Making the Shorts Cut

I don’t yet see any official announcement of these results at the Short Mystery Fiction Society Web site, but Spinetingler Magazine is reporting a list of nominees for the 2011 Derringer Awards. Here they are:

Flash Story (less then 1,001 words):

• “Blues in the Night,” by Carol Kilgore (Dark Valentine, May 2010)
• “Homeless,” by Patricia Morin (from Mystery Montage; Top, 2010)
• “Stick a Needle in My Eye,” by Julia Madeleine (Powder Burn Flash,
No. 302, May 5, 2010)
• “The Book Signing,” by Kathy Kencharik (from Thin Ice: Crime Stories By New England Writers, edited by Mark Ammons, Kat Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best Books, 2010)
• “The Unknown Substance,” by Jane Hammons (A Twist of Noir, December 27, 2010)

Long Story (4,001-8,000 words):

• “A Tour of the Tower,” by Christine Poulson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March/April 2010)
• “Care of the Circumcised Penis,” by Sean Doolittle (ThugLit Presents: Blood, Guts, and Whiskey, edited by Todd Robinson; Kensington, 2010)

• “Interpretation of Murder,” by B. K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], December 2010)
• “Silicon Kings,” by Richard Helms (The Back Alley Webzine, April 2010)
• “The Little Nogai Boy,” by R.T. Lawton (AHMM, September 2010)

Novelette (8,001-17,500 words):

• “Deserters,” by Chris Muessig (AHMM, March 2010)
• “Rearview Mirror,” by Art Taylor (EQMM, March 2010)
• “The Gods for Vengeance Cry,” by Richard Helms (EQMM,
November 2010)
• “The Man with One Eye,” by Stephen Ross (EQMM, December 2010)
• “The Scent of Lilacs,” by Doug Allyn (EQMM, September/October 2010)

The list of contenders in a fourth Derringer category--Short Story (1,001-4,000 words)--has still to be announced. There’s also no word yet on the recipient of this year’s Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement.

READ MORE: “Kiwi Writer Stephen Ross Nominated for a Derringer Award,” by Craig Sisterson (Crime Watch).