Tag Archive for: Paula Gail Benson

A Conversation with Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski

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by Paula Gail Benson

Annually, the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) recognizes excellence by awarding the Derringers (four categories based on word count—flash, short short, long short, and novelette). This year, an award is being given for best anthology.

In addition, the SMFS presents awards for a body of work. Art Taylor, who is well known for both his award-winning fiction and his extraordinary teaching skills, has been named the recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Both Art and his wife Tara Laskowski are phenomenal authors. Today, as we celebrate Art and short fiction, they were kind enough to stop by to discuss their life and work.

Welcome Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski to The Stiletto Gang!

  1. What is it like to write in a two-author household? What kind of schedule do you maintain to balance work, writing, and family life?

Tara: Art and I are answering these questions in a shared Google doc, and I think it’s telling that even though this is the first question you ask, we both skipped over it and answered all the other ones first. This is because, I think, we both are having a very hard time lately finding any sort of balance between work and creativity and life. It can be very hard to tap into creative energy when you are being pulled in so many other directions.

That said, we are fortunate to have such rich lives, filled with people we love and stories we want to tell. So I can’t complain too much!

 

Art: Agreed! And so funny Tara pointed this out. Sometimes I feel like we’re struggling to get through the “must-do” lists most days, much less finding time for the leisure of creative work. But then I have to remind myself how much we have to be grateful for in so many directions—and somehow we do manage to be productive in our literary lives. (You just don’t want to see how the sausage is made.)

Tara, Art, and Dash

  1. Your son is named for a famous writer and is fabulously talented in design. What questions does he ask about your work and your author companions? (I know he contributed a title to one of Donna Andrews’ books.)

Tara: He did! He named Donna’s Christmas title, Owl Be Home for Christmas. He was so proud that he told all his friends in his elementary class, and one of his friends asked for it for Christmas that year. (She got it!)

Dash is now 13, and we continue to be proud of him every day. He’s really talented with architectural drawing. In fact, he helps me visualize the settings of my novels by drawing maps and floor plans for me.

 

Art: Dash is an amazing artist and a gifted musician too—throwing himself into both disciplines with energy and enthusiasm. I have to stress these are areas of creativity that neither Tara nor I have much skill in, so not sure where he got these interests and abilities. But I myself often hold him up as a model of how we should approach our creative work—with a sense of play and passion.

 

  1. Each of you has experience working as an editor. What qualities make a good editor for an anthology (like Murder Under the Oaks) or a periodical (like Smoke Long Quarterly)?

Art: Openness to different kinds of stories beyond your own preferences for subject or style. An ability to see what a story is trying to do and to help a writer achieve their vision for it rather than push your own visions or ambitions on it. Some skill in communicating with writers where a story needs work—and then helping them find their own path to fixing issues.

 

Tara: I agree with everything Art says here. I’d also add—and this might seem like basic 101 stuff—that an editor has to be timely and dedicated. I’ve seen a lot of cases where someone decides, “Hey! I think I want to start an online journal today!” and they don’t realize how much time it takes and sort of just give up after a few months or a year or two. Which is a shame for the people whose stories they publish, as once a publication goes away (or goes stagnant), that work kind of disappears, too.

  1. When organizing collections of your own work, what do you think about? How do you determine what stories work well together and in what order they should appear?

 

Art: I actually just taught a course on Short Story Collections at George Mason University, looking at the architecture of several collections—linked stories, the novel in stories, but also those books that don’t have direct connection between the stories but return to similar themes or concerns. I want to shout-out both Sidik Fofana’s Stories from the Tenants Downstairs and Ananda Lima’s Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil as excellent collections, and for folks interested in the variety of ways a collection might come together, do try to find David Jauss’s “Stacking Stones: Building a Unified Short Story Collection” from the March/April 2005 issue of The Writer’s Chronicle.

With my latest collection, The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions, I started to subtitle it “Stories Light and Dark”—to emphasize up front the range of tones here—and I tried to structure it as a movement from lighter, more traditional mysteries like the title story into darker territory: heavier themes, noir stylings, even a little bit of edgy speculative fiction. So you guide a reader through a bit, step by step.

