Friday, May 31, 2013

Mystery Weekend Roundup May 31, 2013


DEADLINE ALERT!

The Tony Hillerman Prize is still accepting entries until tomorrow for the best first mystery novel set in a Southwest setting. All entries must be received or postmarked no later than June 1, so get that manuscript in the mail. The contest is sponsored by St. Martin's Press and awards the winner a book contract and $10,000. C'mon, make your mother proud! Send in that manuscript. Click the link in the first sentence for details, and download the form HERE.


Mystery and Writers Conferences

A couple of upcoming events of note: The California Crime Writers Conference runs June 22nd and 23rd. Guest Speakers Sue Grafton and Elizabeth George are featured. And the annual conference of the American Library Association starts June 27th until July 2nd in Chicago. For writers and readers alike, this is one of the best annual events in the book world.


 Local Appearances

In Massachusetts, up and coming writer Edith Maxwell is speaking at the Amesbury Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends. Edith is an organic farmer, has a PhD in linguistics and had a murder mystery published in May by Kensington, A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die. Visitors are welcome, but reservations are requested. Click here for more info.

Nancy Pickard and Jenny Milchman come to Kansas City! Nancy is a local, and a local favorite, but this may be Jenny's first visit to the Paris of the Plains. Both women will be at Mysteryscape Bookstore on June 1st to discuss Thirty Years in Publishing. Ms. Pickard is a best selling crime writer and the only one to win a Macavity (5), Anthony (4), Agatha and Shamus award. Jenny's debut novel, Cover of Snow has garnered a lot of attention, deservedly so, for its dark, suspenseful story and beautiful writing.

The discussion at Mysteryscape is free and open to the public, staring at 11:00 AM.




Obits


And, sadly, Jack Vance has passed away at the age of 96. A tireless science fiction and fantasy writer, he also wrote threee Ellery Queen novels, and won 3 Hugo awards, a Nebula and and Edgar. The LA Times has a nice tribute to him in their latest edition of Jacket Copy. He continued to write for the last thirty years of his life despite being legally blind.










And the Reverend Andrew Greeley passed away in Chicago following a long illness. He wrote over 100 books including 50 novels, many of them international best selling mysteries. He was an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church's handling of the child abuse scandals. Read more about this priest turned author, who wrote both about spiritual love and carnal desires, in this piece from the Vancouver Sun.


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