2023 Derringer Awards

The Short Mystery Fiction Society unveiled the 2023 Derringer Award winners on May 1. 

The awards – named after the popular pocket pistol — have been presented annually since 1998 to outstanding published stories. 

FLASH FICTION

SHORT STORY

  • Melissa Yi for “My Two-Legs.” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: September/October 2022)

LONG STORY

  • Bobby Mathews for “Negative Tilt.” (Rock and a Hard Place issue 7)

NOVELETTE

  • Adam Meyer for Two Shrimp Tacos and a .22 Ruger by Adam Meyer (Guns & Tacos, Down & Out Books)

EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

  • Martin Edwards

2022 Derringer Awards

The Short Mystery Fiction Society unveiled the 2022 Derringer Award winners on May 1. 

FLASH FICTION

  • John M. Floyd. “Tourist Trap.” Pulp Modern Flash.

SHORT STORIES

  • Trey Dowell. “Yelena Tried to Kill Me.” Mystery Weekly Magazine. August 2021.

LONG STORIES

  • Michael Bracken. “The Downeaster Alexa.” Only the Good Die Young.

NOVELLETTES

  • Stacy Woodson. “Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a Lifetime of Broken Promises.” Guns + Tacos: Season Three.

EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

  • S.J. Rozan 

HALL OF FAME

  • G.K. Chesterton

Crime Fiction Awards Headlines

Another pair of crime fiction awards have announced their shortlists in the past few weeks.

DASHIELL HAMMETT AWARD

The finalists for the 2021 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing have been named by the International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch). The award is given to a book, originally published in the English language in the United States or Canada, “that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing.”

The finalists are:

  • Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, Flatiron Books
  • Stung by William Deverell, ECW Press
  • Five Decembers by James Kestrel, Hard Case Crime 
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, Doubleday
  • The Sacrifice of Lester Yates by Robin Yocum, Arcade Crime Wave

DERRINGER AWARDS

The 2022 Derringer Awards finalists were unveiled by The Short Mystery Fiction Society on April 1.

FLASH FICTION

  • C.W. Blackwell.  “Smoke and Consequences.” Mystery Tribune.
  • Wil A. Emerson. “An Unexpected Reunion.” BOULD Awards 2021 Short Story Anthology Vol 1.
  • John M. Floyd. “Tourist Trap.” Pulp Modern Flash.
  • Scott Von Doviak. “Millicent.” Shotgun Honey.
  • Robert Weibezahl. “Why Are You Just Sitting There?” Yellow Mama.

SHORT STORIES

  • Brandon Barrows. “The Right to Hang.” On the Premises. October 2021.
  • Tina Debellegarde. “Tokyo Stranger.” A Stranger Comes to Town.
  • Trey Dowell. “Yelena Tried to Kill Me.” Mystery Weekly Magazine. August 2021.
  • Kathleen Marple Kalb. “The Thanksgiving Ragamuffin.” Justice For All.
  • Gabriel Valjan. “Burnt Ends.” This Time for Sure.

LONG STORIES

  • K.L. Abrahamson. “Chicken Coops and Bread Pudding.” Moonlight and Misadventure.
  • Michael Bracken. “The Downeaster Alexa.” Only the Good Die Young.
  • Teel James Glenn. “A Study of Death.” Mystery Weekly Magazine. October 2021.
  • Annie Reed. “Missing Carolyn.” Fiction River: Dark & Deadly Passions.
  • Mark Troy. “Burnin Butt, Texas.” Black Cat Mystery Magazine. Issue 10.

NOVELLETTES

  • Jim Benn. “Glass.” Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. September/October 2021.
  • Michael Bracken. “Aloha Boys.” Hallmarks of the Job / Aloha Boys.
  • Barb Goffman. “A Tale of Two Sisters.” Murder on the Beach.
  • Annie Reed. “Little City Blues.” Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Long Ago.
  • Stacy Woodson. “Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a Lifetime of Broken Promises.” Guns + Tacos: Season Three.

2021 Derringer Awards

The Short Mystery Society unveiled the 2021 Derringer Award winners on May 1. 

And congratulations to Brendan DuBois, winner of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement!

