Category Archives: Editing

“The Big Idea” (by David Dean)

Posted on November 15, 2017 by

David Dean blogged for this site just last month. We are delighted to have him back with a post that displays a side of him readers of his fiction don’t often see. His dark, sometimes chilling fiction has earned an … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Editing, Fiction, Genre, Guest, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“Open Letter to Queen Fans” (by Francis M. Nevins)

Posted on October 25, 2017 by

Francis M. Nevins has distinguished himself in every area of the field of mystery and crime fiction. He’s the author of six novels and forty short stories and has won the Edgar Allan Poe Award twice for his critical work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthologies, Books, Characters, Editing, Ellery Queen, Guest, Magazine, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SOLVING THE PUZZLE

Posted on September 6, 2017 by

I’ve been watching Endeavour on Masterpiece this summer. For those who haven’t ever tuned in to the series, which is now in its fourth season, the title character is Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse, depicted in the early years of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Classic Mystery, Editing, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

ON ENDINGS

Posted on August 16, 2017 by

Recently I was asked to serve on a short-story panel at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Toronto (October 12-15) that will attempt to provide advice to new writers on various aspects of craft. The panel’s moderator, frequent EQMM and … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Fiction, Genre, Story, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

“The Trials of Writing at 65 MPH” (by M.C. Lee)

Posted on August 9, 2017 by

Fiction writers come from all walks of life, as this post demonstrates. And those who really have it in them to write will often endure many difficulties, even hardships, to make it possible. I’ve known writers who composed all their … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Editing, Fiction, Genre, Guest, Publishing, Suspense, Thrillers, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

COUNTING THE I’S

Posted on March 22, 2017 by

Back in 2009 I received a note from a reader observing that more than half the stories published in EQMM that year employed first-person narration. It wasn’t something I’d noticed, mainly because there are actually several different viewpoints that fall … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Editing, Fiction, Genre, Magazine, Publishing, Readers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Screaming Blue Murder—Writing For Television” (by Cath Staincliffe)

Posted on February 22, 2017 by

Cath Staincliffe’s work first appeared in EQMM in January 2016. Her latest EQMM story, “The Rat,” is featured in our current issue, March/April 2017, and a third story will appear in EQMM later this year. The Manchester writer is a founding member … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Characters, Editing, Guest, Police Procedurals, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Making Sense of the Confusion of Tongues” (by Bertil Falk)

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

Bertil Falk is a Swedish newspaper and TV journalist, an author of mystery fiction, a translator, and a former editor of DAST magazine (a Swedish journal devoted to detective stories, science fiction, and fantasy). His first novel saw print when he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Fiction, Genre, Guest, International, Magazine, Passport, Thrillers, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Mystery and Suspense in Poetry” (by Jackie Sherbow)

Posted on February 1, 2017 by

There isn’t an author for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine who has not corresponded, at some point, with the magazines’ associate editor, Jackie Sherbow. For the past six years, she has been an integral part of the Dell … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Ellery Queen, Genre, Magazine, Noir, Readers, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“I Know Words, the Best Words” (by Harley Mazuk)

Posted on January 25, 2017 by

Harley Mazuk has contributed four stories in the classical private-eye tradition to EQMM, beginning with his very first professional fiction publication, which appeared in the January 2011 issue of EQMM. Three of the stories, including the first, belong to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Fiction, Genre, Guest, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments