Ten novels—and more than a few screenplays—into my writing career, an interview question rather took me by surprise the other day. What prompts you, I was asked, to open your computer and start writing a new story? Is it the characters, the setting, the politics, the moment in time? And I thought; hell, yes, what…
Before a big race, swimmer Michael Phelps listened to a playlist to amp up his energy, increase his focus, and get in the zone. Maybe you can picture him, headphones on, bopping his chin to a beat that was audible only to him. I’m exactly the same. You heard it here first. Michael Phelps and…
Isn’t it interesting how one event, simple in its origin, will lead to another? One might say it sets up a chain reaction. So it was that while researching a project, I came across a typewritten letter that led me on the road to write An Affair of Spies. In 1939, A. Einstein, of Old…
Good crime-fiction writers don’t learn their craft in school or via online programs. We learn from other good crime-fiction writers—that is, from their books and public comments. We learn to write fiction the way we learned to tie our shoes: by watching and then doing. It’s always more difficult than we expect, but there’s no…
Crime fiction is kinder than most genres to older women. Where they can be a little harder to find in other genres, mysteries and thrillers like to give the woman of mature years some time in the spotlight. She may be a sleuth or—less common but perhaps more interesting—a villain. Either way, the woman over…
All my childhood memories of my mother, when she actually had time to sit and rest, are of her reading romance novels. She went through several every week, and still does to this day. I tried reading one when I was twelve. It embarrassed me so much, I haven’t read one since. When I got…
Setting has always been an important component of the crime genre. From rainswept city streets to country manors, crumbling sidewalks to pristine beaches, setting can enhance the sense of danger, or provide a beautiful contrast to the grim events of the story. In recent years there has been a wealth of stories that use harsh…
Hurricane Sandy plowed into New York City in 2012. At the time I was living in Park Slope, a Brooklyn neighborhood with its share of minor problems and irritations. (Every time I stepped outside, I risked being crushed to death by phalanxes of baby strollers pushed by over-caffeinated yuppies.) But as the hurricane bore down…
So, yeah, the Bible. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s a classic piece of crime writing, full of violence and betrayal, sexual slavery, greed, deception and murder. Been a bestseller for years. Some decades ago, I married a Latina Catholic from Ecuador. As the child of Marxist-atheist Jews myself, it’s fair to say that I…
At Christmas, many re-watch Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. On the 4th of July, visiting national monuments is a common tradition. Halloween’s approach puts a lot of people in the mood to dive into some horror, and for my money, reading a scary novel is the best way to do that. I’m going to…
