Art Taylor's Blog, page 88

SleuthSayers: Interview with Christopher Irvin

Christopher Irvin’s new story collection, Safe Inside the Violence, offers a terrific mix of hard-hitting crime stories and more subtle, more meditative explorations of the human condition—each of them simmering with tension and turmoil. I was pleased to interview Chris on the new book and his work in general for SleuthSayers. Here’s a sample exchange:

Safe Inside the Violence carries the subtitle Crime Stories, but I don’t think I’d categorize a story like “Digging Deep” that way—even as it brims over with constant tension, the threat of trouble. What constitutes a “crime story” for you? And more generally, how does genre—the expectations of genre—impact your writing?

This is a tough one. There is a great sense of melancholy in my favorite crime stories—perhaps a sense of inevitability, but not without hope. Underdogs I love to root for even though I know they’ll stumble and fall eventually. In some ways this feeling, or perhaps a focus on it, has pushed me from the genre definition of crime—a focus on criminal acts—to what? Literary crime? Dark literary fiction? I’m not entirely sure, but it is where I want to be—at least today. I wrote the four new stories in the collection (“Digging Deep,” “Imaginary Drugs,” “Lupe’s Lemon Elixir,” and “Safe Inside the Violence”) all without a crime publication in mind, and they all turned out in this vein. I was pretty anxious as a kid and I think that comes out in my work, even more so now that I’m aware of it. That’s what I’m interested in more than the crime—how people exist in situations that rub up against crime, what their fears/anxieties are, how they make it through the day. As confident as I may seem with the direction of my writing, “genre expectations” do weigh on my mind. When a reviewer praises these stories as being different, I take that as a huge compliment—but is it what people want to read? I hope so. I hope the emphasis on quiet moments, or quiet crimes, is something people can relate to/empathize with and be interested in delving into further.

Read the full interview here.

Two New at Washington Independent Review of Books

The Washington Independent Review of Books has recently featured two articles by me—the first a column on “writing things” I’m thankful for (just in time for Thanksgiving!) and the other a review of John Walton’s new study The Legendary Detective: The Private Eye in Fact and Fiction. Here’s an excerpt that review:

Walton’s thesis is more subtle and extensive than simply arguing that fact and fiction colluded to construct this legend; instead, as he says late in the book, “This is a study of American society and culture that reveals how the detective business arose, fashioning its own fictions, in tandem with a culture industry that was constrained by commercial fact, each a piece of the larger political economy and both subject to an essential interplay.” The word he emphasizes as part of the connection here is “symbiotic.”

As you might already be able to tell, The Legendary Detective is intended more for an academic audience than a casual readership. Walton doesn’t draw heavily on the tactics and techniques of creative nonfiction, and the book remains a steadfast sociological history. But, to my mind, the subject matter gives the book potential for wider, more general consumption as well.

Read the full article here.

SinC Author Showcase, plus Events Update

I’ve just updated the events page of my website with reading, panel discussions, and more—beginning with this weekend’s Author Showcase hosted by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, continuing with next week’s big NC mystery tour led by the incomparable Molly Weston, and looking well into 2016 with events in Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina and beyond. Chicago, here we come!

Saturday, November 7

Author Showcase, Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter, Howard County Library (East Columbia branch), 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD • 1 p.m.

November 13-14: NC Mystery Tour with Molly Weston

Friday, November 13

Halle Cultural Arts Center, 237 N Salem Street, Apex, NC • 11:30 a.m.
Page-Walker Cultural Arts Center, 119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC • 3 p.m.


Saturday, November 14

McIntyre’s, 220 Market Street, Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, NC • 11 a.m.
The Country Bookshop, 140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC • 2 p.m.



Wednesday, December 2

26th Annual Meet the Author Night and Book Fair, University Club, 1135 16th Street NW, Washington, DC • 5:30-8 p.m.

Saturday, December 5

Author Showcase, Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter, Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston, VA • 1 p.m.

Saturday, December 12

Mystery Writers Event with Ellery Adams, Mollie Cox Bryan, Mary Burton, Maggie King, and LynDee Walker, Barnes & Noble, Chesterfield Town Center, 11500 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, VA • 2 p.m.



