Art Taylor's Blog, page 85

Three Weeks, Three Book Launches (and more)

May has shaped up to be a month of book launches.

On May 7, my wife Tara Laskowski, our son Dash, and I were in Atlanta for the launch of our good friend Brandon Wicks’ debut novel, American Fallout—a terrific book and a fun event at Charis Books in Atlanta.

This past weekend, on May 14, I joined other contributors to Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning at The Writer’s Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to celebrate that anthology’s official launch, and we were fortunate (if that’s the word) to have a storm rolling in as the party took place. Pictured above are (standing, left-right) Marianne Wilski Strong, Shaun Taylor Bevins, Diane Davidson, Shaun Taylor Bevins, Adam Meyer, Robin Templeton, Alan Orloff, me (!), and Linda English; (sitting, left-right) Lauren Silberman, KM Rockwood, Donna Andrews, and Barb Goffman; and photobombing with a tortoise frisbee, my son Dash.

Then this coming weekend, Brandon and Tara and I (and Dash again) will be at the Santa Fe Writers Project’s Spring Launch Party, celebrating Brandon’s American Fallout, Tara’s Bystanders, Daniel M. Ford’s Ordination, and Elizabeth Hazen’s Chao Theories. That party will take place Saturday, May 21, at the Waverly Street Gallery in Bethesda, MD—with music, food, and specialty cocktails in addition to readings by each of the authors. (I’ll be introducing Brandon.)

Beyond the flurry of book launches, I’ve been keeping busy online as well, with a couple of blog posts over the past week or so. Check out:

Femmes Fatales, where Marcia Talley invited me to talk about On the Road with Del & Louise in the wake of the recent Agatha win and Anthony nomination—and I segued from the novel in stories to comments on several recent short story events and anthologies
SleuthSayers, where I invited my fellow finalists for the Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection to discuss their work; pleased to have Murder Under the Oaks on the same slate as works by Christopher Irvin, Thomas Pluck, Todd Robinson, and Kenneth Wishnia!

More soon down the road.

Launch Party: Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning

This weekend—on Saturday, May 14—contributors to the new anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning will be gathering for a launch party at The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street in Chevy Chase, MD. The event begins at 1:30 p.m. and runs until 3:30 and is open to the public.

I’m proud to be among those contributors to the book (my story “Parallel Play” rounds out the collection), and I’m looking forward to joining other writers for this celebration and mass signing. Participants on Saturday will also include Donna Andrews, Shaun Taylor Bevins, Diane Davidson, Linda Ensign, Barb Goffman, Adam Meyer, Alan S. Orloff, KM Rockwood, Lauren Silberman, Marianne Wilski Strong, and Robin Templeton—as well as co-editor Marcia Talley and two members of the selection committee: David Dean and Sujata Massey. (Unfortunately not in attendance: Tim Bentler-Jungr, Carla Kaessinger Coupe, Mary Ann Davidson, and Kim Kash; plus B.K. Stevens of the selection committee, and Hank Phillippi Ryan, who penned an introduction for the book).

Come join the fun and get your own copy of the anthology signed by many of the authors in one fell swoop. And if you don’t already have a copy, no worried: One More Page will be selling books on Saturday throughout the event.

Anthony Finalists: On the Road and Murder Under the Oaks

The finalists for this year’s Anthony Awards have been announced, and I’m thrilled and humbled to have received two Anthony nominations. On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories has been named a finalist for Best First Novel, and Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015 is competing for Best Anthology or Collection—and I’m particularly proud to share that latter honor with all the terrific contributors to that book, a stellar group of writers including  J.L. Abramo, J.D. Allen, Lori Armstrong, Rob Brunet, P.A. De Voe, Sean Doolittle, Tom Franklin, Toni Goodyear, Kristin Kisska, Robert Lopresti, Robert Mangeot, Margaret Maron, Kathleen Mix, Britni Patterson, Karen Pullen, Ron Rash, Karen E. Salyer, Sarah Shaber, Zoë Sharp, B.K. Stevens and Graham Wynd.

