Wow, my recovery time from mystery conventions just keeps getting longer. Malice Domestic, the raucous con that brings out the beast in genteel traditional and cozy mystery fans every spring, took place last weekend. Am I back to my normal self (no snickering please) yet? Nope. Still high from the excitement of it all. I love seeing old friends and talking to enthusiastic booklovers. Hanging out in the bar, laughing all night and sampling fine chocolates are pretty fun too.
None of those can compare to the best thing about this year's Malice - that my fellow Femmes ROCKED AND RULED!! The Big BIG news - Dana Cameron won her first Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Way to go, Dana!
That little cutie in the teapot was one of the Dana's giveaways in celebration of her new Fangborn series. I named mine Teef.
Femme Toni Kelner was also an Agatha nominee for Best Short Story this year. In a way, this was a triple win for her. She and Femme Charlaine Harris co-edited the anthology Wolfsbane and Mistletoe in which Toni's and Dana's nominated stories appeared!
Equally cool: Femme Elaine Viets was a masterful Toast Master for all the ceremonies. She also did a bang-up job as moderator of the Humor panel and managed to throw out some of the night's best zingers herself. It was so good to see her doing what she does best - being wickedly funny.
We knew Hank Ryan was a Femme of many talents, but that she could be an AUCTIONEER??!! Thanks to her persuasive, some might say dangerously so, abilities, she and her co-conspirator and Femmes' Friend Pari Noskin Taichert, helped raise a boatload of money for the John L. Gildner Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents that will support their literacy programs. Great work, ladies!
Once again, Femme Donna Andrews made us proud with her Agatha nomination for Best Novel for Six Geese A-Slaying. This is the latest installment in her multi-award winning Meg Langslow series. How does she keep doing it? Congratulations, Donna!
Random thoughts and photos:
From Dana:
"Going to Malice is always a treat, and winning the Agatha for 'The Night Things Changed' was as wonderful as it was unexpected. Getting to celebrate with a number of the Femmes - Mary (who rocked the Senior Sleuths panel), Toni and Donna (who were both nominated for Agathas), Hank (who was amazing at the Live Auction), and Elaine (our Toast Master) - made it all better.
"I was sitting, still dazed, at the airport, when I found out the story had also been nominated for a Macavity. I had about three minutes until my flight boarded, so I called Toni, who was on the road to the Festival of Mystery with Donna, to tell her that SHE had been nominated, too! That was a great flight home!"
Here Toni and Dana pose with friends Chris Grabenstein (left) with his Agatha Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and on the right, Carla Coupe who was also a nominee for the Agatha for Best Short Story.
From Toni:
"As we've all heard, this was a smaller Malice Domestic than usual, but no less fun. I had a terrific time, as usual, catching up with people and their books and upcoming releases. Naturally, a serious high point was being right next to Dana when her name was announced for the Agatha Award. It was also fun being next to her as she squee'ed for the rest of the evening at the bar. Seeing Elaine Viets as Toast Master after a two-year delay was wonderful, too. Getting to be an Agatha nominee didn't suck, either.
"But my favorite moment was when somebody plunked a copy of Curse of the Cousins in front of me to ask me to sign it. It was the first copy I'd signed, and only the second copy I'd even seen, since author copies arrived while I was gone. Later on, I saw the first stack of copies for sale in the dealer's room, thanks to Mystery Loves Company.
"It just seemed awfully appropriate for a book to debut at Malice. You see, Malice is my personal milestone. I attended Malice III in 1991 with my first completed manuscript in my suitcase, looking for an agent. By Malice IV, I had an agent. By Malice V, I was waiting for my first book to come out, and by Malice VI, I had two out, and so on. Malice has become the time of year when I look back at my career so far and forward to where I'm going. Right now, I'm pretty happy about what's coming.
"So here's to Malice Domestic past, present, and future! If all goes well, I'll be back next year, for my twentieth Malice!"
My biggest surprise at the convention: At the Agatha banquet, convention-goers who were attending Malice for the first time were asked to raise their hands. To everyone's amazement, what looked like about a third of the audience did so. Folks, contrary to the popular propaganda that the traditional mystery genre is dying, readers are still seeking out and buying mysteries on the lighter side in great numbers, just like they have for the past sixty or more years.
My thanks and admiration go out to the Malice board for their hard work in putting on another great Malice convention!
I only wish I'd been there to see Dana's face. I'm so glad to hear this wonderful convention is still thriving. I know a lot of people are cutting back on non-essential travel these days, so I think it's a great sign that Malice was held at all. Congrats to all my friends, and I envy all the attendees!
Posted by: Charlaine Harris | May 08, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Malice had so many good choices for the Agathas, it was hard to decide who to vote for. That says a lot for the award when the nominees are so good.
Posted by: Book Tarts | May 08, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Kris and Charlaine - you were both missed. This Malice was less frenetic and more relaxed and fun. I'm anxious to see what the new (old) hotel will be like.
Hiya, Book Tart - you're so right. Nominees are always all winners, but this year the books seemed to have an extra helping of oomph.
Posted by: Mary | May 09, 2009 at 06:08 PM
I've yet to make it to Malice but I do hold hope that one day I'll get there. Then again, I'm still recovering from Bouchercon in October lol!
Posted by: wendy roberts | May 12, 2009 at 08:26 AM
It was a great B'con, wasn't it? All conventions wear me out, but that one was a solid blur. Judy B. and Ruth J. scheduled way too many fun events. :) I'm looking forward to this year's B'con in Indianapolis, too.
Posted by: Mary | May 13, 2009 at 04:34 AM