Category Archives: Characters

“Just Send Me Back” (by Mary Jane Maffini)

Posted on November 13, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

There’s always at least a touch of humor in Mary Jane Maffini’s fiction—a spice that suits the traditional mystery. The Canadian author has won two major awards for stories in EQMM, and she’s also the author of three series of … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Books, Characters, Editing, Fiction, Genre, Guest, Historicals, History, Police Procedurals, Setting, Writers | Tagged classic_mystery, eqmm, fiction, genre, historicals, history, literature, locale, setting, traditional mystery, writers | 3 Comments

PULL UP A CHAIR

Posted on November 6, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Starting in mid-October this year, most big retailers where I live had their halls decked with Christmas trees right beside the Halloween goblins. The effect was bizarre, but it did get me thinking early about holiday plans, especially holiday dinners—anticipating … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Characters, Editing, Genre, Setting, Writers | Tagged characters, crime, denis palumbo, dinner-table mystery, genre, isaac asimov, murdery mystery, mystery, paul halter, setting, style, whodunit | 5 Comments

“A Familiar Face” (by Tim L. Williams)

Posted on October 30, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Tim L. Williams is one of the best short-story writers to enter the mystery field over the past decade. His EQMM story “Half-Lives” won the International Thriller Award for best short story of 2011; he’s received two nominations for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Fiction, Genre, Guest, Noir, Novels, Setting, Thrillers, Writers | Tagged characters, crime, hardboiled, mystery, noir, supervillains, thriller, villains | 4 Comments

“The Lee Strasberg Method School of Writing” (by Hilary Davidson)

Posted on October 23, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Hilary Davidson was a travel journalist and the author of eighteen nonfiction books in that field before she turned to fiction writing. Two of her three mystery novels featuring travel-writer sleuth Lily Moore are set in foreign locations, as are … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Editing, Fiction, Guest | Tagged arts, characters, literature, method acting, mystery, technique, tension, writers, writing, writing_technique | 4 Comments

“It’s the Heart that Counts” (by Evan Lewis)

Posted on October 16, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Evan Lewis won the Robert L. Fish Award for best short story by a new American author for his February 2010 EQMM story “Skyler Hobbs and the Rabbit Man,” a humorous tale about a detective who believes himself to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Books, Characters, Editing, Fiction, Guest, Writers | Tagged characterization, characters, emotion, feeling, heart, short stories, technique, writers, writing | 4 Comments

“Raoul Whitfield: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Best of Them” (by Boris Dralyuk)

Posted on September 18, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Two weeks ago Mark Evan Walker contributed an article to this site about largely forgotten mystery writer Brett Halliday and his most famous character, Michael Shayne. This week another writer who has faded from memory—and was perhaps never given his … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Characters, Fiction, Guest, History, Noir, Novels, Writers | Tagged black mask magazine, blackmask, characters, history, literature, magazines, noir, novel, raoul whitfield, writers, writing_technique | 4 Comments

“When the Place Itself Is a Mystery: Ten Tips for Someone Writing in an Exotic Location” (by Nathan Beyerlein)

Posted on September 11, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Nathan Beyerlein is a blogger, a teacher of English as a second language, and a world traveler. His first fiction, “The Tricky Business in Mai Chau,” appeared in EQMM’s Department of First Stories in June of this year. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Characters, Editing, Fiction, Guest, International, Setting, Writers | Tagged elleryqueenmm, exotic, fiction, genre, literature, locale, location, setting, writers, writing, writing_technique | 3 Comments

“Call for Michael Shayne” (by Mark Evan Walker)

Posted on September 4, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Two weeks ago, when Mark Evan Walker posted about his career as an illustrator, I mentioned that he is also a knowledgeable fan of crime and mystery fiction. This week he shares with us some reflections on a character who’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Fiction, Genre, Guest, History, Illustration, Noir, Writers | Tagged brett halliday, crime, detective, genre, history, michael shayne, mystery, pulp | 5 Comments

CHILD CHARACTERS IN CRIME FICTION

Posted on August 28, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Using child characters in crime fiction involves navigating land mines. This is something I wrote about a couple of years ago on EQMM’s website, but as I’ve had a few additional thoughts about it since then, here’s an update to … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Editing, Fiction, Publishing, Writers | Tagged characters, child characters, controversy, editing, elleryqueenmm, eqmm, fiction, writers, writing, writing_technique | 5 Comments

“Illustrator, Author, Fan” (by Mark Evan Walker)

Posted on August 21, 2013 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Mark Evan Walker had been an EQMM illustrator for years before, in 2011, we received a copy of his first novel, The Case of the Blood Red Stars. What a surprise that was—though perhaps it shouldn’t have been, for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Genre, Guest, History, Illustration, Magazine, Noir, Setting | Tagged art, artists, design, eqmm, illustration, illustrator, mystery, noir, thriller | 6 Comments