Below is the complete list of finalists—with many friends throughout the list. Congratulations to all, and look forward to seeing everyone in New Orleans for this year’s Bouchercon!

BEST NOVEL

Night Tremors – Matt Coyle  [Oceanview]
The Killing Kind – Chris Holm  [Mulholland]
The Child Garden – Catriona McPherson  [Midnight Ink]
The Nature of the Beast – Louise Penny  [Minotaur/Sphere]
What You See – Hank Phillippi Ryan  [Forge]

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Concrete Angel – Patricia Abbott  [Polis]
Past Crimes – Glen Erik Hamilton  [William Morrow]
New Yorked – Rob Hart [Polis]
Bull Mountain – Brian Panowich  [G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Head of Zeus]
On the Road with Del & Louise – Art Taylor  [Henery]

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Long and Faraway Gone – Lou Berney  [William Morrow]
Gun Street Girl – Adrian McKinty  [Seventh Street/Serpent’s Tail]
Little Pretty Things – Lori Rader-Day  [Seventh Street]
Young Americans – Josh Stallings  [Heist]
Stone Cold Dead – James W. Ziskin  [Seventh Street]

BEST CRITICAL OR NONFICTION BOOK

The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story – Martin Edwards  [HarperCollins]
Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald – Suzanne Marrs & Tom Nolan, editors  [Arcade]
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime – Val McDermid  [Grove]
The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett – Nathan Ward  [Bloomsbury USA]
The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For – Kate White, editor [Quirk]

BEST SHORT STORY

“The Little Men: A Bibliomystery” – Megan Abbott  [MysteriousPress.com/Open Road]
“The Siege” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Dec 2015 – Hilary Davidson  [Dell]
“Feliz Navidead” Thuglit Presents: Cruel Yule – Brace Godfrey/Johnny Shaw  [CreateSpace]
“Old Hands” Dark City Lights – Erin Mitchell  [Three Rooms]
“Quack and Dwight” Jewish Noir – Travis Richardson [PM]
“Don’t Fear the Ripper” Protectors 2: Heroes – Holly West  [Goombah Gumbo]

BEST ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION

Safe Inside the Violence – Christopher Irvin  [280 Steps]
Protectors 2: Heroes-Stories to Benefit PROTECT – Thomas Pluck, editor  [Goombah Gumbo]
Thuglit Presents: Cruel Yule: Holiday Tales of Crime for People on the Naughty List – Todd Robinson, editor  [CreateSpace]
Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015 – Art Taylor, editor  [Down & Out]
Jewish Noir: Contemporary Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds – Kenneth Wishnia, editor  [PM]

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Need – Joelle Charbonneau  [HMH Books for Young Readers]
How to Win at High School – Owen Matthews  [HarperTeen]
A Madness So Discreet – Mindy McGinnis  [Katherine Tegen]
The Sin Eater’s Daughter – Melinda Salisbury [Scholastic]
Fighting Chance – B.K. Stevens  [The Poisoned Pencil]
Ask the Dark – Henry Turner  [Clarion]

BEST CRIME FICTION AUDIOBOOK

Dark Waters – Chris Goff – Assaf Cohen, narrator [Crooked Lane]
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins – Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey & India Fisher, narrators  [Penguin Audio/Random House Audiobooks]
Causing Chaos – Deborah J. Ledford – Christina Cox, narrator [IOF Productions]
The Nature of the Beast – Louise Penny – Robert Bathurst, narrator [Macmillan Audio]
Young Americans – Josh Stallings – Em Eldridge, narrator  [Josh Stallings]

Washington Post Review: Matthew Quirk’s Cold Barrel Zero

The Washington Post published my review of Matthew Quirk’s new thriller Cold Barrel Zero. The novel is swiftly paced and with a few surprising twist throughout, but some disappointments along the way as well.

Here’s an excerpt from the review:

An unsettling — and sadly familiar — image casts a long shadow over Matthew Quirk’s new novel: “a pile of bodies, many dozens, heaped like trash in a landfill — men, women, children, some 2 or 3 years old, all of them torn apart by gunfire.” A mass execution at a U.S. military base overseas has left hundreds dead, but the worst atrocity is that the attack seems to have come from a Special Operations group using the base for clandestine maneuvers.

