Art Taylor's Blog, page 32

Anthony Award Finalist—Times Two!

Bouchercon has announced the finalist for the 2021 Anthony Awards—and what a thrill to find my own work on the slate!

“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74,” originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and then the title story for my collection for Crippen & Landru, has been named a finalist for Best Short Story, alongside stories by Barb Goffman, Alex Segura, Gabriel Valjan, and James W. Ziskin. (You can read my story here.)

And California Schemin’: Bouchercon Anthology 2020 has been named a finalist for Best Anthology or Collection, alongside books edited by Heather Graham, Gabino Iglesias, Josh Pachter, and Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle, plus a single-author collection by Richie Narvaez.

Congratulations to all—and to writers on the full slate of finalists below!

Best Hardcover Novel

​

What You Don’t See – Tracy ClarkBlacktop Wasteland – S.A. Cosby – Flatiron BooksLittle Secrets – Jennifer Hillier – Minotaur BooksAnd Now She’s Gone – Rachel Howzell Hall – Forge BooksThe First to Lie – Hank Phillippi Ryan – Forge Books

Best First Novel

​

Derailed – Mary Keliikoa – Camel PressMurder in Old Bombay – Nev March – Minotaur BooksMurder at the Mena House – Erica Ruth Neubauer – KensingtonThe Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – Pamela Dorman BooksWinter Counts – David Heska Wanbli Weiden – Ecco Press

Best Paperback Original/E-Book/Audiobook Original Novel

​

The Fate of a Flapper – Susanna Calkins – GriffinWhen No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole – William MorrowUnspeakable Things – Jess Lourey – Thomas & MercerThe Lucky One – Lori Rader-Day – William MorrowDirty Old Town – Gabriel Valjan – Level Best Books

Best Short Story

​

“Dear Emily Etiquette” – Barb Goffman – EQMM – Dell Magazines“90 Miles” – Alex Segura – Both Sides: Stories From the Border – Agora Books“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” – Art Taylor – AHMM (Jan-Feb) – Dell Magazines“Elysian Fields” – Gabriel Valjan – California Schemin’ – Wildside Press“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” – James W. Ziskin – In League with Sherlock Holmes – Pegasus Crime

Best Juvenile/Young Adult

​

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel – Fleur Bradley – Viking Books for Young ReadersPremeditated Myrtle – Elizabeth C. Bunce – Algonquin Young ReadersFrom the Desk of Zoe Washington – Janae Marks – Katherine Tegen BooksHolly Hernandez and the Death of Disco – Richie Narvaez – Piñata BooksStar Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall – Alex Segura – Disney Lucasfilm Press

Best Critical or Nonfiction Work

​

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy – Leslie Brody – Seal PressAmerican Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI – Kate Winkler Dawson – G.P. Putnam’s SonsHowdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club – Martin Edwards, ed. – Collins Crime ClubThe Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia – Emma Copley Eisenberg – Hachette BooksPhantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman behind Hitchcock – Christina Lane – Chicago Review PressUnspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession – Sarah Weinman, ed. – Ecco Press

Best Anthology or Collection

​

Shattering Glass: A Nasty Woman Press Anthology – Heather Graham, ed. – Nasty Woman PressBoth Sides: Stories from the Border – Gabino Iglesias, ed. – Agora BooksNoiryorican – Richie Narvaez – Down & Out BooksThe Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell – Josh Pachter, ed. – Untreed Reads PublishingCalifornia Schemin’ – Art Taylor. ed. – Wildside PressLockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic – Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle, eds. – Polis Books

The First Two Pages: “Mr. Tesla Likes to Watch” by Joseph D’Agnese

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.

I first met Joseph D’Agnese and his wife Denise Kiernan at the Bouchercon in Raleigh in 2015. Joe had won the Derringer Award in the Flash Fiction category that year for “How Lil’ Jimmie Beat the Big C” in Shotgun Honey, and it was a big year for him in other ways too: Another of his stories, “Harm and Hammer” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, had been selected for the Best American Mystery Stories 2015. I was fortunate to be presenting that year’s Derringer Awards at Bouchercon—and at Joe’s blog, you can read his fun account of the convention and the award ceremony. But as much as that ceremony, I remember chatting with Joe and Denise at the bar, how he was as lively and interesting in person as his fiction was on the page—and Denise too, I should add, a brilliant and bestselling writer!—and it’s been a pleasure to keep up with both of them in the years since, following their publications and successes but also counting them as friends.

