ITW 2021 Thriller Short Story Award Goes To . . .

by Paula Gail Benson

Alan Orloff

I remember meeting Alan Orloff at Malice Domestic when his first novel, Diamonds for the Dead, was an Agatha award finalist. Since that time, he has published nine additional novels and a myriad of short stories that have appeared in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Shotgun Honey Presents: Locked & Loaded, Jewish Noir, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Windward: Best New England Crime Stories 2016, Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, Noir at the Salad Bar, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, The Night of the Flood, and Mystery Most Geographical.

Recently, Alan’s story, “Rent Due” (in Mickey Finn: 21^st Century Noir) received the 2021 International Thriller Writers’ Thriller Award for Best Short Story.

 

This follows the success of his novel Pray for the Innocent (Kindle Press) which received the 2019 Thriller for Best E-Book Original.

 

“Rule Number One” (originally published in Snowbound, from Level Best Books) was selected for the 2018 edition of The Best American Mystery Stories anthology, edited by Louise Penny.

 

“Happy Birthday” (published on Shotgun Honey) was a 2018 Derringer Award Finalist in the Flash Fiction category (an award given by the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society).

 

“Dying in Dokesville” (published in Mystery Most Geographical) won the 2019 Derringer Award in the Short Story category.

 

Currently, his novel I Know Where You Sleep (Down & Out Books) is a 2021 Shamus Award Finalist in the Best First P.I. Novel category.

 

Congratulations, Alan! May your writing continue to thrive!

 

The Thrilling Lee Child

By Kay Kendall

When my first mystery was months away from publication, other writers suggested I should attend ThrillerFest, the high powered writers’ conference held every July in New York City. I protested that a) I don’t write thrillers, and b) that conference was pricy. Then I was told that International Thriller Writers, the group that holds the annual meeting, has a special program for debut authors that helps put newbies on the map. I was persuaded to attend, thinking I would go only once in order to participate in that program.

Janet Maslin of the NY Times interviews ThrillerMaster Lee Child.

That was back in 2013, and I have just returned from my fifth ThrillerFest in a row. Yes, I got hooked, pure and simple. The authorial fire power at ThrillerFest can’t be equaled, and contrary to its name, the International Thriller Writers do welcome authors across the full spectrum of crime writing. Whether you write cozy mysteries, true thrillers, traditionals, historicals, suspense, or whatever. It does not matter. All are welcome.

An awards banquet concludes each conference. Besides handing out six book awards, ITW honors one author who is deemed the year’s ThrillerMaster. Beginning in 2006 when the conference debuted, in chronological order the honorees were Clive Cussler, James Patterson, Sandra Brown, David Morrell, Ken Follett, R.L. Stine, Jack Higgins, Anne Rice, Scott Turow, Nelson DeMille, Heather Graham, and—this year—Lee Child. Also part of the hoopla centering on the ThrillerMaster is an hour-long interview by another notable person. This year Lee Child was interviewed by Janet Maslin, long-time film critic (1977-1999) and book reviewer (1999 on) for the New York Times.  

If you aren’t up on your thrillers, here is some background about the suave and ever-genial Lee Child, who hails from Coventry, England. Although a resident of New York since 1998, he has not lost his gorgeous British accent—or his elegant manners either, for that matter. Within the thriller/mystery writing community, his name is a watchword for bestseller-dom. In fact, his twenty-one novels starring the tall, sexy drifter Jack Reacher are so popular that I was shocked that Lee Child had not been named an ITW ThrillerMaster years earlier.

Near the beginning of his interview with Janet Maslin, Child announced that he had become eligible for the award only three months previously. There was a twenty-year rule that explained everything, one I had not known about. His twenty-second Reacher novel is due out in the fall, and two popular films featuring actor Tom Cruise as the legendarily tall Jack Reacher have been produced. I will never forget when the news first broke that Cruise would play Reacher. Much consternation ensued. Cruise is known to be well under six feet tall. Reacher is described in book after book as six feet five, weighing 220 pounds, with a chest expanse of 50 inches. To note: Child himself is six feet five, but his frame is rail-thin. .