Sunday, December 13

Reading: On the Road with Del & Louise, appearing with John Grady, author of Matthew Fontaine Maury, Father of Oceanography: A Biography, 1806-1873, The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD • 2 p.m

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Mystery Writers Panel with Maya Corrigan, Sherry Harris, Claudia LeFeve, and Penny Peterson, Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library, 5005 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA • 7 p.m.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

NC State Reading Series with Jamie Mason, author of Three Graves Full and Monday’s Lie, NC State University, Raleigh, NC • 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Panel: Publishing in Crime Fiction, with Nik Korpon, Sujata Massey, and Stacia Decker, moderated by E.A. Aymar, The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD • 6 p.m.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Wit Rabbit Reading Series with Tara Laskowski, Quenchers Saloon, 2401 N Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois • 7 p.m.

New Mystery Scene

I’m so pleased to have two articles in the new issue of Mystery Scene, which arrived in my own mailbox yesterday. First, I review Margaret Maron’s final Deborah Knott mystery, Long Upon the Land, as part of a feature devoted to her work; also included is an interview by Ed Gorman (so I’m in good company there, to say the least). Here’s an excerpt from the review:

…suffice it to say that when you look at the novels which bookend the series—1992’s Bootlegger’s Daughter, which won the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity, and Long Upon the Land—many of the conflicts and concerns of the first book find both echo and answer in the final one. And stepping back further to the first appearance of Deborah Knott, in the 1991 short story “Deborah’s Judgment,” you’ll find even more connections; both that story and the new novel hinge on the younger days of Deborah’s mother, Sue Stephenson Knott, and her experiences during World War II with her sister Zell and best friend Beulah in Goldsboro, NC; both deal with an airman who was loved and lost; and both unearth decades-old secrets about the long shadows cast by old love affairs. In several ways, Long Upon the Land revisits and reworks twists and themes from those earliest works—and always in satisfying ways.

Second, Mystery Scene invited me to talk about my own book, On the Road with Del & Louise, and about the idea of a novel in stories generally. The article is part of the “My Book” section, and I’m in good company there too, with Leigh Perry talking about “How to Haunt a House” and her new book The Skeleton Haunts a House. Here’s the opening to my article there:

The title and subtitle of my new book On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories seemed a natural fit to me—straightforward about both the story and the form: two small-time crooks trying to go straight; each story a new adventure and all of it part of a longer journey, in this case taking them from Taos, New Mexico, to Victorville, California, then up the coast into Napa Valley before stops in Las Vegas and Williston, North Dakota, en route back to Louise’s home state of North Carolina.

But though it felt natural for me to structure my book this way, I’ve been surprised to learn that the phrase “novel in stories” isn’t as well known as I thought. A few misunderstandings have kept cropping up—including four that seem worth addressing….

Just as an extra preview, those four misunderstandings are: “Novels in stories are more common in literary circles than genre ones,” “‘Novel in stories’ is just a fancy phrase for ‘collection’,” “You must read all of the stories in a specific order,” and “Boy, Art really thought this through right from the start!” That last one, especially, wouldn’t be true.

Hope folks enjoy reading!

MWA at Richmond’s Fountain Bookstore

On Saturday, October 24, from 2-4 p.m., the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond will be hosting a meet-and-greet with several members of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of Mystery Writers of America—part of the chapter’s dual-purpose initiative to partner with bookstores and libraries and to host more events outside of DC, serving members throughout the larger region.

I’m pleased to be part of the event, which also includes Donna Andrews, Mollie Cox Bryan, Con Lehane, G.M. Malliet, Nancy Naigle, B.K. Stevens, Marcia Talley, and LynDee Walker—plus many more writers and readers too, since anyone can come!

This isn’t a formal program as much as a chance for writers and readers to mingle and meet with one another. There will be wine and cheese (what’s a meet-and-greet without it?) and books on hand as well—of course!

Information can be found at the Fountain’s event page.

Bouchercon Bliss

No doubt about it, Raleigh proved to be my favorite Bouchercon ever—simply put, a blissfully fun homecoming.

