The State of the Crime Novel: A Roundtable With The Edgar Nominees

Howdy, crime friends! It’s that special time of the year when crime writers, publishers, and critics dress up in their best evening wear and head to the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square on Thursday, April 28, for the 76th Edgar Awards, hosted by Mystery Writers of America. Ahead of the award ceremony, as has been our tradition here at CrimeReads, I sent out questions to all the nominees and special award winners for a wide-ranging discussion on the past, present, and future of the genre. I’ve divided the responses into two parts—below, you’ll find a more craft-oriented part of the roundtable, while tomorrow’s post will include takes on genre and industry concerns. Scroll to the bottom to find out what your favorite writers will be wearing to the ceremony (#crimeprom). It’s not like we have that many occasions to dress up anymore, okay?

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Molly Odintz: I’ve spent the past two years asking y’all pandemic-related questions. Now I’m curious to see where you stand on the “New Normal.” Has your life returned to normal? Is there a new version of what normal means to you?

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Pamela N. Harris (nominated for Best Young Adult – When You Look Like Us): Wow, I’m not sure what “normal” to me even looks like anymore! During the pandemic, I became a mom of two—and right before the pandemic, I had transitioned to a work from home full-time position. So I was pretty much on lockdown before the whole world went on lock down! It’s been a juggling act working from home, raising two toddlers, and squeezing in writing in between. I’ll let you know when I finally find my rhythm!

Erin Flanagan (nominated for Best First Novel – Deer Season): My “new normal” includes stronger writing habits and more kindness toward myself. Every day during quarantine I’d say to myself, “Just do your best.” Sometimes that looked like two naps and six episodes of Friends, and other days it was writing 1500 words. Both were acceptable. Somedays I really didn’t have the creative energy to write, and that was fine, but other days I just didn’t want to and I had to push past that and give what I was capable of. It made all the difference to be kinder to myself while simultaneously taking no excuses.

Rhys Bowen (nominated for Best Novel – The Venice Sketchbook): It has been a time of constant worry and I want it to end. Just when life looks as if it’s getting back to normal there is a new variant, a new set-back. I’m still wearing a mask in most indoor settings. My first travel will be to Malice Domestic and then the Edgars. I’m double boosted so not too alarmed but still vigilant.

Ann Hagedorn (nominated for Best Fact Crime – Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away): What “normal” means to me is to be able to travel to places where I need to interview sources, explore archives, and visit settings, all for the research of a current book. I must go where the story is. If I want to describe something, then I must see it. If I want to interview people, I must meet them in person. A Zoom meeting or phone interview is rarely enough for me, nor is internet research. So, I’m abundantly pleased to be able to travel again. With necessary precautions, I am back to “normal,” meaning “on the road again.”

Kwei Quartey (nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award – Sleep Well, My Lady): For me, if there is a “new normal,” then it’s a troubled, uncertain one. Over the pandemic period, I’ve developed nervousness about being around crowds. Going to the movies the way I used to may never happen again. I prefer fist bumps to handshakes and feel uneasy not wearing a mask. However there’s always a chance that some of these aspects could slowly drift back to “the way we were,” but I’m doubtful it will be exactly the same.

Angeline Boulley (nominated for Best Young Adult – The Firekeeper’s Daughter): I quit my job at the US Department of Education a month before the pandemic lockdown, so I had a small jumpstart to working from home. My new normal is being a full-time author.

James Kestral (nominated for Best Novel – Five Decembers): The pandemic has been hard on my family, though I’m the first to admit that compared to millions of others, we’ve been lucky. My wife lost her job, and our young kids’ schools have been totally unreliable sources of childcare, so I can’t say we are getting back to normal. We’re trying to carve out spaces so that we can still have some of the things we cared about before the pandemic, but it’ll be years before we get back to where we were. If ever. Let’s talk about something else.

Jennifer Nielsen (nominated for Best Juvenile – Rescue): I think there is a collective sense that we have gone through a universally shared experience; and while every individual may have a different story to tell about how the pandemic affected their lives, there is no doubt that each of us have been affected in some way. For me, the “new normal” means having a greater compassion for the troubles so many have faced, and a greater respect for those who navigated difficult situations with courage and honor. I hope this has taught me to be a better person.

