The Quill Awards or the Shill Awards?

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The book industry is trying to sex itself up with a new award show called The Quills. As the LA Times described it a few days ago…

the book industry is taking a page, so to speak, from Hollywood, and backing the
Quills, a new national award event that would be a conflation of the Oscars and
the People’s Choice Awards. But instead of movies, TV or pop music, it would be
a "consumer-driven celebration of the written word."

While the Oscars are chosen by members of the Motion Picture Academy, and the Emmy’s by members of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Quills will be selected by  6,000 booksellers and librarians drawn
from the subscription list of Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine, which is also sponsoring the awards with major NY Publishers. 

In a nod to the People’s Choice Awards, after the booksellers and librarians come up with five finalists in 15
categories from best romance to best religion/spirituality book, winners will be
chosen by regular folks who will vote  online or at Borders and
other selected bookstores.  The awards ceremony will be aired on the NBC owned-and-operated stations.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s David Kipen sees huge ethical problems with the Quill Awards, for obvious reasons.

What NBC Universal gets out of all this isn’t hard to guess. By wrapping itself
in the ermine mantle of literature for a couple of hours a year, it temporarily
inoculates itself against any future Nipplegate-like FCC imbroglios. But NBC U’s
upside is small beer compared with what’s in it for Reed Business International… in co-administering an
annual awards ceremony honoring the very industry PW covers, the magazine’s
conflicts of interest are, not to put too fine a point on it, ripe for the
plucking. For a suitable analogy, just imagine if, instead of the motion picture
academy, Daily Variety gave out the Oscars…. Variety must make easily half its
ad revenue just during Oscar season. If anybody thinks PW doesn’t see the Quill
Awards as a potentially comparable generator of humongous ad revenue from
publishers, I’ve got a short-story collection by a homely writer over 50 I’d
like to sell you."

Even with his reservations, Kipen is glad to see books getting more attention… even if that attention is the equivalent of an infomercial and an excuse  for PW to shill for advertising and subscription sales.

The TV Writers Social Contract

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What is it, exactly?

The folks at TVGasm believe it’s this:

We watch their shows and make them
rich. In return, they promise to work hard and prevent that show from
sucking.

But my writing/producing partner William Rabkin is confused.

I thought our social contract with the viewer required us to write
whatever storylines the "real" fans demand… to slavishly adhere to
the "rules" they set down in their fanzines… and to realize that
their fanfic is infinitely better than our produced work, because we’re
just doing it for money and they’re doing it for love. How many damn social contracts do we have with our fans?

So which is it? Hurry up and tell me, okay? Because I need to know before we start writing/producing another TV show.

Straight Guys Don’t Watch Queer As Folk…

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…but they’ll watch THE L WORD.  Gee, I wonder why. The show’s creator Ilene Chaiken, in an interview in the NY Times this weekend, makes passing mention about how popular her show is with straight guys who fast-forward pass the yak-yak-yak and the whine-whine-whine to the hot girl-girl action.

LwordBut if everyone agrees that the sex looks good, some have objected
that it looks, well, too good. With classically beautiful actresses
like Jennifer Beals, Pam Grier and Mia Kirschner, Ms. Chaiken
diplomatically said, "There are those viewers who perhaps rightly take
issue with the attractiveness of the cast."

The underlying
accusation is that she is playing to men, a charge she says she finds
mildly annoying since she is, after all, creating a show about sexy
young women in Los Angeles, not a documentary about asthmatic mill
workers in Pittsburgh.

I suspect most guys would watch female asthmatic mill workers getting it on…  if they all looked as good as Jennifer Beals. What’s wrong with playing to men, too? Ratings are ratings.  Of course, Chaikin’s comments imply that lesbians aren’t interested in watching attractive women having sex.  I suspect lesbians would watch female asthmatic mill workers going at it, too, if  Halle Berry was one of them.

(Shockingly, the wide-ranging discussion didn’t make any mention of the strident demands made by the "Save Karina Lombard" campaign  last June.  Could it be because nobody is going to miss her?)

LA Times Book Review Reviewed

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The Elegant Variations reviewed this week’s LA Times Book Review and managed to succinctly sum up everything that’s wrong with it:

Well, there’s a bit too much of the wrong lessons learned from the NYTBR – lots of space given over to policy and politics titles that will probably only attract the smallest of audiences. We know Book Review Editor Steve Wasserman wants to feel important and
all East-Coast-smartypants and we suppose overlong, dull reviews of
weighty titles is one way to do that.

And this week’s issue wasn’t even as dull as usual. C’mon, Steve, I know you want to educate all pf us unsophisticated, superficial, uneducated, DaVinci Code-swilling, L.A. boobs… but can you puh-lease  give us a thought-provoking, intelligent, inspiring, and relevant Book Review that doesn’t read like a software manual?

