Art Taylor's Blog, page 56

“Community of Readers” at Brambleton Library

I’m thrilled to be the featured presenter at the Loudoun County Public Library’s afternoon book club conference “Building a Community of Readers”—Saturday, March 23, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the Brambleton Library, 22850 Brambleton Plaza in Brambleton, VA.

This is a beautiful new facility, and I’m glad to be presenting as part of its grand opening year. This is the second time I’ve led a talk on book clubs for the Loudoun County Public Library, but this time we’ll be chatting about a new book: Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies.

See the full schedule of events below—and hope to see you a nice turnout on the 23rd!

1:30-1:45 p.m.—Welcome by Loudoun County Public Library staff

1:45-3:00 p.m.—Running a Successful Book Club with author and professor Art Taylor:  Get the skinny on how to run a successful book club. Learn the best practices of how to moderate a book club, establish ground rules and choose the right titles. Taylor will use Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty as a sample title for discussion. This is not required reading, but will help you get more out of the workshop. Ask for a copy at your library’s Information Desk. Art Taylor is a fiction writer, book critic, and assistant professor of English at George Mason University. Taylor’s stories appear regularly in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine as well as other journals and anthologies, and he is a contributor to The Washington Post, the Washington Independent Review of Books, and Mystery Scene Magazine. His novel On the Road With Del and Louise won the Agatha Award, and he’s won three more Agathas for his short fiction, among other awards.

3:00-3:15 p.m.—Break

3:15-4:30 p.m.—Connect with Book Clubs: Discover what resources the library has to offer your community book club. Library staff will share information on book kits, online resources and favorite titles. Community book club leaders and members are invited to tell others about their own meetings.

4:30 p.m.—Door Prize Drawing: Gift Basket Sponsored by the Friends of the Brambleton Library.For adults.

Register for the program here at the library’s website.

Meta-Fiction in Mysteries

What a nice surprise this week to find my story “English 398: Fiction Workshop” mentioned in an essay on meta-fiction in mystery stories and novels—an essay by Janet Hutchings, editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, at EQMM‘s blog.

Here’s an excerpt from Hutchings’ essay:

…meta-fictional elements are nothing new in fiction generally, and in crime fiction, the gamelike relationship between the reader, who is trying to figure out the mystery, and the author and fictional detective who may be withholding or selectively revealing information, is in itself a meta-fictional one. The reader becomes, in a sense, a participant in the endeavor. But this, it seems to me, is something different from full-blown meta-fiction, in which the literary techniques and conventions themselves become part of the narrative. One of the finest examples of this that I can think of at short story length is the currently Agatha- and Edgar-nominated “English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor, in which rules for constructing a work of fiction become the road map not only for the fictional offerings of the students in the story but for the real-life drama (and mystery) unfolding between the central characters—a professor and his student lover.

In addition to writing about my story, Hutchings also talked about Nancy Novick’s “How Does He Die This Time?” the winner of this year’s Robert L. Fish Memorial Award, and she called out several more stories that were recently published in EQMM or are soon forthcoming, including works by Thomas Kastura, Luciano Sívori, John Lantigua, Martin Edwards, and Chris Holm—the latter two fine friends in addition to being extraordinary writers.

I’m pleased to be listed in their company and honored to have my work discussed in the essay in such glowing terms. Read the full essay here.

The First Two Pages: “Mud Season” by Su Kopil

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 addition to publishing in various journals—most recently in Black Cat Mystery Magazine with the story “Mud Season,” the subject of her essay today—Su Kopil has become a regular contributor to some outstanding anthologies, including two anthologies produced by the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, several collections connected to the Bouchercon and Malice Domestic conventions, the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Flash and Bang collection, and Carolina Crimes—a stand-out story there that earned high praise from Jeffrey Deaver. You can read more about Su’s work at her website here.

In addition to being a fine writer, she’s also a fine graphic designer—the founder and owner of Earthly Charms, which has been working with authors for nearly two decades now. Great stuff there too!

