Tag Archive for: Gigi Pandian

Celebrating the 2022 Agatha Nominated Authors for Best First Novel and Best Short Story

by Paula Gail Benson

 

Next weekend, after a two year absence,
a group of devoted readers and writers will gather in Bethesda, Maryland, to
celebrate the traditional mystery at Malice Domestic. Each year, it
s been a great
privilege for me to interview the Agatha nominees for Best First Novel and Best
Short Story.
Through this message, please enjoy meeting or reacquainting
yourself with these wonderful authors
, and dont forget to click on
the links to read the nominated short stories!

 

Congratulations to all the nominees and
thank you for spending time with us at The Stiletto Gang!

 

Best First Novel
The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best
Books)
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best
Books)
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked
Lane Books)

 

What has been
your most unexpected experience with the publication of your first novel?

 

Mally Becker


Mally:

The nomination of The Turncoat’s Widow for an Agatha Award
in the “best debut” category is one of the most unexpected and humbling
experiences of my life. I am honored beyond belief, and the nomination still
doesn’t feel real.

Beyond that, I am
gobsmacked by how much kindness has come my way in the wake of writing and
publishing this book. There were historians and curators who gave their time
gratis, authors (you know who you are)
who shared their wisdom and support freely, and family, friends, librarians,
and strangers who took the time to reach out and send good wishes.

Each act of kindness feels like a moment of grace,
reminding me that, even in this time
of discord, there is a tremendous amount of goodness in the world. That
revelation has been the most unexpected, welcome surprise of all.

Lori:

Book promotion has been much more time-consuming than I
had expected, but what has surprised me most is the level of support I have
experienced from my local community. There are huge advantages to living in a
rural area. We are spread-out, but we are also tight knit. Everybody really
does know everybody even if they are separated by ten or fifteen miles. I
expected some support, but not like this. Everywhere I go, people ask when the
next novel is releasing. I feel like they are honestly happy for me. I am truly
fortunate.

 

Mia P. Manansala


Mia:

I wrote this book after the previous novel I’d written failed on
submission–
Arsenic and Adobo was meant to be a book for me and my mom,
who’d introduced me to the world of cozy mysteries in the first place. So the
fact that something I wrote for mostly personal reasons has managed to connect
with so many people is amazing and completely unexpected.


Judy:

Gaining an Agatha Award nomination for Best First Novel is an
absolute, unpredicted thrill. I’m so, so honored to be a part of this legacy of
talented writers. I discovered an amazing community of people open to helping
each other grow. I need to do the same in return.

I recently held a two-hour book talk and the joy and fun of
discovering how much
Murder in the Master readers were totally engaged
in my characters’ lives was fantastic. They laughed and questioned and probed.

Raquel V. Reyes


I’d add that for Murder in the Master, launching the
storyline with a murder in the first paragraph was a big leap. Pure instinct. Thank
goodness so many readers love that opening! I also deliberated, with a whole
lot of angst, about the concept of creating my squad of favorite, famous
sleuths to help my protagonist investigate the crime. Readers love it.
They enjoy seeing these
favorites bring their crime solving talents and uniqueness into a current day
mystery. They’ve also told me Helen’s personality has struck a chord. She’s
quick-witted and likes to verbally spar, especially with her possible love
interest, and readers are cheering her along. Overall, I’d like
to encourage other writers to get their
creativity down on paper. Don’t allow, like I did, life’s practicalities to
delay their writing.

Raquel:

In my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined that Mango, Mambo, and Murder would get a NYT
Book Review.

 

Best Short Story
A Family Matter by
Barb Goffman (
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb
2021)
A Tale of Two Sisters by
Barb Goffman in 
Murder on the
Beach
 (Destination
Murders)
Docs at Midnight by
Richie Narvaez in 
Midnight Hour (Crooked
Lane Books)
The Locked Room Library by
Gigi Pandian (
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug
2021)
Bay of Reckoning by
Shawn Reilly Simmons in 
Murder on the
Beach
 (Destination Murders)

 

How do you create realistic
antagonists in short stories?

 

Barb Goffman


Barb:

The process for creating a realistic antagonist is the same as the
process for creating a realistic protagonist and other characters. Think about
their feelings, their motivations, and their emotional needs, because it’s
these things that prompt each character’s actions.

One good way to do this is to put yourself in the characters’
shoes, which will allow you to see the situation in question from their
perspectives. With this insight, you should be able to have each character act
and react as real people would and also act differently from one another.

In “A Tale of Two Sisters,” Robin is strong while her sister, the
bride, is anxious. Robin is determined to ensure the night goes well for Emma.
It’s that motivation that prompts her actions throughout the story. If Robin
were anxious too, the story would have unfolded quite differently.

