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IN MEMORIAM:  

Our chairman, Paul Anik, passed away in January 2009.  LCC 2010 is dedicated to his memory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Experience LA

 

Newsletter, Issue 2, February 12, 2010

Web:  http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2010

FaceBook:  http://tinyurl.com/l5nk5g

Email:  leftcoast2010@gmail.com

IN MEMORIAM:   Our chairman, Paul Anik, passed away in January 2009. Left Coast Crime 2010 is dedicated to his memory.

The website for Left Coast Crime 2010 – Booked in LA! is being updated as people register and plans are made.  If you haven’t checked it out, the website address is listed above.  Take a look!

Awards Ballots:  The awards ballots went out yesterday!  Please note you have a very short time to vote – we need them back next weekend! 

Awards Banquet:  If you have not already done so, please send me an email (leftcoast2010@gmail.com) and let me know if you will be coming to the awards banquet and if you would prefer the beef (beef tenderloin) or the vegetarian entrée (pasta and veggies).  Thanks.

Reception at Angel’s Flight with Michael Connelly:  If you’re planning to attend the reception at Angel’s Flight, let us know.  We need a headcount.

Parking at the Omni Hotel:  Parking is $30.00 a day.  We will be selling vouchers so you can park for $15.00 a day.  There is no in and out.  There are public parking lots nearby, for less money, but they may not be open all the time, and they will not be guarded after hours.

Transportation from the airport to the hotel:  There is detailed information on the website.  Please be aware that the hotel does not provide a shuttle to or from any of the local airports.  Super Shuttle and Prime Time are shuttle vans.  There are taxis.  You can rent a car (but then you incur parking expenses!)  There is a “fly away” bus to and from the airport that goes to Los Angeles Union Station (the train station), and we have been told that the hotel will provide a shuttle to and from the train station.  If you are adventurous, you can take light rail, but it involves three different lines (red, blue and green) and then you still have to get to/from the airport to the green line (but it’s not very far).  If you are flying into Burbank, there is a Metrolink train station at the end of the runway that comes to Los Angeles Union Station.  Again, details are on our website.  If you have more questions, please let me know.  If I can answer them, I will.  If I can direct you to someone who can answer them, I will.  If I have no clue, I’ll let you know that, too. 

 

FORENSIC SCIENCE DAY IS SOLD OUT!  We have a wait list.  If you’d like to put your name on it, let me know. 

 

General plans for Forensic Science Day, as of right now are:  we will be starting our tour at 8:30 at the Forensic Science Center at Cal State Los Angeles.  You can either join us there, or travel with one of us from the Omni Hotel, using the Los Angeles Metro Bus (fare is $1.25 each way, no host fare).  I’m not sure what time the event will be over, but as soon as I know, I will post it to the website. 

 

 

 

 

In order to get in the spirit of Booked In Los Angeles, here’s a look at a few new books set in the City of Angels that we’re currently reading.

 

The First Rule by Robert Crais-an exciting Joe Pike novel set in LA with all the interesting places for which Crais is known.

 

Blood Hina by Naomi Hirahara set at the flower mart in downtown LA and featuring Japanese gardeners. Due March 2, 2010.

 

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly takes on the Los Angeles Times, and is one of his beat novels!

 

 

 

GUESTS OF HONOR:  Our intent was to feature one guest of honor in each of the first few newsletters.  We did in fact feature Jan Burke in our first newsletter, several months ago.  Since time is now running out, we have information on all of our guests of honor in this newsletter.  If you’d like more information about any of them, a link to their website is included below. 

 

Lee Child: 

Lee is the author of the Jack Reacher series, for which he has received the Barry Award (from Deadly Pleasures magazine) and the Anthony Award.  Lee was born in Coventry, England, but grew up in nearby Birmingham.  After graduating from the same high school that J.R.R. Tolkien attended,

he went to law school in Sheffield.

 

Later, he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director, during which time the company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker.

 

When he was fired as a result of corporate restructuring, the voracious reader bought six dollars’ worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, which turned out to be Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.

 

Lee’s Books:

     The Jack Reacher series:

          Killing Floor

          Die Trying

          Tripwire

          Running Blind (US)/The Visitor (UK)

          Echo Burning

          Without Fail

          Persuader

          The Enemy

          One Shot

          The Hard Way

          Bad Luck and Trouble

          Nothing to Lose

          Gone Tomorrow

 

     Short Stories:

          “James Penney’s New Identity”, in FRESH BLOOD 3

          “Ten Keys”, in THE COCAINE CHRONICLES

          “The Greatest Trick of All”, in GREATEST HITS

          “Enough”, in MWA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART

          “The .50 Solution”, in BLOODLINES

          Chapter Six in LIKE A CHARM, a serialized novel

          Chapter 15 in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT, an audio serialized novel

 

Visit Lee’s website at http://leechild.com

 

Jan Burke: 

Jan Burke is the author of the bestselling Irene Kelly series, for which she won an Edgar award, as well as short stories and her most recent novel The Messenger.

