Not the Laurel, But the Race

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: If you follow crime fiction news (and if not, you should!) you know the Edgar Awards, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, and the Lefty Awards, given at the Left Coast Crime conference, have recently been announced. We're thrilled to have three Reds on the shortlists. Hallie Ephron has been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and BOTH Rhys Bowen and Susan Elia MacNeal are on the list for the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Fiction Award. (Will they go mano-a-mano for the prize, wrestling and throwing punches? Probably not, but you should attend Left Coast Crime just in case.)

Award wins and nominations are, to be perfectly frank, delightful. We at Jungle Reds like them a lot: between us we have won the Barry, the Booky, the Bruce Alexander, the Dilys, the Freddy, the Gumshoe,the Herodotus, the Lovey, the Daphne and the Nero Wolfe. We've been nominated twice for the Dilys and Bruce Alexander Awards, three times for the Barry and Edgar Awards, six times for the Mary Higgins Clark award, eight times for the Macavity, fifteen times for the Anthony and a staggering twenty-one nominations for the Agatha Award.

At home, on our bookcases, we can display two Barry Awards, three Sue Feder Historical Mystery Awards, five Macavity cats, five Anthony awards and eight Agatha teapots. For those of you scribbling figures on the back of an envelope, that's 13.14 awards and nominations per Red. Here's the thing, though: we don't write to receive nominations and awards. We write to please our readers. The teapot, the cat - or that oh-so-coveted Poe statuette - are useful. They draw attention to our work, make our publishers happy and raise our profiles in the community. But the best thing about them is that they're a tangible form of reader satisfaction.  Behind every nomination is eight or eighty or eight hundred readers who closed the cover and sighed, "That was a great book."

And that's one reason why crime fiction authors aren't (tooo terribly) jealous when our colleagues nab awards. Because we read - and love - each others' books. In 2014, Hank and I were both up for a Best Novel Agatha, for THE WRONG GIRL and THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS. When Hank won, as soon as she had finished getting her pictures taken, she rushed over to me and said, very seriously, "Is this okay?" It was, and I was happy for her, and we hugged and I had a great time that evening at the bar bragging on my sister Red.


If award nominations have any lasting impact, it's this: they remind us to always push ourselves to become better writers, to strive to deepen our understanding of the craft, and to promise ourselves to make every single book a little bit better than the last one. Reds, what are your thoughts on the role of awards in your career? And do you have any good award ceremony stories to share?

RHYS BOWEN:  Julia, the one time I was ever nominated for the Edgar best novel, you were a fellow nominee!  How seldom is a woman ever nominated and that year there were three of us. Laura Lippman was the third. I secretly felt we cancelled each other out! But I would have cheered loudly if you had won.

My most recent award ceremony memory is winning the Agatha last year and then cheering for Hank when she won hers and having our pictures taken together with teapots! You are so right that we are each others' biggest champions! We are in a great profession and wonderful community.  I feel blessed.



SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I was completely gobsmacked to be nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel and I'm happy to say that we nominees (Kim Fay, Daniel Friedman, Michael Sears, and Matthew Quick) became fast friends there and have remained close! And I remember winning the Barry — not only did I never think I would win, but I didn't fix up my hair or put on fresh lipstick, and had a couple of glasses of wine beforehand. (Because I REALLY didn't think I would win.) I have no idea what I said, but my editor tells me it was sweet and people liked it. Thank goodness. Maybe that's the trick to winning? Not wearing lipstick and being completely unprepared? One of the unexpected benefits of being nominated for things is getting to sit at the awards ceremony with Lee Child, because we share an editor. Even after a few years, I'm always shocked Lee Child knows who I am. And once he even told me, "My wife loves your books." That's good — right?

JULIA: Absolutely!

HALLIE EPHRON: Julia, when you lay it out like that, we've got quite an impressive array of nominations and awards among us. Congratulations, Susan and Rhys! I had a lovely day on Tuesday when the nomination was announced -- with my phone and email pinging nonstop with congratulatory messages. I got zero writing done.

This will be my fourth time up for the Mary Higgins Clark and while it is certainly an honor to be nominated, and I admire my fellow nominees several of who I consider friends, is it okay to say: I want that glass doorstop!

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm so pleased and thrilled for our nominated Reds! I've been nominated for Agathas (up against Julia for best first, which she deservedly won), the Anthony, and the Macavity (boy do I want one of those cats one day...). I've also served on quite a few Edgar committees--best novel, best YA, best TV, best juvenile. From that perspective, a writer begins to see how much competition there is out in the world. Since we truly have no way to influence awards, my theory is we don't write for them--we write for you!


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  OH, Rhys and Julia, what wonderful memories!  Thank you. I love my five teapots and my Mary Higgins Clark crystal bookend and my Anthonys  and Daphne and Macavitys. But think about it--we sit, alone alone alone, in our studies, making new worlds. something out of nothing but our imaginations. How does that even work? And then--at some point, someone will read it! Real people, most often people we've never met. And then-they decide if they "like" it. What does that even mean??  And what does"good" mean? Or successful? It's all such a magical impossible thing. So when someone says--we love it! It's the best! Well, how do you not burst into tears?

And then I work harder than ever.

Now Julia.  HOW did you do all that calculation??? Amazing.

