Art Taylor's Blog, page 25

The First Two Pages: “Chefs” by Faye Snowden

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.

In the New York Times review of Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, Sarah Weinman spotlighted two stories: E.A. Aymar’s “The Search for Eric Garcia” and Faye Snowden’s “Chefs.” I was pleased to host Ed at the First Two Pages last week, talking about his story, and this week, Faye offers some glimpses at how her story came together, including a look at the original draft of the opening paragraph and some background on how and why the story was rejected by other publishers (persistence pays off, both in terms of craft and submissions).

While Faye admits in her essay below to being primarily a novelist, she’s got a keen sense of what it takes to write a short story, and an earlier story—”One Bullet. One Votes” from the anthology Low Down Dirty Vote—was selected for the 2021 Best American Mystery and Suspense, edited by Alafair Burke and Steph Cha. Faye’s novels include Spiral of Guilt, The Savior, Fatal Justice, and A Killing Fire—the latter the first in a planned four-book series, with A Killing Rain scheduled for release this June. You can find out more about Faye at her website here.

Edited by Abby L. Vandiver, Midnight Hour also includes stories by Frankie Y. Bailey, Marla Bradeen, Callie Browning, V.M. Burns, Christopher Chambers, H-C Chan, Jennifer Chow, Tracy Clark, Rhonda Crowder, Tina Kashian, Richie Narvaez, Stella Oni, Gigi Pandian, Delia C. Pitts, Raquel V. Reyes, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Elizabeth Wilkerson, and Abby L. Vandiver herself.

And stay tuned for more essays ahead by Abby L. Vandiver and David Heska Wanbli Weiden!

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.

Snowden-First-Two-Pages

The First Two Pages: “The Search for Eric Garcia” by E.A. Aymar

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 the first First Two Pages of 2022, it’s a real honor to welcome E.A. Aymar, who stands tall in the crime writing community in so many ways: a gifted and dedicated author, a thoughtful and provocative essayist, a tirelessly generous supporter of other writers, and a friend to the entire community—and I’m proud to count Ed as a personal friend as well. It’s been a joy to see Ed’s devoted craftsmanship pay off, especially with his most recent novels: The Unrepentent (an Anthony Award finalist for Best Paperback Original) and They’re Gone (as E.A. Barres, praised by Kirkus as “smartly plotted, violent, and utterly absorbing”). And he’s established himself as a gifted editor as well, joining Sarah M. Chen in heading up two novel-in-story projects, The Night of the Flood and The Swamp Killers.

Ed has also established himself as an extraordinary short fiction writer— and he’s talking in the essay below about his latest story, “The Search for Eric Garcia,” in the anthology Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, edited by Abby L. Vandiver. Ed’s story was one of two singled-out as exceptional (along with Faye Snowden’s “Chefs”) in Sarah Weinman’s review of Midnight Hour in the New York Times. Other writers in Midnight Hour include Frankie Y. Bailey, Marla Bradeen, Callie Browning, V.M. Burns, Christopher Chambers, H-C Chan, Jennifer Chow, Tracy Clark, Rhonda Crowder, Tina Kashian, Richie Narvaez, Stella Oni, Gigi Pandian, Delia C. Pitts, Raquel V. Reyes, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Elizabeth Wilkerson, and Abby L. Vandiver herself.

Three of those other contributors will be offering essays on their stories throughout January: Faye Snowden, Abby L. Vandiver, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Stay tuned for those great authors ahead! And as a bonus, several of these authors have appeared at the First Two Pages previously: Frankie Y. Bailey, Tracy Clark, Richie Narvaez, Stella Oni, and Gigi Pandian—each essay linked through the name. (And a bonus bonus? Marla Bradeen edited Festive Mayhem 2, featured in The First Two Pages in November and early December with essays by Francelia Belton and Rhoda Berlin in addition to Oni’s, previously mentioned.)

Looking further out, Ed Aymar will be my guest for part three of an ongoing Sisters in Crime webinar series on writing short stories—joining me in April for a session on prose. And in the meantime, you can still register for part 2 of the series on Tuesday, January 11, focused on plot and structure with special guest Barb Goffman!

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.

Aymar-The-Search-for-Eric-Garcia

SinC Webinar: Short Stories, Part 2!

Want to start the new year off write?

Perhaps with a resolution to hone your short fiction skills? Or maybe you’re trying the form for the first time?

On Tuesday, January 11, at 3 p.m., Sisters in Crime National hosts “Short and Sweet, Part II: The Structure of the Short Story,” the second segment of my four-part webinar on the writing the mystery short story.