All that in mind, it’s a real pleasure to host Joe’s essay today on his story in the new issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. I truly loved “Mr. Tesla Likes to Watch” when I read it, and I have even more respect and appreciation for the story now having read his essay on the story’s first two pages—which not only looks at craft choices but also discusses the genesis of the story, the challenges and pleasures of writing historical fiction, and some of the things he wishes he’d done differently. Step by step, we’re seeing a consummate craftsman at work, driven by a nice dose of curiosity.

Joseph D’Agnese (more formally again!) has published widely and in many directions, not only with stellar crime stories (in addition to his Derringer win, he’s been nominated two other times), but also as a science writer, whose work has appeared twice in Best American Science Writing. And we’re fans as well of his children’s book, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, which was named a Mathical Honor Book in 2015 (a big year in many ways, as we’ve already said). You can find more about his work at his website here.

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.

DAgnese_Mr_Tesla_Likes_to_Watch2

SinC Chessie Chapter • Saturday, May 8

Several chapters of Sisters in Crime have hosted me lately for talks on writing short mystery fiction, and I’m grateful this week to be returning home—even virtually!—for a talk at my own local group, the Chesapeake Chapter. And because a couple of folks in our chapter have attended other events, I’ll try to mix this one up at least a bit too…

Here’s the write-up the organizers have shared in their invitation:

Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter

Virtual Meeting

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Zoom mingling at 12:40 p.m.

Zoom meeting at 1:00 p.m.

The Art of the Short Story

Don’t miss our May meeting, where short story guru and Chessie Chapter member Art Taylor will share tips and tricks to take our short mystery fiction to the next level. 

Art contributed the essay “The Short Mystery” to the new collection How To Write a Mystery: A Handbook by Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King (publication date April 27). Drawing on his essay, Art will offer advice for writing short mystery fiction—with an emphasis on economy, efficiency, and focus. Examining excerpts from stories by Patricia Highsmith, Edward D. Hoch, Ruth Rendell, and more, Art will explore the shape and structure of the short story, how to do more with less, and how to make your reader an integral part of the storytelling too.

Join us!

About the presenter

Art Taylor is the author of the story collection The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense and of the novel in stories On the Road with Del & Louise, winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. He won the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Short Story for “English 398: Fiction Workshop,” originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and his short fiction has also won the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Macavity Awards and appeared in Best American Mystery Stories. He edited Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015, winner of the Anthony Award for Best Anthology or Collection, and California Schemin’: Bouchercon Anthology 2020. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason University.

I don’t think this meeting is open to the general public, unfortunately—but looking forward to seeing many friends and (hopefully!) friendly faces as the get-together!

“The Boy Detective” Wins A Derringer

The Short Mystery Fiction Society announced the winners of the 2021 Derringer Awards in four categories—honoring works published in 2020—and I’m thrilled that my story “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” won the prize for Best Novelette! Originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the story is now the title tale of my short fiction collection from Crippen & Landru.

Congratulations to all of the other finalists, listed below, and to Brendan DuBois for winning the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement—so richly deserved!

FLASH (ranges up to 1,000 words) TIE:

Blackwell, C.W. “Memories of Fire.” Pulp Modern Flash. August 3, 2020.
Richardson, Travis. “War Words.” Punk Noir Magazine. December 3, 2020.


SHORT (ranges from 1,001 to 4,000 words)  

TIE:   Jones, Eleanor Cawood. “The Great Bedbug Incident and the Invitation of Doom.” Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder.     

Woodson, Stacy. “River.” The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell.

LONG (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words)

Chen, Sarah M. “Hotelin’.” Shotgun Honey: Volume #4: Recoil.

NOVELETTE (ranges from 8,001 to 20,000 words)

Taylor, Art. “The Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74.” Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. January/February 2020.

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement is annually awarded to an outstanding living writer of short mysteries, selected by a five-member panel. This year’s recipient: Brendan DuBois.

