B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 207
September 5, 2014
FFB: Troublemaker
American author Joseph Hansen (1923-2004) was born in South Dakota, the son of a shoe shop owner who lost the business during the Depression, prompting moves to Minneapolis and eventually a citrus grove in California belonging to the author's married sister. Hansen was to spend the rest of his life in California, making a living as a writer and teacher.
Hansen fell in love with a worker at Lockheed's Los Angeles aircraft plant, Jane Bancroft, and married her in 1943. He was gay, she was a le...
September 4, 2014
Literary Book Benches
This summer, residents and tourists in London have had an added treat with the addition of literary-themed benches, from Shakespeare to more modern times. Here are a few highlights from the project, which aims to raise money for the National Literacy Trust:
Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Charles Dickens
James Bond (Ian Fleming)
Agatha Christie
September 3, 2014
Mystery Melange
Book sculpture by Nino Orlandi
Liam McIlvanney's Where the Dead Men Go won the the prestigious Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival this past Saturday. (Hat tip to Craig Sisterson at Kiwicrime.) The other finalists were Joe Victim by Paul Cleave, Frederick���s Coat by Alan Duff, and My Brother���s Keeper by Donna Malane.
The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards announced shortlists for the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of t...
September 2, 2014
Fall for the Book
I'm not sure I'm ready for fall, but there is one good thing to look forward to, and that's all the autumnal literary conferences. One coming up next is Fall for the Book, a week-long, multiple-venue festival in Northern Virginia that runs September 11-18. From the official press release we learn that:
"The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of Mystery Writers of America is sponsoring one of the major events at this year���s Fall for the Book festival: One of only two U.S. appearances by internationally...
September 1, 2014
Media Murder for Monday
MOVIES
Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan has been tapped to play the lead in the psychological thriller The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, adapted from the novel by Liz Jensen.
Screen Media Films has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Riley Stearns��� indie thriller Faults, which stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Leland Orser, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis, Jon Gries and Lance Reddick. The story centers on a woman under the grip of a mysterious cult called Faults and the battle of wills betwe...
August 30, 2014
August 28, 2014
FFB: Fool's Gold
Edward John "Ted" Wood, was born in Sussex, England in 1931 and served in the RAF during the Second World War. In 1954 he emigrated to Canada and was a Toronto police officer for three years before switching to advertising and copyrighting. The dual law enforcement/writing experience prompted him to pen several published crime fiction (and non-genre) short stories and a teleplay.
His first novel was Dead in the Water in 1984, a police procedural that won the Scribner's Crime Novel Award and...
August 27, 2014
Mystery Melange
Edgar Allan Poe book sculpture
A Memorial Gathering for the late Canadian mystery author Lou Allin is scheduled for Sunday, September 14, 2-4:30 p.m. in Victoria, BC. Mystery Fanfare has all the details.
All Due Respect magazine, edited by Chris Rhatigan and Mike Monson, has brought readers "uncensored, kick-ass" short crime fiction since 2010, and now they've started publishing collections, novellas, and novels under the All Due Respect Books imprint. They're starting off with You Don���t...
August 26, 2014
National Book Festival Announces Schedule
The National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress, changes venues this year as it moves from the grounds of the Mall over to the Washington Convention Center. The move indoors may be disappointing to some, but it allows for new evening activities such as a "Great Books to Great Movies" pavilion that will explore classic literary adaptations through discussions and screenings, a "super-session" for graphic-novel enthusiasts, and a poetry slam.
Over 100 award-winning authors, il...
August 25, 2014
Media Murder for Monday
MOVIES
Warner Bros acquired the rights to Don Pendleton's novel series featuring anti-terrorist operative Mack Bolan to develop as a star vehicle for Bradley Cooper (with Todd Phillips to potentially direct).
Sony is looking to option film rights to Richard Price���s upcoming crime novel The Whites (being published under the pen name of Harry Brandt). The story centers on a detective "whose tainted past comes back to haunt him when he takes on a harrowing case during one of his graveyard s...
