Gerrie Ferris Finger's Blog, page 16
November 6, 2010
ROMANTIC TIMES NOMINATIONS
In 1981, Kathryn Falk established the Romantic Times magazine for romance readers to get the scoop on the newest romances and authors in the genre. The Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards are awarded to the best books of the year by the staff of the magazine, as they express their readers' preferences.
Romantic Times (RT) Reviewers' Choice Award nominations for 2010: Good luck to all contestants and winners
*Best Contemporary Mystery:
212, by Alafair Burke (Harper)
Pray for Silence, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (Morrow)
On the Line, by S.J. Rozan (Minotaur)
Moonlight Mile, by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
*Best Historical Mystery:
City of Dragons, by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)
An Impartial Witness, by Charles Todd (Morrow)
Royal Blood, by Rhys Bowen (Prime Crime)
The Demon's Parchment, by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)
Dark Road to Darjeeling, by Deanna Raybourn (Mira)
*Best First Mystery:
Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Simon & Schuster)
The Ark, by Boyd Morrison (Touchstone)
Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens (St. Martin's Press)
Murder at Mansfield Park, by Lynn Shepherd (St. Martin's Griffin)
Devoured by D.E. Meredith (Minotaur)
*Best Suspense/Thriller Novel:
Eight Days to Live, by Iris Johansen (St. Martin's Press)
Broken, by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte)
Live to Tell, by Lisa Gardner (Bantam)
They're Watching, by Gregg Hurwitz (St. Martin's Press)
One Grave Less, by Beverly Connor (Obsidian)
*Best Amateur Sleuth Novel:
Ghouls Gone Wild, by Victoria Laurie (Obsidian)
Bone Appetit, by Carolyn Haines (Minotaur)
Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme, by Carole Nelson Douglas (Forge)
The Quick and the Thread, by Amanda Lee (Obsidian)
A Nose for Justice, by Rita Mae Brown (Ballantine)
Winners will be announced during the 2011 RT Book Lovers' Convention, in Los Angeles, April 6-10.
November 5, 2010
A PENNY FOR THE GUY
November 5 begins festivities for Guy Fawkes Day in England. Also known as Bonfire Night, it celebrates the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605 led by none other than Guy Fawkes. He and a group of English Catholics sought to blow up the king and members of Parliament for repressing Roman Catholics in England.
Bonfire and fireworks will light up the British sky and an effigy of Fawkes will be burnt because a bunch of English Catholics left a charge of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords to get Protestant King James I overthrown and replaced with a Catholic head of state. The king survived, Fawkes was arrested and children through the English ages have begged for a "penny for the guy", to buy fireworks.
Enjoy your day, your night, and your bangers and mash, Great Britain.
Gerrie Ferris Finger
http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.com/
October 11, 2010
October 9, 2010
A DEADLY DINNER - Share a bite with eight crime scene authors
On October 23, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, A Deadly Dinner will be held at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun, Georgia.
A lovely sit-down catered dinner will be provided, and you will have time to meet and chat with all eight crime fiction authors.
The roster includes:
- Mignon Ballard
- Kathleen Delaney
- Mary Anna Evans
- Gerrie Ferris Finger
- Marion Moore Hill
- Randy Rawls
- Fran Stewart
- Jaden E. Terrell
Cost of attendance is a measly $25, and there will be many, many autographed books given away as door prizes, as well as the opportunity to get books signed by the authors.
This is the first time the event will be held, and literary events of this nature are important, even in less cosmopolitan areas, and if you are (or will be) in the southeastern U.S., I encourage you to check out the event on the website, and possibly register to attend the dinner. We'd love to have you there!
http://www.cgarts.org/Programs/LiteraryGuild/tabid/800/Default.aspx
Sponsors include the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, Wolfmont Press, Kevin M. Weeks (author), Barnes & Noble Booksellers of Rome, GA, and others.
Written by Tony Burton
Posted by Gerrie Ferris Finger
A lovely sit-down catered dinner will be provided, and you will have time to meet and chat with all eight crime fiction authors.
The roster includes:
- Mignon Ballard
- Kathleen Delaney
- Mary Anna Evans
- Gerrie Ferris Finger
- Marion Moore Hill
- Randy Rawls
- Fran Stewart
- Jaden E. Terrell
Cost of attendance is a measly $25, and there will be many, many autographed books given away as door prizes, as well as the opportunity to get books signed by the authors.
This is the first time the event will be held, and literary events of this nature are important, even in less cosmopolitan areas, and if you are (or will be) in the southeastern U.S., I encourage you to check out the event on the website, and possibly register to attend the dinner. We'd love to have you there!
http://www.cgarts.org/Programs/LiteraryGuild/tabid/800/Default.aspx
Sponsors include the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, Wolfmont Press, Kevin M. Weeks (author), Barnes & Noble Booksellers of Rome, GA, and others.
Written by Tony Burton
Posted by Gerrie Ferris Finger
October 6, 2010
THE KINGDOM WHERE NOBODY DIES - A CARL BROOKINS REVIEW
THE KINGDOM WHERE NOBODY DIES
by Kathleen Hills
Poisoned Pen Press, January 2008
hard cover,316 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59058-476-7
The author of this novel has a strong background in rural America, particularly in the Upper Midwest. It shows in many of the nuances that affect the progress of this st
ory. The novel is replete with icons of small towns, some of which are isolated from the mainstream.