Favorite Books on Writing

This week, my essay “The Short Mystery” appeared in the new Mystery Writers of America handbook How to Write a Mystery—edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King, released on Tuesday, April 27, and featuring a truly stellar line-up of contributors (more information here).

Also this week, I finished reading a book I’ve been savoring on and off for much of the semester: George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life. It’s an outstanding book, offering some wonderful analysis of stories by Chekhov, Gogol, Tolstoy, and Turgenev and some eye-opening perspectives on the craft of short fiction in the process.

Saunders’ book has immediately become one of my favorite books on writing, and reading it and being part of the terrific new MWA handbook left me reflecting on other favorites too. I’m often asked to recommend such books—the ones I value, the ones I draw on for talks and seminars I lead, the ones I turn to for tips myself—so I wanted to provide a short list of recommended reading here. Plenty to learn, plenty to enjoy!

Madison Smartt Bell, Narrative DesignJanet Burroway, Writing FictionJane K. Cleland, Mastering Suspense, Structure & PlotBenjamin Dreyer, Dreyer’s EnglishHallie Ephron, Writing and Selling Your Mystery NovelPatricia Highsmith, Plotting and Writing Suspense FictionMichael Kardos, The Art and Craft of Fiction: A Writer’s GuideBenjamin Percy, Thrill Me: Essays on FictionFrancine Prose, Reading Like a WriterDwight V. Swain, Techniques of the Selling Writer

The First Two Pages: “Perfect Strangers” by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs

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.

The First Two Pages blog series challenges writers to illuminate the strategies, intentions, and hopes behind their craft choices in the opening of their manuscripts—as the series title suggest, usually within the opening two pages. Occasionally, a writer has set a bigger challenge—the first two paragraphs perhaps, or even the first two sentences. And today, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs goes a step further: How does the opening sentence draw the reader in? What does it tell us explicitly? What more does it suggest about the main character, the story ahead, or the larger world of each?

Jacobs’ story “Perfect Strangers” appears in the new Mystery Writers of America anthology When A Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta, released Tuesday, April 20, and featuring a stellar line-up of contributors, including Paul A. Barra, Alafair Burke, Michael Connelly, S.A. Cosby, Tina deBellegarde, Jacqueline Freimor, Steve Hamilton, Joe Hill, Smita Harish Jain, Michael Koryta, Joe R. Lansdale, Emilya Naymark, Bryon Quertermous, Lori Roy, Jonathan Stone, Elaine Togneri, Lisa Unger, and Amanda Witt.

Jacobs is the bestselling author of two crime novels—Wrong Place, Wrong Time and Second Helpings at the Serve You Right Café—and a middle-grade fantasy novel—Casper and Jasper and the Terrible Tyrant—in addition to numerous short stories. She is a judge in San Francisco’s Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition and a board member of Mystery Writers of America-New England. Find out more about her and her work at her website.

After reading the first sentence of Tilia’s story “Perfect Strangers” in her essay below, do read the rest of the story in the full collection here! And do check out the previous two essays in this series: Lisa Unger on “A Six-Letter Word for Neighbor” and Smita Harish Jain on “Kohinoor.”

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.

Jacobs-Perfect-Strangers

The First Two Pages: “Kohinoor” by Smita Harish Jain

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 February of last year, Smita Harish Jain emailed me with a great bit of news: Her story “Kohinoor” had been accepted for the next Mystery Writers of American anthology, When A Stranger Comes to Town, and would I be willing to share it in our MWA Mid-Atlantic Chapter newsletter? I was thrilled to hear the news then and thrilled to help celebrate Smita’s story again today on the official pub date—and celebrate all the contributors too! Edited by Michael Koryta, When a Stranger Comes to Town also features stories by Paul A. Barra, Alafair Burke, Michael Connelly, S.A. Cosby, Tina deBellegarde, Jacqueline Freimor, Steve Hamilton, Joe Hill, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, Michael Koryta, Joe R. Lansdale, Emilya Naymark, Bryon Quertermous, Lori Roy, Jonathan Stone, Elaine Togneri, Lisa Unger, and Amanda Witt. Collectively the stories explore both the allure and the uneasiness of “the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water,” as the collection’s description explains.