This is the third post in a series featuring contributors to the latest issue of Black Cat. Over the last two weeks, I also hosted Steve Liskow reflecting on his story “Messin’ With The Kid” and Ramona DeFelice Long on her story “Moe’s Seafood House.” Thanks to all of them for contributing, and do check out the rest of the issue, featuring Michael Bracken (the Ed Hoch of Black Cat!), Dale A. Dermatis, Julie Leo, Alan Orloff, Tais Teng, and Cynthia Ward.

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.

Kopil-Mud-Season

WIROB: Marital Malice

Many people have asked how my wife, Tara Laskowski, and I are handling it—being up for the same award in the same category in the same year at Malice Domestic.

In my Washington Independent Review of Books column today, I give a glimpse at the anxiety of it all—against the backdrop of a history of literary feuding. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Mario Vargas Llosa punched Gabriel Garcia Marquez in the nose. Norman Mailer head-butted Gore Vidal. Theodore Dreiser slapped Sinclair Lewis. Leo Tolstoy challenged Ivan Turgenev to a duel. Marcel Proust and Jean Lorraine actually did duel, pistols and all. (There’s also Richard Ford spitting on Colson Whitehead, but that’s a different kind of physicality.)

Then you have Hemingway feuding with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Hemingway feuding with William Faulkner, and Hemingway feuding with Gertrude Stein, and Hemingway feuding with Wallace Stevens. (Some common denominator here, it seems, if only we could figure out what.)

Some rivalries are less physical melees than wars of words, thought maybe with no less bitterness. David Foster Wallace called Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho a “mean shallow stupid novel.” Mary McCarthy said that every word Lillian Hellman wrote was “a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” And Margaret Drabble said that one of A.S. Byatt’s books was “mean-spirited” — and those two are sisters!

But what about in the mystery community, where kindness is the norm? And what about marriages, two people who’ve chosen to form a bond? Shouldn’t everything go more smoothly in those cases?

Read the full article here—and wish us luck….

EQMM Podcast: “English 398: Fiction Workshop”

I can’t say I enjoy hearing my own voice (do any of us?), but I was still super-pleased when the folks at Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine invited me to record my story “English 398: Fiction Workshop” for their monthly podcast series. And I was thrilled when several members of my own English Department at George Mason University agreed to contribute cameos and even a co-starring role: Mary Baldwin (a linguist), Lisa DesRochers-Short (a poet), and Jay Patel (a fiction writer)—all from the department’s administrative staff—and undergraduate Madison Gaines, Class of 2021, who’s pursuing a dual concentration in fiction and poetry in Mason’s BFA Program in Creative Writing.

You can hear the story here—and read along here!

Hope folks enjoy.

The First Two Pages: “Moe’s Seafood House” by Ramona DeFelice Long

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.

Ramona DeFelice Long is a prolific writer of short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and more. Just scanning a list of recent works reveals a wide range of genres and publications, ranging from flash fiction in the Parhelion Literary Magazine and the Fox Chase Review to short stories in Philadelphia Stories and Currents to a personal essay in The Delmarva Review to various guest blogs and…. Well, you can (and should!) read through the bibliography of her publications at her website here.

But Ramona’s writing is only a part of what she does. She’s also a highly regarded and much-sought editor, and she’s an online writing teacher as well—and those of you who follow her on social media as I do know how encouraging she is there too, to aspiring writers and veterans alike.

I’m pleased to host Ramona today talking about “Moe’s Seafood House,” her new story for Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and the specific choices she made there to set character in motion, lay the seeds for conflict, and maneuver her way through tone—with more tonal shifts ahead already in mind.

This is the second of a series featuring contributors to the latest issue of Black Cat. Last week, I hosted Steve Liskow reflecting on his story “Messin’ With The Kid,” and next week Su Kopil will talk about “Mud Season.” Stay tuned!

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.

Long-Moes

Stories Ahead! (Or are they already behind us?!?)

