Charlotte Elkins
Charlotte Elkins | |
---|---|
Born | (1948-07-04) July 4, 1948 (age 76) Houston, Texas |
Pen name | Emily Spenser |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Education | BA Cal State Hayward; MLS San Jose State |
Genre | Mystery |
Spouse | Aaron Elkins |
Website | |
www |
Charlotte Elkins (pen name, Emily Spenser; born July 4, 1948) is an American author who teamed with her husband, writer Aaron Elkins, to write a series of mystery novels about Lee Ofsted, a struggling female professional golfer.
Biography
Elkins was born in Houston, Texas, but her father was an itinerant carpenter and the family moved frequently, living mostly in the southwest and Southern California. After graduating from Orange High School in 1966, she worked her way through college getting her B.A. in art in 1972 and a secondary teaching credential in 1974 from California State University, Hayward, and a M.L.S. in 1979 from San Jose State University.
She married Aaron Elkins December 29, 1972. Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a self-employed artist, secondary school teacher, and the librarian of American art at the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco, California in 1980-81.
Writing career
Elkins started her career in 1981 writing five mass-market romance novels for Mills & Boon/Harlequin under the pseudonym Emily Spenser, which were translated and sold in over a dozen countries. But she had always wanted to collaborate on a mystery with her husband, an established mystery writer. At first she had difficulty creating a character they would both find engaging. The inspiration came by chance. They were living near a United States Air Force base in Germany while Aaron was teaching in the University of Maryland's overseas program for the American military, when they had an opportunity to take golfing lessons on the base. Charlotte, who loved the golf-themed stories by P.G. Wodehouse, suddenly realized a novice pro golfer would make an interesting protagonist in an amateur detective novel and Lee Ofsted was born.
A Wicked Slice was published in 1989, Publishers Weekly called it an "engagingly humorous thriller." Encouraged, over the years, the Elkins wrote four more Lee Ofsteds: Rotten Lies (1995), Nasty Breaks (1997), Where have all the Birdies Gone? (2004), and On the Fringe (2005). In between they wrote short stories, one of which, "Nice Gorilla," won the Agatha Award for best short story of the year in 1992. In 1996, they co-authored the "Cumberland Cup Mystery Game," the first plot for Time Warner Electronic Publishing's Modus Operandi.
References
- Contemporary Authors, Volume 167.
- The Armchair Detective, summer, 1991, p. 377.
- Library Journal, November 1, 1995, p. 110
- Publishers Weekly, May 19, 1989, p. 71; September 11, 1995, p. 77; November 27, 1995; September 1, 1997, p. 99.
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- Dianne Freeman and Shari Randall (2018) (tie)
- Tara Laskowski (2019)
- Erica Neubauer (2020)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2013)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2014)
- Margaret Maron (2015)
- Louise Penny (2016)
- Louise Penny (2017)
- Ellen Byron (2018)
- Ann Cleeves (2019)
- Louise Penny (2020)
- Carolyn G. Hart (1988)
- Elizabeth Peters (1989)
- Nancy Pickard (1990)
- Nancy Pickard (1991)
- Margaret Maron (1992)
- Carolyn Hart (1993)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1994)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1995)
- Margaret Maron (1996)
- Kate Ross (1997)
- Laura Lippman (1998)
- Earlene Fowler (1999)
- Margaret Maron (2000)
- Rhys Bowen (2001)
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- Carolyn Hart (2003)