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  Really, Julia, how did you do that?? I must say I'm collectively impressed with us. Wow! I've been nominated for the Agatha, the Edgar, and I think four times for the Macavity, which I've won twice. I know we always say, "It's great to be nominated," but it's really true. Having served on several Edgar committees over the years, I know how seriously the judges take their task, and how hard it is to choose between that top handful of books. And the awards given by readers are really special, because it means we've done our jobs and given readers a book that touched them in some way.

So thrilled for our nominated REDS this year! Will be holding my breath on awards nights!


JULIA: Coming up with those numbers involved a lot of checking out everyone's web sites and then cross checking against award records. Thankfully, most of the crime fiction writing awards have searchable databases!

Dear Readers, I think our thoughts about the role of awards is well captured in this poem by Gelett Burgess:

Not the quarry, but the chase,

Not the laurel, but the race,

Not the hazard, but the play,

Make me, Lord, enjoy alway. 

Exit laughing! Three Agathas and a Boffo Game Panel with Charlaine Harris!

Jungle Reds Malice Domestic 2015 game panel...
with LOTS of help from our friends!
Photo by Robin Templeton

HALLIE EPHRON: What a time we had a Malice Domestic 2015! 

Lucy and I met in the airport and took the Metro to the hotel. Here's us decked out in our Jungle Red pashminas, our READ RED buttons, and armed for bear...

We had dinner with Rhys and Hank, and we were laughing like crazy about how fun it would be, and secretly worried that the audience would be smarter than we were… And then we realized, that's exactly what we hoped! Where else could you play a game where knowledge of the Mystery  world makes you a star!
 

The next morning we pow-wowed with Charlaine Harris whom we'd inveigled to be our moderator. You want me to what? she said when she realized what she'd signed up for. She was completely amazing. And having Dru Ann Love and Nikki Bonanni to help calm us. (HANK adds: We needed pals who could keep score under pressure. And a moderator who could wrangle us. Good choices, huh?)


HALLIE: And then, like a great party where you're the host, whoosh it was happening. Everyone was screaming with laughter as we brought up audience members to join us in humiliating ourselves. Bluffed answers. While Charlaine got off some of the best one-liners.

HANK: You remember the game, right? We chose two members from the audience (they had to be wearing Jungle Red buttons)
 to join Hallie and Rhys versus Lucy and me--and name, in twenty seconds as may examples of a mystery category given by Charlaine! It was awesome. Here's a photo taken by the fab Kristopher Zygorski--who joined me and Lucy for one of our (many :-) ) winning rounds! 

HANK:  So we're hoping that many of you were there--say hi in the comments, and let us know, okay? It was absolutely standing room only! Wow. SO happy to see you here! 

Ω

HALLIE: Pause to catch our collective breaths, get gussied up for the banquet. Hank and I had to honor of sitting at the head table with Sara Paretsky who is just exactly as nice and opinionated as you imagine her to be. Here's us and a very glamorous Dana Cameron.

And then, TA DAH! They started to announce the Agatha Awards. Hank! For

best nonfiction (editor of SinC's WRITES OF PASSAGE.) Rhys! For best historical for QUEEN OF HEARTS. And Hank (again!) for best contemporary novel TRUTH BE TOLD.  We were all over the moon.

HANK: Whoo hoo. May I just say. Rhys and I were beaming all the rest of the weekend. And we are so grateful!

HALLIE: Below, here's Hank with some of the wonderful writers (including me!) whose essays are in WRITES OF PASSAGE.

Handing it over to Rhys...

RHYS BOWEN: My memories... Apprehension about looking a complete fool during the game. Brain going blank.but I think it was a big hit and we all knew enough and bluffed in a funny way.... I mean B. F. Goodrich wrote books?

HANK: Hey, it was a perfectly good idea. I mean--the category was "authors who use their initials." And after we'd used PD, and JK, and GH and SS and JJ--I was--under pressure. And then I realized--Charlaine never said MYSTERY authors! Right? And  BF might have written a tire manual.   And I still insist that Beowulf is a  fine  good answer for a mystery  that takes place before 1915.   I mean--am I wrong?

HALLIE: My favorite was Rhys' bluff for a Scandinavian author... and Lucy and Hank got off some great bluffs, too.

RHYS: Charlaine was the perfect MC.
 
Malice for me is meeting and reconnecting with so many lovely people. It's like high school reunion only better. And winning the Agatha with my editor and agent there was the icing on the cake.  Speaking of which the dessert was to die for.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Even though I spent the whole next day today thinking of authors who use initials. (And my wonderful agent was there, too. It was such a joy to win with her! We stayed up way too late celebrating.)

LUCY BURDETTE:  I sometimes feel a little lost at conferences, but not this time. Spending two days with friendly writers and readers and planning that zany game show with the other Reds--I had a blast. Though I'm going to be honing my bluffing skills for the next 12 months...

Thank you planners of Malice Domestic--we know how hard you work to put this conference on. And it was terrific!

HALLIE: And boy did we get to see old friends from Jungle Red. Here's Keenan Powell who won a Malice grant! Karen from Ohio was there with proverbial bells on. Edith Maxwell who was nominated for an Agatha for best short story served time on Hank and Lucy's team and distinguished herself. Kristopher (waving) from BOLO Books. Molly Weston (with her signature flowered purses). Brenda Buchanan with her new book QUICK PIVOT! Robin Templeton (writer/photographer!)

