Friday, July 18, 2025

Derringer Awards Policy (2026)

2026 Derringer Awards Coordinator: Mark Schuster
2026 Assistant Derringer Awards Coordinator: Alex Mattingly 

ABOUT THE DERRINGERS

Since 1998, the Short Mystery Fiction Society has awarded the annual Derringers—named after the popular pocket pistol—to outstanding published stories and individuals / persons / writers who have greatly advanced or supported the form.

As of 2004, an annually-elected Coordinator administers the Derringer Awards process. Detailed below, the process runs January 1–April 30 and recognizes stories published the previous year.

The current regular Derringer Awards are:

  • 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)

As of 2009, a committee of the sitting SMFS Officers, Derringer Coordinator, and two regular members selects a living writer whose outstanding body of short fiction merits the Society's Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement.

The winning short stories are announced on May 1. Winners receive medals that are presented during Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. To donate toward the cost of the medals, contact the Derringer Coordinator. 

SUBMISSIONS (January 1–30, 2026)

Who may submit?

With the exceptions of the Society President and Vice President, who have neither authority over the Derringer process nor Derringer eligibility, and the Awards Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator, who have authority over the Derringer process but no Derringer eligibility,

Members who joined the society no later than December 31, 2025 may submit eligible stories written by anyone, including themselves

and

Editors of venues featuring mystery or crime short stories may submit eligible stories published in those venues.

Story eligibility

To be considered for the 2026 Derringer Awards, a submission must be:

a) a mystery or crime story up to 20,000 words, and
b) originally published in 2025 in English,
c) published in a single publication, periodical, collection, or anthology, and
d)  available in print and/or electronic form.
e) The submission may originate from any country or location.

Publication Date:

A story’s eligibility is determined by the venue’s cover or front-page date, which must be no later than December 31, 2025.

In the case of self-published stories, a publishing platform, such as Amazon Kindle, must be used to establish story availability, and it must have a publication date stamp. Stories appearing on a website must have a visible first publication date to be considered.

Submission Limits

Any member who joins SMFS by December 31, 2025, may submit up to TWO (2) eligible stories in any combination of standard publication or self-publication. 

Editors may submit as follows:

THREE (3) editorial submissions from venues that published fewer than 25 eligible stories during the year;

FOUR (4) editorial submissions from venues that published 26–50 eligible stories during the year;

FIVE (5) editorial submissions from venues that published 51–75 eligible stories during the year;

SIX (6) editorial submissions from venues that published more than 75 stories during the year.

For multi-editor venues, the editors split the number of submissions determined above.

(e.g. 4 editorial submissions are allowed from a four-editor venue featuring 26 eligible stories. If one editor submits 4 stories, the other three editors may not submit any.)

Editors of multiple venues: 

THREE (3) editorial submissions are allowed if they edited a total up to 25 eligible stories;

FOUR (4) editorial submissions are allowed if they edited a total of 26–50 eligible stories;

FIVE (5) editorial submissions are allowed if they edited a total of 51–75 eligible stories;

SIX (6) editorial submissions are allowed if they edited a total of more than 75 stories.

The number of submissions allowed from any one venue is bound by the venue's total eligible stories.

(E.g. An editor who worked on 100 stories across 5 venues would be allowed 6 total submissions. If one of the venues featured only ten stories, the editor could submit 3 from it, but then would have only 3 submissions left to split among 90 stories and 4 venues.)

Editors who became members of the Society by December 31, 2025, may submit, in addition to their editorial submissions, two eligible stories from venues other than their own.

If an editor is responsible for a publication containing stories they wrote, that editor may submit only up to TWO (2) of their own stories.

An editor may decide not to submit his/her venue's stories. S/he cannot prevent other members of the Society from submitting them UNLESS s/he acquired controlling rights over the stories.

Format and Address

Submissions that do not adhere to the rules will be rejected.  Time permitting, an effort will be made by Derringer officials to notify submitters of the rejection and permit resubmission under the rules.  However, this is not guaranteed, particularly in the closing days of the submission period.