 

Tara: When I first started thinking about collecting stories, I thought it was just a matter of picking your best ones until you had enough pages to make a book. That, of course, was silly. I’ve read so many excellent collections of stories since then (extra shout-out to Craft–that book is amazing!) and understand that creating a resonant story collection is a true art. When you get a good one (I’ll also shout-out Jeannette Winterson’s Night Side of the River, which I reviewed for Washington Independent Review of Books), you feel like you’re reading a cohesive text, individual stories that bounce off one other and echo and spiral off in ways that are truly inspiring.

 

I wouldn’t go as far to say my short story collections are true works of art, but they do both center around a theme and variations on that theme. For Bystanders, I pulled together stories that looked at the ways that acts of violence have a ripple effect. How are we affected by something really terrible that happens to someone else? So that collection, for example, has a story about a woman whose coworker is murdered, and she becomes obsessed with the boyfriend who might’ve killed her friend. It also has a story about a woman who witnesses an old man hitting and killing a young boy with his car, and her reaction to that horrifying moment causes her to do some dramatic things in her own marriage.

 

My other collection, Modern Manners For Your Inner Demons, is a weird little book that was incredibly fun to write. In that book, I play around with the idea of etiquette. I call it my dark etiquette book. It all sparked when I asked myself the question, what would it look like if we wrote etiquette guides for our sins and shames? So each story is centered around a “forbidden” or “shameful” subject, like The Etiquette of Adultery, The Etiquette of Homicide, etc.

 

  1. Art, your novel in short stories, On the Road with Del & Louise, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Have you considered writing other novels using this format?

 

Art: I have, actually! The short story seems to match how I think and work—a form I very dearly love—but I also feel the pull toward a book-length project for a variety of reasons: the larger canvas, room for bigger ambitions, and then the fact that novels have greater opportunities for reaching readers, a longer shelf life too generally. Going back to the Fofana and Lima books I mentioned, earlier I love how each of them capitalizes on the short story—a variety of characters, subjects, storytelling approaches, perspectives—while also building a larger narrative. The best of both words in so many ways. In my own work, I’ve had the idea for a while for a novel in three linked novellas, but it’s only partially written and outlined so far. We’ll see.

 

  1. Tara, you have won the Agatha both for a novel and a short story. What are the different considerations you make with each form?

Tara: I’m a short story writer at heart. Really a flash fiction writer. The shorter the better. Novels are incredibly painful for me to write. Just ask Art how many times I’ve burst into tears over them. I like small moments. I like tinkering with phrases and mood. It’s hard to do that with a novel and not take 700 years to write one.

That said, there’s delight and awe in writing both forms. You can really dig into characters and build a world in a novel in ways you can’t do in short form.

 

  1. You have written a short story together. What was that experience like? Might you collaborate again?

Art: We’ve actually written two short stories together now—which I’m emphasizing because I kept wondering if the first one was going to break us up! Our writing processes are very, very different—which became starkly clear with that first story, “Both Sides Now” for the anthology Beat of Black Wings, featuring crime fiction inspired by the music of Joni Mitchell. Our story was a series of letters between a husband and wife—each of us writing a letter and then the other responding, shuttling the draft back and forth between us that way. Tara wrote each of her sections very quickly, then sent it my way, and… well, that ellipsis doesn’t hardly suggest how very long it took me to write my next section. Our next story went better—since the structure didn’t mean that Tara was waiting on me at every turn.

 

Tara: The second story we wrote together, which was published in Black Cat Mystery Magazine last year, was inspired by the game Clue: “After Their Convictions, Six Murderers Reflect on How Killing Mr. Boddy Changed Their Lives.” We thought it would be fun to take each of the classic characters from the game—Mrs. White, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, Miss Peacock, and Colonel Mustard—and explore what happens to them after they are revealed to have killed Mr. Boddy. What was their motive for killing him? And what happens to them after? We split up the characters among us and each wrote small vignettes from the point of view of the characters. It was a lot of fun.

 

  1. Do you have advice for writers who want to concentrate on short stories?

 

Art: Familiarizing yourself with the form is key; one year, I read all of the Edgar Award winners for Best Short Story—and I learned so much about the diversity of approaches that writers can take. Later, I was fortunate to be invited to lead a four-part webinar, “Short and Sweet,” on writing short stories for Sisters in Crime, where I tried to share some thoughts at more length. It’s in the Webinar Library at https://www.sistersincrime.org for SinC members’ access.

