Denim and Diamonds aka Bouchercon 2019 by Sandra Murphy

Denim and Diamonds aka Bouchercon 2019: by Sandra Murphy On October 31 I flew to Dallas for the 50th anniversary of Bouchercon, the country’s largest mystery conference for readers, writers, editors, and publishers. Four days of panels, meet-ups in the halls and lobby, and late nights left me feeling exhausted but exhilarated. Each hour brought a wide selection of panels, often …

SMFS Members Published in Denim, Diamonds and Death: Bouchercon Anthology 2019

Several SMFS list members are published in the new book, Denim, Diamonds and Death: Bouchercon Anthology 2019. Published by Down & Out Books, the read is available in both print and digital formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members in this anthology are:

John M. Floyd with “The Midnight Child.”

Michael Allan Mallory with “The Man Who Wasn’t There.”

Josh Pachter with “When You Sue, You begin With Do, Ray, Me.”

Julie Tollefson with “In the Rough.”

Synopsis

Denim, Diamonds and Death offers a fine collection from authors supporting the 50th Anniversary of the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Dallas, Texas.

Here are fifteen stories that run the gamut from heists to revenge, intricate plots to secrets uncovered, and more than a few tales that defy easy classification.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the 2019 Bouchercon’s official charity, Literary Instruction for Texas (LIFT).

Edited by Rick Ollerman with stories by Carole Nelson Douglas, John M. Floyd, Dana Haynes, Thomas Luka, Michael Allan Mallory, Angela Crider Neary, Laura Oles, Josh Pachter, John Shepphird, Debra Luttanzi Shutika, Julie Tollefson, Tim P. Walker, Robb White, Kenneth Wishnia, and Mark Wisniewski.

SleuthSayers: Boucherconnections, 2019 by John M. Floyd

SleuthSayers: Boucherconnections, 2019: Two weeks ago I attended my sixth Bouchercon mystery convention, in Dallas. My wife Carolyn and I drove over from our home in Mississippi,...

Bill Crider Prize for Short Fiction: Joseph S. Walker

Bouchercon 2019 celebrated the legendary work of Texas author Bill Crider with the inaugural Bill Crider Prize for Short Fiction. SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker won the award for his short story, “The Last Man in Lafarge.”

Derringer Award Presentation 2019

During Bouchercon 2019 held at the Hyatt Hotel in Dallas, SMFS President Kevin R. Tipple presented the Derringer Medals to the winners present at the ceremony.

Derringer Award Winners Alan Orloff and Gigi Pandian

Accepting the 2019 Golden Derringer Award on behalf of Doug Allyn was Mr. Brendan Dubois.

Alan Orloff was present to accept his award for Best Short Story (1,001-4000 words) for his tale, “Dying in Dokesville” published in Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical released by Wildside Press.

Gigi Pandian accepted her award for Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words) for her tale, The Cambodian Curse released by Henery Press.

Unfortunately, James Blakey and Leslie Budewitz  were unable to be present to receive their medals at the ceremony.

SMFS President Kevin R. Tipple and Derringer Award Winner Gigi Pandian

SMFS at Bouchercon DALLAS

Bouchercon Dallas 2019 begins this Thursday in Dallas, Texas at the Hyatt Hotel. This is the 50^th Bouchercon and numerous SMFS members will be attending and actively participating on panels, book signings, and more. The list below features just some of the many activities featuring SMFS list members.

Various Events

Wednesday

Michael Bracken is organizing a meetup of SMFS members. Michael and his wife will meet those interested at 6 PM in the hotel lobby. Look for Michael’s sign.

Thursday

8:30 PM Noir at the Bar will include Terry Shames and other authors. This will be in Monduel’s Bar in the Hyatt.

Friday

7:00 AM  James l’Etoile and Andrew Welsh-Huggins participates in the “Speeddating Breakfast Session 1” in Landmark B.

11:00  AM  SMFS President Kevin R. Tipple will hand out Derringer Award Medals to Gigi Pandian and Alan Orloff. The SMFS part of the awards hour will occur at the close of the “Round-Up Awards” evengt in Landmark B.

11:00 AM  The radio drama, “The Ghost Town Mortuary Gregory Hood Play” by Anthony Boucher will be performed by James L’E’toile, Gige Pandian, and Terry Shames among others in Ladmark D.

Saturday

7:00 AM  “Speeddating Breakfast Session 2” includes Susan Bickford, Lisa Lieberman, and Cathi Stoler in Landmark B.

Panels

Thursday 

9:30 AM  Kaye George participates on the “How Do I Self-Publish” panel in Pegasus.

9:30 AM  G. M. Malliet participates on the “Why I Wrote What I wrote” panel in Reunion G-H.

11:00 AM  Terry Shames participates on the “ The Magical Macguffin” panel in Reunion A.

11:00 AM Lisa Leiberman participates on the “Defining Your Novel” panel in Reunion B.

1:00 PM  James E’toile participates in the “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” panel. 

1:00 PM  Mary Stojak participates on the “Does Length Matter” panel in Landmark C. 

4:00 PM  Barb Goffman moderates a panel on “Short and Sweet but Sometimes Dark” panel with SMFS members John Floyd, R. T. Lawton, Mysti Berry, James Lincoln Warren, and Michael Bracken participating in Reunion A. 

4:00 PM  Andrew Welsh-Huggins participates on the “I Won’t Write That” panel in Reuniion A-B. 

Friday 

2:30 PM  Craig Faustus Buck particaptes on the “Location, Location, Location: The Importance of Setting”  panel in Reunion E.   

4:00 PM  Mark Troy paricaptes on  “The Perfect Setting Panel” in Reunion E.

Saturday 

9:30 AM  Susan Bickford participates on the “Murder Is Everywhere” panel in Reunion C. 

9:30  AM  Alan Orloff participates on the “What’s So Great About Critique Groups?” panel in Reunion E. 

1:00 PM  Cathi Stoler participates on the “A Good Family” panel in Reunion F.

4:00 PM Barb Goffman and Art Taylor participate on “Anthony Awards-Best Short Story Nominees” panel in Pegasus.

For more on the complete schedule of events at Bouchercon go here.

Several SMFS members who are also MWA members are participating in book signings hosted by the MWA. For more information, go here.

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SMFS Member Nominees for the 2019 Macavity Awards

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends and supporters of MRI who all nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in several categories. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon 2019  in Dallas, Texas, this October.

This year we have five members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society nominated in the category of Best Short Story. The nominees are:

Craig Faustus Buck for “Race To Judgement” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: November/December 2018.

Leslie Budewitz for “All God’s Sparrows” in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: May/June 2018.

Barb Goffman for “Bug Appétit” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: November/December 2018.

Gigi Pandian for “The Cambodian Curse” in the collection, The Cambodian Curse & Other Stories, published by Henery Press. 

Art Taylor for “English 398: Fiction Workshop” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: July/August 2018.

The full list of all the 2019 Macavity Award Nominees can be found on the website. Congrats and good luck to all the nominees and especially to those members of the SMFS!

2019 Anthony Award Nominees

The 50^th Bouchercon will be held in Dallas, Texas, this fall from October  31-November 3, 2019. As part of the coming celebration of the best in mystery and crime fiction, the 2019 Anthony Award Nominees in five categories were officially announced on the Bouchercon website earlier today. Congratulations to all the nominees who will receive their awards during the convention.

The SMFS especially congratulates two of our SMFS list members who were nominated in the Best Short Category. Those members are:

Barb Goffman for “Bug Appétit” published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: November /December 2018.  Read it here.

Art Taylor for “English 398: Fiction Workshop” published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: July/August 2018. Read it here.