A very pleasant surprise last week (actually, two of them): the International Thriller Writers have nominated YOU CAN’T STOP ME for Best Paperback and the Mike Hammer “Long Time Dead” for Best Short Story.
Matt Clemens and I had been told that YOU CAN’T STOP ME had made the short list of ten for the ITW honor, but we were nonetheless blown away by the actual nomination. This comes at a very good time for us because, frankly, the current Harrow book isn’t burning up the bookstands, and we are (in TV terms) “on the bubble” with the fledgling series.
If you have not read either Harrow – YOU CAN’T STOP ME and the current NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU – maybe this news will be enough to get ya off the dime. I believe the Kindle prices on both books are very low – under five bucks each last time I checked.
And of course it’s very, very rewarding to have a Spillane/Collins collaboration singled out. Some people dismiss the posthumous Spillane material, without even a read, citing “purist” notions about not wanting to subject themselves to a work started by one writer and completed by another. Apparently they never read Ellery Queen.
Anyway, here is the full list of the nominees:
http://www.thebigthrill.org/2011/04/2011-thriller-awards-nominees/
As I’ve said before, one of the cool surprises the net can serve up is a new review for an old book. Here’s a nice one about the Mallory novel, NICE WEEKEND FOR A MURDER. Mallory has been getting a little love lately, out in cyberspace, so maybe one of these days we’ll get him back into print.
OurTop Suspense Group anthology keeps getting great reviews, like this one. There are occasional complaints about typos and inconsistencies story-to-story, and we’re cleaning those up as we can – it’s a home-made effort by pros, understand. You can get it in actual book form now, and it’s really a beautiful-looking book. Reads good, too.
KISS HER GOODBYE keeps racking up nice reviews – this one is from somebody who I frankly think is getting jaded (he likes GOLIATH BONE and BIG BANG better – most reviewers and readers…including Jane Spillane…think KISS HER is the best of the trio), but overall it’s another good one.
Last week Barb and I wrapped up ANTIQUES DISPOSAL and got it shipped (well, e-mailed) to Kensington. We took two days off for a getaway (to Des Moines – yes, our life is a glittering, glorious, glamorous Jet Set fantasy) and came back for a nice weekend (not for murder) with son Nate, his girl Abby and our granddog, the supremely insane Australian Blue Heeler, Toaster. Also got in a really good Crusin’ gig at the local Eagles Lodge Hall, for Eagles pooh-bahs from all over the grand state of Iowa.
It is true, by the way, that Crusin’ will be playing at Bouchercon in St. Louis this fall. We will be having a handful of mystery-writer guests who will join us on a few songs. No instrumental sit-ins (that way lies madness), but we will have some guest vocalists. The first we’ve invited: Bob Randisi. Are you out there, Parnell Hall?
M.A.C.
Tags: Antiques Disposal, Awards, Barbara Allan, Bouchercon 2011, Crusin', JC Harrow, Kiss Her Goodbye, Mallory, Mike Hammer, Nice Weekend For A Murder, Reviews, Spillane, Top, Top Suspense, Trash 'n' Treasures, You Can't Stop Me
Congratulations on the nominations, I hope you win and I hope the series continues. You’re an under-appreciated writer and I get psyched whenever I pick up something new, old or ancient by you.
I’ve got an off topic comment/ question here: You mentioned when the hardback of “The Goliath Bone” came out that your name was tiny on the cover, and it was. I took a look at the rack-sized paperback this week and wondered if it might have grown a bit with all the good reviews.
Congrats on the nomination. I can attest to how good the two J. C. Harrow are, but haven’t read the Hammer short story.
Not sure about the re-design on the paperback GOLIATH. Not sure reviews had anything to do with it. But the truth is, my name in the original design of the hardcover would have required a magnifying glass to see.