Art Taylor's Blog, page 50

I’ve Been Tuckerized!

Thanks so much to Toni L.P. Kelner for Tuckerizing me in her latest book: The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking, released just last week under her alter-ego, Leigh Perry.

For those who don’t know what Tuckerization is, here’s the definition from Wikipedia:

Tuckerization is the act of using a person’s name in an original story as an in-joke. The term is derived from Wilson Tucker, a pioneering American science fiction writer, fan and fanzine editor, who made a practice of using his friends’ names for minor characters in his stories.

And here’s my name in the novel itself—down toward bottom of the page. I feel famous!

Thanks so much, Toni!

The First Two Pages: When It’s Time For Leaving by Ang Pompano

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.

Back in June, Ang Pompano reached out to ask me about providing a blurb for his debut novel, When It’s Time For Leaving—whose official release date is a week from today. I’ll admit I hesitated initially—not because of any questions about Ang’s writing, I should emphasize; Ang has already won a Helen McCloy/MWA scholarship for work-in-progress, and one of his recent short stories earned a spot in the latest Malice Domestic anthology, Mystery Most Edible. Instead, it was simply a question of time—with me finally finishing up the teaching year and looking forward to turning attention to my own novel, toward trying to finish that up myself.

Summer progress didn’t turn out as planned, for many reasons, but I did get the chance to read that advance copy of When It’s Time for Leaving and found it such a pleasure start to finish. As you’ll see below in his First Two Pages essay on the book, Ang has worked hard to craft a multi-layered main character and to pile troubles on top of him, and everything that follows—the full range of characters, the twist and turns of the plot—reveals the same careful storytelling.

I hope you enjoy Ang’s reflections here, and be sure to pick up the book next week—or better yet, pre-order it 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.

Pompano-When-Its-Time

A Full Saturday at Bouchercon!

My wife, Tara Laskowski, and I are making a shorter trip to Bouchercon this year than in year’s past—flying in Friday morning, November 1, so that we can go trick-or-treating with our seven-year-old son on Halloween night. Sadly, this means we’ll be missing the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday night, when my story “English 398: Fiction Workshop” is one of the contenders for this year’s Macavity Award (the hardest part of the decision in terms of traveling the next day).

But we’re grateful to still have lots to look forward to in Dallas—including a very full Saturday! Here’s my sun-up to past-sundown schedule on Saturday, November 2:

Speed Dating with Tara Laskowski (!) • Saturday, November 2, 7 a.m. Panel: “What’s So Great About Critique Groups?” with Donna Andrews, Ellen Crosby, John Gilstrap, and Alan Orloff • Saturday, November 2, 9:30 a.m. Panel: “Anthony Short Story Nominees” with S.A. Cosby, Barb Goffman, Greg Herron, and Holly West • Saturday, November 2, 4 p.m. Anthony Awards Presentation • Saturday, November 2, 6 p.m.

Lots of other panels and programs (just announced!) that we’re also looking forward to and then time with so many friends we only see this time of year. Can’t believe it’s just over a month away!

The First Two Pages: The Ransom by Nancy Boyarsky

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 I’m welcoming back Nancy Boyarsky, author of the Nicole Graves mystery series, with her new novel The Ransom, scheduled for release next Tuesday. Nancy has appeared at The First Two Pages twice before, reflecting on her previous novels Liar, Liar and The Swap, the latter when B.K. Stevens was curating the series. In addition to the Nicole Graves series, Nancy has also authored or co-authored several nonfiction books, including textbooks on the justice system and Backroom Politics, a New York Times notable book with her husband Bill Boyarsky.

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.

Boyarsky-Ransom

WIROB: Wishing for a Time Turner

My latest column for the Washington Independent Review of Books talks about busy schedules, the great literary community we live in, our commitment to that community, and our desire for a way to do it all. Here’s the opening to the post:

On the last Sunday in August, my wife, Tara, and I had two afternoon/evening readings on our calendar — overlapping events: the Reston Readings Series at the Used Book Shop in Reston’s Lake Anne Village Center and a Noir at the Bar at Busboys & Poets in Shirlington.

But the next morning was the first day of second grade for our son, Dashiell (and the first day of my own courses at George Mason University), so the three of us ended up staying home instead of going to either event.

The two sentences above may seem straightforward enough, but the whole story of that Sunday featured an extra layer of complications — and then deeper quandaries and questions beneath that, some of them stretching far beyond that single evening.

Read the full column here.

The First Two Pages: “Yorkshire Ripper” by Mysti Berry

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.

What caught my attention first about Mysti Berry‘s story “Yorkshire Ripper” in the new issue of Alfred Hithcock’s Mystery Magazine was the conversation between the narrator and her copy editor about adverbs. “Pauline,” the narrator tells her office nemesis, “it’s a commonly accepted best practice in every form of writing to remove adverbs and replace them with strong verbs and nouns. Adverbs weaken a sentence.”