2021 Derringer Awards 

FLASH 

[Tie]

  • Blackwell, C.W. “Memories of Fire.” Pulp Modern 
  • Richardson, Travis. “War Words.” Punk Noir 

SHORT 

[Tie]

  • Jones, Eleanor Cawood. “The Great Bedbug Incident and the Invitation of Doom.” Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder.  
  • Woodson, Stacy. “River.” The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell 

LONG

  • Chen, Sarah M. “Hotelin’.”Shotgun Honey: Volume #4: Recoil 

NOVELETTE 

  • Taylor, Art. “The Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74.” AHMM: January/February 2020 

THE EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT — Annually awarded to an outstanding living writer of short mysteries.

  • Brendan DuBois

More 2021 Crime Fiction Awards and Shortlists

Many crime fiction award announcements have been posted in the past few weeks.

Friends of Mystery logo

SPOTTED OWL

The winner of the 2021 Spotted Owl Award was announced on March 25. The award is for a mystery published during the previous calendar year by an author whose primary residence is Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho or the Province of British Columbia. The complete list of finalists is here.

  • WINNER: The Last Agent, by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer)

Dugoni has won the Spotted Owl twice before—in 2020 for The Eighth Sister, and in 2017 for The 7th Canon.

PINCKLEY PRIZES

The 2020 Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction, awarded by the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, honor three women writers. The winners receive a financial award of $2,500 and a trip to New Orleans to accept their prizes at a ceremony at the 2021 Bouchercon.

Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work

  • C.S. Harris  

Pinckley Prize for Debut Fiction

  • Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is the winner of the

Pinckley Prize for True Crime Writing

  • Emma Copley Eisenberg  

HAMMETT PRIZE

The shortlist for the 2020 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing, which is handed out by the International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch), has been announced. The award is given to a book, originally published in the English language in the United States or Canada, “that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing.”

The finalists are:

 Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev March (Minotaur)
 The Mountains Wild, by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur)
 Three Hours in Paris, by Cara Black (Soho Crime)
 When These Mountains Burn, by David Joy (Putnam)
 Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)

CRIMEFEST AWARDS

CrimeFest, a crime fiction con in Bristol UK, has announced the finalists for their various awards.

Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award

 The Creak on the Stairs, by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir (Orenda)
 Summer of Reckoning, by Marion Brunet (Bitter Lemon Press)
 The Wreckage, by Robin Morgan-Bentley (Trapeze)
 The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Viking)
 City of Spies, by Mara Timon (Zaffre)
 The Man on the Street, by Trevor Wood (Quercus)

Audible Sounds of Crime Award

 The Sentinel, by Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Jeff
Harding (Transworld)
 The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, read by Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Chloe Massey, Sarah Ovens, Rich Keeble, and Jot Davies (HarperFiction)
 Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister
(Little, Brown)
 Moonflower Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, read by Lesley Manville and Allan Corduner (Penguin Random House Audio)
 Find Them Dead, by Peter James, read by Daniel Weyman (Pan)
 The Invisible Girl, by Lisa Jewell, read by Rebekah Staton (Penguin Random House Audio)
 Buried, by Lynda La Plante, read by Alex Hassell and Annie
Aldington (Zaffre)
 The Catch, by T.M. Logan, read by Philip Stevens (Zaffre)
 The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman, read by Lesley Manville (Viking)
 A Song for the Dark Times, by Ian Rankin, read by James
Macpherson (Orion)

Courtesy of sponsor Audible UK, the winning author and audiobook reader(s) share the £1,000 prize equally and each receives a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

H.R.F. Keating Award

 Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins)
 Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
 Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965,
by Colin Larkin (Telos)
 Conan Doyle’s Wide World, by Andrew Lycett (Tauris Parke)
 The Reacher Guy, by Heather Martin (Little, Brown)
 H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime, by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best)
 Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand,
by Craig Sisterson (Oldcastle)
 The Red Hand: Stories, Reflections and the Last Appearance of Jack Irish, by Peter Temple (Riverrun)

Last Laugh Award

 False Value, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)
 Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons, by Christopher
Fowler (Doubleday)
 The Postscript Murders, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen (Little, Brown)
 The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Viking)
 The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness, by Malcolm
Pryce (Bloomsbury)
 Ride or Die, by Khurrum Rahman (HQ)
 Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace, by Olga
Wojtas (Contraband)

eDunnit Award

 The Hunted, by Gabriel Bergmoser (Faber)
 The Split, by Sharon Bolton (Trapeze)
 Little Boy Lost, by J.P. Carter (Avon)
 Fifty-Fifty, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
 Fair Warning, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
 A Private Cathedral, by James Lee Burke (Orion)
 A Song for the Dark Times, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
 The Dead Line, by Holly Watt (Raven)

Best Crime Novel for Children (Ages 8-12)

