The SMFS at Bouchercon 2009

Here is a running tally of SMFS members attending Bouchercon 2009, October 15-18, in Indianapolis, IN:

Patricia Abbott
Victor J. Banis
Jack Bates
Joseph Benedetto
Jack Bludis
Gary R. Bush
Bill Crider
Libby Cudmore
Jim Doherty
Laura Elvebak
Beth Groundwater
Dennis Leppanen
Molly MacRae
Ruth McCarty
Jim O'Keefe
Suzanne Rorhus
Kieran Shea


The presentation of plaques to the 2009 Derringer Award winners will be held in the Main Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, Thursday, October 15, at 6:00 PM. SMFS VP Jim Doherty is MC.

Derringer Winners, Are You Coming to Bouchercon?

From SMFS Vice President Jim Doherty:

Debi Watson, the Special Events Coordinator at this year's Bouchercon, has notified me that the presentation of the Macavitys, Barrys, CRIMESPREE Awards, and our own Derringers will be on Thursday, 17 Oct, at 6pm in the Main Ballroom.

Clark Howard has already notified me that he will be there to receive his award personally.

For the rest of you winners, I need you to contact me OFF-LIST with the answers to the following questions:

First, are you coming to Bouchercon? If the answer to that question is yes, you can skip all the rest of these questions.

Second, if you are not coming, do you plan to designate anyone who WILL be there to accept the award plaque on your behalf (and, importantly to deliver the plaque to you)? If you don't want to designate someone, can you send me your physical address so that I can mail the award to you? This is VERY important. If you aren't coming and no one will be designated to accept the award for you, and I know in advance, I don't have to bring your award to the 'con. On the other hand, if you aren't coming, and aren't designating a surrogate, and I DON'T know about it in advance, not only will I have to bring your trophy with me to the 'con, I will also have to take it back with me.

Third, if you are not coming, and not designating a surrogate, are there any remarks you'd like to have read at the awards event? If so, e-mail those remarks to me prior to the 'con.

Whether you're planning on "thanking all the little people" in person, or having me read your acceptance speech, try to keep your remarks brief. The event lasts only one hour, and three other sets of awards are being given out. Each organization giving awards is alloted only ten minutes.

Thank you for your prompt response to these questions. I'm hoping that all of the winners will be able to accept their well-deserved Derringers in person, but, if that's not possible, please let me know.

JIM DOHERTY
jimdohertyjr AT yahoo DOT com

SMFS in EQMM

Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer winner Clark Howard is featured in the November 2009 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Congratulations once again, Mr. Howard.

Clark Howard accepts the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

Notified that in May he was named the first recipient of the Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement, Clark Howard replied:

I cannot tell you how honored I am to be receiving this award. Not just for the body of my work (first short story published in Manhunt, February 1957), but also because Ed Hoch and his wife Pat were close friends of my late wife Judith and I for many years. Thank you so very much for selecting me for this first Golden Derringer.

Poll Results: Editors' Control over Derringer Submissions

By a margin of 25 FOR, 1 AGAINST, the following clarification has been added to the Derringer Rules:

"An editor may personally decide not to submit his/her publication's stories for the Derringers. This decision cannot forbid the stories' submission by their SMFS-member authors or by other SMFS members UNLESS the editor has purchased such controlling rights from the author."

2010 Derringer Awards Coordinator

By acclamation, Suzanne Berube Rorhus has been elected Derringer Awards Coordinator for 2010. She will serve from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.

Poll Results: Privacy of Shortmystery Members Section

By a margin of 10 FOR, 47 AGAINST, SMFS members have rejected the motion to make Shortmystery's Members list visible only to moderators as a means of preventing e-mail address harvesting and spam. The Members list will remain visible to all members of Shortmystery.

