Official Derringer Winner and Finalist Web Graphics

For current and past Derringer winners and finalists who'd like to display these accomplishments on their websites, the Award Plans subgroup has approved 250-square pixel web banners, pictured at right. Click to see full size.

Winners and finalists, email Gerald So (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM) to receive your personalized banners and for assistance placing them on your sites.

Do Some Damage: Hilary Davidson Always Tells

Capping an interview with Hilary Davidson, Steve Weddle asked:

You recently won a Derringer Award for your short fiction. What’s it like to be a winner? (asking for a friend)

[Hilary Davidson]: Winning the Derringer meant so much — in no small part because writing short fiction is my true love. Novels break my brain and cause me no end of angst. They're satisfying when they're done, but until that moment, late in the game, they're actually kind of hellish. Stories are different. Writing short stories is more like a game of "What if?" I have the opening scenario in mind when I start writing, and then I follow it wherever it goes. The genesis for "A Hopeless Case," the story that won the Derringer, is awful: when I was in high school in Toronto, I walked down to a subway platform just as a woman jumped in front of an incoming train. But writing about a person in that scenario makes me process it differently. Instead of being horrified by what happened, I'm creeping under the person's skin, trying to understand them. Even when the subject matter is dark, it humanizes it.

Congratulations again, Hilary.

Also check out Steve's debut novel-in-stories, Country Hardball.

Members' Publication News

The following members sent in publication news this month:

• Erik Arneson, "It Bothers Me", Thuglit (March/April 2015)
• Lida Bushloper, "Wait, What?", Mysterical-E (April 2015)

• Peter DiChellis, "A Tragic Accident", wordhaus (March 18, 2015)
• "Murderous Lies", Section 8 Magazine (March 30, 2015)

• Gail Farrelly, "The Eyes Have It", Yonkers Tribune (March 27, 2015)

• John M. Floyd, “Leaky Alibis", Woman's World (March 30, 2015)
• "Driver", The Strand Magazine, (February-May 2015)
• Toni Goodyear, "Sleeping In", Fish or Cut Bait: A Guppy Anthology (Wildside Press, April 2015)
• Alan Orloff, "Down the Rickety Stairs", Shotgun Honey Presents: Locked and Loaded (Both Barrels, Volume 3) (One Eye Press, April 2015)
• B.K. Stevens, Interpretation of Murder (Black Opal Books, April 2015)
• "Silent Witness" (Amazon Kindle, April 2015)

Email news for next month's post to Gerald So (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM).