Barry Nomination!

some sun, showers and windy, temps 27

Yay - heard yesterday that BURY YOUR DEAD has been nominated for the Barry Award for Best Crime Novel!!! Here's the list for Best Novel and Best First -

The Barry Award Nominations 2011

Best Novel

NOWHERE TO RUN, C. J. Box (Putnam)
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, Tom Franklin (Morrow)
THE LOCK ARTIST, Steve Hamilton (Minotaur)
MOONLIGHT MILE, Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
BURY YOUR DEAD, Louise Penny (Minotaur)
SAVAGES, Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel

GUTSHOT STRAIGHT, Lou Berney (Morrow)
ROGUE ISLAND, Bruce DeSilva (Forge)
THE POACHER'S SON, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
SHERLOCKIAN, Graham Moore (Twelve)
THE HOLY THIEF, William Ryan (Minotaur)
ONCE A SPY, Keith Thomson (Doubleday)

The nominations and Barry Award are coordinated by George Easter and the people at a wonderful publication called Deadly Pleasures Magazine in the US.

It's a terrific list - though, dare I say it - a little short on female writers. I'm never sure what to make of that, and hate to sound petulant and ungrateful for my own nomination - and definitely am always wary of playing the sex card...but it is a curiosity and I put it out there as a question - especially since I know so many mega-talented women crime writers. There are other categories and more women appear there - if you're interested you can go to the Deadly Pleasures website.

Funny sort of time here in Saint Lucia - we've been in sweaters most of the time - but when the sun comes out and we're in it, it's lovely - though still a little cool. I say the temps 27, but that's from the official forecast...I think because we're in a lush a gorgeous forest it is a little cooler...and the rain - sometimes torrential - also cools things.

There's also extremely strong winds which kept up awake the night before - howling through the slats in the shutters. It's such fun - there are few windows and those are high up....at ground level there are those tropical shutters that open so that there's little distinction between inside and out. And with a view like that - wow...you can imagine. Our jaw hits the ground every morning.

And speaking of mornings - that photo was taken this morning...again, my dainty feet and well -turned ankles on the low wall. Michael and I were sitting on the verandah outside our bedroom, sipping coffee and delighting in the view. Beautiful morning.

The rain and wind, when they come, seem to come out of nowhere - lash the place for a few minutes, then blow away. Perhaps it's a feature of this place, or perhaps it's a strange year. Our taxi driver said that normally they get little or no rain in February - and that was our experience last year in Saint Lucia.

Well - I'm heading off for another coffee and more gawking at the view...then getting out my Ngaio Marsh and reading. Lovely to have a terrific book to read.

Hope you're managing to relax too - or at least are not too stressed.