The Short Mystery Fiction Society announced the winners of the Derringers for 2014:
- Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000 Words): "Luck is What You Make" by Stephen D. Rogers (Crime Factory, May 2013)
- Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 Words): "The Present" by Robert Lopresti (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2013)
- Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 Words): "Give Me a Dollar" by Ray Daniel (Best New England Crime Stories 2014: Stone Cold, Level Best Books, September 2013)
- Best Novelette (8,001-17,500 Words): "The Goddaughter's Revenge" by Melodie Campbell (Orca Rapid Reads, October 2013)
If you're a new author trying your hand at writing a thriller, you may be interested in the International Thriller Writers' Online ThrillerSchool. You still have time to register for the course, which will take place from April 7 to May 23. Several bestselling thriller authors will be taking part, but note that attendance is limited. (And there is a not-insubstantial fee for participants.)
Sad news from the bookstore world: Book'Em Mysteries in South Pasadena, California, will close its doors on April 30, after 24 years in business. Naomi Hirahara, Wendy Hornsby, Sue Ann Jaffarian will be featured at a farewell book signing on April 6.
One more "closing" to report, in a different vein: editor/publisher Anthony Neil Smith announced that the upcoming issue of Plots With Guns will be its last, with submissions accepted through April 10.
The Strand has developed a tradition of publishing previously-unpublished works by famous authors, such as "Never Kick a Dick" by Cornell Wollrich and "So I Shot Him" by Dashiell Hammett. The latest offering is a short story by Tennessee Williams titled "Crazy Nights," written in the 1930s.
Along those same lines, a previously-unpublished Samuel Beckett story,"Echo's Bones" will be published by by Faber & Faber 80 years after it was rejected.
Mike Ripley's latest "Getting Away with Murder" column for Shots eZine has a wrap-up of the Essex Book Festival where Natasha Cooper gave the annual Dorothy L. Sayers lecture in Witham Library. The "Ripster" also offers up a review of the latest Bryant & May novel by Christopher Fowler, as well as a lot of other goodies.
A collection of Ian Fleming's letters and photographs will be auctioned at the New York antiquarian book fair next week. Some of the letters detail the James Bond creator's tempestuous love affair with Edith Morpurgo (who tragically later died in Auschwitz with her husband and daughter). Book fair spokesman Adam Douglas noted that "I don't think the general public had any idea of what the character of the writer of James Bond was like. It's rather amazing how much like James Bond he is."
The featured weekly crime poem over at the 5-2 is "Sermon Notes" by Randall Compton, while the new story over at Beat to a Pulp is "Morgantown Massacre" by Fred Blosser and Bill Davis.
As part of the Q&A roundup this week, Hank Phillippi Ryan continues her series for the Sisters in Crime New England blog by interviewing Rosemary Harris; and Bruce DeSilva visits The Mystery People to talk about his latest book involving Rhode Island newspaper man Liam Mulligan, Providence Rag.
Here's a little quickie, fun stress reliever via a Buzzfeed quiz: Which TV Detective Are You?
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