SleuthSayers: The Old Man and the Sand and Sea

SleuthSayers: The Old Man and the Sand and Sea: Ever met anybody famous? I suspect you have. Most of us, I think, have experienced--or know folks who have experienced--unique contacts with...

SleuthSayers: Going After Publicity for Your (small, precious) Book

SleuthSayers: Going After Publicity for Your (small, precious) Book: So you've got a novel coming out? If you are with one of the Big Five publishers - Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simo...

SleuthSayers: Writing Changes

SleuthSayers: Writing Changes: At the Merrion Hotel in Dublin last year, telling James Joyce how a real writer works. As I write this, my wife and I are packing for our ...

SleuthSayers: See You in the Funny Pages

SleuthSayers: See You in the Funny Pages: I started collecting comic books when I was about eight, and for many years took the hobby very seriously indeed--witness the twenty or so l...

SleuthSayers: If You Don't Know Your Burro from a Burrow

SleuthSayers: If You Don't Know Your Burro from a Burrow: For today's post, I'm updating and expanding a column I wrote for the Criminal Brief mystery blog many moons ago. If you never saw t...

SleuthSayers: The Gingerbread Man

SleuthSayers: The Gingerbread Man: In June, Level Short released Wish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales , an anthology I edited with Michael Bracken. The sto...

SleuthSayers: Whoa, Look at THAT!

SleuthSayers: Whoa, Look at THAT!: So far this summer, I've spent a lot of time on the computer, especially when it's hot as blazes outside, and at least some of it...

SleuthSayers: Finding Markets

SleuthSayers: Finding Markets: Where, oh where, can I submit all these stories? This past Saturday, Josh Pachter, fellow SleuthSayer Barb Goffman, and I were panelists for...

SleuthSayers: Coming Up with a Story Idea to Fit a Prompt

SleuthSayers: Coming Up with a Story Idea to Fit a Prompt: I enjoy coming up with short story ideas from prompts, such as   an anthology's theme. A theme can get my brain cells firing as I try t...

SleuthSayers: A Roundup of Favorite Short-Story Writers

SleuthSayers: A Roundup of Favorite Short-Story Writers: My post today is piggybacking on last week's column by Joseph S. Walker about several of his favorite authors, all of them writers that...

SleuthSayers: The Washed and the Unwashed (Once Again)

SleuthSayers: The Washed and the Unwashed (Once Again): Literary fiction, genre fiction. What are the differences? I fully understand that we've discussed this and argued about it many times, ...

SleuthSayers: Unsolicited Thoughts on Spider-Noir

SleuthSayers: Unsolicited Thoughts on Spider-Noir: One of two things would happen with Episode One of Spider-Noir (Amazon Prime, 2026). Either I would press the stop button quickly, or I wou...

SleuthSayers: Treasure Island

SleuthSayers: Treasure Island:    A few days ago my fellow SleuthSayer Michael Bracken posted a column about two stories he'd recently had published that drew heavily...

SleuthSayers: On Rereading

SleuthSayers: On Rereading: My guest today is Tom Milani. He's been generously filling in for me while I've juggled several deadlines. I always enjoy his though...

SleuthSayers: Using Real Life in Fiction

SleuthSayers: Using Real Life in Fiction: As writers, we often mine our lives for bits and pieces we can incorporate into our stories, from setting them in places where we have lived...

SleuthSayers: The Beat of the Drums, Loud and Bold

SleuthSayers: The Beat of the Drums, Loud and Bold: During my daily walks, plus drives in my car, I've long been in the practice of listening to either audiobooks or podcasts. I've tal...

SleuthSayers: Favorites, Genrewise

SleuthSayers: Favorites, Genrewise: FYI, today's post is sort of a continuation of--or at least is related to--a  SleuthSayers  column I posted a month ago called  It's...

SleuthSayers: Wish Upon a Crime

SleuthSayers: Wish Upon a Crime: On June 2, Level Short released Wish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales , an anthology I edited with Stacy Woodson. Though ...

SleuthSayers: Fourth Wall Down

SleuthSayers: Fourth Wall Down: I have been reading Montalbano's First Case And Other Stories,  (2016) Andrea Camilleri's collection of tales about a Sicilian polic...

SleuthSayers: And They Lived Happily Never After

SleuthSayers: And They Lived Happily Never After: When I was little, before I learned how to read, my dad used to read fables and fairy tales to me before I went to sleep. We had a big book,...