Some Sad Notes and a Few Hopeful Ones, Too

 

By now, most folks probably know about the passing of author Tony Hillerman. You can find some nice tributes and links via Rap Sheet and Sarah Weinman. Unfortunately, the author didn't live to see the latest Tony Hillerman Writer's Conference coming up in two weeks, but another Hillerman legacy associated with that conference lives on. In 2005, author Michael McGarrity suggested a creative writing scholarship be established in Tony's name to honor him for his service to students, writers, and the people of New Mexico. It was decided to establish the scholarship at the College of Santa Fe, where both Hillerman and McGarrity once taught. Hillerman suggested that the scholarship should be in McGarrity’s name as well, so it is officially the Hillerman-McGarrity Creative Writing Scholarship. You can send contributions to that fund via the address listed on the conference site link here.

(One late addendum to this original blog posting -- news came today that mystery writer Elaine Flinn has just died after a bout with cancer.  Flinn was known for her Molly Doyle mysteries, and her 2003 debut novel was nominated for the Agatha, Gumshoe, Barry, and Anthony awards.)

I've also mentioned recently about crime fiction zines that have folded up this year—Demolition, Mouth Full of Bullets, Hard Luck Stories, and Murdaland. You can also add to that Muzzle Flash Fiction, as Gerald So reports that DZ Allen last night announced he was closing that publication, as well.

Still, hope springs eternal, and a couple of new short mystery/crime fiction sites have been added recently.  Five-Minute Mysteries features daily mysteries in brief that subscribers can access. They're soliciting submissions from writers, so if you're interested, check out their site link. And the Eastern Standard Crime blog announced a new venture called Crooked, devoted to crime fiction short stories "that would make Hammett, Chandler and Macdonald proud." It will be available PDF format, and although a non-paying market, authors will be able to promote themselves when published there. Geoff Eighinger hopes to have the first issued up by January 1st, with others to follow monthly. I sincerely wish both these organizations the best of luck.