Derringer Winners

I apologize for posting this late. For one, I thought the announcements were due out on May 15, but they were actually announced on May 1st. And for two, the first week of May happened to be an extraordinarily busy week for me in my other world (not writing -- I was taking finals in a grad school course, graduating and driving 2000 miles with my wife) so I completely missed the announcement.

My story "Dead Even" didn't win.

But some great stories did, and they came from some great crime fiction sources. If you dig crime fiction, you should consider using this list as a jumping off point for authors you haven't tried yet and/or magazines or anthologies you haven't checked out before.

The winners were:

BEST FLASH STORY (Up to 1,000 Words)*:
"No Place Like Home" by Dee Stuart
Published in: MYSTERICAL-E
"No Flowers for Stacey" by Ruth McCartyPublished in DEADFALL: CRIME STORIES BY NEW ENGLAND WRITERS
*An oversight was discovered after the group vote, and "No Flowers for Stacey" was declared a second winner for Best Flash Story.

BEST SHORT STORY (1,001 to 4,000 Words): "The Cost of Doing Business" by Michael Penncavage
Published in: THUGLIT

BEST LONG STORY (4,001 to 8,000 Words): "The Quick Brown Fox" by Robert S. Levinson
Published in: ALFRED HITCHCOCK MYSTERY MAGAZINE

BEST NOVELETTE (8,001 to 17,500 Words): "Too Wise" by O'Neil De Noux
Published in: ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE

2009 Recipient of the EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Clark Howard

Many congratulations to the winners, all of whom came to the table with excellent tales!

"Dead Even" a Derringer Finalist

I'm happy to announce that my short story "Dead Even" is a finalist for the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Award.

The Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) is exactly what it sounds like: a conglomeration of readers, writers, editors and others centered around crime/mystery short fiction. At last count, there were well over a thousand members. The main forum is a Yahoo group and it is a very active group.

The Derringer is the award that the SMFS presents to the best short story of the year. There are actually four categories, divided by length. This is a good thing, because especially with shorter fiction, story length can really be a matter of apples and oranges. Is an 800 word piece that captures all the mystery, tension and character of a story better than an 8000 word piece that packs all the elements of a novel into that tight package? No, they're different. Thus, the four different categories.

"Dead Even" is a finalist in the 4001-8000 word category. It is up against four other great stories. These five were selected from about 33 nominations in blind readings by judges. The next step is for the SMFS members to read the five finalist stories and vote for their favorite in each category. This takes place throughout April, with the winners announced on May 15th.

"Dead Even" was eligible because it was published during 2008. The story appeared in the Red Coyote Press anthology, Medium of Murder. This anthology is still available from the publisher or any book outlet (Amazon or bookstores).

This is the third time one of my stories has been a finalist for this award. In 2007, my story "The Worst Door" was a finalist and in 2006, it was my longer piece, "Good Shepherd." Neither won, but it was still a personal thrill for me to have been nominated and selected as a finalist.

I will keep you posted once the results are in.

By the way, if you like short mystery fiction, anyone can join SMFS. You don't have to be a writer or an editor, just a reader who is interested in the topic. They frequently mention new markets where good mysteries appear and although there isn't discussion about novels, the writers are allowed to mention when theirs come out.

I'm not telling you this so you can go join and vote for me. For one thing, you can't. Only members who were members during 2008 are allowed to vote. This keeps people from stuffing the ballot boxes, which I wouldn't want to do anyway. The SMFS rules for eligibility and voting make it a much truer measure of which story is (subjectively, at least) the best of the finalists. I say this with full sincerity, even though my stories came out on the short end of the process the last two times. It's a good system and a fair system and that, I believe, makes the finalist achievement and the ultimate award far more meaningful.

If you do join, though, you can still read all the finalists and get a good taste of some great crime fiction. Be prepared for diversity if you do. SMFS is all over the map, from cozies to procedurals to whodunits to hardboiled and more.

Give it a try...and check out Red Coyote Press, too. In addition to Medium of Murder, they have Map of Murder (my story "In the Shadow of El Paso" is in this one) and Medley of Murder.

River City Update

Over the past six months, a number of people have asked me, "Where can I get the newest River City novel? When is Beneath a Weeping Sky coming out?"

I have to say, I really appreciate the fact that there are people eager to read the next installment of the River City series. And it is very much finished. In fact, I've finished about half of the fourth book, And Every Man Has To Die.

The problem? Well, it is on the business side.

