DOORWAYS by James Lincoln Warren Jim Morrison, the famous Dionysiac rock’n’roll star, claimed that his cult band the Doors was named after a line in the mad genius William Blake’s pseudo-Biblical prophetic manifesto, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, [...]

AN ANNOUNCEMENT by James Lincoln Warren AT SEA ‘Farewell and adieu’ was the burden prevailing Long since in the chant of a home-faring crew; And the heart in us echoes, with laughing or wailing,      Farewell and adieu. Each year that we live shall we sing it anew, With a water untravelled before us for sailing [...]

LIES, DAMN LIES, AND MYSTERY FICTION by James Lincoln Warren Bouchercon 2011 is just around the corner, September 15 through 18, in St. Louis, MO. This year there will only be two of us Criminal Briefers attending, Steve Steinbock and me. Both of us have been assigned to moderate panels, and both of our panels [...]

SHIKARI, RATTLE, AND ROLL by James Lincoln Warren I have been asked by Janet Hutchings, editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, to make a podcast recording of my story “Shikari”, which I wrote specifically for their annual Sherlock Holmes tribute, the next of which will be the February 2012 issue. (I should mention that although [...]

LET ME SHOW YOU MY COLLECTION by James Lincoln Warren When I was in college (lo these many, many years ago), my girlfriend took me to a cocktail party hosted by her dance teacher. It was a new experience for me, attending an adult cocktail party as a guest (my previous attendance at like celebrations [...]

FIREWORKS by James Lincoln Warren Happy Birthday, U.S.A. Yesterday, a friend of mine, Carlos Gonzalez, sent a message on a listserv I subscribe to celebrating the American Declaration of Independence as the most momentous event in world history. Carlos was raised in Castro’s Cuba and has a deeper and more personal appreciation of what it [...]

POST SUBMISSION BLUES by James Lincoln Warren Before Criminal Brief got off the ground, “The Scribbler” had two previous incarnations as an independent blog. As far as attracting readers goes, they were both dismal performers, but I did occasionally stumble upon a topic that resonated with my friends and stimulated a lot of conversation amongst [...]