A Portland Rose



Gigi Pandian

This past weekend at the Left Coast Crime convention in Portland, Oregon, Gigi Pandian’s Pirate Vishnu received the Rose award for Best Novel set in the LCC area. I began reading her novel The Accidental Alchemist, which takes place in Portland and features Dorian, a French gourmet gargoyle. Gigi originally wrote Dorian’s story the year she was diagnosed with cancer. The book reflects the dietary changes she made in her life and includes recipes. Due to her fascination with gargoyles, Gigi created the Gargoyle Girl blog, with images and background information. Although not a leprechaun, Dorian certainly provides magical reading!

Left Coast Crime

Best wishes to authors and fans attending Left Coast Crime in Monterey, California. This annual mystery convention is held during the first quarter of the calendar year in Western North America, as defined by the Mountain Time Zone and all time zones westward to Hawaii. It recognizes outstanding achievement for the best humorous mystery novel (the Lefty); the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award (for novels set before 1960); best U.S. mystery (the Squid); and best mystery set outside the U.S. (the Calamari). First held in San Francisco in 1991, this conference will take place in Portland, Oregon next year.