Art Taylor's Blog, page 80

“A Necessary Ingredient” in Coast to Coast

This week marks the publication of Coast to Coast: Private Eyes From Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Mark and published by Down & Out Books. I’m thrilled to have a story in the collection—”A Necessary Ingredient”—and thrilled to be sharing space with a terrific group of writers, including J.L. Abramo, Eric Beetner, Michael Bracken, Meredith Cole, Matt Coyle, Tom Donahue, John Floyd, Gay Kinman, Terrill Lee Lankford, Janice Law, Paul D. Marks, Andrew McAleer, O’Neil De Noux, and Robert J. Randisi.

“A Necessary Ingredient” centers on a private eye who’s definitely more interesting in reading about fictional detectives than in being one himself—but when the right client comes along, he’s willing to play the part in real-life as best he can.

The setting of my story is small-town North Carolina—my contribution to the coast-to-coast coverage—and some specific aspects of the setting are inspired by my own time in both Richlands, NC, and in Goldsboro, NC. But as with my protagonist, the mythology of the fictional PI has perhaps a more significant impact on how setting, characters, and story are perceived, and Chandler’s “Red Wind” specifically—one of my own favorite short stories—offers as least some small inspiration for the tale, explicitly so, as you’ll see.

Another potential inspiration—and one I’m a little hesitant to admit? LEGO.

As I was originally working on this story, I was also putting together the LEGO detective agency—and had an eye on the LEGO Parisian restaurant too, which I’ve more recently gotten. While I’m not certain I was envisioning the story here unraveling in that universe, it’s too easy to see in retrospect how easily this tale might transpire in those small sets. Don’t believe me? Read the story, and then take a look at the images below from the buildings my son and I constructed.

In any case, hope you’ll pick up the anthology—and enjoy “A Necessary Ingredient” as well as the stories by these other fine writers!

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“Parallel Play” Named an Agatha Award Finalist

So thrilled that “Parallel Play” from Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning has been named a finalist for this year’s Agatha Award for Best Short Story—and so honored to be sharing that slate with such a fine group of writers too: Gretchen Archer, Barb Goffman, Edith Maxwell, and B.K. Stevens.

The full list of finalists in all categories is below—and congrats to everyone! So many friends on the list, so many great writers, and I’m humbled to be counted among them.

See you at Malice!

Best Contemporary Novel

Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross (Kensington)

Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)

Best Historical Novel

Whispers Beyond the Veil by Jessica Estevao (Berkley)

Get Me to the Grave on Time by D.E. Ireland (Grainger Press)

Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)

The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)

Murder in Morningside Heights by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel

Terror in Taffeta by Marla Cooper (Minotaur)

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon (Henery Press)

The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)

Decanting a Murder by Nadine Nettmann (Midnight Ink)

Design for Dying by Renee Patrick (Forge Books)

Best Nonfiction

Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats by Jane K. Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)

A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods by Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora (Skyhorse Publishing)

Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland Books)

Best Short Story

“Double Jinx: A Bellissimo Casino Crime Caper Short Story” by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)

“The Best-Laid Plans” by Barb Goffman in Malice Domestic 11: Murder Most Conventional (Wildside Press)

“The Mayor and the Midwife” by Edith Maxwell in Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016 (Down & Out Books)

“The Last Blue Glass” by B.K. Stevens in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine

“Parallel Play” by Art Taylor in Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning (Wildside Press)

Best Children/Young Adult

Trapped: A Mei-hua Adventure by P.A. DeVoe (Drum Tower Press)

Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster)

Tag, You’re Dead by J C Lane (Poisoned Pen Press)

The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos (Balzer & Bray)

The Secret of the Puzzle Box: The Code Busters Club by Penny Warner (Darby Creek)

Spring Classes Start—Reading Ahead!

Friends and readers have often been interested in what I’m teaching in my classes at George Mason University—and specifically the texts I’ve selected for my lit classes. Frequently, I’ve found myself crowd-sourcing possibilities for these classes—putting out my course subjects/themes on Facebook and inviting suggestions, broadening my own reading choices/horizons in the process!

Since some folks have asked, here are the texts from my three classes this semester.