Similarly, in “A Family Matter,” Doris reacts negatively to
the family that moves in next door, not because she’s a mean person but because
she believes it’s vital that this family not bring the neighborhood down. If
Doris were more low-key, like another neighbor, Audrey, she would have reacted
differently to things the new neighbors did. As a result, she wouldn’t have
discovered a certain secret, and the story would have had a very different
ending.

So, given that characters could act differently in any situation,
it’s imperative for the author to understand who each character is, what
motivates him or her, and think about how those motivations come into play with
every action. This applies whether the character is the protagonist,
antagonist, or even a sidekick.

 

Richie:

The same as you would a protagonist: Make them as
tangible as possible. Does he have a favorite flavor of ice cream, a certain
way of speaking, a pet cockatoo? Little details help the reader see them as
more than just cartoony two-dimensional people. And we should know their
motivations. Most of us are happy to pay rent and vacation once in a while, but
what makes this person want to kidnap, murder, lie, steal, take over the world?

 

“Doc’s at Midnight” is fairly short, so we don’t get to hang out with the antagonists for very
long, but when we do we get their motivation, and we see how it is anchored in
a decades-old pain that echoes the struggle that the two main characters are
going through, attempting to review and recover from the past.

 

Gigi Pandian


Gigi:

Such an interesting question! For me, in a short story it’s
the puzzle itself that’s the antagonist, more than any particular person. The
motive of the person behind the crime needs to be realistic, but I’m far more
interested in creating a satisfying locked-room puzzle that makes the reader
smile at the end of the story because the solution is both surprising and
believable.

 

Shawn:

To me finding conflict between characters is one of the
easier parts of writing. We’re all wired differently, all based on how we were
raised and our life experiences since. The potential for conflict to arise is,
unfortunately, all around us on a daily basis. My process is to think about how
that character feels about a certain situation, and why they may have an issue,
based on their beliefs or a perceived slight or outright injustice they feel
has happened to them. It’s fun for me to think how a character might think, and
have them react in a way that might be surprising in the face of
conflict. 

 

Now, a question for all the nominees:

What shoes
would your protagonist (or another character in your book or story) wear to the
Agatha Banquet?

 

Mally:

Becca will wear the kitten-heeled satin slippers that
Martha Washington gave her just the other day. The shoes are cobalt blue, shot
through with shimmering metallic threads and topped with silver buckles. Lady
Washington, as she was known, loves shoes and occasionally gifts them to
special friends. After all the unpleasantness last winter–the less said about
that, the better–Becca certainly qualifies as one of those special friends.

 

Lori Duffy Foster


Lori:

Boots, of course! Lisa would want to look good, but she
would also want to be super comfortable. To settle her nerves, you know? So she
would choose a pair of leather cowboy boots, probably light brown with a simple
design, with about a one-inch heel. It be a pair she has worn often enough to
break in, but not so often that they are scuffed or worn-looking. Lisa loves
boots. She lives in them.

 

Mia:

This is tough because my protagonist is way, WAY more fashionable
than me. She favors dark color palettes and stacked heels, so I’m picturing
glittery or velvety black wedges that lace up and have fun, sexy cut-outs. Her
mom taught her about couture and famous designers when she was younger, but she
cares less about brand names and more about the style and vibe of a design.

 

Judy:

No question, Helen would wear four-inch heels, maybe red. She’d
be taking her fashion direction from Nora Charles and Agatha Raisin, who both
know how to sashay across a room. Unfortunately, for me personally, those heels
have been shoved to the back of my closet. Too many years of heels for work
have turned my feet into pretzels. I can hear Jane Marple tsk- tsking in my
ears.

 

Judy L. Murray


Raquel:

My protagonist, Miriam Quiñones, a Cuban-American food anthropologist
turned cooking show star, is on the practical side—so, probably a simple,
classic pump. But if her BFF, Alma, had anything to do with it, Miriam would
wear a stylish and strappy shoe with some tasteful bling to it. 

 

Barb:

Robin in “A Tale of Two Sisters” would wear flats. At her last
fancy affair, she had to wear heels and they made her evening even more
difficult. It’s hard to chase a dog when you’re in heels. So, she wouldn’t make
that mistake again. After all, who knows if a dog will crash the Agatha banquet
too?

Doris from “A Family Matter” would wear shoes with a narrow,
pointy toe and a tall heel. They were the stylish choice for women in the
spring of 1962, and Doris is all about projecting the right image, which means
she must wear the right thing.

Richie:

Great question! Well, the protagonist of “Doc’s at Midnight,” is actually a character
from the 1961 movie West Side Story, Chino, but he’s older now and not
flush with cash. So I think he would wear something that harkens back to his
past, but not expensive—so, Capezio lace-up dance shoes in faux leather
featuring one-inch heels with suede-covered bottoms for shock absorption. In
black. Used, but buffed to a shine.

