A few authors and special guests were treated to a wonderful evening that began with several horse-drawn carriages taking us on a leisurely tour through the French Quarter. That’s David Morrell next to me, the father of RAMBO as well as many other books, including a wonderful one on writing.
Photo by Lee Child
I’ve been to NOLA before, but this was the first time doing the carriage tour. I highly recommend it. The warm breeze, the smells of gumbo and fresh beignets and the clop-clop of the horse’s hooves make this so special.
We had cocktails and dinner at Antoine’s in….
The Rex Room. This is where the Mardi Gras begins. We had a long U-shaped configuration where we dined on crab, filet and baked Alaska.
Then the authors who had been invited to attend a special party to benefit this beautiful library were brought over by a charming converted streetcar. This was the opening night after a long restoration.
Me posing by this massive fireplace with my Penny Dreadful charm bracelet, a gift I treasure because I’m so sad the show is over.
The turnout was fantastic; the librarians were very happy. I used to be a shy person, but here I just introduced myself to people and asked if they’d met any authors yet tonight. Almost all said no and were very happy to talk with me. Near me at the bottom of the stairs is Craig Robertson, the Scottish author of many books, including his newest, MURDERABILIA, which I bought and am dying to read once I can find time to read for pleasure. His better half, the award-winning author Alexandra Sokoloff, is just out of the edges of this photo.
The other YA author at the event besides me was none other than R.L. Stine.
L to R: Chris Grabenstein, Harlan Coben, Kelley Armstrong, Lissa Price, Ridley Pearson. R.L. Stine was our moderator. This was a fantastic panel held on Saturday, a special event connected to Bouchercon but held offsite at the New Orleans Public Library. Harlan Coben has written one of my favorite adult thrillers ever: Tell No One. He also writes action-packed YA thrillers. All of these authors write wonderful books — go check them out.
A packed house – and they kept coming. We knew the biggest draw was R.L. Stine. They’d all seen Goosebumps the Movie and also read the books. It really is fantastic what he’s done to get kids to love to read.
Ridley’s brand new LOCKE AND KEY just came out. The printing is so gorgeous, I had to get it!
And they took us back to the hotel in style. Guess whose behind that is?
