Monday, October 11: The Scribbler
BREVITY BEING THE SOUL OF WIT . . .
by James Lincoln Warren
Today’s Scribbler is of necessity brief. Criminally brief, if I may say so.
This last week I’ve been busier than the proverbial one-armed paper-hanger. (Can anybody tell me what proverb contains a reference to a one-armed paper-hanger? No? @#$%&!.)
To complicate matters, Bouchercon begins on Thursday. I have not yet begun to pack.
So, Gentle Reader, please excuse me for not waxing prolix as usual. As I am typing, I am expected elsewhere. So let me just share couple of things that have made my life less difficult this week. And it has been a difficult week, but you don’t care about that.
Item the First:
John Floyd informs me that both he and I are the recipients of an unexpected, albeit unremunerated but not therefore unwelcome honor: the new Best American Mystery Stories 2010, edited by Lee Child and Otto Penzler, has listed under “Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2009”, both John’s story “The Powder Room” (AHMM Jul/Aug 2009) and my own “Shanghaied” (AHMM Jan/Feb 2009). For both of us, this is a signal honor. I might also mention that in the same issue as “Shanghaied”, John had a story, too: “Remembering Tally”.
Item the Second:
I just sold a story to AHMM called “The Satan League”. (The trailer is shown above.). It’s the first Treviscoe story in five years, and I’m proud of it. It should come out sometime in 2011.
Item the Third:
The Criminal Brief panel at Bouchercon, “In Case of Madness”, will take place this Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, on the Embarcadero. Our panel will be immediately followed by the presentation of the 2009 Derringer Awards. (I will be accepting our regular contributor Hamilton’s on his behalf.)
I have no clue at all what the title of our panel is supposed to mean, but the moderator, Jill Amadio, is an old friend of mine and I’m confident she’ll do a fabulous job. Along with me, Melodie Johnson Howe, Robert Lopresti, Angela Zeman, and Steve Steinbock among CBers are on the panel.
That’s all for now. I’ll be a little more loquacious after the convention. Ciao!
Well, cool!
Aw, I thought I was gonna be able to surprise you and John. I saw the book yesterday. Mucho congrats to you both for a well-deserved honor. And double congrats for The Return of Treviscoe.
ANd I am sorry you had a difficult week. May it be the worst of the year.
Congrats to you and John! See you Friday, if not before.
Terrie
Many thanks, Rob–you too, Terrie. I found out about it from Anita Page (is that a great name for a writer, or what?) when she emailed me after spotting the mention of my story in the book.
Boy I’m really sorry to have to miss Bcon this year. You guys have a great time, and I’ll be expecting a full report.
Hey,
Congrats you two.
Wow, cool trailer!
Congratulations, Jim and John. A well-deserved honor.
Any chance you might make an audio recording of the CB panel available here?
Enjoy B’con. And thanks for representing me at the Derringer Awards!
Any chance you might make an audio recording of the CB panel available here?
Yes.
And thanks for representing me at the Derringer Awards!
The last time I accepted an award for an absent colleague, it was the 2003 Edgar® for Best Factual Crime book, won by the legendary Joseph Wambaugh for Fire Lover, who was unavoidably delayed in San Diego. At that time, I had never even met Joe Wambaugh.
That year the Edgar® Banquet was produced by Robert S. Levinson (who will be joining us for our own Criminal Brief “banquet” this year in San Francisco), a mutual friend, and he pushed me up on stage to take the coveted bust of Eddie, since he was occupied running the show. The MC was Jerry Orbach. One of my fleeting brushes with fame.
I am just as proud to be standing in for you, Hamilton.
As a long-time follower of Criminal Brief, I’m looking forward to attending the panel and meeting you all in person.
Congratulations all around!