And loads more.

As a final question on shoes at Malice, and YES there will be a prize given...How well do you know your reds? Rhys, Lucy, Hank, Hallie - whose shoes is whose? 

Awards Season and Stuffed Peppers (for those left behind)

LUCY BURDETTE: You guys have probably noticed that the blog is a little slow this week. That's because it's a big week in the mystery business. The Mystery Writers of America awards were given out on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Malice Domestic Agatha awards will be given out tonight at the banquet. We are really proud to have four Jungle Red Writers nominated this year--Hallie for the Mary Higgins Clark Award for THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN, Hank and Julia for the best traditional novel (THE WRONG GIRL and THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS), and Rhys for best historical novel for HEIRS AND GRACES. Isn't that an amazing line-up? I won't even list all the friends of Jungle Red that are also nominated, but it's an amazing collection of books and writers.
I went into New York for a really quick overnight to celebrate Hallie's nomination. She didn't win (that honor went to Jenny Milchman), but as Hank pointed out, Hallie's book was ONE of FIVE books in the entire mystery universe short-listed, including (ahem) titles from most of the rest of the Reds! Congratulations Hallie!

Now we have to wait with bitten nails to hear the results of the Agatha voting. It feels a little melancholy to be sitting home waiting, doesn't it? So for the rest of us, I thought we deserved comfort food tonight--in the guise of my favorite stuffed peppers.


Ingredients:

1 12 oz roll sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jar Classico spicy red pepper pasta sauce (or your choice)
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4-6 uncooked green peppers

Saute the sausage until brown, then drain on paper towels.

Saute the chopped onions in the same pan. Return the meat to the pan once the onions are soft. Add the uncooked rice, the water, the Worcestershire sauce, and half the jarred sauce. Simmer, covered, until the rice is cooked. This might take a half hour, depending on your rice--and you might need to add a little water along the way. Then stir in the cheese.
While the meat mixture is simmering, cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Cut out the stems and seeds and membranes. Pour the remaining half of the sauce into a greased baking dish, and set the peppers into the pan. When the meat mixture is ready, stuff it into the peppers, cover with foil, and bake 30 minutes at 350 until peppers are soft and sauce is bubbling.
Good luck ladies--you are all winners in our book! But winners, losers, or those left behind, here's my new recipe for orange almond sponge cake--it soothes and celebrates equally well:).

True Story. (Lots of them.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: "It seemed like such a good idea at the time."

 How many times have we each said that? When you decide--I'm going to clean out all my dresser drawers, then you dump them all on the bed so you'll HAVE to do it, and then--you just can't do it. And sleep on the couch.

Or how about cleaning the oven? Changing the shelf paper in the kitchen? Joining a gym?

They all seem so brilliant at the time we think of them. Sometimes it's even more elaborate. You think: I'll learn Italian! I'll learn something! I'll grow! And--hey, like Julie and Julia,  I could even write a blog or an article about it!

And then, you actually have to do it. Like that couple in Australia or wherever, who decided to run a marathon every day. (I beg you.)

 Barb Goffman, our dear friend of Jungle Red, actually did it. A sort of--reading marathon.

Could you have done this? WOULD you have done this?  Read--and decide.

A STORY A DAY
   by Barb Goffman

I began 2012 with what seemed like an achievable goal. Read one short story a day for a year and write about each one on a blog set up by Spinetingler Magazine. How hard could that be? The stories, by definition, would be short, so surely I could fit one in each day, right?

Wrong.

I was doing really well until March, when I got sick to death of reading short stories. (Given that I write short stories, I probably shouldn’t admit that publicly. So let’s just keep it between us.) But once I let go of the pressure of needing to read a story every day, and later when I let go of the pressure of my revised goal of wanting to read 366 stories in the year (which meant reading several stories on some days to make up for days I read none), I came to enjoy the project more.

The end result: In 2012 I read 300 stories that I wrote about on the blog. Counting stories I didn’t write about (stories I hated, didn’t finish, were unpublished, other reasons ... ) I probably hit 366.

Woo hoo! I was done. A respectable finish. You’d think that would be the end of it. Well, that’s what I thought until people started asking me what I learned from the project.

HANK: Including me. Because it seemed like such a wonderful educational possibility, that the secrets of short stories would have to--emerge. Right? So, okay, Barb, go ahead.

 BARB: That took some analysis. But here it is:

There is no one rule an author should follow to ensure a short story will be great. So much of what makes a story stand out lies in author’s details, voice, and cleverness. Two authors could have the same idea, the same plot, but one’s story will sing while the other’s plods along because of language choice or attention to detail. My best suggestion is to find authors you think are great and read them. Read all their stories. Read the ones you particularly like over and over. Analyze their craft. Try to figure out how they got you to live in their world. If you’re lucky, your own writing will improve as a result.

Here are some stories I read this year that really made my motor hum.

• “Susie Cue” by Steve Liskow (appeared in Deadfall, published by Level Best Books in 2008). A special-needs man cares too much for the wrong people. This was a heartbreaking and engrossing story with lovely description.