The 2025 Derringer competition uses William Shunn's industry-standard layout linked to below, except that the manuscript should:

a)  use 12-point Times New Roman font,

b) be in .doc or .docx file type, and

c)  the personal contact information normally included at top left of page one must be omitted.

William Shunn's short-story formatting page can be found here. Remember, the personal contact information at top left must not be included. If included, the manuscript will be rejected.

Please include the number of words in your submission as shown in the format.

You MUST remove all of your personal information from the manuscripts. This includes, for example, the information everywhere within the body of the document, in the header or footer, or in the document’s properties.

Removing the information about the author is the submitter’s responsibility and failure to do so, or to follow the other formatting guidelines outlined here, will result in the story being removed from consideration.

When submitting your stories, please include "[Derringers (+category)]" and the story’s title in the subject line. This will make it easy to spot your submission so that nothing is lost.  Example: [Derringers Flash] The Case of the Sample Title.

Submitters must include the following information in the body of the submission email:

  • the author’s contact information;
  • whether you are submitting as SMFS member, publication editor, or both;
  • the story title, author's name or pseudonym used for the story;
  • the story’s 2025 publication date as well as where and when the story was originally published; and
  • the URL to the published story if applicable.

Again, failure to include any of this information will result in the story being removed from consideration.

Send stories and questions to derringerawards.2026@gmail.com.

Anyone submitting someone else's work must have and is presumed to have acquired the proper permissions from the author. By submitting someone else's work, a submitter assumes responsibility for having the proper permissions.

The Coordinator posts updates of the stories received throughout the January submission period. This avoids duplicate submissions and serves to check that stories submitted are received. If any story submitted does not appear in an update and has met the listed eligibility requirements, follow up with the Coordinator at derringerawards.2026@gmail.com.

All submissions must be received by midnight (Eastern time) January 30, 2026. January 31 will be used to prep submissions to be sent to the judges.

JUDGING (January 1–March 30, 2026)

The Coordinator may begin the judging process as early as January 1 for any or all categories. To facilitate judging during the January submission window, the Coordinator may bundle accepted story submissions and make the bundles available to the judges. Judges will receive all assigned stories on or before February 1.

The Coordinator assigns eligible submissions to award categories by length: 

  • 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)

Each category requires three primary and one alternate SMFS members to judge the category down to five finalists. To protect their identities and the privacy of the judging process, members sign up to judge by contacting the coordinator directly by December 31, 2025.

Volunteers may specify which category they wish to judge, subject to availability, but they cannot judge categories including stories they wrote or published as an editor. The Coordinator keeps this in mind when assigning judges, but any erroneously-assigned judges should inform the Coordinator, who decides how to rectify the error.

Before sending the Derringer submissions to the judges, the Coordinator ensures the manuscripts show neither the author's name nor the details of publication. This is not to mandate blind judging, but to encourage open-minded judging. Judges may recognize authors and publication details but are nevertheless expected to score all stories in their rightfully assigned categories regardless.

If the load of stories appears to be a problem, the Coordinator has the discretion to make adjustments (i.e. number of stories, number of judges, schedule, etc.) to make the competition work smoothly.

SCORING

The Scoring Guidelines below have been used for over a decade to provide a measure of commonality among different judges' approaches. They are not litmus tests to be applied in a cookie-cutter manner by all judges to all submissions, but are rather a source for general areas of consideration that can be used to the extent considered appropriate in conjunction with a judge's individual experience, acumen, and skills.

Using the Scoring Guidelines below as desired, each judge rates each of the four larger general areas of:

  1. OVERALL WRITING
  2. CHARACTERS
  3. PLOT
  4. OVERALL FEELING.

A judge assigns each of these areas a score of 1 to 10. The judge should note these individual scores but need not formally record them. The judge then adds the four individual areas' scores together to arrive at a cumulative score of 4 - 40. For each submission, each judge in the category reports this single, cumulative score on the scoring sheet provided by the Derringer Coordinator.

If, at any point during the reading of any entry, a judge concludes that the impression formed thus far is final and without reasonable expectation of change regardless of what remains to be read and evaluated, the judge is not bound to continue reading that entry.

