Art Taylor's Blog, page 10

Mavens of Mayhem: Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime • Saturday, January 20

My first event of 2024 will be a short story talk with the Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime — a zoom chat on Saturday, January 20, at 11:15 a.m. Eastern time. Below is the write-up about the event—and be sure to register here to spend a fun hour with me and the Mavens of Mayhem! (Hopefully the presentation itself won’t be subject to any mayhem, organizational or technological or in any way troublesome.)

Short stories are short—but do less words really mean less effort? Ironically, economy and efficiency are sometimes achieved only by extra focus on craft. Edgar Award-winning short story writer Art Taylor will draw on three very short stories—each less than 1000 words—to explore how writers shift their efforts toward character, plot, setting, motif and more to accomplish a lot in small spaces (and regularly let the reader do a little work too).

Thanks to Carol Pouliot for inviting me — and to everyone at the Mavens of Mayhem for welcoming me aboard!

The First Two Pages: “A Tear in His Hand” by James D.F. Hannah

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

We’re kicking off 2024 with a celebration of James D.F. Hannah‘s first story (surely first of many!) for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: “A Tear in His Hand,” which appears in the “Black Mask” section of the magazine’s January/February 2024 issue. While this is his debut story in this magazine, James (who travels under many names, but I’m sticking with this one here) is an accomplished writer who’s won acclaim for both his short fiction elsewhere and his novels. He won the Shamus Award for his novel Behind the Wall of Sleep (from the Henry Malone series, which also includes Because the Night), and his story “No Man’s Land” was included in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022, edited by Steph Cha and Jess Walter. His short stories have appeared in several standout anthologies, including Playing Games, edited by Lawrence Block, Under the Thumb: Stories of Police Oppression, edited by S.A. Cosby, and The Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and he contributed an earlier First Two Pages essay (a terrific one) on his story “Temptation is a Gun” for the anthology Trouble No More, edited by Mark Westmoreland. You can find out more about James and his work at www.jamesdfhannah.com and on social media @jamesdfhannah.

Next week, I’ll be hosting another author from this new issue of EQMM—so stay tuned! And in the meanwhile, enjoy the essay below—and look for the full issues, on newsstands now.

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.

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The First Two Pages: “Raúl and Rita in It’s a Wonderful Wife!” by Richie Narvaez

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

For our final First Two Pages essay of the year (yes, I know it’s still early December!), we’re celebrating Crippen & Landru‘s annual tradition of publishing a standalone holiday story for their subscribers and other friends of the press. (And if you’re not a subscriber, what a perfect seasonal gift for fans of short mystery and suspense fiction!) I was fortunate to contribute a story a couple of years ago: (inspired by actual Sherlock and Watson ornaments on our Christmas tree). And I always look forward to the special treat myself. Who was picked for this year’s story? Will it be a traditional mystery? some dose of holiday noir? funny? dark?

This year, I got an even more special surprise when Richie Narvaez asked me to read an early draft of his story—and what a joy it was to read “Raúl and Rita in It’s a Wonderful Wife!” with its echoes of Nick and Nora Charles, of Frank Capra’s holiday favorite, of screwball comedy generally. I haven’t seen the final, published edition of the story yet, but even that early version promised to tickle most any reader’s tinsel. (Too suggestive? Just trying to get into the spirit of the festivities.)

Richie has become one of my favorite writers in the mystery world and a fine friend as well. I was fortunate to read a draft of another of his stories for Crippen & Landru this year: the equally playful “The Stolen Tent” from the anthology School of Hard Knox. And Richie and I spearheaded plans for a panel we’ll be leading at this year’s AWP Conference: “It’s a Crime! Genre Fiction’s (Bad) Rap Sheet in Academia’s Mean Streets” along with writers Edwin Hill and David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

If you’re not already a fan of Richie’s work, please do check out his collections Noiryorican and Roachkiller and Other Stories, his Agatha and Anthony Award-winning YA novel Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, and his novel Hipster Death Rattle. You can find out about these books and more at his website here.

And in the meantime, mix up a coquito and dive into Richie’s essay below—a nice glimpse at a terrific new Christmas story.

Happy Holidays to all—and Happy New Year ahead too!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.

