The Oscars and The Edgars

Every year, I make an effort to see every movie nominated for an Academy award. Not just best picture, but every movie with a Best Actor/Actress nomination, Best Screenplay, even a few of the foreign films when they come to town. So you can see I was overwhelmed when they announced not five, but ten best picture nominations. I figured Up In the Air, Precious, and Inglorious Bastards would be nominated, but The Blind Side? Up?

After listening to NPR commentary and reading the buzz around the blogosphere, I learned that the big reason behind the ten nominations is to include more mainstream movies that people who don't live near an art house theater or get every movie in their local Cineplex, would see.

Without going into the politics and saying whether I agree with their decision or not, this reasoning intrigued me. Before, the movies nominated were more obscure, often unavailable to the small-town crowd. They wanted to nominate movies available to everyone. Last year, more people saw THE DARK NIGHT than any of the pictures nominated for best film and therefore, in hindsight, they felt DARK NIGHT should have been one of the nominees.

Looking at the Edgar list this year, I see only a couple of small presses and those are in the Paperback Original and Nonfiction categories. None of the Best Novel and Best First Novel nominees are from independent publishers. In the past there have been a couple (SOUL PATCH by Reed Farrel Coleman, HEAD GAMES by Craig McDonald) but this year, zip.

So both prestigious awards have decided mainstream is the way to go, that nominees should be available to anyone who lives by a cinema or a Barnes and Noble. In both instances, I believe the awards should go to the best of the best, not the best of the most readily available. But the Oscars expanded their list to ten nominees. The Edgars are keeping theirs at six, which means in order to include a book by a big publisher, someone from a small publisher is getting pushed out.

All of this year's nominees are talented authors who deserve the honor and recognition. Like the Oscars, I attempt to read all the Edgar nominees, and I can tell you all of them are great books. But aren't there also some brilliant books put out by smaller houses that deserve to be on that list? And were they not nominated because they weren't mainstream enough? Did the judges hold certain prejudices towards small presses? Or were all books considered equally and nominated solely on their merit and the best books just happen to be from big publishers?

No matter the reasons behind the selection process, I believe these prestigious awards should go to the best movies and books of this year, regardless of availability. Of course, the term "best" is subjective, but I feel that's more true for movies than mystery novels. Good writing is good writing, regardless of publisher, and it's hard for me to believe that the best writing of 2010 all came out of big houses.

Writer's Block Wednesday: Q&A with Robin Burcell

Today, The Chicago Contingent welcomes Anthony Award winning author, Robin Burcell. She's here to discuss her latest book, THE BONE CHAMBER, recently released with Harper:

Dana Kaye: You've made a distinct shift from Police Procedurals to high-octane thrillers. What motivated the transition?

Robin Burcell: I read one of James Rollins’ thrillers and I was hooked! There was something about the excitement and adventure of jetting off to other countries, exploring new cultures, and vicariously living the life of an operative working for the government that thrilled me, made me want to experience it for myself. Suddenly, my own life of investigating crime as a police officer seemed so… ordinary. It may have something to do with my passion for the old “Man From U.N.C.L.E” shows when I was a kid. I wanted to be a secret agent. I decided to write a book where an ordinary law enforcement officer was thrust into the midst of a government conspiracy, thus allowing me to live the dream of being a special operative from the safety of my own computer desktop.

DK: How does your background as a police officer and forensic artist inform your writing?

RB: Quite simply it allows me to instill my experience from over twenty-seven years working as a police officer and forensic artist into the book. My protagonists benefit from that experience, since my training is their training. Granted, while I’ve been to Rome I’ve never jetted off through Europe, chasing after criminals and investigating legendary caches of treasure. My crime fighting has only been done on the local level. But that is what imagination is all about.

DK: After publishing five novels, how has your writing process changed?

RB: I’ve started writing on a larger canvas, so to speak. I am allowing my characters to take bigger risks, move outside their comfort zone, travel to new places and fight bigger villains. The writing process itself has not changed that much—unless you count the research. Where I was writing about San Francisco PD in past books, I am now writing about foreign countries, the most recent being Italy. And naturally, traveling to Italy was necessary to make sure my scenes rang true. I might have to set more books in foreign countries. Traveling to foreign countries for research is a lot of fun.

DK: In this economic climate, are you making any changes to your marketing efforts? Doing anything differently this time around?

RB: Internet, internet, internet. I am running a contest on Facebook and Twitter, and hitting various blogs, giving away copies of books to lucky readers as well as some other choice prizes. But I am also visiting a few key independent bookstores in hopes of introducing my work to new readers.

DK: What's the biggest piece of advice you could give an aspiring writer?

RB: A page a day is all it takes to finish a book. I wrote my books working full-time and raising three children, so I understand a busy schedule. At first the idea of writing a book under these circumstances seemed daunting. But when you break it down to small steps-a page a day-it becomes a manageable and enjoyable endeavor.

Robin is heading out on book tour, so visit her author page to see if she's coming to a bookstore near you. Chicagoans, she won't be doing a formal signing in the windy city, but she'll be in town January 28th for stock signings at various local bookstores.

Memorial Day Weekend Reading + Contest

The three day weekend calls for extra book recommendations! Read to the end and check out The Chicago Contingent's first contest....

For something new, check out Lee Child's GONE TOMORROW, the latest installment of the Jack Reacher series. Reacher fans will be blown away; it's easily the best one yet. If this is your first introduction, never fear, GONE TOMORROW does stand on its own. Personally, I'd recommend checking out a few others before this one, just to see how far Reacher has come: KILLING FLOOR, TRIPWIRE, and THE PERSUADER.

This week, the committee announced this year's Anthony Award Nominees, so I'll be reading those nominated for best novel. Check them out:
Trigger City by Sean Chercover
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

Finally, for this weekend's Chicago author, I suggest author and renegade publisher Darren Callahan. I met him at a writer's conference and was skeptical when he handed me a home-made book. But I took it home, I read it, and I fell in love. Check out DOCUMENTIA and CITY OF HUMAN REMAINS and order them here. _______________________________________________________

Now for The Chicago Contingent's first contest! The first five people to comment on today's post and include their suggested weekend reading, will receive a free copy of Jack Kilborn's AFRAID. Read about it here!