Art Taylor's Blog, page 36

The First Two Pages: “You Know How Actresses Are” by C.M. Surrisi

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 had the pleasure of chatting with C.M. Surrisi at her first Malice Domestic, which she attended as an Agatha Award finalist in the Best Young Adult Mystery category for her book A Side of Sabotage. After that convention, she and I stayed in touch, talking about short stories, and I was excited when she told me she’d submitted a story of her own for the anthology Malice Domestic: Murder Most Theatrical—then thrilled when the story was accepted. It’s a pleasure to host her here today talking about that story, “You Know How Actresses Are.”

The full anthology features a great line-up of contributors: Frances Aylor, Anne Louise Bannon, Michele Bazan Reed, Cindy Brown, M. E. Browning,  Karen Cantwell,  R. M. Chastleton, Leone Ciporin, Carla Coupe, Susan Daly, Phillip DePoy, Margaret Dumas, Elizabeth Elwood, Daryl Wood Gerber, B. J. Graf, A. P. Jamison, Maureen Jennings, Margaret Lucke, Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas, Sharon Lynn, Cheryl Marceau, Deborah Maxey, Adam Meyer, Raquel V. Reyes, Merrilee Robson, Lee Sauer, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Lynn Slaughter, C. M. Surrisi, Elaine Togneri, Arthur Vidro, Mo Walsh, James Lincoln Warren, and Carol L. Wright. It was edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons.

This is the third essay featuring contributors to Mystery Most Theatrical. Check out Frances Aylor on her short story “The Rock Star” and Leone Ciporin on “When the Wind Is Southerly” as well.

This is also the final First Two Pages essay of 2020. It’s hard to believe I’ve been curating the blog series here for more than three years now, but I do so appreciate everyone who’s contributed to the series during that time and all the readers who’ve turned in each week. I’ve learned a lot myself and found a lot of great reading to add to my own TBR list, and I hope others have as well.

Happy Holidays—and Best Wishes for 2021!

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.

Surrisi-Actresses

The First Two Pages: “When the Wind Is Southerly” by Leone Ciporin

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 began writing the introduction for this week’s First Two Pages essay, I tried to remember where I first met Leone Ciporin. If my quick search through my email history holds any truth, Leone and I were together on a short story program for Sisters in Crime in Richmond back in spring 2013—moderated by Meredith Cole. And since then, Leone and I have corresponded and crossed paths often—at Malice Domestic and at the Virginia Festival of the Book most regularly. In fact, we were set to be on a panel together for this year’s Virginia Festival of the Book as well and surely to spend time together at Malice too, and then….

But despite the absence of Malice (see what I did there?), I’m still thrilled to celebrate Leone’s appearance in the new anthology Malice Domestic: Murder Most Theatrical and to have her contribute an essay here on the first two pages of her story “When the Wind Is Southerly.”

In addition to Leone, Mystery Most Theatrical features a terrific group of contributors—many others of whom I know as well: Frances Aylor, Anne Louise Bannon, Michele Bazan Reed, Cindy Brown, M. E. Browning,  Karen Cantwell,  R. M. Chastleton, Carla Coupe, Susan Daly, Phillip DePoy, Margaret Dumas, Elizabeth Elwood, Daryl Wood Gerber, B. J. Graf, A. P. Jamison, Maureen Jennings, Margaret Lucke, Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas, Sharon Lynn, Cheryl Marceau, Deborah Maxey, Adam Meyer, Raquel V. Reyes, Merrilee Robson, Lee Sauer, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Lynn Slaughter, C. M. Surrisi, Elaine Togneri, Arthur Vidro, Mo Walsh, James Lincoln Warren, and Carol L. Wright.

Last week, I hosted another of the anthology’s contributors, Frances Aylor on her short story “The Rock Star.” Stay tuned for another essay next week as well! And in the meantime, pick up a copy of the collection yourself—as I said last week, it’s the next best thing to being there in person!

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.

Ciporin-Winds

Mystery Loves Georgia!

The Mystery Loves Georgia auction/fundraiser is now open! And bidding continues through 6 p.m. PST on Friday, December 11—with featured items from mystery luminaries including Sara Paretsky, Laura Lippman, Karin Slaughter, Attica Locke, Gary Phillips, and Andrew Child, and a full list of items including signed books, critique sessions, and more. I’m pleased to have contributed signed copies of my two books to the efforts here: The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense and On the Road with Del & Louise. (Despite having the Agatha pictured in that photo above, it does not come with the book, of course.)