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The First Two Pages: “The Other Wedding Crasher” by Karen McCullough

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

Rounding out a series of essays celebrating the new anthology Malice, Matrimony, & Murder: 25 Wedding Cozy Mystery and Crime Fiction Stories, Karen McCullough appears this week to discuss her story “The Other Wedding Crasher”—following up on two earlier essays this month: Lynn Hesse on her story “Sabotage and a Murder Mystery” and Ashey-Ruth Bernier on “Chill.” Edited by Marla Bradeen, Malice, Matrimony, & Murder: 25 Wedding Cozy Mystery and Crime Fiction Stories also features stories by (in order of appearance) Joslyn Chase, Charlotte Morganti, P.M. Raymond, Paige Sleuth, Teresa Inge, Sally Milliken, Rebecca Olmstead, Nikki Knight, Shari Held, Barbara Howard, KD Sherrinford, Stephen D. Rogers, Elaine Togneri, Margaret S. Hamilton, Stella Oni, Robert Petyo, Pamela Kyel, Wil A. Emerson, Jack Bates, J. Aquino, Sharyn Kolberg, and Becky Clark. (Note that the link above goes to Marla’s website, with buy links in various directions.)

In addition to short fiction here and in various other anthologies, Karen McCullough is a distinguished and prolific writer, with two dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romance, suspense, and fantasy genres, including the Market Center Mysteries Series and three books in the No Brides Club series—so writing about matrimony without the side of malice and murder, too! You can find more about her and her books at her website here: http://www.kmccullough.com.

Thanks to Ashley-Ruth, Karen, and Lynn for contributing posts this month—and congratulations to them and all the contributors to the new book!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.

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SinC Chessie Chapter Author Extravaganza • Saturday, December 2, Reston, VA

The Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime will be hosting its annual Author Extravaganza on Saturday, December 2, at the Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Drive, in Reston, Virginia. Beginning at 1 p.m., chapter authors will share some of their publications from this year, and Scrawl Books will be on hand for book sales and an author signing—a great chance to get a headstart on holiday shopping!

Twenty authors will be participating, and I’m glad to be one of them, along with my wife, Tara Laskowski, and other chapter members, including Donna Andrews, E. A. Aymar, Kathleen Bailey, Kathryn Prater Bomey, Karen Cantwell, Maya Corrigan, Barb Goffman, Jeffrey James Higgins, Libby Klein, Jane Limprecht, Paula Mays, Adam Meyer, Josh Pachter, Jacque Rosman/Jacqueline Corcoran, Daphne Silver, Shannon Taft, Cathy Wiley, and Stacy Woodson.

The meeting is free and open to the public—no registration is required.

We hope to see you there!

The First Two Pages: “Chill” by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

Happy Thanksgiving Week! As I count all the many things I’m grateful for, being part of a great writing community often (always!) rises toward the top—and so it is with this week’s guest at the First Two Pages: Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier. We’ve been corresponding for several years now and we finally met at Malice Domestic last year—a real joy of a conversation—and over all that time, I’ve been so excited to watch her career continue to rise, step by step, award mention by award mention, and (hey, hey, hey!) in recent news, Ashley-Ruth’s story “Ripen” appears in the 2023 Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology. Hooray! You can find out more about her work at her website here.

Ashley-Ruth’s story “Chill”—the subject of her essay below—was published just this month in the anthology Malice, Matrimony, & Murder: 25 Wedding Cozy Mystery and Crime Fiction Stories, edited by Marla Bradeen. Last week, the First Two Pages welcomed another contributor to the anthology—Lynn Hesse on “Sabotage and a Murder Mystery”—and the collection also features stories by (in order of appearance) Joslyn Chase, Charlotte Morganti, P.M. Raymond, Paige Sleuth, Teresa Inge, Sally Milliken, Rebecca Olmstead, Nikki Knight, Shari Held, Barbara Howard, KD Sherrinford, Stephen D. Rogers, Elaine Togneri, Margaret S. Hamilton, Stella Oni, Robert Petyo, Pamela Kyel, Karen McCullough, Wil A. Emerson, Jack Bates, J. Aquino, Sharyn Kolberg, and Becky Clark. (Note that the link above goes to Marla’s website, with buy links in various directions.)

We’ve got one more essay ahead, by Karen McCullough, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.

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Interviews: The Open Mic & The Indy Author Podcast

Coincidentally, I got word early this week that two recent interviews I’d done would be going live on Tuesday—which is also my busiest teaching day of the week, so I’m a day late in sharing the news myself!

Rich Ehisen and I met at this year’s Bouchercon in San Diego, and I was honored when he asked me to be on his show, The Open Mic—a terrific series. Rich was undoubtedly one of the most thoughtful interviewers I’ve ever had—building on his background as a reporter. It was a real joy being on the show, and you can find our episode on YouTube here. Like and subscribe! I’ve already enjoyed other episodes of the series, and trust you will too.

Matty Dalrymple first reached out to me after another mystery conference, this year’s Malice Domestic, to invite me to her series, The Indy Author Podcast, and she had a very specific topic she wanted to discuss: the First Two Pages blog and lessons I’ve learned from curating it over so many years. I jumped at this chance as well—always thrilled to sing the praises of Bonnie Stevens who first founded The First Two Pages and of the many writers I’ve been able to host since taking over the blog myself. Matty and I had a terrific chat, one that touched on many craft issues as well, and I hope others will enjoy that interview, along with Matty’s generous show notes too.

