First novels get all the attention, and I was extremely lucky that The Poacher's Son was nominated for as many prizes as it was. There are lots of categories for first books, but after you've published your debut, your subsequent works have to compete against the entire universe of published new mysteries.
That's why I was so thrilled last night when Trespasser won the Maine Literary Award for Best Crime Fiction. It's the first honor (but I hope not the last) for a book that many of my readers actually prefer to the first Mike Bowditch adventure.
My wife, Kristen Lindquist, was also up for an award for Best Poetry Collection for her brilliant Transportation (Garrison Keillor recently read the title poem on "The Writer's Almanac"). She finished a close second. But I wouldn't be much of a husband if I didn't know without reservation that she deserved to win.