talked a lot about contracts and advances and copy editors. Veal parmesan was discussed. (You'll be asked to change it to chicken in your manuscript. Veal upsets people, including the aforementioned copy editors. I have one thing to say to this: "Mmmm. Veal." But fine, whatever. In the manuscript, it's chicken.)

That's not going to seem real important in a minute because it's almost five, and the French restaurant down the street is about to open. Not that we much care about the French part, but it's the one place in town not packed with Super Bowl revelers. And writers in general aren't big on the Super Bowl. (The World Series is a different story. We're baseball people.)

Five writers, one author manager, six kinds of beer and wine and one cheese plate = a story about peeing next to Dick Clark.

I'd like to explain that, but I'm not allowed. What happens at writer dinners, stays at writer dinners.

But damn it was a good time. Some links to the revelers with no names changed to protect the innocent:

Diana James - Author manager extraordinaire

Darrell James - Novelist and short story author with a fondness for noir

Eric Stone - Author of the Ray Sharp series with the latest about to be released this summer

Michael Mallory - Author of the Mrs. Watson books, including the recent Exploits of the Second Mrs. Watson

Sue Ann Jaffarian - Author of the humorous Odelia Grey and Granny Apples series. Booby Trap launches on Valentine's Day