Richie Narvaez


Gigi:

Sanjay would be wearing his signature tuxedo and bowler
hat, which he wears when he performs on stage as The Hindi Houdini.

 

Shawn:

Sabrina Westfall, the protagonist in my story, is a
former beauty queen, so she would wear heels, but she’s also very sensible and
practical, so they would be modest and elegant, much like her. She’d also have
an updo and be wearing a lovely gown, chin up and toe turned out for photos
(she’s media trained!). 

 

Shawn Reilly Simmons


BIOS:

Mally Becker combines her love of history and
crime fiction in mysteries that feature strong, independent heroines. In
addition to being nominated for a 2022 Agatha Award, The Turncoat’s Widow has also been named a Mystery & Mayhem
finalist in the Chanticleer International Book Awards. The next book in her
series will be published in June 2022 by Level Best Books.

https://www.mallybecker.com/

 

Lori
Duffy Foster

Lori Duffy Foster is a former crime reporter who writes
fiction and nonfiction from the hills of Northern Pennsylvania, where she lives
with her husband and four children. She was born and raised in the Adirondack
Mountains of New York State, where a part of her heart remains.

https://loriduffyfoster.com/

 

Mia P. Manansala is a writer
and book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She
uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness,
and her millennial love for pop culture.

https://www.miapmanansala.com/

Judy
L. Murray is a real estate broker with a not-so-secret passion for deals,
divas, and danger. Her passion for mysteries began with smart girls like Nancy
Drew and Trixie Belden, grew deeper with not-to-be-ignored women like Miss
Marple and Nora Charles, and finally evolved into her own gutsy heroine – Helen
Morrisey. 
https://www.judymurraymysteries.com/

Raquel V. Reyes writes stories with Latina characters. Her
Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and the Caribbean feature prominently in her
work. Raquel is a co-chair for SleuthFest. 
https://rvreyes.com/

Barb Goffman, a short story author and a
freelance crime-fiction editor, has won the Agatha Award twice and has also
taken home the Macavity, Silver Falchion, and 2020 Readers Award given by 
Ellery
Queen’s Mystery Magazine
. She’s been a finalist for major crime-writing
awards thirty-five times for her stories, including sixteen Agatha Award
nominations (a category record), and multiple nominations for the Anthony,
Macavity, and Derringer awards. 
www.barbgoffman.com.

Richie Narvaez is the
award-winning author of the collection
 Roachkiller and Other
Stories,
 the gentrification thriller Hipster Death Rattle, and
the historical YA mystery 
Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco.
His latest book is the collection 
Noiryoricanhttps://www.richienarvaez.com/

Gigi Pandian is a USA
Today
 bestselling mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and
locked-room mystery enthusiast. Gigi is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color,
and she writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, Accidental Alchemist
mysteries, and Secret Staircase Mysteries, beginning with
Under Lock & Skeleton Key—which came out in March 2022. https://www.gigipandian.com/

​Shawn Reilly Simmons is the author of seven
novels in the Red Carpet Catering mystery series featuring Penelope Sutherland,
chef-owner of a movie set catering company. She’s also written short stories
which have been published in various anthologies. Shawn serves on the Board of
Malice Domestic and is co-owner/publisher/editor at Level Best
Books. 
https://www.shawnreillysimmons.com/ 

Short Story Update

by Paula Gail Benson

The Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America were delighted with the response to Mystery in the Midlands. We started off with a terrific panel on short stories featuring John Floyd, Tara Laskowski, and Art Taylor. Among them, those talented writers have been nominated and are recipients of the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, Edgar, Macavity, and Thriller for their short stories. All of them have been involved with editing anthologies and preparing collections of their own work.

Listeners had many questions for this panel and links were left in the chat line to a number of excellent sources for short story writers.

Clockwise from upper right: Dana Kaye, Moderator, John Floyd, Tara Laskowski, and Art Taylor
The Short Story Panel from Mystery in the Midlands
Photo by Kathryn Prater Bomey, shared by Tara Laskowski

 A number of folks have asked to see a replay of the session. Here’s the link where you can access the entire program from Mystery in the Midlands:

Coming up in August is another great event for short story writers. Agatha winner Gigi Pandian is presenting “The Art and History of Locked Room Mysteries,” on Saturday, August 15 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM Pacific Time for the Sacramento-based Capitol Crimes Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Here’s the link to register:
Gigi Pandian

I hope you’ll be able to access these programs and enjoy!

