Curses, Boiled Again Nominated for an Agatha Award!

I learned the true meaning of the word "gobsmacked" when I received a call telling me I'd been nominated for an Agatha award in the Best First Novel category. The Agatha Award recognizes traditional mysteries, best exemplified by the namesake of the award, Agatha Christie.

I'd been watching the live TV broadcast of RENT and let the call go to voicemail. When I realized it was a call from Bethesda, Maryland, home of the Malice Domestic Conference I hurried to call back. And got the news.

I'm over the moon! Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and shared CURSES. Your support means the world to me.

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Announcing the 2018 Agatha Award Nominees   Best Contemporary Novel Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books) Beyond the Truth by Bruce Robert Coffin (Witness Impulse) Cry Wolf by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press) Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny (Minotaur) Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge) Best Historical Novel   Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen (Berkley) The Gold Pawn by LA Chandlar (Kensington) The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime) Turning the Tide by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink) Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson (Berkley) Best First Novel A Ladies Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington) Little Comfort by Edwin Hill (Kensington) What Doesn't Kill You by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink) Deadly Solution by Keenan Powell (Level Best Books) Curses Boiled Again by Shari Randall (St. Martin's) Best Short Story "All God's Sparrows" by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) "A Postcard for the Dead" by Susanna Calkins in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press) "Bug Appetit" by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) "The Case of the Vanishing Professor" by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) "English 398: Fiction Workshop" by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) Best Young Adult Mystery Potion Problems (Just Add Magic) by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin) Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt) A Side of Sabotage by C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda Books) Best Nonfiction Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland (Writer's Digest Books) Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J Cohen (Orange Grove Press) Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox (Random House) Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books) Wicked Women of Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo (History Press) The Agatha Awards will be presented on May 4, 2019 during Malice Domestic 31.    Congratulations to all of the nominees!