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    • True Crime
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    A Beginner's Guide to Using (and Exploding) Horror Tropes

    A Beginner's Guide to Using (and Exploding) Horror Tropes

    "A trope can be as complex and metaphorical as a labyrinthine haunted house, or as a simple as the image of a bloody knife."

    By Eva V. Gibson | July 11, 2022

    Shop Talk: James Kestrel on Writing Novels During Lunch in Quiet Honolulu Bars

    Shop Talk: James Kestrel on Writing Novels During Lunch in Quiet Honolulu Bars

    Crime writers talking writing routines, revision, and finding the right bar atmosphere for an epic crime novel.

    By Eli Cranor | July 7, 2022

    Southern Gothic Crime Fiction: A Palimpsest and Primer

    Southern Gothic Crime Fiction: A Palimpsest and Primer

    Faye Snowden on the most American genre, which "makes visible problems we have with race, gender, economic inequality, [and] corrupt leadership..."

    By Faye Snowden | July 6, 2022

    Chris Cander Talks Neighborhood Insularity and Suburban Cruelty

    Chris Cander Talks Neighborhood Insularity and Suburban Cruelty

    Fellow Texas writer Jenny Staff Johnson interviews Cander about her new novel and the 1917 short story that forms its basis.

    By Jenny Staff Johnson | July 5, 2022

    Jason Starr on Satire, Alternate Realities, and Failing Marriages

    Jason Starr on Satire, Alternate Realities, and Failing Marriages

    Starr discusses his new reality-bending, Philip K. Dick inspired crime novel.

    By Scott Adlerberg | July 1, 2022

    Horror? Crime? <em>Both</em>? The Custody Battle Over Edgar Allan Poe

    Horror? Crime? Both? The Custody Battle Over Edgar Allan Poe

    "In this custody battle, I’m afraid I side with our horror-writing brethren. Poe’s twisted soul is the horror genre."

    By Jeffrey B. Burton | June 30, 2022

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    • Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History
    • Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era
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    The Challenge of Coloring Inside the Lines

    By Ann McMan | June 30, 2022

    My Poison Snake: Erika Kobayashi on Growing Up in a Household of Sherlock Translators

    By Erika Kobayashi | June 29, 2022

    We Need More Crime Novels In Which Women Make Choices About Reproduction

    By Molly Odintz | June 28, 2022

    Why Samantha Allen Wrote A Lesbian Sasquatch Novel

    Why Samantha Allen Wrote A Lesbian Sasquatch Novel

    "If what I ostensibly wanted to do was let my imagination wander away from fact, I might as well let it roam as far afield as it could."

    By Samantha Allen | June 28, 2022

    On Nightmare Noir, Science Fiction, and the Lure of the Gothic

    On Nightmare Noir, Science Fiction, and the Lure of the Gothic

    Gothic tropes informed much of the earliest science fiction, and now the gothic provides a fruitful path between genres.

    By Eddie Robson | June 28, 2022

    7 Tips For Creating Pace and Propulsion in Psychological Thrillers

    7 Tips For Creating Pace and Propulsion in Psychological Thrillers

    Lucy Clarke on finding your novel's perfect rhythm

    By Lucy Clarke | June 28, 2022

    Death Goes Drag: How the Queer Experiences of Mystery Writers Rufus King and Clifford Orr Influenced Their Golden Age Detective Fiction

    Death Goes Drag: How the Queer Experiences of Mystery Writers Rufus King and Clifford Orr Influenced Their Golden Age Detective Fiction

    Skilled at switching gender roles in masquerade, King and Orr translated their college drag experiences into queer-coded fiction.

    By Curtis Evans | June 23, 2022

    On Writing Unlikeable Characters

    On Writing Unlikeable Characters

    (And Falling in Love with Them)

    By Kate Williams | June 23, 2022

    In Defense of Unsympathetic Protagonists

    In Defense of Unsympathetic Protagonists

    Jon Bassoff on Camus, Thompson, Highsmith, and a long line of authors writing protagonists who win bring us to the dark side.

    By Jon Bassoff | June 22, 2022

    Richard O'Rawe Talks Craft, Crime, and Irish History

    Richard O'Rawe Talks Craft, Crime, and Irish History

    "[W]hether you’re writing a heist book, or a thriller, the thought process is the same."

    By Molly Odintz | June 21, 2022

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