“Cold Barrel Zero,” Quirk’s third novel following “The Directive” (2014) and “The 500” (2012), is a relentlessly paced military thriller that begins in Los Angeles with the high-speed ambush of an armored truck, which may be carrying a weapon of mass destruction, and ends with a suicide bomber outside a private school in Washington (Sidwell Friends). In between, there’s a flurry of gunfights, a car chase, a boat attack and torture scenes vivid enough to make your skin curl.

Read the full review here.

Malice: Agatha & More

As I write this, I still can’t believe my great good fortune over the weekend. At this year’s Malice Domestic, On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories was honored with the Agatha Award for Best First Novel—and I felt honored really just to be in the same company as my fellow finalists: Tessa Arlen, author of Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman; Cindy Brown, author of Macdeath; Ellen Byron, author of Plantation Shudders; and Julianne Holmes, author of Just Killing Time. Congratulations to them, to all the finalists, listed here, and to this year’s other Agatha winners, as follows:

Best Novel: Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron
Best Historical Novel: Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
Best Nonfiction: The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards
Best Short Story: “A Year Without Santa Clause?” by Barb Goffman
Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel: Andi Unstoppable by Amanda Flower

As I said Saturday night in accepting my own Agatha, I have plenty of people to thank for their support of my work: Donna Andrews, Janet Hutchings and Margaret Maron, who provided blurbs for the book but more importantly endless support throughout my career; Alan Orloff, who has been a great friend and great first reader every step of the way; and Kendel Lynn and Rachel Jackson at Henery Press, without whom my book would not only not exist but certainly wouldn’t be the book that it is.

It was terrific hanging out at the banquet with a table full of supportive friends: Alan, LynDee Walker, Paula Gail Benson, Gerald Bartell, Susan Shea, David Burnesworth, Mo Walsh, Janet Costello and Helen Nelson. Hope they had as much fun as I did!

And the weekend itself was tremendous fun—seeing too many friends to list here, but a handful of stand-out events as highlights of each day.

Friday included Malice-Go-Round, lunch with the Guppies, moderating the Best Short Story panel (and congratulations again to Barb Goffman!), the Henery Press cocktail party, a dinner in honor of B.K. Stevens (but sadly without Bonnie herself), and then the signing for the Malice Domestic: Murder Most Conventional anthology—with dessert!

Saturday was a Sisters in Crime breakfast (with a shout-out about my work with Debra Goldstein and Deborah Lacy on SinC’s new short story initiative), the panel for Best First Novel finalists, lunch with those same finalists (a fun bunch!), and then a signing for the new Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning anthology at the Wildside Press table before the big Agatha Awards banquet (and a wee bit too much to drink after that).

Sunday included the New Author Breakfast hosted by Mystery Scene and Cindy Silberblatt, a second breakfast hosted by Janet Hutchings of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, a terrific chat between Amelia Award winner Doug Greene and Martin Edwards, and then Dame Agatha’s tea, where I ate way too many finger sandwiches. (Seems a theme: overdrinking, overeating, yeah?)

It was a great weekend overall. Thanks to great friends for all their kindness and support. And thanks especially to the Malice Domestic board and volunteers for all their hard work: Verena Rose, Janet Blizard, Caroline Craig, Joni Langevoort, Anne Murphy, Rita Owen, Janet Powell, Harriette Sackler, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Tonya Spratt-Williams, and Angel Trapp. A hard-working group of women there, a wonderful and unforgettable event. And can’t wait until next year!

Malice, Chesapeake Crimes, and More

This weekend is one of my favorites of the year—the annual Malice Domestic convention, April 29-May 1 in Bethesda, MD. I’m pleased to be taking part in several events throughout the weekend, several of them circling around a couple of bits of personal celebration: my first book, On the Road with Del & Louise, being named a finalist for this year’s Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and then the release this week of the anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, which includes my story “Parallel Play.”

