Where we come from

My Mom, on the right, pregnant with me. My aunt Chris on her left.

It's hard to imagine who I would be if not for my parents influence. I can look right down the line and see which parent gave me which traits. My Dad taught me to question things and people, he taught me to be logical and to follow my heart and the meaning of respect and loyalty among many other things.
My Mom.

My Mom gave me a love of books and reading, a love of music. She taught me to laugh and laugh often, and at myself as much as at other things. She taught me the importance of family and what being in a family means. She taught me to be self reliant but not to be afraid to ask for help.

My Mom was a confidant who kept secrets better than anyone else I know.
She gave good advice and knew when something needed action not just advice.
My Mom showed me how to have fun, every day.
And while my Dad and I would disagree about things, I don't remeber ever arguing with my Mom.

From one of her favorite songs, which sums her up well.
"With a rebel yell she cried- "more, more, more""
(and she loved Billy Idol.)

There are a million reasons why I love my mother and a million reasons while I will miss her every day. I hope I let her know how much she meant to me. For the first time in my 46 years I am without my parents but I think that in everything I do they are present, from reading what I read, to the music I listen to and the jokes I tell and the way I cook and drive.

I miss my Mom.

Karen Jordan
1938-2010

Social and anti social networking

Everywhere I look I see articles about social networking. A local business paper did an article about it and its all over the internet. A lot of these pieces talk about the marketing aspect of Twitter and Facebook, and yes, even myspace (Still?). What all these sources of information forget is a word that is found in the description.

SOCIAL

This is not a place people go to see ads or get feeds filled with nothing but self promotion.

These places need to be treated like a cocktail party. If you get cornered by some guy in a bad suit at a party and all he can talk about is how you need to improve your insurance and buy it from him chances are you will take the very first opportunity to flee this person. The same is true on the internet. I don't follow people on Twitter because I want updates on their latest book reviews or to be reminded once again that their book is STILL on sale. I don't friend people on facebook so I can be hit over the head with products placement. And I really don't like all the "Be my fan" requests. If I've had dinner with you I consider us to be friendly, if not friends. I'm not your fan, I'm your friend. And even if I am a fan of what you do, we're friends first.

Some self promotion on these sites is fine, and you'd actually be silly not to do some. But again, it's like a cocktail party. When I talk to people at social functions it comes up that I publish Crimespree. But it's not the only thing I talk about. The same thig onthese sites. Every now and then Crimespree stuff goes up, and I think it is effective, to a point.

I love these sites. I've connected with people I haven't seen in years, and I keep in touch with people I wish I could talk to more but just don't have the time to. I love hearing about what movie my buddy RD Hall is watching. I think abot hm and smile. I love know what my cousin Julie thinks abot the football game. Gregg Hurwtiz's headlines of the day posts always give me a kick. I found out that a person I went to high scool with and always had a locker next to mine is now a Dean of a university! Way to go Wayne. My friend from college Jeff is doing awesome in Hollywood. Even just using Blip.FM to share music is a great way of connecting. I can tell what kind of day people are having just by the music they are listening to.

The one thing I've noticed is that I love getting these updates on people I know amd knowing that almost every one of them seems happy. It's not important to hook up at the same time, I can leave messages at 4:00 am and get a response later. Much easier than trying to coordiinate schedules in the real world.

It's also kind of fun to see the different groups ofpeople Iknow all on one big page being fed to me. People from comic conventions, mystery authors and fans we've met at conventions, high school friends, people from college and even the lost years when I was bartending. Everybody all in one place. It's like an ala cart party with just the poepl you want there and none of the folks who made you crazy.

So yes, I'll be your friend on facebook and follow you on twitter, but please, don't treat me like a customer.

Dilys Award nominees

The Dilys Award has been given annually since 1992 by IMBA to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling. The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookseller of mystery books in the United States.


2010: Nominees for the book we most enjoyed handselling in 2009 are:

Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)
R.J. Ellroy, A Quiet Belief in Angels (Overlook)
Craig Johnson, The Dark Horse (Viking) Steig Larsson, The Girl Who Played with Fire (Knopf)
Stuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho)
Louise Penny, The Brutal Telling(Minotaur)
S.J. Rozan, The Shanghai Moon(Minotaur)

The winner will be announced during this year’s Left Coast Crime convention in Los Angeles, March 11-14.

Lefty Award nominees

The nominees for awards to be given out at Left Coast Crime 2010 in Los Angeles have been announced. Left Coast Crime will be held from March 11-14th.

Here are the nominees for the various awards.

The Lefty Award for a humorous mystery -

Donna Andrews - Swan for the Money
Mike Befeler - Living With Your Kids Is Murder
Denise Dietz - Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread
Rita Lakin - Getting Old Is a Disaster
Kris Neri - High Crimes on the Magical Plane


The Bruce Alexander Award for a historical mystery set before 1950.

Tasha Alexander - Tears of Pearl
Rhys Bowen - In a Gilded Cage
Rebecca Cantrell - A Trace of Smoke
Gary Phillips - Freedom’s Fight
Jeri Westerson - Serpent in the Thorns

The Panik Award for LA noir in honor of the deceased Chairman, Paul Anik, given
this year only at Left Coast Crime 2010:

Gar Anthony Haywood - Cemetery Road
Gregg Hurwitz - Trust No One
Linda Richards - Death Was in the Picture
Stephen J. Schwartz - Boulevard

Edgar nominations

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 201st anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2009. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 64th Gala Banquet, April 29, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

BEST NOVEL

The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Random House - Ballantine Books)
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Grand Central Publishing)
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf (MIRA Books)
A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (HarperCollins)
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Havana Lunar by Robert Arellano (Akashic Books)
The Lord God Bird by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Books)
Body Blows by Marc Strange (Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries)
The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST FACT CRIME

Columbine by Dave Cullen (Hachette Book Group - Twelve)
Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn (Simon & Schuster)
The Fence: A Police Cover-Up Along Boston’s Racial Divide by Dick Lehr (HarperCollins)
Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (The Penguin Press)
Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
The Lineup: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books)
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
"Femme Sole" – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
"Digby, Attorney at Law" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
"Animal Rescue" – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books
"Amapola" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)
Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
Creepy Crawly Crime by Aaron Reynolds (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (Penguin Young Readers Group – Philomel Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperTeen)
If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford (Penguin Young Readers Group – Viking Children’s Books)
Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"Place of Execution," Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS/WGBH Boston)
"Strike Three" – The Closer, Teleplay by Steven Kane (Warner Bros TV for TNT)
"Look What He Dug Up This Time" – Damages, Teleplay by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman (FX Networks)
"Grilled" – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by George Mastras (AMC/Sony)
"Living the Dream" – Dexter, Teleplay by Clyde Phillips (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"A Dreadful Day" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Dan Warthman (Dell Magazines)


GRAND MASTER

Dorothy Gilman

RAVEN AWARDS

Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Zev Buffman, International Mystery Writers’ Festival

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Poisoned Pen Press (Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 28, 2010)

Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement (Minotaur Books)
Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Lethal Vintage by Nadia Gordon (Chronicle Books)
Dial H for Hitchcock by Susan Kandel (HarperCollins)

New Tim Dorsey Book - Video