You Be The Judge by Mary Dutta

Note: Congratulations to Deborah Ortega, who is the winner of Edith Maxwell's A Poisonous Pour.

I had a good time passing judgment on a bunch of butts recently. Smoked ones, that is.

I had expected that serving as a judge for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama’s barbeque cook-off would provide me with some great food. Surprisingly, it also supplied me with a few thoughts about mystery writing.

The competition was a real learning experience. I discovered that the delicious crust that forms on the outside of a smoked pork butt is called the bark, and that eating approximately two pounds of pork starting at 10:15 a.m. is not for the faint of heart or stomach.

There were ten judges and our tastes definitely differed. I was all about the meat being moist while others focused on the smoky flavor. I already knew that I preferred a sauce that isn’t too vinegary and don’t love Alabama’s unique white barbeque sauce. Some judges were all in on those flavors. Despite the range of palates, two clear top finishers emerged, as did a unanimous least favorite.

While the official judging was blind, the People’s Choice awards were not. Interestingly, there was no overlap in the top three “best butt” finishers between the two groups. Maybe it was due to the larger pool of people judging as attendees. Maybe people were swayed by some of the competitors’ creative names like Fu Man Que or Smoke Your Butt Whole or by the friendliness of the folks behind the tables. Maybe the adorable baby whose dad was handing out samples won some hearts and votes for him.

The experience was not unlike the judging surrounding mystery writing awards and honors. There is no objective “best” when it comes to creative works, written or smoked. Some mystery honors are judged blind or selected by a single editor, but judges and editors still have their own preferences. Some awards are voted on by conference participants or organization members. In those instances, people do vote for works that wow them, but they also vote for friends, or things they’ve seen promoted, or for any number of other reasons not necessarily based solely on a considered assessment of the actual writing.

When my official competition duties were over, I swapped my judge’s hat for my mystery writer one and strolled around. The first thing I noticed was that some bbq smokers could easily fit a human body. It’s probably best to check what’s inside one of those things before firing it up. Tampering with the many different food samples set out for the crowd would clearly be a piece of cake, or more likely banana pudding given this was Alabama. And while the contest prize is simply bragging rights and a pig-shaped plaque, I could imagine a few competitors would nevertheless be willing to kill for them.

I left the event that day as full of story ideas as barbeque. Maybe even some award-winning ones.

Have you ever judged a contest, writing or otherwise?

And The Winner Is by Mary Dutta

It’s award season in Hollywood. Oscars, Golden Globes, and a slew of acronyms-- BAFTA, PGA, SAG, DGA. Like a lot of people, I get caught up in the weeks-long whirlwind of predictions, surprises, and snubs, enjoying the red-carpet slideshows and morning-after recaps.

But despite all the drama on screen and sometimes on stage (remember last year’s infamous Oscars slap, or the bungled Best Picture announcement a few years previous to that?) I would be hard pressed to name the nominees for last year’s big awards. I couldn’t even name most of the winners without looking them up. It’s funny how quickly we forget the frenzy, how very much we care until we very much don’t, and how the cycle repeats year after year.

That reality gives me insight into my own writing, though I write short stories rather than screenplays. I don’t write about situations that people around the globe care about, like they do film awards. My stories take place in a much more circumscribed world. But the people in them care very deeply about what’s happening to them. The drama in their daily lives is as real and momentous for them as it is for the moviemakers and their legions of fans. For them, it is as painful to be passed over for the Senior Center’s Citizen of the Year award as it is for someone else to miss out on that Best Director nod. Their campaign for a country club membership can be as desperate as the one for a Best Actor nod.

It's a matter not of significance but of scale. The whole world may not care if a son gets into Harvard, or a soon-to-be-ex-husband gets what’s coming to him, but my characters do. And they continue to care about slights and wrongs when everyone else has moved on, like a diehard fan clinging to outrage over an overlooked performance. No one else may recall all the times a protagonist was disrespected, but she certainly does. And the lengths she (or other characters) will go to over things that matter to them, however unimportant or unremembered they may be to others, are what drives my fiction.

Movies reflect the human experience and so, in many ways, do the awards celebrating them. The best stories do that as well, and that’s what I always seek to do in my own writing. Which I’ll get back to just as soon as this riveting award season is over.

Anyone else follow the film awards, and do they give you any ideas? 

AWARDS FOR WRITING MYSTERY SHORT STORIES

Significant achievement in the field of short mystery fiction is recognized by a number of organizations. This list concentrates on awards presented by organizations in the United States.

