When I left for Bouchercon, I was a Macavity short story nominee for “Keeping Watch Over His Flock,” (published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and myself) and an Anthony short story nominee for “Skull and Cross-Examinations” (published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine). When I flew home, it was without either award.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Of course I am. But after each award ceremony I smiled and applauded. That’s part of award etiquette. I hugged the winners, too, because they’re both really nice and good writers to boot. And when people offered their condolences, I smiled and said, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.”

You know what? It’s absolutely true. It is an honor to be nominated. Just look at the people I was up against. For the Macavity, it was:

• Sean Chercover for “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” (published in Hardcore Hardboiled)
• Laura Lippman for “Scratch a Woman” (published in Hardly Knew Her)
• Tom Piccirilli for “Between the Dark and the Daylight” (published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
• Dana Cameron for “The Night Things Changed” (published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe). She won, by the way.

For the Anthony, it was:

• Dana Cameron for “The Night Things Changed” (published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe).
• Sean Chercover for “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” (published in Hardcore Hardboiled). He won this one.
• Jane Cleland for “Killing Time” (published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
• Laura Lippman for “Scratch a Woman” (published in Hardly Knew Her)
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch for “The Secret Lives of Cats” (published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

I am honestly proud to have been in the same categories as these writers. I am delighted that people nominated me, and voted for me. Even though I didn’t win and didn’t have the opportunity to say so in public, I am grateful to the editors who published those stories (Charlaine Harris, Ginjer Buchanan, and Janet Hutchings); my agent Joan Brandt; my readers Charlaine Harris and Dana Cameron; and most of all my husband Steve, my first reader.

I offer my heartiest congratulations to Dana for winning the Macavity and to Sean for winning the Anthony, and I commend the other nominees.

I really am deeply and sincerely honored.

So it was last Monday morning, and I was driving through the mountains of Pennsylvania on my way from Malice Domestic in DC to the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont. It’s rainy, so the scenery isn’t exactly spectacular, but I’m having a great time with writers Donna Andrews and Ellen Crosby, who’d generously allowed me to hitch a ride. Naturally we’re gossiping about other mystery writers… I mean, talking about literature. Then my phone rings.

It’s Dana Cameron, who I knew was in the DC airport to catch a plane back to Boston.

“Hey Dana!”

“Have you heard?” she asks.

My immediate thought was that there’d been a natural disaster.  “What?  What’s wrong?”

“You’ve been nominated for a Macavity!”

“What?”

Excitement ensued, shared by Donna and Ellen. Eventually I get around to asking, “Who else is up for it?”

Dana pauses. “Well, me for one.”

Now that’s a true friend. She lets me cheer happily first, then gives me the chance to do the same for her. Which I did, again with Ellen and Donna’s aid. Since Dana’s story is in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, one of the anthologies that Charlaine, it was almost like a double nomination. 

In case you don’t know, the Macavity Awards (named for T.S. Elliot’s mystery cat) are nominated by and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International and subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. They’re handed out at Bouchercon, which will be in Indianapolis in October.

The slate of short story nominees is…

• “The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Ace)
• “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” by Sean Chercover (Hardcore Hardboiled, edited by Todd Robinson, Kensington)
• “Keeping Watch Over His Flock” by Toni L.P. Kelner (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Ace)
• “Scratch a Woman” by Laura Lippman (Hardly Knew Her, by Laura Lippman, Wm. Morrow)
• “Between the Dark and the Daylight” by Tom Piccirilli (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2008)

Dana and I have temporarily posted our stories online for members of Mystery Readers International to have a chance to read them, and we hope Tom’s will be posted on the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine web site. (I’ll post the link if that happens.) Sean and Laura are constrained by their publishers from doing the same, but the books in which their stories appear are easy to find and well worth buying.

For the full slate of nominees for all awards, click here. There are some awesome books and writers on the list, and some good friends, too.

As for the rest of the ride through the rainy mountains, it’s amazing how much better the scenery looked after that.

