Spinetingler Awards: Best Short Story On The Web Nominees
Books, News | Sandra_Ruttan | March 23, 2009 at 12:24 pmThe full list of nominees for the second annual Spinetingler Awards will be announced in a matter of days. The Spinetingler nominees have been selected by an editorial panel; the winners will be determined by public vote through an online voting system that will allow readers to have their say in each of the ten categories.
In anticipation of the pending announcement, we’ve decided to announce the nominees in the short story category early to allow readers the opportunity to check out some of the short fiction that we felt stood out this year. The nominees are:
- Cold Rifts by Sandra Seamans
(Originally published at Crooked) – READ HERE.
- Fruits by Steve Mosby
(Originally published by Spinetingler) – READ HERE.
- Hard Bite by Anonymous-9
(Originally published at Beat to a Pulp) – READ HERE.
- Lenny and Earl Go Shooting Off Their Mouths by Ray Morrison
(originally published at Word Riot) – READ HERE.
- Random Acts of Fatherhood by Robert Pesa
(Originally published at Darkest Before the Dawn) – READ HERE.
- Red Hair and Black Leather by Jordan Harper
(Originally published at Thuglit) – READ HERE.
- She Watches Him Swim by Claude Lalumière
(Originally published at Back Alley) – READ HERE.
- Sisters Under the Skin by Naomi Johnson
(Originally published at A Twist of Noir) READ HERE.
- They Take You by Kyle Minor
(Originally published at Plots With Guns) – READ HERE.
- Wishing on Whores by John Weagly
(Originally published at Thieves Jargon) – READ HERE.
Congratulations to all the nominees. Voting instructions will be available when the nominees in the other categories are announced. Look for announcements at Spinetingler Magazine, Bookspot Central and Crime Zine Report.
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Cool!!! I’ve been waiting for these to come out!!!
Smashing list, especially Sandra and Anonymous 9.
Awesome, I wanted to check out some Mosby fiction anyway!
Hmm. She watches him swim reads more like a description than a story. It’s more of a slice-of-life than a story. Needs a plot.
Darkest Before Dawn is definitely more noir than I like, but the story is very good. It has a certain emotional draw, along with a good mystery to it. It’s the kind of story where you need more-you want to follow the characters to make sure they are going to be okay.
Wishing on Whores is rather dark and kind of sick. I didn’t hate it. But I don’t know that I liked it either. The story telling is good because I made it to the end. But still. These are not people I want to meet. Ever.
Lenny and Earl aren’t going to be dinner guests either.
Cold Rifts. Grim. But with a lot of character. Not likable characters, but believable ones. Motivated ones.
I’m not done reading yet, but I feel a need to go read an adventurous story filled with hope. Even a faint ray of one.
LOL Maria. I’ll probably share some of my own thoughts about the stories at some point, a few anyway.
For now, I will say this. After wading through hundreds of online short stories, we were astounded at how many deal with the issue of abuse, and abuse victims taking matters into their own hands. Stories that didn’t touch on well trodden themes automatically stood out, but that also says something about the stories that did touch on those themes that got nominated (like Cold Rifts) because the writing had to be very strong to get our attention.
It isn’t that any one story is bad, because of course they are all well-written stories. It’s that overall they are relentless in horror and/or violence as a theme. And that’s not to say it’s a reflection of the judge’s choices. I’d say it pretty accurately reflects the little crime reading I do of shorts (at least online). There is a dearth of locked-room puzzles, lighter fare of the who-dun-it–where the body is out of sight and the mystery of who is guilty must be solved from a selection of suspects. Most of these stories here border on horror (the Mosby is clearly in that camp–Poe comes instantly to mind after reading that story).
In my reading (not just of these stories, but in the last couple of years) there seems to indeed be a theme that in order to be a “crime” it must be absolutely horrible/shocking and therefor often children are thrown in–because that is naturally the most horrible of all. This is a move away from serial killers which seemed to be the theme before that–a buildup of–horror/fear again, but of a different type.
I miss the PI stories (thrilling detective used to have some very good ones), the detection type, the locked room and the who is guilty of the crime–where the crime didn’t necessarily have to be gruesome murder. A skillfully done crime story can have a lot of emotional draw–even if the crime doesn’t involve murder or abuse.
Of course, many here know my reading preferences and it would certainly be considered light-weight. :>0 But many of these stories rely on horror or horrific as an important device for drawing the reading along rather than the “mystery” or solving of a “crime.”