Me with Susan M. Boyer at Quail Ridge Books

The fun actually began before Bouchercon officially kicked off, with a pre-conference event on Wednesday, October 7, at Quail Ridge Books. For me, the evening was essentially the North Carolina book launch of On the Road With Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories, and I was thrilled to be joined by Susan M. Boyer, a good friend whose Liz Talbot mystery series is also published by Henery Press. It was fun to see so many old friends at the reading, particularly those associated with several chapters of my life in Raleigh: folks from my days at Spectator Magazine, from my time the North Carolina Museum of Art, and from my first stint in grad school at NC State University. And as I pointed out, homecoming in one respect (those friends and others, and my family in the audience) was matched by talk of home in another sense—with Susan Boyer part of the close-knit publishing family at Henery Press. Later that night, I spent time with another HP author, Annette Dashofy, adding bookmarks and candy to swag bags for the author speed dating on tap the next morning (and snuck a few pieces of candy myself, I have to admit).

That author speed dating seemed to set the tone of the entire weekend—high energy, a frantic pace, equal parts dizzying and invigorating, and all those layers of fun connecting writers with readers and writers with writers too. I attended several fine, fun panels over the course of those four days, including a chat on traditional mysteries that featured Dorothy Cannell, Terrie Farley Moran and Marcia Talley; an examination of social media with Deborah Lacy, Dru Ann Love, and Janet Rudolph; a talk on navigating your TBR pile with Ellen Clair Lamb and Matt Iden; the Jewish Noir discussion led by anthology editor Ken Wishnia; the local guest of honor panel that not only featured the guest of honor herself, Sarah Shaber, but also fine writers John Hart and J.D. Rhoades, under the skillful moderation of Molly Weston; the Hammett panel with Julie Rivette, Richard Layman, and Peter Rozovsky; and then my own panel Sunday morning, with fellow short story writers Barb Goffman, Gigi Pandian, and John Shepphird—a discussion that left me with fresh perspectives and new energy myself.

Undoubtedly, however, four moments stood out as personal highpoints.

Hilary Davidson, Derringer Award Winner

First, it was a great honor to present for the first time the new medals honoring winners of the Derringer Awards. Jan Christensen, president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Gerald So, the organization’s long-time guiding light and most devoted supporter, led the way over the past year to finalize the form that the medal would take, but since neither of them could attend, they tapped me to formally present them at Bouchercon’s opening ceremonies to the winners of this year’s Derringers Awards: Joseph D’Agnese, best flash story, for “How Lil’ Jimmie Beat the Big C” from Shotgun Honey; Cathi Stoler, best short story, for “The Kaluki Kings of Queens” from Murder New York Style: Family Matters (accepted by Kathleen Ryan); Hilary Davidson, best long story, for “A Hopeless Case” from All Due Respect; Doug Allyn, best novelette, for “The Snow Angel” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (accepted by Janet Hutchings); and James Powell, recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement (also accepted by Janet Hutchings). As an added bonus: What fun was it to get together with so many members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society for lunch the next day—a chance for many of us to meet and mingle with folks we’ve only known online. And congrats too to Craig Faustus Buck, a fellow SMFS member who took home the Macavity Award for Best Short Story at the opening ceremonies for his tale “Honeymoon Sweet” from last year’s Bouchercon anthology, Murder at the Beach.

Murder Under the Oaks anthology signing

….which brings us to the second highlight for me: the launch of this year’s Bouchercon anthology, Murder Under the Oaks, which it was my great privilege to edit. Nineteen of the collection’s 21 contributors showed up for the launch event Saturday morning, talking briefly about and reading short excerpts from their individual stories to give a standing-room-only crowd some previews of what to expect—stories that ranged from traditional whodunits to edgier noir tales and featured a little bit of everything in between. Participants included (in order of appearance in the anthology): Margaret Maron, P.A. Da Voe, Karen Pullen, Lori Armstrong, Karen Salyer, Robert Mangeot, J.D. Allen, Zoe Sharp, J.L. Abramo, Tom Franklin, Britni Patterson, Sean Doolittle, Rob Brunet, Kristin Kisska, B.K. Stevens, Graham Wynd (Kate Laity), Sarah Shaber, Toni Goodyear, and Robert Lopresti. Highpoints within this highpoint: Helping Kristin Kisska and Karen Salyer celebrate their very first day as published authors! And then seeing that long signing line—with nearly 300 books coming across our table before the event was done.

