SleuthSayers: The Long Road to River Road

SleuthSayers: The Long Road to River Road: I probably shouldn't admit this, but I've never been good at setting goals, in either my life or my work. I've always just tried...

SleuthSayers: Yep, They Shot Him – But He's Okay

SleuthSayers: Yep, They Shot Him – But He's Okay: I always try, like most writers I know, to make my stories as believable and accurate and authentic as possible. After all, mistakes can be...

SleuthSayers: Are You Running Out of Things to Read, or Watch? by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Are You Running Out of Things to Read, or Watch?: If so, consider some of these. First, though . . . rewind eight days. Picture me having an e-conversation last week with a writer friend, ab...

SleuthSayers: GUEST POST: Creating a Cohesive Collection

SleuthSayers: GUEST POST: Creating a Cohesive Collection: My friend Judy Penz Sheluk has twice been a guest columnist here at SleuthSayers--once in 2021 and once in 2023. Today, at our regular two-y...

SleuthSayers: Five Favorite Markets

SleuthSayers: Five Favorite Markets:    Much has been said at this blog lately, by me and others, about anthologies. We've talked about everything from submission calls to t...

SleuthSayers: Adventures in Strandland

SleuthSayers: Adventures in Strandland: Three things prompted me to write this column today. One was a kind email last week from a writer in the Balkans saying he had read one of m...

SleuthSayers: R.I.P., Nelson DeMille by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: R.I.P., Nelson DeMille:    Three days ago, I sat down to start a column about writing dialog--rules, myths, hints, tips--that I intended to post here at SleuthSayer...

SleuthSayers: Submission Accomplished

SleuthSayers: Submission Accomplished:    About two weeks ago, a good friend who's also an editor contacted me and said he needed a story for a crime anthology he was editing ...

SleuthSayers: Transparent, Proactive, and Incentivized

SleuthSayers: Transparent, Proactive, and Incentivized:    Let me begin with a confession. This post is of very little literary value, and required no research and no knowledge. It's just a ve...

SleuthSayers: Doing Its Zone Thing by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Doing Its Zone Thing: Fiction writing is a strange business. Any writer will tell you that. Publishing is even stranger, but to get something published you have t...

SleuthSayers: The Storia Story by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: The Storia Story: It's my great pleasure today to feature a guest post by my friend Josh Pachter. He's practically a regular here at SleuthSayers late...

SleuthSayers: Happiness is a Beatles Anthology

SleuthSayers: Happiness is a Beatles Anthology:   Earlier this week, my old friend Josh Pachter announced the publication of his latest music-themed anthology, Happiness Is a Warm Gun : Cr...

SleuthSayers: Here Come da Judge

SleuthSayers: Here Come da Judge:   True story: While I was trying to figure out what to post for today, I was asked by a writer friend to serve as a judge for an upcoming fi...

SleuthSayers: A Western Fantasy by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: A Western Fantasy:    I'll start by stating the obvious. This is a mystery blog, I'm a mystery writer, and most of you are (I suspect) mystery readers....

SleuthSayers: Pay to Play?--A New Look at an Old Question by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Pay to Play?--A New Look at an Old Question:     Today's column, like many of my SleuthSayers posts lately, was triggered by something I happened to see online--in this case a recen...

SleuthSayers: Simultaneous Submissions by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Simultaneous Submissions:    When I was teaching courses on writing and selling short fiction (my final classes were five years ago this month), there were three ques...

SleuthSayers: Don't Mess Up a Good Thing by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Don't Mess Up a Good Thing:    No, my title's not referring to the old song by Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure (though I'm old enough to remember it). This is o...

SleuthSayers: Taking Stock of the Markets by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Taking Stock of the Markets:    Over the past several weeks it's been my pleasure to participate in several Zoom sessions with other writers and writers' groups....

Austin Mystery Writers: In Conversation with John M. Floyd: Short Stories, Long Walks and Words on the Page

 Austin Mystery Writers: In Conversation with John M. Floyd: Short Stories, Long Walks and Words on the Page

SleuthSayers: Happy in My Shorts by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Happy in My Shorts:    And why wouldn't I be?--I live in what some call the middle of the Deep South, and for about seven months of every year down here, lo...