 

  1. What are your current projects and what new publications do you have available?

 

Tara: I am working on my fourth novel, The Cold Read, which will be out in November 2026 and involves a cult horror movie cast returning to the abandoned ski lodge where they filmed the flick that made them all famous.

 

Art: My latest collection is The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions, nearly two years old now. My story “Dark Thread, Loose Strands” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine last year has been selected by Steph Cha and Don Winslow for this year’s Best American Mystery and Suspense, forthcoming this fall. And I have a couple of other stories coming out ahead this year, including “Dalliances” in a new collection from Crippen & Landru, tentatively titled Double Crossing Van Dine, in which contributors systematically break 20 rules of mystery fiction set out by S.S. Van Dine—a companion to School of Hard Knox, which took the same approach to the rules established by Monsignor Ronald Knox!

Thank you, Art and Tara, for being with us today. To read all of Art and Tara’s work, check out their websites at: https://arttaylorwriter.com/ and https://taralaskowski.com/ 

Characters and Shoes for the AGATHAS!

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by Paula Gail Benson

It’s that time of year! Next weekend, the Agatha awards will be presented at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland. To celebrate, we asked the Agatha-nominated authors in the categories of Best Contemporary Novel, Best Debut Novel, and Best Short Story to tell us:

IF YOUR PROTAGONIST(S) COULD ATTEND THE AGATHA BANQUET, WHAT SHOES WOULD SHE/HE WEAR AND WHY?

Here are their answers:

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL NOMINEES

Connie Berry

CONNIE BERRY: Kate rarely dresses up. She prefers jeans and boots—a wise move in the wet English weather.  But when she does dress up, she always wears her 3” black sling-back heels. I haven’t checked her closet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they are the only high heels she owns. She’s never mentioned any others. Besides, they’re perfect for her coloring. As a “winter,” Kate tends to wear jewel colors, especially red (it’s her husband, Tom’s, favorite color on her) along with black and white. To a recent dinner party at Finchley Hall, Kate wore a pearl-white satin skirt with a fitted black jacket—and her black sling-backs. Oddly enough, it’s just what I might wear myself. ‘ )

ELLEN BYRON: LOL! I love this question! Dee Stern would wear a really interesting pair of shoes or ankle booties that she either bought at a huge discount. She would have ignored the fact they were slightly tight when she bought them, figuring it wouldn’t be problem because she wouldn’t be on her feet that long. She would learn at the banquet cocktail hour that she was wrong. Limping by the time she reached her table for dinner, she’d kick off the shoes – and discover at the end of the evening she can barely squeeze her feet back into them. She eventually doesand staggers off to the bar in extreme discomfort. Or… what happened to me at a banquet happens to her. I bought this gorgeous gold sandals at a thrift store. They began to fall apart as the banquet went on, and by the end of it, they were in pieces. I wound up scurrying up to my room barefoot to retrieve my only other shoes, a pair of sneakers that did NOT go with my elegant dress at all!

Ann Cleves

ANN CLEEVES: Vera is very much more about comfort than style, but she would appreciate the honor of being invited to a prestigious banquet, so would make a bit of effort about her dress.  I think she’d definitely be in flats, but they might be shiny patent leather.  Or she would go for sandals of some description.

KORINA MOSS: Funny you should ask this question, because at last year’s Agatha’s when I was nominated for Case of the Bleus, I wore the shoes my cheesemonger protagonist Willa would wear—Keds. They are her shoes of choice, even when she wears a dress. In honor of her, I wore a long, flowy blue and white dress with light blue Keds. I felt I could get away with it because it’s what my protagonist would wear. I was so comfortable that I’ll be continuing the tradition at this year’s Agatha Awards banquet.

GIGI PANDIAN: Tempest Raj used to perform on stage as an illusionist known as The Tempest, so she’s used to dressing up in elaborate costumes. But now that she works for the family business, Secret Staircase Construction, where she gets to create architectural illusions like sliding bookcases and hidden libraries, she’s most at home in a T-shirt, jeans, and her ruby red sneakers. The new outfit is so much more comfortable! So for the Agatha Awards, I expect that Tempest would wear a long and elegant little black dress—but if she lifted the hem you’d catch a glimpse of her bright red sneakers.