• “Kiddieland” by Tim Chapman (appeared in The Rich and the Dead, published by Grand Central in 2011). No one wants to believe children can be evil. An engrossing story.

• “Some Things Can Never Be the Same” by Stephen Allan (appeared in Deadfall, published by Level Best Books in 2008). A man is torn between helping his bank-robber son and doing the right thing. A well-written, heartfelt story.

• “Awake” by David Dean (appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July 2009). A spooky story about a man falling asleep, not paying attention to the normal noises his house makes—air turning on, boards settling—until he hears a noise that’s not normal at all. This story has an open ending. You don’t know exactly what happens next, but the story is still satisfying because its beauty is in its detail and mood.

• “Family Plot” by Margaret Press (appeared in Deadfall, published by Level Best Books in 2008) and “Contender” by William Kent Krueger (appeared in Once Upon A Crime, published by Nodin Press in 2009). These authors know how to plant clues so deftly, that when you get to the story’s end, you’re surprised, and then you realize you shouldn’t be.

• “Puck” by Pat Dennis (appeared in Once Upon A Crime, published by Nodin Press in 2009). A story can be light in tone and still wonderful if an author knows how to bring a character to life.

• “It Ain’t Right” by Michele Gagnon (appeared in Vengeance, published by Mulholland Books, 2012). Writing so rich, I can’t even explain why it touched me so.

And, finally, my favorite story of the year:

• “Exit Interview” by Lynne Heitman (appeared in Boston Noir, published by Akashic Books, 2009). I’m going to paste here part of what I wrote about this story on the blog:

What should have been the best day of Sloan’s life turns into the worst. Or maybe the second-worst. As one character tells her, “It’s just a wrong-place-wrong-time-bad-chain-of-events kind of deal, and if one thing had gone different yesterday, maybe none of this happens.”

I like to think of myself as a good writer, and then I read a story like this—which blew me away—and I’m inspired to keep practicing and trying to improve. It isn’t the plot of the story so much as the way it’s told. The author draws you in to Sloan’s head, and you are right there in that moment and it’s so real. I can’t even describe why it struck me so. I’ll just say: go read it.

But don’t only go read Heitman’s story. Read many stories. There’s so much good writing being published in the short form. If you haven’t tried it lately, you really don’t know what you’re missing.

And now, I’ll throw the discussion out to you, dear reader. Have you read any amazing short stories lately? If so, what was it that made that story sing for you? 

 HANK: And could you have possibly read a short story EVERY day? Would you? Or have you ever taken on a huge task? And done it? What was it?


******************
Barb Goffman is a short-story author who lives in Virginia. Her stories mostly focus on families, because the people you know best are the ones you'll most likely want to kill. Barb’s been nominated for the Agatha Award four times and for the Anthony and the Macavity awards once each. In her spare time, Barb serves as a co-coordinating editor of the Chesapeake Crimes series (Wildside Press) and as program chair of the Malice Domestic mystery convention. She's an avid reader and a doting mom of a very cute dog. Her first collection of short stories, tentatively titled Don’t Get Mad, Get Even, will be published in the spring by Wildside Press. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.barbgoffman.com.

LIZ ZELVIN--AN OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Today, the multi-talented Elizabeth Zelvin--writer, singer, song writer, psychotherapist--gives us a much-needed (at least on my part) Saturday boost! Liz's latest mystery is DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR VACATION. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and have been nominated for three Agathas and a Derringer award. As Liz Zelvin, she recently released OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN, an album of original songs.

Oh, and a bit of business before we turn it over to Liz.  Our winners of advance reader's copies of Charles Todd's An Unmarked Grave are Karen Russell, Ethan, and Diane Hale! Could you three send your mailing addresses to me at deb at deborahcrombie dot com? I'll forward them to the Todds' wonderful publicist at William Morrow.


And now--

LIZ ZELVIN: In a recent discussion of the term “senior citizen” on the Sisters in Crime e-list, everybody had a different idea of how old you have to be to merit that mildly demeaning label. My best answer is the last verse of my song “Creeping Age,” which appears in my new album of original songs, OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN. (The first version, written twenty years ago, was titled “Middle Age”.)

           

            I never will be elderly, I never will be old

            Though my roots have turned to silver 

            and my molars all to gold

            The woman that I am, my friends, is what I’ll always be

            Getting old? So what! ’cause too damn old 

            is ten years more than me. 

As we’ve all heard, sixty is the new thirty. Seventy is the new forty. To my tennis-playing Aunt Hilda, since her birthday last month, 100 is the new seventy. And although I’m collecting Social Security and a card-carrying Medicare recipient, call me senior at your own risk. When I dive into that phone booth (let’s pretend I can still find a phone booth in 2012) and whip off my trifocals and frilly blouse, I reveal a T-shirt that says “Outrageous Older Woman.”

I actually have the T-shirt. Sometimes I put it on to go for my three-mile run in Central Park, only one long block from my apartment. By the time I reach the park, I’ve usually forgotten what I’m wearing. (Sad to say, Outrageous Older Women suffer from declining memory, just like senior citizens.) It only comes back to me when I notice that a helluva lot of women of a certain age are giving me a big smile as they pass by.