Will Leitch (nominated for Best Novel – How Lucky): It has. We were very fortunate in that the hardest part of this pandemic for our family was virtual schooling. We are extremely relieved that that is over. It is difficult enough to teach kindergarteners without making the remember a QR code for an iPad every day.

Kat Rosenfield (nominated for Best Novel – No One Will Miss Her): My life is pretty much back to normal except for the occasional, vestigial covid holdover (I still have to sign a health declaration form when I go to work, and I just noticed the other day that the information in it hasn’t been updated since sometime in late 2020.) But as long as I never have to hear the phrase “zoom happy hour” ever again, I’m good.

C. J. Cooke (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Lighthouse Witches): My life definitely hasn’t returned to normal! There are some good sides to the new state of things: I personally find it much more convenient to have meetings and attend events virtually, and it makes juggling my job and my children easier. On the flip side, travel has become a lot tricker, and I’m not fully OK with the apocalyptic state of the planet.

V. M. Burns (nominated for Best Short Story – “The Vermeer Conspiracy” ): I am traveling and attending conferences, so from that standpoint, I am returning to things that I did before the pandemic. However, my new normal is that I avoid crowds and wear a mask when crowds are unavoidable.

Naomi Hirahara (nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award – Clark and Division): No, my life has not returned to normal. I’m still doing some meetings and gatherings on Zoom. Definitely doing more socializing outdoors. Frequenting local gardens and swimming outside are my new normal. And hanging out with my inter-generational pod, including my 12-year-old nephew and 86-year-old mother, has remained constant. I have been traveling a lot more this spring and attending larger events. So happy to see friends in-person.

Elizabeth Breck (nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award – Double Take): As most of my readers know I, like my main character Madison, had breast cancer; we’re both okay now and it is just part of our histories—not the main plot of our lives (or my books). Dr. Susan Love wrote a book for cancer patients called, appropriately, Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book. She has tons of information not covered elsewhere, especially advice on how to make difficult decisions. She wrote that one of her patients was making a very quick (and uninformed) decision about treatment because she wanted it all to be over so she could “get on with her life.” Dr. Susan Love explained, “Your life has changed and it will never be the same again. You need time to let this sink in.”

That was probably the best advice I got during my entire “cancer journey” (I hate that phrase but sometimes it fits), but more than that, it is some of the best advice I’ve gotten for big life changes—like a worldwide pandemic. So many people have fought against the changes that have been asked/required of us due to this truly historic event. Because of my cancer and Dr. Love’s wise words, the pandemic changes haven’t been that hard for me: I know what it’s like to never have “normal” again. Covid isn’t going anywhere, and that is true whether you think Covid is a life-threatening illness or a “cold.” So I’ve been telling my friends and family from the beginning, “We need to learn how to live with this and not do things ‘just until we get back to normal.’” Nope. Life will never be the same again.

It’s weird how breast cancer can teach you things.

And because of my medical history, it’s better if I don’t catch Covid, no matter the strain (by the way, is there a place where we sign up to only catch the mild version of the illness?). So I still wear a mask when I’m around other people, even as the mask mandates are removed. It has become like wearing a seatbelt to me; I sort of feel naked without one. It makes it easier to accept change when you’re not resisting it. And as far as writing goes, we generally do that in a room by ourselves, so nothing has changed there!

But I will say this: I have no intention of putting Covid into my books. Weird, considering I just now practically gave you a Ted talk on not resisting change, right? But I don’t feel like reading about it. Living it is plenty of change, thank you. And since I don’t want to read about it, I don’t want to write about it, either. It’s starting to be weird to see a TV show where no one is wearing a mask; but I get over it quickly. Could I foresee Madison putting on a mask before she walks into a crowded room, without any other mention or narration about it…? Maybe. But for now, I’m going to keep my fiction just that—fiction. And as part of that fiction, I will continue to write the escapism that we enjoy in entertainment. Covid doesn’t exist in the world of my books. That’s one place you can go where things are still normal.