SCORING GUIDELINES

1. OVERALL WRITING 

  • How well does the writing grab and hold your attention?
  • Do the prose style and dialogue serve the story well?
  • Does the story's setting or overall atmosphere draw you in?
  • Does the story rise above others in the category for the way it's written?

2. CHARACTERS 

  • Are they well developed and convincing?
  • Is there good interaction between characters?
  • How well does the writer handle viewpoints or inhabit each character?
  • Do the characters serve the story well?

3. PLOT 

  • How well are the story events structured from beginning to end?
  • Does the story rise above others in the category for its plot?
  • Does the story set up and then meet or cleverly subvert expectations?

4. OVERALL FEELING 

  • Did you have a good reaction to the story not described by the other elements?
  • How memorable was the story?

The alternate judge in a category is called if one of the primary judges is unable to serve to completion. The alternate will be asked to read and evaluate only the entries that the primary judge was unable to assess.

All stories must be scored and returned to the Coordinator by March 30, 2026.

March 31 is reserved for the Coordinator to verify the outcome of scoring. For each Derringer category, the five stories with the highest averages become the Finalists.

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED (April 1, 2026)

On April 1, the Coordinator announces the Finalists on the SMFS Groups.io discussion board and announces them publicly on SMFS’s blog.

VOTING (April 1–29, 2026)

On April 1, the Coordinator uploads the finalist manuscripts to Shortmystery's Files section and creates polls to conduct the vote. All members who join prior to January 1 of 2026 are eligible to vote. Members who join between January 1 and April 30 of 2026 cannot participate in the Derringer judging or voting process. During the month of April, these Members may read the finalist manuscripts, but will not be able to vote or post to the SMFS list.

April 30 is reserved for the Coordinator to verify the poll results and prepare the announcement of winners. The Coordinator then deletes the manuscripts from Shortmystery's Files section.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED (May 1, 2026)

On May 1, the Coordinator announces the Winners on the SMFS Groups.io discussion board and announces them publicly on SMFS’s blog.

MEDAL PRESENTATION AT BOUCHERCON (October 2026)

When possible the five honorees receive their Derringer medals during Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. If you'd like to donate toward future medals, please contact the Current Derringer Coordinator. Any winners who are unable to attend will receive their medals by mail.

NEW: DERRINGER AWARD FOR BEST ANTHOLOGY

Beginning with the awards presented in 2025, the SMFS will also present a Derringer Award for Best Anthology.  This is being done on a two-year trial basis.  If there are no significant problems or objections from the membership, the award will become permanent with the awards presented in 2027.

Because this award is fundamentally different from those presented to individual stories, a different procedure is required, and is described below.  For the sake of simplicity and clarity, this description uses the dates which will apply for the initial presentation of the award (covering works published in 2024), but these specific dates should obviously be updated for each successive year.

Rationale

The four existing competitive Derringer Awards are presented for short stories, and the finalists in each category are determined by a group of volunteer judges.  This model is not practical for a Best Anthology award which evaluates full-length books, not stories under 20,000 words.  No small group of volunteers can be expected to read all of the eligible anthologies in a given year in order to determine a list of finalists or choose a winner.  It also will not be possible, as is done with the short story finalists, to make the finalist texts available to the entire membership of the SMFS for free.  A Best Anthology Derringer must therefore be governed by a different set of rules.  Those described here are closely modeled on the process by which the Anthony Awards are presented.

Eligibility

To be eligible, an anthology of mystery and crime short stories must have been published in English, in print and/or electronic form, during the calendar year in question.  It must contain stories, of any length up to 20,000 words, by at least five different authors.  Collections (that is, a selection of works by a single author) are not eligible.  A minimum of seventy-five percent of the anthology’s contents (calculated as a percentage of the number of stories, not number of words) must have been previously unpublished in English.  For the purposes of eligibility, new translations of stories originally published in languages other than English will be considered as previously unpublished.

Anthologies edited by currently serving officers of SMFS are not eligible.  Anthologies containing stories by serving SMFS officers retain eligibility, in fairness to the editors and other contributors.

