Tag: Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America

Edgars

Fiction, Uncategorized

The Edgar nominees for Best Novel were announced last week, and, in a moment of extravagance, I went out and bought all six. I can’t go out to dinner, I figured. Why not spend my money on books?

wanted to be able to write in them and underline favorite sentences and learn from them. I’m a writing teacher and one thing I’m always telling my students is that there’s no better teacher than a book.

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Who’s the best? Time for writing awards season.

Fiction, Writing

Every year I feel that spring launches writer’s conference season. For writers and fans alike there are many choices to fill the schedule. Interested in networking, there’s a conference for that. In advancing craft? Connecting with an agent, meeting your writing idols? Still other choices. This week at MissDemeanors we’ll take a look at a range of choices and weigh in on a few of our favorites.

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Short or long the stories are good

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 At the Mystery Writer’s of America symposium the afternoon took a turn both dark and short. The authors nominated for Best Short Story shared the many ways they are inspired. SJ Rozan (“Chin Long-Yun Stays at Home”) pointed to the draw of an unusual situation or a phrase. The imagery of the pile of shoes in a Primo Levi story led Lisa Gray (“The Queen of Secrets”) to her obsession with shoes and eventually her nominated story.  Kenji Jasper (“A Moment of Clarity at the Waffle House”) started his story as a love letter and ended up killing his demons. Jeffery Deaver (“Hard to Get”) claims that he tries to ‘know his limitations’ and approaches the short story with plot in mind, knowing that he needs ‘the zinger’ before he then populates with characters.  There were commonalities among the panel. Most notably, a short story takes time. Time to germinate. Time to prune and hone.  Altogether a day of authors sharing stories that make us want to read….. and inspire us to write.     

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Writers talk.

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 Today is the Mystery Writer’s of America symposium in Manhattan. The three day event kicked off with a party at the Mysterious Bookstore…… but those stories need to stay in the room. The actual symposium kicked off with a panel of Best First Novel Nominees. The panelists may be ‘firsts’ but they had a wealth of knowledge to share.  Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun), Deborah E. Kennedy (Tornado Weather), Winnie M. Li (Dark Chapter) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Lola) discussed how they got their start, what inspired the creation of their protagonist, how their own history played into their work, and their path to publication.  It was a fantastic panel but there were a few overarching takeaways. – Don’t be afraid of the dramatic changes to the manuscript (both Harper and Love rewrote their manuscript from an entirely different character’s point of view).- Writing is based in place, but the place doesn’t have to be exotic (Kennedy makes the point that digging deep into a place you know well can be as rewarding and rich as drawing from wide travels).- Experience, and therefore character, may come from explicit personal experience (as with Li’s fictional account of violence in her own life) or from taking one element of common experience to place yourself in the head of a character (how Harper explains his ability to write from the point of view of a pre-teen girl. Anxiety was their common characteristic).- Last but not least, the path to publication was not necessarily easy. Perseverance was the final word, whether it is about writing the manuscript or finding a publisher.  Looking forward to the remainder of the panels…. and if you haven’t read these Best First Nominees, then you should head straight to the bookstore  

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What's on your bucket list?

