Scarlet Stiletto Awards shortlist 2014

I’m thrilled to share news that my short story, ‘The Elephant Thief’, has been shortlisted by Sisters in Crime Australia for the 2014 Scarlet Stiletto Awards.

It’s the third time I’ve entered a story in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards. First time around was 1998, when my story, ‘The Mole on the Temple’, set in Bangkok, took out third prize. This modest success put the idea of trying my hand at writing a crime novel. I took the central character and made her the PI, Jayne Keeney, in my first novel, Behind the Night Bazaar. Jayne has since appeared in two more novels, The Half-Child and The Dying Beach. But if it wasn’t for the Scarlet Stilettos, she might never have seen the light of day.

The second time I entered the awards in 2011, I was lucky enough to take home the coveted ‘red shoe’ — the Scarlet Stiletto trophy. My winning story was called ‘The Teardrop Tattoos’ and was set close to home in inner suburban Melbourne.

With this year’s entry, ‘The Elephant Thief’, I return to Bangkok, circa 2013. Here’s the blurb I wrote for the Sisters in Crime:

Police Colonel Suthep responds to a call from Officer Kanokwan, one of Thailand’s newly minted female police cadets, who has detained a middle-aged Australian woman for trying to steal an elephant in an infamous red light precinct in Bangkok. Suthep quickly spots an opportunity to make money; but the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, especially when rats and women are involved…

I’m grateful to the Sisters in Crime for doing me the honour of shortlisting my story, especially knowing the calibre of other authors among the shortlistees.

Awards night is Friday 21 November 2014.

You can read my piece on the history of the Scarlet Stiletto Awards here.

By the way, that’s not the Scarlet Stiletto trophy in the photo. That bottle stopper is among the awesome merchandise available from Sisters in Crime.