Success for young crime writer in national competition

A 16-year-old writer from London has been named as the winner of this year’s Crime Writers' Association short story competition for young people age 18 and under.

Claudia Hyde won the Young Crime Writers’ Competition with 'A Cushion Out of Place'. She wins the chance to meet authors at the annual Crimefest event, which sponsored the competition, as well as an engraved pen and selection of signed novels from various members of the CWA. She was presented with her prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London over afternoon tea with authors Diane Janes and Meg Gardiner, representing the CWA.

The final stage of the competition was judged by Tom Harper, the 2010-11 Chair of the CWA, and multi-award winning crime writer Martin Edwards, and the competition’s conclusion coincides with National Crime Writing Week, which is organised by the CWA and runs this week (June 13-19).

Current CWA Chair Peter James said: “Yet again this country’s young writers have illustrated that the future of the genre is in safe hands.”

The shortlisted regional winners were:

• ‘The Photograph’ by George Neame age 15 of Bognor Regis
• ‘Reasons’ by Caroline Angus age 14 of Carlisle
• ‘A Girl I Once Knew’ by Beth Tucker age 15 of Newton Abbot
• ‘Reaction’ by Laura Aldworth-Beswick age 16 of Manchester
• ‘She’s a Rebel, She’s a Saint’ by Laura Waters age 14 of Isle of Man
• ‘Severing Ties’ by Jessica Cooper age 17 of Nantwich
• ‘The End’ by Lily Scanlan age 17 of Invergordon
• ‘The Witness’ by Emily Lumbard age 11 of Bristol
• ‘Button’ by Aileigh MacGregor age 13 of Buckie
• ‘Anarchy’ by Connor Sterling age 13 of Darlington
• ‘A Dreamer’s Nightmare’ by Rachael Wallis age 17 of Frome

The competition is sponsored by CRIMEFEST, Britain’s international crime fiction convention. For more information visit www.crimefest.com.

More information on National Crime Writing Week is available at http://www.nationalcrimewritingweek.co.uk/.

For press enquiries or more information on the CWA, please visit the website, http://www.thecwa.co.uk/.

Currently reading: CANDIED CRIME by Dorte Jakobsen

I don't know about you, but I'm a fan of mystery short stories. I read far more crime and thriller novels, but I do like to dip into a short story collection every know and then, to break things up.

Over the weekend I've been reading and enjoying a new collection of short stories from Danish book blogger and writer Dorte Jakobsen. You may recognise Dorte's name from her excellent DJ's Krimiblog, or the Global Reading Challenges she has organised the past couple of years.

CANDIED CRIME is a collection of 13 short stories described as 'cosy mystery flash fiction' - so they're very short, ranging in length from about half a page to 2 1/2 pages - perfect 'bite-size' chunks, mystery morsels.

I will post a review of the collection later, once I've finished all 13 stories. The collection is available for purchase through the Smashwords website, for only $0.99.

Have you read CANDIED CRIME? Do you like 'flash' mystery fiction? What makes a good mystery short story?

Kiwi writer Stephen Ross nominated for a Derringer Award

It's been a good few weeks for Hamilton-based short story writer Stephen Ross. First, the regular contributor to the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines found himself amongst the Edgar Award finalists in the short fiction category (for his AHMM story "Monsieur Alice is Absent"); read a Waikato Times story about that achievement here.

Now Ross has been nominated for a 2011 Derringer Award, given out by the Short Mystery Fiction Society, for another story, "The Man with One Eye" (published in EQMM, December 2010). Ross has been nominated in the novelette category (8001 – 17,500 words).

The Derringer Awards were created in 1997 by the Short Mystery Fiction Society to honor excellence in the creative artform of short mystery and crime stories. The name “Derringer,” after the palm-sized handgun, was chosen as a metaphor for a mystery or crime short story — small, but dangerous.

I love reading full-length crime novels, but I do also really enjoy crime-centred short stories, whether in the form of author collections like Peter Robinson's enjoyable The Price of Love, collections with numerous contributors like the recent The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors edited by Jonathan Santlofer and S.J. Rozan, or one-off stories in mystery magazines or on the Internet. It's nice to be able to just dip in and quickly finish a good story.

So, congratulations to Stephen Ross. New Zealand has a great tradition of short story writing, thanks to the likes of Katherine Mansfield, Frank Sargeson and CK Stead, as well as many contemporary practitioners, and high-profile competitions and awards like the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards and the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Short Story Awards - but it's terrific to see some Kiwi-penned mystery short stories also getting recognition, overseas at least.

Do you enjoy mystery short stories?

Waikato Times highlights local author's Edgar nomination

Further to my blog post last week congratulating Wellington-based novelist and TV screenwriter Neil Cross and Hamilton-based short story writer Stephen Ross for their Edgar nominations, it seems that some of the mainstream New Zealand media have started to pick up on the story.

The Waikato Times (the newspaper for Hamilton and surrounds, and one of the bigger newspapers in New Zealand) has over the weekend included a news story on Ross and his achievements, which is great to see. The news story, which you can read online here, also gives a bit more information about Ross, and his nominated story, "Monsieur Alice is Absent" - a murder mystery story set in France in the 1970s.

Kiwi flag flies amongst Edgar nominations!

With two writing nominations for Wellington-based crime novelist and screenwriter Neil Cross's excellent TV series Luther, and one for Hamilton-based short story writer Stephen Ross for his story "Monsieur Alice is Absent" (published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine), the New Zealand flag is certainly flying proudly amongst the Edgar Award nominations announced overnight (New Zealand time). Great stuff, terrific to see.

As many of you will know, the Edgars are like the Oscars of crime writing (possibly sharing that status with the Daggers - I'll let the organisers of each battle it out for which one is the Oscars, which the Golden Globes). Regardless of eventual results, it's fantastic to see a couple of New Zealand-based writers getting recognised in this way by the Mystery Writers of America.

You can read a bit more about Stephen Ross here, and at his website here.

You can read more about Neil Cross here, and at his website here.

Hopefully the bigger New Zealand media (TV, radio, newspapers/magazines) will pick up on the story and share it with more New Zealanders, because both Neil Cross and Stephen Ross deserve congratulations and wider acclaim for their achievements.

I will have more to say on the rest of the Edgar nominations (see here for full list), especially the best novel lineup, soon, but for now, go the Kiwis!

Comments welcome.

Flash Fiction: read the Derringer Award winner

At Bouchercon over the weekend, along with the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Award announcements, the winners of the annual Derringer Awards of the Short Mystery Fiction Society were revealed.

I love reading full-length crime novels, but I do also really enjoy crime-centred short stories, whether in the form of author collections like Peter Robinson's enjoyable The Price of Love, collections with numerous contributors like the recent The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors edited by Jonathan Santlofer and S.J. Rozan, or one-off stories in mystery magazines or on the Internet. It's nice to be able to just dip in and quickly finish a good story.

And for those who want to be able to really quickly pick up, read, and finish a good short story, then the Flash Fiction category (Up to 1000wds) might interest you. This year's Derringer winner in that category was "And Here's To You, Mrs Edwardson" by Hamilton Waymire, published in the webzine Big Pulp, November 23, 2009, a story of a pizza boy and an older woman.

The great thing is not only does it only take a couple/few minutes to read, the entire thing is available online, so you can all dive in and sample some award-winning crime fiction, right here.

What do you think of the winning Flash Fiction story? Do you like crime and mystery short stories, as well as novels? If so, what are some of your favourite authors/stories? What makes a good crime fiction short story? Thoughts and comments welcome.