Submissions

SMFS members who join the Society prior to January 1, 2026, may submit 2025 publications for the award.  Each member is permitted to make two submissions.  Submissions will be accepted from January 1, 2026, to January 30, 2026, following procedures as directed by the serving Derringer Coordinator.

The Derringer Coordinator will tabulate the submissions, and the five anthologies receiving the most submissions will be declared the finalists (in the event of a tie, and only in the event of a tie, there may be more than five finalists).

The Derringer Coordinator will announce the finalists on February 1, 2026, in order to permit SMFS members time to acquire and read the anthologies if they wish to do so.

Making Submissions

Include only one submission per email. Include "[Derringers Anthology]" and the anthology’s title in the subject line.

Submitters must include the following information in the body of the submission email:

  • your name
  • anthology title
  • editor(s) name(s)
  • publisher
  • publication date

Send your submissions and questions to derringerawards.2026@gmail.com

Voting

Voting will be held from April 1, 2026, to April 29, 2026, at the same time as the voting for the other competitive Derringers.  As with those categories, voting will be via a poll on the SMFS groups.io site, with each member who joined prior to January 1, 2026, allowed one vote.

The Derringer coordinator will tabulate the votes and announce the winner on May 1, 2026, along with the winners of the other competitive Derringer categories.  The award will be presented to the editor(s) of the winning anthology, if possible at that fall’s Bouchercon.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

June News from the Short Mystery Fiction Society

 In June, the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society closed out the first half of 2025 with another round of gripping stories for readers of all tastes.  A lot of the highlights are listed here--but if you love reading, writing, or talking about short stories and mystery, why not join the Society?  It's free, and you'll get to rub elbows with many of the best writers working today.  Onward to some of the best stuff that came out in June!

It was a fantastic month for anthologies!

MIDNIGHT SCHEMERS AND DAYDREAM BELIEVERS is the fifth entry in the outstanding series of Superior Shores Press anthologies, edited by SMFS's own Judy Penz Sheluk.  Desire or desperation, revenge or retribution--these twenty-two stories explore how far people are willing to go to make a dream come true.  Among the host of SMFS authors included are Joseph S. Walker ("Quincy and Crow"), donalee Moulton ("Maladaptives Anonymous"), Debra Bliss Saenger ("Checking Out at the Live Free or Die Motel" ), and of course Judy Penz Sheluk herownself ("A Foolproof Plan").  The previous anthology in this series was just nominated for a Silver Falchion award, and you won't want to have missed out when the honors start flooding in for this one.  Be sure to check out Judy's appearances on the Write Focus and House of Mystery podcasts, too!


Another long-running anthology series saw a terrific new entry in June with the release of CRIMEUCOPIA: A LOAD OF BALLS from Murderous Ink Press.  Once again, a host of SMFS's finest grace the pages of this collection of sports-themed stories that take twists as unexpected as a major league knuckleball.  Check out stellar contributions from Arthur Vidro ("The Purple Figurine Murders"), Robert Petyo ("The Perfect Game"), Wendy Harrison ("Be Careful What You Wish For"), John M. Floyd ("Rules of the Game"), and S. B. Watson ("Dust in the Field").  As the name suggests, there's always more great stuff to be found in Crimeucopia!


And now for something completely different!  DESERT OF DREAMS is the first anthology of short stories from the Historical Novel Society North America, exploring all the comic and tragic elements of the fascinating history of America's city of dreams, Las Vegas.  SMFS member Sally Millikin joins the fun with "Cowboy Justice."


Of course, it was also a fantastic month . . . for magazines!

The July/August issue of ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, on shelves now, includes contributions by Joseph S. Walker ("When You Leave This Place") and Terena Elizabeth Bell ("What Blue Found"), alongside a wealth of legendary writers like Sara Paretsky, Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini.  Decades after its founding, EQ remains, as the cover proclaims, the world's leading mystery magazine.  No serious reader should be without it!


