The Edgar Awards, Part 3: Ellery Queen/Alfred Hitchcock Party

Thursday afternoon it rained. Geez, it was just like being back in Oregon, except the buildings were taller, and there were lots more of them.

After sheltering in a nearby Starbucks, Irene and I arrived a few minutes early at the Dell Magazines Party thrown by Janet Hutchings of EQMM and Linda Landrigan of AHMM.

Ron Goulart!

Next thing I knew we were talking to Ron Goulart, a man who changed my life (a familiar tale, because he did the same thing to Walker Martin, Will Murray and others, with the publication of The Hardboiled Dicks). In my case, he sent me on a seven-year quest to acquire everything I could related to the pulp writers featured in that book. Unable to help myself, I monopolized Mr. Goulart’s time for a good chunk of the party as we talked about pulps.

Dave Zeltserman

The shindig was partly in honor of EQMM Reader’s Choice winners Dave Zeltserman and Doug Allyn. I was mighty pleased to find Mr. Z and his wife Judy in attendance. As a BIG Nero Wolfe fan, I loved his winning Julius Katz and Archie story, and was at that moment halfway through one of his recent novels, The Caretaker of Lorne Field. Dave was a joy to talk to, and curious to know if I believed the Aukowies in the novel were real. Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m still not sure, but I sure as heck enjoyed it. Dave announced the imminent publication of a new direct-to-ebook novel, Julius Katz and Archie. I’m sold!

Eve and Doug Allyn *

Doug Allyn, a perennial Reader’s Choice favorite, this time took both second and third place in the voting, and was on hand to accept his awards. Doug’s charming wife Eve proceeded to introduce Irene and I to our host, Mr. Peter Kanter, president of Dell and Penny Press. Another very nice guy. In Mr. Kanter’s honor, I’m going to work a crossword puzzle magazine into my novel manuscript.

Another extremely nice person was Marcia Markland, Senior Editor at Thomas Dunne Books. She presented me with a business card with a wiener dog on it, which I took as a good sign. Irene and I have four of the little boogers, all rescues.

The well-dressed Stephen Ross *

Edgar nominee Stephen Ross was also in attendance, and we supported each others’ decision not to wear tuxedos to the banquet. Folly loves company, I guess.

Though there were many more people I would have liked to meet, we had to bug out early to catch the subway back uptown to get dressed for the banquet. I did manage to shake the hand of the great Otto Penzler, but later discovered I had failed to meet Emily Giglierano, the former Assistant Editor who played a large part in helping Mr. Skyler Hobbs sneak into EQMM. Sorry, Emily! If you’re ever in Portland, we’ll take you to dinner. Don’t forget to bring your umbrella.

* Official Edgars pics by Matt Peyton Photography

Tomorrow: The Banquet

The Edgar Awards, Part 1: Breakfast with the Stars

At left, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Editor Janet Hutchings.

At right, some dude I don't recognize wearing my name tag.

After arriving in the Big City on Tuesday evening, my wife Irene and I were up and at ‘em on Wednesday morning. First up, we took in the first panel at the Edgar Week Symposium. With Larry Light moderating, the panelists were Robert Goddard, Laura Lippman, David Morrell and S.J. Rozan.

One topic of discussion was what inspired these folks to become writers. For Morrell, it was the TV series Route 66. For Rozan, Howard Pyle’s stories of Robin Hood. Goddard cited the works of Wilkie Collins, and Lippman (no fan of Nancy Drew) recalled a fondness for Harriet the Spy. Yeah, they talked about other stuff too, and whole thing is now available in either mp3 or DVD format on the MWA website. My favorite bit was a story Robert Goddard told about a reader who insisted on believing one of his protagonists was real. It furthers his contention, Goddard said, that “fiction is a higher form of fact.”

Doug Allyn. And no, that's not an Edgar design on his vest.

That's the real thing!

At 10am, we had to bug out of the Symposium and head for the Tramway Diner for breakfast with several soon-to-be friends. The soiree was hosted by EQMM Editor Janet Hutchings and AHMM Editor Linda Landrigan, and the freeloaders, along with me and Irene, were Doug and Eve Allyn and Stephen Ross. Doug and Stephen were two of the five nominees for Best Short Story, Doug for “The Scent of Lilacs” in EQMM and Stephen for the AHMM story “Monsieur Alice is Absent.”

Much witty chitchat followed, most of it of a non-professional sort. I did learn, though, that both Janet and Linda personally lay eyes on every story submitted to their respective magazines - and that’s a lot of stories. I admire their dedication, and sympathize with their eyestrain.

Direct from New Zealand, it's . . . Stephen Ross.

Doug, who has now written 105 short stories and at least seven novels, unwitting revealed the answer to that age-old question, Where do you get your ideas? The answer is . . . he pulls them out of thin air. Even during breakfast, he couldn’t resist stopping to write them down. And Stephen, who had come all the way from New Zealand, spilled the beans that on the heels of his Edgar nomination an enterprising agent tracked him down and signed him up. I have no doubt editors will soon be fighting over his first novel.

In other news, Eve Allyn informed Irene she is now a Fish Wife. That's the price she pays for being (like Eve) hitched to a Robert L.Fish Award winner. 

After Janet and Linda left (no doubt to peruse more submissions), Doug graciously hung around to share some of his insight on the writing biz with Stephen and I. Thanks again, Doug! And thanks again to Linda and Janet for the hearty breakfast (I had my first ever pizza omelette).

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Editor Linda Landrigan

with that same Evan Lewis impersonator.

When the party broke up, Irene and I returned for another session at the Symposium, an entertaining and advice-packed presentation by MWA President Lisa Scottoline called How to Write a Novel. Shucks, I thought I knew, but I learned stuff. Thanks, Lisa.

A note about the photos: I was too star struck to even think about taking pictures at breakfast, so these are mostly from the reception and banquet on the following evening. I say mostly, because one of the photos is a phony. I wanted to have my picture taken with both Janet and Linda after the banquet, but one of them had to hotfoot it out of the hotel to catch a train. So three of these photos are real, and one ain’t. Can you spot the fake?

Tomorrow: The Agents and Editors Party

EQMM/AHMM Story Videos by Stephen Ross

Hey, here's something really cool. YouTube videos promoting mystery short stories.

I recently read stories by Stephen Ross in these two issues (both great, by the way), and discovered he'd posted videos for them. And according to the blurb in one of the mags, he even composed the music.

The Ellery Queen story, "The Man with One Eye," would have been a great entry for one of the Damn Near Dead anthologies. And the Alfred Hitchcock tale, "Monsieur Alice is Absent," is one of the five Edgar nominees for Best Short Story of 2010.

Best of luck to you, Mr. Ross. And keep those videos coming!

Here are links to the vids:
The Man With One Eye
Monsieur Alice is Absent