This second webinar focuses on plot and structure, and I’m thrilled to welcome a special guest for this discussion: multiple award-winning short story author Barb Goffman, not only a great writer but a great friend too.

The event is free, but you do need to register here in advance!

The First Two Pages: “Fly Me to the Moon” by Lisa Q. Mathews

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, I’m celebrating a first—namely, Lisa Q. Mathews‘ first short story, “Fly Me to the Moon,” which will appear in the forthcoming Malice Domestic anthology Mystery Most Diabolical. I’m thrilled to be hosting Lisa in conjunction with the Malice anthology, since that’s where I first met her many years ago, and I know many in our Malice community are friends and fans of her work as well. Lisa is the author of the Ladies Smythe and Westin series, including Cardiac Arrest, Permanently Booked, and Fashionably Late, and her background in the publishing industry is simply fascinating, including editing Nancy Drew Mysteries, writing the Mary-Kate and Ashley and the Lizzie McGuire Mysteries, and working as an executive editor at Random House. You can find out more about Lisa at her website here.

Lisa’s essay below is the third in a series by contributors to Mystery Most Diabolical. Check out Marco Carocari on his story “All in the Planning” and Cynthia Kuhn on “There Comes a Time.” And be sure and pre-order the full anthology for more stories by Leah Bailey, Paula Benson, Mary Alyce Blum, Michael Bracken, Susan Breen, Mary Dutta, Christine Eskilson, Nancy Gardner, Barb Goffman, Alexia Gordon, Beverly Graf, Maurissa Guibord, Victoria Hamilton, Kerry Hammond, Peter W.J. Hayes, Smita Harish Jain, Margaret Lucke, Sharon Lynn, Tim Maleeny, Jeff Markowitz, Adam Meyer, Alan Orloff, Rita Owen, Graham Powell, Keenan Powell, Lori Robbins, Cynthia Sabelhaus, Nancy Cole Silverman, Shawn Reilly Simmons, C.J. Verburg, and Andrea Wells.

And remember: you still have several days to register for Malice Domestic 32, 33, and 34 before the end of the year—which will ensure that you can nominate your favorite books and authors for the Agatha Awards, just around the corner!

While this is the final First Two Pages of 2021, be sure and check back after the start of the new year for the start of a new series, featuring contributors to the anthology Midnight Hour, edited by Abby Vandiver.

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.

Fly-Me-Mathews

The First Two Pages: “There Comes a Time” by Cynthia Kuhn

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.

Earlier this month, Cynthia Kuhn debuted her second mystery series, the Starlit Bookshop Mysteries, with How to Book a Murder, featuring “small-town bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs… out to close the book on a killer intent on crashing the party.” I couldn’t have been more excited about the new book and new series, having been a fan of Cynthia’s Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries, beginning with The Semester of Our Discontent, which won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel—a much deserved honor! And right on the heels of that second-series debut, what a pleasure to host Cynthia talking about her short story “There Comes a Time” in the new Malice Domestic anthology Mystery Most Diabolical.

Last week, Marco Carocari wrote about his story “All in the Planning” for the First Two Pages, and the full anthology also features short fiction by Leah Bailey, Paula Benson, Mary Alyce Blum, Michael Bracken, Susan Breen, Mary Dutta, Christine Eskilson, Nancy Gardner, Barb Goffman, Alexia Gordon, Beverly Graf, Maurissa Guibord, Victoria Hamilton, Kerry Hammond, Peter W.J. Hayes, Smita Harish Jain, Margaret Lucke, Sharon Lynn, Tim Maleeny, Jeff Markowitz, Lisa Q. Mathews, Adam Meyer, Alan Orloff, Rita Owen, Graham Powell, Keenan Powell, Lori Robbins, Cynthia Sabelhaus, Nancy Cole Silverman, Shawn Reilly Simmons, C.J. Verburg, and Andrea Wells.

Like me, Cynthia is a college professor—a career she drew on for her Lila Maclean books—and in her essay below, she gestures toward the classroom as well with a reference to “English classroom parlance” and a sureness of purpose in her analysis. What a joy to get the best of both worlds here: a great writer and a great teacher!

Find out more about Cynthia at her website, and get your copy of Mystery Most Diabolical to find out what happens next.

And there’s still time register for Malice Domestic 32, 33, and 34—with registration before the end of the year ensuring you can nominate your favorite books and authors for the Agatha Awards ahead 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.

Kuhn-There-Comes

A Bonus Holiday Gift: “Ornamental, My Dear Watson”

One of the giveaways in my recent author newsletter was my story “Ornamental, My Dear Watson”—a holiday-themed tale published in by Crippen & Landru as a standalone, limited-edition pamphlet for their subscribers. (Their giveaway was intended for last Christmas, but ended up a post-Christmas story—published in January 2021. Blame me.)