As the website explains, “We’re crime fiction writers who believe all eligible voters deserve to have their voices heard. We’re organizing an auction to benefit Fair Fight (shout out to Romancing The Runoff and fellow author Stacey Abrams) in support of the United States Senate runoff elections in Georgia on January 5, 2021. All proceeds will support Fair Fight’s efforts to combat voter suppression.”

Check out the full list of items up for auction here—and bid soon!

The First Two Pages: “The Rock Star” by Frances Aylor

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.

Malice Domestic has long been one of the highlights of the year for me and my family—including my wife Tara Laskowski, who has now won two Agatha Awards, and our son Dash, who listed it prominently in an assignment on “Family Traditions” for his third-grade class; Malice ranked just below Christmas. And recently, in the larger world, Malice ranked much higher: Just last week, Mystery Writers of America named Malice Domestic the winner of the 2021 Raven Award, honoring outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. Congratulations for a much-deserved honor! (…as if ranking just below Christmas wasn’t already enough, I mean….)

Certainly 2020 has disrupted all of our lives in many, many ways more fundamental than “can’t attend mystery conventions,” but on top of everything else this year, we were particularly disheartened that we couldn’t get together with mystery readers and writers in Bethesda back in late April and early May—friends so much a part of our lives that they feel like family. Another disruption: the annual Malice Domestic anthology was pushed back as well—something that I’ve brought home in recent years as both souvenir and celebration of everything Malice.

The good news: Malice Domestic: Murder Most Theatrical came out in October from Wildside Press—hooray! The collection was presented by Ellen Hart, this year’s Malice Lifetime Achievement honoree, and edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons, and the anthology features a great line-up of contributors—many friends among this list too: Frances Aylor, Anne Louise Bannon, Michele Bazan Reed, Cindy Brown, M. E. Browning,  Karen Cantwell,  R. M. Chastleton, Leone Ciporin, Carla Coupe, Susan Daly, Phillip DePoy, Margaret Dumas, Elizabeth Elwood, Daryl Wood Gerber, B. J. Graf, A. P. Jamison, Maureen Jennings, Margaret Lucke, Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas, Sharon Lynn, Cheryl Marceau, Deborah Maxey, Adam Meyer, Raquel V. Reyes, Merrilee Robson, Lee Sauer, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Lynn Slaughter, C. M. Surrisi, Elaine Togneri, Arthur Vidro, Mo Walsh, James Lincoln Warren, and Carol L. Wright.

This week and in coming weeks, I’m honored to feature several contributors to Mystery Most Theatrical talking about their new stories here—beginning this week with Frances Aylor, author of the novel Money Grab, reflecting on craft choices in her short story “The Rock Star.”

Check out the essay below, and stay tuned for more essays in the weeks ahead. And if you’re missing Malice as much as we are, pick up a copy of the collection yourself—the next best thing to being there in person!

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.

Aylor-Rock-Star

The First Two Pages: “RFP/RIP” by Britt Alan

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.

Over the last two weeks, The First Two Pages has hosted two contributors to the recent anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder: Jane Limprecht writing on her story “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old” and Sarah Cotter on her story “Good Morning, Green Leaf Class.” Each of these stories has a unique setting: a retirement community in the first and a pre-school in the next (though technically the setting for that second story is an group email chain, as you’ll see). This week, I’m pleased to welcome a third contributor to the anthology, Britt Alan, writing on his story “RFP/RIP”—this one with another distinctive setting: the “war room” for a group putting together a proposal for a government contract. The result is a story that boasts both a closed circle of suspects and a ticking clock as well—a deadline looming!

Pay attention to that word “dead” there, of course.

As Britt discusses below, he’s a novelist first—author of The Dragon Proxies thriller series, which began with Tiananmen Ascending, hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “highly recommended for readers who enjoy cerebral, absorbing narratives about contemporary politics and the devastating potential of global terror.” Find out more about that book and the series at Britt’s website: www.BrittAlan.com.

And do check out the full anthology Invitation to Murder—a great line-up of authors, and I’m pleased to have a story there myself!

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.

Alan-RFP

The First Two Pages: “Good Morning, Green Leaf Class” by Sarah Cotter

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.

While I’ve been enjoying all the stories I’ve read so far from the new anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder, one story stands out in several ways—even with just a quick flip through the pages. Sarah Cotter’s “Good Morning, Green Leaf Class” looks different from the other short stories because it’s told as a series of short messages on a group email, all parties copied, different personalities in the mix—and different priorities and agendas as well. But it’s not only the structure that makes the story stand out; “Good Morning, Green Leaf Class” is high quality start to finish, keeping that wide ensemble of personalities and voices distinct, broadening the readers understanding of history and backstory in subtle ways, and nudging the plot ever forward—a crime from the past, clues dropped, a solution ahead.