Examples of “mystery” or “crime” stories that fall more into the detection and “solving” would be something like “Dead Men Don’t Cry” by Nancy Fulda. For that matter, A Buffalito of Mars by Lawrence M. Schoen is also a crime story. Both have speculative elements, but both rely more on solving the crime than…the details, mindsets of the criminals or the atmosphere and culture of criminals. (That isn’t to say either story was even eligible for the award; I read them both through anthologybuilder –it’s just for comparison of different types of stories).
All in all, I’m almost ready for the voting!
This is the biggest thrill! Thank you Spinetingler.
Anonymous-9
This is awesome! Thanks!!!
Maria, that seems to be an issue within the genre overall – particularly online. For some reason, the dominate activity I see within the genre in the online community (ie: Crimespot linked) tends toward the dark. And shocking.
I’ve been told my books aren’t dark enough. (shrug)
The short story category is a challenging one for us. It’s important, because we do need more filters for quality work published online, so we’ve limited the category to stories originally published online. There was an open invitation to any ezine within the genre to have their editor put forward three stories that they felt should be considered for the awards. That post was made on Crime Zine Report and Short Mystery Fiction Society, and picked up by The Rap Sheet, so we cast as wide a net as was possible. We didn’t stop there with our reading, as some of the publications that did publish a nominee didn’t submit editorial picks for consideration, but only half a dozen editors did submit picks. (And not all of those publications are represented in the nominations.) Beyond that, it was up to us to wade through what we were aware of online, and that means we probably only scratched the surface. Something like 250 stories read just last month.
The transient reality of the ezine publication world is another challenge. All too often ezines spring up and disappear virtually overnight. For that reason, we looked at places still active, or that had a minimum of two issues produced last year… or at least 8 or 9 stories.
Anyway, it’s much like any awards. If your publisher doesn’t send your book in for the Edgar, you won’t get considered. We went way beyond that, but content-wise She Watches Him Swim was probably the least graphic/shocking story I read. That alone wasn’t what made it stand out to me. What made it stand out was that it wasn’t about a crime of action, but lack of action, and that with that decision the woman’s behavior is how she sees the man’s – working without a plan and just coasting with the current opportunity. It’s an interesting twist and it shows – without being graphic or shocking – how you can push the boundaries of the genre.
Sandra, who do you has the most accomplished, collected/printed catalog of short fiction in Crime/Mystery in terms of writers who have arrived over the last decade or so.
If I understand the question correctly then the answer is no one since individual author story collections are a rarity in the genre. It’s not like a Jeffrey Ford who has a new collection come out every couple of years in between novels.
One of the questions I’ve been grappling with lately (and more directly in the upcoming series) is the simple question of ‘what is the purpose of short mystery/crime fiction?’
It’s not like in SF/F where the young bucks put out a collection before they even have a novel. Where some of the best fiction is in the short form. It’s been my experience that, for the most part, it’s the big names that only get collections (Lehane, Lippman). Though there are/can be exceptions.
And to be clear I’m not saying that mystery/crime short fiction isn’t good, because it can be, just that, when taken as a whole, it often feels directionless to me.
Wow! Thank you, Spinetingler, I’m still reeling from the shock of seeing my name on that list.
And to address Maria’s question. There are so few zines that publish cozies that in order to get published on line you find yourself writing darker and darker stories. I love writing humorous mysteries but there are only two or three online markets for them. It just boils down to one simple thing, providing what the market wants.
Jay, I think Brian already hit the nail on the head, but I’ll add to that that I wouldn’t even think about pursuing a short story collection myself this decade, and I don’t mean that as as much of a joke as it may sound. A lot of authors have 12-15 books to their credit before they do a short story collection.
A few years ago Val McDermid did a short story collection and she published it under VL McDermid so that the lower sales wouldn’t affect store orderings for her next series novel – and that’s an author who’s a multi-million selling author with a tv series based on her characters.
I think the primary purpose of short crime fiction is for the writer, to flex their muscles, literary cross-training because short fiction forces you to work on different aspects of your writing.
And, if asked to think about someone who’s made an impressive mark that’s come up just in the past ten years, I suppose Allan Guthrie and Duane Swierczynski would be the first that come to mind. We had lunch with Duane a few weeks ago and he’s insanely busy – so busy most people have no idea about half of what he’s working on. His career is exploding, and in a good way, but he’s diversified his output through comics and script writing as well.
Al is one of those annoying people who seems incapable of writing a bad book, just to make the rest of us feel a bit better.
