Back from Seattle!

Posted on December 8, 2009

Hi, all! I’m back from Seattle and I had an absolutely wonderful time at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. The staff is unbelievably wonderful, knowledgeable, and I bought books for family members who are mystery-obsessed. If you are ever in Seattle, make a pilgrimage to this great resource. Thanks to the folks who stopped by to chit-chat with me and Joan Opyr and get things signed. Thanks, too, to the folks who couldn’t come but who ordered books nonetheless. Dang right I signed ‘em!

Seattle is a wonderful city, with a vibe all its own–think of the dark, mysterious forests from Lord of the Rings filled with Elves (the tall, elegant kind, as opposed to the short, elegant kind). Now add a little bit of the creepy X-Files vibe but serve it up with that awesome cherry pie from Twin Peaks and keep the coffee pouring.

For example, Joan and I went to the Pike Place Market, and fishmongers were engaged in packing up their wares and other vendors were, as well, but it was loud and still busy and some people were wandering through. We ended up at a bar there in the market, but as we were wending our way through the crowd, two women passed us, dressed in vinyl catsuits and stiletto boots. The woman in the red catsuit was holding the leash that was attached to the collar around the neck of the woman in the blue catsuit. And there they were, wandering through the market.

Seattle’s like that. The last time I was there (a couple of years ago), I was waiting at a bus stop around 10 PM and a couple of guys rode by on their bicycles. No biggie, right? Guys on bikes. Everybody rides bikes in Seattle. Well, the difference here was that besides biking shoes, these guys were naked. Yep. Nothing but the shoes, folks. There’s like a normalizing thing about Seattle when it comes to stuff that might seem freaky elsewhere–such that the first thing I thought when I saw those guys was: “dang, doesn’t the seat chafe them?” Not “OMG! NAKED DUDES ON BIKES!” And when I saw those women at the market, I thought: “I wonder what club they’re going to.” Not “OMG! Mistress and slave sighting at Pike Place Market!”

Anyway, I had a great time and a wonderful dinner with Joan and some fine folks from the Bookshop. Hope to go back soon!

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