Elizabeth Penney (nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award – Chapter and Curse): I live in the far northern reaches of New Hampshire, in the foothills of the White Mountains. Fortunately for us, since we are hours from any cities, life stayed more or less normal here. One interesting change was the sheer number of people escaping to the mountains—all year round. There used to be slow seasons. Now our new normal apparently means more visitors, all the time. Hopefully new and interesting businesses and amenities will follow. Like a real bookstore.

Fabian Nicieza (nominated for Best First Novel – Suburban Dicks): For good or bad, the pandemic didn’t change my daily work life: I worked from home before, so I just kept working from home! Though, I sure am looking forward to getting out a bit more!

S. A. Cosby (nominated for Best Novel – Razorblade Tears): I think there is a new normal that we all have had to come to grips with.  I’m an extrovert.  I like going out carousing with friends but now I will make a risk assessment that I wouldn’t have made 3 years ago. Dose this place have a mask policy? A vaccine policy? How packed is it?  I’m way more cognizant of things like that now

M. G. Leonard (nominated for Best Juvenile – Kidnap on the California Comet: Adventures on Trains #2): I’m not sure if life will ever be like it was before the pandemic. The small incidents of daily life feel extreme. People’s emotions have strong currents and I see low lying anger beneath the skin of people I pass in the street. Equally there is palpable gratitude for our privileges and the sacrifices many people have made to support others. I think we are all struggling with PTSD and may go on doing so for a long time. That is why diving into a good book is such a blessed relief.

Michael Bracken (nominated for Best Short Story – “Blindsided,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine): It feels odd to say this, given what’s happened to so many people, but my life actually improved during the pandemic. I weigh less, I’m in better health, I’m better off financially, and I’ve been able to take advantage of multiple writing and editing opportunities that might not have fallen into my lap were it not for the pandemic.

Richard Green (nominated for Best Critical/Biographical – The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene): I am wagering on a return to life rather like I had before!

Laurie R. King (recipient of the Special Award of Grand Master): I’ve taken precisely one trip outside my tight little bubble, to Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque.  And although it was a long way from “casual,” it did feel bizarrely normal—or rather, normal-with-a-mask, since I’m a bit immunocompromised and therefore cautious. But Malice Domestic plus the Edgars? Once I’m on the far side of those two meetups, I might begin to consider travel a thing to do again.

Tracy Gardner (nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award – Ruby Red Herring): My family and I are living our new version of normal. As a nurse who was working inside patients’ homes in March of 2020, the past two years of my life have been a work in progress. Now, with better tools to deal with Covid and the development of vaccines to help prevent the mortality rate we saw in the first half of the pandemic, I’ve begun to resume being in busy public spaces and seeing friends and family more. I am continuing to wear a mask to protect my immunocompromised daughter and myself, as I am in two high risk categories. I do feel confident moving forward with the measures we’re using to stay healthy. I believe the idea of “normal” is a constantly evolving thing.

David Bell (nominated for Best Paperback Original – Kill All Your Darlings): My life is largely back to normal. I think the new normal for me is accepting certain changes the pandemic brought on. I may wear a mask in the winter or when I’m around a large group of people, regardless of Covid. I may attend more events virtually. I already have a greater appreciation for being able to see people in person after so long not being able to.

Callie Hutton (nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award – The Sign of Death): I would say my life has returned to normal. I guess my ‘new normal’ is not being surprised to see someone wearing a mask in the stores or other gatherings, where at one time I would have consider it odd. I think that’s good for those who feel more comfortable, for whatever reason, to wear one. Another new normal is how many people have continued to work from home. I think the heads of these large companies discovered that having employees work at home helps the bottom line. No expensive real estate to pay for, and less friction among employees. I have a few relatives whose jobs have turned into a lasting, at home one.

I think those two things have become a permanent part of our life going forward.

Caitlin Wahrer (nominated for Best First Novel – The Damage): My husband and I are big fans of blowing up our routine every few years, so we decided to move to a new house and have a baby during the pandemic. So, my new normal includes masks and home antigen tests but also naptime and Cocomelon. I’ve had a hard time adjusting to the changes, but I’m working to get back into a writing rhythm as I work on my second novel. I work at a coworking space with a mix of people (remote workers, freelancers/consultants, and fellow writers) and have made some great writer friends during the pandemic. Having the social connection has been so important.