Here’s my full schedule of events for the weekend:

Panel (as moderator): “Make It Snappy: Our Agatha Best Short Story Nominees,” with Barb Goffman, Edith Maxwell, Terrie Farley Moran, Harriette Sackler, and B.K. Stevens • Friday, April 29, 1 p.m.
Opening Ceremonies • Friday, April 29, 5 p.m.
Panel (as panelist): “New Kids On the Block: Our Agatha Best First Novel Nominees,” with Margaret Maron (moderator), Tessa Arlen, Cindy Brown, Ellen Byron, and Julianne Holmes • Saturday, April 30, 10 a.m.
Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning book signing (Wildside Press table, book room) • Saturday, April 30, 3 p.m.
Agatha Awards Banquet • Saturday, April 30, 7 p.m.
New Author Breakfast • Sunday, May 1, 7 a.m.

In the lead-up to Malice, B.K. Stevens (an Agatha finalist herself in two categories, for short story and YA/children’s book) hosted me on her blog The First Two Pages to chat about the opening to On the Road with Del & Louise. And this year’s class of finalists for the Best First Novel Agatha have been continuing our group blog hop, with several stops since my last update here. Check out the following posts, where Tessa Arlen, Cindy Brown, Ellen Byron, Julianne Holmes, and I offer perspectives on our respective works:

Criminal Minds—talking about our time periods and settings
The Stiletto Gang—talking about our writing habits, series vs. standalones, and shoes (!)
Chicks on the Case—a casting call for our novels

Finally, this week also marked the official release of the new Chesapeake Crimes anthology, with good reviews already coming in from Lynn Farris at The Examiner, who also added both the anthology and On the Road with Del & Louise to her list of best mystery books for book clubs 2016, and from Kristopher Zgorski at BOLO Books, who gave a special shout-out to my story “Parallel Play”—and I couldn’t be more thrilled with it, as you might imagine:

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 statute 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.

Such fun to be part of all these groups—and look forward to seeing many friends at Malice soon!

Conversations and Connections, Arlington, April 23

The always-popular Conversations and Connections, a  conference that offers “practical advice on getting published,” relocates its DC-area event to George Mason University’s Arlington Campus this spring—and I’m pleased to be one of the featured authors for the event, with On the Road with Del & Louise one of four books that attendees can choose as part of their registration fees.

The full schedule of events can be found here, and I’ll be appearing on two panels:

Keynote panel: Reading and discussion with featured authors • 2:15 p.m.

Leslie Pietrzyk will moderate a chat with the conference’s featured authors, also including Susan Muaddi-Darraj, author of the story collection A Curious Land; erica lewis, author of the poetry collection Daryl Hall Is My Boyfriend; and Clifford Thompson, author of the memoir Twin of Blackness.
Panel: “The Art of Creating Imagined Spaces Inside Real Places” • 3:30 p.m.

Novelists Steve Himmer, Laura Ellen Scott, and I will talk about the techniques and risks of inventing non-existent locales and integrating them into real settings. What does authenticity mean when you manipulate known places in fiction, and how does “world-building” happen? And in this context where do invention and cultural appropriation intersect?

Conversations and Connections runs 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. (including the 4:30 p.m. Happy Hour and networking/mingling session) at George Mason’s Arlington Campus—specifically Founders Hall, 3351 Fairfax Drive, in Arlington, VA. Check out more information on the conference here—and see you Saturday in Arlington!

Here, There, Everywhere

Well, maybe not everywhere, but….

As my busy semester at George Mason University has overwhelmed my schedule lately, I’ve fallen behind on updating my blog here with various appearances elsewhere on the web. Here’s a quick catch-up post about short essays and interviews in recent weeks.

Two columns at SleuthSayers each look back at childhood loves—one as a segue toward writing advice. Check out a column on Lego and on The Nancy Drew Cookbook.

At Criminal Minds, I answer the question about where my ideas come from by reprinting a column on why people shouldn’t ask that question.

