Edgar Nominees for Fiction

Exciting news today with MWA's Edgar nominees.  Two of my favorite authors are nominees: Laura Lippman and Steve Hamilton, also Harlan Coban, no three of my favorite authors, a veritable embarras de richesses.  What?  No female names in the best first novel group?  I know the committees work endless hours reading and pondering to come up with the best slate of books. Women, who are more inclined to write "cozies," have a hard row to hoe. 

What is hugely exciting is the  nomination of  "A Good Safe Place" by Judith Green for Best Short Story in Thin Ice.  Level Best Books are the greatest!  They publish an anthology of short stories by (mostly) New England authors every year.  Last year I was fortunate enough to be included in Quarry with my story, "Bad Trip."

Congratulations to all the nominees for their achievement.  Mega congratulations to Level Best Books and Judith Green.  Love live Crime Fiction! 


BEST NOVEL

Caught by Harlan Coben (Penguin Group USA - Dutton)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Faithful Place by Tana French (Penguin Group USA - Viking)
The Queen of Patpong by Timothy Hallinan (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books)
I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva (Tom Doherty Associates – Forge Books)
The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
The Serialist: A Novel by David Gordon (Simon & Schuster)
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
Snow Angels by James Thompson (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard (Random House - Bantam)
The News Where You Are by Catherine O’Flynn (Henry Holt)
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski (Minotaur Books)
Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis (Random House Trade Paperbacks)
Ten Little Herrings by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Scent of Lilacs" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Doug Allyn (Dell Magazines)
"The Plot" – First Thrills by Jeffery Deaver (Tom Doherty – Forge Books)
"A Good Safe Place” – Thin Ice by Judith Green (Level Best Books)
"Monsieur Alice is Absent" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
by Stephen Ross (Dell Magazines)
"The Creative Writing Murders" – Dark End of the Street by Edmund White (Bloomsbury)

Bad Trip

Years ago, I clipped a short article from the Boston Globe (?) or maybe AOL's news about an airline that put it's passengers up for the night in a crack house. Like most writers, I have an "idea" file.

Comes the time to write the short story. I found the clipping, and promptly lost it. Googled around and the story was gone, baby, gone.

I noodled around for a while and combined the airline's faux pas with a motel we stayed at in Oakland a few years back en route to Burning Man. Very scary place.

Characters? I thought about an old couple in this predicament, and settled instead on a young couple, just returning from his grandpa's funeral in Kansas. I always go back to Kansas, like some homing pigeon.

Writing the story I found another character, a pimp, since I already had his whore. And the crack house.

Do you have any idea how little a suburban housewife knows about these things? I mean, our idea of living dangerously is to go into Boston without dinner reservations.

Amazing what you can find on the Internet. Pimp walk, pimp culture, pimp clothes. I worked at a place once that had a relationship to a clothing outfit that catered to hip hop, so I thought maybe the pimp would wear something from them. He did. I started to like him. I liked everyone in the story. The young man is a help desk technician because I can never get very far away from technology. Or Kansas. In the blood is in the blood.

The story is coming out in a few weeks in the Level Best Anthology, Quarry. The name of the story is "Bad Trip." That was a no brainer, and of course it operates on a couple levels. I hope some of my readers will seek out a copy, because I'm in terrific company. Hank Philippi Ryan, Mike Wiecek, Vinnie O'Neil, Kate Flora and others. The Level Best anthologies are the best. And here's a little hint.

Short stories make wonderful treadmill reading. You get so caught up you don't even realize you're exercising. And one or two will get you through a whole routine. I get bored out of my mind of the treadmill, and reading short stories is a great solution.

The Bad Trip

Bad Trip is the name of my new short story, which I had hoped to finish and polish in time to send into Level Best Books, but it didn't happen, because home nursing care and hospital visits are not conducive to writing.

Bad Trip is based on a true story, and then the "what if" appears. I had to do research on:
1) sleazy Memphis motels, 2) crack houses, 3) what pimps wear, 4)how pimps talk, 5)cost of disposable diapers and formula, even large Snickers Bars, 6) what Crack Cocaine smells like, 7) how pimps treat their "girls."

I got so hungry in CVS (researching baby supply costs) that I bought a bag (no longer comes in a box) of Cracker Jacks. No trans fat, but they tasted like the always did (good). I'm all for childish pleasures.
Writing Bad Trip was lots of fun, actually, and I have more ideas for short stories. If I can't sell it after a year, I'll publish it on Amazon Shorts.

Is today when the grand prize winner of the Amazon novel contest is announced? I'll have to take a look. April 15 is a date that stays in my head, and not just for tax reasons. The tax situation this year is a train wreck. Can't seem to figure this financing of retirement out. There must be tax software that allows you to plan as you go. Maybe even Money or Quicken. Arrrgh. Hate counting beans, even my own.

Sunday at dinner, I had a mouthful of applesauce, and suddenly there was something hard in my mouth--like a piece of walnut, and can you believe it was my silver crown with part of the tooth attached. Just fell off. Talk about freaking out! Fortunately, there is no pain involved, just a really weird mess when I put my tongue up there, and I have a dentist appointment today.

The federal, state,excise and property taxes have all conveniently come due this month along with the health insurance and fancy Florida restaurant meals. and the blood thinner which is more precious than rubies. Kind of a month long April Fool! The $1200 from Uncle Sam in May is lookin' pretty good, and we will determine for sure if money buys happiness.

I have a very large cat on my lap who is kissing my hand, so life is good. She knows what "kiss" means. Also, "do you want some catnip?" and "would you like to go into the garage?" But I forget myself. Friday is cat blog day.

Not fooled by April one bit.

Grapeshot

MWA 2008 Edgar Awards

Let's hear it for some great new novels. I have Ken Bruen's Priest on my "next read" list. Everyone involved in Crimebake and/or Level Best Books is also pulling for "The Catch" in the Still Waters Anthology. A new writer's first published story is nominated for a prestigeous award. How cool is that? Mega-congratulations to Mark Ammons.

BEST NOVEL

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (Henry Holt and Company)
Priest by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin Group – Viking)
Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard (The Rookery Press)
Head Games by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
Pyres by Derek Nikitas (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Blood of Paradise by David Corbett (Random House - Mortalis)
Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks (Serpent's Tail)
Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (Hard Case Crime)
Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FACT CRIME

The Birthday Party by Stanley Alpert (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by Vincent Bugliosi (W.W. Norton and Company
Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Relentless Pursuit: A True Story of Family, Murder, and the Prosecutor Who Wouldn't Quit by Kevin Flynn (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Sacco & Vanzetti: The Men, The Murders and the Judgment of Mankind by Bruce Watson (Penguin Group – Viking)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson (Random House)
A Counter-History of Crime Fiction: Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational by Maurizio Ascari (Palgrave Macmillan)
Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave Macmillan)
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley (The Penguin Press)
Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy
by Jean Gould O’Connell (McFarland & Company)

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Catch" – Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)
"Blue Note" – Chicago Blues by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Bleak House Books)
"Hardly Knew Her" – Dead Man's Hand by Laura Lippman (Harcourt Trade Publishers)
"The Golden Gopher" – Los Angeles Noir by Susan Straight (Akashic Books
"Uncle" – A Hell of a Woman” by Daniel Woodrell (Busted Flush Press)

BEST JUVENILE

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman (American Girl Publications)
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books)
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion Books for Young Readers)
Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things by Wendelin Van Draanen (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold (Penguin – Dial Books for Young Readers)
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Simon Pulse)