I love January because it’s the start of celebrity awards shows. I love watching the Red Carpet show and checking out the outfit the stars are wearing. The whole festivities begin with The People’s Choice, Golden Globes, SAG and then the granddaddy of them all, the Academy Awards.

But let’s not forget the authors, because they have their own award shows (well, that’s what I’m calling them) by way of conventions both for readers and writers. Me, I’m interested in the ones for readers and the two I attend are Malice Domestic, which is celebrating its 25th year and Bouchercon. I would love to attend others, but that thing called work which helps pay for my attendance at the two, needs to take precedence.

Malice was the first convention I attended thanks to the *nudge* by Heather Webber, and I’m so happy for that nudge. Every year I look forward to attending the panels and catching up with friends who I’ve met on blogs and FB and with the authors that I’ve met who have become friends. What I like best about Malice is that it is small and not overwhelmingly crowded. Also, it is held in Bethesda and the hotel is a train ride away from the nation’s capital. Malice is May 3 – 5.

Then there’s Bouchercon where the venue is different every year. So far I’ve been to St. Louis (finally saw the Gateway Arch) and Cleveland (finally saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and this year it’s held in Albany, the state capital where I live. I’ve never been to Albany, so this will be very interesting for me. What I like best about Bouchercon is I get to travel to different cities that I thought about traveling to, but never got the chance. Bouchercon is September 19 – 22.

Last year I won a free weekend to Thrillerfest and while I enjoyed it, I felt that one was more for writers. Thrillerfest is July 10 – 13.

Other conventions/conferences I would love to attend are: Left Coast Crime, Killer Nashville, Deadly Ink and the Festival of Mystery at Oakmont, to name a few.

So, have you attended convention/conference before and what do you like best about them?