ENTER SHOOTING: HOW THE THEATER CAN HELP YOUR FICTION

All the lying and the hiding and the subtext of theater add up to the best elements of a good crime story. Many novelists, like David Mamet and Theresa Rebeck, have launched their novel-writing careers from a background in theater. Theater has taught them how to tell a story. Is it any surprise then that the most dramatic of novel […]

MYSTERIES AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY

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

MOTIVE IN WHODUNNITS: IS IT EVEN IMPORTANT ANY MORE?

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?

THE DETECTIVE EYE AND THE CRIMINAL EYE

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

HOW TO READ FICTION ALOUD (Part 4)

This article is the fourth and final in a series designed to help you stage more effective readings. Thank you to author Clare Toohey for sharing her wisdom, originally posted on Women of Mystery. DELIVERY You’re on! So you’ve practiced reading aloud–and you have, right? And your copy’s well-prepared–and it is, right? Once you’re in front of an audience, it’s

HOW TO READ FICTION ALOUD (Part 3)

This article is the third in a series designed to help you stage more effective readings. Thank you to author Clare Toohey for sharing her wisdom, originally posted on Women of Mystery.  PREPARING COPY  I love e-books, and if you have a lot of capacity in your reading app for markup, a digital copy may be fine, but for public

HOW TO READ FICTION ALOUD (Part 2)

This article is the second in a series designed to help you stage more effective readings. Thank you to author Clare Toohey for sharing her wisdom, originally posted on Women of Mystery.  LENGTH Now everyone is a little different, of course, and I’ve often heard (and even told people before now!) to plan on reading about one MS page per

HOW TO READ FICTION ALOUD: Slowly, 150 Words/Minute (Part 1)

This article is the first in a four-part series designed to help you stage more effective readings. Thank you to author Clare Toohey for sharing her wisdom, originally posted on Women of Mystery.  The idea of authors reading their work is supposed to amount to entertainment for the audience and a good promotional opportunity for the author. However, too often

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