Art Taylor's Blog, page 14

New Reviews: Washington Post and Washington Independent Review of Books

Thanks to Michael Dirda at the Washington Post and Mariko Hewer at the Washington Independent Review of Books for their generous reviews of my new collection, The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions.

Michael Dirda gave a shout-out to the book in a round-up of his spring break reading, calling the title story “a restful but richly layered mystery, neatly linking the thefts to the essential nature of creative writing” and pointing out (admittedly so) that some of the other stories are a bit darker than that novella. You can read the full column here.

Mariko Hewer offered a full review, spotlighting several stories, including “The Castle Thief” as well as “Premonition” (“a marvelous capacity for drawn-out suspense”) and “Blue Plate Special” (“One of the most poignant stories in the collection”)—and she praises the whole book as “an exhilarating set of excursions and incautions, just like its title promises.” You can read that review here.

I’m grateful for the attention and generosity each critic has shown the new book—hope other readers will agree!

The First Two Pages — Or, Um, ALL the Pages Instead?

In place of a First Two Pages essay this week, how about giving everyone full stories to read? Here are this year’s finalists for the Agatha Award for Best Short Story—duplicating the links currently up at the Malice Domestic website.

“Beauty and the Beyotch,” Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Feb. 2022)“There Comes a Time,” Cynthia Kuhn, Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)“Fly Me to the Morgue,” Lisa Q Mathews, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)“The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot,” Richie Narvaez, Land of 10,000 Thrills, Bouchercon Anthology (Down & Out Books)“The Invisible Band,” Art Taylor, Edgar & Shamus Go Golden (Down & Out Books)

And if you want actual essays, I did host two of this year’s finalists last year as part of a series celebrating the Mystery Most Diabolical anthology: Cynthia’s essay on “There Comes a Time” and Lisa’s on “Fly Me to the Morgue.”

And catch all of us on a panel at Malice Domestic—next Friday, April 28, at 3 p.m., moderated by Shawn Reilly Simmons.

See you there!

The First Two Pages: “Red Flag” by Gregory S. Fallis

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.

Last month, I started a series featuring this year’s Edgar Award finalists for Best Short Story, including William Burton McCormick’s essay on “Locked-In,” Donna Moore’s essay on “First You Dream, Then You Die,” and Charles John Harper’s essay on “Backstory.” I’m thrilled to continue the series this week, welcoming another of this year’s finalists, Gregory S. Fallis, with his story “Red Flag” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Fallis has also written on the story at the AHMM blog, Trace Evidence, and Robert Lopresti selected “Red Flag” as his Story of the Week at Little Big Crimes.

In addition to his fiction writing, Greg has also taught mystery writing at the Gotham Writing Workshop, and criminology and sociology at American University in DC and Fordham University in Manhattan. His work beyond the page and the classroom has been extensive as well: a medic in the military, a counselor in the Psych/Security unit of a prison for women, and a licensed private detective too. You can find out more at his website here.

And enjoy the sample below of “Red Flag”—and Greg’s reflections on pulling the story together.

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.

Fallis-Red-Flag

The First Two Pages: “What You Know, What I Know” by Michael Kardos

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.

When the March/April issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine arrived, I was inordinately excited to see Michael Kardos‘ name in the Table of Contents—for reasons related as much to his nonfiction as his fiction. Kardos has a distinguished list of novels and stories, of course, including the novels Bluff, Before He Finds Her, and The Three-Day Affair and the short story collection One Last Good Time. (You can find information on each book at his website.) But I had also just been talking about him in the classroom at George Mason University, specifically sharing some of the lessons on scene-building from his terrific book The Art and Craft of Fiction, which has provided me some foundational insights on writing. With a mix of awe and trepidation, I reached out to ask Michael if he might be willing to share a First Two Pages essay on his new story, and…

And as it turns out, in addition to being a brilliant writer and teacher, he’s also a really nice guy—and there are some personal connections between us: his wife, the poet Catherine Pierce, went to college with my wife, novelist Tara Laskowski. (“Oh, sure,” Tara said when I asked about it. “I love Katie. She’s a great poet!”)

Small world.

All that said, it’s a great thrill and an honor to welcome Michael to the blog today. His new story, “When You Know, What I Know,” is outstanding. His reflection on the first two pages only gives a glimpse at the first part of the story’s two-part structure, but I’d urge you to find the current issue and read the full story to see the magic he’s working here. And for another fine essay from Michael, also check out his post “Two Mysteries (Only One of Which Was Ever Solved)” at the EQMM blog Something Is Going to Happen.

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.

Kardos-What-You-know

Grand Canyon Writers • Saturday, April 8

I’m looking forward to chatting about short stories with the Grand Canyon Writers chapter of Sisters in Crime. They’ve been advertising the event pretty comprehensively, so hoping for a nice crowd!

