EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED by John M. Floyd This piece today is about story twists, but not the usual kind. I once heard a speaker at a conference say that reversals in fiction don’t have to be just at the end of a story, and they don’t even have to be restricted to plot reversals. Even […]

COLLECTIBLES by John M. Floyd Since I know most of you enjoy not only short stories in magazines and anthologies but collections of shorts by well-known authors, I thought I’d mention a few that I have here at home. Most of the books in this list are by mystery/suspense writers — I’ve intentionally left out […]

DUMB & DUMBER by John M. Floyd I’ve heard that three of the many things you should try to do as a fiction writer are (1) create interesting, believable characters; (2) inject humor whenever possible; and (3) write what you know. The hidden message here is that (2) and (3) can sometimes add up to […]

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER by John M. Floyd A few months ago I did a column about the James Bond phenomenon, and mostly about Bond movies. I’m not sure how pertinent it was to our crime/suspense short-story theme (although a few of the films were loosely adapted from Fleming’s short stories), but I am sure […]

STORIES FOR SALE—NEW & USED by John M. Floyd There are two tasks you must perform if you’re to be a published author. Obviously, one of them is to write the manuscript. The other is to sell what you write. The marketing phase can’t be done without the writing, and published writing can’t be done […]

A FANTASY WORLD by John M. Floyd Leigh Lundin’s CB column “Hollywood Musts” a couple years ago, and his and Tony Harris’s examples of clichés and illogical scenes in movies, have done what every piece of writing should do: they’ve stayed on my mind. The points they made should be a lesson to everyone who […]

THE BEST-LAID PLANS by John M. Floyd One thing I like about watching movies and reading books and stories — beyond the entertainment they provide — is that I occasionally see something that teaches me how to write better. If you’re an author, it’s fine to try certain techniques in the hope that they’ll help […]