Art Taylor's Blog, page 67

The First Two Pages: “Mad About You” by G.M. Malliet

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 First Two Pages essay concludes a three-part series featuring contributors to the anthology Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Geographical, which officially debuts at this year’s—this week’s!—Malice Domestic. Don’t miss the anthology launch, signing, and dessert reception on Malice’s opening evening, Friday, April 27, at 9 p.m.

Over the last couple of weeks, contributors Susan Breen and Peter W.J. Hayes have reflected on their stories in Mystery Most Geographical, and here G.M. Malliet not only discusses her story “Mad About You” but also explores the nature of travel itself and some of the dangers inherent in being out of your normal roles and routines.

I’ve known Gin for a long time now and been a long-time admirer of both her novels and her short fiction—and of her just generally as a person. She won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel for Death of a Cozy Writer, the first in her St. Just mystery series. She’s also the author of the Max Tudor mysteries, the most recent of which, In Prior’s Wood, was released last week! You can find out more at gmmalliet.com.

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.

Malliet Mad About You

Malice Domestic—and Beyond!

This coming weekend brings one of my favorite events of the year: the annual Malice Domestic convention in Bethesda, Maryland—Friday through Sunday, April 27-29, and in new digs this time, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center!

I’m thrilled that one of my stories—“A Necessary Ingredient” from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea—is a finalist for this year’s Agatha Award for Best Short Story, and I’m looking forward to celebrating with my fellow finalists and with everyone on this year’s Agatha slate, and just generally excited about seeing so many folks from the mystery community, people I don’t get together with as often as I’d like.

Here’s my official schedule for the weekend ahead, though I’ll be in and out of many other panels, programs, and get-togethers as well:

“Make it Snappy: The Agatha Best Short Story Nominees,” with Gretchen Archer, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, and Gigi Pandian, moderated by Michael Bracken • Friday, April 27, 2 p.m.
Opening Ceremonies • Friday, April 27, 5 p.m.
Author Signing • Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m.
Agatha Awards Banquet • Saturday, April 28, 7 p.m.
The Agatha Tea and Closing Ceremonies • Sunday, April 29, 1:30 p.m.

And beyond Malice, here’s a glimpse at other events on the calendar—a busy last spring and summer ahead!

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Panel: “Writing a Page-Turner” with E.A. Aymar & Delancey Stewart, moderated by Salley Shannon, Washington Writers Conference, sponsored by the Washington Independent Review of Books, College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 3501 University Boulevard East, Hyattsville, MD • 9 a.m.

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Workshop: “Something Is Going To Happen,” on writing suspense, Writing Intensive, Mellon Hall,  St. John’s College, 60 College Avenue, Annapolis, MD • 1:55 p.m.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, 110 West Finney Avenue, Suffolk, VA • 1-6 p.m.

Friday-Sunday, August 10-12, 2018

Deadly Ink Mystery Conference, Rockaway, NJ

Thursday-Sunday, September 6-9, 2018

Bouchercon, Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort, 501 5th Avenue NE, St. Petersburg, FL

Writers Who Kill: Agatha Finalists for Best Short Story

After hosting this year’s Agatha Award finalists for Best Short Story at The Stiletto Gang, Paula Benson continued the conversation at Writers Who Kill. Gretchen Archer, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, Gigi Pandian, and I tried our hand at the following questions:

Is it more difficult to develop a protagonist or an antagonist in a short story?
How can dialogue help with the action and pacing in a short story?
What details are important in creating setting in a short story?

Read the full discussion here. The countdown to Malice is on!

The First Two Pages: “Ridgeline” by Peter W.J. Hayes

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 post continues a short series featuring contributors to the anthology Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Geographical, which officially debuts at Malice Domestic in 10 days—yikes! Don’t miss the anthology launch, signing, and dessert reception on Malice’s opening evening, Friday, April 27, at 9 p.m.!

Last week’s First Two Pages featured Susan Breen, and next week’s features G.M. Malliet. Today brings Peter W.J. Hayes discussing the original opening to his story “Ridgeline” and the many changes that took place with that opening before the final draft.

I first read Peter’s story “Black Hand” from the previous Malice Domestic anthology, Mystery Most Historical, when I was part of the selection committee for that anthology—a fine story to serve as an introduction to his work! It’s such a pleasure to see him part of this year’s anthology as well. Peter’s stories have also appeared or are forthcoming in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Mysterical-E, Shotgun Honey, and other publications, and The Things That Aren’t There, the first novel in his Pittsburgh Trilogy, will be published this summer.  You can find out more at www.peterwjhayes.com.

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.

