To follow up on my hope that there might be an interest in forming a chapter of Mystery Writers of America solely for true crime authors -- since MWA gives out the most prestigious award in the genre -- I asked the powers-that-be at MWA if that might be possible.
NOTE: The reply from MWA that I originally posted here is going to be supplemented, and I'll let you know what they say.
The purpose of such a chapter would be to help true crime authors deal with the vexing perennial issues unique to our genre. And hopefully influence the "best fact crime" award process, which as far as I am concerned has some terrible flaws.
First of all, the MWA definition of "true crime" is quite different from mine, which is why I puzzled over this year's nominations in the Best Fact Crime category - not only because of the curious subject matter of some books selected as finalists but because I personally think that fictionalizing by the author ought to disqualify a book from consideration for this category.
Third problem: the prestige and relevance of this award goes down every single year that Ann Rule does not win it. MWA's ongoing failure to grant this award to the most famous true crime writer of her generation is a felony!
One of the worst rules for the Edgar Awards is the fact that each publisher is limited to two nominations. Since the overwhelming majority of true crime books are published by only four houses in any given year, many excellent authors are shut out from consideration by this arbitrary rule. NOTE: I stand corrected. I happily report that there is NO LIMIT to how many books a publisher can nominate, despite persistent beliefs to the contrary. Which means that Kent State University Press can nominate everything it publishes, even if it risks sweeping the category.
I'm kicking around the idea of joining MWA (it's $90 per year - phew!) but would be a lot more interested, as I'm sure many of you who are reading this would be, if they would be willing to form a true crime chapter.
I don't know what happened to my original comment before the update here. I'll just repeat I'm interested in a true crimers group or room or list or whatever. I don't need plot points solved, I need to talk about public records difficulties and so forth. That's why.
Posted by: Camille | February 15, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Now that I have time to think about the subject, I wonder if including True Crime under the aegis of the MWA isn't a step in the wrong direction. The MWA is, after all, an organization for fiction writers. Good fiction is good fiction and there is nothing wrong with that, but true crime is history and as such should be approached with the same standards and intellectual rigor as any other historical writing. It might be better for the genre were a separate True Crime Writers organization formed.
Opposing viewpoints welcome, I'm just ruminating.
I emphatically do not, by the way, volunteer to spearhead the creation of such an organization.
Posted by: Joan | February 16, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Yes, Camille, I accidentally deleted your thoughtful comment when I was revising the post. I'm so sorry about that!
Joan, I have wondered too whether MWA is really an appropriate umbrella group and think it is definitely something that could be debated with good points on either side.
On the one hand, there are already MANY true crime writers in MWA. A lot of very famous true crime writers have penned both fiction and non-fiction. Two that come to mind right off the bat: Harold Schechter and Gregg Olsen. And MWA has been giving out an award for the true crime genre for decades now. The structure is already set up, and such a group could get going right off the bat.
But, yes, there are some downsides to being a subgroup of a fiction organization. Would it be viewed as as an ugly stepsister?
In the final analysis, I think it would be very tough to get a true crime group off the ground if we tried to build it from scratch. I'm not quite sure that any one person would have the cachet to pull it off and make a success of it, let alone the time.
Posted by: Laura James | February 16, 2009 at 01:08 PM
I am not philosophically opposed to a separate group. But the realities are that if you don't watch out, you end up paying enough yearly dues to so many different places you could bail out Wall Street. MWA has plenty already going for it and it seems optimal to me to try build on its assets.
And I, also, emphatically do not volunteer for spearheading!
All my adoration goes to those who do!
Posted by: Camille | February 16, 2009 at 01:21 PM