Third highpoint: Learning that the Bouchercon book room had sold out of my own book! When I stopped in Thursday morning to see if anyone was even carrying On the Road With Del & Louise, I was surprised to find three large stacks of those paperbacks at Scene of the Crime’s tables as part of a display of Henery Press titles. Even more surprising was stopping by Friday morning to find only a single copy left! I’ll admit it: When I first saw those three big stacks, I anticipated how sad it would be when none of them sold, and when I came back and saw the piles gone, my first thought was that they’d just moved them behind the table somewhere, tucked them away to make room for other titles that people might actually be interested in. So I was stunned, to say the least, by the news that so many readers were actually picking them up—on purpose and everything—and grateful later to Quail Ridge Books who brought over some of their extra stock on Sunday for readers still searching out copies.

And speaking of “stunned,” a final moment from Bouchercon’s closing night. It was a terrific honor—certainly one of the greatest of my writing career—to receive this year’s Anthony Award for Best Short Story for “The Odds Are Against Us,” originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. The odds were certainly against me as well with such a distinguished roster of other finalists—Barb Goffman, Craig Buck, Paul D. Marks, and John Shepphird—and I felt both surprised and privileged to learn that my tale had been chosen for the award.

Throughout Bouchercon, it was also a thrill to catch up with so many old friends and make so many new ones—far too many in each case to list here! I still haven’t had a chance to reach out to all the writers and readers I met and whose cards and bookmarks are waiting for me to sort through, but I look forward to doing so soon—and to next year’s Bouchercon in New Orleans as well!

NC Book Launch & Bouchercon

The week ahead marks a homecoming in many ways—heading back to Raleigh, NC, where I lived for more than a decade and which I haven’t visited enough since having moved away in 2003—and in the process it’s a celebration too, with the North Carolina launch of my new book On the Road with Del & Louise on Wednesday, October 7, at Quail Ridge Books, on the eve of this year’s Bouchercon, which runs Thursday through Sunday in downtown Raleigh.

I’m looking forward to seeing friends and family on Wednesday—and then getting together with more friends and other folks in the larger family of mystery writers throughout the week.

My own schedule of events and activities is below!

Wednesday, October 7

North Carolina Book Launch for On the Road with Del & Louise, appearing with Henery Press author Susan M. Boyer, author of the Liz Talbot Mysteries, Quail Ridge Books, 3522 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, NC • 7 p.m.

October 8-11: Bouchercon, Raleigh, NC

Thursday, October 8

Bouchercon Speed Dating, Marriott, State CD • 8 a.m.
Opening Ceremonies, including Macavity Awards presentation (as finalist) and Derringer Awards presentation (as presenter), Marriott, State ABCDE • 5:30 p.m.


Friday, October 9

Sisters in Crime Breakfast, Marriott Hotel, University Room ABC • 7:30 a.m.
Short Mystery Fiction Society Lunch Meet-up, Plaza Cafe • 11:30 a.m.


Saturday, October 10

Meet the New Authors (& Publisher) Breakfast • 7 a.m.
Panel: Murder Under the Oaks Anthology (moderating as anthology editor), Marriott, University ABC • 10:30 a.m.
Signing: Murder Under the Oaks Anthology, with Guest of Honor signing, Marriott, University ABC • 11:30 a.m.
Anthony Awards Ceremony (as finalist), Marriott, State ABCDE • 6:45 p.m.


Sunday, October 11

Panel: Short, Sharp & Shocking: The Mystery Short Story, Sheraton, Governors Room I • 10 a.m.

News and Reviews

I’ve been extremely grateful for all the attention that’s been given to On the Road With Del & Louise since the launch week—and all the opportunities I’ve been given to read from and talk about the book, including events at the Baltimore Book Festival, at Fall for the Book, and again tonight (Saturday, October 3) at the latest DC edition of Noir at the Bar.

