ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM by James Lincoln Warren I have a little machine in my head that generates titles. It can be somewhat capricious, but usually it follows certain rules as strict as any algorithm. That’s because not just any phrase is suitable for a title, and as much as we might like some titles and dislike […]

W.I.P. by James Lincoln Warren I never read only one book at a time. There is always a stack on the floor next to my side of the bed and at bedtime—I always read at bedtime—I cherry-pick from among them. I wish I could say I only write one story at a time, that I […]

LIFE SENTENCE by James Lincoln Warren Some months ago I wote a column about logic, one of the components of the classical educational curriculum called the Trivium. The other two components were grammar and rehetoric. I promised I’d get back to the other two at a later date, and now I’m fulfilling one half of […]

ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS by James Lincoln Warren Today’s title is taken from the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, the 4th century B.C. physician known as the “father of medicine.” The Aphorisms were written in Greek, but this one is best known in its Latin incarnation, so it’s the Latin I’ve opted for here. In English, it […]

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE? by James Lincoln Warren My first appearance at a major crime fiction conference was at Bouchercon 2003 in Las Vegas. I was on a panel about historical mysteries moderated by the late Bruce Alexander Cook, author of a series of distinguished novels featuring Sir John Fielding, the Blind Beak of Bow Street. […]

LOVE LETTER by James Lincoln Warren The other day I was asked by a fellow blogger if I ever ran out of ideas for Criminal Brief topics. Not the first time I’ve been asked this question, and I have frequently witnessed other bloggers bemoaning an impending deadline because they had no idea what they were […]

TALES FROM THE CRYPTANALYST by James Lincoln Warren Stories featuring codes and ciphers represent an entire subgenre of mystery. The first such story ever written was, of course, by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Gold Bug”. It served to inspire another classic, “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”, by Arthur Conan Doyle. Among sleuths who had […]