For whatever reason, my publisher has simply not moved forward with this project. I think it would be unprofessional of me to air out the details, but the end result is that I've severed my connection with them. Which means that I am now looking for a new publisher and/or an agent.

What does that mean for River City? Well, it means that I can't say exactly when the next novel will be published, but trust me -- it will. I am very confident in this next book and in the series as a whole. It is merely a matter of finding the right home.

If you're a writer, you know very well what I'm experiencing now. If you're a reader, I'd ask for your patience. Check here every once in a while for updates. Give some of my short stories and anthologies a try (many contain River City characters and settings). Keep an eye out and soon enough I'll be announcing when my next book will be published.

I want to say thanks to all the readers and other writers who have been supportive during this difficult time. Your interest in River City stories and characters has been a thrill to me since the very first of you took the time to read something I'd wrote. I couldn't be luckier when it comes to having good writer friends and smart, enthusiastic readers.

I don't normally include personal items in this blog, but I'm making an exception today. This summer, I'm going to marry the woman I've been in love with for thirty years. There's quite a story there, but the only mystery is why I waited so long to tell her how I felt...only to discover she'd felt the same way the entire time. All of this was going on during these business difficulties with my publisher, so go figure, huh? Once again, I've been pretty lucky in many ways.

Watch this space for more River City news!

Shae & Laddie "Quadrilogy" Complete

"Egyptian Eyes and Irish Lies", the final installment of the four-story arc involving Shae and Laddie is now available in the Winter issue of MYSTERICAL-E. Here's the link:

http://www.mystericale.com/index.php?issue=current_issue&body=file&file=egyptian.htm

As with the previous three, I narrated this story. That narration is available as a podcast. Don't expect too much -- I'm a writer, not an actor -- but it was fun to do.

While you're there, check out the other great crime fiction shorts. M-E always has an eclectic line-up with new and established writers. In addition to that, the art work is excellent.

Book Talk!

I'm pleased to announce that I'm the featured author on Book Talk with Jen, a fiction blog. The blog focuses a lot on romance, but not exclusively. Jen did an interview with me that will be running all this week.

Here is the link:

http://booksbypickles.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-with-frank-zafiro.html

She asked some good questions and there is a contest for some free books, so check it out!

Deadlines is OUT!

Deadlines, the dark fiction anthology containing my short story "In Your Warm and Darkened Grave," is now available from Comet Press!

You can find it on Amazon or at any other bookseller.

Cheryl Mullenix, the editor, has put together a great collection of spooky stories. If you like dark fiction (horror-esque), this is worth a try.

More News

A few things to report.

First up, some sad news. Mouthfull of Bullets has discontinued publication. The magazine had a good run, even breaking into a print version for a while. I have no doubt that it would have continued to rise in prominence, but the editor simply didn't have enough time to dedicate to publishing the magazine. These things are often labors of love, paying little or nothing and gobbling up huge chunks of time. I saw this briefly when I served as an associate editor for Colin Conway's online mag A Cruel World. Real life responsibilities such as work and family can't be neglected and so projects like a small crime fiction magazine sometimes fall by the wayside.

On a personal note, the demise of MFoB means that the remaining three installments of "The Bastard Mummy" won't appear there. It looks like I'll need to find another home for that story.

Good news. My short story, "A New Life" is now up at Mysterical-E. This is the third story in the four-story arc involving Shae and Laddie. The audio version is also available. You can listen to it (or read it or both) here:

http://www.mystericale.com/index.php?issue=current_issue&body=file&file=a_new_life.htm

This issue also contains positive reviews of my novel, Heroes Often Fail and the anthology Medium of Murder, which I contributed to. Those are here: http://www.mystericale.com/index.php?issue=current_issue&body=file&file=book_reviews.htm

On another note, November 2008 has been announced as the release date for the Comet Press anthology Deadlines. My short story "In Your Warm and Darkened Grave" will appear in this book. I've seen the galleys and the editors have done a great job. Cover art is forthcoming, but you can read more about Comet Press here: http://cometpress.us/

I'll pass it on when this anthology is available for purchase.

All of the anthologies that I've had stories in are listed on my website, here: http://frankzafiro.com/index.php?page=anthology

I still have a few copies of most of them, so feel free to email me if you would like to buy one.

I have started work on a new book, tentatively titled At This Point in My Life. While it is a mystery, it isn't a River City novel. It's still in the very early stages, but shaping up to be an interesting ride.

Speaking of River City...well, things are still delayed. More to come.