PLAYING CONCIERGE by Rob Lopresti A few years ago I received an email from a “relatively new fan” who had enjoyed one of my stories. He correctly diagnosed that I was a Jack Ritchie fan and asked which Ritchie stories I recommended, and what other authors did I think he should try? I recommended some […]

While I was off scribbling yesterday’s column about Doris Lessing unbeknownst to Melodie, Melodie was collecting her own thoughts concerning the most recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature unbeknownst to me. Luckily, we never agree on anything, so here’s her piece. –JLW LONGEVITY IN NOT PLEASING by Melodie Johnson Howe In a society […]

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT? by James Lincoln Warren Indulge me this week. After getting over last week’s bout with Eastern cultural mysticism, this week I’ve been infected with a virulent strain of Western social intellectualism. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded last week to Doris Lessing. On Saturday, in celebration of her triumph, the […]

beATTITUDES: ASPIRATION to INSPIRATION by Leigh Lundin TheMysteryPlace.com is the web site of Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock, and within it resides a section called the Readers Forum, which just as easily have been called the Writers Forum. One of the posts asked the question, When should a writer give up? In the thread that […]

MAKE ME LAUGH! by Angela Zeman Someone asked recently, are “cozy” series selling less these days? Are they? Despite a lack of reliable statistics, I do seem to find ever-increasing numbers of new ones—new to me anyway—for which I am humbly grateful. Some days you feel like a nut, know what I mean? On the […]

MYSTERIES – IT’S A MATTER OF TASTE by Steven Steinbock Last week I said I’d tell you the story of The Three Princes of Serendip. It turns out that the 16th century story from which Horace Walpole coined the term “serendipity” is more of a novel than a short story. Structured a bit like One […]

SCARY STUFF by Deborah Elliott-Upton It’s almost here – the scariest day of the year. And I’m not talking about Halloween. Sit, calm down and take a deep breath. This may not be the first time you’ve heard these words this year, but it still may be a shock. The holiday season is close. Really, […]