Monday, May 7: The Scribbler
INTRODUCING CRIMINAL BRIEF
by James Lincoln Warren
Edgar Allan Poe’s first published work of fiction was a short story, “Murders in the Rue Morgue”. With it, he invented the mystery genre.
Edgar Allan Poe never finished a novel.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s first published work of fiction was a serialized novel, A Study in Scarlet. With it, he invented the world’s most popular fictional detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote three more Sherlock Holmes novels. But he wrote 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories.
Dashiell Hammett wrote over 80 short stories and only five novels. Raymond Chandler wrote 26 short stories and only seven novels. Even Agatha Christie wrote 150 short stories, more than twice as many as her 66 novels.
The short story is the mystery’s native form.
Which brings us to Criminal Brief. All of us here are advocates of the short story, and we have gathered here to sing its praises. You might wonder why it is necessary for us to do so, if short fiction truly is the heart and soul of crime fiction.
This is because reading habits have changed. Back in the day, most of the popular fiction read by Americans was in magazines. You could get a pulp magazine for a nickel, but books were relatively expensive—even a paperback novel cost five times more than a pulp magazine. People read at bedtime before turning out the light, an activity for which the short story is eminently better suited than the novel, instead of tuning in to Leno or Letterman. Or they bought a magazine at the depot newsstand to punctuate their sightseeing on the train, rather than copping a book at the airport calculated to last the length of an upcoming flight. Those days are gone. The magazines are almost gone, too, but not quite. And there’s no gainsaying that these days, the novel rules supreme.
We have nothing against the novel. Some of us are novelists, too, and all of us read them and love them. But we have a special place in our hearts for short fiction. Just because you love one doesn’t mean you can’t love the other.
Novels are Rolls Royce limousines. Short stories are Morgan roadsters.
Novels are Christian Dior. Short stories are Cartier.
Novels are four-course state banquets. Short stories are wine and cheese.
Nibble a little with us.
So who are we, anyway? Glad you asked.
On Mondays, I will be holding forth as The Scribbler. One of my regular Alfred Hitchcock 18th century detective series appeared in the anniversary anthology Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Presents 50 Years of Mystery and Suspense.
On Tuesdays, Edgar-nominated author Melodie Johnson Howe, a frequent Ellery Queen contributor, will be telling us what it’s like to be a High-Heeled Gumshoe.
Wednesday is Derringer Award winner Robert Lopresti’s turn to Tune It Or Die! Rob started his career back in 1979 in Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine, and his work is now featured regularly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
Deborah Elliott-Upton, Thursday’s child, knows what it means to be a Femme Fatale. She’s sold to various markets, presides over popular writing seminars, and is the author of Writing and Marketing the Short Story.
On Fridays, our highly esteemed resident professional critic, Steve Steinbock, whose credits are too numerous to mention, will be giving his views in bits and Bandersnatches.
Saturdays will be for special treats as we get the biggest names in short crime fiction to throw in their two cents as they preside over the Mystery Masterclass. Expect to hear from the legendary Edward D. Hoch, the amazing Doug Allyn, and this year’s Edgar alumnus, Charles Ardai, among many others.
Sundays belong to Leigh Lundin, who has one credit under his belt–but what a credit it is! “Swamped” won the 2006 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award, the first time ever by a previously unpublished author. He’ll be discussing The A.D.D. Detective‘s journey.
And that’s the short and the long of it.
Congratulations on the new venture! I look forward to checking in on you all on a regular basis. Best wishes.
James,
I look forward to seeing what you guys (and that would be the gender-nonspecific “guys” in this case) have in store! I’m adding Criminal Brief to my links. Oh, and I enjoyed your story in the June EQMM; it’s nice to know the city of Marlowe is still fertile ground for a fresh crop of PIs.
Cool website. I’ve seen one other where there were seven posters but I’ve not kept up with it since it’s not really a blog I’m interested in. But this one, already put in my favorites with the other blogs I check on a regular basis and will be checking you guys out on a daily basis. Looking forward to seeing what you the topics you all come up with to help us along the way – E
Congrats! A blog that will post daily, who would’ve thunk it? I grew up with short story collections and miss the magazines of the 50s & 60s. Been a subscriber to EQMM AHMM for years.Good luck!
Michael
What a great idea. I’ll be looking in frequently to gain insights about a marvelous, oft underrated, form of fiction.
BTW: I posted an invite about CriminalBrief over at http://www.murderati.com
It’s in the comments because I’ve just come back to the computer after a week’s hiatus.
It’s about time you got back on the net! And what a great line up you’ve got – count me in as a regular. I’m in awe of short story writers – I can’t even write a short email – maybe I’ll pick up some pointers?
Thanks for all this history about the mystery short story. It’s great and very vital. I’ll be tuning in!
You’re off to a great start, Jim. I’ll be checking in regularly.
Wow! What a stellar group to inaugurate the site! You (generic nonspecific) guys grace the site with your presence. (Although I confess that I bugged Pari and Elaine to come visit.)
Glad you liked “Heat of the Moment”, Chris. Michael, it’s great to hear from you, as always. Annette and Elysabeth, I look forward to hearing from you–we’ve got some very cool columns coming up.
And Naomi, if they gave out Edgars for being sweethearts, you’d have another one.
And speaking of multiple Edgar winners, it is always a joy to hear from you, Jon.
You did NOT bug me! You merely let me know about the new site. Hells bells, JLW – you know you’re one of my secret loves and I’d follow you anywhere.
A hug to Margaret…
Your opening commentary hooked me! I have been telling people for years why I love the mystery short story & you just re-conformed everything. I look forward to checking in every week or so.
Congrats to all concerned! It’s a idea long overdue–the short story rules! Let us celebrate the art form perfected by such greats as H.H. Munro, Edgar Allan Poe and Flannery O’Connor!
James, I enjoyed your story very much in the June issue and hope you read mine in the same.
Best wishes, David.
Novels are Breguet’s, short stories are Tag Heuer’s.
Dean’s short story–really a novelette, but that’s a subject for a future column–is called “Ibrahim’s Eyes” and is well worth the reader’s attention.
Paul, Paul, Paul: you are under arrest by the Diction City Police Department for using apostrophes to indicate plurality. All right, all right, I’ll let you off with a warning this time.
But your horological comparison is wrong, never mind that I already mentioned Cartier. Short stories are Breguets. Novels are the Westminster Palace Clock Tower (the one with Big Ben, which is a bell, and not the clock or the tower, in it).
Novels are Takeru Kobayashi.
Short stories are Brillat-Savarin.
What a novel idea – or should I say, a short story idea! Thank you for giving me another reason to postpone working every day!!
Sorry to be nitpicky, but Poe *did* write a novel, THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM.
Congrats to a new blog!
I know. I lied.
What a great website. It is now bookmarked for daily perusal. Not as fun as visiting with you and others at the EQMM party a few weeks back, mind you, but then again I can do THIS every day!
Mrs. Upton, I loved your work in “Seven by Seven”
Hi,
You have awesome site, very interesttng. What do you think about B4875S595 style?
All right, at first I thought the previous was spam, and then I noticed that the strange number actually appears to be a Library of Congress call number. Sure enough, B4875 corresponds to Turkish philosophy, and in particular to the works of Ziya Somar (1906-1978), although I couldn’t find a call number with the extension S595 in any of the library databases I searched.
But of course, Somar’s relevance to short crime fiction is legendary.
Oh, wait. Maybe it IS spam.