Smita is a long-time friend, thanks to our shared membership in our local chapters of both MWA and Sisters in Crime, and she’s established herself as a great writer of short mystery fiction. The first of her stories I knew were “An Education in Murder” in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder from our SinC chapter and “The Body in the Gali” in Mumbai Noir from Akashic Books, but she’s also been published in other Sisters in Crime anthologies and has stories forthcoming in both Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in Malice Domestic’s Murder Most Diabolical. And another bit of great news: She’s recently finished a novel, the first in a series, also set in Mumbai—so more great fiction ahead!

Smita’s essay below is the second in a series featuring contributors to the anthology. Last week, Lisa Unger introduced her story “A Six-Letter Word for Neighbor,” and next week, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs will discuss “Perfect Strangers.” Stay tuned for that essay, and to read all the stories, check out the full collection here!

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.

Jain-Kohinoor

Short Story Program with Desert Sleuths

Linda Landrigan, editor of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and I are going to be part of a program on short stories hosted by Mysti Berry for the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Mysti has been chatting with Linda and me about some of the topics we’ll discuss—and it all promises to be a fascinating conversation, touching on writing, selling, selecting, and editing short fiction but also how short stories are different from novels, how short fiction might fit into (or even help establish) a writer’s career, the current market for short stories, and more.

The event begins 7 p.m. PDT—a late night for us East Coasters, but an event I’m so pleased to be part of!

SinC Short Story Events

I’m pleased to be talking short stories at two upcoming Sisters in Crime events this month.

This Saturday, April 17, at 10 a.m. EDT, I’ll be joining Murder We Write, SinC’s North Carolina Triad Chapter, for a version of my presentation “Short, Sharp, and Suspenseful: The Art of the Mystery Short Story.” That event is on Zoom and for chapter members only, I believe.

Then on Wednesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. PDT (that’s 10 p.m. EDT, reminding myself!), the Desert Sleuths Chapter of SinC, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is welcoming Linda Landrigan, editor of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and me in conversation with chapter president Mysti Berry. I’ve seen a preview of the questions, and they’re terrific—covering a wide range of territory.

Great to be part of the programs for both chapters—and to be giving back to Sisters in Crime generally however I can.

The First Two Pages: “A Six-Letter Word for Neighbor” by Lisa Unger

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.

Tuesday, April 20, is the pub date for the new anthology from Mystery Writers of America: When A Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta and featuring stories by Paul A. Barra, Alafair Burke, Michael Connelly, S.A. Cosby, Tina deBellegarde, Jacqueline Freimor, Steve Hamilton, Joe Hill, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, Smita Harish Jain, Michael Koryta, Joe R. Lansdale, Emilya Naymark, Bryon Quertermous, Lori Roy, Jonathan Stone, Elain Togneri, Lisa Unger, and Amanda Witt. Collectively the stories explore both the allure and the uneasiness of “the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water”—ripe material for crime writers, needless to say!

I’m pleased to welcome three of the anthology’s contributors with essays reflecting on their stories’ openings—beginning this week with Lisa Unger, a powerhouse writer giving us a glimpse into her writing process and a preview of her story “A Six-Letter Word for Neighbor.”

Lisa Unger may well need no introduction here—an internationally bestselling author whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her latest novel is Confessions On The 7:45, and in short fiction news, her story “Let It Be” was recently selected for the forthcoming anthology Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. A testament to her skill in both long-form and short-form fiction, she is one of the few authors to have been nominated for two Edgar Awards in the same year—for Best Paperback Original and Best Short Story—and her books have been named among “Best Book” lists by the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, and others. You can find out more at her website here.

I’m grateful to Lisa for contributing to the First Two Pages and reminded of her kindness and generosity when we first met in 2018 at the Bouchercon in St. Petersburg, Florida—and remembering too that wild Bouchercon panel I moderated with both Lisa and Michael Koryta on the program. A different world then, but glad to have them back together in print here.

Enjoy Lisa’s essay below, check out the full collection here, and stay tuned for essays ahead from Smita Harish Jain and Tilia Klebenov Jacobs!

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.

Unger-Six-Letter-Word