Hi Karen,

it was taken in front of a Greek temple in Sicily. Just one of the many beautiful Greek ruins. I wish I could remember which one, but I don't. Nice to meet you.

Posted some new photos from today - we're camping at Trapper's Creek about 160 miles north of Anchorage in our 26' travel trailer. Hubby likes having the computers, DVDs, microwave. Last night and today you could see Denali (Mt. McKinley) towering over the road as we drove up and then at the South Overlook, got the pics you see posted. Actually we took about 170 between us, but these are samples of them. Posted the rest at http://picasaweb.google.com/karenlaubenstein/TrapperCreekDenaliTrip.

Afraid I'm going to miss Bouchercn this year. It takes about a year and a half to fly there from the East Coast of the US. You give Alaska a great slideshow though.

Hi Karen! Alaska sounds quite wonderful. I wish I could come up for Bouchercon, but alas, not in this year's budget. I'm currently (re)reading King's On Writing, for inspiration, as I work on my first draft of A KILLER WORKOUT.

So you like ebooks, eh? Hmm...how to get you to my publisher's website...

Really, sounds like you've had quite a varied career as a writer. Keep us updated on your WIP. And thank you for the invitation!

Wow, new ears. Must be hard to filter all the sounds coming at you. Raised hands waving (applause) for your bionics. As for the helper dog, Can you fit another pet in your life? If so, get her a puppy to drive crazy. Then she will have a new focus and not end up tripping you on the way to the door!

Never mind the 'w', Karen, wait 'til you hear the accent! I used to work for a regional newspaper and one of my mates took a death notice for someone the undertaker insisted was called 'Turd'. She got him to spell the name and it turned out to be 'Todd'! Only a small island, but we'll keep you (and each other) guessing...

Hi Karen - your airport story sounds like a nightmare! Bet you were glad to get home after that one. And one of these days, whether Harrogate, Alaska or some place in between, I hope we have the chance for a beer and a gossip. Sounds like you're not short of tales to tell!

From one Karyn to another, thanks for the invite. Wish I could Boucher with you all, but alas, I must stay in the lower 48

New Orleans - rebuilding the libraries one book, one person, one writer at a time. I wish I were going to Bouchercon. My book, The Beatitudes, is a paranormal thriller set in New Orleans. It will be out in the fall and I am donating all royalties directly to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation. Libraries support the infrastructure of a great city, so I have started The Beatitudes Network to promote awareness of the importance of public libraries in NOLA.
The blogsite www.beatitudesinneworelans.blogspot.com describes the Network, has excerpts from The Beatitudes, recipes, and more. Merci mille fois. Lyn Lejeune. and pass the word along, please.

Kelli et al... I responded in a message to you about your post here, but also just thought that I should direct folks to the photos from last Fall - taken exactly around the time of Bouchercon - September and October. http://homepage.mac.com/karenlaubenstein. Enjoy.

Wow! Thanks so much, Karen! It sounds like the environment and weather are both as beautiful as the Alaskans I've met! :)

In SF we were lucky today--no fog. I live four blocks from the Pacific, and our summers tend to be very grey. I don't like hot weather much unless I'm on vacation, so the cool Pacific fog is OK by me. The weather has been very strange the last few years--we had a lightning storm last year, and actual snow the year before. But normally, it's about 65 degrees, with a breeze blowing in from the bay or the beach, sunny with a few clouds, and the air is clear enough to smell sourdough bread and fresh crab across town. Our best season is the autumn.

So that's my city, and I sure hope I get to show you as much hospitality at some point as you and the Bouchercon crew have done for me!

Thanks again, Karen, and take care!!

Kelli

Hi Karen,

Thanks for reading a couple of my shorts--and you're still talking to me. What a bonus! :-)

See you in Alaska...it's not far away now.

Karen - I don't know if my comment about the photo on my website came back to you (still learning how all this works) but I took it in Cullman, Alabama at the Ave Maria Grotto. An old priest who lived at the monastery there made miniatures of old buildings in Europe and Jerusalem, and also small shrines made of rocks, bits of glass, or whatever he could find. You walk through the grounds and the replicas have plaques to tell you what you're looking at. It's a nice place.

We all wanted to go to it after learning about it, and are hoping for next year. Our AK Sisters in Crime Prez writes dinner theatre, so you can imagine! We worked with them on publicizing B'con. China isn't so far from here (Alaska-LOL). And some folks try to walk to Russia across the ice. The building I'm in right now has what was the Japanese consulate upstairs... very nice Consul, by the way... but Japan decided not to maintain it as a Consulate anymore and now I think it's an Japanese Affairs office? Anyway, how long were you in China and hope you got lots of photos???

Yes, and all these authors keep telling me they're on Crimespace because of you-JD! Good job on that. We're really looking forward to your coming to Alaska again, but also know you're going to be totally lost in the midst of all the changes. Midtown is now almost like standing Downtown, with several huge new buildings up or going up. Few big patches of trees.

Hey girl--I thought your name sounded familiar. I'll be at BCon in Sept and I used to live in Anchorage (10 yrs). Can't wait to get back and see old friends and meet new ones at the conference. Glad to see you out here.

I wish I could go, too! I'll be with you all in spirit!

Hi, Karen,
Thanks for the info on MaCall Smith. As much as my wife and I have enjoyed his books, I agree with you. He may even deserve one, but upping the ante after agree is, well, someting Ma'ma ratsoe's first husband would have done.