An Edgar nomination for "Femme Sole!"

I'm stunned and delighted to let you know my short story, "Femme Sole," has been nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Short Story. "The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theatre published or produced in the previous year."

Here are the nominees for Best Short Story:

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
"Femme Sole" – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
"Digby, Attorney at Law" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
"Animal Rescue" – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books
"Amapola" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

(You can find the nominees in all the categories here.)

Holy mackerel! The past year has been so very good to me, I never, ever imagined I'd have this honor. I'm thrilled to death. Thank you, MWA judges--in all the categories. I know what work goes into this process.

And thanks to Toni Kelner who called this morning to congratulate me, not knowing I didn't have a clue!

Noir Bar, Boston Noir, Pinot Noir

If there's one convention that can be found in noir writing of any period, it's booze. So it's only natural that the next two Boston Noir events I do will be in a bar and a wine store.

I'll be doing a reading and signing with Lynne Heitman, Brendan DuBois, and Russ Aborn at Noir Bar at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, MA, Monday night, January 25 from 7 to 9 pm. Come join us and sip signature cocktails!

And a solo event at my favorite local (Beverly, MA) wine store: Henry's Wine Cellar. I'll be signing copies of Boston Noir during a wine tasting featuring Pinot Noirs (also one of my favorite wines) on February 11, from 4 to 7 pm.

I *told* you about werewolves on the North Shore...

...in "The Night Things Changed." But this is a real wolf who was AWOL from Wolf Hollow, a sanctuary in Ipswich, MA, not too far away from here. Nina is home safely--and happily--now. She was never a threat to humans.

Wolf Hollow is a nonprofit organization started in 1988 by the late Paul Soffron for the preservation of wolves through education and exposure. Check out the picture of Nina; she's gorgeous!

Guest blogging with the Stiletto Gang!

My guest blog, "The Bad Old Days," is posted with the Stiletto Gang today. Please swing by and say "howdy!"

Happy, happy...

...2010 to everyone!

This is to introduce my new feline editorial staffers, Kaylee and Zoe, who joined us a week ago from the local shelter. They're about ten weeks old, and threaten to rule the world, once they get done whipping us into shape. We'd promised ourselves kittens for Christmas, and we lucked out!

In other lovely news...a couple of nice reviews and shouts-out. There was this (on Allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com) and this for "The Night Things Changed." Then my friend Charlaine Harris had a great time reading Boston Noir.

I hope everyone is recovering from the holidays, and looking forward to a happy, happy New Year. I'm looking forward to getting back to WRITING!