BLACK CAT WEEKLY shouldn't be overlooked--every week it brings readers hundreds of pages of mystery, science fiction, and pulp goodness, both classic and new.  donalee Moulton ("Second Line"), Paula Messina ("The Little Girl") and Veronica Leigh ("Two Against Time") are just a few of the tremendous writers who graced its digital pages in June.  If you don't have a subscription to BCW yet, what's stopping you?  They're still going strong after 200 issues, delivering the best value any reader could ask for!


The prolific donalee Moulton also appears in the new issue of JOURN-E: THE JOURNAL OF IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE with "Shadowbird," in which a Halifax PI is hired to find a stalker--and win a candlepin bowling tournament.


Over in THE LOUISVILLE REVIEW, SMFS member Robert Weibezahl delivers a bouquet of "Red Rhododendrons," in which a forgotten memory of a childhood encounter has an unexpected impact on the present.


The past comes back again when Gregory Meece offers up "Something Lost," a haunting mystery about memory, love, and the secrets time refuses to keep in the pages of the quarterly PARABNORMAL MAGAZINE.

And of course, it wouldn't be an SMFS news report without a mention of the amazing John M. Floyd's latest contribution to WOMAN'S WORLD, "A Case of Names and Numbers," in which a cashbox goes missing from a local festival.  Another masterclass in the short form from SMFS's most prolific member!


And it need hardly be said that it was a fantastic month . . . for online magazines!

SMFS members could be found all over the web in June, serving up free reads that pack a punch readers would be happy to pay for.  You can enjoy them on the virtual pages of THE SATURDAY EVENING POST (Billie Livingston's "Bringing in the Dead"), THE FREEDOM FICTION JOURNAL (Robert J. Binney's "Ghosted") YELLOW MAMA (Abe Margel's "Country Living" and Gregory Meece's "Lightning Strikes"), GUILTY (James Patrick Focarile's "The Drop"), SPILLWORDS (Bern Sy Moss's "The Man Under the Bridge"), and CLOSE TO THE BONE (Gregory Meece's "Straight Shooter").  In just a few minutes each, these stories prove that great writers deliver, no matter the length!


Of course, SMFS members don't only publish short stories in magazines and anthologies.  June was a fantastic month . . . for single-author books!

Anna Scotti's IT'S NOT EVEN PAST collects her massively popular "Librarian on the Run" stories, many of which appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and three of which were selected for BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR.  Two previously unpublished stories flesh out what is unquestionably one of the great series of stories in the recent history of our genre.  This belongs on every mystery lover's shelf!


SMFS member Veronica Leigh's novel THE KEEPER OF LOST DAUGHTERS is a deeply moving story of a woman's desperate bid for survival in WWII Krakow, and the adopted daughter she'll do anything to save.  A treat for any lover of historical fiction!


In his collection CRIME FANTASTIQUE: STORIES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE, short story master David H. Hendrickson shares eight riveting tales combining mystery and suspense with elements of the fantastic.  Includes introductions to each story, for those who want a glimpse behind the curtain!


Finally, a highlight of any month is new work from SMFS master craftsman Steve Liskow.  His collection SWEET LADIES OF DEATH brings together no fewer than 30 of his finest, all delving into crime and mystery but dabbling in romance, science fiction, and the supernatural.  You won't soon forget Liskow's ladies!


Looking for still more great reading?  Be sure to check out KEVIN'S CORNER, the blog where former SMFS president and his guests, including SMFS members like Paula Messina, review recent releases and keep you up to date on news.  Always worth a visit!

And with that, the SMFS will see you again in a month.  Happy reading!


Sunday, June 1, 2025

May News From the Short Mystery Fiction Society

As 2025 turned the corner from spring to summer in May, the talented writers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society kept the thrills coming with a bevy of new publications.  Readers take note--there's a lot of great stuff to seek out here!

Issue 22 of the quarterly MYSTERY, CRIME, AND MAYHEM focuses on white-collar crime, and SMFS members are there to document the evil deeds of the well-to-do!  David H. Hendrickson's "The Telltale Scrape" pits some particularly ruthless players against each other at a new casino's poker tables.  In Annie Reed's "Not Dead Yet," a pair of crooks long retired from the protection racket are called back into action when young punks make a play for their old boss's territory.  Diana Deverell's "Reckless Endangerment" concerns another one-time felon, a bookkeeper who has to find an embezzler before the cops decide her record makes her the guilty party.  And in Joslyn Chase's "Judge, Jury, and Executioner," two rural policemen risk everything to root out corruption in their local justice system.