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 Do I have a bucket list? Not really. I’ve done many things in my life, lived in a number of wonderful places, traveled to amazing destinations. Of course, there are other thing I’d like to do, but the list is in flux and I don’t feel prevented from doing them, it’s more a decision about timing and life balance. That changed when a few weeks ago I realized that I have perhaps missed the underlying meaning of a bucket list. I do have things I’d like to do, but know I won’t. Is that what is on a bucket list? What’s holding me back? Me. (Technically I think I may like the IDEA of doing these things more than the actual experience. No…. as I type these words I think, that’s wrong. I would love them. Okay, one of them might turn out to be a REALLY bad idea. You decide. But the other would be amazing.) The first is to travel the Silk Road. There are probably several ways to do this, however, one is organized by a well-respected travel group as a 47 day journey from China through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey. I don’t need to explain why this would be amazing. Upon review of their material I know that I could handle the basic requirements: decent health and the ability to drive a Range Rover. They state very clearly that they provide clean water throughout the trip (a plus). I’ll skip the other details, which outline what would surely be the most incredible trip of a life time – of anyone’s lifetime really, including Marco Polo’s and he started the whole adventure. (Let’s exclude astronauts from the “anyone’s lifetime” list. They get their own category.) Why am I not signing up to travel the Silk Road? Fear. Geopolitics. When I fly OVER some of these places in a commercial airline I am relieved to note we’ve ascended to 42,000 feet (which I have been assured is above the range of certain missiles). If traveling ABOVE these countries is a questionable notion, then driving on the ground with my American passport, is probably not a good idea. I know that the people there are wonderful as individuals, but….. geopolitics intrude and this trip qualifies as don’t do anything that will get your picture on CNN. Call me chicken.  I have another trip I’d like to make. The Peking Paris Road Rally. Clued in by the old-fashioned name? The Rally is a 8,510 mile, 36 day trip (drive? journey? slog?) across 11 countries from Asia to Europe undertaken in a pre-1975 automobile. China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and France. Think about it! Technically there are two divisions, pre-1975 and then pre-1945. Seriously? I would have to go pre-1945. Imagine cruising across Mongolia in a 1920s Silver Ghost!Here are the rules. Each team (duo) must carry its own weight, and the organizers mean that literally. Tents, sleeping bags, spares, and supplies must all be loaded onto the rally car itself. (Again, the Silver Ghost seems like an excellent choice. Roomy.) Period attire is encouraged and vehicle modifications are a no-no. As the organizer points out: “Cars must be prepared in a period-style. No alloy-boxes on the back, no modern-looking ski-boxes or roof-top boxes. Appearance matters. Ratchet straps come in black and are preferable to bright blue, but leather straps do the job just as well and are more in keeping with the spirit of the event…. Crews must remember! Prince Borghese is looking down!”Prince Borghese was winner of the inaugural 1907 Peking-to-Paris race—although it’s said his chauffeur did most of the driving. Cleary the man was a stickler for style and authenticity.What’s holding me back? A near total lack of knowledge about cars or engines. I would need to acquire an appropriate car and bring an experienced mechanic as my travel partner (don’t forget that some nights are spent sleeping in the car, or at best in the tent…..choose your partner wisely). On the other hand, maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will want a travel partner and pick me! They can provide their favorite vintage car, do the mechanical part and I will provide support and a willingness to chat, or be silent… or read aloud. I can already drive any vehicle with a clutch – no matter how tricky – and could fit in some pre-travel mechanic’s lessons. Plus, I’m fearless (forget everything I said about the Silk Road trip….it doesn’t apply here). Maybe I should convince the Mystery Writers of America to challenge the International Thriller Writers and sponsor a bunch of cars (with mechanics). Think of all the good stories…. What is on your bucket list? Join the MissDemeanors on Facebook and share!   What is on your bucket list?

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Bite-sized Bouchercon

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 I started this post a few days ago. Now I’m sitting in Toronto Pearson International Airport waiting to board my flight back to the U.S. I’m manning the International Thriller Writers’ table at my first Bouchercon, feeling…overwhelmed. This conference is huge. I ran into Hank Phillipi Ryan in the elevator and joked there were more people in the hotel than there were on the streets. 1700 registrants. Wow. 1700 authors, editors, agents, bloggers, reviewers, readers, all gathered to celebrate mystery. Double wow. No danger of not finding enough to do. The opposite. Activities run non-stop from 7:30 am until 11 pm, or later. Hard decisions must be made to choose what to do without overdoing it and making yourself crazy. Try to do everything and, in addition to discovering you’d need to clone yourself to be in multiple places at the same time, you’ll collapse from exhaustion. Here are a few suggestions, based on what worked for me. If you’re on a panel, it’s easy. Start with that. Block out your time slot so you don’t inadvertently schedule yourself to be someplace else while you’re supposed to be on the dias. Dont forget, a 30 minute booksigning follows your panel. Next, find your friends’ (and agent’s and editors) panels and mark those. We members of the mystery community are friends with each other. The only throats we cut are on the page. We support each other. But at Bouchercon, support has to be rationed. At least two of your friends will be on concurrent panels. Attend one friend’s panel and buy the other a drink later to make up for it. You could spend the entire conference going from panel to panel to panel but I advise you not to. Panel fatigue will set in quickly. Break up the routine by volunteering for a shift at a table promoting one of the many writers’ organizations and fan societies represented at Bouchercon: Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and several others. Or volunteer to help Bouchercon itself. The volunteer table lists opportunities to serve. Plus, depending on what you sign up to do, you get to sit for a while and let people come to you. Finally, leave some time for fun. Cocktail and dinner parties abound. Or get away from the conference completely and be a tourist. Experience what your host city has on offer. Fellow Missdemeanor, Susan Breen, and I went on a ghost walk (led by Ryan of The Haunted Walk Toronto) through the Distillery District. We learned a bit of Toronto’s distillery past, discovered that Canadian ghosts are more polite than their American counterparts, and had a free sample of beer at Mill Street Brewery. I became a Fluevog shoe convert and celebrated my shoe-shopping victory with a tasting at Spirit of York distillery (sadly, not available in the US. Yet.) and at Soma chocolate. I also squeezed in a visit to the Guillermo del Toro exhibit, At Home with Monsters, at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I marveled at pieces from his apparently endless collection of books, movie memorabilia, paintings, photographs, and sculptures, all related to the people” places, and things that inspired him and accented by his quotations on creativity and belonging (or not). So, those were my tips for navigating Bouchercon. Pick and choose and break it into smaller pieces so it’s easier to wrap your hands, and your brain, around.