 Mission Shark Bytes, by Sophie Deen (Walker)
 A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers’ Secret, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Children’s Books)
 Nightshade, by Anthony Horowitz (Walker)
 My Headteacher Is an Evil Genius, by Jack Noel (Walker)
 Anisha, Accidental Detective, by Serena Patel (Usborne)
 School’s Cancelled, by Serena Patel (Usborne)
 The Night Bus Hero, by Onjali Q. Rauf for (Orion Children’s Books)
 The Pencil Case, by Dave Shelton (David Fickling)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (Ages 12-16)

 Hideous Beauty, by William Hussey (Usborne)
 The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, by Lauren James (Walker)
 Devil Darling Spy, by Matt Killeen (Usborne)
 Eight Pieces of Silva, by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)
 Deadfall, by Simon Lelic (Hodder Children’s Books)
 Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows, by Robert Muchamore (Hot Key)
 Burn, by Patrick Ness (Walker)
 The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer (Hot Key)

DERRINGER AWARDS

The Short Mystery Society unveiled the finalists for its 2021 Derringer Awards on April 3,

FLASH 

  • Blackwell, C.W. “Memories of Fire.” Pulp Modern 
  • Blakey, James. “Outsourcing.” Shotgun Honey 
  • Mangeot, Robert. “Over Before It Started.” Murder Mondays 
  • Mathews, Bobby. “Quitman County Ambush.” Bristol Noir 
  • Richardson, Travis. “War Words.” Punk Noir 

SHORT 

  • Elwood, Elizabeth. “The Homicidal Understudy.” Ellen Hart Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Theatrical 
  • Freimor, Jacqueline. “That Which is True.” EQMM: July/August 2020 
  • Jones, Eleanor Cawood. “The Great Bedbug Incident and the Invitation of Doom.” Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder.  
  • Keeline, Kim. “The Crossing.” Crossing Borders
  • Woodson, Stacy. “River.” The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell 

LONG

  • Chen, Sarah M. “Hotelin’.”Shotgun Honey: Volume #4: Recoil 
  • Mangeot, Robert. “Lord, Spare the Bottom Feeders.” AHMM: March/April: 2020 
  • Walker, Joseph S. “Chasing Diamonds.” EQMM: September/October 2020 
  • Walker, Joseph S. “Etta at the End of the World.” AHMM: May/June 2020 
  • Woodson, Stacy. “Mary Poppins Didn’t Have Tattoos.” EQMM: July/August 2020 

NOVELETTE 

  • Cohen, Jeff.  “The Question of the Befuddled Judge.” AHMM: May/June: 2020 
  • Malliet, G.M. “A Murder at Morehead Mews.” EQMM: July/August 2020 
  • Taylor, Art. “The Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74.” AHMM: January/February 2020 
  • Thornton, Brian.  “Suicide Blonde.” Suicide Blonde:Three Novellas 
  • Wilson, Matthew. “The Wretched Strangers.” EQMM: January/February 2020

A vote of the SMFS membership will determine the winner in each category. 

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

2020 Derringer Award

The Short Mystery Fiction Society unveiled the 2020 Derringer Awards winners on May 1. The winners were determined by vote of the SMFS membership.

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words)

 “The Two-Body Problem,” by Josh Pachter

Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words)

 “On the Road with Mary Jo,” by John Floyd

Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000 words)

 “Lucy’s Tree,” by Sandra Murphy

Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000 words)

 “Her Sister’s Secrets,” by Brendan DuBois

The Society also announced the recipient of its lifetime achievement award.

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

Awarded to an outstanding living writer of short mysteries

  • Josh Pachter

2020 Derringer Award Finalists

The Short Mystery Fiction Society unveiled the 2020 Derringer Awards shortlist on April 3.

The results of membership voting will be posted May 1.

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words)

 “Lucky,” by Trey Dowell
 “The Two-Body Problem,” by Josh Pachter
 “2 Percent,” by Lissa Marie Redmond
 “Birdbrain,” by C.J. Verburg
 “The Six-Year-Old Serial Killer,” by Chris Chan

Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words)

 “The Kindly Dark,” by J.B. Toner
 “Love, or Something Like It,” by Michael Bracken
 “A Sure Thing,” by C.C. Guthrie
 “On the Road with Mary Jo,” by John Floyd
 “Pig Lickin’ Good,” by Debra H. Goldstein

Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000 words)