Lee Child says he tires of being asked about the choice of Cruise, but his ire is never evident.  Which is a good thing. At the awards banquet, two thriller authors performed a mashup of Beatles songs with lyrics restyled to fit known events in the life and career of Child. The medley opened with “Tiny Jack Reacher” sung to the tune of “Paperback Writer.” This performance brought down the house. And Lee Child smiled through it all. He also gave everyone in attendance a hardback of collected Jack Reacher short stories that debuted just this month. Now that’s what I call class.

~~~~~~~

Read the first 20 pages of Kay Kendall’s second mystery,

RANY DAY WOMEN here! http://www.austinstarr.com/ 
That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville

conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book. 

Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing,

DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery

at Killer Nashville in 2014. 

Visit Kay  https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

Conferences for Writers and for Readers—Part I

By Kay Kendall

Today I’m sitting in for Stiletto Gang colleague and friend, Marjorie Brody. A sudden death in her family has left her with an unbearable list of things to do. Pinch-hitting for Marjorie gives me the chance to make back-to-back posts exploring the burgeoning phenomenon of conferences designed both for readers and for writers. 

 

Have suitcase...Will Travel!

Back in the days before I was a published author, when I contemplated a writing career, I had no idea that there would be so many opportunities to hobnob with other writers—and with readers too. I had always thought that the life of a writer was a solitary one. Then I discovered the wealth of conferences that blanket this continent. The list of seminars for aspiring writers is long, and almost as long is the list of conferences for both readers and authors. I swear you could spend your life going from meeting to meeting. That is, if you had the money to do so.

I have ended up loving the networking and marketing and meeting readers and other writers so much that it’s easy to forget about the writing at the core of it all…which remains sitting alone in that room and facing an empty screen and throwing type up on it. For me, that is torture. Once I get past the first draft, then the rest is glorious.

Starting in 2004, I began attending one regional writing conference per year. Then, beginning in 2011, I started attending Bouchercon. It must be the world’s largest con aimed at fans of mystery authors. Then in 2013, the year my first book was published, I attended three conferences in one calendar year, and that has remained my standard to this very day. If my budget and my writing calendar allowed, however, I would do even more. The most marvelous part of these gatherings is meeting many people who were Facebook friends and now have turned into real ones, not just virtual.

Three days ago I returned home from the annual ThrillerFest in New York City, sponsored by International Thriller Writers. ITW celebrates its tenth anniversary this year so the conference was even more star-studded than usual. I participated in an authors’ round table, renewed old acquaintances, made new ones, sold some books, and networked like crazy. In tomorrow’s post I will talk in detail about some of the famous writers who spoke at ThrillerFest.

The month of October will begin with Bouchercon in Raleigh, North Carolina, and end with Killer Nashville in Tennessee. Half the size of ThrillerFest and Bouchercon, Killer Nashville is an exceptionally supportive and friendly gathering. My more introverted author pals are drawn to smaller conferences like this one. At each event I’ve attended, one of these introverts confides to me how difficult it is to endure so many people at once.

But now I am back in my author’s lair, facing that empty PC screen. The nasty thing keeps whispering to me that I must start writing my third mystery featuring my amateur sleuth, Austin Starr. Tentatively titled Tombstone Blues, this will be Austin’s most dangerous adventure yet when she and her husband David tangle with Russian spies in Cold War-era Vienna. It opens only a month after the conclusion of Rainy Day Women, and David is still mad at her. Because she . . . but wait! I’m about to give away too much. I must stop. I want this to be a spoiler-free zone!

*******

Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she's a Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7--the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audio-book will be out soon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

*******

The Vampire Lestat’s Mom and Rambo’s Dad

By Kay Kendall

Last week the organization International Thriller Writers (ITW) celebrated its tenth anniversary. The star power of authors present at the celebratory conference, ThrillerFest, ran the gamut from supernova to red dwarf. Last year when I went to my first ThrillerFest as a debut author, I was stunned by the numerous super stars in attendance, and also by how kind and generous they were. This year’s meeting was even more jam-packed with sparkling talent.

 

Anne Rice is in center, with her son Christopher the tall man over her shoulder. Others left to right are R.L. Stine, David Morrell, and Scott Turow. 

Anne Rice wrote her first novel about the vampire Lestat in 1985—she was present. David Morrell wrote his first Rambo novel in 1972, followed by 28 more novels of various kinds—he was there. Ditto Lee Child, father of Jack Reacher, who first appeared in 1997, with his nineteenth tale out next month. Scott Turow dropped by to pick up his award, Thriller Master 2014. His novel Presumed Innocent put the legal thriller on the map in 2000, and eleven more novels followed. Other luminaries who spoke at ThrillerFest (whose books you no doubt either read or at least recognize) include David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Michael Connelly, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, M.J. Rose, and John Sandford.

Here I am with T. Jefferson Parker.