So what’s the matter with “senior citizen”? The term was coined as a euphemism for such epithets as “elderly,” “little old lady” or “little old man,” and the floridly disrespectful “old bag” (female) and “geezer” (male). But sometimes a painstaking attempt to be polite reeks of insincerity, and the recipient takes it for the false compliment it is. My Aunt Marta was in her mid-sixties, younger than I am now, when she ran into a high school classmate she hadn’t seen in decades. When the woman told her she was “looking very spry,” she was so furious that steam came out of her ears when she told me about it.

The up side of being a senior is the half-price bus and subway fare and the discount at the movies. Oh, and the accumulated wisdom of long experience. The down side is everything else, including the fact that we shrink. There’s nothing figurative about that “little.” I’ve lost an inch and a half already and will probably be looking up instead of down at my grandchildren in another ten years.

So what have I done with my golden years? So far, I’ve published three mystery novels featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, world-class codependent Barbara and computer genius Jimmy. DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR VACATION is just out. In this one, Bruce and his friends take shares in a lethal clean and sober group house in the Hamptons. The first one, DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER, came out on my sixty-fourth birthday. And in the hiatus between book two and book three (I don’t need to say anything about the current state of the publishing industry, do I?), I wrote a dozen short stories (three nominated for the Agatha for Best Short Story and another for the Derringer) and recorded OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN.

It’s not so much the mystery plots that I couldn’t have written as effectively when I was younger. But that cumulative life experience I mentioned enables me to create complex characters, breathe life into them with distinctive voices and authentic relationships, and explore such themes as addiction and recovery and the nature of friendship. In the album, I sing about love and family, abuse and healing, and yes, aging. I do my best to make  readers and listeners laugh and cry. In the books, Bruce hits bottom, displays a smart mouth and a lot of New York attitude, and eventually takes an honest look at himself. The songs range from the embellished retelling of a Jewish shaggy dog story to my take on 911, written in New York a day or two after the tragedy.

It seems to me that “senior citizen” is a patronizing term. It implies that once you reach a certain age, your effectiveness diminishes and people have to make allowances for you.

Being an Outrageous Older Woman is all about empowerment: no allowances, no excuses, and a helluva lot of fun.

DEBS: I say "hooray!" How about you, REDS and readers?

Reds in the News

LUCY BURDETTE: wow, it seems like there's been so much action in the Jungle Red Writers universe that it's hard to keep up! So today we're doing a news round-up--you may have seen some of this, but it never hurts to hear it again and celebrate! And then we'd love to hear about your projects, too...

January was a whirlwind for me with the launch of AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. This first book in the Key West food critic mystery series shot off to a strong start and has already gone back for a second printing. Meanwhile, I'm working on the proposal for book 3 and waiting for edits (any day now!) on DEATH IN FOUR COURSES (September, 2012.)

In other news, my story "The Itinerary" (written as Roberta Isleib) was nominated for an Agatha award for best short story. The awards are given out at the Malice Domestic convention in April. And you can read the story here.

And finally, in teaching news, registration is open for SEASCAPE: ESCAPE TO WRITE, a weekend writing workshop in Chester, CT, September 14 to 16. Hallie Ephron is the co-leader and we'll have our own Hank as a guest presenter on Saturday. Get all the details here.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: YAY! Lucy! ANd I know there's lots more wonderful news in the works for the Reds. As for me, THE OTHER WOMAN is up on amazon for pre-sale! I am overjoyed and thrilled.

In other news, I am off to Sleuthfest this weekend, teaching a class and moderating three panels...then to The Public Librarians Association meeting in Philadelphia moderating a panel with Nancy Pearl (whoa). Then moderating the Best First panel at the Edgars Symposium, then interviewing Toastmaster Dana Cameron at Malice, then in May, I'm the Keynote speaker at the Pennwriters Convention!

But dearest to my heart, did I mention THE OTHER WOMAN is now available for pre-order?

LUCY BURDETTE: Well yes, Hank, you did mention that:). And we're so excited, we've all gone off to order...but meanwhile, would you mind taking a copy of AN APPETITE FOR MURDER to Nancy Pearl? wow!

HALLIE EPHRON: Wow, Hank. Yay, Lucy!! As for me, I'm chained to the desk...

In the good news department, did I mention that "Come and Find Me" was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. I know, I did. And the paperback is just out.

I hope to see lots of Jungle Red Readers at Malice and at the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont right after! And just a quick plug for a writing class I'll be teaching April 14 for Sisters in Crime/NY chapter, and a second fist pump for Seascape Retreat to Write. Having Hank onboard is very exciting, and there are still some openings.

RHYS BOWEN: I have lots of good news to share. It's been a great year so far. Naughty in Nice is nominated for the Bruce Alexander award for best historical mystery at Left Coast Crime, where I'll be interviewing guest of honor, and my good friend, Jacqueline Winspear. Naughty in Nice is also nominated for an Agatha for best historical mystery and I'll be interviewing one of the guests of honor at Malice Domestic--Lee Child, the Poirot award recipient.

I'm also up for a couple of awards at RT convention: Naughty in Nice for best cozy mystery and also Career Achievement Award (but I'm up against Sue Grafton and Lee Child, so I'm not holding my breath)
I can take no credit but Naughty in Nice is up for an Audie award for best audio book. Brilliant reader Katy Kehlgren gets full credit for this one.

