 LEFT COAST CRIME. IN ALASKA. IN FEBRUARY. The annual Left Coast Crime Convention was held in Anchorage, Alaska this year. In February. Some enterprising Alaska-based writers, (primarily Dana Stabenow), had a terrific idea. They raised funds and created what they called the "Authors To The Bush" program. Since most touring authors do not include Alaska in their wanderings, the folks who live in the tiny scattered towns and villages up there don’t get the opportunity to see or talk to working writers on a regular basis. Why they might want to is another question entirely, but not one to which I have the answer. At any rate, since a bunch of us were gathering in Anchorage for LCC, Dana and her pals decided to solicit volunteers to go out to the bush and talk about writing.
Lauren writes terrific books with fabulous titles like "Black Rubber Dress", "Dead White Female" and others. Lauren and I met some fine folks and had more than our share of fun. We spoke to classes at the local high school during the day and at night we did presentations and Q&A’s at the library for anyone who was interested in writing or writers. We ate moose stew and LOTS of salmon and were treated like royalty by all the fine Dillinghammers. Proof of how royally we were treated is found in the fact that they didn’t try to serve us any fermented beaver tail (which they swear is something they eat). This may have had to do with a recent event reported in the local newspaper. The headline was approximately: Bad Beaver Blamed for Bout of Botulism. (Insert your own bad beaver jokes here.)
One night, after a presentation at the library, the men folk and the women folk were to go their separate ways for a sauna/sweat lodge drinking extravaganza. Sadly, at the beginning of the library event, someone (I believe it was Fritz Johnson) came in and announced that he had just (accidentally) burned down the steam room where the men were supposed to go. So while Lauren and the ladies got their night in a hot box, Fritz, myself, and local public defender, Steve Wells, retired to my lodging for many drinks. We were soon joined by our host, writer and writing teacher and Bram Stoker Award Winner George Guthridge at whose Bed & Breakfast Lauren and I were staying. By the way, a special thanks and hello to Cristy Tilden and her daughter Rachael (who gave me a balloon); Al and Susanna Marquette (and their son Jesse); E.J. Essic and Cindy Fyfe. Without these folks nothing would have worked. As it was, everything was fabulous! A big thanks also to Kathleen Putman and Vicki Russell who helped put the whole thing together. When Lauren and I weren’t talking about the life of the writer, we were out mushing (thanks to local musher, Andy Ruby and his dogs). Or snow-machining. (Here’s some advice: if Lauren Henderson offers to drive your snowmobile, be sure she waits for you to actually get on the thing before she takes off across the tundra testing the speed limits of the machine’s engine.) After a few days in Dillingham we boarded our little plane and flew back to Anchorage for the Left Coast Crime Convention which was more fun but where they didn’t serve any moose stew or beaver tails, fermented or otherwise.
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