Daryl Gregory (nominated for Best Paperback Original – The Album of Doctor Moreau): I’m writing this from inside a coffee shop, without a mask on! It feels naughty. I started writing in cafes when my children were small, and I really missed them.

R. T. Lawton (“The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine): My world looks almost normal. We’re both vaccinated and boosted. We go to bars and restaurants without masks. Most other people also don’t wear masks here except where required. Yet we stay focused on the daily infection rates and whether the rates are increasing or decreasing, both here and abroad. We listen for when it’s time for a second booster. We try to keep track of any changing requirements for Manhattan and the Edgar Banquet. And, we do have a little paranoia for whatever may be around the corner. Cancelations may or may not be a thing of the past.

Thomas Kies (nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award – Shadow Hill): My wife and I have been vaxxed and double boosted so I’m feeling pretty good about returning to some kind of normalcy.  Last year, Shadow Hill was released in August when the world seemed as if it was returning to normal, before Omicron, so I had two successful book signings—in person! Then the world shut down again. But now I’m teaching my Creative Writing classes in person and plan to attend Thrillerfest and Bouchercon…and the Edgar Awards ceremony, of course.

Alan Parks (nominated for Best Paperback Original – Bobby March Will Live Forever): The ‘new normal’, in Scotland at least, is looking pretty much like the old normal. Events are back on, bookshops are open again. In Glasgow we had one of the longest lockdowns, almost two years and it’s strange how quickly we got used to that and how quickly we got used to it being over. People are more resilient than you imagine…

Vera Kurian (nominated for Best First Novel – Never Saw Me Coming): I’m not sure things will ever quite go back to “normal.” It’s not just the collective trauma we’re all experiencing, but the fact that the pandemic changed the way we think about things. Like many people, I currently have a mixture of vague, nonspecific anxiety and entirely understandable specific anxiety about very concerning things: the environment, the state of America, war. I still work and still think of writing as my side hustle, but I have cut down the number of hours I work. I’m trying to remember what life was like before the pandemic and I can’t entirely remember. Living through the pandemic is like swimming in the ocean towards a shore you can see, but despite the fact that you keep swimming, the shore doesn’t get any closer. At some part you have to accept that life is the swimming, not what will happen once you get to the shore. I guess we have to make friends with fish?

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MO: Now that authors are able to travel for events again, there’s a risk that accessible online events might be going away. How do you plan to connect with your readers in the next year?

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Laurie R. King: Oh, I can’t see that any of us are going to drop our virtual presence any time soon. Now that everyone including white-haired Luddites have learned how to Zoom, it’s too good a way to reach a far-flung audience. Not that it replaces face-to-face interaction and the excitement of a responsive crowd, but it’s a great second-best tool for outreach.

Vera Kurian: Some readers have taken me up on my offer to do online book clubs and that is a standing offer! Online events are a super easy way to connect with readers all over the world, all from the comfort of my home. Half the time I’m wearing pajama bottoms. I’ve also been mulling over the idea of starting a podcast and have really enjoyed being a guest on others’ podcasts. I hope that opportunities like book festivals or library events are still possible virtually, as traveling isn’t always an option regardless of the pandemic.

V. M. Burns: I am traveling and attending several in-person events, but I also plan to participate in virtual events, too. I also have a monthly newsletter and have increased my social media presence. I even respond to emails and comments left on my web page.

Pamela N. Harris: I released my debut novel in the midst of the pandemic, so virtual/online events are all I know! I have my first in person engagement where I’m actually the keynote speaker at an upcoming literary conference this fall, and I’m shaking in my yoga pants just thinking about it. I’m looking forward to connecting with readers in person, and not having to remind myself to come off mute! However, there was something comforting about being at home while engaging with people in other states—or maybe even other countries. I’d love to find a way to do both—have opportunities to see my readers in person, but also keep connecting with people online who don’t have access to attend these in-person events.