I’m afraid that Charlaine and I did not win the PEARL for Wolfsbane and Mistletoe after all, and none of our three nominated stories won, either.  

I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed–I’m not that good an actress. But honestly, it was a delight to be a PEARL finalist, even if only for a day. It also introduced me to the ParaNormal Romance group and a lot of writers I wasn’t very familiar with. That’s one heck of a consolation prize.

Here are the winners, by the way. Congratulations to all!

Anthology

Winners:  After Dark  by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Squires, J. R. Ward, and Dianna Love and Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson

Honorable Mention:  The Magical Christmas Cat  by Nalini Singh, Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, and Linda Winstead Jones

 
Futuristic

Winner:  Dark Light by Jayne Castle

Honorable Mention:  Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens

Shapeshifter

Winner:  Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Honorable Mentions:  Rogue by Rachel Vincent and Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

New author

Winner:  Ann Aguirre

Honorable Mention:  Jocelynn Drake 

Magical Fantasy

Winner:  Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention:  The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter
 

Sci-Fi Fantasy

Winner:  Shades Of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Honorable Mention:  Dragonborn by Jade Lee

Vampire

Winner:  Lover Enshrined by J. R. Ward

Honorable Mention:  Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home by Michele Bardsley

 
Time Travel

Winner:  Viking Unchained by Sandra Hill

Honorable Mention:  Twist by Colby Hodge
 

Novella/Short Story

Winner:  “Story of Son” by J.R. Ward in Dead After Dark

Honorable Mention:  “Kung Fu Shoes” by Jade Lee in These Boots Were Made For Stomping
 

Best Overall

Winner:  Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention:  One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

I like Hollywood award shows. I love oohing and aahing over the clothes, and watching the reactions of the winners and losers, and listening to the acceptance speeches, even watching the montages. And I enjoy it all just a little bit more if I have a personal stake in the race, if a favorite actor or show has been nominated.  That’s why this year’s Golden Globes Awards Ceremony may have been my favorite award show ever.

First of, there were the two nominations for True Blood.  Anna Paquin was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama, and the show itself was nominated for Best Television Series – Drama. Since True Blood is based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by one of my best friends in the world, the multi-talented Charlaine Harris, you can bet I was cheering on Alan Ball and company. When Paquin won in her category, I screamed so loudly I scared the heck out of my daughter Valerie and may well have caused an avalanche outside. And though True Blood didn’t win its award, all I can say is that it was a true honor for the show to be nominated.

Now the True Blood connection alone would have kept me watching the show, but I also had a tenuous connection with John Adams, one of the nominees for Best Miniseries. When I was in junior high, I met a young actor named Tim Parati, and we went on to high school and college together. He went on to work in theater, and ever since I have glowed with vicarious pride as he’s shown up in an impressive assortment of plays, movies, and TV shows, including John Adams. The fact that Tim plays Ceasar Rodney of Delaware, one of my favorite signers of the Declaration of Independence, only makes it better. So as far as I’m concerned, the Golden Globe John Adams won for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television is due mostly to Tim’s efforts. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney did okay, too.

Again, either of those connections would have made me feel a special connection with this year’s ceremony, putting me several degrees of separation closer to Kevin Bacon that I ever would have imagined. But I got a special treat during the commercial breaks. Here in the Boston area, there were several promo spots for the WHDH investigative feature Hank Investigates. Each time it was shown, I chanted, “Hank, Hank, Hank,” which freaked out my daughter Maggie. Then the promo cut to Hank Phillippi Ryan herself, who is well known in the Boston area for her investigative reporting. This shocked the heck out of Maggie, who knows the award-winning mystery author Hank Phillippi Ryan, but only  only as one of her mother’s crazy writer friends. Which she is, of course.

So I had one friend who acted in a nominated mini-series, two nominations from a show based on a friends’ books, and another friend on a commercial. If this keeps up, Kevin Bacon is going to be trying to find connections to me! 

So Kevin, if you’re reading this? See you at the next awards show!