Ellen Byron

BIOS:

CONNIE BERRY, self-confessed history nerd and unashamed Anglophile, is the author of the USA Today best-selling Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. Currently president of the Guppies, Connie lives in Ohio and northern Wisconsin with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Emmie. Her latest novel, A Grave Deception, is coming in Fall 2025. You can sign up for her very entertaining monthly newsletter at www.connieberry.com.

ELLEN BYRON is a USA Today bestselling author. Her Cajun Country Mysteries have won multiple Agatha and Lefty awards. The first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, was nominated for Agatha and Anthony awards, and won the Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery. She writes the Catering Hall Mystery series (under the name Maria DiRico) and the Golden Motel Mysteries. She is an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS. Her website is Cozy Mysteries | Ellen Byron | Author.

ANN CLEEVES is an award-winning author, best known for Vera, Shetland, and Matthew Venn. All three have been turned into successful television series. Her nominated novel, The Dark Wives, was adapted as the very last Vera drama. The Killing Stones, which takes her character Jimmy Perez from Shetland to Orkney, will be published at the end of September by Minotaur. Her website is Ann Cleeves.

Korina Moss

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, which includes multiple Agatha Award nominated books for Best Contemporary Novel and the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Listed as one of USA Today’s “Best Cozy Mystery Series,” her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

GIGI PANDIAN is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and locked-room mystery enthusiast. She writes the Secret Staircase mysteries (locked-room mysteries called “wildly entertaining” by the New York Times), the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (humorous mysteries with a touch of magic), and the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries (lighthearted adventures steeped in history). She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the backyard garden. For bookish fun, along with a free mini cookbook and free story, sign up for her email newsletter at gigipandian.com.

Gigi Pandian

BEST DEBUT NOVEL NOMINEES

Jenny Adams

JENNY ADAMS: Edie, one of the protagonists from A Deadly Endeavor, is a 22-year-old socialite in 1921. She’s a big fan of fashion (particularly of hats!) and she’d be thrilled to attend the Agathas! She’d wear something sparkly, beaded, and a little daring. As befitting the year, her dress would have sheer straps with a loose bodice, a swagged skirt, and a waist belted in a big bow at the back. Edie tends towards the dramatic–she’d probably choose a bright red, or a brilliant orange, with pumps to match. And since it’s an evening event, she’d choose a coordinating turban, secured over her wavy bob with a jeweled pin. She’d wear jewelry, too, of course; perhaps a diamond necklace and earrings.

Gilbert’s outfit is simpler: just like their speakeasy date in the book, he’d insisted on wearing his suit. Edie would try to cajole him into buying a tuxedo, but he’d refuse (they’re too expensive, and he’d have no other reason to wear it).

ELIZABETH CROWENS: Babs Norman, the protagonist of Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, would wear a similar pair of shoes to what I’m going to wear at the Agatha Banquet, except that hers would’ve been actual vintage, and mine are vintage repro. Babs was a sensible gal and didn’t walk too well in high heels. Besides, how is a lady private eye going to run after or run away from a bad guy in heels? That only happens in the movies. Instead, she would’ve worn a black patent leather casual-to-dressy shoe with a two-inch wedge heel, circa 1940, of course, with a sling back closure and a slight peekaboo open toe. Fine for most of the year except during winter, and it would be something comfortable where she could be on her feet all day. Pssst, I bought these at Re-Mix on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, and they are fantastic.

Elizabeth Crowens

Last year, I was on a panel at Malice Domestic called Clothes Make the Murder. We all dressed in vintage, and I helped provide hats for some of the other panelists. This year, for the Agatha Banquet, I also plan on dressing in vintage, similar to what my protagonist would’ve worn.

ELLE JAUFFRET: She would wear black Christian Louboutin stilettos because they are the most lethal-looking shoes she owns: elegant, sharp (the heel could be used as a knife—a reference to murder weapons in mystery novels), and the shiny red sole is reminiscent of blood. Plus, the brand is French, which matches her foreign accent syndrome.

JENNIFER K. MORITA: Maya’s best friend, Lani, would make her wear a pair of ridiculously expensive, impossibly high, “statement” stilettos, like Stuart Weitzman’s pearl-encrusted Bliss pointed toe pump, or the Moda slingback in champagne satin by Bruno Magli — borrowed of course because what writer can afford $800 shoes. But Maya would sneak a pair of “slippahs” in her purse for comfort.