 “Miss Starr’s Good-bye,” by Leslie Budewitz
 “None Shall Sleep,” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh
 “Pretty Dreams,” by Peter W.J. Hayes
 “See Humble and Die,” by Rick Helms
 “Lucy’s Tree,” by Sandra Murphy

Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000 words)

 “Her Sister’s Secrets,” by Brendan DuBois
 “The Cripplegate Apprehension,” by Rick Helms
 “The Concrete Smile,” by Frank Zafiro
 “The Dutchy,” by Doug Allyn
 “I Called to Say You’re Dead,” by Stephen Greco

A vote of the SMFS membership will determine the winner in each category. Results will be announced in May 2020.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

2019 Derringer Awards

The Short Mystery Fiction Society announced the 2019 Derringer Awards on May 1.

For Best Flash Story (ranges up to 1,000 words)

  • “The Bicycle Thief” by James Blakey, The Norwegian American, Sept. 21, 2018

For Best Short Story (ranges from 1,001 to 4,000 words)

  • “Dying in Dokesville” by Alan Orloff, Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical, Wildside Press, April 2018

For Best Long Story (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words)

  • “With My Eyes” by Leslie Budewitz, Suspense Magazine, January/February 2018

For Best Novelette (ranges from 8,001 to 20,000 words)

  • “The Cambodian Curse” by Gigi Pandian, Henery Press, October 2018

Also revealed was the organization’s lifetime achievement award:

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

  • Doug Allyn

 [Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

2019 Derringer Awards Finalists

The Short Mystery Fiction Society unveiled the 2019 Derringer Awards shortlist on April 4.

The results of membership voting will be posted May 1.

For Best Flash Story (ranges up to 1,000 words)

  • “The Bicycle Thief” by James Blakey, The Norwegian American, Sept. 21, 2018
  • “Listen Up” by Peter DiChellis, Flash Bang Mysteries, (Winter 2018)
  • “Sonny the Wonder Beast” by Nick Kolakowski, Out of the Gutter, Sept. 16, 2018
  • “Don’t Text and Drive” by Robert Petyo, Flash Bang Mysteries, (Spring 2018)
  • “A Misunderstanding” by Travis Richardson, Out of the Gutter, May 27, 2018

For Best Short Story (ranges from 1,001 to 4,000 words)

  • “The Belle Hope” by Peter DiChellis, Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical, Wildside Press, April 2018
  • “The Crucial Game” by Janice Law, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (January-February 2018)
  • “Dying in Dokesville” by Alan Orloff, Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical, Wildside Press, April 2018
  • “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Murder” by Josh Pachter, Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical, Wildside Press, April 2018
  • “The Cabin in the Woods” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh, Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical, Wildside Press, April 2018

For Best Long Story (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words)

  • “With My Eyes” by Leslie Budewitz, Suspense Magazine, January/February 2018
  • “Mercy Find Me” by Diana Deverell, Fiction River: Justice ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, WMG Publishing Inc., January 2018
  • “The Case of the Missing Pot Roast” by Barb Goffman, Florida Happens ed. Greg Herren, Three Rooms Press, September 2018
  • “Till Murder Do Us Part” by Barb Goffman, Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies ed. Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley, Wildside Press, March 2018
  • “The Vanishing Volume” by Janet Raye Stevens, Shhhh…Murder! Cozy Crimes in Libraries, ed. Andrew MacRae, Darkhouse Books, September 2018

For Best Novelette (ranges from 8,001 to 20,000 words)

  • “The Adventure of the Manhunting Marshal” by Peter Basile (pseud. of Jim Doherty), Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, Volume 11, Airship 27, March 2018
  • “Three-Star Sushi” by Barry Lancet, Down & Out The Magazine, Vol. 3, Issue 3, Down & Out Books, March 2018
  • “The Cambodian Curse” by Gigi Pandian, Henery Press, October 2018
  • “Oil Down” by Brian Silverman, Mystery Tribune (Winter 2018)
  • “I’ve Got to Get Me a Gun” by Vincent Zandri, The Black Car Business: Vol. 1 ed. Lawrence Kelter, Down & Out Books, January 2018

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

Pixel Scroll 5/1/17 Heigh-Ho, The Derry-O, A Pixel We Will Scroll

(1) CLARA COMING BACK? In a spoiler-filled post, “This ‘Doctor Who’ Companion Could Be About to Return for the Christmas Special “, Lewis Jeffries speculates about the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special.

