#4 and I scooted over to M is for Mystery in San Mateo last night to catch this season's last performance of the Theresa and Megan Show.
I'd seen Megan Abbott, the dark princess of crime fiction who specializes in the seductiveness of evil, at BEA in NYC and devoured her Bury Me Deep on the flight home. Then we sat together at the ThrillerFest Awards banquet. (I like to say Megan and I are related through marriage; her husband and I have the same agent.) For the second time she's been touring with the eloquent Theresa Schwegel, Edgar winner and gritty chronicler of Chicago's police world. It was fun catching up with both of them and listening to the trials and tribulations endemic to our profession. I picked up a copy of Theresa's Last Known Address about which the Dick Adler said in the Chicago Trib: "Schwegel's ability to nail down Chicago... gives her book a unique vitality." My family is from Chicago; I'm looking forward to digging in.
#4 was well-behaved and managed to score a few books. I contributed to the delinquency of a minor when he and I repaired to a nearby bar (he sipped a Sprite). He had to listen to crime fiction chit-chat with pals Tim Maleeny, Kelli Stanley, Tana, and Mark Coggins (who has a book out in November). When Tim, #4, and I went across the street to pick up pizzas for dinner, we discovered that the literary tastes of Tim and #4's are remarkably close (Rick Riordan, manga, etc.).
Mark, who in addition to his considerable literary talents is a great photographer, was busy last night. That's his photo of Megan on the left, Theresa on the right.
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