It's official, DEAD IN RED and MURDER IS BINDING are both up on the Mystery Writers of America's list of books submitted for the Edgar -- which is the Mystery genre's equivalent of the Oscars.
What're the chances of my work making the short list of nominees?
Zippity do-dah.
What're the chances of me actually winning?
Can you say a cold day in hell?
First of all, MWA isn't exactly the world's most "woman-friendly" organization. Sure, women have won the award before (in fact, I think they got so much flack about the 2007 awards that they bent over backwards to make sure there were woman winners in 2008), but they're just paying lip service to cozy mystery authors, who are looked down by those in the MWA hierarchy--and much of the (male) membership.
Bitter? Me? Not in the least. I like to think of myself as realistic.
And to tell the truth, it feels good to see my name(s) up there on the list, even though I know it was my publishers who submitted the book(s). And in fact, I'm pretty sure my publishers know there's no chance in hell for their authors to win, either. But we all pretend like we're on equal footing.
Awards are actually pretty meaningless. Outside the industry, does anybody really know an Edgar from a Rita, from an Agatha, from an Anthony, from a Berry (or is that Barry?), from a Pushcart, and on and on? It's an ego thing, and I'm not above admitting I'd love to have the words "award-winning author" either in front of or behind my name.
Except for the Rita, most of these awards aren't particularly beautiful. But I admit it. I want one. No, two. No, three.
Honest, I'm not greedy, just needy.
Congratulations! At the least, it gets your name and titles "out there." I remember the car scene in MIB -- so well written I couldn't put the book down. Could a screenplay offer be next? I see great things in your future...
Posted by: Liz | December 12, 2008 at 07:35 AM
Boy, you ARE a good friend. (Love ya, Liz!)
Too bad my very best car chase will never see the light of print. It's in the unpublished FIRST second book in the Jeff Resnick series (although I suppose I could steal it and put it in another book . . .) The car even blew up. Wow--that was fun!
Posted by: Lorna Barrett | December 12, 2008 at 08:08 AM
It is a frustrating business in so many ways, isn't it? And yet people still say "Why are women still complaining when they've realized equality?" I guess they haven't really taken a look at things lately.
Awards are such a strange thing...you either have fans voting for their favorites (which I think is probably the best way), with the caveat that they're looking for the book they like the best -- perhaps not the best "literary" example. I can think of a lot of books I've loved that wouldn't win literary awards, but kept me reading faster than any literature masterpiece. OR you have a small group of people judging books, which means that those books chosen will depend on those people's tastes. If they are biased toward a certain kind of book they will think a book of a different kind is of lesser value.
It's a strange, hard business. So we have to just keep doing what we love and let the chips fall as they may. Keep writing, Lorraine! Your books are wonderful and no matter if you win awards or not you've got a fan in me.
Posted by: Judy Clemens | December 16, 2008 at 07:56 AM
Thanks, Judy. It's wonderful to have friends like you and Liz.
Posted by: Lorna Barrett | December 16, 2008 at 07:58 AM