Friday, February 22, 2008

Lone Star Sleuths

Live in Texas? Not got any big plans for this coming Saturday? Then why not head over to sunny San Marcos for the Lone Star Sleuths shindig?
The Wittliff Collections at the Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos, will host an afternoon celebrating Lone Star Sleuths, the new Texas crime fiction anthology in the Southwestern Writers Collection Book Series with the University of Texas Press on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 2-5 p.m.

Fifteen of the contributing mystery writers and the three editors—Bill Cunningham, Steven L. Davis, and Rollo K. Newsom—will talk with guests and sign books. Jesse Sublett and Kasey Lansdale will perform acoustic noir songs.

Scheduled authors include: Susan Wittig Albert, Neal Barrett, Jr., Paula Boyd, Susan Rogers Cooper, Bill Crider, A.W. Gray, Rolando Hinojosa, Joe R. Lansdale, David Lindsey, Ben Rehder, Rick Riordan, Jim Sanderson, Jesse Sublett, Doug J. Swanson, and Mary Willis Walker. Several of these authors have archives housed at the Southwestern Writers Collection, including Lansdale, Riordan, Sublett, and Wittig Albert, who co-edited the recent SWWC anthology What Wildness Is This.

There's at least three authors in that list above who readers of this blog should be well acquainted with--Joe R. Lansdale, Bill Crider and Neal Barrett, Jr.. I suspect it's a violation of zoning laws to bring those three malcontents together in a confined space, but whatcha gonna do?

The real reason to attend isn't to meet any of those high-falutin' literary types, though. Those in the know are going to turn out to see Kasey Lansdale (yeah, that'd be Joe's little girl, all growed up) perform for the gathered throng. If you've never had the pleasure of hearing her sing, it's best described as Janis Joplin meets Patsy Cline. No foolin' here--the girl is good.

Oh, I plan to be lurking around the event as well, but don't let that deter you.

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