Now, THAT was a good time.

I'm going to have to do this in pieces, because I can't type that much at one sitting and anyway who wants to read miles and miles of text?

I had a very crowded Bouchercon schedule. The day I got to St. Louis it was pouring with rain. I'd been planning to go to the Botanical Gardens with a couple of other people, but they called that game on account of the weather. I went out anyway, just to stretch my legs, and took a walk down to the Arch. That thing is beautiful in any weather. I was reminded on that walk that St. Louis has some of the most beautiful terra cotta I've ever seen. (Terra cotta was one of my areas of expertise as an architect.) I'll have photos for you later.

Then, that evening, Suspense Night at the St. Louis County Library. Reed Farrel Coleman, Megan Abbott, Steve Hamilton, Christa Faust, Peter Spiegelman, Lisa Lutz, Daiel Woodrell, Katie Estill, and me. Nine authors, huge audience, good questions. Party afterwards at the home of Reed Coleman's cousin, and even though we got lost on the way there -- nine authors in a van barreling around the St. Louis suburbs -- we finally found it and got to eat, drink, and hang out. There's a lot of great food in St. Louis, did youse know that?

Thursday afternoon: my interview with Colin Cotterill. He's a great guy -- tremendously funny, thoughtful, and interesting. I knew all I'd have to do would be to ask a question, wait until he ran out of steam, ask another question... easy, really. Then Colin decided we'd both sign one of his books and he'd give it away in a "name SJ" contest, with the audience proposing meanings for my initials. He claims I've never told told him what they stand for. That's true, but it's because every time he sends me an email it's addressed to another variation on the SJ theme -- Dear Savory Jello, Dear Slinky Japanese -- and who am I to interfere with an artist's creativity?

Two points to the first person who was there and posts what won.