Southwest Sleuths Newsletter

January 17, 2022

Lefty Award Nominees

Our thanks to all who submitted their nomination forms. The Lefty Awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, April 9, at the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque. We are delighted to announce the Lefty nominees.

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

Ellen Byron, Cajun Kiss of Death (Crooked Lane Books)
Jennifer Chow, Mimi Lee Cracks the Code (Berkley Prime Crime)
Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Minotaur Books)
Cynthia Kuhn, How To Book a Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Raquel V. Reyes, Mango, Mambo, and Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Wendall Thomas, Fogged Off (Beyond the Page Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (for books set before 1970). The nominees are:

Susanna Calkins, The Cry of the Hangman (Severn House)
John Copenhaver, The Savage Kind (Pegasus Crime)
Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division (Soho Crime)
Sujata Massey, The Bombay Prince (Soho Crime)
Catriona McPherson, The Mirror Dance (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lori Rader-Day, Death at Greenway (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

Alexandra Andrews, Who Is Maud Dixon (Little, Brown and Company)
Marco Carocari, Blackout (Level Best Books)
Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl (Atria Books)
Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo (Berkley Prime Crime)
Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories). The nominees are:

Tracy Clark, Runner (Kensington Books)
S.A. Cosby, Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Press)
Matt Coyle, Last Redemption (Oceanview Publishing)
William Kent Krueger, Lightning Strike (Atria Books)
P.J. Vernon, Bath Haus (Doubleday)

Southwest Sleuths Programming

The Left Coast Crime 2022 Panel Team is ready to begin the task of organizing the panels. Our goal is to send the panel notifications out to panelists in mid-February.

Left Coast Crime Events

At Left Coast Crime 2022 we will be offering offering our usual four opportunities outside the normal panel and book signings for authors and readers to interact. Information about the Meet the New Authors Breakfast, Author Speed-Dating, Author-Hosted Tables, and Author-Reader Connections will be announced in out next newsletter.

Advertising in the Program Book

Attention Authors! Please encourage your publisher to advertise in the Left Coast Crime Program Book. There are sizes and prices for every budget. Don’t be left out! The deadline for reserving ad space is February 12, 2022.
Details and Ad Form

Convention COVID Situation

We are determined to meet in-person once again at Left Coast Crime convention #32 in April 2022 — face to face, even if masked!

Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination Will Be Required for Left Coast Crime 2022
To protect us all and in line with convention best practices, LCC attendees will be required to provide proof of full vaccination before check-in. We’ll be finalizing things when we get closer to April, but are planning to have a pre-clearance procedure in the weeks leading up to the convention, as well as the option of on-site proof. For administrative reasons and to support the effectiveness of the vax rule, we are not allowing for any exceptions. We regret that some folks will not wish to attend under these circumstances — but please consider LCC in Tucson in 2023!

Masks?
We will follow the New Mexico guidelines for masks at the time of the convention — currently New Mexico requires masks in public, except when drinking or eating. At this point, nobody knows what things will be like next April, but we will not require masks if the government does not, although you are all encouraged to take whatever protective measures you prefer.

Cancellation Deadline
Due to the Covid uncertainties, we are extending our normal cancellation deadline to two weeks before the convention. Cancellations by March 24, are entitled to a refund; starting March 25, there is no refund unless the convention is cancelled. We have also suspended the traditional cancellation fee until things return to normal.

Sponsorship at Left Coast Crime

Interested in sponsoring Left Coast Crime? Available options include the Saturday breakfast, the hospitality suite, sponsoring one of our Guests of Honor, plus the convention book bag and name tag holder.

Books for Book Bags
We are happy to accept crime fiction and non-fiction books for distribution to all attendees in our book bags. There is no charge, but you will need to ship the books to arrive in early 2022. We accept any quantity of books, but prefer not to have more than 200 copies of a single title; multiple titles are recommended if you would like to place a book in every bag. In order to make book distribution work for both the participants (who will love receiving your books) and the booksellers (who will plan to bring different books to sell), we ask that you provide the title(s) and number of books you would like to donate.

Please email Lucinda Surber if you are interested in learning more about our sponsorship opportunities or would like to donate books.

Writing Workshop

Get Your Kicks on Route 66: David Morrell Shares Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing

A Writing Workshop for authors, published or not, will take place from Noon–4:00 PM on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, the day before the convention begins, at the convention hotel.

Drawing on his many decades as a bestselling author and the creator of the Rambo film series, David will discuss numerous topics, including his method of starting a novel, the steps to its completion, the mistakes he watches for, and his assessment of the current publishing market. The session will conclude with a long question-and-answer session.

Cost: $66 for LCC Registrants, $99 for non-LCC registrants
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 6, 2022, Noon–4:00 PM
Location: Hyatt Regency Albuquerque, 330 Tijeras Avenue NW, 87102
Details: Lunch on your own before the workshop
Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination Will Be Required for the Writing Workshop
Online registration

David Morrell is the author of the novel First Blood, in which the character of Rambo originated. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic espionage novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose, the basis for the only television mini-series to air after a Super Bowl. An Anthony, Edgar, Ellis, Left Coast Crime, and Thriller Award finalist, Morrell has Comic-Con, Macavity, Nero, and Stoker awards as well as ITW’s Thriller Master award and a Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement award. His writing book, The Successful Novelist, discusses what he has learned in his many decades as an author. [David Morrell’s Website]

Left Coast Crime 2023
Tucson, Arizona

When: March 16–19, 2023
Where: El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort
Lifetime Achievement: J.A. Jance
Guest of Honor: Glen Erik Hamilton
Guest of Honor: Sujata Massey
Fan Guest of Honor: Dru Ann Love
Toastmaster: Ellen Byron
Ghost of Honor: Winn Bundy
Registration: $250 through April 10, 2022
Online Registration

El Conquistador Tucson spans 50 acres, overlooking Pusch Ridge in one direction and the Santa Catalina Mountains to the other. The resort has a swimming pool, spa, hiking and cycling trails, tennis courts, and a golf course. Our convention rate is $195 for the convention nights, plus three nights before and after the convention (subject to availability) so you can extend your stay in Tucson. The standard daily resort charge has been waived for Left Coast Crime registrants.
More information about the convention