Mystery in the Midlands ONLINE and FREE!!!! Saturday, July 25, 2020

by Paula Gail Benson

For the last two years, the Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America have sponsored a mid-summer conference for readers and writers in “famously hot” Columbia, S.C. While we had to cancel our in person gathering due to Covid 19, our third venture as an online conference, to be held on Saturday, July 25, 2020, looks to be a charm with a terrifically HOT lineup and a program offered free of charge (thanks to Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America for generous support). Anyone can attend. You don’t have to be a member of Sisters in Crime or Mystery Writers of America to join in the fun!


All you have to do is register at this link, then click through to the Crowdcast link to save your spot.


REGISTER TODAY!!!!
Here’s the link again:



Today, Monday, July 20, 2020, is the last day to register! You don’t want to miss this fabulous program hosted by Dana Kaye with books available through Jill Hendrix’s Fiction Addiction Bookstore in Greenville, S.C.


Here’s the schedule for Mystery in the Midlands, on Saturday, July 25, 2020:

10:00 am to 10:15 am EST   Welcome
Dana
Kaye (moderator), Debra Goldstein (SEMWA), and Paula Gail Benson (Palmetto
Chapter SinC)

10:30 am to 11:15 am EST   Slip into Some Shorts
Dana Kaye (moderator) – John Floyd, Tara Laskowski, and Art Taylor
11:30 am to 12:00 pm EST  Mystery Writers Are Always Hot! Keynote
Charlaine
Harris
12:15 pm to 1:00 pm EST       Spectres
Rather Than Heat Mirages
Dana
Kaye (moderator) – Alexia Gordon, Toni L.P. Kelner, and Gigi Pandian
1:15 pm to 2:00 pm EST      Pages Burning Their Way to the Screen
Dana
Kaye (moderator) – Dana Cameron, Jeffrey Deaver, and Charlaine Harris
2:15 pm to 2:30 pm EST      Everybody in the Pool!

Dana Kaye
(moderator), Debra Goldstein (SEMWA), and Paula Gail Benson (Palmetto Chapter
SinC)

Here’s some information about our fabulous authors:

Charlaine Harris is a true
daughter of the South. She was born in Mississippi and has lived in Tennessee,
South Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas. After years of dabbling with poetry,
plays, and essays, her career as a novelist began when her husband invited her
to write full time. Her first book, Sweet
and Deadly,
appeared in 1981. When Charlaine’s career as a mystery writer
began to falter, she decided to write a cross-genre book that would appeal to
fans of mystery, science fiction, romance, and suspense. She could not have
anticipated the huge surge of reader interest in the adventures of a barmaid in
Louisiana, or the fact that Alan Ball would come knocking at her door. Since
then, Charlaine’s novels have been adapted for several other television series,
with two in development now. Charlaine is a voracious reader. She has one
husband, three children, two grandchilden, and two rescue dogs. She leads a
busy life.
John M. Floyd’s short
fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post
, and many
other publications. Three of his stories have been selected for the
annual Best American Mystery Stories anthology (the 2015,
2018, and 2020 editions) and another was recently optioned for film. A former
Air Force captain and IBM systems engineer, John is also an Edgar nominee, a four-time
Derringer Award winner, a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a recipient of the
Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement, and
the author of eight books. He and his wife Carolyn live in Mississippi.
Tara Laskowski’s debut
novel, One Night Gone, won the 2019 Agatha Award for Best First
Novel and was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark, Anthony, Macavity, and
Lefty Awards. It was hailed by Tana French as “a subtly but relentlessly
unsettling novel.” Tara is also the author of two short story
collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders,
which The Guardian named a best book of 2017. She has had
stories published in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery
Queen’s
 Mystery Magazines and has won both an Agatha Award and a Thriller
Award for her short fiction. She was a longtime editor of the flash fiction
journal SmokeLong Quarterly. Tara earned a BA in English from
Susquehanna University and an MFA from George Mason University and lives in
Northern Virginia with her husband, writer Art Taylor, and their son, Dashiell.
Art Taylor is
the author of the story collection The Boy Detective & The Summer
of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense 
and of the novel in stories On
the Road with Del & Louise, 
winner of the Agatha Award for Best
First NovelHe won the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Short Story for
“English 398: Fiction Workshop,” originally published in Ellery
Queen’s Mystery Magazine
, and he has won three additional Agatha Awards,
an Anthony Award, three Macavity Awards, and three consecutive Derringer Awards
for his short fiction. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason
University.
Virginia native, physician by training, author by passion, Alexia Gordon writes the award-winning
Gethsemane Brown Mysteries, with Book 5, Execution in E, being released March
24, 2020. She is a member of MWA, SinC, ITW, and CWoC; blogs at
Missdemeanors.com and with the Femmes Fatales
(femmesfatales.typepad.com/my_weblog/); and hosts the podcast, The Cozy Corner
with Alexia Gordon. Find her on social media (Facebook: AlexiaGordon.writer,
Twitter: @AlexiaGordon, Instagram: DrLex1995) and visit her website (
www.alexiagordon.net) to sign up for her
newsletter.
Toni L.P. Kelner/Leigh
Perry
is two authors in one. As Leigh Perry, she
writes the Family Skeleton Mysteries. The sixth, The Skeleton Stuffs a
Stocking
, was released in Fall 2019. As Toni L.P. Kelner, she wrote eight novels in the Laura Fleming
mystery series and three “Where Are They Now?” mysteries. Kelner also co-edited seven urban fantasy
anthologies with New Your Times best-seller Charlaine
Harris. Under both names she writes short fiction, including recent
publications in 
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and a forthcoming story in Shattering Glass. Kelner has won the Agatha
Award and an RT BookClub Lifetime Achievement Award and has been nominated
multiple times for the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Derringer.
http://tonilpkelner.com/


Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha
Award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental
almost-vegan. The child of anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip
of India, she spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research
trips, and now lives in California with her husband and a gargoyle who watches
over the garden. Gigi writes the
Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and
locked-room mystery short stories.
Dana Cameron writes
across many genres, but especially crime and speculative fiction. Her work,
inspired by her career in archaeology, has won multiple Anthony, Agatha, and
Macavity Awards, and has been nominated for the Edgar Award. Dana’s Emma
Fielding archaeology mysteries were optioned by Muse Entertainment; the third
movie, based on More Bitter Than Death,
will premier on the Hallmark Movie & Mystery Channel in January, 2019. When
she’s not traveling or visiting museums, she’s usually yelling at the TV about
historical inaccuracies.
http://www.danacameron.com/


A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international
number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists
around the world, including the New York Times, the Times
of London
, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, the Sydney
Morning Herald
 and the Los Angeles Times. His books are
sold in 150 countries and have been translated into over twenty-five languages.
He has sold 50 million books worldwide. The author of over thirty-five novels,
three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of
a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of
awards around the world. His book 
A Maiden’s Grave was
made into an HBO movie, his novel 
The Bone Collector was
a feature release from Universal Pictures, and in 2019, NBC picked up a series
called “Lincoln,” based on his books. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his 
The Devil’s Teardrop.



We hope that you’ll all join us for Mystery in the Midlands, Saturday, July 25, 2020!




 

Interview with Agatha Nominees for Best Short Story!

Each year, I feel very privileged to be able to host interviews with the Agatha nominees for best short story in The Stiletto Gang and Writers Who Kill. I always learn from their answers and appreciate so much what goes into the craft.

Following is a list of the nominated stories with links on the titles so you can read and enjoy. Thanks to Gretchen, Barb, Debra, Gigi, and Art for taking the time to answer the questions. And check in at Writers Who Kill tomorrow to hear more from these talented authors. Best wishes to all. — PGB

Double Deck the
Halls
 by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)
Whose Wine is it Anyway by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of
Cabernet (Koehler Books)
The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place by Debra
Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn by Gigi Pandian
(Henery Press)
A Necessary Ingredient by Art Taylor in Coast to
Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

How do you know an idea is “short story worthy”?

Gretchen Archer: If the elements
are there—story arc, strong characters, interesting setting, and a puzzle to
solve—I find the idea worthy. There are many colorful characters in the Davis
Way series, so I had a surfeit of choices for a protagonist in Double Deck the
Halls. From my character list, I chose Granny. The setting is always the
same—the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. And the puzzle?
What could be more fun than an octogenarian MacGyver?


Barb Goffman: When considering if an idea is better suited to be
developed into a short story or a novel, I think the key is how complicated the
plot is and how early you want to bring your main character in on the action.
If your story involves multiple murders, for instance, and you want to show
that your protagonist is on the case from the beginning, then you’re likely
describing a novel. That idea seems too complicated to develop properly in a
short story. But if you have the same scenario and your protagonist comes in at
the last murder and quickly figures out whodunit, then that could be a short
story. Which way to go? I think that’s a style decision for the author. 


This is why
I tell people that a short story is about one thing. One specific tight tale.
The more complicated the idea, the more detail you need to show, the more pages
your tale will take. The plot of my story “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?”
has two inciting incidents– twice within a few days my main character, a legal
secretary, feels slighted by her long-time boss–and the resolution comes
quickly thereafter, so it was well suited for a short story. (For those who
haven’t read the story, in Myra’s last week before retirement, she learns her
boss has hired an airhead to replace her and he does something that makes her
realize he’s been taking her for granted. So Myra devises a plan to teach him a
lesson.)