K.T. NGUYEN: The protagonist of You Know What You Did, first-generation Vietnamese American artist Anh Le “Annie” Shaw would wear paint splattered designer combat boots paired with a fancy dress to the Agatha banquet. Eclectic and stylish!

K.T. Nguyen

K.T. Nguyen

BIOS:

JENNY ADAMS has always had an overactive imagination. She turned her love of books and stories into a career as a librarian and Agatha Award-nominated novelist. She holds degrees in Medieval Studies and Library Science from The Ohio State University and Drexel University. She has studied fiction at Johns Hopkins University and is an alumna of Blue Stoop’s 2019 YA Novel Intensive and the 2021 Tin House YA Workshop, and was a 2021 PitchWars Mentor. Jenny currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with family, though her heart is always in the City of Brotherly Love. Her website is Jenny Adams – historical mystery author.

ELIZABETH CROWENS has worn many hats in the entertainment industry, contributed stories to Black Belt, Black Gate, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazines, Hell’s Heart, and the Bram Stoker-nominated A New York State of Fright, and has a popular Caption Contest on Facebook. Awards include: MWA-NY Chapter Leo B. Burstein Scholarship, NYFA grant, Eric Hoffer Award, Glimmer Train Honorable Mention, a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, two Grand prize, and six First prize Chanticleer Awards. Crowens writes multi-genre alternate history/time travel and historical Hollywood mystery in Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel (mystery), and Bye Bye Blackbird, its sequel. Her website is www.elizabethcrowens.com

Elle Jauffret

ELLE JAUFFRET is a French-born American writer, former criminal attorney with the California Attorney General’s Office, US military spouse, Claymore Award finalist, and Agatha Award nominee. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry described her debut novel, Threads of Deception, as “a powerful, complex, and compelling mystery,” and USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan called it “a smart and fresh new voice.” Elle is an active member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She lives in Southern California with her family, along the coast of San Diego County, which serves as the backdrop for her Suddenly French Mystery series. You can find her at https://ellejauffret.com or on social media @ellejauffret.

Former newspaper reporter JENNIFER K. MORITA believes a good story is like good mochi – slightly sweet with a nice chew. Her debut mystery, Ghosts of Waikīkī, won the 2025 Left Coast Crime Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery and has been nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. It’s about an out-of-work journalist who reluctantly becomes the ghost writer for a controversial developer. When she stumbles into murder – and her ex – she discovers coming home to paradise can be murder. Jennifer is a writer for University Communications at Sacramento State. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and two teenage daughters. When she isn’t plotting murder mysteries or pushing Girl Scout cookies, she enjoys reading, experimenting with recipes, Zumba, and Hot Hula. You can reach Jennifer at www.jenniferkmorita.com

Jennifer K. Morita

 

K.T. NGUYEN is a former Glamour magazine editor. Her debut psychological thriller YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID has been nominated for Lefty and Agatha Awards. The Seattle Times called the novel “a swirly, tangled hair-raiser…as sinister as it is emotional.” It was selected as a People Magazine Best Book of April 2024 and named a Best Mystery and Thriller Book of 2024 by Elle, Parade, and Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. K.T. enjoys practicing Krav Maga, rooting for the Mets, and playing with her rescue terrier Alice. A graduate of Brown University, she lives just outside Washington, D.C. with her family. Her website is K.T. Nguyen Suspense Thriller Books.

BEST SHORT STORY NOMINEES

BARB GOFFMAN: Ethan, the jelly-obsessed main character of “A Matter of Trust,” would wear the most comfortable shoes he has that go with the suit he would pull out of his closet, all the while wishing he could wear jeans and sneakers.

Hazel, the amateur sleuth from “The Postman Always Flirts Twice,” would wear a strappy open-toed shoe with a modest heel—the strappy shoe because that was in fashion in the spring of 1995, and the modest heel because she wants to enjoy the evening (being able to easily walk around listening to others’ conversations—should the need arise), and not deal with aching feet.

Barb Goffman

KERRY HAMMOND: Unassuming black leather shoes, she would want to blend in and not attract attention.

