Left Coast Crime—a mystery fan convention held annually in Western North
America—took place last week in Phoenix, Arizona, and I was
fortunate enough to be able to attend. It was going to be my first
fan convention since having a published book, and I had been placed
on one of the author panels—also a first. Not only that, but I
would be meeting my editor and publicist there for the very first
time. Not surprisingly, then, as I sat on the plane from Hawai‘i to
Arizona I experienced a combination of excitement and anxiousness
akin to that of a kindergartener on her first day of school.
The sudden
transition from Hilo (the rainiest city in the U.S., with a humidity
level to match) to Phoenix (located in the arid, sunbaked Sonoran
desert) was intense, and almost immediately upon landing I could feel
my lips becoming chapped and my skin parched. But I didn’t care—I
was at LCC!