Thomas Kies: The pandemic taught us some new tricks, like podcasts, video conferences, and extended use of social media, so I’ll be using those tools.  I think they’re here to stay.  But I’ll be more that happy to meet readers in person, shaking hands, and signing books.

Angeline Boulley: I like popping into virtual book club discussions that I find out about on Instagram and TikTok. I also enjoy doing virtual events with high schools, tribal colleges, and universities.

Daryl Gregory: Conventions are back on my agenda—but I feel like traveling is a kind of reverse-surfing—you don’t ride on top of the wave, but in the troughs between. When there’s a lull, I head out. The problem is predicting the lulls…

M. G. Leonard:  I don’t think online events will go away. It was such a wonderful way of connecting with wider audiences of readers during lockdowns. I think the future will see a blend of in person and online events. Nothing beats meeting readers face to face, but talking to them through a screen is the next best thing. I have a website and am very active on social media, but I write children’s books, so in person events are the more powerful way for me to connect with my readers.

C. J. Cooke: I plan to make my events accessible. The pandemic really highlighted how many disabled folks live with a kind of lockdown on a permanent basis, therefore we need to use our technologies to enable them to participate.

Elizabeth Penney: As a mystery author living far from an urban center, online connections through reader groups and events have been the mainstay for me since before the pandemic. I don’t foresee a change any time soon.

S. J. Rozan (nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award – Family Business): I’m foreseeing hybrid events, where the in-person event is also live streamed. This would be great for local fans and people at a distance, too.

David Bell: I’m doing both. In-person and virtual. And I suspect there is going to be more of a combination of the two, which is not a bad thing. It might allow more readers from all over the world to attend events they might not have seen at all in the past.

Caitlin Wahrer: I’m trying to be better about connecting with people on social media, particularly Instagram. I’ve gotten really meaningful direct messages from readers, and the reading community there has been so wonderful to my book. I’ve even started playing around with making reels. I feel super mortified for myself when I post them, but I’m trying to get over that because I find them really fun to make.

Kat Rosenfield: I desperately missed traveling and attending virtual events made me feel ironically lonelier than just doing nothing at all, so I’m looking forward to seeing my readers where they live! Traveling to their cities, hiding in their shrubbery, breaking into their homes and eating all the cat food, you know. Normal stuff.

Kwei Quartey: My ideal would be to do some IRL tours at bookstores within reasonable travel distance and mix those with streamed events to reach larger audiences. I personally like streamed events.

Richard Green: I am planning to give some talks in Europe, but as my day job is university teaching, I will be glad to take a sabbatical next year and just throw myself into my writing. I have missed travel very much, and it is a part of my writing process, but I am not entirely sure of where I will go in the coming year. I will be okay with online events being fewer.

Alan Parks: I think most events will become a sort of hybrid of real life and online. The online things we have been doing for the past couple of years have been really successful, think we underestimated the amount of people who for various reasons, geographical, economic, health reasons, were unable to attend events and would like to be part of them.

James Kestral: I’ll be teaching at a writers’ conference in Italy this July—the Leopardi Writers Conference, in Recanati. That will be my first trip in a very long time, and probably the only one I’ll have time to do for a while. Because I live in Hawaii, most interaction with readers has been limited to online interactions from the time I started publishing. I’m always happy to engage with readers on Twitter. Sometimes enterprising people track down my real name and look up my email address, and I always answer those emails.

Because I’m not a hugely social person, and am not a great marketer, I don’t really have a “plan” to connect with readers. Sometimes it happens, and I like it when it does. But the only actionable plan I have to connect with readers is to write another book. That seems like a good way to connect. So I’m hoping to do that again at some point.

Fabian Nicieza: Being predominantly known as a comics writer for over thirty years, I had been attending about ten conventions a year for several years now talking to thousands of fans at the shows.

I’ve really missed that connection with the readers, and I certainly missed on the chance to promote my first novel to my comics audience, so I’m hopeful, though cautiously optimistic, about doing some store signing and convention appearances.

