Mafiaboy book nominated for Arthur Ellis Award
Well, this has been a rewarding week. On Tuesday, for the second year in a row, I was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Then, yesterday, I discovered that my second book is nominated for Canada's best non-fiction crime book. The CBC has a story about the Crime Writers of Canada's annual Arthur Ellis Awards:
Crime Writers of Canada, the organizers of the Arthur Ellis Awards, on Thursday announced the nominees for the 26th edition of the annual literary prize. The awards are named after Arthur Ellis, the nom de travail of Canada's former official hangman...
Nominees in the best non-fiction category are:
- Daphne Bramham, The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect (Vintage Canada/RHC).
- Sharon Butala, The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and Murder (Phyllis Bruce Books/HarperCollins).
- Alex Caine, Befriend and Betray: Infiltrating the Hells Angels, Bandidos and Other Criminal Brotherhoods (Vintage Canada/RHC).
- Michael Calce & Craig Silverman, Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken (Penguin Canada).
- Kerry Pither, Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror (Penguin Canada).
This was totally unexpected. I had no idea our book was submitted, and I never would have guessed that we'd score a nomination. The only downside is that the awards ceremony will be held in Ottawa the day before the National Magazine Awards are held in Toronto. I'm already booked to be in Toronto that week so Michael Calce will have to represent the two of us at the ceremony. I wish I could be there, but this lovely suprise is good enough as far as I'm concerned.
Believe me, it really is an honor just being nominated
I came home from my regular Tuesday night boxing class at Blue Cat to discover that I had been nominated for a National Magazine Award. Yeah, welcome home to me. This being 2009, I found out via Twitter thanks to a message from Kim Pittaway. (She's nominated for three awards! I'm a total underachiever.) Here's the full list of nominees.
You can read my nominated story here. It was published in Maisonneuve magazine.
I'm really excited to be nominated in the Humour category, as I'm an extremely funny person. It's about time the world, or at least the magazine community, recognized how funny I am. Now you know. Why aren't you laughing?
Anyway, there are a lot of nominees in my category. One of them is probably funnier than me. Which means I probably won't win the gold medal. But as long as they have those insanely decadent chocolate fountains at the awards again this year, I'll be okay.
Welcome
Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a freelance journalist and author in Montreal, Canada. I serve as an associate editor for PBS MediaShift, a website that reports on trends in new media and journalism. I edit RegretTheError.com and wrote a book of the same name. I'm also the co-author, with Michael Calce, of Mafiaboy: How I Cracked The Internet and Why It's Still Broken. Both books are listed to the right.
I write weekly columns for Hour and Columbia Journalism Review online, and am a former columnist and blogger for The Globe And Mail. Read my bio by clicking on the "About Me" link above, or check out the "Writing Samples" page to read some of my work. If you're interested in speaking with me about an assignment or project, email me at the address listed below.
Recent Writing/Work- Dumb Blonde Story : CJR
- Error Prevention Made Easy : CJR
- Standard of Living
- Mission: Quality Control : CJR
- CBC.ca Video
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