MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
October 23 – October 30, 2008 Edition

Indy Booksellers
Honor Wambaugh
At Annual Show

LOS ANGELES, CA (Authorlink News/10/23/08)-Joseph Wambaugh, well-known author of fictional police novels as well as nonfiction, received The T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award, sponsored by The Southern California Booksellers Association last Saturday as a highlight of the Association’s annual trade show in Los Angeles.

Wambaugh was honored in an emotional acceptance for his novel Hollywood Crows http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/california-authors-store/?0316025283 (Little, Brown & Co., March 2008). Wambaugh thanked the Independent Booksellers and said he considers the award very special. “Honest to God,” he told the audience, “I really appreciate this.” Wambaugh’s unique perspective on the realities of police work led to his first novel, The New Centurions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Centurions, which was published early in 1971 to critical acclaim. The success of the early books happened while Wambaugh was still working as a real-life detective.

Many of his books were made into feature films or TV-movies during the 70s and 80s. Wambaugh was also involved with creating/developing the NBC series Police Story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Story, which ran from 1973 to 1977, and in the production of the acclaimed film versions of The Onion Field (1979) and The Black Marble (1980), both directed by Harold Becker. In 1981, he won an Edgar Award http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Award from the Mystery Writers of America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Writers_of_America for his screenplay for the latter film.

Among the authors in attendance at the awards ceremony were Jan Burke, Debra Ginsburg, Cheryl Crane, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jonathan Kirsch, Marisa Silver, Jerry Stahl and Robert Crais. Othe Association awards were given to Jeanne Kelley for nonfiction (Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes, Running Press), Dean Lorey for children’s novel (Nightmare Academy, HarperCollins), Dan Hanna for children’s picture book (The Pout-Pout Fish, FSG), and David Benioff for fiction (City of Thieves, Penguin).

Though attendance figures have not yet been released, the annual trade show, last regional bookseller event of the year, drew a healthy attendance by booksellers.

Finalists for the Parker award were:

An Incomplete Revenge http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0805082158, by Jacqueline Winspear (Picador)

Chasing Darkness http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0743281640 , by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster)

Hollywood Crows http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0316025283, by Joseph Wambaugh (Little, Brown & Co.)

Judas Horse http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1400042054, by April Smith (Knopf)

Oscar Season http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1416539913 , by Mary McNamara (Simon & Schuster)

Snitch Jacket http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1585679542, by Christopher Goffard (Overlook/Rookery)

Finalists for fiction were:

City of Thieves http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0670018708, by David Benioff (Penguin)

Imagine Me and You http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0307395375, by Billy Mernit (Shaye Arehart Books)

The God of War http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1416563164, by Marisa Silver (Simon & Schuster)

Harry, Revised http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1596914629, by Mark Sarvas (Bloomsbury)

Winged Creatures http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0312378955, by Roy Freirich (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Nonfiction finalists include:

All the Saints of the City of Angels http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1597140759 , by J. Michael Walker (Heyday)

Big Daddy http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0520219678 , by Bill Boyarsky (University of California Press)

Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0762431830 , by Jeanne Kelley (Running Press)

Cancer on $5 a Day http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0738211583 , by Robert Schimmel (De Capo Press)

Hometown Santa Monica http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0975393928 , edited by Colleen Dunn Bates (Prospect Park Books)

Children’s Novels:

Nightmare Academy http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0061693715 , by Dean Lorey (HarperCollins)

Pendragon Book Nine http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1416914188 : Raven Rise, by D.J. MacHale (Simon & Schuster)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0805076689 , by Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt and Company)

The Buddha’s Diamonds http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0763633801 , by Carolyn Marsden (Candlewick Press)

The Hour of the Outlaw http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0810993554 , by Maiya Williams (Amulet Books)

Children’s Picture Books:

Not a Stick http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0061123250 , by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins)

Our California http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?1580891179 , by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Rafael Lopez (Charlesbridge Publishing)

If Animals Kissed Good Night http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0374380511 , by Ann Whitford Paul (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Pout – Pout Fish http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0374360960 , by Dan Hanna (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball http://www.californiaauthors.com/resources/California-authors-store/?0786808322 , by Kadir Nelson (Hyperion)

All of the finalists are Southern California authors. To be eligible for the annual book awards, writers must live in the region, from Morro Bay south to Mexican border.