On Twitter, it has been stated that Eddie’s Diner has been booked by BBC Doctor Who for two days of filming. Hardcore fans know that Eddie’s Diner is in fact Clara and Ashildr’s (Maisie Williams) TARDIS in disguise. So this can only mean one thing, the return of Clara Oswald and Ashildr.

(2) HELP WANTED. James Ciment, PhD, Acquisitions Editor for Popular Culture at ABC-CLIO, has an opening:

ABC-Clio, a reference and academic publisher based in Santa Barbara, California, is looking for an editor (or co-editors) for a reference book on aliens in popular American culture—popular literature, film, television, graphic fiction, and other genres and media. Book length and specific content will be determined by the editor in consultation with the publisher. The deadline for submission of the manuscript is flexible, within a range of 18 to 30 months. The book is intended for the college, public and academic high school library markets. Requirements for the editor are flexible as well but editor must have significant publishing history in the field of literary/film criticism, popular culture studies and/or related fields. Academic affiliation is recommended but not required. Reference editing experience helpful. Editor duties include developing a TOC, soliciting contributing writers, and editor manuscript for content. Publisher will provide administrative support and will be responsible for copy-editing and indexing.

Interested persons should send their CV to acquisitions editor James Ciment at: [email protected]

(3) LET THE APPERTAINMENT BEGIN. Steve Davidson knows that as often as I need to invite people to appertain themselves their favorite beverage (after spotting one of my typos), I probably need to order in bulk. And if I’m doing that, the bottles should have a house label – which he has supplied.

(4) DERRINGER AWARDS. The 2017 Derringer Awards winners, for short mystery fiction, have been announced. Unfortunately, Bruce D. Arthurs’ Derringer-nominated short story, “Beks and the Second Note,” did not get the nod. Here are the stories and authors that did:

2017 Derringer Award Results

BEST FLASH STORY (1 – 1,000 words)

  • Herschel Cozine for “The Phone Call” (Flash Bang Mysteries, Summer 2016)

Best Short Story (1,001 – 4,000 words)

  • Linda Barnes for “The Way They Do It in Boston” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2016)

Best Long Story (4,001- 8,000 words)

  • Victoria Weisfeld for “Breadcrumbs” (Betty Fedora: Kickass Women In Crime Fiction, Issue 3, September 2016)

Best Novelette (8,000 to 20,000 words)

  • Terrie Farley Moran for “Inquiry and Assistance” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January/February 2016)

Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer

  • Robert Randisi

(5) POD DRAMA. Tor Labs is a newly launched dramatic podcast imprint. Here’s an excerpt from Patty Garcia’s press release.

Tor Books, a leading global publisher of science fiction and fantasy, announced today that it is launching TOR LABS, a new imprint emphasizing experimental approaches to genre publishing, beginning with original dramatic podcasts.

Helmed by Senior Editor Marco Palmieri and Editor Jennifer Gunnels, Tor Labs will debut this summer with Steal the Stars, a science fiction audio drama which will be produced in partnership with Gideon Media and written by Mac Rogers, the award-winning writer of the global hit podcast thrillers, The Message and LifeAfter.

(6) TRAVEL FUNDING SOUGHT. Three Brazilian fans; Andressa Dreka, Mayara Teixeira Dos Santos, and Luis Alessio are crowdfunding to come to the UK for Lazlar Lyricon 3, a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy funcon being run in Stoke on Trent in June.

The trio help run Obrigado Pelos Peixes (“Thanks for All the Fish”) an organization in Brazil that ran its own convention, Don’t PaniCon, last year, and plan another for 2017.

James Bacon notes:

A few special items were auctioned at the recent UK Eastercon to help raise money for the project. These included an official Hitchhiker’s quote towel from the 1980s and a pair of beer glasses with Hitchhiker inspired designs from the 42nd Cambridge Beer Festival. This raised GBP212 for the fund.

The crowdfunding is being carried out on a Catarse site, via https://www.catarse.me/OPPnoLazlarLyricon3.

As File 770 reported over the winter, Lazlar Lyricon 3 will take place June 9-11. Committee members include Stefan Lancaster, Emma J. King, David Haddock and Alan Sullivan.

The first two Lazlar Lyricons were part of a series of conventions in the 1980s, 90s and early 00s colloquially called ‘Fun Cons’, which also included the Incons, Dangercons, and several one-off conventions such as Year of the Wombat and Aliens Stole my Handbag.

(7) READING ALOUD. Cat Rambo says, “A lot of us have listened to SFWA’s Executive Director Kate Baker narrating podcasts over the years, but here’s someone narrating one of Kate’s pieces” — “Old Teacups and Kitchen Witches by Kate Baker” on Cast of Wonders.

