# I Won the Edgar! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352 "2001-05-04T14:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/1 "2001-05-04T14:59:49Z")
Well, okay, _I_ didn’t win the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel of 2000, the highest accolade of the Mystery Writers of America, at last night’s awards banquet in midtwon Manhattan. **Joe R. Lansdale** did, for his terrific historical crime novel _ **The Bottoms** _, published last September. Congratulations, Joe! But I’m the guy that brought Joe into the publishing house; I’m the guy who made four separate deals with his literary agents; I’m the guy who pushed and pulled for him and his books at meeting after meeting with boneheaded executives and marketing people; I’m the guy who sweated over seven manuscripts since 1992, painstakingly shifting prose and recommending alterations and asking for rewrites and bringing out that bizarro East Texas Lansdale voice in the most effective way possible. And it’s not just some candy-ass Edgar Award like Best Critical Work or Best Segment of a TV Series or Best YA Mystery, it’s the BIG ENCHILADA…Best Novel of the Year! Since the publisher laid me off a couple months ago (I skipped the banquet last night, and only heard the news an hour ago), I’m gonna go work the phones now…good time to find a better gig, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/2 "2001-05-04T15:05:50Z")
Congratulations, **Uke** , on a job well done! You have a great deal to be proud of. Any publisher not interested in your talents is a moron! Go make them beg!! * * * Jeg elsker dig, Thomas ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/3 "2001-05-04T15:18:18Z")
Congrats Ike! That’s quite an honor! > [@](#): > > And it’s not just some candy-ass Edgar Award like Best Critical Work or Best Segment of a TV Series or Best YA Mystery Hey, back off buddy. Success had clearly gone to your head. Those are pretty good honors in their own right. We won the Children’s award last year for _The Night Flyers_ by Elizabeth McDavid Jones and we were all pretty pumped about it. I haven’t been able to find a list on the net of last night’s winners. Do you know who won for Best Children’s Novel? We had another nominee in this year’s bunch (_Trouble at Fort La Pointe_ by Kathleen Ernst) and I haven’t heard who won in that category. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/4 "2001-05-04T15:21:16Z")
In the words of All Pacino, “Hoo ha!” Chalk this one up as another win for the good guys. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/5 "2001-05-04T15:22:43Z")
Oops. All your Pacino belong to us. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/6 "2001-05-04T15:25:59Z")
Ah, poop. Forget my question Ike. I just saw an email from the editor saying we didn’t win. Oh well. Hey, congrats again though. Sincerely. That’s an unbelieveably cool achievment. I’ll toast you with a beer tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/7 "2001-05-04T15:30:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bottle of Smoke \* > **We won the Children’s award last year for _The Night Flyers_ by Elizabeth McDavid Jones and we were all pretty pumped about it.** Sorry about that, **BoS** ; consider this a retraction and apology. Why do I always got to build myself up by knocking others down, my Sainted Momma used to ask me. Not sure where to find Edgar results on the net…the mystery bookshop websites should have the winners posted by noon, though. …So, uh, you got any JOBS over at your place? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/8 "2001-05-04T15:35:08Z")
Of course your publisher laid you off **Uke**. Why would a publishers want an award winning author writing for them when there is BIG money to be made selling the new Left Behind series. Congrats and good luck! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/9 "2001-05-04T15:36:05Z")
All hail **Ukulele “The Kingmaker” Ike**! Go make those schmucks pay for their poor decision, and take every promising writer with you. I’ll spread the word among the aspiring writers in the Village bars that I know the guy who can deliver the Edgar. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/10 "2001-05-04T16:08:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > Sorry about that, **BoS** ; consider this a retraction and apology. Why do I always got to build myself up by knocking others down, my Sainted Momma used to ask me. Aw, pshwaww. I was just kiddin’ you of course, ya big lug > [@](#): > > …So, uh, you got any JOBS over at your place? \*\* I wish. We just went through a round of layoffs ouselves a while back. But what the hey – if you tire of life in the big apple, come on out here to sedate southern Wisconsin. We got beer and cheese aplenty. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/11 "2001-05-04T16:36:11Z")
[http://www.mysterywriters.net/awards/edgars\_01\_winners.html](http://www.mysterywriters.net/awards/edgars_01_winners.html) There’s yer list of 2001 winners. Congratulations, Uke! That’s a fantastic, wonderful, amazing _succès fou_ for you. Your mother and I always knew you had talent, kiddo. Good luck in the job search too, my friend ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/12 "2001-05-04T16:39:49Z")
Congratulations, dear heart. Always knew you had it in you. [Scanning my Webster’s Biographical Dictionary: “Poe . . . Poe . . . Wasn’t he that emotionally unstable depressive who drank himself to death in the gutter at the age of forty?”] ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/13 "2001-05-04T17:25:53Z")
Oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? Hey, **Ike** , well done, me boy. Sorry they remaindered your office space, though. But I would say it’s definitely bounce-back time. I’ll let the comment about YA mysteries slide, though, and chalk it up to youthful exuberance. As a former kiddie-lit editorial person, I always hate to see children’s books shunted off into some “sub-standard” category, as if the authors and editors were slumming. In many ways, it’s more challenging, since you’re trying to maintain low-vocab, high-interest. Sorta like the New York _Post_. Besides, I always had a crush on Alane Ferguson, winner of her own Edgar in the YA category. She’s a real dish. Congratulations again, **Ike**. And I second what **Manhattan** said. Make the dirty bastids pay. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/14 "2001-05-04T17:26:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* [Scanning my Webster’s Biographical Dictionary: “Poe . . . Poe . . . Wasn’t he that emotionally unstable depressive who drank himself to death in the gutter at the age of forty?”] \*\* Not that there’s anything _wrong_ with that… ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/15 "2001-05-04T18:21:09Z")
Amen, Manny. Drinking one’s self to death is a noble end to an artistic career. Going insane is also an option. And since half of an artistic career is recieving recognition but no actual cash rewards, Ike’s half way there. [Here’s](http://www.headhunter.net/jobseeker/jobs/JobDetails.asp?did=J24C3752VMRRDTNWXM) a lead for you, Ike. Incidently, I’m looking around for a job, too. (Hence the headhunter link…) We should go into business. Wiseasses Unlimited. I’m not sure what we would do, but it would definately involve your editing skills and my wiseass skills. I’m sure we could pick up a few other Dopers on the way… (Oh, and Congrats, man!!!) ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/16 "2001-05-04T18:41:16Z")
Hey **Uke** , right on man! Congratulations. I’ve got some work for you, editing psy and my kids’ homework, but we can only pay you 5 bucks a week. Do you have any other skills like, say, doing dishes or laundry? We might be able to up the pay a bit if you do. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/17 "2001-05-04T19:13:50Z")
Congratulations, **Ike**!!! You may not have written it yourself, but without people like you, no book would ever be published. On behalf of readers everywhere, thanks! This should up your asking price at least 10%, right? ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/18 "2001-05-04T19:24:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > **I’m the guy who pushed and pulled for him and his books at meeting after meeting with boneheaded executives and marketing people** “The better man understands what is right; the lesser man understands what will sell.” Congratulations on doing things right! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/19 "2001-05-04T19:29:13Z")
P.S. If your new job is with the women’s fiction dept of Kensington or Berkley or with Harlequin, I’ve got a few manuscripts I’d like you to look at. . … ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352/20 "2001-05-04T19:31:58Z")
Sheesh Ike, And here I just thought you were a regular nobody like me… Congratulations. Are you an agent? Cause I’ve been working on a little something and… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-the-edgar/64352.md?page=2)