Reviews of the book have been very flattering; here’s a sample:

Washington Post : “In his new novel, “On the Road With Del and Louise,” short-story writer Art Taylor sets his narrative cruise control at “breezy” and keeps it there over miles of blacktop and dirt roads from New Mexico to North Dakota, California to North Carolina, with many pit stops in between. Taylor’s jokey title — with its nod to Jack Kerouac’s 1957 classic and its wink at the movie “Thelma & Louise” — promises as much. Nothing too heavy ahead, it seems to say. No really bad guys, no real violence. Just lovable rogues, inept crooks and harmless eccentrics.”
Washington Independent Review of Books : “Sweet, endearing, charming, quirky, a delightful romp: all these words come to mind while reading this novel. At moments toeing the edge of the saccharine divide, Taylor infuses enough humor into the stories to keep them from going over.”
BOLO Books: “Traveling from Albuquerque to North Carolina with many stops in-between, Del and Louise change and grow as life challenges their preconceived notions. Each of the stories has a element of crime to it, but the whole plays out more as a deep character study rather than traditional crime fiction. The heart and soul of the book is about family and our desire to find our own place in this world, surrounded by those we love and who love us in return.”
Crime Fiction Lover: “Taylor has created an enjoyable tale and some nerve-wracking adventures without the need for a gruesome body count or far-fetched end of the world scenarios. Because the story is so grounded in imperfect humanity and told so convincingly, we share Del and Louise’s bumpy ride, rooting for them every mile of the way. While their lives will never be trouble-free, they will always be good.”

I’ve also been fortunate to have been interviewed in a few places—including a very generous feature in my now-hometown newspaper, The Fairfax County Times. Here are links to a few interviews:

The Fairfax County Times
Murder and Mayhem
The Thrill Begins

And finally, thanks to all the folks who welcomed me for guest posts on blog, including:

SleuthSayers—with fellow Anthony Award finalists Barb Goffman, Craig Faustus Buck, John Shepphird, and Paul D. Marks, talking about expanding characters from short stories into novels
Wicked Cozy Authors—talking about the central importance of place in fiction

Looking forward to events in Raleigh next!

Launch Party! A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words?

…if so, I’ve got several thousand here. Thanks to everyone who made it such a magical evening at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA!

Really Fun Release Week

On the Road with Del & Louise officially released on Tuesday of this week—Tuesday, September 15—and what a week it’s already been! Both the paperback edition and the Kindle edition of the book have been hovering in various spots in Amazon’s top 10 new releases in mystery anthologies (in good company with various versions of Sarah Weinman’s landmark Women Crime Writers collection); I’m keeping fingers crossed for a festive launch party tomorrow (Saturday, September 19) at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA; and in the meantime, I’ve been completely spoiled by friends and supporters interviewing me, inviting me for guest posts at various blogs, and generally sending well wishes my way. As I’ve said before, I’m fortunate beyond belief in so many ways.

I’ve been thanking folks already on Facebook and Twitter, but just wanted to give a quick round of thanks here to all the folks who made my first release week such a joy.

Thanks to Dana King for interviewing me at One Bite at a Time—a terrific blog, with a great track record of interviews.

Thanks to J. Kingston Pierce for a very extensive interview that ran in two parts: at Kirkus Reviews and at The Rap Sheet.

Thanks to the folks at Henery Press for hosting me on the new Club Hen House blog—talking about road trips as inspiration for crime writing (and other kinds of writing too, I’m sure).

Thanks to Catriona McPherson for inviting me to talk about writing from a woman’s perspective at Femmes Fatales.

Thanks to Deborah Kalb for interviewing me at her Book Q&As blog.

Thanks to Cynthia Kuhn for a fun interview at Mysteristas—which had me wishing for my summer schedule again! (My answer to question #1 seems like it was written by a stranger right now.)

Thanks to Dru Ann for inviting Del to speak (finally!) at Dru’s Book Musings—such a fun chance to bring his voice and perspectives to the forefront.

Thanks to Tim Peterson and the Burke Connection for a fine feature quoting some folks near and dear to me about my work.

And thanks to the Goldsboro News-Argus in Goldsboro, NC, for featuring my book in a nice write-up that also looks toward my NC book launch at Quail Ridge Books on Wednesday, October 7—the eve of this year’s Bouchercon!

And for anyone in the Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland area, I do hope that you’ll come our for the book launch on Saturday, September 19, at 5 p.m. at One More Page Books in Arlington. Here are details. Hope to see you there!