And lastly Hush Now, Don't You Cry, the latest Molly book reached #2 on the paid Kindle list for historical mystery, two weeks before its publication date.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: My good news is that I returned from central Tanzania without getting malaria! Seriously, I spent much of February planning the visit to the library in Tanzania that my husband and I started.
The trip went very well. We brought a lot of books and school supplies from the US and were able to buy books in Dar es Salaam which we took on the bus with us to mvumi Village. Have I mentioned that a mere $82 pays the salaries for a part-time librarian and a library custodian for an entire MONTH? What is that..one Dunkin' Donuts coffee a day? If you're interested in donating or seeing pix of the library and the now 1200 students it serves, please check out http://rosemaryharris.com/clp.html

LUCY BURDETTE: RO, we're very proud of you!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This has certainly been a milestone month for me! NO MARK UPON HER, the 14th Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James novel, debuted at #12 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List!!! Then #10 on The Washington Post Bestseller List! I'm still a bit gobsmacked by the whole thing, and more thrilled than I can say by all the good buzz and press the book has received. (Hank, Nancy Pearl just tweeted "British police procedurals w/Gemma James & Duncan Kincaid get better & better.")

And I am overjoyed by all the good news from my fellow REDS! We are really and truly REDS on a roll! Although I wish Hank could bottle her secret formula for doing everything that she does....

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I feel like a real slacker next to you ladies. My big news is that the ebooks of In the Bleak Midwinter, A Fountain Filled With Blood, and the 2005 Edgar-nominated Out of the Deep I Cry are all on sale for $2.99, wherever fine digital books are sold (you can click through to all sorts of vendors from my website.) The special is running through the end of March, and it's to get readers all excited about the trade paperback release of One Was A Soldier in April.

Oh, and I'm finally getting to do some traveling - today through Tuesday, I'm in Ft. Lauderdale at the Broward County Literary Fest! The timing couldn't be better to escape from Maine: a week ago it was sunny and 50 degrees, but now there's a foot of snow on the ground and the temperature is slated to fall into the single digits. Score!

LUCY: Phew! who says nothing happens in the winter?? But speaking of winners, we have lots this week: Virginia wins a copy of AN APPETITE FOR MURDER for her spaghetti in the German chocolate cake story. And Jon wins a copy of CLAWBACK and Avi Love wins a copy of DEATH DROPS. (Send an email to raisleib at gmail.com so we can work out the details.) And Theresa of California, you won the DVD last Sunday. Make sure you all get in touch so we can give this loot away! And for all of you, tell us your news...

And the winners are...

Bouquets! Fire works! Champagne toasts to this week's winners of Edgar and Agatha awards! These books are the creme de la creme, and we congratulate the winners!

(Links are to interviews with many of the winners in the annals of Jungle Red.)

2011 Agatha Award winners, announced just last night:

Best Novel - Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (winning for the 4th time!)

Best Nonfiction - Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran

Best Children's/Young Adult - The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith

Best First Mystery Novel - The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames

Best Short Story - "So Much in Common" by Mary Jane Maffini, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - Sept./Oct. 2010

Poirot Award: Janet Rudolph of Mystery Readers' International

And the 2011 Edgar awards, announced earlier this week, went to:

Best novel: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

Best fact crime: Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity by Ken Armstrong & Nick Perry

Best Juvenile: The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler

Best young adult: The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price

The Mary Higgins Clark award: The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Raven Awards: Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore (Chicago, IL); Once Upon a Crime Bookstore (Minneapolis, MN)

Were you there? Have you read these? Share your thoughts...

Hank Phillippi Ryan Makes Time with DRIVE TIME

DEB: And since we're speaking of awards this week, and the Agatha in particular, what a special treat today to talk to Jungle Red's very own Hank Phillippi Ryan, whose novel Drive Time is an Agatha nominee for Best Novel! (Can I say that any bigger??)

Do you know what really happens in valet parking?

I can guarantee you that once you've read Drive Time, you'll never want to let you car out of your sight again . . . and I can also promise that once you start this book, you'll stay up way past your bedtime because you won't be able to put it down.

Hank is no stranger to awards, her first novel, Prime Time, won the Agatha for Best First Novel. Air Time was nominated for an Agatha and an Anthony for Best Novel, and Hank's short story, On the House, won the Agatha and the Anthony for Best Short Story. And that's not to mention her twenty-six Emmys for her work as a television investigative reporter . . .

We could go on and on, but let's talk to Hank about Drive Time.

To quote Library Journal's starred review, ""Buckle up and prepare for a wild ride as Charlie McNally and Boston's Channel 3 News investigate a nefarious car theft/forgery operation and race to get their story on the air before their lives are endangered. In the meantime, Charlie becomes consumed with secret sleuthing as blackmail and suspicious deaths threaten the private, prestigious Bexter Academy where her fiancé teaches. Amid late-night stakeouts and dangerous car chases, Charlie finds time for romance, wedding planning, and bonding with her future stepdaughter. In her fourth series entry (after Prime Time, Face Time, and Air Time), Ryan once again channels her Emmy-winning investigative reporting expertise to craft a realistic and compelling mystery, full of hairpin turns and dangerous intersections at breakneck speed. Verdict: Placing Ryan in the same league as Lisa Scottoline and Julie Kramer, her latest book catapults the reader into the fast lane and doesn't relent until the story careens to a stop. New readers will speed to get her earlier books, and diehard fans will hope for another installment."

