N.M. Cedeño

And the Winner is… Still Undecided

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By N.M. Cedeño

The finalists for the Derringer Award for Best Anthology have been announced by the Short Mystery Fiction Society. They are…

Crimeucopia: The Not So Frail Detective Agency, Edited by John Connor, Murderous Ink Press

Gone Fishin’: Crime Takes a Holiday, The Eighth Guppy Anthology, edited by James M. Jackson released by Wolf’s Echo Press

Hollywood Kills: An Anthology, edited by Adam Meyer & Alan Orloff, Level Best Books – Level Short

Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense: A Superior Shores Anthology, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk, Superior Shores Press

On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology, Edited by Curtis Ippolito, Rock and a Hard Place Press

SoWest: Danger Awaits! A Desert Sleuths Anthology, Edited by Claire A. Murray, Eva Eldridge, Suzanne E. Flaig, Denise Ganley, and Sarah Smith, DS Publishing

Descriptions of each book can be found on the Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog.

At this time, the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society should be reading these books in preparation for voting for the winner in a few months.

Judges from the SMFS are also reading hundreds of anonymized story submissions in four other categories to come up with the lists of finalists in those categories. The categories are flash fiction (1000 words or less), short story (1001 to 4000 words), long story (4001 to 8000 words), and novelette (8001 to 20,000 words). Finalists in those categories will be announced April 1. Then society members will read all the finalists in order to vote for the winners during the month of April. Winners for all four individual story categories and the anthology category will be announced on May 1.

I have a stake in this vote because I have a story in Crimeucopia: The Not So Frail Detective Agency. My story, “Disappearance of an Easy Lover,” features Maya Laster, a genetic genealogy private investigator. She takes a case that appears to be simple: find out why a girl ghosted a guy. But the answer to the question is far from simple, and Maya ends up traveling all over Texas to solve it. Maya has been featured in three published stories so far. The other two stories, “Disappearance of a Serial Spouse” and “A Matter of Trust,” appeared in Black Cat Weekly issues #79 and #110. Maya is scheduled to make two more appearance soon, one currently without a publication date, and the other scheduled to be published in April if all goes well.

If you missed reading any of my stories that were published in Black Cat Weekly or in the various Crimeucopia anthologies, I have good news. Black Cat Weekly and the Crimeucopia anthologies are available via Hoopla and other library services. I discovered many of my stories were available online at my local library via Hoopla. So, if, like one of my relatives who shall remain nameless, you “don’t want to buy a whole magazine or book just to read my one story,” you can log in to your library and check them out to your personal reading device for free. Then, maybe you’ll discover the value of reading the whole book or magazine!

2025 Wrap Up and Review

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By N.M. Cedeño

As many authors have noted in the last few weeks, 2025 wasn’t a great year for the short mystery fiction world. Between controversies over contracts at the major publishers and the dwindling number of markets available for short mysteries, authors have had a lot of reasons to worry. Like others, I had stories left in limbo this year by the sudden closure of a publisher, and I’ve spent an ever-increasing amount of time trying to find places to submit stories. However, I’m going to take a moment to focus on what went well for me in 2025.

One goal that I set and met in 2025 was participating in a major writing conference.  I attended Bouchercon New Orleans in September, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I planned to meet editors and other short mystery fiction writers in person and I did! I met Robert Lopresti, Daniel and K.T. Bartlett, Bonnar Spring, and Avram Lavinsky. I met Josh Pachter and spoke to Steph Cha and Linda Landrigan. I sat on a panel and discussed authorial voice with Daniel Bartlett, Mark Thielman, Warren Moore, and Carol Orange, with Catherine Tucker moderating. Being a massive introvert, the convention left me on people overload, but it was worth every minute.

I planned to submit at least two stories a month for publication in 2025. I accomplished that goal. I’d hoped to hit three a month, but that was not to be this year. While my submissions remained solid, my productivity dropped. Increasing my output of stories will be a 2026 goal.

In 2025, two of my stories appeared in Crimeucopia anthologies edited by John Connor. The first, “Murder by Alternate Facts,” was published in March in Crimeucopia: Chicka-Chicka Boomba!. The second story, “Disappearance of an Easy Lover,” was published in December in Crimeucopia: The Not So Frail Detective Agency. I ended the year with five additional stories pending publication. While I don’t have firm dates for any of the stories yet, I’m looking forward to most of them coming out in 2026.

2025 brought me one surprise accomplishment! My story “Predators and Prey,” which was published online in 2024 by Rusty Barnes on TOUGH, was selected by Steph Cha as an “Other Distinguished Story of 2024” in the list at the back of this year’s Best American Mystery and Suspense. The anthology came out in October, but I knew my story was on the list since someone forwarded a screenshot to me before I went to Bouchercon. When I spoke to series editor Steph Cha at Bouchercon, she confirmed that my story was on the list, and she remembered it! While it’s gratifying to have anyone remember one of my stories, to have Steph Cha remember it in casual conversation while walking down a hall was particularly pleasing. The story is available online to read here: Predators and Prey on TOUGH.

The end of 2025 also marked the end of the previous group blog to which I belonged. I was happy to receive an invitation to begin posting with the wonderful people here at Austin Mystery Writers. I look forward to writing along side them and learning from them in the coming year.

Happy New Year!