Left Coast Crime

I'm very excited to be attending Left Coast Crime this year. If any of you will be there, please look for me. I've learned that this process of getting published is a fun (but sometimes frustrating) process of connections and dedication.

And here's a list of the Left Coast Crime 2011 Award Nominations:

Four awards will be given at Left Coast Crime's 22nd annual convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The winners will be selected by ballot at the convention. We are delighted to announce the nominees for books published in 2010:

The Lefty has been awarded for the best humorous mystery novel since 1996. This year's nominees, in alphabetical order, are:


Donna Andrews, Stork Raving Mad (Minotaur Books)
Laura DiSilverio, Swift Justice (Minotaur Books/Thomas Dunne Books)
Donna Moore, Old Dogs (Busted Flush Press)
Kris Neri, Revenge for Old Times' Sake (Cherokee McGhee)
J. Michael Orenduff, The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein (Oak Tree Press)


The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, first awarded in 2004, is given for mystery novels covering events before 1950. This year's nominees are:


Rebecca Cantrell, A Night of Long Knives (Forge Books)
Robert Kresge, Murder for Greenhorns (ABQ Press)
Kelli Stanley, City of Dragons (Minotaur Books)
Jeri Westerson, The Demon's Parchment (Minotaur Books)
Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death (HarperCollins)


The Hillerman Sky Award is a special award given this year, in honor of the convention's New Mexico location, to the mystery that best captures the landscape of the Southwest:


Sandy Ault, Wild Penance (Berkley Hardcover)
Christine Barber, The Bone Fire (Minotaur Books)
Margaret Coel, The Spider's Web (Berkley Hardcover)
Deborah J Ledford, Snare (Second Wind Publishing)


The Watson is another special award given this year to the mystery novel with the best sidekick. The nominees are:


Sandy Ault, Wild Penance (Berkley Hardcover)
Rachel Brady, Dead Lift (Poisoned Pen Press)
Chris Grabenstein, Rolling Thunder (Pegasus)
Craig Johnson, Junkyard Dogs (Viking)
Spencer Quinn, To Fetch a Thief (Atria)


If you're coming to the convention where we will vote on the award winners, now you've got your reading list!

Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich, LCC 2011 Awards Committee Co-Chairs
Pari Noskin Taichert, LCC 2011 Chair