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).

2015 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Awards, honoring outstanding published stories and people who've contributed greatly to the genre, are determined by a January 1–March 30 process that considers the previous year.

The Awards Coordinator first posts the results to Shortmystery. Then the public announcement appears here.

For each category below, we show the winner first, then the alphabetized finalists:

Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000 words)

• Joseph D'Agnese, "How Lil' Jimmie Beat the Big C" (Shotgun Honey, May 12, 2014)
• Rob Hart, "Foodies" (Shotgun Honey, May 2, 2014)
• Jed Power, "Sweet Smells" (Shotgun Honey, July 28, 2014)
• Eryk Pruitt, "Knockout" (Out of the Gutter Online, August 31, 2014)
• Melissa Yi, "Because" (Fiction River: Crime, March 2014)

Best Short Story (1,001–4,000 words)

• Cathi Stoler, "The Kaluki Kings of Queens" (Murder New York Style: Family Matters, August 2014)
• B.V. Lawson, "The Least of These" (Plan B Magazine, June 6, 2014)
• William Burton McCormick, "Killing Sam Clemens" (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #13, July 2014)
• Britni Patterson, "The Bad Son" (Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, March 2014)
• Mary E. Stibal, "A Friend in Brown" (Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave, November 2014)

Best Long Story (4,001–8,000 words)

• Hilary Davidson, "A Hopeless Case" (All Due Respect #4, September 2014)
• M.H. Callway, "The Ultimate Mystery" (World Enough and Crime, October 2014)
• Angel Luis Colón, "Separation Anxiety" (All Due Respect #3, May 2014)
• James T. Shannon, "The Missing Money" (Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave, November 2014)
• Cathy Wiley, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" (Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, October 2014)

Best Novelette (8,001–20,000 words)

• Doug Allyn, "The Snow Angel" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 2014)
• Doug Allyn, "Hitler's Dogs" (Fiction River: Crime, March 2014)
• Vicki Delany, "Juba Good" (Orca Books Rapid Reads, April 2014)
• Trey Dowell, "Infernal" (Untreed Reads, June 2014)
• Richard Helms, "Busting Red Heads" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2014)

And a committee of the SMFS Officers, Awards Coordinator, and two members-at-large awarded the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer (Lifetime Achievement) to:

• James Powell

Winners can obtain certificates for Web display and printout and submit acceptance videos by emailing Gerald So (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM).

Winners were also presented with Derringer medals at Bouchercon 2015 opening ceremonies or by mail if they were not in attendance.

Guidelines for Flash and Bang: An SMFS Anthology

Shortmystery members who joined by September 24, 2014 may submit to Untreed Reads' upcoming SMFS anthology.

To read editor Jay Hartman's guidelines in MS Word .doc or plain .txt format, log into Shortmystery and click on the "Files" tab. The submission deadline is January 31, 2015.

Questions? Email JHARTMAN at UNTREEDREADS dot COM.

UPDATE (June 30, 2015): Jay continues working through the more than two hundred submissions he received, a move to Nevada and a friend's health crisis having delayed his response time.

Level Best Books Seeks New Editorial Team

The current editors of New England-based Level Best Books, publisher of several Derringer-honored anthologies, have announced the 2016 volume (on sale November 2015) will be their last.

If you are interested in carrying on Level Best Books, email LEVELBESTBOOKS at YAHOO dot COM.

Members' Publication News

The following members sent in publication news this month:

• Michael Bracken, "Quarryville, Texas", The Private Eye Writers of America Presents: 50 Shades of Grey Fedora, ed. Robert J. Randisi (Riverdale Avenue Books, March 2015)
• "Beneath Still Waters", And All Our Yesterdays, ed. Andrew MacRae (Darkhouse Books, March 2015)

• Jan Christensen, "After Hours Blues", Mysterical-E (January 2015)
• "Who's Who?", Over My Dead Body! (March 2015)

• Nancy Brewka-Clark, "Boston Banshee", Kings River Life (March 14, 2015)

• John M. Floyd, "Dreamland", Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May 2015)
• "Catch Me If You Can", Woman's World (March 2, 2015)
• B.V. Lawson, "With Sweet Lavender", Over My Dead Body! (March 2015)
• Andrew MacRae ed. And All Our Yesterdays, featuring stories by Jack Bates, Debra Borchert, Michael Bracken, Lillian Csernica, K.B. Inglee, Kevin Lauderdale, R.T. Lawton, Michael Allan Mallory, Susan Cummins Miller, Joe L. Murr, Lorraine Norwood, Timothy O'Leary, Dennis Palumbo, Caryn Sutorus, Anne-Marie Sutton, and Albert Tucher (Darkhouse Books, March 2015)
• Robert Mangeot, "Two Bad Hamiltons and a Hirsute Jackson", Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May 2015)
• William Burton McCormick, "On Record", The Saturday Evening Post (March 13, 2015)
• Alan Orloff, Running from the Past (Kindle Press, March 2015)
• Alan also contributed a recipe to the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook ed. Kate White (Quirk Books, March 2015)
• Percy Spurlark Parker, "The St. Patrick's Day Murder", Over My Dead Body (March 2015)
• Jacqueline Seewald, "Parts", Blight Digest (Winter 2015)
• Serita Stevens and Jo Schaffer, Against Her Will (True North Publishing, March 2015)

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