When you’re in such company, you can either feel insignificant—or you can choose to be inspired. I picked the latter. The atmosphere was so supportive, of any writer at any level, that it was easy not to be intimidated. One of the main purposes of the ITW organization is to provide a way for successful, bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. Judging from the two conferences I’ve attended, the contacts I’ve made, and the networking that is ongoing, I can only conclude that this goal is being met brilliantly.

Ian Rankin with Steve Berry in background

Helping to put the international in the conference was one of my favorite authors, Ian Rankin. He flew in from his home in Edinburgh, Scotland, to participate on several panels. He has written nineteen installments in his bestselling crime series featuring Inspector John Rebus. Another of my favorites is T. Jefferson Parker. His twenty crime novels are set in southern California, and his next book is due this October, called Full Measure.  

I have met Rankin and Parker at previous book events and corresponded with both of them. They recognize me as both a super fan of their work and an aspiring novelist. It is heartwarming and encouraging to be treated nicely by one’s literary heroes. Now I can’t wait to return to ThrillerFest next year.  (By the way, I participated on a panel but forgot to ask one of my pals to shoot the photographic evidence. Darn.) 

Cheers to ThrillerFest!

*******

Kay Kendall set her debut novel, Desolation Row—An Austin Starr Mystery, in 1968. The Vietnam War backdrop illuminates reluctant courage and desperate love when a world teeters on chaos. Kay’s next mystery, Rainy Day Women (2015) finds amateur sleuth Austin Starr trying to prove a friend didn’t murder women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver. Kay is an award-winning international PR executive living in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Very allergic to bunnies, she loves them anyway! 

Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too.

*******

The Generosity of Mystery Authors

by Kay Kendall

The first conference for mystery fans that I attended was Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis. Previously I’d only attended writers’ conferences where would-be authors pitched manuscripts to agents and sat at the feet of those hallowed gods/goddesses called published authors. Bouchercon, billed as the “World Mystery and Suspense Conference,“ was an entirely different breed of cat. I couldn’t get my mind around what was going on.  

And then I got it! The published mystery authors weren’t there to tell us how to write, how to sell, or how to win an agent. No, they were there to talk about their writing and their writing worlds. Once I figured that out, I soaked up every tiny detail that came my way. And I loved it.

I'm holding Charlaine's LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS,
 the second Sookie Stackhouse book,
and she holds my debut mystery, DESOLATION ROW. 

The session that stands out, still to this day, was an afternoon panel of new authors. One man exclaimed his astonishment over the generosity of mystery writers. He said they supported each other and even him—a newbie. But he was shocked to discover that mystery writers do so little backbiting. Then he leaned over and leveled a hard look at us in the rapt audience. “Poets are not like that,” he said. “I’ve attended meetings of poets with a relative, and they're just awful.” The audience howled.

While I can’t comment on poets, I can say from experience that mystery authors are indeed generous. At Bouchercon 2012 in Cleveland I met two authors who later agreed to blurb my debut mystery, Desolation Row. First, thriller writer extraordinaire Norb Vonnegut gave key advice that helped me through final edits. Whenever I need advice from a seasoned pro, I still turn to Norb. Janet Maslin, influential book review at the New York Times, calls him “the author of three glittery thrillers about fiscal malfeasance” in which “he is three for three in his own improbably sexy genre.” 

The second author was Hank Phillippi Ryan, to whom I was introduced only in passing. Yet brief as that encounter was, this multi-award winning mystery author agreed to blurb my debut effort when I asked her. 

As well, Stiletto Gang member Linda Rodriguez reached out to me as an online pal to offer help setting up a bookstore event in the Kansas City area. (Her writing career began as a poet so she may disagree with the opinion I quote above.)

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Mystery authors are a benevolent group. At heart they love the genre we write in and seem to understand that the success of one does not take away from the others. In fact, a whole organization has been founded on that principle, the International Thriller Writers. After attending Bouchercon 2004 in Toronto, ITW founding members decided to reach down and pull up writers who needed help in climbing the slippery slope to publication, “providing opportunities for mentoring, education and collegiality among thriller authors and industry professionals.” 

A much older organization is the Mystery Writers of America founded in 1945. It underwrites MWA-University, one-day seminars led by experienced authors who share their how-to advice for a minuscule fee. The session I attended last weekend in Dallas was, as the under-30s would say, “awesome.” The attached photo of me with Charlaine Harris was taken at that event. When this creator of the Sookie Stackhouse series of paranormal mysteries (on which the HBO series True Blood is based) wished me success like hers, I almost fell over. In truth, I’d be pleased with one percent of her enormous fan base.

Traditionally the holiday season is when we are encouraged to be more big-hearted and giving than usual. As I contemplated blogging about generosity, I remembered the mystery authors I’ve been privileged to meet. While I can’t thank each one individually because they're too numerous, I can offer this posting as an ode to them collectively. Both their writing and the generosity of their spirit serve to inspire me. 

Kay Kendall

~~~~~~~

To celebrate the conclusion of 2013, the year in which my debut mystery was published, I will give away one copy of Desolation Row to someone who leaves a comment here about the joys of reading mysteries . . . or how you feel about mystery authors . . . or, heck, anything that you think is related!