This Weekend in Mystery Houston Writers House hosts a crime and punishment weekend Friday, September 15 and Saturday, September 16 at the Crowne Plaza Houston Galleria. The event kicks off with a murder mystery dinner Friday evening. The keynote speaker Friday evening is Texas Ranger Lieutenant, Wende Wakeman. Saturday features talks by forensic artist Lois …
Woman of Noir Megan Abbott is one of the best contemporary noir writers. My introduction to her work was a short story, Policy, which appeared in an anthology of short stories, Damned Near Dead edited by Duane Swierczyinski. It appeared one year after her debut novel, Die A Little. Abbott expanded Policy into a novel, Queenpin. …
Hawai`i/California Author Leslie Karst I first met Leslie in March at Left Coast Crime in Honolulu where she and I shared a panel on writing mysteries about Hawai`i. From an early age through conversations with her parents, Leslie learned the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients, she says, for writing mysteries. Ingredients …
Today, I interview Hawai’ian mystery author, Laurie Hanan, author of the Louise Golden mysteries.
Writing Mojo I first met Joe R. Lansdale in early 1988, not long after we moved to Texas. I had moved with a partially completed novel which I submitted to a writing workshop sponsored by Cepheid Variable, a Texas A&M student organization. The workshop was led by two unknown (to me) writers, Lew Shiner and …
Violet McDade and Nevada Alvarado I’m always looking for stories with tough women. Last week I gave you one such woman, Julie Killeen in The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich (Julie Kohler, in Francois Truffaut’s film adaptation.) Julie was a bad girl. Although we sympathize with her, she took on the role of vigilant …
Monday’s post on Jeanne Moreau included a discussion of Cornell Woolrich who wrote The Bride Wore Black and many other novels that were made into movies. After posting, I thought it would be great to have a festival of Woolrich’s books and the movies with discussions about each. I mentioned it to Mary Fran and …
French film actress, Jeanne Moreau, best known for her role in the French New Wave Film, Jules et Jim, has passed away. She was 89. Moreau also starred in Francois Truffaut’s film, La Mariee Etait En Noir adapted from the noir classic, The Bride Wore Black by William Irish (Cornell Woolriich.) The Bride Wore Black …
From Gilda (1946). If I’d been a ranch, they’d have named me the Bar Nothing. Gilda, a nightclub performer, played by Rita Hayworth, to her ex-lover Johnny Farrell played by Glenn Ford.
. . . The Late Show, Michael Connelly’s latest novel, released last week. As a longtime fan of Michael Connelly, I’ve read all his books and eagerly waited for this one. Would this be another Harry Bosch? A Mickey Haller? Perhaps a Jack McCoy? None of the above. Connelly gives us someone new—LAPD detective Renee …
Hawaiian Noir 