DEB: Wow! That's terrific and well-deserved praise!

We've talked a little bit on JR earlier this week about writers writing what they LOVE rather than what they KNOW (by which we mean if you love something you WILL learn about it and your readers will love it, too). But you do write about what you know, and you do it brilliantly.

HANK: Aww......so sweet of you. And I'm blushing. Coming from YOU, Debs!

DEB: And you write in first-person present-tense, which is something that good writers make look easy but is really, really hard to do well. This puts the reader not only right into Charlie's head, but right into the action, and it also makes us feel like we KNOW Charlie.

HANK: Well, thanks. Someone asked me once why I chose first person. And you know, I never "chose." I just wrote my first sentence, and there it was. First person present. Kind of like--the way I talk.

DEB: How are you and Charlie alike, and how are you different?

HANK: When my husband talks about Charlie, he calls her “you.” As in—when “you” are held at gunpoint, when you track down the bad guys, when you solve the mystery . . . and I have to remind him, “Sweetheart, it’s fiction. It didn’t really happen.”

But a couple of things: I’ve been a TV reporter for more than 30 years. (Yes, really.) And so it would be silly, in writing a mystery about TV, not to use my own experiences. Think about it—as a TV reporter, you can never be wrong! Never be one minute late. Never choose the wrong word or miscalculate. You can never have a bad hair day, because it’ll be seen by millions of people! It’s high-stakes and high-stress—literally, people’s lives at stake—and I really wanted to convey that in the books.

And everything that TV people do and say in the books is authentic and genuine. (Of course, Charlie can say things I can’t say, and reveal things I can’t reveal.) We’re both devoted journalists, and over-focused on our jobs.

But Charlotte McNally is different, too. She’s single—I’m happily married. She’s ten years younger than I am, and so is facing different choices and dilemmas. She’s braver than I am, certainly. Funnier. And a much better driver.

DEB: Does writing about what you do make writing harder or easier?

HANK: Ahhh, the key--in television news and in fiction--is to tell a good story, right? With compelling characters, and an important conflict, where the good guys win, and the bad guys get what's coming to them. Makes no difference if you're making it up, or reporting the facts. It's all about the story.

There’s a huge been-there-done-that element to the books—I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals . . . been in disguise, been stalked, and threatened and had many a door slammed in my face. So when that happens to Charlie, it’s fair to imagine me. Although the plots are completely from my imagination, those are real-life experiences.

Counterfeit merchandise, the essence of AIR TIME, came from my experiences covering that world and working with the Secret Service and police departments and TSA, as well as my own undercover work. I've had people confess to murder, and convicted murderers insist they were innocent--that's the key to FACE TIME. And the real-life big-money conflicts in the financial world I've covered for TV--that's what's behind PRIME TIME.

We've done lots of stories about car recalls--the pitfalls and the dangers, and what can happen that allows people to be driving dangerous cars. So I know the inside scoop on how recalls work--and what may be wrong with your car at the very moment, and why you may not know it--and all that comes in to play in DRIVE TIME.

The books are definitely not “fact made fiction--but it's been wonderful to be able to use these real-life experiences as stepping off points.

What has really helped me? Is that after thirty-plus years of writing news stories, I understand that some days, you're just not going to feel the muse. The key is--on those days? You write anyway. It's your job. So I try not to worry, not to despair and over-analyze. Just persevere.

DEB: I'm always in awe of writers who hold down demanding, full-time jobs, and write, which is ALSO a demanding, full-time job. How do you juggle your life, and when do find--or make--time to write?

HANK: Bwa-ha-ha. Seriously? I work all the time. We just took our first vacation in five years.

Sleep was the first casualty, then cooking, then fun. Oh, and exercise. And going to movies. Luckily I have a very very patient and supportive husband.

My routine? I get up at say, 7. (Couldn’t possibly write that early—I’m always so impressed by the authors who get up at 4am and dash off some chapters before the sun rises. Sigh. My head would be klonked on the keyboard. Could not do it!)

On workdays, I head to Channel 7, and get home about 7pm. When I’m in writing mode, I write til about 10, then make dinner. My husband and I always have dinner together, then I write a bit afterwards. (I’m definitely a late night writer. All those years of reporting for the 11 pm news, I guess.) Weekends, I write.

What keeps me going? Telling a good story. I'm so eager to find out what happens next in my books--and the only way I can do that is to write it!

DEB: And now for the MOST important question . . . Do you know what you're wearing to the Agatha Awards?

HANK: Oh, my dear Debs, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The idea that DRIVE TIME is nominated for the Agatha for Best Novel is just--well, it still brings tears to my eyes. What I'm gonna wear....hmmmm. Can we all go shopping?? What are you all wearing?

DEB: Here at Jungle Red we will all be cheering you on!!!

JR readers, do you have questions for Hank? She'll be checking in to chat throughout the day.

(I think maybe she could borrow Ro's red dress?)

And wouldn't we all like to fit into this?