Debra Goldstein: I don’t initially
know if an idea is “short story worthy.” When a story works, it flows and ends
exactly where it should. The idea of the story may come from a prompt, a phrase
stuck in my mind, or a character’s voice. In “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s
Place,” the opening sentence “I remember
the night they burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” was the first thing I thought of, but
then I realized that most of the story had to be told on that night, when the
main character was only nine years old. Once I recognized the voice would be a
child’s, the importance of the premise became evident. I write both novels and
short stories, but there was no question that this idea and the portrayed characters
and incident would only work as a tightly written short story.



Gigi Pandian: I love short
stories that have a satisfying twist. In my own short fiction, the twists that
I like to play with are seemingly impossible crimes that have a rational
explanation.


My full-length novels are adventures in addition
to being mysteries, so while my books do have twists in them, the twists and
the puzzle aren’t necessarily as important to keep the story going as the
characters themselves and the adventures they’re having.


Therefore when I come up with an idea for a
story involving an impossible crime twist, instead of an idea that centers
around a specific character or a larger plot, then I know it’s a short story
rather than a novel.

Art Taylor: I’m primarily a
short story writer, so most of my ideas seem suited to that length—it just
seems to be the form I’m most naturally drawn toward, the one I’m most
comfortable in. Ideas come from a variety of places, of course: a bit of
overheard conversation, a dream, a trip (the travel kind, not the
hallucinogenic kind!), even other short stories or novels that prompt the
imagination along. While I tend to think in narrative arcs at short story
length, I also try to fold in other threads as well to help enrich the story’s
texture and its breadth—by which I mean balancing several characters’ narrative
arc and the ways they intertwine, for example, or by layering in some thematic
arc alongside the arc of the plot, letting several things speak one to another.
I may not be able to write long very often, but I try to write dense at
least—dense in a good way, I hope!


Tell us about the publisher of your nominated
short story and how the story came to be published.

Gretchen Archer:
Double
Deck the Halls: is a short-story companion to my Davis Way Crime Caper mystery
series published by Henery Press. I knew where Deck would land before I wrote
it.

Barb Goffman: “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?” appeared in the
anthology 50 Shades of Cabernet,
which was published by Koehler Books. This book is the brainchild of author
Teresa Inge. She came up with the idea of a lighthearted anthology involving
mystery and wine. She wanted to help promote the Virginia wine industry. So she
reached out to a bunch of Virginia authors and asked if we’d be interested in
submitting stories for the book. After doing a lot of interesting research I
came up with a workable story idea, wrote my story, and submitted it. Teresa
shopped the manuscript around and Koehler ended up picking it up. They’re based
in Virginia Beach, near where Teresa lives, so it all worked out very nicely.
Koehler gave us multiple rounds of edits and proofreading. And royalties.
What’s fun about them is for each book they publish, they put two potential
covers on their website and the general public can vote on which one they like
better. The cover with the most votes becomes the cover of the book.



Debra Goldstein: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine not only published my first submission to it, “The
Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,
in its May/June 2017 issue, but featured it on its cover. Neither of these
exciting events almost happened. Even though several of my short stories had
been accepted by other publications, I lacked the confidence to send my work to
AHMM or Ellery Queen. Several friends, including Art, Barb, Bob Mangeot and
Terrie Moran encouraged me to submit my work to these Dell magazines, but the
one who made me believe in myself was B.K. (Bonnie) Stevens.


When I read her story, “Thea’s First Husband,” I was so blown away
by it that I wrote her a fan email asking if she taught online classes. She
didn’t, but she sent me suggested readings and we subsequently became friends. She
encouraged me to reach beyond my fears. Last year, every Malice Domestic recipient
received the AHMM which contained “The
Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place” in
their book bags. A few weeks after Malice, I received a package and note from
Bonnie. She wrote she believed it was an award-winning story and knew, because
it was my first Alfred Hitchcock submission and acceptance, I would want extra
copies of the issue. I wish she had lived to see that her encouragement, as
well as that of so many friends, made this wonderful ride happen.

Gigi Pandian: Henery Press
publishes my Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries. The most recent book The Ninja’s Illusion, is set in Japan,
and I had an idea for a locked-room mystery twist that needed to have the
characters stranded in a remote place. I was having such fun with the
characters in The Ninja’s Illusion that
I wondered if Jaya and her friend Tamarind could get waylaid on their way home
from Japan. I came up with the idea to have them get stranded due to bad
weather, so “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” is set at the remote inn
where they’re forced to seek shelter from a storm.



