SPOTTED OWL AWARD WINNER

Friends of Mystery announced the Spotted Owl Winner. The Spotted Owl is chosen by a volunteer committee of Friends of Mystery members. For a book to be considered for the Spotted Owl Award: The author must have primary residence in the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho or the Province of British Columbia.

Spotted Owl Winner
Robert Dugoni: The Eighth Sister

Also Nominated:

• Mike Lawson – House Arrest
• Martin Limon – G.I. Confidential
• Dana Haynes – St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking
• Daniel Kalla – We All Fall Down
• Warren Easley – No Way to Die
• W.H. Cameron – Crossroad
• Marc Cameron – Active Measures
• Michael Niemann – No Right Way
• Frank Zafiro – Charlie 316

Cartoon of the Day: Cognitive Functions

AUDIE AWARD WINNERS

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) announced the winners of the 25th annual Audie Awards® competition, the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.  Congratulations to all.

Of interest to mystery readers:

Best Male Narrator:
Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny, Read by Robert Bathurst

Mystery:
• The Chestnut Man, by Søren Sveistrup, narrated by Peter Noble (HarperAudio)

Thriller/Suspense:
• The Institute, by Stephen King, narrated by Santino Fontana (Simon & Schuster Audio)

To see the full list of nominees and winners, click here. 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

 Here's a repost for a special day!

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! March 2nd is not only Dr. Seuss's Birthday, but it's also National Read Across America Day, a national program to support and encourage children's reading. NEA's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. Having been a reading teacher in a former life, I know how important it is to get children reading when they're young. This is a fabulous day, and since I also have a Chocolate Blog, you can enhance the day with chocolate, but that's my bias.

The more that you read, the more things you will know. 

The more you learn, the more places you'll go." 

— Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Even though Green Eggs & Ham is the most popular of the 'food' Seuss books, and, by all means read it and make some green eggs and ham, since it's Dr. Seuss's Birthday, read Happy Birthday to You and Bake a Cake!  Check out a copy from your library or buy a copy and read it to or with a child. To enhance the experience, bake a few chocolate cakes, cupcakes or buy a chocolate Sheet Cake, and have the children decorate.

You could also read Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose and serve Chocolate Mousse sprinkled with red candy hearts.

Here's a classic recipe for Cat in the Hat Cookies: Melt white chocolate in the microwave. Dip a round cracker or cookie in the white chocolate, place on wax paper and top with a marshmallow. Allow to cool. Pipe bright red icing as rings around the marshmallow and cover the top.

And from Parents Connect, here's a recipe for  Dr. Seuss's Sneetch Treats. Perfect as a companion to reading The Sneetches.

Dr Seuss's Sneetch Treats

Ingredients
8 ounces butter, melted
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups uncooked, 1-minute oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup golden raisins
2 chocolate bars, chopped into squares
6 large marshmallows
Wooden skewers soaked in water or BBQ forks

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Combine melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix well.
In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture.
Add oatmeal, walnuts, and raisins. Mix well.
Drop batter (1 Tbsp at time) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of spatula.
Bake 12 minutes until golden and firm. Remove cookies to cake rack to cool.
Once cookies have cooled, put square of chocolate onto each cookie.
Heat up grill (or smoker... or fire pit... or oven).
Place marshmallows on skewers or BBQ forks. Slowly roast marshmallows over grill until golden on each side.
 Carefully slide marshmallows off forks and onto t chocolate-covered cookies.
Place another cookie on top of the Marshmallow.

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer and cartoonist best known for his classic children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. With millions of books in print, and nearly all of his titles still available for sale, Dr. Seuss was, up until his death in 1991, one of the most prolific living writer behind Barbara Cartland. His Green Eggs and Ham is the third largest selling book in the English language. He wrote 44 children’s books. His best-sellers included: Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Seuss’s first book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was published in 1937 after being rejected almost 30 times.

Check out this cute Cat in the Hat Birthday Cake from Christine Guzman, owner of The Quaint Cake Co in Boca Raton, FL.  It was a chocolate cake, of course! They're no longer making cakes, but be sure and check out their gallery...site is still up for your enjoyment!

Cartoon of the Day: Facebook

LAURA CALDWELL: R.I.P.

So very sad. Laura Caldwell: R.I.P.

A bright star has dimmed. Laura Caldwell, champion of human rights, mystery author, and friend, passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was truly an amazing woman who gave so much to so many. I will miss spending time with her at conventions. She was always so positive. She accomplished so much.

Laura Caldwell was a former civil rights trial attorney, law professor, and the founding director of Life After Innocence, a project that works with wrongfully convicted individuals affected by the criminal justice system to get cases overturned, help with re-entry to society, and to reclaim their lives.

From her website:

Before beginning her writing career, Laura was a partner in a Chicago law firm, specializing in medical malpractice defense and entertainment law. In 2001 she joined Loyola University Chicago School of Law and taught Advanced Litigation Writing and International Criminal Law, among others.

Laura began her writing career in women’s fiction and soon turned to mystery/thriller. Her first book, Burning the Map, was voted as one of the best books of the year by Barnes and Noble.com. Booklist declared “Caldwell is one of the most talented and inventive … writers around,” after the release of The Year of Living Famously and The Night I Got Lucky. The release of her trilogy in 2009 received critical acclaim and nominations for prestigious industry awards.

While researching her sixth novel, The Rome Affair, Laura was led to the criminal case of a young man who was coerced into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit. Charged with murder, he sat in a Cook County holding cell for nearly six years with no trial date. After hearing about his case, 

Laura joined a renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon & Schuster). All in all, she wrote 14 novels and one non-fiction book.

She is published in over 25 countries and her books have been translated into more than 13 languages. Laura is also a freelance magazine writer and has been published in Chicago Magazine, Woman’s Own, The Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman’s Weekly, Shore Magazine and others.

Inspired by her court victory and the challenges her client faced in rejoining society, Laura founded Life After Innocence, which assisted wrongfully convicted individuals and other innocent persons affected by the criminal justice system in order to help them re-enter society and reclaim their lives.