I'm a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, an informal association of writers, publishers, and fans that has kept mystery & crime short stories in the public eye since 1996. On April 4, the Society announced the finalists for its 2019 Derringer Awards. A vote of the membership will determine the winners, to be announced in May.
In the meantime, I'm inviting the finalists for interviews. If you'd like to participate, email me your answers to the same following questions.
Diana Deverell is a first-time Derringer finalist. Her story, "Mercy Find Me", published in Fiction River: Justice, is contending for Best Long Story (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words).
Describe your story in up to 20 words.
Sentenced to 230 months in prison, a young woman comes to terms with retribution, mercy, and her own failings.
What were the most difficult and most enjoyable parts of writing the story?
Most difficult was creating a factually correct foundation for my plot: Getting a woman released early from prison before she’s completed her harsh mandatory sentence. What I loved was the opportunity to attempt with fictional characters what I can’t successfully achieve with real people.
Do you have a (juicy) story about how your story came to be published?
My legal thriller novels are told primarily from the viewpoint of a female ex-con turned appeals lawyer. She’s struggling to wrest justice from a broken system for her unfairly convicted clients.
When editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch asked for short stories on the justice theme, I seized the chance to write from a guilty inmate’s point of view. I wanted to capture the awful soul-destroying nature of a 19-year prison sentence.
When I make prison visits, I have to steel myself because I hate being inside—and I’m there for only 150 minutes per visit.
In 1967, I made my first and only visit to a male relative serving a year in an Oregon prison for youthful offenders. My later visits to a next-generation family member began in 2006 and take place at the newer institution for women in Wilsonville. As the years pass, the sense of oppression grows stronger with each visit. I’m glad to get outside again.
“Mercy Find Me” is an unusual story for me because I hope that when my readers reach the final word, they sigh with relief. And maybe shed a tear. I do.
How does it feel to be a Derringer finalist?
Absolutely wonderful.
In the meantime, I'm inviting the finalists for interviews. If you'd like to participate, email me your answers to the same following questions.
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| Diana Deverell |
Describe your story in up to 20 words.
Sentenced to 230 months in prison, a young woman comes to terms with retribution, mercy, and her own failings.
What were the most difficult and most enjoyable parts of writing the story?
Most difficult was creating a factually correct foundation for my plot: Getting a woman released early from prison before she’s completed her harsh mandatory sentence. What I loved was the opportunity to attempt with fictional characters what I can’t successfully achieve with real people.
Do you have a (juicy) story about how your story came to be published?
My legal thriller novels are told primarily from the viewpoint of a female ex-con turned appeals lawyer. She’s struggling to wrest justice from a broken system for her unfairly convicted clients.
When editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch asked for short stories on the justice theme, I seized the chance to write from a guilty inmate’s point of view. I wanted to capture the awful soul-destroying nature of a 19-year prison sentence.
When I make prison visits, I have to steel myself because I hate being inside—and I’m there for only 150 minutes per visit.
In 1967, I made my first and only visit to a male relative serving a year in an Oregon prison for youthful offenders. My later visits to a next-generation family member began in 2006 and take place at the newer institution for women in Wilsonville. As the years pass, the sense of oppression grows stronger with each visit. I’m glad to get outside again.
“Mercy Find Me” is an unusual story for me because I hope that when my readers reach the final word, they sigh with relief. And maybe shed a tear. I do.
How does it feel to be a Derringer finalist?
Absolutely wonderful.
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