Wednesday night I won the Edgar for Best Short Story for what was either my 17th or 18th Julius Katz story published in either Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. I can’t say which because I had Julius Katz stories in both the 2025 Sept/Oct issues of Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock.
I didn’t expect to win. In fact, whenever I found myself thinking I had a chance, I blocked out the thought, deciding to go to the Edgar Awards simply to experience it and have fun, and so I didn’t prepare a speech. When my name was called and I was walking to the podium, I decided to do 2 things (1) keep my speech short (2) recognize Peter Kanter who ran Penny Publications and published both magazines for over 25 years, providing the genre with 1000s of the best mystery and crime short stories. You can find my speech on Youtube here.
Congratulations!
Congrats, Z’man! Very well deserved despite your humility!