Tracy Clark (nominated for Best Short Story – “Lucky Thirteen,” Midnight Hour): I think the future of touring will almost have to be a hybrid model. IRL is fantastic, but we cannot argue that writers can reach many more readers via online platforms. By casting a wider virtual net, we can connect with readers all over the country and the world, readers we never could have hoped to reach otherwise. What writer wouldn’t love the chance to spread the word about their latest book to a new reader dialing in from Edinburgh or Morocco.

Will Leitch: I moved to Athens, Georgia in 2013, after 13-plus years in New York City. It was the best decision for my writing I could have possibly made. I loved New York, still do, but I was surrounded by way too many writers and media people in New York City. I’m surrounded by, you know, normal people now. I feel like hanging out with people who don’t read books is the best way to write books. There’s less of an echo chamber. It allows my work to be for people rather than for other writers. I love other writers! But there are more people who aren’t writers than people who are. (And thank goodness for that.)

Rhys Bowen: The online events have been amazing. When I get 100 people at a bookstore event I’m thrilled. Some of the online events have over 2000 attending all over the world. I do hope they continue, although I miss connecting with my readers at bookstore events.

Gigi Pandian (nominated for Best Short Story – “The Locked Room Library,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine): I’ve been enjoying doing a combination of virtual and in-person events this year, and for me that mix is here to stay. While I missed seeing people in person last year, I made connections with people across the world who I wouldn’t have been able to meet without a virtual format.

Michael Bracken: I doubt if online events will go away. We’ve learned how inexpensive it is to connect with people all across the world, and I think we want to maintain those connections. Even so, the value of attending conventions in person—I’m planning to attend Malice Domestic and Bouchercon this year—can’t be downplayed. The accidental meetings in the hallways, the impromptu gatherings in the hotel lobbies, the late-night poker games—none of them can happen online. My wife, Temple, who was a mystery fan long before we met, still talks about bumping into Sara Paretsky at the Shamus Awards dinner in New Orleans and being so awestruck she couldn’t speak. That just wouldn’t have happened over Zoom.

Callie Hutton: I plan to connect with my readers the way I always have. That hasn’t changed for me. I maintain a 6000+ subscriber list with a 57-60% open rate. The only social media account I have is Facebook.

One additional way that has now returned is in-person readers conventions and book signings. I missed those since I’m not a fan of Zoom or other video type encounters.

Naomi Hirahara: The launch events for one of my recent series mysteries comprised a Zoom organized by a library, an in-person bookstore appearance and a hybrid event, including a meet and greet, produced by a museum. The hybrid program requires a lot of work—someone needs to be watching the Zoom while the host looks after the live event. Technical equipment to provide a 360 degree view is necessary for the virtual crowd. The questions were collected from Zoom as well as texts from the live audience. I would love for that to be the future of events, but I don’t think most independent bookstores are equipped for that.

Marthe Jocelyn (nominated for Best Juvenile – Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden): I don’t think online events will go away. Writers and publishers recognize the upswell in audience numbers through social media and programming. Already book launches have become hybrid occasions, combining real life gathering with a virtual component. Certainly when the readers are kids in classrooms or bookclubs, the ability to meet with them from anywhere will remain an essential part of promotion and connection.

‘Touring’, for a children’s author usually means events in schools and libraries—and a screen visit cannot compare with a roomful of kids! But publishers, educators, and authors have learned the many advantages of virtual readings and workshops, like bigger audiences with less travel and less cost…

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MO: So many are moving away from traditional writing centers like New York City and closer to family (including myself). Are you in a new home? How has your move impacted your writing?

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Laurie R. King: Does anyone actually get any writing done in New York? As a bred and born Californian, I’m not sure I’ve ever believed it’s a place where people live, only where they go to look at museums and parks in between lunch meetings with publishers.

V. M. Burns: I did move during the pandemic. I found my ‘forever home,’ a place where I can age in place with room for family and friends to visit. I was blessed to find a home with great light, which is something that helps my mood. Now that everything is unpacked and in place, hope to get a lot of writing done.

