“Are you killing time?” she asked. “Yes,” I said, “and I’ve got the bar tab to prove it.” “Would you like some company?” She sat down on the stool to my right without waiting for an answer. She was not what you would call a pretty woman, but sitting in the bar at O’Hare, two hours to kill until boarding, […]
In January, as a new member of the Board, I became chair of the chapter’s Outreach Committee. I hope to use the committee to support activities and events occurring in communities across the chapter that promote reading and writing. I’ve been keeping a look out for such activities and events and intend to bring them to the attention of the
Enter our contest for a chance to win a copy of The MWA Cookbook. To enter, submit an imaginary recipe that your favorite sleuth or villain would cook up.
As a writer of mysteries, I find myself, from time-to-time, challenged by readers to defend why I glorify crime. And when they realize that I write humorous mysteries, they are appalled that I make fun of murder. When my first book was published, even my mother announced, “Mysteries aren’t supposed to be funny.” One reader made it personal. Had your
New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than eighty books and a two-time Mary Higgins Clark Award finalist. The Good Sister, first in a trio of social networking suspense novels, was on Suspense Magazine’s Best of 2013 list and optioned for television, followed The Perfect Stranger and The Black Widow. Lily Dale, a new adult cozy mystery series, along with her next suspense trilogy, Mundy’s Landing, will launch in the fall of 2015. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband of 23 years and their two children.
That night at dinner (it was four years ago, but I remember it is as if were yesterday) a beauty pageant queen, a truly delightful young woman, dressed in her sash and crown taught us how to fold our napkin to look like a turkey. It was a dark and stormy night (I’ve always wanted to write that, but it
To the contemporary police, the weapon used remains important (as a way to link the suspected killer to the crime) and the relevance of opportunity will never go away unless one day people are able to be in two places at the same time. But what’s the big deal about motive?
After our Revels holiday party in December, we found ourselves with some extra holiday gift bags. These snazzy bags were stuffed with new crime fiction paperbacks, a hardcover or two, the latest issues of several crime magazines, and a lovely MWA-NY mug. President Emerita Patricia King came up with the excellent idea of sending these extra gift bags to members
When you write a crime story, do you write it from the detective’s point of view or the criminal’s? It’s a question worth asking because, speaking broadly, most crime fiction tends to be told from one of these two perspectives. You get the bulk of the story from the police/detective/law enforcement side or from the transgressor’s side. There are myriad
New York Writers Workshop is generously offering MWA-NY members a 25% discount for its Spring 2015 Pitch Conference. Polish your pitches then present them to three different editors from major publishing houses. This three-day conference is an amazing opportunity to help you get your crime fiction writing out into the world. Editors provide feedback and may request proposals and manuscripts after the
This piece originally appeared in slightly different form on Criminal Element. Funny how age changes your view of a book. I’m thinking specifically of Trent’s Last Case, the famous detective novel published in 1913 by E.C. Bentley, and how my view of it has flipped between two readings 35 years apart. As a teenager, when I first read it, I
Tim Hall is the author of the Bert Shambles Mysteries, a New Adult series featuring an economically disadvantaged young man solving crime in the Long Island suburbs. The first installment, Dead Stock, was recently published by Cozy Cat Press. The second book, Tie Died, is expected in 2015. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.
With the arrival of The Chessmen in bookstores this February, Peter May’s dark and violent trilogy about Fin Macleod, an ex-detective from Edinburgh who returns home to the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, comes to a close. But May’s American beachhead is just beginning. The Glasgow-born writer, who now lives in France, builds a following here, led perhaps
Are you looking to learn how to finally write that private eye novel? Or do you want to figure out what’s wrong with the one you’ve already written? If yes, then it may be time to get schooled. And there’s never been a better time. The Crime Fiction Academy, part of The Center for Fiction, is offering a 10% tuition
Stuck on a blank page? Wondering how to build suspense in your story? Willing to travel to Boston? MWA University, the daylong writing seminar run by MWA national, will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Beantown this February 14. Scheduled instructors and classes include: ▪ Jess Lourey on “The Blessing and Curse of Genre Writing” ▪ Louis Bayard on