While I couldn’t offer to send a copy of the pamphlet to everyone who entered the drawing (winners here), Crippen & Landru has graciously allowed me to share a PDF of the story here as a seasonal giveaway.

“Ornamental, My Dear Watson” was a fun story to write—inspired by William Maxwell’s “The Lily-White Boys” (one of my own favorite holiday tales) and informed by my love of Sherlock Holmes. You can read a bit more , in addition to reading the full story below.

Hope you might enjoy—and happy holidays to all!

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.

Holiday_Taylor_pamphlet

Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of my newsletter giveaways!

Sandy A. — The Mother Next Door by Tara LaskowskiJennifer R. — Jeremy Bannister, or the Ups and Downs of an Aspiring Novelist by Gary ReillyRoberta G. — The Traitor by Martin EdwardsBeth S. — “Ornamental, My Dear Watson” by Art Taylor (hey, that’s me!)

I’ll be reaching out via email for addresses and hope to get the books out early next week—though Christmas delivery not guaranteed!

Thanks to everyone who entered—and happy holidays to all!

The First Two Pages: “All in the Planning” by Marco Carocari

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.

As I’ve said many times before before, the annual Malice Domestic gathering is one of our favorite events of the year—mine, my wife Tara’s, and our son Dash’s too; in fact (as I’ve also said many times before), Dash listed it as one of our family’s “traditions” for one of his elementary school classes, just second to Christmas, as I recall. While the lack of in-person get-togethers over the the last two years have left small holes not only in our calendars but also in our hearts, we’ve been glad to meet up in other ways: virtually at More Than Malice this past summer, for example, and then through the two recent Malice Domestic anthologies: Mystery Most Theatrical in 2020 and now Mystery Most Diabolical, featuring a terrific line-up of writers from our community: Leah Bailey, Paula Benson, Mary Alyce Blum, Michael Bracken, Susan Breen, Marco Carocari, Mary Dutta, Christine Eskilson, Nancy Gardner, Barb Goffman, Alexia Gordon, Beverly Graf, Maurissa Guibord, Victoria Hamilton, Kerry Hammond, Peter W.J. Hayes, Smita Harish Jain, Cynthia Kuhn, Margaret Lucke, Sharon Lynn, Tim Maleeny, Jeff Markowitz, Lisa Q. Mathews, Adam Meyer, Alan Orloff, Rita Owen, Graham Powell, Keenan Powell, Lori Robbins, Cynthia Sabelhaus, Nancy Cole Silverman, Shawn Reilly Simmons, C.J. Verburg, and Andrea Wells.

Here at the end of the year, I’m pleased to host three of these fine writers with reflections on their stories for the anthology—beginning this week with Marco Carocari and continuing through the end of the year with Cynthia Kuhn and Lisa Q. Matthews, a great way to end 2021!

Marco is the author of the debut novel Blackout, which recently won NYC’s Big Book Award and which was praised by Edwin Hill: “New York’s crime world and gay scene converge in this compulsively plotted mystery, where long-held secrets refuse to stay buried. Carocari delivers a strong debut that’s equal parts thrilling and heart-felt.” Marco’s story for Mystery Most Diabolical is “All in the Planning”—with a vivid First Two Pages that will definitely have you wanting to read more!

Find out more about Marco and his work at his website here and get your copy of Mystery Most Diabolical to find out what happens next.

And hey! Before the end of the year, register for Malice Domestic 32, 33, and 34—three years of festivities packed into one weekend: April 22-24. Our calendar is already marked—see you there!

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.

Carocari-All-in-Planning

Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival • March 5

The Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival has announced the authors for this coming year’s event on Saturday, March 5—and I’m so pleased to be part of the program again! My wife, Tara Laskowski, is one of the participating authors as well—a family affair!—and the overall line-up is as impressive as always, with headliner Juliet Blackwell and three dozen more writers, too!

Check out the full list of participants at the website—and stay tuned for information about panels and other programs. The program takes place at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts in Suffolk, VA—terrific venue, extraordinary hospitality, always a wonderful weekend.

It’ll be great to get back together in person for this—one of our favorite events each year!

December Newsletter: Updates, Events, Giveaways!

I’ve just published my latest quarterly newsletter—with reflections on the past year and a preview of what’s ahead for 2022, both in terms of publications (more than this year!) and events too.

Plus, in the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving away four different books: novels by Tara Laskowski and Gary Reilly, a novella by Martin Edwards, and a standalone short story of my own, the latter with a Christmas theme.

Read here—and enter soon for the giveaways!