I’m beyond excited to be going to my first Left Coast Crime, an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. LCC is held during the first quarter of the year in Western North America. Conventions have been held from Anchorage to El Paso, from Boulder to Hawaii, and various locations in between. This year, it’s being held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Now, I may be Canadian, but Toronto is roughly 3,360 kilometres (2,090 miles) from Vancouver. Not exactly next door! But I’ve always wanted to visit Vancouver and Victoria, and a friend told me I absolutely had to see the mountains up close and personal. And so I’m turning this four-day conference (Thursday to Sunday) into a bit of a vacation, leaving on Monday, March 25, followed by a with two full-day (as in 12+ hours each) side trips: Tuesday: Victoria, and Wednesday: Whistler, and returning on Monday, April 1st.

I expect with the three-hour time change and the lengthy travel, I’ll be a bit tired when Thursday a.m. comes a’calling but sleep is highly overrated. As for my conference schedule, it’s jam packed. In addition to catching panels with authors I’ve read (and those I want to), I’ll be at the following:

THURSDAY, March 28: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Author Speed Dating
Les & Leslie Blatt (Moderator) and 40 Authors, limited seating for 144 fans

12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Researching the Perfect Crime
Patricia Dusenbury (Moderator)
Vince Keenan (Renee Patrick)
Ann Parker
**Judy Penz Sheluk
Katherine Prairie

2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Crime Writers of Canada Welcome Table

FRIDAY, March 29:
10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 
Crime Writers of Canada Welcome Table

2:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  
Crime Writers of Canada Welcome Table

SATURDAY, March 30: 2:45 to 3:30 p.m.
Amateur Sleuths
**Judy Penz Sheluk (Moderator)
Liz Osborne
Ana Manwaring
Cindy Sample
Nancy Tingley

Book Signings
Thursday, March 28 12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Saturday, March 30 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, March 31
No events but I’ve got panels to attend before the conference ends at noon. I also have to settle up with the bookstore for any books sold and get packing for the return flight home at 7 a.m. Monday morning. I see an early night in my future.

In Between
There will  be the Meet the New Authors breakfast on Friday, the Saturday breakfast at the Sisters in Crime Guppies table, meet-and-greets with various groups for drinks and/or lunch or dinner and, of course, attending panels (especially the one-on-one interview with Guest of Honour Maureen Jennings) and catching up with old friends while making new ones.

I’ll be back in April, hopefully with pix. Until then, wish me safe travels and a wonderful time.