For a comprehensive list of crime fiction awards given internationally, please see:
http://awards.omnimystery.com/mystery-awards.html

Marcia Talley with Anthony and Agatha Short Story Awards

Agatha

The Agatha Awards have been presented since 1988 by Malice Domestic at its annual conference. The awards recognize the traditional mystery written in the style of Agatha Christie, having no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence.

Nominees are selected by ballot from persons registered for the conference by December 31.

Nomination forms are tallied by the Agatha Committee. The top five choices in each category are placed on the ballot. Attendees vote by secret ballot at the conference and the awards are presented at the banquet. The awards are porcelain tea pots.

For more information, see: http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaawards.html

Anthony

The Anthony awards, named for Anthony Boucher (writer, critic, and a founder of the Mystery Writers of America) have been presented since 1986 at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.

Nominating ballots are emailed to the registered attendees. Awards are determined by the persons attending Bouchercon.

For more information, see: http://bcon2013.com/anthony-awards/  

Peter James with his Barry for Best Novel

Barry

The Barry Awards have been presented annually since 1997 by the editorial staff of Deadly Pleasures. The staff requests that an author submit a copy of his work for review.

This year does not feature a short story category.

Contact for submitting work: George Easter, Editor and Publisher  george@deadlypleasures.com

For more information, see: http://www.deadlypleasures.com/barry.html

Derringer

The Derringer Awards, named after the palm-sized handgun, have been presented since 1997 by the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS). Presentations are made in March. Members and editors may submit stories for an initial blind consideration by volunteer judges who select five nominees in each category. To be eligible to vote for the awards, a person must join the SMFS by December 31.

The awards are presented by category: (1) best story of 1000 words or less; (2) best story of 1001 to 4000 words; (3) best story of 4001 to 8000 words; and (4) best story of 8001 to 17,500 words. 

See the following web page for the complete selection procedure: http://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2008/08/smfs-derringer-awards-procedure.html

In addition, an annual Lifetime Achievement award, called the Edward D. Hoch Golden Derringer, is given in recognition of a significant career. The following web page provides the selection procedure for the Edward D. Hoch Golden Derringer:

http://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2008/10/smfs-golden-derringer-procedure.html

Edgar

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards have been presented annually since 1946 by the Mystery Writers of America. Authors who submit their stories for consideration must meet the requirements for active status in the MWA whether or not they are members of MWA.

For more information, see: http://www.theedgars.com/

Short stories are considered works up to 22,000 words from approved magazines, periodicals, anthologies, and websites. Submissions meeting the requirements may be made online at:

http://mysterywriters.org/edgars/entry-form-for-short-story/

Eddie Newton with the Fish Award

The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award is presented for the best first published mystery short story by a previously unpublished author.   

Following are the approved periodical/webzine publishing companies at the time of this post:

1. American Way Magazine
2. Antioch Review
3. Back Alley Webzine (Out of Business)
4. Big Pulp Magazine
5. Cemetery Dance Publications
6. City Journal
7. Dell Magazines, including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Magazine
8. First Line Magazine
9. Forensic Examiner
10. Missouri Review
11. Mystery Scene Magazine
12. Necrotic Tissue (Out of Business)
13. Paradox Magazine (Out of Business)
14. Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine
15. Sniplits
16. Spinetingler Magazine
17. Strand Magazine
18. Virginia Quarterly Review
19. Woman’s World Magazine
    

Lovey

The Lovey Awards, presented since 1998 at the annual Love is Murder conference, recognize excellence in ten categories for books or stories published during the previous calendar year. Persons attending the conference may submit no more than one work in each category. The awards are selected by the registered attendees.

For more information, see:

http://www.loveismurder.net/AbouttheConference/Awards/LOVEYAwards/tabid/97/Default.aspx

Dana Cameron's Macavity for "Disarming"

Macavity 

Each year since 1987, members of the Mystery Readers International organization vote and present the Macavity awards in four categories. The Macavity award is named for T.S. Eliot’s  "mystery cat" in the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

For more information, see:

http://www.mysteryreaders.org/macavity.html

Shamus

Honoring publications since 1981, the Shamus awards, created by Robert J. Randisi, have been presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. PWA committee members select the nominees and winners in a manner similar to the Edgar selections. A “private eye” is considered the protagonist of a mystery who is a professional investigator, but not a police officer or government agent.

For more information, see: http://www.privateeyewriters.com/the_shamus_awards.html

Thriller

Presented since 2006 by the International Thriller Writers, the Thrillers are announced at the annual Thrillerfest conference. Short stories of up to 35,000 words are considered so that novellas qualify for submission. An entry must be published in print or e-zine format during the previous year.

For more information, see: http://thrillerwriters.org/join-itw/thriller-awards/