The Hump Day Edition- B-Con Memories

Today's memory comes from the "Grandfather of Tartan Noir". Ian Rankin is the acclaimed writer of the John Rebus series. The last book in that series, EXIT MUSIC, will be released Stateside in the fall of 2008. As everyone knows Sir Ian figures like Mt Rushmore in Ruth and Jon's B-Con memories but here he kindly shares a few of his own.

"I'll never forget my first Bouchercon. It was Toronto in 1992. I'd won that year's Chandler-Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed me to travel in North America for six months. I came to Toronto with my wife and our 9-month old son Jack. They stayed in the hotel room while I took my first tentative steps into B'con-mania. Walking into the bar, a woman walked over to me. 'You look lost,' she said. 'Let me introduce you to a few people.' She was the kind and wonderful K K Beck, and the people she introduced me to included Mary Higgins Clark - not a bad start! Later on, I took Jack with me to the dealer room, and let him crawl on the floor while I made some purchases. A woman asked if she could pick him up. We got talking and her husband turned out to be Otto Penzler. She introduced me to him and we eventually did a six-book deal for US rights. All in all, not a bad weekend..."

Tune in tomorrow,
Ruth
(Photo curtosy of Mary Reagan) Ian getting a hug from Val after winning the Edgar Award for best novel... A Very Good Birthday