This time the narrator is –

Karen Bovenmyer earned an MFA in Creative Writing: Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine. She teaches and mentors students at Iowa State University and serves as the Nonfiction Assistant Editor of Escape Artists’ Mothership Zeta Magazine. She is the 2016 recipient of the Horror Writers Association Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship. Her short stories and poems appear in more than 40 publications and her first novel, Swift for the Sun, will be available Spring 2017. Follow her online and on Twitter.

(8) EPISODE ONE. At the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Meghan Ball and Kelly Anderson recap “American Gods Episode One: ‘The Bone Orchard'”.

Our reactions

Kelly: Welp. This show knows how to make an entrance! Pilots are all about being memorable, and I think I can say from the get-go this one certainly succeeded on that level. They went for a combo of stark, Tarantino-esque visuals, husky-voiced, gritty storytelling, and a grimy ‘70s vibe, and it all blends together to create the perfect mood for this story. It’s surrealist noir, if such a genre exists—everything is slightly off-kilter, and even the scenery makes you look twice (that alligator bar! I gotta get me one of those!). It’s as if somebody went back in time and gave Magritte computer graphics and possibly some acid, and I love it.

Meghan: That was an astonishing trippy-as-hell hour of television. I never thought I’d see the day someone actually followed through with bringing this book to life, and certainly not in a way so savagely, monstrously beautiful. I especially loved the use of music. Whoever chose it deserves a raise. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” playing while Shadow stares mournfully at Laura’s grave? Absolute perfection. They also used “Iko Iko” by the Dixie Cups in the bar scene, which is also mentioned in the novel. That was especially cool. Everything about the premiere felt lush and organic, and utterly real as it was surreal. I’m a fan of Tarantino movies, and even I was gasping in shock during the opening Viking scenes, which completely set the tone.

(9) THE LONG HAUL. At Vox, there’s an overview by someone who’s seen the first four episodes.

If you’re like me and haven’t read Gaiman’s iconic source material, the TV series doesn’t spend a whole lot of time trying to catch you up. There will inevitably come a point when — as blood rains from the sky and some god or another intones an ominous missive about death — you’ll squint and realize you have no idea what’s happening.

But that’s okay by American Gods. Having seen four episodes, I think it’s safe to say that the mysteries being explored by the show’s first season are intricate, and that Fuller and Green are in no rush to give away their secrets. This will be frustrating for people watching from week to week, but American Gods is making the bet that you’ll be intrigued enough by what it teases to stick with it — and on that front, it’s probably right.

(10) INDEPENDENTS’ DAY. The Seattle Review of Books covers #independentbookstoreday celebration: “Our Independent Bookstore Day, in photos”.

(11) GLOWING GOO YOU CAN CHEW. Where to find it? Cat Rambo has a clue.

My most recent newsletter is up and includes class news and a link to a recipe for edible glow in the dark gel: “News and More Stuff from Chez Rambo”

(12) SAX AND VIOLENCE. Echo Ishii watches old TV: “SF Obscure: Night Man “.

What do you get when you cross light jazz, Taylor Dayne, and questionable costume choices? And then you throw in special guest appearances by Jerry Springer and Donald Trump? Why you get Night Man, a show that surprisingly stayed on air for two seasons.

Night Man(1997-1999) is the story of Johnny Domino, a professional saxophonist, who is struck by lightning and earns a telepathic ability to see evil. It’s loosely based on an original comic. He also teams up with some scientists on the run who provide him with a special suit that allows him to deflect bullets and fly. It actually took a few episodes to figure out exactly what the suit does vs. Johnny Domino’s own ability- and I have the sneaking suspicion it was not entirely developed well by the writers.

(13) BAD MIKE.

So the rest of you better hurry and get that reading done or I’ll take a bite out of you, too.

(Or – and this was the point — you could wait to fling poo at the Hugo shortlist ‘til you’ve read it, something that never occurred to C. and Matt.)

(14) PURITY OF ESSENCE. Can penguins be forced to bark? Jay Maynard wants to “Make Penguincon Great Again” —  by kicking out everything he doesn’t like.