Are We Ever REAL Writers?

DEB: The next few weeks we'll be celebrating "Awards Month" here on Jungle Red, with special attention to the Agathas and the Edgars. Julia Spencer-Fleming will be interviewing the Agatha Best First Novel nominees over the next two weeks, and Hallie Ephron will be filling us in on juicy tidbits from the Edgars.

AND--drum roll here!!--our very own Hank Phillipi Ryan's Drive Time is an Agatha nominee for Best Novel. I'll be talking to Hank about Drive Time this Thursday, so stay tuned.

AND--cymbals this time--this Tuesday, Jungle Red's Julia Spencer-Fleming and Rosemary Harris both have new books out, One Was a Soldier from Julia and Slugfest from Ro. I'm expecting both in my mailbox on Tuesday morning--Hope you are, too!

But with all the well-deserved acclaim accorded our authors and the other nominees this months, I've kept thinking about something Maya Angelou said a good many years ago--"Each time I write a book, every time I face that yellow pad, the challenge is so great. I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'Uh, oh, they're going to find out now. I've run a game on everybody and they're going to find me out.'"

And I wondered--do any of us, no matter how many awards or nominations or any other kind of public acclaim we receive, ever feel like "real" writers?

I know I don't. Once upon a time I thought that once you had written "a" book, writing another would surely be easy. Ha. I have written a good few books since those naive days, and I've discovered that, in fact, it never gets easier. And while for the most part I like the books I've written, I always wonder if I'll be able to pull off the next one, or if, like Maya Angelou, I'll be "found out."

Then I realized that the only time I ever feel like a "real writer" is when I'm actually writing, when I'm in the "zone" and the words are pouring out faster than I can type them. But when that's happening, whether or not I'm a "real writer" is the last thing I think about.

So while we LOVE awards and recognition--and we hope they encourage lots and lots of people to buy our books--they don't fundamentally change our job. It's still the writer and the blank page, and as Stefanie Pintoff so aptly quoted SJ Rozan last week, Chop Wood/Carry Water.
How about you, Jungle Reds? Have awards changed how you feel about writing or about yourself as a writer?

ROBERTA/LUCY: (Trying to get used to the new name:)...Deb, you're right, awards don't do a thing when you're sitting in front of the screen or the notebook.

Although anything that boosts a writer's confidence a little helps grease the cogs, don't you think?

Writing is very hard. I find first drafts particularly so--lots of voices suggesting that the story or the way I've written it are ridiculous! I think the one thing we learn as we go along is to set the voices aside and patiently remind ourselves that it probably isn't as bad as we thought. And even if it is, it can be fixed!

I loved the chop wood/carry water reference too. SJ is such a smart lady!

JAN: It seems to me that most writers are always looking for ways to minimize their achievements, so awards and reviews help us feel legitimate. But I think the thing that helps me write best when I'm staring at the screen to is giving myself license to write poorly -- knowing full well, correcting writing is where the fun is.

RHYS: Like many writers I am completely fragile about what I'm writing. As I write each book I go through a few flashing highs of "this is brilliant" to many despairing lows of "this is rubbish. Nobody will like it. My sales will plummet and I'll never get another contract."

So I keep my awards on a shelf halfway down the stairs. I have to pass it every time I come up from my office to the kitchen for more coffee/cookies etc. And it's a great reminder and morale booster that I can write books that people like.

ROSEMARY: I do have my awards certificates framed - one is next to a plastic plug-in angel and the other is....somewhere, so they definitely mean something to me. But I have to say it was the comment of a longtime publishing executive who actually used the words "you're a real writer" that made me feel like one.

Yes, the first box of books is thrilling and passing by a shop window that has some of my titles on display is wonderful, but it was that gentleman's remark that did the trick because he had worked with so many legendary writers.

HANK: Heck yes, it matters to me. Oh, I'm too..something. My parents were always saying things like-you got an A-? How come you didn't get an A? But the wonderful outcome of that is that I try my best ALL the time, in whatever I do. And writing is the most challenging. SO to have the pats on the back from my peers, and from readers? Gee. It honestly brings tears to my eyes.

JULIA: Jan, I agree with you; giving myself permission to write crap is sometimes the only thing that frees me the paralyzing fear of...well, writing crap.

Also, like Rhys, I see-saw wildly throughout the process of completing the book - except my "nobody will like it" boogyman is "therefore, I'll have to go back to being a LAWYER!!" So no, sadly, winning or being nominated for awards does jack-all for the actual process of writing.

However, it is a sweet thing to be appreciated, whether that comes in the form of a teapot or a piece of paper or a reader who drove two hours to come to your library talk. And ultimately, I think that's what drives us, don't you? Having someone say, "I loved your story?" I mean, if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that no one pursues a writing career for the money!

DEB: I'm with Jan and Julia on the permission to write crap. My daily motto is Nora Roberts's "Bad pages are better than no pages." It's enormously liberating to give yourself permission not to be perfect. And what's amazing is that the crap pages usually--with a good bit of work--turn out to be not so bad after all.

As for being REAL writers, I have a suspicion that writers are a bit like the Velveteen Rabbit--we only become real when we're read.

So here's to reading, and to adding many, many fabulous books to our "To Read" stacks from the next few weeks' blogs!