SleuthSayers: Red Herrings Can Still Stink

SleuthSayers: Red Herrings Can Still Stink: Five years ago, I ran the following column, which had the most views of all my SleuthSayers essays published before and since then. It there...

SleuthSayers: Plotting 101

SleuthSayers: Plotting 101: I've said before, at this blog, that the two things I enjoy most about writing short stories are plotting and dialogue. I think most of ...

SleuthSayers: Hey, Watch THIS . . .

SleuthSayers: Hey, Watch THIS . . .:   My topic today is something I don't often talk about, or even think much about:  experimental fiction . You know what I mean. Stories ...

Make Mine Mystery: It's All In Your Point Of View by Janis Patterson

 Make Mine Mystery: It's All In Your Point Of View by Janis Patterson

SleuthSayers: Old Memorials, New Choices

SleuthSayers: Old Memorials, New Choices:   They come in two kinds. The official ones look like typical road signs but instead of telling you when you can park they say something lik...

The First Two Pages: “Backstory” by Charles John Harper

 The First Two Pages: “Backstory” by Charles John Harper

SleuthSayers: Have Caulk Will Travel by Joseph D'Agnese

SleuthSayers: Have Caulk Will Travel: Photo by Kyle Johnston on Unsplash Alfred Hitchcock called them “icebox scenes.” Movie viewers stay riveted for 90+ minutes, dazzled by the...

The Blood Red Pencil: Pet Peeves in Mysteries and Thrillers by Diana Hurwitz

 The Blood Red Pencil: Pet Peeves in Mysteries and Thrillers by Diana Hurwitz 

Murder Books: Interview of Novelist Rich Zahradnik

 Murder Books: Interview of Novelist Rich Zahradnik

SleuthSayers: Plots and Characters by John Floyd

SleuthSayers: Plots and Characters:    Two often-asked questions, at writers' meetings and writers' conferences, and sometimes even at readings and signings: (1) When a...

MAKE MINE MYSTERY: The Deus Ex Machina Temptation by Janis Patterson

MAKE MINE MYSTERY: The Deus Ex Machina Temptation: by Janis Patterson Writers have been lazy for a long time, even back to the earliest days of literature and drama, like the Ancient Greeks. ...

Trace Evidence: Janice Law on “The Fitz”

 Trace Evidence: Janice Law on “The Fitz”

SleuthSayers: What Fired Me Up to Write a Fireworks Story by Barb Goffman

SleuthSayers: What Fired Me Up to Write a Fireworks Story: Shortly before July 4th last year, I posted this on my Facebook page: One day I am going to write a story in which someone who sets off fire...

SleuthSayers: Writing Outside the Outlines by Steve Liskow

SleuthSayers: Writing Outside the Outlines: Two weeks ago, I attended an interview with Don Winslow at which he was autographing his new novel. During the Q & A, someone asked abou...

Trace Evidence: Confined to a Cell(phone) by Michael Mallory

 Trace Evidence: Confined to a Cell(phone) by Michael Mallory

SleuthSayers: Where to Start - the Importance of Choosing the Right Story Opening by Barb Goffman

SleuthSayers: Where to Start - the Importance of Choosing the Ri...: All writers, but especially newer writers, sometimes start their stories in the wrong place. And by "place," I don't mean the ...

SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: Silje O. Ulstein on Plotting Like a True Panster

SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: Silje O. Ulstein on Plotting Like a True Panster: Where plotters are usually defined as storytellers who plot their stories before they start writing them, pantsers write by “ the seat of th...

SleuthSayers: Love and Carnage by Steve Liskow

SleuthSayers: Love and Carnage:   by Steve Liskow Valentines' Day. Flowers, candy, champagne, diamond rings and bended knees. Murder. Love and Death are the two most im...

7 Criminal Minds: As Time Goes By by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: As Time Goes By: How do you handle the passage of time and the aging of characters in your series (if you don't write a series, speak to this in terms of...

SleuthSayers: No Longer the Golden (Age) Standard... by Steve Liskow

SleuthSayers: No Longer the Golden (Age) Standard...: A few days ago, I read the newest issue of Black Cat Mystery Magazine and realized something I've been aware of for some time but never...