RECENT AMERICAN FICTION

(and incidentally, our first class discussion was about defining “recent” and “American”)

Best American Short Stories 2016, edited Junot Diaz (2016)
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz (2007)
American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang (2006)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan (2010)
Zone One, Colson Whitehead (2010)
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (2012)
Fates & Furies, Lauren Groff (2015)
Underground Airlines, Ben H. Winters (2016)
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead (2016)

CREATIVE NONFICTION WORKSHOP

(main texts; many other selections, including Tom Wolfe, Joseph Mitchell, and short bits from The New Yorker‘s “Talk of the Town” section, for example)

Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction, Lee Gutkind, editor
Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction, Lex Williford and Michael Martone, editors

CRAFTING & PUBLISHING REVIEWS

In this case, there’s too much to list—much of it reviews and essays I’ve linked to online—so instead of trying to hit highpoints here, here’s a link to a website I set up specifically for the course, including the full syllabus.

Upcoming Events: AWP, Bay to Ocean, and Virginia Festival of the Book

In addition to a busy semester ahead at George Mason University—putting the finishing touches now on syllabi for my Recent American Fiction course, my Creative Nonfiction workshop, and a new class in Writing & Publishing Reviews—I’m also looking forward to taking part in several upcoming conferences and festivals, notably the 50th anniversary conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, this year’s Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, and then the Virginia Festival of the Book, whose full schedule went live this week.

Here’s the full listing of events and appearances through March of this year—hope to see you there!

Wednesday-Saturday, February 8-11, 2017: AWP Conference and Bookfair, Washington, DC

Panel: “The G Word: Writing and Teaching Genre in a Changing Literary Landscape,” with Matt Bell, Katie Cortese, Idra Novey, and Porochista Khakpour, Marquis Salon 6, Meeting Level Two, Marriott Marquis, 901 Massachusetts Avenue NW  • Thursday, February 9, 10:30 a.m.
Author Signing, George Mason University Booth, Bookfair Booth 501, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW • Thursday, February 9, 1 p.m.
Reading hosted by SmokeLong Quarterly and DC’s Noir at the Bar, with authors E.A. Aymar, Matt Bell. Tara Campbell, W. Todd Kaneko, Tara Laskowski, Jennifer Pashley, and Amber Sparks, The Pub and the People, 1648 N. Capitol Street NW • Saturday, February 11, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

“The Short Story: Big Worlds in Small Spaces,” Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, Chesapeake College, 1000 College Circle, Wye Mills, MD

Friday-Saturday, March 24-25, 2017: Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, VA

Panel (as moderator): “Crime Wave Bestsellers” with Megan Abbott, Bill Beverly, and John Hart, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 4th Street NW • Friday, March 24, 8 p.m.
Sisters in Crime booth, Festival Lit Fair, Omni Hotel Atrium, 212 Ridge McIntire Road • Saturday, March 25, times t.b.d.

Read “Parallel Play” for Free

Agatha Award balloting has begun, with less than 10 days now to read everything that you may have missed last year, and social media buzz around the Agathas is already reminding me just how many great books and stories were published in 2016! Especially in the short story category, there’s a wealth of great fiction, not just in magazines like EQMM and AHMM but also in a seemingly record number of high-profile anthologies published in the mystery field.

I’m grateful to have a couple of stories eligible for consideration, including “Parallel Play” from Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning and “The Great Detective Reflects” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. The full text of the first story is below in PDF format for anyone who wants to read—a dark tale, drawing from the domestic suspense tradition, but hope you might enjoy!

And in the meantime, congratulations to all the writers who published new works in 2016—and best wishes to us all! And see you at Malice!

parallel-play-by-art-taylor

SleuthSayers: On Resolutions and a Residency

Over at SleuthSayers, I write today about New Year’s Resolutions—writing and otherwise—and share some information about a writing residency that my wife, Tara, and I are enjoying at the Weymouth Center in Southern Pines, NC. Here’s a sample paragraph:

Coming off a tough year and a busy semester, I found myself at wit’s end about my writing: a novel that had lost traction, four stories in various ragged degrees of being unfinished, the sense that all of them needed attention, and no idea about which draft to tackle first—which meant working on none of them. Clearly, a shift in perspective was needed, and a shift in perspective is what we’ve taken.