To which Pauline replies: “That’s a matter of opinion.”

I felt my own frustration building, and the conversation just escalates from there.

I’m glad to host Mysti today talking about this scene and other aspects of the first two pages of her story. Mysti is an accomplished short story writer whose work has appeared in both Alfred Hitchcock’s and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, among other publications. And she’s also an editor of short fiction—witness her work on the 2018 anthology Low Down Dirty Vote, with proceeds benefiting the ACLU’s work to combat voter suppression.

Check out Mysti’s website for more information about her work—and check out the new issue of AHMM for her full story “Yorkshire Ripper” as well as short fiction by Meredith Anthony, Eve Fisher, Jim Fusilli, Janice Law, and many more.

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.

Berry-Yorkshire

The Cover to Crime Travel

I was so thrilled with the BOLO Books cover reveal of the forthcoming anthology Crime Travel, edited by my good friend Barb Goffman and featuring my story “Hard Return.” The collection will be released by Wildside Press on December 8—Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day!

The anthology features stories by a lot of my friends and favorite writers in the mystery short story community; the full list of contributors includes James Blakey, Melissa H. Blaine, Michael Bracken, Anna Castle, Brendan DuBois, David Dean, John M. Floyd, Barb Goffman, Heidi Hunter, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Adam Meyer, Barbara Monajem, Korina Moss, and Cathy Wiley.

Looking forward to this one!

The First Two Pages: The Good Cop by Peter Steiner

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 my intro to last week’s First Two Pages essay by Anna Scotti, I wrote, “It’s not every day that I host a regular contributor to The New Yorker at The First Two Pages….” This week, ironically, I’m hosting another regular New Yorker contributor: Peter Steiner, who contributed more than 400 cartoons to the magazine over a quarter-century; in fact, his cartoon “On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog” stands as the most-reproduced cartoon in The New Yorker‘s history. But beyond his cartoon work and painting, Steiner has also distinguished himself as a novelist, beginning with 2003’s A French Country Murder, the first in his Louis Morgon thriller series. Today, with the release of his latest novel, A Good Cop, Steiner debuts a new hero, Willi Gessmeier, one navigating some complicated moral terrain—as you’ll see in the thoughtful essay below.

Check out Steiner’s website for more information about all his work—his fiction, his painting, and his cartooning—and do pick up The Good Cop, which promises not only to be a final historical novel but also to provide some provocative commentary on our own times.

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.

Steiner-Good-Cop-

The First Two Pages: “Never Have I Ever” by Anna Scotti

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.

It’s not every day that I host a regular contributor to The New Yorker at The First Two Pages; in fact, this is the first time I’ve done so. Anna Scotti‘s most recent poem in those august pages is “Where Babies Really Come From” (you can also hear her read it aloud there as well). But in addition to her poetry—and her journalism and her teaching and with a Y.A. novel coming out soon too—Anna has also recently found success in a new genre, with three stories appearing over the last year in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and a fourth still coming before year’s end (and that one will kick off a new series, so even more ahead).

Anna’s story in the September/October issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine is “Never Have I Ever.” As she mentions in her First Two Pages essay below, it’s more of a novella than a story; the first draft topped 16,000 words, and even cutting 3,000 of them, that’s still a long piece of fiction for most any magazine. Anna’s essay here is also one of the longer ones I’ve hosted, but rightfully, delightfully so. It’s a remarkable reflection on the story’s opening, with observations and insights that will likely enrich both readers’ enjoyment of the story and fellow writers’ approaches to their own craft.

Check out Anna’s website for more information on her poetry and fiction—and hope you enjoy the essay below, and the full story as well, 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.

Scotti-Never-Have-I

The First Two Pages:

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.

It’s not every day that I host a regular contributor to The New Yorker at The First Two Pages; in fact, this is the first time I’ve done so. Anna Scotti‘s most recent poem in those august pages is “Where Babies Really Come From” (you can also hear her read it aloud there as well). But in addition to her poetry—and her journalism and her teaching and with a Y.A. novel coming out soon too—Anna has also recently found success in a new genre, with three stories appearing over the last year in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and a fourth still coming before year’s end (and that one will kick off a new series, so even more ahead).

Anna’s story in the September/October issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine is “Never Have I Ever.” As she mentions in her First Two Pages essay below, it’s more of a novella than a story; the first draft topped 16,000 words, and even cutting 3,000 of them, that’s still a long piece of fiction for most any magazine. Anna’s essay here is also one of the longer ones I’ve hosted, but rightfully, delightfully so. It’s a remarkable reflection on the story’s opening, with observations and insights that will likely enrich both readers’ enjoyment of the story and fellow writers’ approaches to their own craft.

Check out Anna’s website for more information on her poetry and fiction—and hope you enjoy the essay below, and the full story as well, 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.

Scotti-Never-Have-I