What a few days it has been! I attended both the Edgar Week Festivities in New York and the awesomely wonderful Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda, Maryland, where the Agatha Awards were announced. If you haven’t heard who the winners are, please click here and let Criminal Element tell you all about it.
Last Thursday afternoon, Mystery Playground’s Deb Lacy and I attended the pre-Edgar cocktail party hosted by Dell, publishers of the magnificent mystery magazines, Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock. As always, Dell folks like Christine Begley and Carol Demont were gracious and full of fun chatter. Janet Hutchings, Linda Landrigan and the-always-available-to-help-me-with-stuff-Jackie Sherbow are so affectionately welcoming that the party is not unlike a family reunion. Perhaps that’s also because it was a place I could hang out with sparkling friends and talk for a bit. I got to say hi to Dana Cameron, Toni L.P. Kelner and Charlaine Harris. Those three ladies are such good friends to each other that it always pumps elation to my heart to see them able to spend time together. Dana and Charlaine each have recently released books; Toni’s new one, written as Leigh Perry comes out in the fall. Then I got a chance to chat with David Dean and his lovely wife. Right as they moved on to talk to Janet Hutchings, I spotted Steve Steinbock, who is not only an old and treasured friend from the Criminal Brief days but now is the book reviewer for EQMM.
One of my favorite Sisters in Crime, Lina Zeldovich told me she is presently Science Editor of a new magazine called Nautilus, which launched just last week. Since I have a very science minded grandson, I’ll have to get a subscription just so I’ll understand what he is talking about a few years down the road.
I came across good friend and long time Sister in Crime, Hilary Davidson talking to author Kevin Egan. Hilary read Kevin’s soon to be released, Midnight and wrote the following blub, which I am cribbing from Amazon: “My favorite noir-infused books take ordinary people and put them in extraordinary circumstances, where one false move can prove deadly. That’s exactly what Kevin Egan does with his thrilling novel, Midnight. Forget sleep—this twisted tale will get your heart pounding right up until the last page.”
So Hilary got you interested, right? Well, I’m writing a Fresh Meat post about Midnight for Criminal Element next month and I will be sure to link it right here to remind you that the book is finally available.
And of course the highlight of the party for me was being present to watch Doug Allen receive the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award. Each of Doug’s always riveting short stories are perfect gems and the award is richly deserved.
What a fabulous afternoon!
Terrie