C. S. O’Cinneide (nominated for Best Paperback Original – Starr Sign): My husband and I downsized our home a few years ago. When our 20-something daughters were forced to return at the height of the pandemic, it left us pretty cramped for space. I wrote Starr Sign in a shed in the backyard with no heat. I live in Canada, and it was not summer.  Both that novel and my next one have annoying family members written into them. Go figure.

S. A. Cosby: I live in rural Virginia but I personally feel the story can find you anywhere.

S. J. Rozan: I’m one of those rare New Yorkers who was born here. NYC is my home and even during the height of the pandemic I had no desire to move anywhere else. I did have a need to get out of town occasionally, and lucky I had a podmate with a car. We went on numerous daylong expeditions.

David Bell: I haven’t moved. But we did make our outdoor space nicer since being outdoors was the place to be during Covid.

Angeline Boulley: At the start of the pandemic, I was living in Washington, DC. My children and parents live in Michigan, so it made sense to move back home where my loved ones are.

Richard Green: Normally I live in Toronto, and it will remain my base, but last year I purchased a little house in Newfoundland where I was born. It looks out to the ocean and from its roof you can see icebergs and breaching whales in season. I hope to go there often, and use the place as a setting for fiction.

C. J. Cooke: We moved to Glasgow from north-east England right before lockdown. Glasgow is a vibrant literary city, but where I live generally has little bearing on my work. Mental space, though—that’s a huge factor.

Rob Osler (winner of the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award): One result of the pandemic is that my partner and I left San Francisco for the greater space of Palm Springs. We do, however, plan to return—at least part-time—to the city. There’s a productive balance between the calm and quiet of a smaller town with the vibrancy and action of a large city.

Daryl Gregory: I’m the reverse–I’m looking to move into a city. I’m currently in a small college town, but I’ve lived in Seattle and Oakland, CA, so I’m missing literary events and other perks of the urban life. Did I mention I love coffee shops? I love coffee shops.

Kat Rosenfield: I became a homeowner right at the start of the pandemic! It’s been a mixed bag: on the one hand, I have a beautiful space to write in. On the other hand, a lot of the time I would have spent writing is now devoted to worrying about roof repairs.

Thomas Kies: My wife and I moved away from the NYC area in 2007.  Where I live, on the coast of North Carolina, everything moves at a much slower pace, and I find it’s conducive to writing.  However, all of my books take place in the New York tri-state area—particularly Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Ann Hagedorn:  I lived in NYC for two decades and loved it; worked at newspapers and wrote my first two books there.  Then several years ago I moved to a small town on the Ohio River, largely to be near my mother during her elderly years.  And something about the timeless qualities of the river has been quite inspiring to me as a writer.   Though I’ll always miss NYC, I know that living here has strengthened my discipline for daily writing and has expanded my sphere of creativity.

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MO: What are you wearing to the Edgars, and does it match the cover of your book?

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Erin Flanagan: Molly! I have been waiting for someone to ask me this. I don’t know if I’ll ever be nominated for something again and wanted to go all out. I tried my damndest to find a colorful, crazy outfit—my closest contender was a hot-pink jumpsuit—but alas, I ended up with a black dress. I do have a floral, eccentric-mystery-writer shawl with a faux fur collar that’s quite obnoxious, so I hope it’s cold enough I can wear it.

Naomi Hirahara: Argh, the agony of being an under five feet tall middle-aged Asian American woman during the pandemic, when some boutiques have closed their doors! Luckily I was gifted with a set of dresses with voluminous sleeves made from kimono fabric from my my mother’s friend. Since my go-to tailor had gone out of business, I found another good one close by and had the whole set altered, hoping there would be an opportunity to wear them someday. I didn’t really think of it, but I guess I may match my Clark and Division cover. Conservative black with dashes of red flowers. Long pearls, a family heirloom, red shoes and, of course, red lips. The theme of family features heavily!

Michael Bracken: My wife has repeatedly reminded me that this year’s ceremony isn’t on Zoom. She insists that I wear pants.

M.G. Leonard: I will be wearing a lemon-yellow suit and leopard print pumps. I rarely wear a dress, but I do like to dress up! It doesn’t quite match the cover of my book, Kidnap on the California Comet, which features a silver train, however, the signature item of clothing worn by the detective Harrison Beck is a yellow raincoat, so the colour of my suit is a nod to him.