Still, I’d promised this year’s con chair that she’d get a fair chance to address my concerns, so I came back one more time. Guess what? More hard-left GoHs — the odious Coraline Ada Ehmke, she of the Contributor Covenant that prohibits project members from being politically incorrect any time, anywhere, in any venue, on pain of expulsion (who had to cancel due to an emergency); Sumana Harihareswara, who I found out the hard way was a hard-core feminist as well; and Cory Doctorow, well-known left-wing author — more politically correct panels, 15 of them on such topics as “Queering Your Fiction” and “Let’s Get the Taste of 2016 Out of Our Mouths” and “Exploring Themes in Zen Cho’s Work” (with “Intersectionality, diaspora and immigration, the culture of British education, and queer relationships also appear in Cho’s stories over and over” in the description). When I was asked to submit lists of panel topics, I was instructed not to be controversial, but it seems the Left has no such admonition.

This was further borne out by the very first thing that happened at Opening Ceremonies: right after the con chair took the mic, she introduced one member of the convention committee, who proceeded to name 8 or 9 American Indian tribes that had lived in Southeast Michigan in the past and said that “we are their guests here”. That bit of virtue signaling came straight out of the political correctness playbook.

The con’s expanded harassment policy is also of the same stripe; it basically allows anyone to complain that they are being harassed on the flimsiest of excuses, and the con can then eject the subject of the complaint summarily with no recourse and no refund. This is the kind of policy that has routinely been used against those who are merely politically incorrect at other cons, most notably the Worldcon in Kansas City.

There were exactly two panels on topics that the Left would not approve of, both relating to firearms. In fairness, I will also point out that the con did, for the first time, officially sponsor and pay for the Geeks with Guns event. Still, the overall feel is that of overpowering political correctness.

All of this adds up to one inescapable conclusion, for me: those who oppose the politically correct orthodoxy are not Penguicon’s kind of people. Oh, sure, they’ll happily take our money, but we’re not “one of them”.

I go to cons to escape the culture wars, not to get hit over the head with how much of a nasty, eeeeevil person I am for being a white male. We are all, first and foremost, SF fans and computer geeks. People should leave their politics at the door and celebrate SF and open source computing for their own sakes. For the first decade, at least, Penguicon did. It doesn’t any more.

Jer Lance disagrees with the diagnosis: “On the Need to Make Great Things Great Again”

Among my plans for the day, today, was to put together a quick writeup congratulating the staff of Penguincon for throwing an undeniably successful convention—the 15th in a series! Instead, I’d like to take a moment to respond to a long-time attendee’s paen to modern divisive politics; a blog post with the snappy title “Make Penguincon Great Again.” In his post, Jay “Tron Guy” Maynard makes the assertion that Penguincon has fallen to the “leftists” and resulting event is no longer one that is comfortable for people like him.

…Instead, I would like to focus on Jay’s proposed solution. Tron Guy—an attendee since the very first event—would “return the con explicitly to being nonpolitical.” Maynard yearns for the days when we focused on apolitical topics like Geeks with Guns – Societal & Political (year 1), Hidden Totalitarian Assumptions in ‘I, Robot’ (year 3), Don’t Be Evil: The Google Books Settlement (year 9), Technology as Legislation (year 5), and of course the keynote address from the very first Penguincon by Eric S. Raymond (on whose blog this Make Penguincon Great Again concept was born) which discussed “open source, the hacker culture, and the second amendment.” As Archie Bunker sang, those were the days!

In case my point was too subtle, Penguicon has never been any more apolitical than science fiction itself, despite claims to the contrary.

….I came to my first Penguincon in 2006 during its 4th year. I came for the tech conference side of the house and actively disdained the “comicon, nerd shit.” Over the ensuing 11 years, I have attributed a tremendous amount of my personal growth to my having been repeatedly and relentlessly exposed to things outside of my comfort zone through the convention. My hardline libertarian stance has softened to that of a moderate conservative through immersion in concepts that were foreign to me until such time as it was easier to understand them than repel them.

In that understanding, I’ve earned empathy….

(15) IT’S A THEORY. K.B. Wagers argues the change is happening: “The Rise of the Unlikable Woman”

There have always been unlikable characters in fiction, though the idea of the anti-hero?—?brooding, self-centered, wholly unredeemable?—?has long been considered a man’s territory. From crotchety but lovable Han Solo to the downright dangerous Riddick, no one complains that these characters aren’t people you’d trust to watch your house, let alone have a cup of tea with.

Women in fiction, by contrast, can only be unlikable if they are redeemable in some fashion or another?—?or if they’re ultimately punished. Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is struggling for redemption (and turned into a nursemaid for the Big Guy as a result). Were she still unrepentant about the death she’s dealt?—?as Loki is?—?she would find less compassion from the audience. Emma Bovary, in Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, receives her punishment (in the form of her death) at the end of the novel as a result of her sexual desires.