No, He’s Not Talking about LOST…

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From TVGasm:

What the hell was that? Seriously. Aren’t we in some sort of social
contract with television writers? We watch their shows and make them
rich. In return, they promise to work hard and prevent that show from
sucking. Yes, eventually all shows wear out their welcome and plod
along with uninteresting storylines. I understand that sometimes things
are going to seem repetitive and even overly staged. But that shit
isn’t supposed to happen until at least the third season. I’d rather be
performing on stage at a Tijuana donkey show than watch another
episode of…

I don’t really care what show he’s talking about… I just liked his bit about the social contract we writers have with our audience. I think he’s right.

LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL EDGAR UNIT

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The Edgar Nominations just came out… and LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT got four out of the five "Best Teleplay" nods.  It’s astonishing to me that the judges could do that when there are so many great mystery shows out there…  THE WIRE, THE SHIELD, THE SOPRANOS, LAW AND ORDER SVU, CSI, WITHOUT A TRACE, NYPD BLUE, NCIS, THE PRACTICE, 24  and COLD CASE to name just a few.  We are enjoying a bounty of crimes shows on TV today… but you wouldn’t know that looking at the narrow nominations. Instead of celebrating the wonderful diversity and quality of  crime shows on TV today, we nominate L&O:CI four times.

It’s no mystery why it happened: the committee didn’t reach out beyond what was sent to them. Rene Balcer, the executive producer of L&O:CI, inundates the committee with cassettes of every single episode. No other show, or producer, is as diligent about submitting work as he is. He makes it easy for them.

I’m not saying L&O:CI isn’t deserving of nomination ( it certainly is) or that Rene was wrong to submit as many episodes as he could (I would, too!)  but giving the show four out of the five slots? That’s just wrong. Did the committee members actually watch any television this year?

When I’ve served on the best movie committee, we didn’t wait for the films to be officially submitted…we went out and watched every mystery/crime movie that was released on our own.  We took some initiative (otherwise the only nominees would have been the two producers who sent us their movies). Clearly the committee this year didn’t take the initiative… and it’s a shame. The Edgars, at least in TV, are less relevant because of it.

By the way, here’s a list of the shows that submitted episodes/screeners to the committee…you’ll notice more than half of the 55 submissions came from L&O:CI (16) and L&O:SVU (14).

Edgar Nominations

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The Mystery Writers of America announced their nominees for the Edgar Award, the highest honor in the mystery-writing field.  I’d especially like to congratulation my friends Rhys Bowen, DP Lyle, Jerrilyn Farmer, TJ Parker, Max Allan Collins, Gerry Conway and Hy Conrad on their well-deserved nominations.

BEST NOVEL

Evan’s Gate by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
By a
Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
Remembering Sarah by Chris
Mooney (Atria Books)
California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker (William Morrow)

Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Little Girl Lost by
Richard Aleas (Hard Case Crime)
Relative Danger by Charles Benoit (Poisoned
Pen Press)
Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan (Delacorte Press)
Tonight I Said
Goodbye by Michael Koryta (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Country of Origin by Don
Lee (W.W. Norton & Company)
Bahamarama by Bob Morris (St. Martin’s
Minotaur)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Librarian by Larry
Beinhart (Nation Books)
Into the Web by Thomas H. Cook (Bantam)
Dead Men
Rise Up Never by Ron Faust (Dell)
Twelve-Step Fandango by Chris Haslam (Dark
Alley)
The Confession by Domenic Stansberry (Hard Case Crime)

BEST
CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete
Short Stories
edited by Leslie S. Klinger (W.W. Norton)
Latin American
Mystery Writers: An A-to-Z Guide by Daniel B. Lockhart (Greenwood Press)

Booze and the Private Eye: Alcohol in the Hard-Boiled Novel
by Rita
Elizabeth Rippetoe (McFarland & Co.)
The Life of Graham Greene, Vol. 3:
1956-1991 by Norman Sherry (Viking Books)

BEST FACT CRIME

Ready
for the People: My Most Chilling Cases as Prosecutor by Marissa N. Batt (Arcade
Publishing)
Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder: A Reporter and a
Detective’s Twenty-Year Search for Justice by Leonard Levitt (Regan Books)

Forensics for Dummies by D.P. Lyle, MD (Wiley Publishing – For Dummies)

Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Suzanne
O’Malley (Simon & Schuster)
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story
of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting
Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein (Little, Brown)
Green
River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer – America’s
Deadliest Serial Murderer by Ann Rule (Free Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Something About a Scar" – Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against
You by Laurie Lynn Drummond (HarperCollins)
"The Widow of Slane" by Terence
Faherty (EQMM – March/April 2004)
"The Book Signing" – Brooklyn Noir by Pete
Hamill (Akashic Books)
"Adventure of the Missing Detective" – Sherlock
Holmes: The Hidden Years by Gary Lovisi (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
"Imitate the
Sun" by Luke Sholer (EQMM – November 2004)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Story Time by Edward Bloor (Harcourt Children’s Books)
In Darkness,
Death by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler (Philomel Books)
Jude by Kate
Morgenroth (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
The Book of Dead
Days by Marcus Sedgwick (Wendy Lamb Books)
Missing Abby by Lee Weatherly
(David Fickling Books)

