My husband snores gently on the hotel bed behind me. The hotel hallways are mostly empty, the staff still cheerful after four days of writers and readers running them ragged. In a small room off the main hall, organizers are already prepping for next year. And I am having all the feels.
* Grateful for the time graciously shared by everyone from first-time attendees to multi-award winners to guests of honor (Glen Erik Hamilton, Dru Ann Love, Ellen Byron, Sujata Massey, and J.A. Jance).
* Grateful to the staff who held up under our onslaught of demands: food! drink! COFFEE!!!!!!
* Inspired and ass-kicked by turns to finish.the.damn.book.
* Excited by all the new-to-me writers I’ve discovered this year.
* Proud that attendees keep voting for awards earned by the talented writers of color who push the boundaries of crime fiction.
Tomorrow we go back home, weather and airline vagaries permitting. This afternoon I’ll just keep feeling all the feels. See you in Bellevue, WA next year?
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