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Honoring Excellence in the Field

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 Award season is upon us. The Golden Globes have been handed out, honoring Hollywood achievements, and the Oscar nominations have been announced. The nominees wait, breaths held and fingers crossed, hoping to hear their names called when the presenters open the envelope and read, “And the Oscar goes to…” The literary world awards its share of prizes, including the Pulitzer and Nobel. Some honor excellence in writing in general, some awards are genre specific. The Lefty, the Agatha, and the Edgar, three that honor excellence in crime writing, just released their nominee lists. The Lefty Awards are presented annually at the Left Coast Crime convention for the best humorous, historical, and debut mystery novels, as well as a prize for a mystery not in the above categories. Winners are selected by votes of registered convention attendees. This year’s nominees are:Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery NovelDonna Andrews, Die Like an Eagle (Minotaur Books)Ellen Byron, Body on the Bayou (Crooked Lane Books)Timothy Hallinan, Fields Where They Lay (Soho Crime)Heather Haven, The CEO Came DOA (Wives of Bath Press)Johnny Shaw, Floodgate (Thomas & Mercer)Diane Vallere, A Disguise To Die For (Berkley Prime Crime) Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1960Rhys Bowen, Crowned and Dangerous (Berkley Prime Crime)Susanna Calkins, A Death Along the River Fleet (Minotaur Books)Laurie R. King, The Murder of Mary Russell (Bantam Books)Catriona McPherson, The Reek of Red Herrings (Minotaur Books)Ann Parker, What Gold Buys (Poisoned Pen Press) Lefty for Best Debut Mystery NovelSarah M. Chen, Cleaning Up Finn (All Due Respect Books)Marla Cooper, Terror in Taffeta (Minotaur Books)Alexia Gordon, Murder in G Major (Henery Press)Nadine Nettmann, Decanting a Murder (Midnight Ink)Renee Patrick, Design for Dying (Forge) Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories)Matt Coyle, Dark Fissures (Oceanview Publishing)Gigi Pandian, Michelangelo’s Ghost (Henery Press)Louise Penny, A Great Reckoning (Minotaur Books)Terry Shames, The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake (Seventh Street Books)James W. Ziskin, Heart of Stone (Seventh Street Books) The Agatha Awards honor works in the traditional (a.k.a. cozy or classic) mystery subgenre and are named for Agatha Christie. They’re presented at the annual Malice Domestic convention. Winners are determined by conventioneers’ ballots. This year’s nominees are:Best Contemporary NovelBody on the Bayou by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross (Kensington)Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books) Best Historical NovelWhispers Beyond the Veil by Jessica Estevao (Berkley)Get Me to the Grave on Time by D.E. Ireland (Grainger Press)Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)Murder in Morningside Heights by Victoria Thompson (Berkley) Best First NovelTerror in Taffeta by Marla Cooper (Minotaur)Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon (Henery Press)The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)Decanting a Murder by Nadine Nettmann (Midnight Ink)Design for Dying by Renee Patrick (Forge Books) Best NonfictionMastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats by Jane K. Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods by Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora (Skyhorse Publishing)Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland Books) Best Short Story”Double Jinx: A Bellissimo Casino Crime Caper Short Story” by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)”The Best-Laid Plans” by Barb Goffman in Malice Domestic 11: Murder Most Conventional (Wildside Press)”The Mayor and the Midwife” by Edith Maxwell in Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016 (Down & Out Books)”The Last Blue Glass” by B.K. Stevens in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine”Parallel Play” by Art Taylor in Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning (Wildside Press) Best Children/Young AdultTrapped: A Mei-hua Adventure by P.A. DeVoe (Drum Tower Press)Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster)Tag, You’re Dead by J C Lane (Poisoned Pen Press)The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos (Balzer & Bray)The Secret of the Puzzle Box: The Code Busters Club by Penny Warner (Darby Creek) The Edgar Awards, named for Edgar Allan Poe, are given by the Mystery Writers of America to honor the best in crime writing and television. An MWA volunteer committee selects the winners in numerous categories as well as a Grand Master. Awards are also given to honor someone outside of creative writing who has worked to promote the mystery field and for excellence in mystery publishing. This year’s nominees are:BEST NOVELThe Ex by Alafair Burke (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing) BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHORUnder the Harrow by Flynn Berry (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)Dodgers by Bill Beverly (Crown Publishing Group)IQ by Joe Ide (Little, Brown & Company – Mulholland Books)The Drifter by Nicholas Petrie (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Dancing with the Tiger by Lili Wright (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)The Lost Girls by Heather Young (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow) BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINALShot in Detroit by Patricia Abbott (Polis Books)Come Twilight by Tyler Dilts (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)The 7th Canon by Robert Dugoni (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)Heart of Stone by James W. Ziskin (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books) BEST FACT CRIMEMorgue: A Life in Death by Dr. Vincent DiMaio & Ron Franscell (St. Martin’s Press)The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle that Brought Down the Klan by Laurence Leamer (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The Unsolved Murder That Shocked Victorian England by Paul Thomas Murphy (Pegasus Books)                      While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man’s Descent into Madness by Eli Sanders (Penguin Random House – Viking Books)The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale (Penguin Random House – Penguin Press) BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICALAlfred Hitchcock: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd (Penguin Random House – Nan A. Talese)Encyclopedia of Nordic Crime: Works and Authors of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden Since 1967 by Mitzi M. Brunsdale (McFarland & Company)Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (W.W. Norton – Liveright)Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula by David J. Skal (W.W. Norton – Liveright) BEST SHORT STORY”Oxford Girl” – Mississippi Noir by Megan Abbott (Akashic Books)”A Paler Shade of Death” – St. Louis Noir by Laura Benedict (Akashic Books)”Autumn at the Automat” – In Sunlight or in Shadow by Lawrence Block (Pegasus Books)”The Music Room” – In Sunlight or in Shadow by Stephen King (Pegasus Books)”The Crawl Space” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Joyce Carol Oates (Dell Magazines) BEST JUVENILESummerlost by Ally Condie (Penguin Young Readers Group – Dutton BFYR)OCDaniel by Wesley King (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)The Bad Kid by Sarah Lariviere by  (Simon & Schuster – Simon & Schuster BFYR)Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand  (Simon & Schuster – Simon & Schuster BFYR)Framed! by James Ponti (Simon & Schuster – Aladdin)Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry by Susan Vaught (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books) BEST YOUNG ADULTThree Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger (Simon & Schuster – Simon Pulse)The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group – Henry Holt BFYR)Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown BFYR)My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier (Soho Press – Soho Teen)Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor (Penguin Random House – Penguin Young Readers – Dial Books) BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY”Episode 1 – From the Ashes of Tragedy” – The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Teleplay by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (FX Network)”The Abominable Bride” – Sherlock, Teleplay by Mark Gatiss & Steven Moffat (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece)”Episode 1 – Dark Road” – Vera, Teleplay by Martha Hillier (Acorn TV)”A Blade of Grass” – Penny Dreadful, Teleplay by John Logan (Showtime) “Return 0″ – Person of Interest, Teleplay by Jonathan Nolan & Denise The (CBS/Warner Brothers)“The Bicameral Mind” – Westworld, Teleplay by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy (HBO/Warner Bros. Television) ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD”The Truth of the Moment” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by E. Gabriel Flores (Dell Magazines) GRAND MASTERMax Allan CollinsEllen Hart RAVEN AWARDDru Ann Love ELLERY QUEEN AWARDNeil Nyren THE SIMON & SCHUSTER – MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARDThe Other Sister by Dianne Dixon (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Landmark)Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson (Llewellyn Worldwide – Midnight Ink)Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Tor/Forge Books – Forge Books)Blue Moon by Wendy Corsi Staub (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow) Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees. 

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