But now, women characters are rising up from the ashes of these expectations….

(16) SIGNS OF THE TIMES. On Planetary Post, March for Science participants joined host Robert Picardo in support of space science and exploration in Washington, D.C.

(17) CLARKE CENTER. Episode 7 of Into the Impossible, the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination’s podcast, takes you to ”New Spaces”.

We’re looking at new spaces in space, speaking with Drs. Yvonne Cagle (astronaut and physician) and Adam Burgasser (astrophysicist). We talk about why we send humans into space, the discovery of potentially habitable worlds at TRAPPIST-1 and how we imagine them, the role of interstellar art, the evolution of human physiology in zero-g, why the scariest thing about being an astronaut might be finding yourself on stage at the Oscars with Dr. Katherine Johnson, subject of the film Hidden Figures, and how important it is that we remain vigilant in our embrace of diversity across disciplines.

(18) BAT EXCLUSIVITY. ScreenRant claims there are “15 Things Batman Can Do (That No One Else Can)”.

Given his intensive combat training and genius-level sleuthing skills, the Dark Knight Detective is one of the most formidable heroes in the DCU (or the world of comics in general), giving him a skill-set that dwarfs many of his superpowered peers.

  1. He Has Contingency Plans to Take Down Enemies…and His Friends

As we stated earlier, Batman prepares for everything. And we mean everything. In addition to strategizing on how to take down all of his arch-enemies and other deadly threats, he does what some might see as a betrayal–he creates contingency plans against every one of his fellow Justice League team members (in Grant Morrison’s 2000 Justice League: Tower of Babel storyline).

Using his genius intellect, he develops brutally efficient ways to neutralize his teammates’ powers: he binds Green Lantern with his own power ring, makes Aquaman terrified of water, uses fire against Martian Manhunter, liquid nitrogen to subdue Plastic Man, virtual reality against Wonder Woman, and he even creates a weapon to give The Flash seizures.

His strategizing backfires, however, when Ra’s al Ghul steals his plans and takes down his allies. Needless to say, his fellow Justice League members were none too pleased with this, and they  subsequently had his membership revoked. It’s not easy for Batman to have friends.

(19) BATMAN & BILL. Hulu is releasing Batman & Bill on May 6, which is a documentary about Bill Finger’s contributions to the Batman mythos. FirstShowing.net explains the “Official Trailer for Hulu Doc ‘Batman & Bill’ About a Batman Creator”

“The most mysterious man in Gotham City wasn’t in a mask and cape.” Hulu has released an official trailer for a documentary titled Batman & Bill, which will premiere exclusively on Hulu starting early May. The documentary “unmasks” one of the greatest secrets in the comic industry – that Batman wasn’t created by Bob Kane alone, it was primarily Bill Finger who created the iconic superhero. This seems like a fascinating doc with plenty to offer for comic book fans, including inside stories and excellent art from the early days of Batman. It’s cool to see a doc like this that actually looks worth watching on Hulu.

 

(20) BATMAN & BOB. Offered on eBay and now marked down from $1,500 to $1,050, a signed first edition of Bob Kane’s autobiography Batman & Me with original signed ink Batman drawing by Kane.

Batman & Me. Forestville: Eclipse Books, 1989. First Edition. Copy number 144 of 1000 numbered copies signed by Bob Kane with an original ink drawing of Batman by Kane. The autobiography of the artist who created the immortal comic book character Batman in 1939. Extensively illustrated. Fine in slipcase.

(21) THE FIRST HALF OF HISTORY. Fanac.org has posted a recording of a 1968 Worldcon comics panel with Marv Wolfman and Harry Harrison. I guess a few things  have happened since then:

Baycon, the 26th WorldCon, was held in Oakland, California in 1968. This very entertaining panel features a discussion about contemporary comics by the then relative newcomer, Marvin Wolfman, and a plethora of engaging stories by Harry Harrision. Harry talks about Bill Gaines (EC Comics) and working with Wally Wood. The stories are funny, the context and history of the field are priceless. Moderated by Paul Moslander, this excellent recording is courtesy of the Pacifica Radio Archives.

 

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, JJ, Carl Slaughter, Cat Eldridge, Steven H Silver, Martin Morse Wooster, Cat Rambo, James Bacon, and Bruce D. Arthurs for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day rcade.]