Bouchercon 2011 happened to coincide with my mother's 90th birthday. As both Bouchercon and Mom are in St. Louis, I was able to make both.
I had not been to Bouchercon since 2005, so I had a lot of friends to catch up with, but that's what the bar and the hospitality room are for. I spent way too much time and money in the bar and talked myself hoarse on Friday night.
One of the best things about Bouchercon is the book bag. This one was huge. I won't list all of the books I received, but two that really look exciting are The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg and The Deputy by Victor Gischler. Lackberg is one of Europe's top novelists. The buzz at Bouchercon is that she will soon be one of America's. Gischler is the author of hard-boiled crime fiction such as Gun Monkeys and Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, so I know this one will be a wild ride.
The Private Eye Writers of America held the Shamus Award dinner on Friday night. Lori Armstrong's book, No Mercy, won best P.I. hardcover. Lori seemed shocked to win. A lot of people expected Robert Crais to get the award for The First Rule. I'm going to get Armstrong's book for sure. Mercy seemed to be the theme for the night. Michael Ayoob won Best First P.I. Novel for In Search of Mercy. Sarah Paretsky was given the Hammer Award, a new award for best character for, who else?, V.I. Warshawski. The award so move Sarah that she was speechless. The Shamus award dinner is always held off-site. This year it was held at a St. Louis landmark, Anheuser-Busch Brewery. All the beer we could drink. Thank God I didn't have to give a speech.
Bob Randisi, who founded the PWA, was one of the special guests of the convention. He's written over 550 books, averaging 16 books a year. For most writers, 16 books would be a productive career. He did not reveal any secrets except that he likes to tell stories.
None of the panels struck me as extraordinary this year, though with five concurrent sessions each hour, it was impossible to get to all of them. There might very well be some great ones that I missed. Don't get me wrong. Most of the panels I attended were informative and fun: Max Allen Collins telling about his relationship with Mickey Spillane; Collin Cotterill, Linwood Barclay, Bill Crider, Lisa Lutz and Elaine Viets talking about their one star Amazon reviews.
In reality, the panels are secondary to the real fun of Bouchercon—a four day conversation about crime fiction with writers and readers from around the world that flowed in and out of the bars, the dealer room and through the halls.
Mark Troy
Hawaiian Eye Blog
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Showing posts with label Shamus Award. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shamus Award. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Shamus time
There are a number of awards for excellence in the mystery field--the Edgar, the Anthony, the Macavity, the Derringer, the Agatha, to name some of the most important.
The Shamus, given by the Private Eye Writers of America is particularly important to me. When I was starting out writing mysteries, I discovered the Shamus Award. I looked at the list of past winners and nominees and realized that they represented the authors and stories I read most. Until then, I had not thought of writing private eye stories. But, I believe writers should write what they like to read, so I set out to write them myself. I also set myself a goal of winning a Shamus.
Winning a Shamus is a high bar, a very high bar, indeed. The list of winners include Dennis Lehane, S. J. Rozan, Bill Pronzini, Lawrence Block, hell, just about every mystery writer worth reading. But, if you don't try for the high bar, you will never know what you can accomplish.
The PWA just announced that it is accepting submissions for the award for the 2010 Shamus Awards for works published in 2009. The deadline for submission is June 20, 2010. If you have a PI novel or short story published in 2009 contact the awards chair, Ted Fitzgerald with the contact information for your editor or publicist. Ted's email address is Tecfitz@msn.com.
One of our own Makeminemystery bloggers, Austin Camacho, is a judge this year in the Best First P.I. Novel category.
Mark Troy
Hawaiian-Eye
The Shamus, given by the Private Eye Writers of America is particularly important to me. When I was starting out writing mysteries, I discovered the Shamus Award. I looked at the list of past winners and nominees and realized that they represented the authors and stories I read most. Until then, I had not thought of writing private eye stories. But, I believe writers should write what they like to read, so I set out to write them myself. I also set myself a goal of winning a Shamus.