2009 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2009 Derringer Awards results were determined by a vote of the membership at large after member-volunteer judges narrowed the submissions to finalists. Winners bolded:

Best Flash (Up to 1,000 words)

• "No Flowers for Stacey" by Ruth McCarty (Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Writers)
• "A Killing Season" by J.F. Benedetto (Woman's World)
• "Black Pearls" by James C. Clar (Crime and Suspense)
• "Rainy Day Fund" by J.K. Cummins (Woman's World)
• "Incident in Itawamba" by Gary Hoffman (Teacakes and Afternoon Tales)
• "No Place Like Home" by Dee Stuart (Mysterical-E)

Best Short Story (1,001–4,000 words)

• "The Cost of Doing Business" by Michael Penncavage (Thuglit)
• "Independence Day" by Allan Leverone (Crime and Suspense)
• "Regrets, I've Had a Few" by Allan Leverone (Trei Literary Magazine)
• "Taste For It" by Sophie Littlefield (Darkest Before the Dawn)
• "Stalkers" by Lew Stowe (Crime and Suspense)
• "Wishing on Whores" by John Weagly (Thieves Jargon)

Best Long Story (4,001–8,000 words)

• "The Quick Brown Fox" by Robert S. Levinson (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine)
• "The Bonnie and Clyde Caper" by O'Neil De Noux (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 2008)
• "The Big Score" by Chris F. Holm (The Back Alley)
• "The Art of Avarice" by Darrell James (Politics Noir)
• "Dead Even" by Frank Zafiro (Medium of Murder)

Best Novelette (8,001–17,500 words)

• "Too Wise" by O’Neil De Noux (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2008)
• "Haven't Seen You Since the Funeral" by Ernest B. & Alice A. Brown (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine)
• "Jack Best and the Line in the Sand" by Steve Olley (Mysterical-E)
• "Panic On Portage Path" by Dick Stodghill (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

And with permission from Patricia Hoch, the SMFS has renamed its lifetime achievement award in honor of her late husband. Determined by a committee of the SMFS Officers, Awards Coordinator, and two members-at-large, the 2009 recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement:

• Clark Howard (Howard's acceptance remarks)

Recipients may obtain award certificates by emailing Gerald So (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM). Recipients were publicly recognized at the opening ceremonies of Bouchercon, Thursday, October 15, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN.

The 2009 Derringer Awards

Winners bolded.

Some titles are linked to stories in online magazine archives. The SMFS encourages you to read these stories.


BEST FLASH STORY (Up to 1,000 Words):

Black Pearls by James C. Clar (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Incident in Itawamba by Gary Hoffman (TEACAKES AND AFTERNOON TALES)
No Flowers for Stacey by Ruth McCarty (DEADFALL: CRIME STORIES BY NEW ENGLAND WRITERS)
No Place Like Home by Dee Stuart (MYSTERICAL-E)
This Bird has Flown by BV Lawson (ARMCHAIRINTERVIEWS.COM)
A Killing Season by J.F. Benedetto (WOMAN'S WORLD)
Rainy Day Fund by J.K. Cummins (WOMAN'S WORLD)*

*Correcting an oversight discovered late, "A Killing Season" and "Rainy Day Fund", tied for sixth place in the judging, were added as finalists.

**To correct an oversight discovered after the group vote, two winners were declared for Best Flash Story.

BEST SHORT STORY (1,001 to 4,000 Words):

Independence Day by Allan Leverone (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few by Allan Leverone (TREI LITERARY MAGAZINE)
Stalkers*** by Lew Stowe (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Taste for It by Sophie Littlefield (DARKEST BEFORE DAWN)
The Cost of Doing Business by Michael Penncavage (THUGLIT)
Wishing on Whores*** by John Weagly (THIEVES JARGON)

***tie score in the judging

BEST LONG STORY (4,001-8,000 Words)

Bonnie and Clyde Caper by O’Neil De Noux (EQMM)
Dead Even by Frank Zafiro (MEDIUM OF MURDER)
The Art of Avarice by Darrell James (POLITICS NOIR)
The Big Score by Chris Holm (BACK ALLEY)
The Quick Brown Fox by Robert S. Levinson (AHMM)