Not content with their publications in MCM, Annie Reed and David H. Hendrickson also have powerful contributions to the 39th issue of PULPHOUSE FICTION MAGAZINE.  Annie's "Be Someone" dives into the harrowing world of a pair of fifteen-year-old car thieves, while David's "Blue Note Heaven" has what is surely a most unusual setting for a crime story--heaven, where a newly arrived jazz musician isn't quite ready to play by the rules. 


Taking a quick trip across the pond, British publication THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND features SMFS member Liz Filleul's "School for Murder" in their 2025 Feel-Good Fiction Special.  When a teacher dies at an evacuated boarding school during WWII, policewoman Evelyn Masefield quickly realizes there's more to this "accident" than meets the eye!


In Christina Hoag's "My Mother's Knives," a May feature at ALL DUE RESPECT, we meet Mary Grace, whose interest in her new downstairs neighbor just might be edging into obsession, with murderous results.  A free-to-read thriller!


SMFS's Rob Lopresti graces BLACK CAT WEEKLY with "Shanks Gets Lost," the latest tale featuring his popular series character, mystery writer Leopold Longshanks, who has a puzzle to solve after a confrontation with an angry man.  Another issue of BCW brings us John M. Floyd's "Thursday's Child," about a loser who steps up when his workplace is robbed.


Of course, the prolific Mr. Floyd is never happy with just one publication a month!  Over at THE STRAND, he offers readers another treat with "Boom," in which two Army criminals face an unusual form of military justice.


Two SMFS members saw stories published in May in the venerable Saturday Evening Post.  In Marcelle Dube's "Liminal State," Estelle's last Christmas with her sister proves more fraught than anyone expected.  And in "Redemption Blues," Jennifer Slee takes us back to the Old West with the gripping story of an outlaw gang and one member who may see a way to a different kind of life.


Issue 14 of GUILTY CRIME STORY MAGAZINE hits hard with a double dose of SMFS member Brandon Barrows, who delivers both "Seen This Girl?," featuring his series character Sam Harrigan, and "Yowl," a you-solve-it mystery.


M. E. Proctor is yet another SMFS writer with two May publications to celebrate!  "Shadow Play" is her contribution to the horror flash Twitter/X magazine Mythic Picnic; "Shag Haul," in the Workers Write! anthology TALES FROM THE CLEANERS, features a pair of crime scene cleaners making a discovery that will change their lives forever.


As always, SMFS members don't confine themselves to fiction, and aspiring writers can learn a lot from their blog posts and other writings.  At THE FIRST TWO PAGES, Kevin Egan discusses the opening pages of "Buds," his recent story in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.  Over at MYSTERY FANFARE, Christopher Deliso reflects on how to create a sense of place in a story.  Meanwhile, at THE GOTHIC WANDERER, P. A. DeVoe is recognized for "Cold Blooded Murder," her winning story in their Gothic contest.  Congrats, P. A.!


SMFS President Joseph S. Walker's story "Bonus Round," first published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2019, was the subject of a May episode of THE MYSTERY HOUR podcast, hosted by Rabia Chaudry.  The episode includes a reading of the story, about a murder timeline that just doesn't add up, as well as a discussion of the real-life case that inspired it.  Find it wherever you get your podcasts!




Finally, let's recognize those members of SMFS who published full-length books in May!  First up, Brandon Barrows is back again with LONG BEFORE THEY DIE, in which part-time PI Tom Ahearn is plunged into the sex and drugs of the hippie scene in 1968 Los Angeles.


In the gripping YA novel IMHOTEP AND THE QUEST TO KUSH, the second in a series, A. L. Sirois takes us to ancient Egypt's Third Dynasty as young Imhotep embarks on a perilous search, seeking remedies for his ailing king.


In Tom Milani's thriller PLACES THAT ARE GONE, a man who leads a life of dull routine is drawn into dangers beyond anything he's experienced when he picks up a hitchhiker whose past refuses to be left behind.


