Rocky Mountain High Jinks News
August 19, 2024
This newsletter is going out to all registrants of Seattle 2024 and Denver 2025. Seattle registrants will remain on our newsletter list through the Lefty Nomination period in mid-January. (Not sure if you are registered for Denver? Check the Denver Attendee page for your name.)
We are thrilled to have greetings from our Special Guests to share with you.
Greeting from Guest of Honor Sara Paretsky
I grew up in Eastern Kansas. My dad was an expert on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and he was often at meetings in Denver with other scientists studying the disease. For him, the Brown Palace Hotel was the ultimate in luxury. When I was ten, he took me there for a glass of their homemade lemonade. For me, coming to Denver is a return to times of joy. I look forward to seeing everyone there at Left Coast Crime. Right now, VI is taking a much-needed holiday after the stresses of Pay Dirt. I’m working on a new book about a woman named Lily who is a retired CIA agent. She’s on the run from the Agency itself, which is annoyed by some of her podcasts.
P.S. These days, I’m also helping to save the Republic.
Visit Sara’s website for more information about Sara and her work.
Greeting from Guest of Honor Manuel Ramos
Hey mystery fans — Left Coast Crime is headed back to the Rocky Mountains where the air is thin but the city streets, ski lodges, cattle ranches, and tourist spas are thick with suspense, red herrings, and tell-tale clues — perfect for readers and authors, private eyes and police detectives, crime-solving lawyers and hard-boiled rodeo cowboys. It’s gonna be a Mile High celebration of crime fiction and I will see you at next year’s conference along with my pals Luis Montez and Gus Corral.
¡Ajua!
Visit Manuel’s website for more information about Manuel and his work.
Greeting from Toastmaster John Copenhaver
My novel, The Savage Kind, launched during the pandemic; like many of us, I had rare opportunities to connect with readers and other writers in person during that time. My journey with the second book in the trilogy, Hall of Mirrors, released earlier this year, has been vastly different. I've realized how much I need to interact with other readers and writers in the same space to energize my creativity and grow as a writer. I feel fulfilled by our community, and I have a particular affection for the group that gathers at Left Coast Crime each year. It's a warm and inclusive conference, welcoming readers and writers of all backgrounds and identities. When asked to be a Toastmaster, I was surprised, honored, and, most of all, touched. It's the ideal way to celebrate the genre we love. See you there!
Visit John’s website for more information about John and his work.
Greeting from Fan Guest of Honor Grace Koshida
Hello Left Coast Crime! I’m Grace Koshida, a native Torontonian. When I temporarily moved to Ottawa Ontario from 1998-2001, the much longer, colder winters were a harsh adjustment. I understood why Canadian snowbirds went somewhere warm for a week (or two) to temporarily thaw out in the depths of winter.
So I found out about Left Coast Crime, and attended my first LCC in 2000. Tucson LCC was a much smaller convention than it is now, but I liked the more intimate gathering. Pasadena LCC, where Robert Crais was GOH in 2003, was great. It’s been a fun ride since then, going to LCC in diverse places such as Monterey, El Paso, Seattle, Denver, Kona, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Monterey (again), Portland, Phoenix, Honolulu, Reno, Vancouver, San Diego, Albuquerque, and Bellevue.
I was always a reader. As an only child, I needed to keep myself occupied while my mom was busy undergoing kidney dialysis treatment at St Michael’s Hospital three times a week until I was eight years old. Encyclopedia Brown was the first detective I read. Who doesn’t like a smart nerdy kid who solves puzzles? The first adult mystery I remember reading at the age of 11 is Agatha Christie’s Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I didn’t expect the ending of that book and wanted to read more! So Christie became the gateway to Golden Age crime fiction authors such as Margery Allingham, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, and Ngaio Marsh. Since I liked solving puzzles, I also read Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr.
My reading tastes changed as I watched both BBC & Granada TV detective shows on PBS and American shows such as Hill Street Blues, Magnum PI, Simon & Simon in the 1980s. I read contemporary British police procedurals by P.D. James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill, as well as European authors such as Georges Simenon (Maigret), Nicolas Freeling (van der Valk) and Sjöwall and Wahlöö (Martin Beck). I also read Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series and PI books by Robert B. Parker and Robert Crais, Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller, and fellow GOH Sara Paretsky. And being a foodie, I was happy to devour culinary cozy mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson and Katherine Hall Page from the early 1990s.
When I retired from a 27-year career from the Canadian federal government in 2016, I saw that several beloved authors and series were being dropped by publishers. I joined Netgalley as a reviewer and have published over 650 reviews. Being a more vocal and visible advocate for authors on social media has certainly raised my profile and led to me being selected as Fan GOH at next year’s LCC in 2025.
Sponsorship at Left Coast Crime
Left Coast Crime encourages organizations to sponsor a variety of events such as the Opening Reception, the Awards Banquet, the Friday “Meet the New Authors” breakfast, the Saturday breakfast, and the Hospitality Room. Other options include sponsoring one of our Guests of Honor or supporting Left Coast Crime by sponsoring products such as the convention book bag or name badge holder.
Please email Lucinda Surber if you are interested in learning more about our sponsorship opportunities.
More about Left Coast Crime 2025 and registration information can be found on the Rocky Mountain High Jinks website.