BEST NOVELETTE (8,001 to 17,500 Words):

Haven’t Seen You Since the Funeral by Ernest B & Alice A. Brown (AHMM)
Jack Best and the Line in the Sand by Steve Olley (MYSTERICAL-E)
Panic on Portage Path by Dick Stodghill (AHMM)
Too Wise by O’Neil De Noux (EQMM)

2009 Recipient of the EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT:

Clark Howard (Howard's acceptance remarks)

Yahoo! Groups Planned Downtime, Monday April 13

On Monday, April 13th, 2009 Yahoo! Groups will undergo scheduled maintenance. During this time your group will be unavailable for 30-60 minutes.

The outage is currently scheduled to begin at 1 pm PT, 8 pm GMT. At this time, 1/4 of all Yahoo! Groups will become unavailable while the team services these groups. Once maintenance is complete on that 1/4 of Groups, they will be made available again, and the next 1/4 will become unavailable until all of the groups have been serviced.

In total the maintenance period should last around 5 hours, with the maintenance concluding around 6 pm PT, midnight GMT.

While your group is being serviced, all features of your group, including messages, photos, attachments, etc. will be completely unavailable. However, once your outage time concludes, your group and all of its features should return and any messages that were posted to the group via email during this downtime will be sent out. Please note that your group's outage should only last
around an hour.

In an effort to better communicate to all of you, a blast message will be posted to all groups starting today and continuing on through April 13th, 2009, linking to this message on the blog. This blast message is visible on all groups to all members and moderators.

Thank you for your patience—during the outage, the blog (http://www.ygroupsblog.com) will remain up (and comments will remain open) and we will update you all as information becomes available.

Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Community Manager

2009 Derringer Awards Voting

My congratulations to this year's Derringer finalists. The finalist stories are posted here to be read and voted on by SMFS members. To be eligible to vote for the Derringer winners, you must have joined Shortmystery before February 1, 2009. This cutoff is in place to prevent ballot-stuffing and recruiting people to the group simply to vote for any particular finalists.

Voting opened April 1 and will end April 30, at 11:59 PM ET. The Derringer polls record members' Yahoo! IDs so Awards Coordinator Nikki Dolson can check that each voter joined the group before February 1, 2009.

The automated results are unofficial. Nikki will do the official vote count and announce the winners on May 1.

2009 Derringer Finalists

The finalists for the 2009 Derringer Awards are:

BEST FLASH STORY (Up to 1,000 Words)

Black Pearls by James C. Clar (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Incident in Itawamba by Gary Hoffman (TEACAKES AND AFTERNOON TALES)
No Flowers for Stacey by Ruth McCarty (DEADFALL: CRIME STORIES BY NEW ENGLAND WRITERS)
No Place Like Home by Dee Stuart (MYSTERICAL-E)
This Bird has Flown by BV Lawson (ARMCHAIRINTERVIEWS.COM)
A Killing Season by J.F. Benedetto (WOMAN'S WORLD)
Rainy Day Fund by J.K. Cummins (WOMAN'S WORLD)*

*Correcting an oversight discovered late, "A Killing Season" and "Rainy Day Fund", tied for sixth place in the judging, were added as finalists.

BEST SHORT STORY (1,001-4,000 Words)

Independence Day by Allan Leverone (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few by Allan Leverone (TREI LITERARY MAGAZINE)
Stalkers** by Lew Stowe (CRIME AND SUSPENSE)
Taste for It by Sophie Littlefield (DARKEST BEFORE DAWN)
The Cost of Doing Business by Michael Penncavage (THUGLIT)
Wishing on Whores** by John Weagly (THIEVES JARGON)

**tie score in the judging

BEST LONG STORY (4,001-8,000 Words)