And we finish this month's news where we started, with David H. Hendrickson.  The multi-talented writer caps off a strong SMFS May with his collection CRIME FROM ANOTHER TIME, six stories of mystery and suspense set in times ranging from the ancient world to just a few decades ago.  Don't miss this riveting set from an acclaimed writer!


Stay tuned for more engaging reads from SMFS as we approach the second half of the year.  And remember, if you love writing or reading short mysteries, there's a place in the Society for you!






 


Sunday, May 4, 2025

April News from the Short Mystery Fiction Society

 Following a brief delay to allow recognition of the winners of the 2025 Derringer Awards (and a huge congratulations to them all!), here's a roundup of just some of the terrific April publications and other news from the ever-prolific members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.  Readers take note--there could well be some future Derringer winners here!

The May/June issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine--still on sale now!--included work from a number of SMFS members.  Paul Ryan O'Connor's "Shamus & Buster" draws on many parts of the spectrum of mystery fiction, as an alley cat teams up with a police detective to solve his master's murder.  Meanwhile, in "A Short Madness," Josh Pachter (winner of the 2025 Derringer for Best Short Story!) spins the yarn of a locked-room murder, as relayed to a reporter decades later in 1917 Belgium.


SMFS is also well-represented in the May/June Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.  John M. Floyd brings us "Heading West," in which a struggling rancher and his wife face a tornado and train robbers in the Old West, while Kevin Egan's "Buds" is the impressive 18th story in his series set in the New York County Courthouse. 


 

(Writers looking for valuable tips from some of the best in the game should also know that both AHMM writers discuss their stories in detail in recent blog posts, John at SleuthSayers and Kevin at Trace Evidence.  More writerly insight comes from SMFS member Jennifer Slee, whose "Taking a Bite Out of Food Crime" at MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL discusses the real-life origins of one of her stories.)


In anthology news, the ever-prolific John Floyd is also among several SMFS members contributing to SLEUTHS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN: PRIVATE EYES IN THE MATERIALISTIC EIGHTIES, edited by SMFS all-star Michael Bracken.  John's inventive "Redwood Creek" weaves a puzzle plot around clues from the Oscar-winning films of the decade, while Debra H. Goldstein tackles the biggest whodunit of the period in "Who Shot J.R.?"  SMFS President Joseph S. Walker offers "The Right Size of Favor," in which a novice PI has to figure out who's trying to derail the Hands Across America charity event.  And check that fantastic cover!


Michael is also the editor of TROUBLE IN TEXAS: METROPLEX MYSTERIES VOLUME IV, the latest in the terrific series of anthologies from the North Dallas chapter of Sisters in Crime, featuring a foreword by Joseph S. Walker.  Veteran writer M. E. Proctor's contribution is "Goldenrod," in which PI Harry McLean investigates an art theft nobody seems to want to talk about. 


 

April was an especially great month for M. E., whose novel BOP CITY SWING, coauthored with Russell Thayer, is a hard-hitting story of a cop and a hitwoman racing to solve a murder in 1951 San Francisco.  Another San Francisco novel-length adventure, this one involving a shapeshifter you won't soon forget, comes from SMFS member Annie Reed in GUARDIANS OF THE BAY.


April produces another standout anthology with MALICE DOMESTIC 19: MYSTERY MOST HUMOROUS, featuring a number of SMFS all-stars.  Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier brings us "Six-Armed Robbery," featuring a group of renegade 12-year-olds in a standoff with a tyrannical nun, and Gregory Meece delivers "The Ladder Runs Both Ways," with a summer job leading to an unusual, and dangerous, opportunity.


Over in THE THIRD BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY, Christina Hoag's "Take Care of Zozo for Me" gives us a parolee trying to recover a stolen gold statue and facing some stiff competition.  In S. B. Watron's "The Lunt," the writer puts some masterful twists on the genre as an amateur sleuth tackles the mysterious murder of a Scottish laird.


