PREMISE AND POSSIBILITY by Steve Steinbock This discussion of What Comes After the Title couldn’t have come at a better time. Having written just under ten thousand words of a novel (during last November’s National Novel Writers Month), I’d let the book gestate for a month. And then another month. And then another month. Having […]

COGNITIVE RESONANCE by Steve Steinbock I pity the misunderstood analogy. I propose that we stand up and defend the rights of overused and underpaid metaphors. There are tens of thousands of them out there, ignored and forgotten, but used every day. When a TV economist talks about a spiraling economy, is she being fair to […]

NAMING NAMES by Steve Steinbock Welcome to Round Five of the Titular Roundtable. Guest-blogger Paul (sounds like the name of a rap artist) prodded us with a few questions. I’ll address them, and we’ll see where it goes. Do you have specific rules for your titles, or do they come about through osmosis? That’s two […]

SHORT STORY ROUNDUP I have a lot of short stories on my nightstand this week. I’m enmeshed in — or have recently finished — several collections and anthologies. Since this is a blog about short mystery fiction, what better topic to discuss? Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine March/April 2009 The current issue is a fat “Double […]

SENTENCED TO DEATH by Steve Steinbock Last week I posed a question about physical description in fiction. What is the right amount when describing a character’s appearance? A lot of people weighed in on the question. The general consensus was that physical description is good, but the best descriptions are the subtle and economical ones. […]

TOUGH PARENTING by Steve Steinbock This past Wednesday morning it was 17 degrees Fahrenheit as fifteen year old Nate was finishing his breakfast. He was dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans. “Dad, are you giving me a ride to school today?” he asked. I said, “Are you wearing a coat today?” (It’s a longstanding Jewish […]

BANDERSNATCH IN BINARY by Steve Steinbock “There are two kinds of people in the world,” Robert Benchley once wrote, “Those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t.” Truer words were never written. I’m always skeptical of dualities. Most dichotomies, I find, are false. The world is rarely […]