Winning a Shamus is a high bar, a very high bar, indeed. The list of winners include Dennis Lehane, S. J. Rozan, Bill Pronzini, Lawrence Block, hell, just about every mystery writer worth reading. But, if you don't try for the high bar, you will never know what you can accomplish.
The PWA just announced that it is accepting submissions for the award for the 2010 Shamus Awards for works published in 2009. The deadline for submission is June 20, 2010. If you have a PI novel or short story published in 2009 contact the awards chair, Ted Fitzgerald with the contact information for your editor or publicist. Ted's email address is Tecfitz@msn.com.
One of our own Makeminemystery bloggers, Austin Camacho, is a judge this year in the Best First P.I. Novel category.
Mark Troy
Hawaiian-Eye
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
New Voices by Mark Troy
To be successful, an author must master the craft and provide a fresh voice. How does one do that? One reads. Read the best books by the best writers in your genre learn how they did it. Read the most current ones to stay fresh. In particular, I think it’s important for writers to read the best of the new voices because these are the freshest voices, the ones at the cutting edge.
How does one find the fresh voices? I look to the major awards—the Edgar and Shamus awards. Because I write private detective stories, I go to the Shamus award for best first PI novel. Some of the past nominees, which include Walter Moseley, Laura Lippman and Denis Lehane, have transformed the genre.
The Shamus nominees for 2009 have just been announced. Here are the nominees for Best First PI Novel. According to the Shamus judges, these five are the freshest voices in private eye fiction. It’s too early to tell what impact they will have on the genre, but it’s a safe bet that writers and readers will be talking about one or more of these authors for years to come.
If you're thinking private eye stories are about two-fisted gumshoes in New York, Boston or Los Angeles tracking cheaters and discovering murders, this group will change your mind. The 2009 crop of newcomers brings us sleuths who walk the means streets of Minneapolis, New York, Beijing, Belize and 14th century London.
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang (Simon & Schuster)
Mei Wang resigns from China’s Ministry of Public Security to go out on her own, a move that causes consternation among her family, friends and the important people of Beijing. Her first case, the search for an ancient jade missing since the Cultural Revolution reveals secrets about her own family and creates a crisis for Mei, her mother and sister.
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Doubleday)
Minneapolis TV reporter, Riley Spartz, discovers that a serial killer is targeting women named Susan and killing one on the same day each year. For Riley, it’s all about lives, but, for her boss, it’s about TV ratings and, for the mayor, it’s about the city’s image.
In the Heat by Ian Vasquez (St. Martins Minotaur)
Boxer Miles Young is at home in Belize, looking for a last big fight. Isabelle Gilmore wants Miles to find her daughter, who’s run off with some of her mother’s money and her no-good boyfriend. Isabelle’s afraid Rian’s going to marry the kid, the only son of corrupt ex--police chief Marlon Tablada, and she wants Rian---and the money---found. In return, Miles gets put on a fight card with a $30,000 payday.
Swann’s Last Song by Charles Salzberg (Five Star)
Skip tracer Harry Swann cares only about money, so when a beautiful woman from the Upper East Side asks him to find her missing husband, he happily takes the case. The story moves from new York to Los Angeles, to Acapulco and Berlin.
Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson (St Martins Minotaur)
In late 14th century England, Crispin Guest is a man adrift in a culture where position is rigidly defined. Once a knight, a member of the upper tiers of society, Crispin was convicted of treason and stripped of his rank and his honor for plotting against King Richard II. Having lost his patron, his friends, and his position at court, and with no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has—his wits—to scrape a living on the mean streets of London as a “Tracker,” i.e. a personal sheriff.
The winner will be announced at Bouchercon. I hope to have read them all by then.
Mark Troy
http://hawaiian-eye.blogspot.com
http://www.marktroy.net
How does one find the fresh voices? I look to the major awards—the Edgar and Shamus awards. Because I write private detective stories, I go to the Shamus award for best first PI novel. Some of the past nominees, which include Walter Moseley, Laura Lippman and Denis Lehane, have transformed the genre.