GABRIEL VALJAN: My protagonist is a member of law enforcement in rural Depression-era Tennessee. If he attended the Agatha banquet off-duty, he’d wear polished, well-maintained black leather oxfords or derbies to match his three-piece suit or dinner jacket. His shoes would be well-worn but cared for—remember, during the Depression, most folks didn’t have closets full of options.

If he were on-duty, the answer is a little trickier because uniforms for law enforcement were not standardized. Many sheriffs wore suits or slacks with a badge and carried their gun on a belt. As for shoes, I’m thinking something sturdy and durable for dusty roads, walking patrols, so sturdy black or brown leather boots with hobnail soles or leather soles with rubber heels.

KRISTOPHER ZGORSKI: The May/December relationship at the core of “Reynisfjara” means we would need two tickets to the Agatha Award banquet.

Bertram Bannister may or may not show up in a tuxedo, always one to prioritize appearance and perception. But he may not want to call too much attention to his attendance, so perhaps just a nice suit and tie to blend in. Either way, he’s likely to be sporting Brando Semi-Brogue Oxfords by Paul Evans. Luxury Italian footwear he picked up during his many travel escapades. Dress to impress is a motto this college professor takes to heart.

Kristopher Zgorski

Meanwhile, his new boyfriend—Ernst Ziegler (no relation to the famous actor)—will most likely wear the same black & white checkerboard Vans he pulls out of his messy closet every morning. Working on a student budget, new footwear was hardly a priority, but maybe that will change soon. Stranger things have happened. Whoever it was who said opposites attract might have been on to something, judging by these two.

BIOS:

BARB GOFFMAN is the 2024 recipient of the Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement, given by the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She has won the Agatha Award three times, the Macavity twice, and the Anthony and the EQMM Readers Award once each. She’s been a finalist for major crime-writing honors forty-six times, including twenty Agatha nominations (a Malice Domestic record). Her stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and many anthologies. She works as a freelance editor, often focusing on cozy and traditional mysteries. www.barbgoffman.com

Kerry Hammond

KERRY HAMMOND is a fully recovered attorney living in Denver, Colorado. Several of her short stories have been published in mystery anthologies and her latest, “Sins of the Father,” was nominated for an Agatha Award. One of her stories was featured in The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of 2023. She also enjoys creating downloadable Murder Mystery party games for BlameTheButler.com. Home | Kerry Hammond

GABRIEL VALJAN is the author of The Company Files, and the Shane Cleary Mysteries with Level Best Books. Gabriel has been listed for the Fish Prize, shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and received an Honorable Mention for the Nero Wolfe Black Orchid Novella Contest. He has been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, Shamus, and Silver Falchion Awards. He received the 2021 Macavity Award for Best Short Story and the 2024 Shamus Award for Best Paperback PI Novel. Gabriel is a member of the Historical Novel Society, ITW, MWA, and Sisters in Crime. He lives in Boston and answers to tuxedo cat named Munchkin. Home – Gabriel Valjan

Gabriel Valjan

KRISTOPHER ZGORSKI is the founder and sole reviewer at the crime fiction book blog, BOLO Books. In 2018, he was awarded the MWA Raven Award for his work on the blog. Appearing in 2023, Kristopher’s first published short story—“Ticket to Ride”—(a collaborative work with follow blogger Dru Ann Love) won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. His second short story—“Reynisfjara”—is currently nominated in the Agatha Award Best Short Story category and his latest story—“Losing My Mind”—appears in Every Day a Little Death: Crime Fiction Inspired by the songs of Stephen Sondheim. BOLO BOOKS | Be On the Look Out for These Books

Unremarkable Me

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by Paula Gail Benson

This week, I received a report from a sinus CT. It contained the line: “The skull is unremarkable.”

I had to think about that, rather like Hamlet contemplating Yorick’s skull in the graveyard scene in Shakespeare’s play.

Sir Laurence Olivier playing Hamlet
phrases.org.uk

To put in context, in Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1, Hamlet and Horatio come upon two gravediggers unearthing bones. When Hamlet learns a particular skull belonged to his father’s jester, Yorick [the famous quote: “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio”], Hamlet asks the skull, “Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?”

So, I sat, wondering if the words in the report were good or bad.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “unremarkable” as “unworthy or unlikely to be noticed.” Synonyms would be common, ordinary, average, typical, or routine. Something encountered in the normal course of events.