The book is set in the tiny Upper Peninsula Michigan town of St. Adele where once again we ride along with one of the most reluctant and phlegmatic lawmen we are likely ever to encounter. His name is John McIntyre and he is the town constable. He didn't want the job in the first place and he can think of a hundred things he'd rather be doing and places he'd rather be than the sun-blasted hay field of former conscientious objector, Ruben Hofer.
Hofer has been murdered, that's plain to see. His head was blasted open by a rifle shot while he sat on his tractor raking hay. It is almost immediately clear that the man's family is one likely source of murderous intent. Hofer was not a nice man. He drove his two teen-aged sons in cruel and oppressive ways; and his eleven-year-old daughter, Claire, has already been pushed to warped and dangerous attitudes about life. His wife is morbidly over-weight and only the youngster, Joey, constantly playing with his make-believe farm in the yard outside the kitchen of the school-house-turned-family-home, seems almost normal.
Author Hills continues to invest her stories with an array of intriguing characters although I got a little tired of the sheriff's on-again-off-again almost incompetent investigation. Moreover, the two teen-agers do not become distinct characters in this book until very late, which I found to be a weakness.
Nevertheless, the story is informed by very real human emotions and conflicts and the author's handling of the religious, political and historical elements of the book tell us she has done careful research. The book is, as is true of all her books, well-written.
Carl Brookins
http://www.carlbrookins.com/, http://www.agora2.blogspot.com/
Case of the Greedy Lawyer, Devils Island,Bloody Halls, more at Kindle & Smashwords!
by Kathleen Hills
Poisoned Pen Press, January 2008
hard cover,316 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59058-476-7
The author of this novel has a strong background in rural America, particularly in the Upper Midwest. It shows in many of the nuances that affect the progress of this st
ory. The novel is replete with icons of small towns, some of which are isolated from the mainstream.The book is set in the tiny Upper Peninsula Michigan town of St. Adele where once again we ride along with one of the most reluctant and phlegmatic lawmen we are likely ever to encounter. His name is John McIntyre and he is the town constable. He didn't want the job in the first place and he can think of a hundred things he'd rather be doing and places he'd rather be than the sun-blasted hay field of former conscientious objector, Ruben Hofer.
Hofer has been murdered, that's plain to see. His head was blasted open by a rifle shot while he sat on his tractor raking hay. It is almost immediately clear that the man's family is one likely source of murderous intent. Hofer was not a nice man. He drove his two teen-aged sons in cruel and oppressive ways; and his eleven-year-old daughter, Claire, has already been pushed to warped and dangerous attitudes about life. His wife is morbidly over-weight and only the youngster, Joey, constantly playing with his make-believe farm in the yard outside the kitchen of the school-house-turned-family-home, seems almost normal.
Author Hills continues to invest her stories with an array of intriguing characters although I got a little tired of the sheriff's on-again-off-again almost incompetent investigation. Moreover, the two teen-agers do not become distinct characters in this book until very late, which I found to be a weakness.
Nevertheless, the story is informed by very real human emotions and conflicts and the author's handling of the religious, political and historical elements of the book tell us she has done careful research. The book is, as is true of all her books, well-written.
Carl Brookins
http://www.carlbrookins.com/, http://www.agora2.blogspot.com/
Case of the Greedy Lawyer, Devils Island,Bloody Halls, more at Kindle & Smashwords!
September 26, 2010
KEEPING THE FUN IN WRITING
I got a call from a writer friend; a midlister who worries from contract to contract. She has three books with an intermediate indie publisher and worries if they'll buy her next book in the series.
Did I say worries twice? You already know my friend. Miss Anxiety.
I tell her to recover that feeling she had when she wrote her first book, or the first book the publisher bought.
"I used to think writing was fun," she said.
"It still can be," I said.
"I feel like an athlete. Over the hill and off...
September 23, 2010
THE FUTURE OF READING - FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
People who buy e-readers tend to spend more time than ever with their nose in a book, preliminary research shows.
A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books. Of those surveyed, 58% said they read about the same as before while 2% said they read less than before. And 55% of the respondents in the May study, paid for by e-reader maker Sony Corp., thought they'd use the device to read even more...
September 20, 2010
CAPE FEAR CRIME FESTIVAL
I like mystery festivals and conventions that are close to my home on the east coast. I've become a regular at the Malice Domestic Fan Convention in Crystal City, near D. C. This year it's in Bethesda, Md.
I don't like to fly, particularly now that seats are getting smaller and overhangs nearly touch my head. I'm claustrophobic that way, and passengers and flight attendants do not need to deal with the possibility of me running down the aisle screaming in panic. Used to be, you could drink...
September 15, 2010
AGATHA'S BIRTHDAY
Agatha May Clarissa Miller was born on September 15, 1890 and from the 1920s until the 1970s she was the world's most popular mystery author, having sold more than two billion books worldwide, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.Christie turned out cozy stories of murder and detection featuring her two most popular detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Poirot starred in 30 novels while Miss Marple solved mysteries in 12. Countless (to me at least) have been made into m...
