YOU SAY YOU WANT A RESOLUTION by Rob Lopresti I resolve that in the year 2009 … I will send a story out every month (although it may be an older, unpublished story, seeking a new market). I will let no adverb pass into my story without passing a thorough exam to prove it is […]

A NORMAL LIFE by Melodie Johnson Howe The last two weeks I have spent some time waiting in doctors’ waiting rooms. Waiting rooms are the equivalent of purgatory on earth. The most you can hope for while waiting is a magazine not dated earlier than 2002 and that you are not sitting next to some […]

LOVE LETTER by James Lincoln Warren The other day I was asked by a fellow blogger if I ever ran out of ideas for Criminal Brief topics. Not the first time I’ve been asked this question, and I have frequently witnessed other bloggers bemoaning an impending deadline because they had no idea what they were […]

WHEN a STORY BOMBS by Leigh Lundin Tampa, Florida. A Hillsborough County court convicted a University of South Florida student of creating a twelve minute YouTube video showing how to turn a Wal-Mart toy truck into a bomb detonator. When I first heard this radio news report, I wondered two things: Are we still over-reacting […]

WHOA — I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING by John M. Floyd I’m writing this because of an e-mail I received from a friend and fellow booklover about a month ago. She asked me if I could recall any stories that had particularly good “surprise” endings, and if so, would I pass them along to her? […]

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF HANUKKAH1 by Steve Steinbock Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Joyous Whatever to all my friends in Criminal Briefland. Tonight, we in the Steinbock household will be lighting the sixth candle on our menorah, so I thought I’d take this time to share some end of the year goodies from […]

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES by Deborah Elliott-Upton On this Christmas day, I want to thank you for the gifts you’ve presented each of us at Criminal Brief since our inception. The gift of returning week after week to read our renderings is something no writer should ever take for granted. Please know that we don’t. […]