This virtual event is scheduled for Saturday, April 8, at 10:30 a.m. Arizona time—and I appreciate how detailed the group is about the various time zones and the note about Arizona’s particular situation there.

10:30 AM to 12 Noon in Arizona 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
12:30 PM to 2:00  Central Daylight Time
11:30 AM to 1:00 PM Mntn Daylight Time
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Please Note: Arizona does not participate in Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Please do register here for the program—and see you Saturday!

March Newsletter

I just sent out my March newsletter—and yes, I know it’s the last day of the month, but it’s still March!

Hope folks enjoy this preview of Malice Domestic, recap of some Castle Thief reviews and essays, and a run-down of recent reads too.

Here’s the link to read on the web.

The First Two Pages: “Backstory” by Charles John Harper

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.

Whenever that word “backstory” comes up in my creative writing classes, it always seems to be in reference to a problem. Students reading a draft may argue that a character doesn’t seem fleshed out —could we get a little more of their backstory? Or else it’s the opposite: a plot is slowed down by too much backstory, the narrative momentum slowed down by flashbacks and exposition and… And so it’s great to see Charles John Harper, a finalist for this year’s Edgar Award for Best Short Story, making the word “Backstory” the title of his nominated tale—and in the essay below, he even talks about how much backstory he puts into his first two pages (“seven paragraphs of it”!), what would likely be a “no-no” in a creative writing course, but as he explains, there’s a reason behind the decision, some payoff ahead….

Charles has had short stories published in both Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and in addition to his recent Edgar Award nomination, his story “Lovers and Thieves” was selected by John Sandford for The Best American Mystery Stories 2017. You can find out more about him and his work at his website.

Charles’s essay is part of a short series highlighting some of this year’s Edgar finalists. You can find William Burton McCormick’s essay on “Locked-In” here and Donna Moore’s essay on “First You Dream, Then You Die” here. Congratulations as well to two other finalists: Gregory Fallis for “Red Flag” in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Tim McLoughlin for “The Amnesty Box” in Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

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.

Backstory-First-Two-Pages-Essay

The First Two Pages: “First You Dream, Then You Die” by Donna Moore

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 brings another of this year’s Edgar Award finalists for Best Short Story: Donna Moore, author of “First You Dream, Then You Die” from the anthology Black Is the Night: Stories Inspired by Cornell Woolrich, edited by Maxim Jakubowski and available from Titan Books (and through Amazon and Forbidden Planet). In a nice twist, Donna’s nomination this year comes on the heels of Woolrich’s own nomination for an Edgar last year, for “The Dark Oblivion” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Woolrich’s influence on the mystery genre is likely incalculable, both through his own writing and the many (many!) films adapted from his work, and I love Donna’s listing in the essay below of some of the classic Woolrichian tropes and motifs: “the avenging angels, the ticking clocks, the inescapable fates, the waking nightmares, the races through darkness, the savage forces, the disappearing women, the blackouts, the amnesia, the loneliness, the fear, and the impending doom…” While Donna’s story is being recognized as a stand-out, Black is the Night as a whole seems an instant-classic.

While Woolrich was likely never called a comic writer, Donna’s work does lean more heavily in those directions. Her first novel was a Private Eye spoof: Go To Helena Handbasket, which won the Lefty Award for most humorous crime fiction novel, and she earned a Lefty nomination for her second novel too, Old Dogs, also short-listed for the Last Laugh Awards. Her forthcoming third novel, The Unpicking, is a trilogy of novellas set in Victorian and Edwardian Scotland, spanning three generations of “hysterical women” who experience systemic corruption and injustice. Donna is also co-host of the annual CrimeFest crime fiction convention. Follow her on Twitter at @badsvillebroad.

Donna’s essay is part of a short series highlighting some of this year’s Edgar finalists. You can find William Burton McCormick’s essay on “Locked-In” here, and stay tuned for another finalist next week as well!

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.

Moore-Woolrich-Essay-FINAL

The Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon!

I’m so pleased that Alexia Gordon—a great friend and a writer I so much admire—invited me to be a guest on her podcast The Cozy Corner. You can find the episode here.

And here’s Alexia’s write-up on the episode too:

Award-winning master of the short story, Art Taylor, joins me in the Corner today. We chat about his short stories, including those in The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions, his newest anthology. We also talk about how classic mysteries provide inspiration for modern stories, how to choose materials for a college course on crime fiction, and which cocktails pair with murder—murder mysteries, that is! Listen wherever you listen to podcasts.

So much appreciate Alexia having me on!

House of Mystery

Thanks to Alan R. Warren and John Copenhaver for hosting me on the House of Mystery Radio Show on NBC News Radio!

Our chat aired on Friday, March 4—but you can catch up online here, as we chat about the joys and challenges of writing short mystery fiction, all celebrating the publication of my new story collection, The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions.

Hope you enjoy the show!