More to Do with the Derringers

Originally posted to Shortmystery by Gerald So, Vice President, February 4, 2013:

My thanks to everyone who submitted stories, and to Awards Coordinator Tony Rudzki and the judges. While the judging goes on, it's a good time to sign up for the Derringers Voting Group, where Tony will upload the finalist stories and set up the polls for the March group vote.

If you've signed up previously, just check that you are still a member of the voting group. Log in to http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups/ with your Yahoo! ID and confirm that "Derringers" is in your list of groups.

We also need to fill out the Golden Derringer committee with one volunteer chosen at random from the membership at large.

This is the committee that choose this year's recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement. If you'd like to put your name in the hopper, email me offlist by Friday, February 8. I will forward the names to Tom Sweeney, SMFS President and committee chairman. The membership can also participate in the Golden Derringer process by submitting candidates to receive the Award. Tom will announce when we begin accepting candidates.

The same committee will attempt to choose up to two inductees into the Short Mystery Fiction Hall of Fame. The key difference between the Golden Derringer and the Hall is the latter is for writers deceased at least ten years before induction consideration.

2013 Derringer Award Submissions as of January 31

Derringer Awards Coordinator Tony Rudzki has received the following stories for awards consideration. To encourage open-minded judging, stories are identified by title only.

If you don't see your submissions here, please contact Tony at tony DOT rudzki AT gmail DOT com.


FLASH STORY (Up to 1,000 words)

Shades of Gray
Blow Out the Candles
The Cable Job
Super Thesaurus
An Old-Fashioned Villain
The Complete Pinscher
Crack of the Bat
Officer, It Was Self-Defense
Crimewave
The Things We Do For Love
‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas
The Moron
Showtime
Daddy's Girl
Dead Man
Free Advice
The Clueless Mystery
Incompetence Kills
The Pendulum Swings, Until It Doesn't
Exit Interview
Transcript of Statement--11 May 2012--14:23, Subject: Lauren Lindsay
Check Out



SHORT STORY (1,001 to 4,000 words)

Dust Clouds
The Graduate
A Personnel Matter
The End of Grace
Driving Miss Rachel
Thursday Night At Pins and Pub
The City
They eDone Him Wrong
Murderous Lies
The Job
The Trunk
A Man In A Hurry
Death on the Ocean Breeze
The Conversation
DRUMSTICKS CAN BE DEADLY
Dead Weight
Burning Desire
LIFE WITHOUT GEORGE
The Oldest Man in Town
The Takeover
Greed Takes Over the Human Soul
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Suicide By Engagement
Seven Feet of Fire
Stress!
BEWARE THE FLYING MOOSE
Keys To The Kingdom
Strictly Male Fantasy
Mess With Me
The Hotel Room Murder
Tourettes
Plus One
Until I Come Again
Shadow Man
Mama's Boy
Is That You?
Gumbo Weather
Collecting
Stooping to Conquer
Cole's Landing and the Gulchers
Bon Appetit
Yellow Ribbon
They Call Me Mr. Fussy
BRUTAL
There is No Johnny---Just Call Me Smitty
Getting Out of the Box
Acts of Balance
I’m Learning
The History Lesson
Flashback
Mistakes
Nain Rouge
DESPERADOS
The Kindness of Strangers
In Search of Gwen Guattari
As the Screw Turns
NOTES FOUND INSIDE THE BODY OF THE CONVICT CLARENCE SKAGGS
No Corners
Campaign Seasoning
The Sounds of Silence
Murder a la Mode
Baby Boy
A Special Kind of Hell
Cave In
The Cat and the Blue Moon
Kept in the Dark



LONG STORY (4,001-8,000 words)

Blackjack Road
Big Water
The Project
A Regular Story
Double Wedding
Freebie
The Times Square Terrorist
The Shroud of Turin
White People Problems
Everyone Knows The Axeman
The Pot Hunters
Kiss It Goodbye
The Fourteenth Juror
Marsh Island
The Lord Is My Shamus
SPRING BREAK
Old Flames Sometimes Die
Magpie
Death from a bad Heart
Venice Beach Birthday Boogie
Death in the Family
Seven Ways to Kill Harry
Out to Sea
Gymnopédie No. 1
On the Way to Hue
Hit and Run
The Gatekeeper
Jake Says Hello
Shadow of the Crow
House Calls
The Biggest Fish in Texas
Done for the Day
The Kill Stand
Keep It Simple
When Duty Calls
Misprision of Felony
Don’t Breathe
Artie and the Green-eyed Woman
Fontaine House
Ulterior Motives
9 Songs
SHANKS COMMENCES
The Melody Lingers On
Even A Blind Man
THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER
Some Like It Raw
After Cana
Mischief in Mesopotamia
A Change of Heart
The Very Edge of New Harare



NOVELETTE (8,001 to 20,000 words)

Money Never Sleeps
Mariel
Ill-Gotten Games
The Retro Look
The Movement
Death on the Range
Thea’s First Husband
Pirate Dave and the Captain's Ghost
Academy Field Trip
Iphigenia in Aulis
Meatballs and Murder
SHIFTING IS FOR THE GOYIM
Wood-Smoke Boys
The Sunny South
The Morgue File Blues
The Goddaughter
The Flashback Floozy
Switch
DEATH WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE

The SMFS at Bouchercon Cleveland (October 4-7, 2012)