Hand in hand with a resolution to give fresh priority to our writing, my wife Tara and I jumped on the opportunity to start the year off with a week’s worth of immersion in the writing life. As I finish this post, my wife and I are taking part in the writer-in-residence program at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines, NC—a program that promises some much-appreciated time and space both to indulge our imaginations and to focus intently on our craft, freedom and diligence in equal measure.

Read the full post here—and happy new year to all!

 

Chesapeake Crimes Makes Top Five at Mystery Loves Company

Such a nice bit of news: Mystery Loves Company in Oxford, MD, posted its top five best-selling books of 2016, and the anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, featuring my story “Parallel Play,” is number three on the list! The full top five are here, from Mystery Loves Company’s latest newsletter:

HAUNTED MID-SHORE by Mindie Burgoyne
HARDBOILED ANXIETY by Karen Karydes.
CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: STORM WARNING
DIE LIKE AN EAGLE by Donna Andrews
BRUNO CHIEF OF POLICE by Martin Walker

Congrats to all the contributors to Storm Warning, including Donna Andrews, Tim Bentler-Jungr, Shaun Taylor Bevins, Carla Kaessinger Coupe, Maddi Davidson (Mary Ann Davidson and Diane Davidson), Linda Ensign, Barb Goffman, Kim Kash, Adam Meyer, Lauren Silberman, Alan S. Orloff, KM Rockwood, Marianne Wilski Strong, and Robin Templeton. Special congrats to our editors Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley, and extra special congrats to Donna for her own book appearing in the number four slot! A nice end to the year for us all.

Scrawl Books Hosts Sisters in Crime

Didn’t get what you wanted during holiday gift exchanges? Well, here’s your chance to overcome those disappointments, get some great books, and meet some fine authors at the same time!

Scrawl Books will be hosting six authors from the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime on Wednesday, December 28, 3-5 pm. at the Reston Town Center, 11862 Market Street, in Reston, VA. I’ll thrilled to be joining Donna Andrews, Maya Corrigan, Ellen Crosby, Alan Orloff, and Josh Pachter for an afternoon of mystery.

Check out the event listing here—and hope to see you on Wednesday!

 

Holiday Freebie: “Parallel Play”

Fair warning: “Parallel Play,” from the anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, isn’t a holiday story at all, but I hope readers might still enjoy a little seasonal present of free reading—a story that my wife Tara has said may be the best thing I’ve ever written.

I’m not sure whether she’s right, but it’s sure nice feedback—as was this review from a more objective source: Kristopher Zgorski at BOLO Books:

Art Taylor has won practically every award possible for his short stories and he might want to rearrange his shelves to make way for another statue for this story. Taylor once again excels at delving into the mind of his female protagonist. But this time, Art has also crafted a particularly devious and evil villain. This tension filled story of a mother who will go to any lengths to protect her child unfolds like a mini-movie on the page – both touching and terrifying.

In any case, hope you might enjoy reading the story below on one of these cold winter nights—and in the meantime, happy holidays to all!

parallel-play-by-art-taylor

December Newsletter: News, Events & Another Giveaway!

For my second quarterly newsletter (so far, so good!), I look back at what’s been a milestone year and give a glimpse ahead at plans for 2017—including at least one publication, slated for January.

Here’s an excerpt:

The end of the year always prompts little bursts of reflection and assessment for me. What were my goals and hopes for the past 12 months? Where did I push forward when needed, or where did I fall short? Much of that takes the form of personal questions: How good a husband or father am I? How am I passing along the best example and lessons for our son? instilling in him the best virtues? The answer that keeps coming up: I’m always grateful for my good fortune and always trying to live up to it—to prove myself a person deserving of all of it.

From a professional standpoint, I feel much the same way.

What follows talks about recent publications and award attention, plus a round-up of ways I’ve tried to give back to the community, along with recent recommendations from my own reading and much more.

And speaking of giving back, congrats to Tess Andrews, who won the prize pack from my previous newsletter, including the November 2016 issue of Ellery Queen’s Magazine, a recent issue of The Digest Enthusiast, and the latest Best American Mystery Stories, including a section from my novel in stories On the Road with Del & Louise.

And for anyone interested in the next giveaway… well, check out the bottom of the newsletter here for info on the book bundle and the next trivia question!