 

Although Jan was born in Texas, she has spent most of her life in Southern California, from which she has combined several cities to create Las Piernas, Irene Kelly’s hometown.

 

She has 2 sisters and a brother, and remains very close to them, their parents, and several nieces, nephews, cousins and other extended family members. She and her husband, musician Tim Burke, share their home with their dogs Cappy and Britches.

 

Jan is the founder of the Crime Lab Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to the

improvement of public forensic science. She has also served as a speaker for the National Institute of Justice, the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, the California Association of Criminalists, and other organizations. She is a member of the honorary board of the California Forensic Science Institute, which is connected to the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, the forensic lab the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She has been instrumental in organizing the Forensics Day at Left Coast Crime 2010.

 

Jan is a Distinguished Alumna of California State University in Long Beach, and has taught writing classes at UCLA Extension, and was the associate editor (with Sue Grafton) for MWA’s Writing Mysteries.

 

Jan’s books:

 

     The Irene Kelly series:

          Goodnight, Irene

          Sweet Dreams, Irene

          Dear Irene,

          Remember Me, Irene

          Hocus

          Liar

          Bones

          Flight (from Frank Harriman’s point of view)

          Bloodlines

          Kidnapped

 

     Standalones:

          Nine (standalone)

          The Messenger (supernatural thriller)

 

     Short Story Collection:

          Eighteen (short story collection)

 

Visit Jan’s website at http://janburke.com/

 

Janet Rudolph: 

Janet grew up in Philadelphia, and earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

She then moved to Berkeley, where she completed a Master’s Degree in art history, a credential in secondary education and a Ph.D. in religion and literature with a specialty in mystery fiction.

 

Known as “the mistress of mystery”, Janet has been a columnist for several mystery periodicals. She is the editor of the Mystery Readers Journal (the official publication of Mystery Readers International, of which she is the director), and the writer/producer of Murder on the Menu (a mystery event company). A member of Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the British Crime Writers Association, Sisters in Crime and the American Crime Writers League, she has also been on panels at conventions and conferences including Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime. Janet has taught mystery fiction, and has participated in international writing conferences in Spain, England and Cuba.

 

Janet was Fan Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic in 1993 and won an Anthony Award for Special Service to the Field in 2006. She still lives in Berkeley.

 

Janet’s website can be found at http://www.murderonthemenu.com/murder/janet.html.

 

Bill Fitzhugh:

Bill was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, and began writing professionally while he was still in high school.  Through the Junior Achievement program, he wrote and narrated a series of radio programs about various rock ‘n’ roll bands.  As a result, he began working late night shifts at the radio station that had aired his shows, and after he graduated, he became the morning drive-time DJ there.

 

After a few years he grew bored with this, and moved to St. John, US Virgin Islands in an effort to emulate Jimmy Buffett, and ended up working on a freight-charter boat.

 

Eventually, he ended up back in Mississippi, and supported himself as a DJ while he went to college.  In 1981, he moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington where he received a psychology degree.  He also met Matt Hansen, with whom he collaborated on a radio program called “Radio Free Comedy” which was syndicated on several radio stations across the country.  Bill and Matt turned this radio show into a television pilot called “Stellavision”, which, though critically acclaimed, did not sell.

 

In 1988, Bill moved to Los Angeles and looked for television writing jobs.  Matt joined him and for the next few years they wrote unsuccessful television scripts, and a screenplay called “Pest Control”  that Bill eventually turned into a novel that was one of Amazon’s Top 50 Mysteries in 1997.

 

Bill was co-winner of  the 2002 Lefty Award for “Fender Benders”.  (The other winner was Jerrilyn Farmer, for :”Dim Sum Dead”.)

 

Bill’s books:

 

    Pest Control

    The Organ Grinders

    Fender Benders

    Cross Dressing

    Heart Seizure

    Radio Activity

    Highway 61 Resurfaced

    The Adventures of Slim and Howdy (with Brooks and Dunn)

 

Short Stories:

    “Fiddy Dolla Smile” in Full House, a young adult anthology of poker stories”

 

Visit Bill’s website:  http://billfitzhugh.com

 

 

Prior Newsletters:

       Issue 1