Quoth the Raven: "Happy Birthday!"

It has been 200 years since the birth of Edgar Allan Poe and in honor of that, there are two new books (books make great gifts by they way) out now.

The first is On a Raven's Wing, an anthology released by The Mystery Writers of America. It features new tales in honor Mr. Poe and his work. Contributors include Stuart M. Kaminsky (who also edited), Mary Higgins Clark, Thomas H. Cook, Don Winslow, John Lutz and the late Edward D. Hoch.

The other book (also from Mystery Writers of America) is a new collection of some of Poe's work titled In the Shadow of the Master. The stories are followed by essays by some of today's top writers such as Stephen King, Jeffrey Deaver, Lisa Scottoline, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly and Tess Gerritsen.

Also, in an earlier post I detailed some of the events hat would be going on in Baltimore as part of a year-long celebration of Poe called Nevermore 2009.

James Earl Jones reciting "The Raven"


Vincent Price performing "Tell-tale Heart" (Part 1)

Oh Lord Won't You Buy Her a Mecedes Benz?

It was on this day in 1943 that singer Janis Joplin was born.

"On stage I make love to twenty five thousand people; and then I go home alone. "

Janis performing Piece of My Heart

2009 Edgars Nominees

Today the Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2009 Edgar Awards.

Best Novel

• Missing by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)
• Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
• The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• The Night Following by Morag Joss (Random House – Delacorte Press)
• Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel By an American Author

• The Kind One by Tom Epperson (Five Star, div of Cengage)
• Sweetsmoke by David Fuller (Hyperion)
• The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Picador)
• Calumet City by Charlie Newton (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
• A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock (Random House - Doubleday)

Best Paperback Original

• The Prince of Bagram by Alex Carr (Random House Trade)
• Money Shot by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime)
• Enemy Combatant by Ed Gaffney (Random House - Dell)
• China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries)
• The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli (Random House - Bantam)

Best Critical/Biographical

• African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland & Company)
• Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories by Leonard Cassuto (Columbia University Press)
• Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction by David Geherin (McFarland & Company)
• The Rise of True Crime by Jean Murley (Greenwood Publishing – Praeger)
• Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Sterling Publishing – Metro Books)

Best Fact Crime

• For The Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz (HarperCollins)
• American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum (Crown Publishers)
• Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It To The Revolution by T.J. English (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Hans van Meegeren by Jonathan Lopez (Harcourt)
• The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Company)

Best Short Story

• "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" - Hardcore Hardboiled by Sean Chercover (Kensington Publishing)
• "Skin and Bones" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by David Edgerley Gates (Dell Magazines)
• "Scratch a Woman" - Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• "La Vie en Rose" - Paris Noir by Dominique Mainard (Akashic Books
• "Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)

Best Young Adult

• Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (Random House Children’s Books – David Fickling Books)
• The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Harry N. Abrams Books – Amulet Books)
• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group – Dutton Children’s Books)
• Getting the Girl by Susan Juby (HarperCollins Children’s Books - HarperTeen)
• Torn to Pieces by Margo McDonnell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Best Juvenile

• The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
• Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff (Random House Children’s Books – Wendy Lamb Books)
• The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow by Riford McKenzie (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books)
• Cemetary Street by Brenda Seabrooke (Holiday House)

Best Play

• The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the story by Robert Lewis Stevenson (Arizona Theatre Company)
• Cell by Judy Klass (International Mystery Writers’ Festival)

Best Television Episode Teleplay

• “Streetwise” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Paul Grellong (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
• “Prayer of the Bone” – Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC America)
• “Signature” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Judith McCreary (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
• “You May Now Kill the Bride” – CSI: Miami, Teleplay by Barry O’Brien (CBS)
• “Burn Card” – Law & Order, Teleplay by David Wilcox (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)

Best Motion Picture Screenplay

• The Bank Job, Screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (Lionsgate)
• Burn After Reading, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Focus Features)
• In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)
• Tell No One, Screenplay by Guillaume Canet and Philippe Lefebvre, based on the book by Harlan Coben (Music Box Films)
• Transsiberian, Screenplay by Brad Anderson & Will Conroy (First Look International)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

• "Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

Mary Higgins Clark Award

• Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Random House - Doubleday)
• A Song for You by Betsy Thornton (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• The Fault Tree by Louise Ure (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Grand Master

• James Lee Burke
• Sue Grafton

Raven Awards

• Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland
• Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

Congratulations to all who were nominated.

