How many of these award winners have you read?

cj Sez: Congratulations to the winners and the nominees for Sisters in Crime Lefty Award winners! These novels should definitely be on your To-Be-Read list/stack.

From the SinC press release:

  Sisters in Crime salutes the four Lefty Award Winners, who received their honors last week at Left Coast Crime in Tucson. Here's a complete list of nominees with winners listed first by category.

1. Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel

✫ Ellen Byron, Bayou Book Thief (Berkley Prime Crime)

Jennifer J. Chow, Death by Bubble Tea (Berkley Prime Crime)

A.J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom (NeWest Press)

T.G. Herren, A Streetcar Named Murder (Crooked Lane Books)

Catriona McPherson, Scot in a Trap (Severn House)

2. Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (The Bill Gottfried Memorial for books covering events before 1970)

✫ Wanda M. Morris, Anywhere You Run (William Morrow)

Dianne Freeman, A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (Kensington Books)

Catriona McPherson, In Place of Fear (Mobius)

Karen Odden, Under a Veiled Moon (Crooked Lane Books)

Ann Parker, The Secret in the Wall (Poisoned Pen Press)

Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire (Touchwood Editions)

3. Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel

✫ Ramona Emerson, Shutter (Soho Crme)

Erin E. Adams, Jackal (Bantam Books)

Eli Cranor, Don’t Know Tough (Soho Crime)

Meredith Hambrock, Other People’s Secrets (Crooked Lane Books)

Harini Nagendra, The Bangalore Detectives Club (Pegasus Crime)

Rob Osler, Devil’s Chew Toy (Crooked Lane Books)

Jane Pek, The Verifiers (Vintage Books)

4. Lefty for Best Mystery Novel

✫ Kellye Garrett, Like a Sister (Mulholland Books)

Laurie R. King, Back to the Garden (Bantam Books)

James L’Etoile, Dead Drop (Level Best Books)

Gigi Pandian, Under Lock & Skeleton Key (Minotaur Books)

Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities (Minotaur Books)

Alex Segura, Secret Identity (Flatiron Books)

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CLASSIC PIECES RETOLD is available for pre-order!

  In this sixth installment of the Mobile Writers Guild Pieces anthology series, members pay homage to some favorite classic works now in the public domain—novels, short stories, and poems. (I have retold two Agatha Christie short mysteries.)

   Mark your calendars for the book signing by multiple authors at The Haunted Book Shop during Mobile’s April 14 LoDa Art Walk. 

   Not able to be there but would like signed copies? Pre-order copies from The Haunted Book Shop and request they have them signed for you on April 14.  https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

   For Amazon purchases, click here: Buy CLASSIC PIECES Now

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety. 

cj

   No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

➜ Follow me on . . .  

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➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

In the Did'ja Know Department

 cj Sez: CLASSIC PIECES RETOLD is available for pre-order!

Buy CLASSIC PIECES Now

   In this sixth installment of the Mobile Writers Guild Pieces anthology series, members pay homage to some of their favorite classic works in the public domain. Inside the pages of this book are tributes to the authors’ favorite novels, short stories, and poems. (I have retold two Agatha Christie short mysteries.)

 
   And wait, there’s more! Mark your calendars for the book signing by multiple authors at The Haunted Bookshop during Mobile’s April 14 LoDa Art Walk.

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FYI readers and writers, your lesson for the day

   Do you know the difference between a thriller and a suspense novel? Here's what I found . . . 
 
   “Thrillers are about the push and pull between the protagonist and the antagonist.
 

   David Morrell says, “Thrillers strive for heightened emotions and emphasize the sensations of what might be called an obstacle race and a scavenger hunt.” Will Jack be able to save the bus passengers before the villain detonates the bomb (Speed)? Will Nick prove Amy framed him for her disappearance (Gone Girl)? 

 
   “In a thriller, a reader usually asks the question ‘How?’ and is propelled through the story by action.” Joel Goldman contends. “Both the reader and the hero of a thriller novel already know who’s responsible for the crime, and both are waiting to see how that criminal will be brought to justice.”
 
   Suspense is about tension and what may happen, and can be present in any genre.
 
   Writer’s Digest’s Writer’s Encyclopedia says, “Suspense is the element of both fiction and some nonfiction that makes the reader uncertain about the outcome. While most obvious in mystery stories such as those published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, suspense is present in all good fiction.”
   

