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NON-FICTION
Articles and Essays
This is a listing of the crime fiction-related articles and essays some of you might be interested in. There is also a seperate listing of some introductions and prefaces to books that I've done.
Fall 2009, Mystery Scene #111
Private eyes go global.
Winter 2009, Mystery Scene #108
A look at writer Linda L. Richards and her Kitty Langborn/DexTheroux detective series.
Holiday 2008, Mystery Scene #107
Solutions for themystery lovers on your shopping list.
Summer 2008, Mystery Scene #105
The world's bloodiest playlist...
"Elliot Ness"
Holiday 2007, Mystery Scene #102
May 2008, The Thrilling Detective Blog
My quickie look at the Gary Phillips-edited Politics Noir is a natural follow-up to my "Who Would Marlowe Vote For?" column in the Spring 2008 issue of Mystery Scene.
February 2008, The Rap Sheet
A "rugged love tap" (Gary Phillips' words) regarding Judith Freeman's Raymond Chandler bio, The Long Embrace, with which I definitely had problems.
Holiday 2007, Mystery Scene #102
Writing books! Agatha Christie pins! Big Lebowski action figures! Share this loot with your favorite felons.
"Alan Farley"
A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir...Buy this book
Edited by Megan Abbott
Houston, TX: Busted Flush Press, 2007
Appreciations of two of my favourite female writers from the pulp era, included in a collection of original stories featuring assorted dangerous dames, larcenous ladies and hard-boiled hussies.
Summer 2007, Mystery Scene #100
A foolhardy attempt to create a listing of 100 eyes created since 1985 (the year Mystery Scene first appeared) who mattered to me. It wasn't intended to be a dry, scholarly piece or in-dept literary evaluation, but simply a personal, off-the-cuff retrospective, intended to prompt discussion -- I think I succeeded.
June 2007, The Rap Sheet
A controversial little op-ed piece that generated a surprising amount of subsequent discussion, in which I lamented on the quality of what was being passed off as "noir fiction." Evidently I touched a nerve -- some people take their beloved scenes of mutilation and torture very seriously indeed.
May 2007, The Rap Sheet
Part of The Rap Sheet ONE BOOK PROJECT
When asked by editor Jeff Pierce "What one crime, mystery, or thriller novel do you think has been most unjustly overlooked, criminally forgotten, or underappreciated over the years?" I responded with this short piece.
A Chapbook in Appreciation of Dennis Lynds
2007 Left Coast Crime Chapbook
My tribute to Dennis, included in a chapbook (along with Thrilling Detective's bibliography of his work), distributed to those attending Left Coast Crime in Seattle, February 1-4, 2007.
Holiday 2006, Mystery Scene #97
Mountie art! Wool rollers! Bracelets!
Holiday 2005, Mystery Scene #92
Holiday 2004, Mystery Scene #87
Print
The all-singing, all-dancing list of shopping suggestions for the mystery fan on your list.
Volume 19: No. 4, Winter 2003-2004, Mystery Readers Journal, Cool Canadian Crime Issue
Print
12 private dicks who walk the mean streets of ma ville.
Holiday 2003, Mystery Scene #82
Print
A list of gifts to share with folks from Nome to Katmandu.
September 2003, Reflections in a Private Eye
Print
Profile in Private Eye Writers of America Newsletter.
(Volume 19: No. 3, Fall 2003, Mystery Readers Journal, Music and Mysteries Issue)
Print
My favourite jazz, folk, blues and rock songs about private eyes. It's got a nice beat, and you can dance to it. This was a fun one to do..
A Coupla Thousand Bloody Words on Private Eyes
2002 Bloody Words Programme Book.
February 2001, Crime Factory #1
More musings on the black private eye in American detective fiction.
Fall 2000, Mystery Readers Journal
Trenchcoat? Check. Fedora? Check. Gun? Check. Dentures?
July 2000, January Magazine
Feature article on Shaft, Toussaint Moore, Easy Rawlins and others.
January-February 2001, WordWrights
Short bio and bibliography of Robert Leslie Bellem.
Read it here
Winter 2000, Over My Dead Body
True confessions of a web monkey.
August 1999, Details Magazine
Print
The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction...Exposed!
April 1999, January Magazine
Part of January magazine's 50 Years with Lew Archer: An Anniversary Tribute to Ross Macdonald, covering, among other things, Macdonald's involvement with rocker Warren Zevon. My first piece for January, and amazingly, I'm still getting compliments for it.
The Case of the Private Detective in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Other Related Genres
December 1990, WARP
My very first appearance in print, done for The Official Newsletter of the Montreal Science Fiction & Fantasy Association. Thanks, Keith.
An introduction to The Deadly Dames and A Dum-Dum for the President
By Douglas Sanderson
2006, Stark House
The boys at Stark House invited me back to ramble on about my favourite Montréal eye, Mike Garfin.
An Introduction to Pure Sweet Hell and Catch a Fallen Starlet
By Douglas Sanderson
2004, Stark House
I had the pleasure of doing the preface to the first English-language reprint of pulp writer Douglas Sanderson in decades.
Something To Build Upon: A David Diangelo/Odd Jobs Mystery
By Tim Broderick
2003, Modern Tales
I wrote the introduction to this finely wrought graphic novel.
An introduction to the short story, "Red 71"
From the upcoming collection, 14 Slayers by Paul Cain
I wrote this one way back in 2001, but the publisher assures me this long-delayed collection of all of Cain's short stories for Black Mask, will see print in 2004. Uh, 2005. 2006? 2007?
Care to drop me a line? Go ahead, punk. Make my day.
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