Monday, May 7: The Scribbler
INTRODUCING CRIMINAL BRIEF
by James Lincoln Warren
Edgar Allan Poe’s first published work of fiction was a short story, “Murders in the Rue Morgue”. With it, he invented the mystery genre.
Edgar Allan Poe never finished a novel.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s first published work of fiction was a serialized novel, A Study in Scarlet. With it, he invented the world’s most popular fictional detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote three more Sherlock Holmes novels. But he wrote 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories.
Dashiell Hammett wrote over 80 short stories and only five novels. Raymond Chandler wrote 26 short stories and only seven novels. Even Agatha Christie wrote 150 short stories, more than twice as many as her 66 novels.
The short story is the mystery’s native form.
Which brings us to Criminal Brief. All of us here are advocates of the short story, and we have gathered here to sing its praises. You might wonder why it is necessary for us to do so, if short fiction truly is the heart and soul of crime fiction.
This is because reading habits have changed. Back in the day, most of the popular fiction read by Americans was in magazines. You could get a pulp magazine for a nickel, but books were relatively expensive—even a paperback novel cost five times more than a pulp magazine. People read at bedtime before turning out the light, an activity for which the short story is eminently better suited than the novel, instead of tuning in to Leno or Letterman. Or they bought a magazine at the depot newsstand to punctuate their sightseeing on the train, rather than copping a book at the airport calculated to last the length of an upcoming flight. Those days are gone. The magazines are almost gone, too, but not quite. And there’s no gainsaying that these days, the novel rules supreme.
We have nothing against the novel. Some of us are novelists, too, and all of us read them and love them. But we have a special place in our hearts for short fiction. Just because you love one doesn’t mean you can’t love the other.
Novels are Rolls Royce limousines. Short stories are Morgan roadsters.
Novels are Christian Dior. Short stories are Cartier.
Novels are four-course state banquets. Short stories are wine and cheese.
Nibble a little with us.
So who are we, anyway? Glad you asked.
On Mondays, I will be holding forth as The Scribbler. One of my regular Alfred Hitchcock 18th century detective series appeared in the anniversary anthology Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Presents 50 Years of Mystery and Suspense.
On Tuesdays, Edgar-nominated author Melodie Johnson Howe, a frequent Ellery Queen contributor, will be telling us what it’s like to be a High-Heeled Gumshoe.
Wednesday is Derringer Award winner Robert Lopresti’s turn to Tune It Or Die! Rob started his career back in 1979 in Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine, and his work is now featured regularly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
Deborah Elliott-Upton, Thursday’s child, knows what it means to be a Femme Fatale. She’s sold to various markets, presides over popular writing seminars, and is the author of Writing and Marketing the Short Story.
On Fridays, our highly esteemed resident professional critic, Steve Steinbock, whose credits are too numerous to mention, will be giving his views in bits and Bandersnatches.
Saturdays will be for special treats as we get the biggest names in short crime fiction to throw in their two cents as they preside over the Mystery Masterclass. Expect to hear from the legendary Edward D. Hoch, the amazing Doug Allyn, and this year’s Edgar alumnus, Charles Ardai, among many others.
Sundays belong to Leigh Lundin, who has one credit under his belt–but what a credit it is! “Swamped” won the 2006 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award, the first time ever by a previously unpublished author. He’ll be discussing The A.D.D. Detective‘s journey.
And that’s the short and the long of it.