BEST JUVENILE

Chasing Vermeer by Blue
Balliett (Scholastic Press)
Assassin: The Lady Grace Mysteries by Patricia
Finney (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
Abduction! by Peg Kehret (Dutton
Children’s Books)
Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater (HarperCollins
Children’s Books)
The Unseen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Delacorte Books for
Young Readers)

BEST PLAY

Spatter Pattern (Or, How I Got Away
With It) by Neal Bell (Playwrights Horizons)
Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life
by Max Allan Collins (The Art House)
An Evening of Murder and the Like by
Edward Musto (Barrow Group Studio Theatre)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE
TELEPLAY

Law & Order: Criminal Intent – "Want", Teleplay by
Elizabeth Benjamin. Story by René Balcer & Elizabeth Benjamin
Law &
Order: Criminal Intent – "Conscience", Teleplay by Gerry Conway. Story by René
Balcer & Gerry Conway
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – "Consumed",
Teleplay by Warren Leight. Story by René Balcer & Warren Leight
Law
& Order: Criminal Intent – "Pas De Deux", Teleplay by Warren Leight. Story
by René Balcer & Warren Leight
Monk – "Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried
Wolf", Teleplay by Hy Conrad

BEST TELEVISION FEATURE OR MINI-SERIES
TELEPLAY

State of Play by Paul Abbott (BBC America)
Prime Suspect 6:
The Last Witness by Peter Berry (Granada TV & WGBH Boston)
Death in Holy
Orders by Robert Jones, based on the novel by P.D. James (BBC Worldwide)

Amnesia by Chris Lang (BBC America)
"The Darkness of Light" – Wire in
the Blood by Alan Whiting (Coastal Productions)

BEST MOTION PICTURE
SCREENPLAY

A Very Long Engagement – Screenplay by Jean-Pierre Jeunet,
based on the Novel by Sebastien Japrisot (2003 Productions)
The Bourne
Supremacy – Screenplay by Tony Gilroy, based on the Novel by Robert Ludlam. (The
Kennedy/Marshall Company, Universal Pictures, Hypnotic)
Collateral by Stuart
Beattie (DreamWorks SKG)
I’m Not Scared – Screenplay by Francesca Marciano,
based on the Novel by Niccolo Ammaniti. (Miramax Films)
Maria Full of Grace
– Screenplay by Joshua Marston (HBO Films)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

Thomas Morrissey
"Can’t Catch Me" – Brooklyn Noir (Akashic Books)

GRAND MASTER

Marcia Muller

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Carolyn Marino, Vice President/Executive Editor, HarperCollins

RAVEN AWARDS

Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theatre (founded by Steve
Oney)
DorothyL listserv (founded by Diane Kovacs and Kara Robinson

Murder by the Book, Houston, TX (Martha Farrington, Owner)

SPECIAL
EDGAR AWARDS

David Chase (writer/producer – The Sopranos, The Rockford
Files,
Kolchak: The Night Stalker and many other breakthrough TV shows)

Tom Fontana (writer/producer – Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, and The
Jury and many other breakthrough TV shows)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER-MARY
HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

Perfect Sax by Jerrilyn Farmer (William Morrow/Avon)

The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman (Ballantine Books)
Scent of a Killer
by Christiane Heggan (MIRA Books)
Grave Endings by Rochelle Krich
(Ballantine Books)
Murder in a Mill Town by P.B. Ryan (Berkley Prime Crime)

Where are the Characters?

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James Hess asks:

Why is it programs like "Diagnosis Murder", "Monk", "Columbo", etc.,
which are based on memorable characters, are so few and far between? It
seems to me that if a network executive were honestly interested in
creating and producing a ratings winning series they would a) focus on
mysteries, b) focus on a character that appeals in an off-beat manner
to the masses, and c) is built on good writing.

For one thing, all the examples you cited skew very old in terms of audience demographics. (yes, even MONK).  While I happen to agree with your take on what makes a good show, procedurals are the rage now with audiences. In a procedural, it’s the procedure that’s the star, not the characters… which is why there can be three identical versions of CSI set in different cities. And why we have shows like MEDICAL INVESTIGATION,

But character isn’t missing from TV… there’s plenty of character in NYPD BLUE, THE SHIELD, LAW AND ORDER: SVU,  BOSTON LEGAL, THE SOPRANOS, WITHOUT A TRACE, etc. There just aren’t as many  single-lead mystery shows as there used to be.

There’s LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. There’s MEDIUM. There’s HOUSE, MD.  And coming up, there’s BLIND JUSTICE.

What I think you’re really commenting on is how few quirky, light-hearted, whodunits with single leads. Now there’s only one, MONK… but Hallmark Channel is taking a crack at it with MACBRIDE, JANE DOE, and MYSTERY WOMAN. And USA is bringing back KOJAK. So the genre isn’t completely dead…