More on WPA

I knew when I went to WPA that I wanted to meet Terry O'Dell, as I've followed her blog for a while now and knew she was going to be attending, so I set out to meet her (don't worry, Terry, I wasn't really stalking you).  I have to say, I laughed at Mr. Daddy, who called the lodge looking for Rachel, during the High Country Rendezvous and had to introduce himself by his blog name before Bill knew who he was.  Maybe I shouldn't have laughed, because when I finally got to meet Terry, I had to do the same thing.  It's one thing to be GunDiva in bloggyland, but quite another to refer to yourself by your blog name IRL.  Terry and her husband are wonderful people and I enjoyed spending time with them throughout the weekend.

Terry's got some great WPA posts over at her blog.  For her take on it, be sure to click here, here, and here.  Heck, while you're at it, why don't you just click her follow button so you don't miss anymore WPA posts?

I got the surprise of my life during Bill Lanning's presentation, which quickly outgrew his scheduled room and we had to change rooms.  I turned around and - Oh my God, it's Sophie Littlefield!  Really, that was my reaction.  I think I elbowed H in awe and nodded toward Sophie.  H looked at me like I'd lost my mind, because I was completely tongue-tied.  But this was a moment I could not pass up, I took a deep breath, marched over to Sophie and introduced myself.  Well, introduced myself as GunDiva and then my real name - still very weird to to that.  She was amazingly warm and genuine and immediately invited us to join her at lunch.  Sadly, that didn't happen because our schedules were a bit off and I missed her, though I did get to talk to her throughout the weekend and each time she was amazingly wonderful.

Sophie hasn't blogged about WPA yet, she's been a little busy with releasing her new YA books and getting put on covers of magazines and all that mundane daily stuff that we aspiring writers dream about, but you should head over to her blog and click follow, too.  Better yet, go buy her books, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY and A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY, because the next Stella book is fast approaching.

For more WPA - just in case you can't get enough - be sure to head over to Lee Lofland's blog to check out his behind-the-scenes take on it and his daily WPA Picture of the Day and to my post on Girls With Guns for my experience with FATS training.

I've heard from Lee that next year's going to be even bigger than this year's WPA, so if you're interested be sure to start saving your money now.  I've heard rumors of a "Microscopic Murder" lecture and a helicopter addition.  I can't wait to see what Lee comes up with for next year.

TST: Author Encounters

I told Rachel that I managed to not make a major fool of myself at Writers' Police Academy and that I didn't think I'd have a TST this week.  However, I thought I'd share - instead of embarrassing myself - some of the cool people I got to meet.

I'm finally back from the Writers' Police Academy and ready to bore you all to death with stories, so I thought I'd start with my celebrity sightings.

Terry O'Dell, romance and mystery author, from the blog Terry's Place.

The ever-gorgeous Sophie Littlefield, who was kind enough to let me review A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY.

Jonathan Hayes, NYC Senior Medical Examiner, Food Critic and Author (and my friend H.)

Lee Lofland of The Graveyard Shift, Organizer Extraordinare, and Author of POLICE PROCEDURES AND INVESTIGATIONS.

H and Jeffery Deaver

I Can't Believe I Just Did It...

I finally bit the bullet and registered for the Writer's Police Academy in September.  Terry Odell, mystery writer extraordinaire, over at Terry's Place "introduced" me to Lee Lofland of The Graveyard Shift, author and font of knowledge regarding police procedure.

From the moment I found out about WPA, I've been dying to go.  It's three full days of instruction in police procedure; everything from shooting to driving to crime scene procedure.  The keynote speaker is Jeffrey Deaver, who first whetted my appetite for a well-written forensic novel.  I fell in love with "The Bone Collector" and quicky ate up the whole series.  Shortly thereafter, I found Patricia Cornwell, who cemented my love for forensic novels.

I've been kicking around the idea for a month or more, trying to justify the expense of both the conference and the travel.  I'm pretty sure that my work family is tired of me debating back and forth, so they'll be thrilled to find out that I finally registered for it. I saved a good bit by registering early and I love a good deal, so I was able to pay for the registration for the conference and pay for the FATS (Firearms Training Simulator) training for less than if I'd waited another week.

Now I've just got to stave off the nervous breakdown brought on by spending that money.  By God, I had better learn a TON in those three semi-expensive days.