SAD NEWS by James Lincoln Warren I first learned from Dr. Larry Gandle at Bouchercon that Elaine Flinn, one of my all time favorite people, had been diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain. Today, our mutual friend Paul Guyot informed me that Elaine passed away this weekend.

FIVE BY FIVE by James Lincoln Warren Sometimes, it’s best to go to the source—to read Shakespeare’s plays instead of Bartlett’s snippets of them, or to go to Homer for red-blooded heroics instead of Joseph Campbell’s pale abstractions thereof. In such a spirit, the other night I pulled my Penguin Classics version of the Rig […]

JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH? by James Lincoln Warren 1 As promised, here is the recording of Criminal Brief‘s panel, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” — the title was a mystery to us all, although someone opined that maybe it was a reference to “flash” fiction, which wasn’t even discussed — at Bouchercon 2008 in Baltimore. It’s almost an […]

INTERSTITIAL SPACE or; A Sentimental Journey by James Lincoln Warren Chapter 1. Hurry Up and Wait The ball may be over, but Cinderella’s carriage hasn’t quite turned into a pumpkin. I’m sitting here in the waiting area of Gate D-23 at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport waiting for the boarding call for the first […]

TONY & ME by James Lincoln Warren Before heading off to Bouchercon, I thought I would share a few thoughts concerning a man I never met: William Anthony Parker White, a.k.a. Anthony Boucher. My first awareness of him was when I was in high school in the early 70s. I had just joined the Science […]

TOYS OF THE TRADE I’m gearing up for Bouchercon. In the process, I have acquired a few new toys I intend to take with me to Baltimore. First Toy: A Digital Recorder with a USB connection I’m the webmaster for the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. A couple of years ago, our […]

DRAWN FALSE by James Lincoln Warren DUKE. Why, sure, this plot’s drawn false; here’s no such thing. Thos. Middleton, Women Beware Women, V.ii. (1657) Last week, I took on three-act structure as being confining. This week, I confront an even more prejudicial example of received (so-called) wisdom. It is a commonly held belief that there […]