Peter Hayes Ridgeline

Crime Friction: Art Taylor vs. Arts Taylor

Thanks so much for Jay Stringer and Chantelle Aimée Osman for chatting with me for Episode Six of their podcast Crime Friction. As I told Chantelle before the taping (and during (and after)), I felt a little apprehensive about holding my own with folks as sharp-witted as she and Jay are—but the conversation itself was fun and wide-ranging. Not sure entirely which pieces of our conversation made the final edit for the show—since I haven’t worked up nerve to listen in yet myself!—but pleased to be part of the series having caught other episodes and been completely enamored of the whole series. Also pleased to be appearing on this episode with Alex Segura, Josh Stallings, S.J. Rozan, and Jedidiah Ayers, all-star writers each of them.

Check out the full episode here.

Stiletto Gang: Agatha Finalists for Best Short Story

Thanks to Paula Benson for hosting all of this year’s Agatha Award finalists for Best Short Story—Gretchen Archer, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, Gigi Pandian, and me—for a quick panel discussion at The Stiletto Gang on three fun questions:

How do you know an idea is “short story worthy”?
Tell us about the publisher of your nominated short story and how the story came to be published.
If you could bring your protagonist as a guest to the Agatha banquet, what shoes would he or she be wearing?

Check out the full chat here—and look forward to seeing everyone at Malice Domestic next week!

SleuthSayers: Agatha Finalists for Best Short Story

Today at SleuthSayers, I’m welcoming the Agatha Award finalists for Best Short Story. Gretchen Archer, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, and Gigi Pandian join me in talking about the specific challenges each of us faced in crafting our respective tale.

Check out the answers here—and look forward to seeing everyone at Malice Domestic two weeks from today!

The First Two Pages: “The End of the World” by Susan Breen

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 post marks the start of a short series featuring contributors to the anthology Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Geographical, which officially debuts at Malice Domestic later this month—and don’t miss the big anthology signing (and dessert reception!) on Malice’s opening evening, Friday, April 27, at 9 p.m.!

Kicking things off is Susan Breen, reflecting on her story “The End of the World.” Susan’s short stories have appeared in both Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in the anthology Best Nonrequired Reading, among other publications. Her Maggie Dove mystery series is published by Alibi/Random House. Find out more at her website, www.susanjbreen.com.

And stay tuned over the next weeks for essays from two other anthology contributors, Peter Hayes and G.M. Malliet.

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.

Breen End of the World

“Sunday Morning, Saturday Night” in Down & Out: The Magazine

The latest issue of Down & Out: The Magazine features my story “Sunday Morning, Saturday Night”—and fair warning, it’s a dark little piece.

The story was inspired, in part, by the song “Sunday Morning” from the Velvet Underground’s debut album and influenced, in another part, by my admiration for the tonal shifts in Jim Thompson’s work: the folksy conversational style here, the undercurrent of menace and violence there, all those shifts and twists. I finished an early draft of the story for last October’s Noir at the Bar in Washington, DC.—and thanks again to Ed Aymar for inviting me to take part in that event and to the crowd there for the positive feedback on that early draft, an exercise in style as much as storytelling.

Thanks too to Rick Ollerman for a swift and efficient edit. His keen eye and ear for the rhythms of sentences and the overall rhythm of the story helped to polish out my submitted manuscript into something much smoother, much stronger. And what a joy to have him compare “Sunday Morning, Saturday Night” to the work of Richard Matheson—couldn’t ask to be in better company there!

I’m proud to be part of the magazine, and hope folks will appreciate the story itself.

“Sunday Night, Saturday Morning” in Down & Out: The Magazine

The latest issue of Down & Out: The Magazine features my story “Sunday Morning, Saturday Night”—and fair warning, it’s a dark little piece.

The story was inspired, in part, by the song “Sunday Morning” from the Velvet Underground’s debut album and influenced, in another part, by my admiration for the tonal shifts in Jim Thompson’s work: the folksy conversational style here, the undercurrent of menace and violence there, all those shifts and twists. I finished an early draft of the story for last October’s Noir at the Bar in Washington, DC.—and thanks again to Ed Aymar for inviting me to take part in that event and to the crowd there for the positive feedback on that early draft, an exercise in style as much as storytelling.

Thanks too to Rick Ollerman for a swift and efficient edit. His keen eye and ear for the rhythms of sentences and the overall rhythm of the story helped to polish out my submitted manuscript into something much smoother, much stronger. And what a joy to have him compare “Sunday Morning, Saturday Night” to the work of Richard Matheson—couldn’t ask to be in better company there!

I’m proud to be part of the magazine, and hope folks will appreciate the story itself.