I had a lot of fun writing a
story-within-a-story, because in “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” there’s
a ghost story about an avenging ghost that killed an unscrupulous man who was
reading an Agatha Christie novel at the hotel nearly a century ago—and now the
“ghost” is striking again while the guests are trapped. Can Jaya figure out
what’s really going on? The team at Henery Press loved the story idea, and they
published it as a short story single the month after the novel came out last
fall.


Art Taylor: “A Necessary
Ingredient” was published in Coast to
Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea.
Paul D. Marks—a good friend,
fellow blogger at SleuthSayers, and co-editor of the first volume of the Coast to Coast—reached out to say he was
doing this second volume with the same publisher, Down & Out Books, in this
case focused on private eyes, and would I like to contribute something? I don’t
generally write private eye stories, but the geographical slant on the
anthology attracted me—the opportunity to explore the intersection of that
subgenre of crime fiction and my home state of North Carolina, which was the
region I was assigned. That’s also one of the things I enjoyed about writing
the story, trying to navigate the shadow of one tradition (hardboiled PI
stories) against another (traditional, regional mystery fiction, specifically
here with nods toward one of my own mentors, Margaret Maron, another North
Carolina native). An additional inspiration was the tonka bean itself, the
“necessary ingredient” of the title, which I’d first heard about from another
NC-based writer, Wilton Barnhardt—but to reveal more about that story would give away too much about the story I wrote.
 
If you could bring your protagonist as a guest
to the Agatha banquet, what shoes would he or she be wearing?
 
Gretchen Archer: Easy Spirit Happy
Feet Walkabouts. With Velcro. She’d pair them with a gold velour track suit.


Barb Goffman: Myra would choose
something stylish and practical. I’m not quite sure what that would be, but it
surely would be nicer than what I’ll be wearing. I go for comfort, so I’ll be
in the equivalent of stylish slippers.


Debra Goldstein: My protagonist
would be wearing these scuffed basketball shoes:



Gigi Pandian: “The Library
Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” has two main characters, historian Jaya Jones and her
librarian friend Tamarind Ortega. Jaya is only five feet tall in socks, so she
loves her heels. She’d dress in black slacks, a sleeveless black blouse, and
three-inch shiny black stilettos. Tamarind is tall and big-boned, with short
hair she dyes different colors (it’s blue right now). She thinks of herself as
post-punk and loves her purple combat boots, so for the Agatha banquet she’d wear
those boots with a homemade dress that looks like Molly Ringwald’s dress from Pretty in Pink.



Art Taylor: Ambrose Thornton comes from
a fairly proper Southern family, so I’m sure he could spiffy up if he needed
to: a sharply polished pair of wingtips maybe? But honestly, he strikes me as
someone who would rather be back home reading than out socializing most nights.
 


Looking Forward to Mystery Short Story Award Season

by Paula
Gail Benson
The time
is quickly approaching for recognizing short story excellence in the mystery
field. The following authors have been nominated for Agathas for their short
stories, an award presented at the Malice Domestic conference at the end of
April:

Best
Short Story
Double Deck the Halls by Gretchen Archer (Henery
Press)
Whose Wine is it Anyway
by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s
Place
by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s
Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn
by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
A Necessary Ingredient
by Art Taylor in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat
(Down & Out Books)

Please
notice that each of the nominated stories has a link that will allow you to
read it. Let me assure you that you’ll enjoy each one. Next month, we’ll have
an interview with the authors.

In
2013, I surveyed the awards given to mystery short stories in a post for
Writers Who Kill. Here’s a link to that post: http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2013/08/awards-for-writing-mystery-short-stories.html

For
a comprehensive list of crime fiction awards given internationally, please
click on this link.
http://awards.omnimystery.com/mystery-awards.html

Here’s
an update of national awards given to mystery short stories:

Agatha

The
Agatha Awards have been presented since 1988 by Malice Domestic at its annual
conference. The awards recognize the traditional mystery written in the style
of Agatha Christie, having no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous
violence.

Nominees
are selected by ballot from persons registered for the conference by December
31.
Nomination
forms are tallied by the Agatha Committee. The top five choices in each
category are placed on the ballot. Attendees vote by secret ballot at the
conference and the awards are presented at the banquet. The awards are
porcelain tea pots.
Anthony

The
Anthony awards, named for Anthony Boucher (writer, critic, and a founder of the
Mystery Writers of America) have been presented since 1986 at the annual
Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. The Anthonys feature a Best Anthology
category as well as best short story. In Toronto, the Anthonys included a
category for Best Novella for a work of
8,000-40,000
words
. B.J. Stevens posthumously won the inaugural award for
“The Last Blue Glass.”

