Scarlet Stiletto: short stories 2013

In 1994 Sisters in Crime Australia realised that one of the best ways to uncover, encourage and foster a new generation of women crime writers was to host a writing competition.

The Scarlet Stiletto Awards for women's crime and mystery writing was born.

Little did we - the Convenors of Sisters in Crime, aka the Stiletto judges - know what we were in for or just how successful the competition's primary mission would be.

Two decades - and more than 2,538 entries later - the competition is still going strong and, yes, we can claim full responsibility for kick-starting several writing careers and steering more than a few women towards a life in crime.

First Prize in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards (apart from the money which every writer needs a lot more of) is a fabulous mounted trophy made from a real scarlet stiletto shoe with a steel stiletto-blade type heel.

As well as the First, Second and Third overall-prizes, the Scarlet Stilettos also feature a host of category prizes: Malice Domestic, Best Investigative, Cross Genre, The Body in the Library, Best New Talent, Great Film Idea, Funniest Crime, and a Youth Award. All the category prizes carry a cash prize sponsored by other Australian writers, publishers and bookshops.