THE SECOND TIME AROUND by John M. Floyd Just wondering: How often do you read a short story or novel or see a film and like it so much you hope that writer will revive those characters and do an encore? Rarely, right? But when it does happen it’s a good feeling, and it’s an […]

NO BOREDOM IN BARRDOM by John M. Floyd I met mystery writer Nevada Barr at a booksigning ten years ago, when all I knew about her was that she had a funny name. Since then we’ve kept in touch, I was a guest instructor at one of her classes, and I’ve read and enjoyed every […]

CLASS NOTES by John M. Floyd This summer I attended a high school class reunion. Not the 25th or 50th or anything quite so normal — this was our 44th. (That makes me 61, and the only good thing about that is that I can start Social Security on my next birthday.) We had a […]

ANOTHER BOX OF CHOCOLATES by John M. Floyd About eighteen months ago I did a column here at Criminal Brief — a quiz, actually — on movie quotes, called “Dialogue is Like a Box of Chocolates.” The idea was to remind both readers and writers of the importance and variety of fictional dialogue, and that […]

SLOW MEN AT WORK by John M. Floyd In my title, I intentionally left out the dash that belongs after SLOW. I am, you see, one of those slow men — especially when I’m reading. But more about that in a minute. A Little Backstory The idea for this column occurred to me when I […]

PROFESSIONAL HELP by John M. Floyd This week I’d like to veer off into the quirky world of those who not only read but write short stories. It’s my hope that it might be interesting to some non-writers as well, in sort of the same way that Field & Stream and “Toy Story” and the […]

DIAL S FOR SUSPENSE by John M. Floyd Often I’ll read a novel or story or see a movie and be reminded of some technique (a.k.a. trick) that the author or director used to make the story better. Sometimes I suspect it wasn’t even a conscious effort — with many of the masters this kind […]