Art Taylor's Blog, page 65

Burke Centre Library 10th Anniversary

This Saturday, June 23, the Burke Centre Library—my own local library branch!—will celebrate its 10th anniversary, and I’m thrilled that the library has asked me to be part of the celebration!

I’ll be joining my fellow mystery writer and good friend Alan Orloff from 10 a.m. to noon for an author meet-and-greet and signing, and we’ll be followed from noon to 2 p.m. by two other local authors, Sherry Harris and Aimee Hix.

An “enchanted forest” is the theme of the celebration, and attendees are encouraged to wear fairy costumes!

In addition to the author appearances, a full day of events is planned, including:

10- a.m.-4 p.m. – Scavenger Hunt/Local Authors/Fairy Tale Characters

10 a.m.-1 p.m. – Face Painting

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. – Teen Tech Demos

11 a.m.-12 p.m. – Kay Dee Puppet Show

12-1 p.m. – Burke Centre Library Friends’ Reception

1:30-2:15 p.m. – Turley, the Magician

2-2:45 p.m. – Ethan Miller, Cellist

3-4 p.m. – O&A Railroad History, Jon Vrana

Check out the event page on Facebook here—and see you on Saturday!

“A Necessary Ingredient” Named Macavity Award Finalist

So thrilled with today’s announcement of the Macavity Award finalists—and to see my story “A Necessary Ingredient” and two more stories from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea on the slate as well: “The #2 Pencil” by Matt Coyle and “Windward” by Paul D. Marks, also a co-editor of the anthology. The rest of the slate has fine writers, fine friends as well: “As Ye Sow,” by Craig Faustus Buck, in Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017; “Infinite Uticas,” by Terence Faherty in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017; and “Whose Wine is it Anyway?” Barb Goffman, in 50 Shades of Cabernet.

This is the third major award that “A Necessary Ingredient” has been nominated for, and with both the Anthony Awards and the Macavity Awards to be announced at Bouchercon in September, I’m even more eager for our time in St. Pete!

The full list of Macavity Award finalists can be found here. Thanks to Janet Rudolph for all her hard work on the Macavity Awards and to the members of Mystery Readers International and the subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal for all their support of everyone’s books and stories!

SleuthSayers: Story & Structure

At SleuthSayers today, I discuss my sometimes overriding interest in the structures of short fiction—often on the same level as my interest in character and plot, it seems like. My blog post covers both linear and modular fiction, a couple of examples of experimental structures, and then some reflection on my latest story, appearing in the July/August issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

Here’s an excerpt from the post:

My fiction workshops at George Mason University focus on narrative structure first and foremost. While we obviously discuss character and plot and dialogue and setting and… well, everything that goes into making a story, the semester itself is divided into two assignments: first, write a linear story (chronologically driven start to finish, rising action leading scene by scene to a climax, Aristotelian really), and then write a modular story… which may require some explanation. In class, I assign Madison Smartt Bell’s Narrative Design, which likens modular design to the mosaic—bits and pieces of narrative adding up to a more complex whole—and then analyzes modular stories by breaking them down into various vectors, looking at how those vectors interweave and interact…

Read the full post here.

The First Two Pages: “Pet” by Shari Randall

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.

With an essay today on her story “Pet,” Shari Randall finishes up a series of essays focused on the latest volume in the award-winning Chesapeake Crimes anthology series: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley and presented by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Wildside Press.

I’ve long admired Shari’s writing; her short story “Disco Donna” was just adjacent to my own story in a previous Chesapeake Crimes anthology, Homicidal Holidays. And I was thrilled when Shari kicked off her new series of books, the Lobster Shack Mysteries, with Curses, Boiled Again! Stay tuned too for the next in that series, Against the Claw, due out next month.

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay here to read off-line.

Randall Pet

A Fun Time at the St. John’s Writing Intensive

Saturday’s Writing Intensive at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, was a great time all around: such a wonderfully organized event, such a fine group of writers in attendance, and such a beautiful campus as well!

I attended Susan Coll’s morning session on “Compulsive Reads” in the morning and was pleased to hear how her discussion meshed and previewed with much of what I was planning to present in my afternoon workshop, “Something Is Going to Happen,” on the craft of suspense. What makes a book compulsive? Characters you care about, conflict and tension, surprise. And while my own session emphasized distinctions between surprise and suspense and between action and suspense too, the attendees seemed to appreciate some of the tips we discussed about building conflict, increasing dramatic tension, and navigating that balance between providing and withholding information as a plot unfolds.

In our session, we examined passages by David Baldacci, Alice Munro, Flannery O’Connor, Margaret Millar, Michael Connolly, Becky Hagenston, and Scott Turow—and drew on tips from craft books by Jane Cleland, Hallie Ephron, and Patricia Highsmith.

My wife Tara Laskowski also got kudos for her talk on writing flash fiction, and I wanted to give a shout out to Jeff Kleinman of Folio Lit, who was super kind to our son Dash throughout the day. Dash was a trooper throughout the program, roaming the halls and campus with me while Tara was in her session and with Tara in the afternoon while I presented. Much fun all around!

Thanks to Laura Oliver, Lynn Scwartz, and Torii Campbell for including us in the program and for organizing such a great event, such a great day!