And to everyone else, congratulations. All nominations are much deserved.
Agreed — except Al and Duane aren’t known for their short fiction as a whole.
It’s almost like the short form is viewed as a stepping stone to something larger (an agent, a book deal, novel publication) rather then somewhere where a home can be built.
Well damn it, somebody needs to rise up and become the Thomas Ligotti of Crime fiction!
Thanks.
@nominees — yes congrats! Don’t take my comments as criticism, they are just impressions. As I said, all are well-written works.
@Ms Seamans–I think you are right. There are very few “fun” mysteries or locked box or that type online (which is a major reason I don’t read much online mystery anymore). I can find the occasional such story in the two print magazines (Ellery and Alfred) although the last issue I read (a year ago or so) was so dark that it did not entice me to buy again. Yes, to be published, you have to write what pubs are buying–in my case that meant I switched to writing fantasy where the onlines have a much, much wider breadth. They also tend to pay a bit more. Of course, I have noticed that if you look at the whole picture of fantasy/sci/fi–there are more horror/dark magazines than any other category. This holds true for calls for anthologies–the vast majority have a dark or horror theme.
I don’t have to have cozy all the time, but there is such a thing as over-saturation, certainly for this reader.
@SandraR – I guess I’ve read more crimes of omissions than you! Especially in the last year or so. Revenge crimes seem to be another ongoing theme so for me that one was particularly startling. Don’t make your writing darker. :>)
And again, I agree–I think the picks here are a good reflection of what is online in the mystery world. You guys did an enormous amount of work–and I can safely say that there is no way I would have done it.
Brian–
I’ve read a number of agent blogs that rep mysteries–and seen several comments that they are not interested in hearing about short story publications so don’t bother to include them in a cover letter. (Some want that sort of thing, others don’t). I always thought it was strange, when they don’t want them listed, especially if it is the only credit, but you are right. I had not noticed that anthologies by mystery authors are in short supply. Agents probably are looking at it more as what they can sell–if they can’t sell shorts, they aren’t as interested in them as a credit/listing on a resume.
Yeah – and this actually hits on part of the reason this category is so difficult. There have been a lot of aspiring authors who’ve started ezines with the specific (and admitted) purpose of raising their profile so they can get a book deal. The ezine often disappears as soon as that happens, or they figure out it isn’t as easy as they think.
There was a short story collection a few years ago, all about the belief that when a person’s head is severed from the body, the brain lives for a short length of time (I think it’s 45 seconds) and all the stories used that but I can’t remember who wrote it.
And I am hard pressed to think of who – beyond someone like Stephen D. Rogers – is well known just for their fiction. Stephen’s a great writer but as far as I know he doesn’t have a published collection. I think he’s had something ridiculous, like 500 works published.
I am thrilled beyond words to get a nomination. This was completely out of the blue. Thanks to the good folks at ‘Spinetingler’ for reading above and beyond the call of duty. And thanks to Christopher Grant and the folks at ‘A Twist of Noir’ for encouraging this rookie writer. This all makes laundry day a lot less of a chore today.
Just to echo a couple of other people – thanks! A pleasure, and a surprise, to be nominated.
I’m glad to see Anonymous 9 get a nod. If a reader were to follow each of her published stories, they’d discover that she’s growing as a writer. Her voice is becoming a strong voice in the crime/noir writing genre. Keep bringing it Ms. 9. You are why I enjoy reading….
Congrats to all the nominees. The judges have a tough job ahead.
We are all the judges Al. The voting will be open to the public. We just wanted this category released early so that people/voters can get a head start on reading them.
They Take You by Kyle Minor was the best story I read this year. I hope it wins. I also liked Anon 9.
Help? The link to my story, ‘Sisters Under the Skin,’ isn’t working. Would you fix, please? Thanks so much.
@ Naomi Johnson: Link should work now, there was one letter missing in the url.
In general: Why is it wordpress f$#@s up your entire lay-out every time you fix one tiny error?
Thanks for the fix, Rob. I’m sorry about that lay-out problem though.
I am thrilled to have been nominated for this award; I can see there are some excellent writers here and I’m proud to be among them. One request: my name was misspelled (at the original site and here). Last name is Pesa, can this be changed?
Done Robert!
Thank You!
I’ve been getting several emails about difficulties with the voting. Is there any way of putting a little box next to the scroll so people notice it better? People are not realizing they have to scroll down to vote for other categories.
Anonymous-9
I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’ve passed it on to the technical gods.
Thanks your good sharing. I appreciated you all.