The crime writing community was saddened to hear of the death of Sandra Seamans. In addition to her short story writing, her blog ‘My Little Corner’ was a one-stop conduit to calls for stories across a wide range of magazines, anthologies and flash fiction sites. It’s rare to meet someone who didn’t get at least…
Tag: Patti Abbott
FFB: The Comforters by Muriel Spark
I have been filling in some of the holes I didn’t even know I had in my readings of Spark on her 100th birthday year. I have not been disappointed. Don’t make my mistake: read everything of hers. Compounding the audacity of The Driver’s Seat (which really every crime writer needs to read especially) I at…
FFB: Bill Crider’s Sherlock
Thanks to Patti and Todd for cajoling me into doing this special round of FFB. Many of you know that Bill Crider is doing poorly, so it’s great to have a chance to celebrate him and his vast catalogue of work while he can still appreciate our accolades. It’s always a joy to celebrate someone…
FFB: Porterhouse Blue – Tom Sharpe
I have been thinking about academic novels lately because I am — much as I swore never to do so — working on a roman à clef called Hire Idiots (the topic of which ought to be abundantly clear). I taught Lucky Jim in my senior seminar and enjoyed my students’ reactions to it. I’ve…
FFB: Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes
For some reason, I had not noticed before Peter Cook’s sister saying that their favourite childhood book was Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes by Harry Graham. It much reminded me of our childhood fave Shrieks at Midnight so I had to get a copy. And of course it’s delightful. Check out all the other overlooked…
NoirCon 2014 – Part 2
After a drink with Patti and her husband Phil in the Belgian beer place on South Street, we headed back to catch the Ross MacDonald panel with Tom Nolan and Jeff Wong and a whole host of images including personal photos and memorabilia. Really fascinating and sometime sad, as there were a lot of problems…
NoirCon 2014 – Part 1
I headed off to NoirCon. It was a misty morning so the fog floated over the Hudson as the train rumbled south. Before you knew it we were passing under the George Washington and pulling into Penn Station. After a relatively quick and painless change, I was on my way to Philly. I’d already missed…
K. A. Laity 