Left Coast Crime Anyone?

Met up with Reed Farrel Coleman on Wednesday and it turns out we'll both be headed over to Denver this weekend for Left Coast Crime. I know what you're thinking: What coast is Denver on? Just think - in a few short decades, global warming might well make Denver the new Los Angeles. Or, maybe, the new Miami.

In any event, I'm going to be on a panel with wonderful people like Libby Fischer Hellman, Neil Placky, Rick Mofina, and Cara Black. Actually, it's not "people like" them so much as it's them. We'll all be talking about the male/female split - can men write female characters? Etc. I'm not sure about this topic - I figure it is as settled a question as can come up. Obviously men can write female characters. And women can write male characters. Imagine if we couldn't - that's right single sex novels. The arguments against must be along the lines of "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus." We cannot understand each other and all those occassions when men and women converse happily are just so many lucky coincidences...

Still, this should be a good convention for me. I have absolutely nothing to flog - not even a short story out. This means I get to see some of Denver. Anybody else headed out to Colorado?