This week brought an announcement and an acceptance—always a good week to be able to look toward publications in the future.

First, with the March/April issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine now on newsstands, EQMM‘s website was updated with a glimpse of the May/June issue, and I’m pleased to see my story heading up the preview, along with short fiction by many friends and folks I admire, including David Dean, Brendan DuBois, Martin Edwards, Janice Law, William Burton McCormick, Josh Pachter, Bill Pronzini, Mark Stevens, Marilyn Todd, Dave Zelsterman, and more.

Then, Barb Goffman announced the list of stories and contributors to her upcoming anthology Crime Travel, featuring crime fiction crossed with time travel—such a fun concept! I was thrilled to see my story “Hard Return” alongside so many friends and writers I admire there too; the full list of contributors is: James Blakey, Michael Bracken, Anna Castle, David Dean, Brendan DuBois, John Floyd, Barb herself, Melissa Haveman, Heidi Hunter, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Adam Meyer, Barbara Monajem, Korina Woisin Moss, Art Taylor (yay!), and Cathy Wiley.

Crime Travel will be published by Wildside Press on December 8, 2019—Pretend to Be A Time Traveler Day. (Or maybe the book’s already out now—I mean if someone has gotten that whole time travel thing figured out before then. Stay tuned.)

The First Two Pages: “Messin’ With The Kid” by Steve Liskow

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.

Steve Liskow is a distinguished short story writer whose short fiction has twice won the Black Orchid Novella Award and once been named a finalist for the Edgar. You can find his stories in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and other journals and anthologies.

He’s a great novelist too, often with a topical eye, touching on issues including teen sex-trafficking, school shootings, and drug abuse. His latest, Back Door Man, is part of a series featuring PI Zach Barnes and centers on a cold case that may include rape and drug trafficking.

And Steve is also a fine blogger. I’ve enjoyed sharing space with him at SleuthSayers for many years and have learned much from him both about the art of fiction and about the world of music—drawing on his own background as a musician.

Find out more about all these many sides of Steve at his website here.

Steve’s essay below on his new story “Messin’ With The Kid” is the first in a series of posts featuring contributors to the new issue of Black Cat Mystery Magazine from Wildside Press. Stay tuned over the next two weeks to hear from Ramona DeFelice Long and Su Kopil!

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.

Liskow-Messin

Presidents Day at House of Clues

I seem to be on a holiday schedule in terms of the discussion at the Facebook group House of Clues: my hosting days have fallen during Thanksgiving week, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and now on Presidents Day.

Join me tomorrow, Monday, February 18, and we’ll see what kinds of thematically appropriate topics we can come up with!

The Advocates: Honoring Janet Rudolph & J. Kingston Pierce

The Thrill Begins is running a new series of posts, The Advocates, with mystery writers honoring people who support and inspire the mystery community. The first post gave shout-outs to David Nemeth, and this week I’m offering thanks to Janet Rudolph and J. Kingston Pierce. (Next week features another person I’m thrilled to see honored—but shhhh! I can’t say who!)

Here’s an excerpt from my post:

When I was asked to contribute a column to “The Advocates” series, my first thought wasn’t, “Who should I write about?” but rather, “How can I write about _______ and leave out…?”—with those ellipses trailing toward too many people throughout the mystery community who champion and support and encourage and inform and…. And I can’t help but use another set of ellipses, because there seems no end to the myriad ways our best advocates celebrate and serve the writers and readers of the crime fiction world.

Not only are Janet Rudolph and J. Kingston Pierce among the best experts on and strongest advocates for the mystery community, but they’ve taken the lead there for many years now—a long-standing commitment that’s the reason I’ve chosen to spotlight them today.

You’ll notice that I didn’t tag either name above with any quick descriptor (“blogger at,” for example, or “editor of”) in part because so many people likely know their work already but also because of the difficulty in pinning either of them down to one chief thing that they do.

Read the full essay here. And thanks to Ed Aymar for giving me the chance to contribute.