Bonnie and Clyde Caper by O’Neil De Noux (EQMM)
Dead Even by Frank Zafiro (MEDIUM OF MURDER)
The Art of Avarice by Darrell James (POLITICS NOIR)
The Big Score by Chris Holm (BACK ALLEY)
The Quick Brown Fox by Robert S. Levinson (AHMM)


BEST NOVELETTE (8,001-17,500 Words)

Haven’t Seen You Since the Funeral by Ernest B & Alice A. Brown (AHMM)
Jack Best and the Line in the Sand by Steve Olley (MYSTERICAL-E)
Panic on Portage Path by Dick Stodghill (AHMM)
Too Wise by O’Neil De Noux (EQMM)
Vegetable Matters by Terry W. Ervin II (MINDFLIGHTS)


Congratulations to the finalists! And a HUGE THANK YOU to the judges without whom this never would have happened. But now folks it's your turn. The stories are in FILES section of our group page. Head there to read our finalists stories then head over to the polls to place your vote. The polls be up shortly.

Remember to be eligible to vote you need to have joined SMFS before Feb. 1st.

Poll Results: Derringer Eligibility of Issues with Overlapping Years

By a margin of 24 AGAINST, 10 FOR, SMFS members have rejected the proposed Derringer rules change.

Derringer eligibility of magazine issues with overlapping years stands as follows:

In the case of magazines or e-zines which cover more than one month and overlap years, the later year shall be the determining factor. (Example: December 2008/January 2009 issues would be eligible in 2010.)

DERRINGER SUBMISSIONS

This is it! THE FINAL WEEK! So send in those stories to me!

Below are the current accepted stories. If you've sent me stories and haven't received a reply email and don't see your submitted story below, please email me. I'll be accepting submissions until March 15th and then I close up shop. The judges will read and score the submissions, the scores will be tallied and the finalists will be announced. Then it will be up to the SMFS members to choose the winners. So keep sending in your favorite mystery and crime stories from 2008!

CURRENT SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED::

1,000 words or less:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND COMMON CENTS
BLACK PEARLS
BIRTHDAYS
BORED TO DEATH
I GOTTA GO
ICE SHACK
INCIDENT AT ITAWAMBA
KILLING SEASON
NO FLOWERS FOR STACY
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
RAINY DAY FUND
RAINY DAY ROBBERY
RIVAL PASSIONS
SECRETS
SERIAL KILLER
SWEETHEART
THE NAME GAME
THIN ICE
THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN

1,001-4,000 words:

A CHRISTMAS CAROLE
A SIMPLE KINDNESS
AN APPOINTMENT UP THE MOUNTAIN
BAD LUCK, GOOD FORTUNE
BUTTERFLY
CAB RIDE
COMING UP ROSES
COMPULSIVE BUBBA
COURTESY CALL
CRUCIAL MOMENT
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
DEATH HAS POUTY RED LIPS
DING DONG THE SNITCH IS DEAD
DUGOUT DUDES
FLOWERS FOR AMELIA
FRUITS
GRACIE’S GIFT FROM THE EAST
HARD CASE
HEIDEGGER'S CAT
IN THE NICK OF TIME
INDEPENDENCE DAY
JUST CALL ME NICK
LAP DANCE
LOVE IN VAIN
MARSDEN MEETS SCARFACE
NO EXCEPTIONS
NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET
OUT OF ORDER
REGRETS, I'VE HAD A FEW
RETRANSFORMATION
SANCTUARY LOST
SHUTTERBUG
STALKERS
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE
TEMECULA REVENGE
THAT NIGHT IN GALVESTON
THE BIG BASH
THE DEVIL TO PLAY
THE LAST DANCE
THEY TAKE YOU
TIME TO SETTLE UP
THOROUGHLY YOURS
TODAY YOU DIE
TRASH TALK
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
VENGENCE IS MINE
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MARILYN?
WHEN A BRIGHT STAR FADES
WHO’S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED?
WISHING ON WHORES

