I read widely: genre fiction, bookclubby lit fiction, YA and middle-grade fiction. But crime is one of my genre fiction faves. Not thriller style crime. Not cute-as-pie cozy crime. I love quirky, murder-in-the-village type crime, and police procedurals, and forensic procedurals, where the characters are as important as the whodunnit being deconstructed.
Favourite author
s off the top of my head: Alan Bradley, Sulari Gentil, Robert Galbraith ...
I’d had a series idea for not-so-cozy crimes percolating for some time, so decided to plot out a few short stories/novellas to see if my idea had legs.
Story 1 I submitted to an American crime anthology call-out, and it was accepted and is being published October/November 2020.
Story 2 I submitted to the Thunderbolt Prize – and nothin' - or, as we call it in my writing group, The Rainbow Unicorn of Rejection.
Story 3 I submitted to the Scarlet Stiletto Competition run by Sisters in Crime. You can read more about this famous competition here https://www.sistersincrime.org.au/the-scarlet-stiletto-awards/
And kaboom! It's made the shortlist. The awards ceremony is usually a fab affair in Melbourne which, has been covidated into an online affair for 2020. Can't wait!
N.K., please tell me you are writing more Meddlesome Matron Mysteries! I discovered you in Cozy Villages of Death, and decided I might have to buy shares in Depends. I laughed so hard I about tinkled myself. Your writer's voice slays. I snapped up The Pig of Lead, and am looking forward to more from Elsa Mayfield.
-Sonja