Quote of the Week

"Life is about learning; when you stop learning, you die."

--- Tom Clancy

Goodbye, Donald Westlake

Donald Westlake, author of the Dortmunder series, numerous crime novels and short stories as well as the Parker series under the name Richard Stark, has died at the age of 75. He was on his way to a New Year's Eve party, when he collapsed of an apparent heart attack.

I first discovered Mr. Westlake when I read Money For Nothing in 2003. I was really impressed with this book and immediately went back to read his others. Two favorites include The Hook and The Ax. I even found out that A Slight Case of Murder, one of my favorite movies, was based on a story by Westlake.

Needless to say, I, along with the rest of the crime fiction community (readers and writers alike) will be feeling the loss of this prolific writer. You can see the numerous tributes here.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Westlake. You will be greatly missed.

Quote of the Week

"You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That is to help each other and not hurt each other."

--- Stevie Ray Vaughan

That Perfect Gift

Are you a last minute Christmas shopper? Me too. So, if you're wondering what to get for someone, allow me to make the same suggestion other writers have been making: Books. New or used, they make great gifts, especially if you can get them signed or find a rare book. So, here are a few of my suggestions (some are newer books, some not so much, but I think they're all great):

Anything of William Shakespeare's

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff
When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe
Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder
Beloved by Toni Morrison
My Name is Will by Jess Winfield
Nox Dormienda by Kelli Stanley
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Once Were Cops by Ken Bruen
Boneyard by Michelle Gagnon
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Complete Collected Poems of Mya Angelou
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Okay, hopefully that list will give you a few ideas. And remember (even if I did link to Amazon for the book descriptions) please be sure to support your local independent bookseller.

Quote of the Week

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."

--- Dave Barry

Story Not Included

Before I get to this, I just need to do bit of housekeeping. I just remembered that I never picked a winner for the chap book for Nox Dormienda, that I was giving away to a commenter from my post Hodie Ego sum Centum (Today I am 100). So, without further ado, the winner of the chap book is Stephen D. Rogers. Congratulations Stephen. Could you please e-mail me at rj@rjmangahas.com with your snail mail so I can get your prize off to you? Now, that that's taken care of, on with the post.
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There are certainly a lot of changes going on in the publishing industry, not just with the reorganizing, but also with the technology involved. Today there are e-readers, such as the Kindle from Amazon and print on demand services where anybody with a credit card can pay some money and call themselves published. But there is another thing that has changed in the publishing industy and that's HOW people write. In olden times, it was carvings on a cave wall. In Shakespeare's day it was a feather quill and parchement. Later, pencils and pens, then typewriters and finally word processors. But that too has evolved.

There are now a variety of programs used to assist in writing: From Final Draft for screenplays and stage plays to New Novelist for, well, novels. Many of these programs have features such as automatic formating, character databases, virtual index cards complete with corkboard and push pins and outline modes. Yes, sir. These are loaded with all sorts of neat things. Plus according to the ads, they will help the user write the next big blockbuster or Great American Novel. But you know what? Despite all the bells and whistles these programs have, there's one thing that none of them can do: and that's write the actual story. Listen, it doesn't matter how fancy these wriitng programs are. The story has to come from you. As I said, long before all this fancy technology, books and screenplays were being written. People just used real index cards and corkboards.

As for myself, I do a majority of my writing on a laptop. But when it comes to certain scenes and editing (on hard copy mind you) I rely on the Faber Castell 9000 3B Drawing pencil.

So, how about you all? What do you prefer to write with? Whether you're a writer or not, I'm interested to know.

Quote of the Week

"The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power."

--- Toni Morrison