Another reason this story stands out? It’s Sarah Cotter’s debut publication—and with a start like this, I’m already looking forward to what she comes up with next. And as you can see from the bio, she’s already working on a full-length novel too!

Do check out Jane Limprecht’s essay from last week on her story “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old” and stay tuned for Brit Alan next week, wrapping up this series on stories from Invitation to Murder.

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.

Sarah-Cotter-Good-Morning

The Black Cat & “The White Rose of Memphis”

My short story “The White Rose of Memphis,” which originally appeared in Needle: A Magazine of Noir in Fall 2011, has been republished this week at the Black Cat Mystery & Science Fiction Book Club. Thanks to Barb Goffman for selecting it for her short story series and to Wildside Press for including it!

“The White Rose of Memphis” follows a couple taking part in a strange twist in tourism: not just staying in a hotel where a violent murder took place but actually taking part in a recreation of the crime.

I hope readers will enjoy revisiting this story from nearly a decade ago. I’m grateful that it’s been given new life here.

Check it out here—currently available for free.

SinC Central Virginia • Saturday, November 21

And added incentive? The chapter is giving away a couple of copies of each of our books as part of the program—working with Fountain Books in Richmond. Support your local bookstore!

This Saturday, November 21, the Central Virginia Chapter of Sisters in Crime is hosting my wife, Tara Laskowski, and me for a talk on writing suspense. The session begins at 2 p.m. EST—and while the talk is primarily for chapter members, they’re sharing the zoom link with a number of participants from other chapters on a first-come, first-served basis. Just email SinC_CVa@yahoo.com to see if space is still available. 

And the real suspense here? Tara and I aren’t yet sure what we’re going to be talking about…. Wish us luck as the week rolls on!

The First Two Pages: “Make New Friends, But Keep The Old” by Jane Limprecht

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.

Today’s author—Jane Limprecht—is someone I’ve gotten to know in various different ways in recent years. We live close to one another, and we’ve often crossed paths on Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market, where Jane has tirelessly manned Democratic Party booths and passed out pamphlets during election season—and she and I were exchanging emails over the past week about the news and where it was going and at what pace. During one of our chats at the market, I encouraged Jane to try some writing workshops and other classes at George Mason University, which she’s been enjoying lately—I hope, at least, since two of the ones she’s audited recently have been with me! And I’ve enjoyed having her in class—a star student in so many ways. Finally, I’ve known Jane as a fellow mystery writer and member of our local Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime—and with the chapter’s new anthology, Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder, Jane and I are now also fellow contributors to the same book.

As you’ll see in the essay below, Jane’s story, “Make New Friends, But Keep The Old,” builds on some of her own memories and experiences—though with an imaginative turn, of course! I’m still reading through the book myself, but I loved Jane’s story, a whodunit which kept me guessing in several directions before a satisfying finale. And I’m glad to host her here today to introduce others to the story and to the collection.

And stay tuned over the next two weeks for essays by other contributors, Sarah Cotter and Britt Alan!

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.

Limprecht-Invitation-to-Murder

N.C. Writers’ Network—Saturday, November 14

This week, the North Carolina Writers’ Network hosts its annual Fall Conference—a virtual conference this year, for the first time. The Writingest State Online Conference runs Tuesday, November 10-Saturday, November 14, with a keynote speech by Jaki Shelton Green on Friday, November 13.

I’m happy to be part of the program on Saturday morning, tipping into afternoon. On Saturday, November 14, at 11 a.m., I’ll be presenting a session on writing suspense—even if you’re not writing genre fiction. Here’s the course description.

Wait, Wait… Do Tell Me! (fiction & narrative nonfiction) with Art Taylor
Suspense writers have mastered a skill that all storytellers—genre and literary writers both—might profit from: keeping readers in anticipation of what’s going to happen next. Two competing narrative strategies work together here, both a swift movement forward and a steady forestalling of information about what’s ahead. This craft talk will look at tactics to implement this plan: hooking readers quickly and earning their investment in characters or situations; raising questions to pique their interest; parceling out enough information to keep them engaged but withholding enough to keep them turning those pages; and navigating either suspense or the path toward surprise—not the same journey. Passages from writers including Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, Margaret Millar, Cormac McCarthy, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, and others will illustrate various techniques for incorporating suspense into your own work.

Check out the full schedule here! You can still register for the conference through 9 a.m. on Monday, November 19.