I started my day by making a pilgrimage to Kayo Books, one of my favorite bookstores on earth, and spent an hour browsing their amazing stock of pulp novels. I bought some old westerns then walked down to the Hyatt, where I ran into Daniel Woodrell as soon as I walked in the door. The two of us went to the Boudin Bakery and had a terrific conversation over a long, leisurely lunch. Sourdough and Woodrell, a perfect combo.
After lunch, I spent an hour chatting with various authors before participating in a panel on ebooks. CJ West did a remarkable job moderating, especially considering how big the subject is, how obnoxious I am, and how many authors there were on the panel…me, Boyd Morrison, Wendy Hornsby, Gary Phillips, Bill Fitzhugh and David Hewson. The audience was very engaged…and I think if the panel had a weakness besides me, it was that we didn't have nearly enough time to field all the questions (I continued answering questions on the topic for much of the afternoon, not that I am any sort of expert). We could easily have filled two hours on the topic. David Hewson, by the way, is hilarious.
I didn't attend any other panels. I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to fans and with authors (like Joel 
Goldman, Declan Hughes, Jason Starr, Michelle Gagnon, Steve Hamilton, DP Lyle, etc). In the early evening, I attended the Penguin author party, where I met Scott Brick, the voice of 1000 audiobooks…and then went out to a terrific dinner with David Ellis, his wife, and Bill Rabkin at the Empress of China. On the way back, we ran into Dick Lochte and Gar Anthony Haywood and spent the walk back talking about ebooks and what a great guy Steve Cannell was. The rest of the night was spent at the Lee Child's Jack Reacher party…where I chatted with Lisa Lutz, Robin Burcell, Vince Keenan, Alafair Burke, Parnell Hall, to name just a few folks.
I'm having a grand time and am looking forward to screening REMAINDERED tomorrow….
(Pictured: Jason Starr, Declan Hughes, me, Michelle Gagnon. And in the other picture, from yesterday, me, David Ellis and Joe Konrath)
Wow, sounds like a great time! Am really looking to forward to hearing how the movie is received!
Hi Lee, I attended your panel and realy enjoyed your candor – I have started using the word “swill” much more frequently now. In fact, all of the panelists were both informative and entertaining. I also agree that CJ did a great job moderating the panel. Oh, and I bought The Walk in the Kindle store during the panel.
Lee,
Thanks for lending me the DVD of “Remaindered”, which allowed me to watch it after I missed your B’con presentation… a superb piece of work, I laughed and winced at some of the scenes, especially those that really struck home when it comes to the challenges of writing. Congrats to you and the entire cast and crew; I hope it gets the wide distribution and recognition it deserves.
— Brendan
I looked at the website for Kayo books. I wish it had been there when I lived in the Tenderloin.