Best Selling Crime Writer, Libby Fischer Hellman, writes, “Suspense is not so much what is happening, as what may happen. It’s about anticipation, often anticipating the worst.
 
   Award winning author Steven James believes thriller writing, mystery writing, and literary fiction are all the same. “Simply put, if you don’t hook your readers, they won’t get into the story. If you don’t drive the story forward by making readers worry about your main character, they won’t have a reason to keep reading.”
 
  cj’s question is:  When so many novels have some of both of these genres (and more) in them, do the labels really matter?
 
   New York Times Bestselling Author Allison Brennan says “The difference between thrillers and suspense in fiction is primarily marketing. They can be used interchangeably for many books.” (Source: Excepts from https://diymfa.com/reading/mystery-thriller-suspense-label-matter ) 

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cj Sez:  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.
 
cj

  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.
P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
 
➜ Follow me on . . .  
➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

DST and Mobile Literary Festival report

 cj Sez: Daylight Saving Time is here.

  Did you remember to Spring Forward one hour? I did then forgot to actually do it.

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  Literary Festival Small banner  I had a wonderful time at the Mobile Literary Festival yesterday, an event that shines the spotlight on local authors and poets, both traditionally and self-published.

SRO in "Children's Books..."

  The Festival was well attended. Published prose authors and editors conducted workshops, poets read from their works, and a TV crew even showed up to interview the woman behind the MLF: Jodie Cain Smith.

  The Haunted Book Shop had a pop-up book store presence where attendees could buy books by local authors and have them autographed on the spot. Guess who didn’t get her books there. Sigh. Family life kind of interfered. Authors needed to get them to the library by Friday before the conference, but I was left without access to my vehicle to transport them on Friday.

  On the plus side, I did get to sit in on the “Pantster v. Plotter: The Great Debate” workshop. I was interested in the in-depth descriptions and analyses by the writers of both processes, but I think I’m still a pathfinder. 

  The Mobile Writers Guild “Pitch War” panel (authors, editors, agent) critiqued twenty-nine pitches. I’m thinking the MWG needs to offer a hands-on/practice workshop on what agents expect to see.

  All of that in one day, and it was free! The Festival was sponsored by the Mobile Writers Guild, the Mobile Public Library, and The Haunted Book Shop. Thank you and sa-lute. (Psst: I heard there are already plans in the works for next year.) 

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  I’m happy to repost the gorgeous cover of the Mobile Writers Guild upcoming anthology, CLASSICS RETOLD PIECES, in which I have retold two Agatha Christie short mysteries.

  Stay tuned for contributor spotlights and a release date, coming soon.

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

  P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

It's a cover reveal !

 
cj Sez: I am beyond thrilled to share the gorgeous cover of the Mobile Writers Guild upcoming anthology, CLASSIC PIECES RETOLD, in which I have retold two Agatha Christie closed-door mysteries.
 

Another beautiful cover design by MWG member, Steven Moore

  Stay tuned for contributor spotlights and a release date
 

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  If you’re in the Mobile, AL, area, you’re in great luck. The (FREE) Mobile Literary Festival returns after its pandemic hiatus. WRITE NOW comes  to the Ben May Main Library on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
 

Great topics, excellent faculty, shopping and networking breaks, longer lunch break.
 
Which workshop piques your interest? I’ll be part of the work crew, but hope to break out a bit of time to listen to the pros and cons of “Pantster v. Plotter: The Great Debate."
 
The plot vs. pants session will be an in-depth look at the strengths and weaknesses in the process of heavily outlining the work (plotting, story boarding, etc.) versus writing the first words of a project without any idea of what the outcome will be (writing by the seat of your pants.) Of course there are a ton of ways to approach a writing project, so the Festival invited three different authors—Carrie Dalby (Possession Chronicles series), Amy Delcambre (Secret Mobile, A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure), and Amanda Gibson (In the Absence of Serpents)—to share their insights on the pros and cons of their preferred process. Ought to be a very interesting workshop, since I consider myself a “pathfinder.”

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For your reading enjoyment

Carrie Dalby's Possession Chronicles

 

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.
 
cj

No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
 
➜ Follow me on . . .  
➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6