Here are some photos from the program and from St. John’s campus itself.

The First Two Pages: “Hunter’s Moon” by Robin Templeton

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.

Last week, the First Two Pages kicked off a series of essays focused on the latest volume in the award-winning Chesapeake Crimes anthology series: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley and presented by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Wildside Press.

Karen Cantwell was the first anthology contributor to offer reflections on the opening to her story, “Sunset Beauregard.” This week, Robin Templeton steps in to chat about “Hunter’s Moon.”

Many folks who attend Malice Domestic each year have seen Robin and her camera at event after event, and she’s a long-time member of our local chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime as well—in fact, just stepping up to an officer position as secretary for SinC’s Chesapeake Chapter. Robin is also a terrific writer. She was awarded The William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers from Malice Domestic, and has twice been a finalists for the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competitions. She’s recently had a flurry of short stories published as well, in Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, in Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories, and in Malice Domestic 13: Murder Most Geographical in addition to the story she’s talking about 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 here to read off-line.

And stay tuned for next week when Shari Randall wraps up our mini-series on Fur, Feathers, and Felonies!

Templeton Hunter's Moon

Washington Independent Review of Books: Reading Late Night, Middle of the Night

I struggle with finding time to read—read for myself, that is, those long sustained immersions in a novel that I used to enjoy when I was younger but that now get lost in the midst of busyness in so many direction.

I also struggle with sleep—frequently wakeful in the middle of the night for an hour or two, tossing, turning, frustrated with being unable to get back to sleep.

So how does the one struggle help with the other? and vice versa?

Here’s an excerpt from “Our Souls at Night,” my latest column for the Washington Independent Review of Books—this section looking at the early months of new parenthood:

Tara was sometimes asleep by the time I got home from classes at 10:30 p.m. or later, but because I was often still a little wired (always hard to just switch off after having been “on” for students), I usually found myself in charge of Dash’s last feeding of the day.

I’d get home, prep his bottle, walk into his darkened room, lift him from his crib — still sleeping — and tuck him into the crook of my arm for that twilight feeding (or dream feeding, as it’s called).

I’m not always a fan of the Kindle — I like the feel of a real book — but I appreciated it those nights. Holding the bottle, and with Dash nestled in the other arm, I still had one hand free to hold the Kindle, its small light just enough for me to read by but not enough to disturb his slumber.

Read the full column here!

This Saturday! Writing Intensive at St. John’s College

This Saturday, June 9, brings the 4th Annual Spring Writing Intensive at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. The full day’s program runs 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Mellon Hall on the St. John’s College campus at 60 College Avenue. Registration is still available.

Both my wife and I will be leading sessions: Tara’s program “Tiny but Mighty: How to Write Amazing Flash Fiction” is at 11:40, and mine, “Something Is Going to Happen,” on crafting suspense, begins at 1:55. Other presenters include Susan Coll, Caroline Kitchener, Jeff Kleinman, and David Leite. Registration includes lunch, a coffee break, and a wine reception too—with many chances for q & a and informal chat with participating authors. See the full schedule here and more details about each workshop session here.

The First Two Pages: “Sunset Beauregard” by Karen Cantwell

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 Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Wildside Press have recently published the latest volume in the award-winning Chesapeake Crimes anthology series: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley. I’m a proud member of this chapter of Sisters in Crime, and I’ve been thrilled to have had stories in other recent volumes in the series.  Though I don’t have one in the new anthology (I couldn’t come up with an animal-themed tale!), the line-up of writers is terrific, and I’m glad to be hosting three of them here at the First Two Pages today and over the next two weeks reflecting on their contributions.

First up is Karen Cantwell, who has also had stories in two previous volumes: Chesapeake Crimes: They Had It Comin’ and Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder. In addition to her fine short stories, she is also an accomplished novelist, with both the Barbara Marr Murder Mystery series and the Sophie Rhodes Ghostly Romance series. Find out more about her work at her website here.

And stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for essays from contributors Shari Randall and Robin Templeton!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay here to read off-line.

Cantwell Sunset

SleuthSayers: Crafting Suspense—and Finding It Where It’s Hiding

In my SleuthSayers post this week, I talk about suspense in fiction that wouldn’t be classified as suspense fiction—a bit of advance work or at least advance thinking for the presentation I’m doing for the Spring Writing Intensive at St. John’s College in Annapolis. 



Here’s a quick excerpt from the post, giving away the authors whose work I’m examining briefly in the post (if not in the presentation later):

I’m writing this post just as news comes out about the death of Philip Roth, one of my own favorite novelists, and earlier this week I picked up the collection Last Stories by William Trevor, who died in 2016—another favorite writer and one of the great masters of the short story, not just now but ever. Neither of these writers is known for flashy, grabby openings; in fact, the New York Times‘ book review of Trevor’s Last Stories commented directly on his low-key approach: “Most notably, his stories open with comments so blandly informational, so plain and unnoticeable, that they arouse no expectation and appear to promise little.”

And yet, I find myself drawn in quickly to Trevor’s stories, to stakes which are at once high but muted, their intensity downplayed but maybe all the more engaging for it…

Read the full post here.