tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19879503.post-68732726437767276452008-05-02T09:13:00.001-07:002008-05-02T09:43:15.956-07:002008-05-02T09:43:15.956-07:00Congratulations to <a href="http://www.meganabbott.com/">Megan Abbott</a> for winning an <a href="http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html#PBO">Edgar</a> for her novel, <a href="http://www.meganabbott.com/Queenpin.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">Queenpin</span></a>. I've found her writing to be a wonderful noir mix of the styles of two James: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Cain">Cain</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ellroy">Ellroy</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_BMy2iRUsJ08/SBs91iJhi9I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/wpmMsAXZTQo/s1600-h/MeganAbbott.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_BMy2iRUsJ08/SBs91iJhi9I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/wpmMsAXZTQo/s400/MeganAbbott.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195814585011112914" border="0" /></a>But after listening to her <a href="http://btbm.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=182489">interview</a> on Clute and Edwards' <a href="http://btbm.libsyn.com/">Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed</a>, I learned that she's written more than just fiction.<br /><br />For instance, would you have caulked up co-authorship of a report entitled, <a href="http://rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1743/">"The Shipbuilding and Force Structure Analysis Tool"</a> or "<a href="http://rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/DB418/">An Analysis of Sabbatical Leaves for Navy Surface Warfare Officers</a>" to her? If not, you'd be wrong.<br /><br />Those two reports and <a href="http://rand.org/pubs/authors/a/abbott_megan.html">more</a> were written during a stint at the <a href="http://rand.org/">Rand Corporation</a>. One can only wonder if she spiced them up with lines like:<blockquote>You have to decide who you are, little girl, she told me once. Once you know that, everyone else will, too.</blockquote>as she did in <span style="font-style: italic;">Queenpin</span>.Mark Cogginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14662234747419296715noreply@blogger.com