Nominating
ballots are emailed to the registered attendees. Awards are determined by the
persons attending Bouchercon.
Black Orchid Novella

Entries
of 15,000 to 20,000 words submitted by May 31 are eligible for the Black Orchid
Novella Award. The winner is announced at the The Wolfe Pack’s (a society
devoted to Nero Wolfe) Annual Banquet. The award winning story has often been
published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Derringer

The
Derringer Awards, named after the palm-sized handgun, have been presented since
1997 by the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS). Presentations are made in
March. Members and editors may submit stories for an initial blind
consideration by volunteer judges who select five nominees in each category. To
be eligible to vote for the awards, a person must join the SMFS by December 31.

The
awards are presented by category: (1) best story of 1000 words or less; (2)
best story of 1001 to 4000 words; (3) best story of 4001 to 8000 words; and (4)
best story of 8001 to 17,500 words. 



Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000
words)

Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000
words)

Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000
words)

Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000
words)



See
the following web page for the complete selection procedure:
https://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2008/08/smfs-derringer-awards-procedure.html 



Edgar 
The
Edgar Allan Poe Awards have been presented annually since 1946 by the Mystery
Writers of America. Authors who submit their stories for consideration must
meet the requirements for active status in the MWA whether or not they are
members of MWA. For more information, see:



Short stories
are considered works up to 22,000 words from approved magazines, periodicals,
anthologies, and websites. Submissions meeting the requirements may be made
online at:

The Robert L. Fish
Memorial Award is presented for the best first published mystery short story by
a previously unpublished author.



Macavity

Each year since 1987, members of the Mystery Readers International organization
vote and present the Macavity awards in four categories. The Macavity award is
named for T.S. Eliot’s  “mystery
cat” in the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. For more information,
see: http://mysteryreaders.org/macavity-awards/


Shamus

Honoring
publications since 1981, the Shamus awards, created by Robert J. Randisi, have
been presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. PWA committee members
select the nominees and winners in a manner similar to the Edgar selections. A
“private eye” is considered the protagonist of a mystery who is a professional
investigator, but not a police officer or government agent. For more
information, see: http://www.privateeyewriters.com/shamus_awards.html



Silver Falchion

For
the last two years, an award for the best anthology or collection has been
presented at Killer Nashville, which honors recipients with the Silver
Falchion. For more information, see: https://killernashville.com/awards/silver-falchion-award/



Thriller

Presented since 2006 by the
International Thriller Writers, the Thrillers are announced at the annual
Thrillerfest conference. Short stories of up to 35,000 words are considered so
that novellas qualify for submission. An entry must be published in print or
e-zine format during the previous year. For more information, see:
http://thrillerwriters.org/programs/award-nominees-and-winners/

New Releases for the New Year!

Best
wishes! I hope you are all having a wonderful new year.

How
do you learn about new releases in the mystery field? One of my resources is an
online newsletter from CriminalElement.com. During the summer, it contained a
summary about a new novel by Lee Robinson titled Lawyer for the Dog. I was so intrigued by the description that I
bought the book, then, I couldn’t stop reading until I completed it. After
learning that Ms. Robinson previously had been a prosecutor in Charleston,
South Carolina, I contacted her and asked if she would do an interview, which
became a blog post.

David McCallum
Last
week, CriminalElement.com brought me another suggestion for a fascinating read.
Most people are familiar with actor David McCallum, who became well-known for
his portrayal of the Russian spy Illya Kuryakin in the 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Now, he can be
seen each week on NCIS as medical
examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. In addition, this month, at age 82, his
first novel, Once a Crooked Man, is
being released and excerpts of the initial chapters are in CriminalElement.com.

The
story, told in a voice that sounds remarkably like McCallum personally
telling the tale, is about a young actor who happens to overhear a group of mobsters
planning to kill their financial associate so they can go out of business
without leaving any witnesses. When the actor decides he has to intervene, the
fun of this crime caper starts. I haven’t purchased the book yet, but I’m
captivated by what I’ve read in the excerpts and intend to get it. Why don’t
you check it out, too, at this link?

Gigi Pandian
Another great read I discovered
last year was Gigi Pandian’s The
Accidental Alchemist
, which takes place in Portland, Oregon, and features
Dorian, a French gourmet gargoyle. Pandian 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 delicious sounding vegan recipes. Due to her
fascination with gargoyles, Gigi created the Gargoyle Girl blog, with images and
background information. Dorian certainly provides magical reading!

This week, The Accidental Alchemist was among the nominees for a Lefty, to be
given at Left Coast Crime in Phoenix, Arizona, this year. In addition, the
sequel, The Masquerading Magician has
recently been released. Again, Pandian draws you into this strangely compelling
world of alchemists, magicians, and gargoyles in a story that is very difficult
to put down. I’m delighted to have received the new book for the holiday
weekend.

What are you reading in this new year?