Five Questions with Chantelle Aimee Osman

Left Coast Crime 2016, The Great Cactus Caper, is fortunate to honor four wonderful Guests of Honor (officially, three plus a Toastmaster). We thought we'd sit down over virtual cups of tea or coffee and get to know each one a little bit. Our final guest is our Fan Guest of Honor, Chantelle Aimée Osman.

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LCC: What do you especially like about Left Coast Crime?
Chantelle: Other than the fact that every location almost guarantees attendees a sunny vacation? Probably that it’s attended by authors, publishers, agents and readers and yet manages to be the most intimate of the mystery conferences. Also, the volunteers are amazing.

How do you feel about being a Guest of Honor?
Honored. Stunned. Still 99% certain that the e-mail was addressed to the wrong person.

What are you looking forward to at LCC Phoenix?
Having rose petals strewn in front of me wherever I go; riding the Phoenix light rail, or, as I will call it “Chantelle's Mystery Train.”

What should fans, readers, fellow writers know about you?
I’m an editor, so you don’t want to ask me about punctuation unless you have the rest of the day free. (My favorite punctuation mark is the em dash, by the way.) Also, I tend to be highly inaccurate when throwing lawn darts.

What would you say to new attendees to LCC?
Bring comfortable shoes, get a lot of sleep before you get here, and don’t be afraid to join conversations. Welcome to the family!

Five Questions with Gregg Hurwitz

Left Coast Crime 2016, The Great Cactus Caper, is fortunate to honor four wonderful Guests of Honor (officially, three plus a Toastmaster). We thought we'd sit down over virtual cups of tea or coffee and get to know each one a little bit. Our third guest is our American Guest of Honor, Gregg Hurwitz.

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LCC: What do you especially like about Left Coast Crime?
Gregg: I love that LCC has all the punch of a big convention while feeling much more... intimate. Some of my most memorable conversations—with readers and authors alike—happen in between panels, in the book room, at the bar. My favorite memory was when I interviewed Lee Child in 2010 and threw him some pretty funny curveballs, which he swatted back with his usual wit and aplomb.

Plus I like that all the gigs take place on this half of the country.


 
How do you feel about being a Guest of Honor?
​Delighted! It's pretty special to be recognized in this way by a crew of hardcore, no-messin'-around crime fiction lovers. You guys are my people.

What are you looking forward to at LCC Phoenix?
Talking books with readers. I love hearing about what new stuff you guys are passionate about, which new authors you're falling in love with. I enjoy seeing friends I haven't caught up with in a while. And of course meeting writers I admire and readers I appreciate. ​

What should fans, readers, fellow writers know about you?
Love bourbon. Hate sock puppets. Bad sense of direction (see ya in Tucson!). ​Two opposable thumbs. Oh—and there's nothing I'd rather be doing in the world than writing books.

What would you say to new attendees to LCC?
Welcome! We're a nice group and most of us don't bite. Please don't be shy—go up and talk to your favorite writers. Ask questions. If you're an aspiring writer, get advice. Buy lots of books, especially those of writers just starting out. There's an amazing list of novelists on the docket this year. 

Five Questions with Catriona McPherson

Left Coast Crime 2016, The Great Cactus Caper, is fortunate to honor four wonderful Guests of Honor (officially, three plus a Toastmaster). We thought we'd sit down over virtual cups of tea or coffee and get to know each one a little bit. Our second guest is our Toastmaster (GoH), Catriona McPherson.

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LCC: What do you especially like about Left Coast Crime?
Catriona: Phoenix is number five for me following Sacramento, Colorado, Monterey, and Portland and from the off it felt like home. LCC is big enough to feel buzzy, but small enough so you can grab the chance to speak to everyone you most want to speak to. Other larger (unnamed) cons? You pass a pal on the escalator on Thursday night and glimpse them stepping into an airport shuttle on Sunday. Also, the Lefty! No one else has a category just to honour books that make you laugh.


How do you feel about being a Guest of Honor?Like I want to look over my shoulder to see who you're *really* talking to. I sometimes have trouble generating book titles and rely heavily on my genius editors to pick a goodun. But I can always recognise when a title is right. And this one is spot-on: I feel squarely hon(u)red.

What are you looking forward to at LCC Phoenix?
Oh man. All of it. We sit alone in a room typing and weeping for fifty weeks a year and then it all bursts into Wizard of Oz Techni-color. I'm looking forward to the bookroom, getting new books signed, going to panels, the hug-erama that kicks off the hug-athon, sitting talking about crime fiction with some of my favourite people in the world and calling it work. And as Toastmaster, I get to demand that a roomful of people obeys me and toasts Chantelle, Ann, and Gregg. I'm going to feel like The Boss. For a minute. If Ingrid says it's okay.

What should fans, readers, fellow writers know about you?
I'm a hugger. I come from a extraordinarily huggy family, even though we're British, and moving to California cut my guy ropes for keeps. You get one handshake when we first meet and then it's hugs forever unless you've got mace. And Facebook friends? Forget it—hugs from the off.

What would you say to new attendees to LCC?
Go to panels, ask questions, buy books from the dealers, thank the volunteers, bid on auction items, don't get too refreshed on Thursday night (it's a long haul till Sunday). Most importantly, it's always fine to go up and talk to groups of people you don't know—they're talking about books we all love, and the more the merrier.

Five Questions with Ann Cleeves

Left Coast Crime 2016, The Great Cactus Caper, is fortunate to honor four wonderful Guests of Honor (officially, three plus a Toastmaster). We thought we'd sit down over virtual cups of tea or coffee and get to know each one a little bit. Our first guest is our International GoH, Ann Cleeves.

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LCC: What do you especially like about Left Coast Crime?

Ann: My first experience of left Coast Crime was many years ago in Anchorage. I loved the friendliness of it and the fact that readers and writers shared the experience of being in such a wild place, unfamiliar to most of us. Last year I was in Monterey, that time with my husband, and again we were struck by how friendly everyone was. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with booksellers, readers, and writers.

How do you feel about being a Guest of Honor?
Of course I'm deeply honoured to have been invited to be International Guest of Honour. I hope I can be an ambassador for the convention here in the UK and persuade more Brits to come along to Left Coast Crime.

What are you looking forward to at LCC Phoenix?
I'm very much looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Writing can be a solitary occupation and it's wonderful to spend time with readers. They're the people who matter most in conventions, after all, and we're all readers with a passion for crime-fiction, with new books and authors to recommend.  Although I've been to Arizona before, I didn't spend any time in Phoenix, so I'm looking forward to seeing the city too.

What should fans, readers, fellow writers know about you?
That I'm a very lucky woman! I'd been writing (and was published) for many years before achieving any commercial success. I understand something of the frustration of being a mystery writer at the bottom of the pile... A winter trip to my beloved Shetland altered my fortunes. The result was Raven Black, the book that changed my career. Now I write two series.  One is set in Shetland and features Inspector Jimmy Perez. 

Those books have been adapted by the BBC under the title SHETLAND.  A new six-part series will be broadcast in the UK soon. The Vera Stanhope books are set in Northumberland and have been adapted for TV, starring double Oscar-nominee Brenda Blethyn as VERA. Series 6 has just finished filming and should be available in the new year. I have no influence in the TV dramas but I do have a very good relationship with the cast and crew of both shows.

What would you say to new attendees to LCC?
Please come and say hello! I can't wait to meet you.