Proving once again that SMFS authors are not restricted to writing about crime, and having a very productive month Veronica Leigh's "Dance With Me," in EVER AFTER: VOLUME ONE, is a moving romance novella about a woman learning to dance for her wedding, even as doubts begin to surface.  At THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND, her "Sweet Nothings" concerns a woman wondering how to identify her secret admirer.  But don't worry--Veronica hasn't abandoned mystery!  In "Triple Rib Stitch," her contribution to DETECTIVES, SLEUTHS, & NOSY NEIGHBORS: DYING FOR AN ANSWER, a sheriff doing a wellness check on an elderly lady is surprised to find her with a knitting needle buried in her chest.


Another lauded SMFS member strays from the confines of mystery in Judy Penz Sheluk's "Author, Author," at Thema, inspired by Judy's own first author experience at a big box bookstore.  She dares you not to feel a tear welling up at the ending of this one!


Another unusual death features in Shari Held's "A Stinging Rebuke," available online at YELLOW MAMA.  When a farmer dies by bee sting, is it an accident or something more sinister?


Also available online, at BRIEF WILDERNESS, is SMFS member Abe Margel's "Dancing With Kayla" in which marital disagreements over money lead to much larger problems.  At TOUGH, Steve Liskow gives us "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch," in which a teenager confronts a racist boss in 1965.  And at KILLER NASHVILLE, Barbara Ristine's "No One Found It Curious That Grandfather Left Without His Oil Paints" is a fiendish little piece of murderous fun.


Finally, for those who like their mystery in audio form, the MYSTERIES TO DIE FOR podcast has a treat for you in Debra H. Goldstein's "Opera Dinner Club," a sneak peek at an anthology coming soon.  Look for news of that, and other SMFS May news, at the start of June.  Happy reading!


Thursday, May 1, 2025

SMFS Official Announcement: 2025 The Silver Derringer For Editorial Excellence

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is pleased to announce the 2025 recipient of

THE SILVER DERRINGER FOR EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE

Janet Hutchings

On rare occasions, the SMFS Awards Committee presents a special lifetime award: The Silver Derringer for Editorial Excellence.  The award was most recently presented to Cathleen Jordan in 2002.  This year, the committee is delighted to present the award once more, to Janet Hutchings.  From 1991 until her retirement at the end of 2024, Janet served as just the third editor-in-chief of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, indisputably the most important publication in our genre.  To mention just a few of her accomplishments during this remarkable thirty-three year run, Janet introduced readers to a huge number of the best authors in the business, including Ian Rankin, Ann Cleeves, Jeffrey Deaver, Val MdDermid, Marcia Muller, and many more; created the “Passport to Crime” department, which has presented the work of hundreds of international authors; and guided Queen into the twenty-first century with its first blog, podcasts, and digital editions.  It is safe to say that no living person has done as much for short mystery fiction, and we are honored to recognize Janet’s overwhelming contributions and influence.

SMFS Official Announcement: 2025 Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer For Lifetime Achievement

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is pleased to announce the 2025 recipient of the

EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Art Taylor

This year’s recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement is Art Taylor.  Jon L. Breen has accurately described Art as “one of the finest short-story writers to come to prominence in the twenty-first century.”  His many awards include an Edgar, an Anthony, four Agathas, four Macavitys, and four Derringers.  Art brings to the mystery story an unusually rich sense of character and theme; his stories are not merely puzzles to be solved, but insightful and engaging meditations on the mystery of life itself.  He is also one of the finest scholars of the history of mystery fiction, particularly in its short form, and unfailingly generous in his support for other writers, including through his continuation of the “First Two Pages” blog series begun by B. K. Stevens.

SMFS Official Announcement: 2025 Hall of Fame

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is pleased to announce the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee.


HALL OF FAME

O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)

This year’s inductee to the Hall of Fame is O. Henry (1862-1910), real name William Sydney Porter.  Though best remembered today for the Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry’s hundreds of published short stories also include a huge number of influential crime narratives, including “The Ransom of Red Chief,” “The Cop and the Anthem,” and “A Retrieved Reformation.”  A master of plotting and effective twist endings, O. Henry exemplified the depth, range and flexibility of the short story.