Finally, as part of the lead-up toward Malice Domestic, this year’s Agatha Award finalists for Best First Novel have been conducting a short blog hop, answering a different question at each stop. Appearances so far include:

Mysteristas—on the questions: After the process of having your own first novel published, what words of wisdom do you have for future first-time novelists? What surprises or challenges have you encountered?
Washington Independent Review of Books —on the question: What is your own favorite first novel—whether by a mystery novelist or not—and why?
Writers Who Kill—on the question: What was your path to your debut published novel?
Wicked Cozy Authors—on the questions: Is the book you are nominated for the first book you wrote? And from the time you decided to write a novel how long did it take you to get published?

More ahead for this group at The Stiletto Gang, Criminal Minds, and Chicks on the Case. Stay tuned!

Celebrating with Laura Ellen Scott

Laura Ellen Scott, a friend and fellow professor at George Mason University, celebrates the release of The Juliet, her second novel, this week—and I’m honored to be celebrating with her!

The book itself releases on Tuesday, March 22, and two launch events follow, one at Upshur Street Books in DC and one at One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia. I’ll be at each, but officially on the program for the DC event, reading from On the Road with Del & Louise. Info and links to Facebook events pages are here:

Laura Ellen Scott, reading with Art Taylor, Wednesday, March 23, 7 p.m. at Upshur Street Books, 827 Upshur Street NW, Washington, DC
Laura Ellen Scott, reading with Erin Fitzgerald, Friday, March 25, 7 p.m. at One More Page Books, 2200 North Westmoreland Street, Arlington, VA

And here’s also some information on The Juliet direct from Laura’s own website:

THE JULIET is a novel that braids the history of a cursed emerald called The Juliet with the story of an ailing, retired cowboy actor who comes to Death Valley to search for her. Rigg Dexon, best known for his role as Holt Breck in the classic but controversial seventies Western, Gallows River, holes up for months in a shack known as the Mystery House, until he is driven out of seclusion by the record breaking wildflower bloom of March 2005 that draws swarms of tourists to the desert. After an intense encounter with an ardent fan named Willie Judy at a local bar, Rigg impulsively signs over the deed for the Mystery House to her in a gesture straight out of one of his corny films. But Willie, a rootless, unlucky young woman from a family of short-lived dreamers, takes it as a sign: Dexon wants her to find the Juliet, now that he’s too frail to continue his search. What Willie doesn’t know is that Dexon is giving away everything that’s precious to him, following the advice of Holt Breck: leave like you ain’t coming back. When Dexon’s gift turns out to be the scene of a crime that implicates Willie in drug trafficking, she tries to cover it up, only to be drawn into the chaotic wake of The Juliet.

Interspersed with the story set in 2005 are episodes from The Juliet’s twisted history as the emerald changes hands over the span of a century, leaving a wake of murder, theft, and madness until she is seemingly lost in the 50s. However, when a 1970s cereal company promises that the prize inside the box is a fragment of a treasure map that might lead to The Juliet’s whereabouts, her legend is re-ignited, helped in no small part by the cereal’s spokesman, none other than Rigg Dexon.

Looking forward to seeing many eager readers at events this week!

Events in Charlottesville, VA, and Washington, DC

This weekend, I’ll be appearing with a number of fine authors on two panels at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA—and next week, I’ll be joining my good friend and fellow George Mason University professor Laura Ellen Scott at Upshur Street Books in Washington, DC, for the launch week of her new novel, The Juliet. See below for information and links to all of these events—promising that the second half of March will be as busy as the first!

Saturday, March 19, 2016: Virginia Festival of the Book

Crime Wave Panel (as moderator): “Don’t Miss Thrillers,” with Matthew Iden, Jamie Mason, Chris Pavone, and Eric Rickstad, Omni Hotel, Ballroom A, 212 Ridge McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA • Noon
Crime Wave Panel (as panelist): “A Dash (or Splash) of Humor in Crime,” with Donna Andrews and Jack Bunker, Omni Hotel, Ballroom C, 212 Ridge McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA • 4 p.m.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Book Launch for Laura Ellen Scott’s The Juliet, Upshur Street Books, 827 Upshur Street NW, Washington, DC • 7 p.m.