The following SMFS members have announced they are attending Bouchercon. Comment on this post to declare your attendance/availability. Also below is information on any meetups organized on Shortmystery:

Jack Bludis
Sheila Boneham
Fleur T.J. Bradley
Melodie Campbell
Jim Doherty
John M. Floyd
Barb Goffman
Toni L.P. Kelner
Deborah J. Ledford
Jan Long
Terrie Farley Moran
Jim O'Keefe
Rosa Pearl
Suzanne Rorhus
Kathleen A. Ryan
Harriette Sackler
Tom Sweeney
Gigi Vernon

Jim Doherty tells us it looks like SMFS will be part of the general awards ceremony Thursday evening at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Tom Sweeney will be presenting the 2012 Derringer plaques. Golden Derringer recipient Bill Pronzini will not be in attendance, but is gratefully accepting the award by mail.

Bill Pronzini is awarded the 2012 Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

Bill Pronzini wears his Golden Derringer

As announced on our discussion list by SMFS President Tom Sweeney:

The SMFS Golden Derringer committee has voted on the three writers nominated last spring, and has selected Bill Pronzini as the recipient of the 2012 Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award.

- Bill Pronzini is the author of over 300 short stories.

- He is the author or co-author of at least 10 collections.

- He has been twice nominated for the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar® in the short story category.

- He has been nominated for six Private Eye Writers of America Shamus awards in the short story category, including "Cats-Paw," for which he won.

- One of his "Nameless Detective" stories, "Incident in a Neighborhood Tavern," was both a Shamus and an Edgar® nominee.

- His career, in both novels and short stories, is notable for his ability to collaborate with so many different co-authors. In short fiction, his partners include Jeffrey Wallman, Barry Malzberg, and his wife, Marcia Muller.

Congratulations to Bill Pronzini and thank you to the SMFS members who took the time to nominate writers for the award and also to those who served on the selection committee.

Notified of the award by President Sweeney, Bill Pronzini replied:

I'm flattered and honored to be the recipient of this year's Golden Derringer, the more so because Ed Hoch was a long-time friend as well as a writer whose work I greatly admire and respect. To receive a life achievement award that bears his name is particularly gratifying. My thanks to those members who voted for me, and to you for the kind words on my stories. Much appreciated.

2012 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2012 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)

• "Lessons Learned" by Allan Leverone (Shotgun Honey, July 29, 2011)
• "Company Policy" by Warren Bull (Yellow Mama, August 2011)
• "The Perfect Mark" by Melodie Campbell (Flash Fiction Online Magazine, July 2011)
• "Countdown" by John Kenyon (Thrillers, Killers, and Chillers, April 2011)
• "Heat of Passion" by Kathleen A. Ryan (A Twist of Noir, February 2011)

Best Short Story (1,001–4,000 words)

• "Touch of Death" by B.V. Lawson (Absent Willow Review Online Magazine, April 2011)
• "Coronation" by Adam Renn Olenn (Best New England Crime Stories 2012: Dead Calm, November 2011)
• "Sisters in Black" by Mary E. Stibal (Best New England Crime Stories 2012: Dead Calm, November 2011)
• "Fatal Flaw" by Cathi Stoler (Beat to a Pulp, April 2011)
• "Death Will Tank Your Fish" by Elizabeth Zelvin (Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices, 2011)

Best Long Story (4,001–8,000 words) (Tie)

• "Brea's Tale" by Karen Pullen (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2011)
• "A Drowning at Snow's Cut" by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 2011)
• "Facts Exhibiting Wantonness" by Trina Corey (Ellery Queens's Mystery Magazine, November 2011)
• "Ballistic" by Trey Dowell (Untreed Reads, July 2011)
• "Blue Amber" by William Burton McCormick (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 2011)

Best Novelette (8,001–20,000 words)

• "Where Billy Died" by Earl Staggs (Untreed Reads, August 2011)
• "A Penny for the Boatman" by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2011)
• "The Gun Also Rises" by Jeffrey Cohen (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2011)
• "Tomorrow's Dead" by David Dean (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 2011)
• "In Brightest Day" by Toni L.P. Kelner (Home Improvement: Undead Edition, August 2011)

And determined by a committee of the SMFS Officers, Awards Coordinator, and two members-at-large, the 2012 recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement:

• Bill Pronzini (Pronzini's acceptance remarks)

Recipients may obtain award certificates by emailing Gerald So (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM). Recipients will be publicly recognized at the opening ceremonies of Bouchercon 2012, Thursday, October 4, in Cleveland, OH.

Derringer Voting Nearing Close

Time is running out to vote for your favorite short mystery. The deadline for voting is March 31. I will be closing the poll at midnight. That means that all the procrastinating members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society should view this post as a wake up call.

That's right people. Next week is the final week of voting. Dive into reading! Make your opinion heard on which of the nominees will be awarded this year's Derringers.

The judges have made their choices. Trust me, choosing wasn't easy. There were lots of great stories and they had the daunting task of narrowing the choices down to the five best in each category.

It is your turn. Jump in and place your vote for the best, that one great story that deserves to take home the prize.

Derringer Awards Voting is Open

All stories selected by the judges as finalists for the 2012 Derringer Awards have been posted to the Derringers Voting Group Files section. Now it is time for the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society to start reading these excellent stories.

Voting is open until the end of March. I look forward to seeing which stories will win the Derringer Awards.