Ahoy, mateys! The latest scuttlebutt is that my story “Skull and Cross-Examinations” has been nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Short Story! If that’s not enough to make you want to dance a hornpipe or two, you’ve been at sea too long. Might I suggest a generous portion of rum to help you achieve the proper state of mind? That always does the job for this here pirate.

For you landlubbers out there, the Anthony Awards are given by the attendees of Bouchercon, the annual World Mystery Convention. The convention ships to various ports, but this year’s port of call is Indianapolis, IN in October, and you can bet I’ll be setting sail for the city as soon as I can figure out which body of water comes closest.

Now I wouldn’t be much of a pirate if I didn’t seize partial credit for one of the other nominated stories: my shipmate Dana Cameron’s story “The Night Things Changed.” And I’m not just stealing the treasure of a nomination! Dana’s story was published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, the werewolf Christmas anthology co-captained by Charming Charlaine Harris and myself. So I’m entitled to a fair share! Anybody who says different will have Charming Charlaine to answer to, and we all know she’s a bloodthirsty wench if ever there was one.

Here’s the full list of short story nominations for your reading enjoyment. I’ve put in those new-fangled links for you to navigate to some of the stories, but some aren’t up yet and others aren’t being put up because publishers wanting to protect them against piracy. (Can’t be blaming ’em for that!) But as any new links show on me charts, I’ll put ’em up here.

• “The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe (Ace) 
• “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” by Sean Chercover, Hardcore Hardboiled (Kensington)
• “Killing Time” by Jane K. Cleland, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – November 2008
• “Skull and Cross-Examinations” by Toni L.P. Kelner, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – February 2008
• “Scratch a Woman” by Laura Lippman, Hardly Knew Her (William Morrow)
• “The Secret Lives of Cats” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – July 2008

Now the reason I’m sharing these stories, which don’t come easy to a pirate, is so that any of you scurvy dogs meaning to attend Bouchercon can read them and know just which story to cast you vote for. Of course, if any other scalawags were to read ’em without even intending to go to Bouchercon, well, there’d be nothing we could do to stop ’em.