The Shamus nominees for 2009 have just been announced. Here are the nominees for Best First PI Novel. According to the Shamus judges, these five are the freshest voices in private eye fiction. It’s too early to tell what impact they will have on the genre, but it’s a safe bet that writers and readers will be talking about one or more of these authors for years to come.
If you're thinking private eye stories are about two-fisted gumshoes in New York, Boston or Los Angeles tracking cheaters and discovering murders, this group will change your mind. The 2009 crop of newcomers brings us sleuths who walk the means streets of Minneapolis, New York, Beijing, Belize and 14th century London.
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang (Simon & Schuster)Mei Wang resigns from China’s Ministry of Public Security to go out on her own, a move that causes consternation among her family, friends and the important people of Beijing. Her first case, the search for an ancient jade missing since the Cultural Revolution reveals secrets about her own family and creates a crisis for Mei, her mother and sister.
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Doubleday)
Minneapolis TV reporter, Riley Spartz, discovers that a serial killer is targeting women named Susan and killing one on the same day each year. For Riley, it’s all about lives, but, for her boss, it’s about TV ratings and, for the mayor, it’s about the city’s image.
In the Heat by Ian Vasquez (St. Martins Minotaur)Boxer Miles Young is at home in Belize, looking for a last big fight. Isabelle Gilmore wants Miles to find her daughter, who’s run off with some of her mother’s money and her no-good boyfriend. Isabelle’s afraid Rian’s going to marry the kid, the only son of corrupt ex--police chief Marlon Tablada, and she wants Rian---and the money---found. In return, Miles gets put on a fight card with a $30,000 payday.
Swann’s Last Song by Charles Salzberg (Five Star)
Skip tracer Harry Swann cares only about money, so when a beautiful woman from the Upper East Side asks him to find her missing husband, he happily takes the case. The story moves from new York to Los Angeles, to Acapulco and Berlin.
Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson (St Martins Minotaur)In late 14th century England, Crispin Guest is a man adrift in a culture where position is rigidly defined. Once a knight, a member of the upper tiers of society, Crispin was convicted of treason and stripped of his rank and his honor for plotting against King Richard II. Having lost his patron, his friends, and his position at court, and with no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has—his wits—to scrape a living on the mean streets of London as a “Tracker,” i.e. a personal sheriff.
The winner will be announced at Bouchercon. I hope to have read them all by then.
Mark Troy
http://hawaiian-eye.blogspot.com
http://www.marktroy.net
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
What Good Are Awards? by Mark Troy
I raise this question because this is the time of year when the Private Eye Writers of America announce the nominees for the Shamus Awards. These are given to the best novels or stories featuring a private investigator as the main character. The categories are Best Short Story, Best First Novel, Best Novel, and Best Paperback Original.
So what good are awards? For me, the answer is simple: motivation. It's because of the Shamus Awards that I write private eye stories. I had decided I wanted to write a mystery, but not sure what kind. That my first efforts featured amateur sleuths probably had more to do with my own amateurish efforts at writing than anything else. In the midst of the struggle to find my muse, I heard about the Shamus Awards and looked up the previous nominees and winners. That led to an epiphany. I recognized most of the names on the list, had read many of the books. These were the books I liked to read. Why not write that kind of book? That led to the formation of my first writing goal: winning a Shamus Award.
Why that goal? Why not a goal of landing on the New York Times Bestseller lists perhaps? Or a goal of getting an Edgar Award? Certainly those are worthy goals. Winning an Edgar, in particular, is high on my list of things to accomplish, but in aiming for the Shamus, I find it easier to identify the competition. The Edgar pool is any mystery published in the preceding year. It could be a cozy, a police procedural, amateur, detective, or any other sub genre. Competing for the Edgar is like trying to play five sports at the same time. I don’t want to take anything away from Edgar winners. It’s quite an accomplishment, but not one that is easy to aim for.