4,001-8,000 words:

AN ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
ART OF AVARICE
BAGGING THE TROPHY
BALLPOINT
BETWEEN US GIRLS
BITTER HONEY
BONNIE AND CLYDE CAPER
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON
CEMETARY PLOT
CHARM CITY
CIRCULATION
COMPULSIVE BUBBA
COOKIES
DARK
DEAD EVEN
DIVINE HEALING
DOG ON BALMY BEACH
EGYPTIAN EYES AND IRISH LIES
FAMILY PLOT
GIRL OF MY DREAMS
GEORGIE
IT TORE THE LAUGH FROM MY THROAT
JOHNNY, REMEMBER ME
MEAN STREETS
MISSING BUT NOT MISSED
SOLDIERS
SPRAY THAT IS SHED BY THE STAR
THE BIG SCORE
THE BONEHOLDER
THE LENGTH OF A STRAW
THE INSTRUMENT OF THEIR DESIRE
THE QUARRY
THE QUICK BROWN FOX
THERAPY
VACATIONLAND

8,001-17,500 words:

HAVEN'T SEEN YOU SINCE THE FUNERAL
JACK BEST AND THE LINE IN THE SAND
PANIC ON PORTAGE PATH
TOO WISE
VEGETABLE MATTERS

Derringer Award Nominations

Nominations for the Derringer Awards will be accepted beginning February 1st. So think back about all those great stories you read in 2008. The ones you had to tell other people about. Pick the ones you love best and send them to me in an email. In the subject line type DERRINGER SUBMISSION – TITLE OF STORY and attach the story file, preferably in Word format but send it however. If I can’t open it we’ll figure out something. Please remove the author’s name from the stories. The attached files should have the title of the work and a word count included at the top of the story.

In the body of the email tell me the author's name, when and where the story was published. Also tell me who published the story. I’ll need to know if the person submitting the story is an editor, the author or a member of SMFS. Include indicate the length-category the work is to be entered in.


And last but not least, the submission must be a mystery of some sort.

Market update

ezine, non-paying:

http://Darknessbefore.blogspot.com

ezine, non-paying:

www.powderburnflash.com

Poll Results: Derringer Category Names

With 54.9 percent of the vote, the following Derringer category names have been chosen:

Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000 words)

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

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

Best Novelette (8,001-17,500 words)


The category lengths in parentheses are not part of the category names, but they will stay in effect for sorting the Derringer submissions.

Overall Tone

The SMFS Officers cannot be expected to police every phrase that may possibly offend. However, if a member's posts devolve from reasoned argument to impulsive reaction, that is cause to be placed on moderated status, whereupon the member's posts must be approved by the President or Vice President before reaching the list. Moderated members will be returned to normal posting status when a sufficient number of their posts show reasoned argument.

Poll Results: Golden Derringer Panel Permanent Member

By a margin of 46 FOR, 7 AGAINST, the membership has approved Babs Lakey as permanent member of the Golden Derringer panel, serving a term of her choosing.

Avoid Automated Invitations

Automated invitations (such as those sent by various social networking sites to a member's entire address book) should not be posted to Shortmystery. If an invitation is unintentionally sent to the list, I will place the sending member's account on moderated status to prevent further invitations from reaching the list until the member addresses the problem independently.

SMFS Market update

Here's a list of markets that aren't on our markets page on the website:

Yellow Mama ezine: http://blackpetalsks.tripod.com/yellowmama/index.html non-paying

A Twist of Noir ezine: http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/ non-paying

Beat to a Pulp ezine: http://www.beattoapulp.com/ non-paying

Crooked ezine: http://easternstandardcrime.blogspot.com/ non-paying

Thug Lit ezine: http://www.thuglit.com/home.html non-paying

Orchard Press Mysteries ezine: http://www.orchardpressmysteries.com/index.html fiction, non-paying

Feel free to send market updates to Joy Seymour (joyleenseymour@earthlink.net)