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- Katherine Hall Page (2005)
- Nancy Pickard (2006)
- Louise Penny (2007)
- Louise Penny (2008)
- Louise Penny (2009)
- Louise Penny (2010)
- Margaret Maron (2011)
- Louise Penny (2012)
- Rhys Bowen (2011)
- Catriona McPherson (2012)
- Caroline and Charles Todd (2013)
- Rhys Bowen (2014)
- Laurie R. King (2015)
- Catriona McPherson (2016)
- Rhys Bowen (2017)
- Sujata Massey (2018)
- Edith Maxwell (2019)
- Rhys Bowen (2020)
- Barbara D'Amato (1993)
- Jean Swanson and Dean James (1994)
- Alzina Stone Dale (1995)
- Willeta L. Heisin (1996)
- Willeta L. Heisin (1997)
- Alzina Stone Dale (1998)
- Daniel Stashower (1999)
- Jim Huang (2000)
- Tony Hillerman (2001)
- Jim Huang (2002)
- Elizabeth Peters and Kristen Whitbread (2003)
- Jack French (2004)
- Melanie Rehak (2005)
- Chris Roerden (2006)
- Jon Lellenberg (2007)
- Kathy Lynn Emerson (2008)
- Elena Santangelo (2009)
- John Curran (2010)
- Leslie Budewitz (2011)
- John Connolly (2012)
- Daniel Stashower (2013)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2014)
- Martin Edwards (2015)
- Jane K. Cleland (2016)
- Mattias Bostrom (2017)
- Jane Cleland (2018)
- Mo Moulton (2019)
- Christina Lane (2020)
- Robert Barnard (1988)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1989)
- Joan Hess (1990)
- Margaret Maron (1991)
- Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins (1992)
- M. D. Lake (1993)
- Dorothy Cannell (1994)
- Elizabeth Daniels (1995)
- Carolyn Wheat (1996)
- M. D. Lake (1997)
- Barbara D'Amato (1998)
- Nancy Pickard (1999)
- Jan Burke (2000)
- Katherine Hall Page (2001)
- Margaret Maron and Marcia Talley (2002)
- Elizabeth Foxwell (2003)
- Elaine Viets (2004)
- Marcia Talley (2005)
- Toni Kelner (2006)
- Donna Andrews (2007)
- Dana Cameron (2008)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2009)
- Mary Jane Maffini (2010)
- Dana Cameron (2011)
- Dana Cameron (2012)
- Art Taylor (2013)
- Art Taylor (2014)
- Barb Goffman (2015)
- Art Taylor (2016)
- Gigi Pandian (2017)
- Leslie Budewitz and Tara Laskowski (2018) (tie)
- Shawn Reilly Simmons (2019)
- Barb Goffman (2020)
- Cindy Callaghan (2018)
Young Adult Fiction
- Penny Warner (2001)
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- Blue Balliett (2004)
- Peter Abrahams (2005)
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- Sarah Masters Buckey (2007)
- Chris Grabenstein (2008)
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- Sarah Smith (2010)
- Chris Grabenstein (2011)
- Penny Warner (2012)
- Chris Grabenstein (2013)
- Penny Warner (2014)
- Amanda Flower (2015)
- Penny Warner (2016)
- Cindy Callaghan (2017)
- Frances Schoonmaker (2019)
- Richard Narvaez (2020)
for Lifetime Achievement
- Phyllis A. Whitney (1990)
- Mignon G. Eberhart (1994)
- Mary Stewart (1996)
- Emma Lathen (1997)
- Charlotte MacLeod (1998)
- Patricia Moyes (1999)
- Dick Francis (2000)
- Mildred Benson (2001)
- Tony Hillerman (2002)
- Barbara Mertz, Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels (2003)
- Marian Babson (2004)
- H.R.F. Keating (2005)
- Robert Barnard (2006)
- Carolyn Hart (2007)
- Peter Lovesey (2008)
- Anne Perry (2009)
- Mary Higgins Clark (2010)
- Sue Grafton (2011)
- Simon Brett (2012)
- Aaron Elkins (2013)
- Dorothy Cannell, Joan Hess and Margaret Maron (2014)
- Sara Paretsky (2015)
- Katherine Hall Page (2016)
- Charlaine Harris (2017)
- Nancy Pickard (2018)
Poirot Award
- David Suchet (2003)
- Ruth Cavin (2004)
- Angela Lansbury (2005)
- Douglas G. Greene (2006)
- Janet Hutchings and Linda Landrigan (2008)
- Kate Stine and Brian Skupin (2009)
- William Link (2010)
- Janet Rudolph (2011)
- Lee Goldberg (2012)
- Tom Schantz (2014)
- Barbara G. Peters (2016)
- Martin Edwards (2017)
- Brenda Blethyn (2018)