S. A. Cosby: Ha! I’m gonna dust off my blazer and go for broke lol and no it doesn’t match the cover but that would be fly.

C. J. Cooke: My book’s cover features a lighthouse and some witchy symbols, so it would be hard to match! But I’m wearing all black, which I think is fitting.

Tracy Gardner: My outfit won’t match the Ruby theme of my book, but I made sure I’ll be wearing plenty of sparkle, as my protagonist Avery Ayers is constantly stumbling across glamorous, glittery antiquities that usually lead to trouble. I also opted for a modified tuxedo look versus a dress, as a way to feel more myself while enjoying this exciting event.

Will Leitch: I’m wearing a tux! I don’t own one, but I will happily rent one for an event like this. Writers so rarely are gifted the opportunity to have an excuse to look halfway decent. I will happily accept it.

Angeline Boulley: I will be attending virtually and wearing a beautiful Jamie Okuma dress.

Tracy Clark: I am wearing the most comfortable black outfit I can find. I’m a no-fuss-no-muss kind of person. I don’t like a lot of formality. I’ll hopefully find something that hits somewhere between a Kardashian on the red carpet and a pair of footie pajamas. Match my book cover? Is that a thing? Oh boy. I’m toast.

C.S. O’Cinneide: Damn, is that a thing? I would have been so on board with that. I’m wearing cardinal red to the Edgars, which matches the color of my first Candace Starr novel, The Starr Sting Scale. If I dressed to match the cover of Starr Sign, I’d be wearing canary yellow and be passed out on the floor.

David Bell: I’m wearing my brand-new black suit, which matches the mood of the book, but not exactly the cover.

Rhys Bowen: I never thought about wearing something that matched my cover. Darn. It’s a gorgeous cover too: turquoise and brown. But I’m wearing navy blue. I don’t look good in black and this is the closest I can come.

Kat Rosenfield: I was so excited to be getting dressed up for something after two years in pajamas that I went a little wild and bought a backless black gown that looks like something you’d wear on a date with James Bond. So while I’m not dressing to match the cover of NO ONE WILL MISS HER, I guess I’ll be… (wait for it)… hard to miss. Ha, ha.

R.T. Lawton: The cover of the May/June 2021 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine shows a black night with black streets. The graffiti tags on the building walls are bright and colorful in silver, yellow, green and various shades of red.

For the Edgar Awards Banquet, I will wear a black shirt, a dark suit and a silver tie. If I place a handkerchief in the suit coat breast pocket, it will be a shade of dark red.

Rob Osler: While leading with, “I’ll be wearing the tux I bought from an elderly neighbor off Craigslist,” may not sound promising, I am quite excited about the new-to-me, black velvet, I. Magnin vintage number. I did, however, splurge on a bowtie—it is the Edgars, after all!

James Kestral: Sadly, I won’t be able to come to the Edgars. If I did, and if I wore something that matched either of the people on the cover of Five Decembers, I’d be asked to leave. Or I’d be arrested.

Thomas Kies: The protagonist of Shadow Hill is a female journalist and I’m a dude…so no, I won’t be matching the cover of the book in any way.  I’ll just be wearing a simple black suit that I get out of the closet once every couple of years and hope it still fits.

Jennifer Nielsen: Gah! Others are matching the covers of their book?!? I think that’s a brilliant idea, honestly, but I feel lucky just to have a dress that I like. Most important to me is that I’ll be wearing my grandmother’s pearl necklace. She was a great woman and loved books. This is a small way that I can honor her.

Kwei Quartey: Well, they told us black tie, so no, it won’t match the cover of my book, but I sure wish we could do that.

Fabian Nicieza: I have no clue yet because after gaining way too much Covid weight, I’ve been too afraid to see if I still fit into my suit!

Whatever I do wear, I wish it could match my cover, since that’s a cool Saul Bass silhouette with a boxy 20’s Zoot suit shape!

Laurie R. King: Oh, that would be fun!  But wouldn’t those of us with “Where’s she going now?” covers then have to spend the whole party with our backs to the room?