Dateline LBF: And the winner of Lit Idol is...

A huge and hearty congratulations to Otis Twelve, who takes the Lit Idol crown for his debut novel, ON THE ALBINO FARM.

I just got off the phone with him and though he's still rather in a bit of a daze (with much celebration to be had later) he did say, in response to his win, that "it's a great Monday to be in London."

In second place was Catherine Hendricks of Seattle, Washington, for JUDICIAL DISCRETION, and taking third place was Luke Block from Kent for PASSENGERS.

Congratulations to all the finalists, but yeah, I'm really quite pleased that Otis won. After being shortlisted twice for the Debut Dagger, 3rd time truly is the charm!

UPDATE: The proprietor of the blog "All Mirth and No Matter" provides her reaction to the news:

Why is this interesting? Because while I was growing up, Otis Twelve was a DJ on Z-92, then the local hardcore rock and roll radio station. You weren't cool if you didn't listen to Otis 12 and Diver Dan Doomie (or however Dan spelled that). They were the local kooks, the kind of guys who would be syndicated nationally nowadays. And they seemed really old to me, though I'm sure they were younger than I am now.

And now he's winning British literary prizes for crime fiction. I cannot express how odd this seems to me. Kind of like if Ozzy Osborne was nominated for the Booker Prize, only on a smaller scale.

UPDATE #2, 1:00 PM EDT: The official word is out now.

UPDATE #3, 6:45 PM EDT: Daniel Hoffmann-Gill provides the actor's perspective on reading at Lit Idol:

The strange jobs you get as an actor. This one is best filed under 'Corporate' on the old CV next to staff induction videos and pretending to be a criminal for law students.

...Where I came in, and fellow actor Victoria, was reading the extracts to the audience, not rocket science admittedly but amazing how easy it is to fuck up reading. We did a bloody fine job and I even pulled off a consistent US accent for longer than 8 seconds.

My favourite was the one that won, written by the rather cool Otis Twelve (real name Douglas Wesselmann, which is perhaps not so cool) and had the words tit, piss, pee and tug in it so naturally romped home over the other less exciting and somewhat clumsy entrants. And I read it so it was bound to win, right?
 

Comments

[SD]

I told Gischler this a few days ago, after trading an e-mail or two with Mr. Twelve. Might as well share it here, too, by way of congrats to Mr. Wesselman. . .

. . .who, as Otis Twelve, has been a regular media celebrity in Lincoln and Omaha as far back as I can remember. Most prominently as the Otis of Otis and Diver in the morning on Z-92, as a movie reviewer on the local television news, mucho etcetera.

I wrote the guy after seeing him post here and asked him: So are you THE Otis Twelve?

He wrote back and said: "The one, the only, THE Otis Twelve."

Indeed. Congrats from the Heartland Metro!

SD

[Daniel Hoffmann-Gll]

I hope when Otis finishes the book I find a copy winging it's way to me...

[Sara]

My parents knew Otis 12 back in the days of Ogden Edsl and the Wallhallia Blues Orchestra Mondo Bizzario Band.

I grew up thinking the song "Dead Puppies" was a tune everybody knew, like "Happy Birthday" or "God Bless America".

Apparently, this was not true.

Suckers.

[Maureen "Reenie"]

I knew Otis in his Ogden Edsl days, before radio, back when only the cool people hung out in the Old Market. He taught me how to tip cocktail waitresses. Congrats on the award! Can't wait to read the book.

[Bob Wesselmann Jr.]

I grew up with Otis Twelve as his younger somewhat uncool cousin. While I was in the Army and for several years after I would constantly hear from friends about the zany exploites of a guy in Omaha. I knew from early on that he was very talented and this new accomplishment does not surprise me. Congradulations Doug.

[brian furlong]

otis twelve,and diver dan were great. i would skip school to be able to hear them on kezo-fm (Z-92)weekdays..probably why i ,now work in radio making a lot less money than everyone else... but anyways.they were cool, because they had great morning banter, and they appreciated their listeners..the phone lines were never tied up..so someone could actually reach them...funny, i miss them so...omaha mornings were great on z-92 fm.thank you otis 12 for the many great mornings of your show..my teenage years were made much better by you guys,by showing to us kids, that a person doesnt have to be rich or sucessful-to enjoy life and have a great time..have a-great life -wherever you are otis12- one lifetime fan of yours, brian furlong..of the later generation of radio jocks!

[Brian P. Furlong]

.And still i wonder what happened to diver dan, otis12's great sidekick who were some of the great legends of omaha radio!the duo were quite addictive indeed..with great features like space commander wack,which were well produced...like most of their material.thjey were a great inspiration!i sure miss em'

[Lori Stokes]

I woke up this morning in Boston remembering clearly getting up at 6 AM on a brutally cold Omaha morning to go to high school and being awakened every day by Z-92, with Otis n' Diver. I Googled them to find out where they are now, and I found this! I'll buy the book--congrats to Otis!