Bouchercon By The Bay: San Francisco, Oct. 14-17, 2010

Bouchercon is the World Mystery Convention. Every year readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers and other lovers of crime fiction gather for a long weekend of both education and entertainment.

The first Bouchercon took place in 1970 in Santa Monica, California. Recent Bouchercons have been held in Anchorage, Chicago, Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Madison.

Our days are built around panel discussions and other programming, on a wide variety of topics, that are designed to allow lots of interaction among readers and writers. There are typically four or five programs to choose from at any given moment. They can be humorous or serious, educational or entertaining, and most often are a little bit of everything.

There are many author signing sessions, there's a book room, and each year includes special events such as award ceremonies, movie nights, and parties. And always, there are a lot of people just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

Bouchercon is named for Anthony Boucher, a renowned writer and reviewer, who was born in Oakland, California and wrote about crime fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times Book Review.