Little Big Crimes: The Sounds of Silence, by Gabriel Valjan

Little Big Crimes: The Sounds of Silence, by Gabriel Valjan:  "The Sounds of Silence," by Gabriel Valjan, in Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, edited by Josh...

Criminal Minds: Publishing. It’s strictly business by Gabriel Valjan

Criminal Minds: Publishing. It’s strictly business by Gabriel Valjan:   There were two pieces of music playing inside my head while I was writing this short essay on what I LOVE and HATE about...

Publication News: Back Road Bobby and His Friends

 Today is the publication date for Back Road Bobby and His Friends, edited by Colin Conway.  Stories by members include:

Eric Beetner.  "Fletch Goes For A Ride."

Colin Conway. "The Reunion of Back Road Bobby and Transmission Jack."

Nikki Dolson. "Card Shark Molly's Last Hand."

Gabriel Valjan. "Ciro the Fox and the Treasure in the Mountains."

Frank Zafiro. "The Escape of Jimmy the Saint."

Kevin Tipple. "The Beetle's Last Fifty Grand."

Dave Zeltserman. "Robbing Banks with Gator Wilson."

Award: Anthony Nominations

 Bouchercon 2022 has announced the Anthony Award Nominations.  Congratulations to all the Society members on the list!

Best Paperback/Ebook/Audiobook.

Tori Eldridge.  The Ninja Betrayed. 

Greg Herren. Bury Me in Shadows.

Tara Laskowski. The Mother Next Door.

Best Short Story.

E.A. Aymar. "The Search for Eric Garcia." Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color.

Richie Narvaez. "Doc's at Midnight." Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color.

Gigi Pandian. "The Locked Room Library."  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. July/August 2021.

Gabriel Valjan. "Burnt Ends." This Time for Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021.

Best Children's/YA

Greg Herren. Bury Me in Shadows.

Alan Orloff. I Play One on TV.

Honors: Agatha Award Nominations

Congratulations to the many Short Mystery Fiction Society members nominated for the Agatha Awards this year.  

Best Contemporary Novel Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books) Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books) Best Historical Novel The Devil's Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing) Best First Novel Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books) Best Short Story "A Family Matter" by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021) "A Tale of Two Sisters" by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders) "Doc's at Midnight" by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books) "The Locked Room Library" by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021) Best Non-Fiction Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books) Best Children's/YA Mystery I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)

Awards: Macavity

 Congratulations to SMFS members who won the Macavity Awards this week:

Best Short Story: "Elysian Fields," by Gabriel Valjan, in California Schemin': THe 2020 BOuchercon Anthology.

Best First Novel: Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Welden.

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery: Turn to Stone, by James W. Ziskin.

Member Honors: Macavity Award Nominations

 Mystery Readers International have announced the nominations for the Macavity Awards and Short Mystery Fiction Society members have taken over the entire Short Story category.

• Barb Goffman: “Dear Emily Etiquette” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2020)
• Art Taylor: “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020)
• Gabriel Valjan: “Elysian Fields” (California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Art Taylor; Wildside Press)
• Elaine Viets: “Dog Eat Dog” (The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter; Untreed Reads Publishing)
• James W. Ziskin: “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” (In League with Sherlock Holmes : Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King; Pegasus Crime)

Member Honors: Anthony Nominations

 The nominations for the 2021 Anthony Awards were announced today and there were plenty of members of the SMFS among the story categories.

Best Short Story nominees included:

“Dear Emily Etiquette,” by Barb Goffman, EQMM (Dell Magazines)

“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74,” by Art Taylor, AHMM (Jan-Feb) (Dell Magazines)

“Elysian Fields,” by Gabriel Valjan, California Schemin’ (Wildside Press)

“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” by James W. Ziskin, In League with Sherlock Holmes (Pegasus Crime)

Best Anthology or Collection nominees include:

Noiryorican, by Richie Narvaez (Down & Out Books)

The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter (Untreed Reads Publishing)

California Schemin,‘ edited by Art Taylor (Wildside Press)

Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic, edited by Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle (Polis Books)

2020 SMFS Anthony Award Nominees

Several SMFS Members are nominated for Anthony Awards in various categories.

Best Short Story

Hilary Davidson’s “Unforgiven” from the anthology, Murder a-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, published by Down & Out Books. The anthology is also nominated in the Best Anthology or Collection category.

Art Taylor’s “Hard Return” from the anthology, Crime Travel, published by Wildside Press. The anthology was edited by SMFS list member Barb Goffman. The anthology is also nominated in the Best Anthology or Collection category.

Art Taylor’s “Better Days” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: May/June 2019. Mr. Taylor wrote about his story at The First Two Pages: “Better Days” by Art Taylor.

Best Anthology or Collection

The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, edited by SMFS list member Michael Bracken, published by Down & Out Books.

Crime Travel, edited by SMFS list member Barb Goffman, published by Wildside Press.

Parnall Hall Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Edible, edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and SMFS list member Shawn Reilly Simmons, published by Wildside Press.

Best Paperback Original

E. A. Aymar’s The Unrepentant, published by Down & Out Books.

Gigi Pandian’s The Alchemist’s Illusion, published by Midnight Ink.

Gabriel Valjan’s, The Naming Game, published by Winter Goose Press.

Best First Novel

Tara Laskowski’s, One Night Gone, published by Graydon Press.

Bouchercon 2020 this year is only online during October 16-17, 2020. The voting will be conducted during the “Virtual Bouchercon” with the Anthony Awards presented in an online ceremony on October 17^th.  The full list of all the nominees is on the official Bouchercon website.

SMFS wishes all the nominees well and especially our members.

SMFS Short Story Saturdays: Gabriel Valjan

Each Saturday, we feature a SMFS list member whose work can be read online for free. These short stories are at least a year old.  

For SMFS Short Story Saturdays today, list member Gabriel Valjan shares two stories archived since 2017 on his site, Gabriel’s Wharf.  The two very different short stories are “La Santa Muerte” and “Back in the Day.”

If you would like to be included and are a member of the SMFS list at groups.io, email the link to your story to KevinRTipple at Verizon dot net. If you are not a member, this would be a good time to check us out at https://groups.io/g/shortmystery