Thanks to both Rich and Matty for their kindness and attention. Good people both!

The First Two Pages: “Sabotage and a Murder Mystery” by Lynn Hesse

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

This week marks the publication of the new anthology Malice, Matrimony, & Murder: 25 Wedding Cozy Mystery and Crime Fiction Stories, edited by Marla Bradeen and featuring stories by (in order of appearance) Joslyn Chase, Charlotte Morganti, P.M. Raymond, Paige Sleuth, Teresa Inge, Sally Milliken, Rebecca Olmstead, Nikki Knight, Shari Held, Barbara Howard, Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, KD Sherrinford, Stephen D. Rogers, Elaine Togneri, Lynn Hesse, Margaret S. Hamilton, Stella Oni, Robert Petyo, Pamela Kyel, Karen McCullough, Wil A. Emerson, Jack Bates, J. Aquino, Sharyn Kolberg, and Becky Clark. (Note that the link above goes to Marla’s website, with buy links in various directions.)

We’ll be hosting three contributors to the collection at the First Two Pages this month, beginning today with Lynn Hesse, whose novels include Well of Rage, Murder in Mobile, Another Kind of Hero, A Matter of Respect, Murder in Mobile, Book 2, and The Forty Knots Burn—the last two of which have won the 2023 Georgia Independent Authors Association Awards for Best Police Procedural, Best Cover Adult Fiction, Best Suspense/Thriller, and the Spotlight on Georgia Fiction. Lynn’s short stories include “Shrewd Women” in Crimeucopia, Boomshalalaking, Modern Crimes in Modern Times; “Bitter Love” in Crimeucopia, The I’s Have It; and “Jewel’s Hell” Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology, among others. You can find out more about Lynn and her work at her website: https://www.lynnhesse.com.

And stay turned for essays ahead from Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier and Karen McCullough too!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.

Lynn-Hesse-First-Two-Pages-w-Excerpt

Meet the Authors’ Night • University Club DC

Only once each year does the University Club of DC open its doors to the general public—and that day is coming up!

The 31st Annual Meet the Authors‘ Night & Book Fair will take place on Wednesday, November 15, 5:30-8 pm with more than 40 authors—including me!

The Club is located at 1135 16th Street NW, Washington, DC—and I loved the emojis that the organizers included in their sample marketing materials, so I’m including those images and that language verbatim here:

Personalized Signings: I can’t wait to sign and personalize your copies of my books!

Book Browsing: Find the perfect holiday gifts among a diverse selection.

Literary Treasures: Discover new releases and hidden gems.

Connect with Fellow Bookworms in a unique and vibrant atmosphere.

For the full list of participating authors and the latest updates, visit the club’s website at www.universityclubdc.com/pressreleases.

Hope to see you there!

Sins for Father Knox

Crippen & Landru is celebrating the new anthology School of Hard Knox this week, encouraging folks to spread the gospel on Thursday, November 9, about the new collection and its all-star contributors—and as one of those contributors myself, I’m thrilled to shout out the good word!

My story “Ordeals” breaks one of Monsignor Ronald Knox’s cardinal rules for writing crime fiction—but readers will have to read the story and others in the collection to find out which rule was broken! Joining me in this gleeful conspiracy are co-editors Donna Andrews and Greg Herren, plus Frankie Y. Bailey, Nikki Dolson, Martin Edwards, Naomi Hirahara, Toni LP Kelner, Richie Narvaez, Gigi Pandian, S.J. Rozan, Daniel Stashower, Marcia Talley, and—with an extraordinarily special contribution—Peter Lovesey.

You can order the book from Crippen & Landru here (including as a special limited edition hardcover) or from your favorite local bookstore through Bookshop.org—and thanks to one of my own favorite local bookstores, One More Page Books in Arlington, for featuring the book in an Instagram post this week. They have copies in stock!

And here’s Crippen & Landru’s official description too—one last enticement for you to pick this one up!

Rebels with a Cause!

Nearly 100 years ago, The Reverend Monsignor Ronald Knox of the famed Detection Club developed ten rules—a Decalogue he called them—that he felt were “necessary to the full enjoyment of a detective story.” Fairness with readers seemed an author’s highest calling, and—lo!—“the faculty for writing a good mystery story is rare.”

Writers (those heretics!) regularly bristle at a challenge, and being told that a literary twist is forbidden makes their fingers twitch at the keyboard.

This anthology contains fourteen of today’s finest English and American short story authors, trying their best to break one—or more!—of the good monsignor’s rules. Twins, supernatural events, and sleuths not sharing their clues are all in here—transgressions in all directions.

(Father, forgive us, for we have sinned.)