Nostalgia City Mysteries

Mark S. Bacon

Tag Archives: Anne Saller

11:10 am - April 28, 2021 -

Big News?

1

Okay, there’s no big news on the Nostalgia City front. And there hasn’t been. Since mid-March, 2020.

Some13 months ago I was in San Diego preparing for my part in Left Coast Crime 2020. I was scheduled for three events including a panel. This conference gives mystery fans in the west a chance to mingle with mystery writers, listen to panel discussions, and buy the latest, signed, whodunits.  I had just completed one of the first events of the convention’s first morning when LCC was shut as California shut down.

Mystery writer David Hagerty and I were going to host a table at the conference’s closing banquet. We were encouraged to decorate our table so I found a party store and bought plastic handcuffs, two rubber knives, a chrome plastic detective’s badge, a toy gun and masks.  Not pandemic masks—what’s that? These were black, bank-robber, Lone Ranger-style masks.  Now I’m stuck with these unused souvenirs taking up space in a closet shelf. Maybe I should host a murder mystery party for my vaccinated friends.

A year ago this past March I drove home and I have not made news since.  No book signings, no library talks, no book festivals or mystery conventions.  And, apparently, not many blog posts.  I have, however, been busy writing the fourth addition to the Nostalgia City Mystery series. Although I couldn’t go anywhere, the pandemic quarantine did not significantly alter my writing routine.  I posted the following on Facebook in answer to the common question about what I was doing about the isolation.

The new Nostalgia City book is Dark Ride Deception.  Watch this space for details.  In the meantime, here’s a look back at what was news before the pandemic.

Book Carnival in Orange, Calif., is one of the best-stocked mystery bookstores in the west. If you have a question about a particular author or book, give owner Anne Saller a call. She can find any book you’re looking for and has a stock of mysteries signed by some of the famous names in the business. And perhaps some of mine, too. This was my second visit with Anne. Desert Kill Switch had just come out. She hosted my talk and had me sign a stack of books.
After my first mystery came out, I appeared, sans beard, on Good Morning Reno on ABC channel 8. Amanda Sanchez and Dick Stoddard made me feel much more relaxed than I thought I would be.
Unlike 2020, the 2018 edition of Left Coast Crime was fun, start to finish. And it did finish. This panel discussed outlining a novel versus writing by the seat of your pants. The latter writers are called pantsers. Author Annamarie Alfieri, on the left, moderated, and I bookended on the right.
I was busy when the first book came out. Here I’m giving a talk at Mystery Ink bookstore in Huntington Beach, Calif.
I’m not talking into a mic at a crime scene here. Police tape around the stage area was appropriate dressing for the South Lake Tahoe Library’s mystery event, A Toast to Die For. I don’t remember what I said.
Truckee, Calif., is an old railroad town that sponsors a weekly street fair in the summer. I sold books and met some great people. That’s me under the awning, in front of the red building.

After this walk down memory lane, you can expect to find here–on a more regular basis–book reviews and articles on mystery authors, novels and films past and present. Stay tuned.

Categories: bookstores, Mystery novels, New mystery book Tags:
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