Awards set the bar. Just because the Shamus pool is smaller and more tightly defined doesn't mean that the quality of competition is any less. You’re competing against the likes of Dennis Lehane and S. J. Rozan, to name just two. I’m a firm believer that competing against the best only makes you a better writer.
The awards provide direction by helping an author identify the cutting edge of the field. The nominees, for the most part, have some quality or element that lifts them out of the pile of like novels. That’s today’s cutting edge. By the time your novel is finished readers will be looking for something different. It’s not easy to anticipate what will be fresh in the future, but knowing what’s fresh today, can tell you what won’t be fresh tomorrow.
Awards aren’t perfect at identifying the best in the field. In any list of awards there will be a few that have you scratching your head wondering why they were included. Inevitably, there will be the glaring omissions of a book or author who by every measure is deserving, but for unknown reasons did not make the list. The procedures for selecting the nominees are imperfect. If the nominees are selected by popular vote of the membership of some organization, then marketing, sales and distribution come into play. If a committee selects them, then personal preferences or biases can influence the selection. Nevertheless, the best awards can be a huge help to a writer’s craft by providing motivation, direction, and a standard to aim for.
Besides the Shamus, some other awards for mystery writers to note are the Agatha Awards given for cozy (traditional) mysteries by members of Malice Domestic, and the Thriller Awards given by the International Thriller Writers.
What awards do you aim for and why?
Mark Troy
http://hawaiian-eye.blogspot.com
http://www.marktroy.net
So what good are awards? For me, the answer is simple: motivation. It's because of the Shamus Awards that I write private eye stories. I had decided I wanted to write a mystery, but not sure what kind. That my first efforts featured amateur sleuths probably had more to do with my own amateurish efforts at writing than anything else. In the midst of the struggle to find my muse, I heard about the Shamus Awards and looked up the previous nominees and winners. That led to an epiphany. I recognized most of the names on the list, had read many of the books. These were the books I liked to read. Why not write that kind of book? That led to the formation of my first writing goal: winning a Shamus Award.
Why that goal? Why not a goal of landing on the New York Times Bestseller lists perhaps? Or a goal of getting an Edgar Award? Certainly those are worthy goals. Winning an Edgar, in particular, is high on my list of things to accomplish, but in aiming for the Shamus, I find it easier to identify the competition. The Edgar pool is any mystery published in the preceding year. It could be a cozy, a police procedural, amateur, detective, or any other sub genre. Competing for the Edgar is like trying to play five sports at the same time. I don’t want to take anything away from Edgar winners. It’s quite an accomplishment, but not one that is easy to aim for.
Awards set the bar. Just because the Shamus pool is smaller and more tightly defined doesn't mean that the quality of competition is any less. You’re competing against the likes of Dennis Lehane and S. J. Rozan, to name just two. I’m a firm believer that competing against the best only makes you a better writer.
The awards provide direction by helping an author identify the cutting edge of the field. The nominees, for the most part, have some quality or element that lifts them out of the pile of like novels. That’s today’s cutting edge. By the time your novel is finished readers will be looking for something different. It’s not easy to anticipate what will be fresh in the future, but knowing what’s fresh today, can tell you what won’t be fresh tomorrow.
Awards aren’t perfect at identifying the best in the field. In any list of awards there will be a few that have you scratching your head wondering why they were included. Inevitably, there will be the glaring omissions of a book or author who by every measure is deserving, but for unknown reasons did not make the list. The procedures for selecting the nominees are imperfect. If the nominees are selected by popular vote of the membership of some organization, then marketing, sales and distribution come into play. If a committee selects them, then personal preferences or biases can influence the selection. Nevertheless, the best awards can be a huge help to a writer’s craft by providing motivation, direction, and a standard to aim for.
Besides the Shamus, some other awards for mystery writers to note are the Agatha Awards given for cozy (traditional) mysteries by members of Malice Domestic, and the Thriller Awards given by the International Thriller Writers.
What awards do you aim for and why?
Mark Troy
http://hawaiian-eye.blogspot.com
http://www.marktroy.net
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