Unfortunately, the “un” or “not” context makes the word unremarkable seem unfavorable. There’s nothing wrong with being average or typical, but when you see yourself described on paper, you want to be considered distinguished, unique, and definitely remarkable or at the least memorable.

I researched further and found a guide to Radiology in Plain English, which indicated that “unremarkable” could be found in all types of radiology reports and was a “good thing” meaning “no structural abnormality.” This guide emphasized the words in radiology reports indicated what the radiologists saw. In fact, it pointed out that sometimes “grossly unremarkable” appeared and meant while nothing obvious was seen, the test might be limited for assessing the organ or structure.

So, I decided to be content with my unremarkable skull, maybe even use that as the title for a short story. Except, if I have a character addressing my skull, I plan to have him talking to a CT photo and not the actual cranium.

What do you think? Is “The Unremarkable Skull” a story you might read?

PS—all is going well for me on the sinus front. My doctor will soon do another CT, in which I hope my skull remains unremarkable.

The Five Languages of Love

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by Paula Gail Benson

On Valentine’s Day, I learned something. I was reading Cynthia Ruchti’s message in the Guideposts devotional book Mornings with Jesus 2025. Ruchti wrote about caring for her husband when he was debilitated during an illness. She found that some of the more difficult tasks required all her strength. At times, she had to tell her husband she “could not speak to him in all 5 languages of love” that day.

Ruchti challenged her readers to look up the 5 languages, so I did. They have been identified by Gary Chapman in his book, The Five Languages of Love: the Secret to Love that Lasts.

According to Wikipedia, Gary D. Chapman is an author, radio host, and counselor on the staff of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston Salem, North Carolina (since 1971). Amazon lists him having 11 books on the subject, including ones focused on children, teenagers, men, singles, work relationships, apologies, and how God shows love to people.

Chapman identified the 5 languages as:

Touch—physical connection, caress, kiss, intimacy

Words of Affirmation—praise, kindness, recognition

Acts of Service—providing aid, taking on another’s obligation, relieving a burden

Receiving Gifts—presents, items the other person needs or wants, unexpected and delightful surprises

Quality Time—focus on someone through attention, eye contact, listening, and seeking to understand

Gary D. Chapman–Photo from Wikipedia

I began to wonder about stories that might spring from the ability or inability to communicate with these languages. I could imagine humorous situations that could arise from trying, but failing to offer the needed words, acts, gifts, or quality time. Just as an example, consider O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” But, I wondered, how could you miss on touch?

Then, it occurred to me. Medical conditions affect the ability to express and enjoy touch. What are conditions when we lose our sense of touch? Neuropathy? Loss of arms or legs, which would generally be used to embrace or caress? Perhaps a person would have to figure out how to touch another using a feather, cloth, or brush? The importance would be more to the person receiving the touch rather than the person giving it.

As I considered it, I realized the focus in all these languages is upon the pleasure they offer the recipient. Seeing the receiver’s satisfaction is what should lead to the giver’s happiness.

Which of the 5 languages did you give or receive on Valentine’s Day? How might you write about them in a story?

Benefits of Contributing to an Anthology

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by Paula Gail Benson

Robin Hillyer-Miles and I, two blogging partners here at The Stiletto Gang, also are members of the Lowcountry Romance Writers (LRWA), a chapter of Romance Writers of America based in Charleston, South Carolina. Since 2019, LRWA has organized and published two anthologies, titled Love in the Lowcountry: A Winter Holiday Collection and Love in the Lowcountry, Volume Two: A Winter Holiday Collection Book 2. Both are available through Amazon.

LRWA is now in the process of creating its third anthology, which again requires that stories take place in South Carolina. For this anthology, they also must involve a vacation. Contributors must participate in two rounds of beta reading, work with a professional editor, and develop and circulate promotional materials. Learning and using these skills is invaluable experience for both debut and seasoned authors. We continue to have a lot of fun putting these anthologies together.

Robin and I have both written several messages about how these anthologies benefited us as writers: from Robin, “Musings on a Tuesday” and “No Regrets,” and from me “Love in the Air,” “A New Anthology,” and “The Meet Cute.”

These anthologies also provide some virtual vacations and insightful information for readers who visit in person and/or virtually. Bookstores in Charleston, South Carolina, often have customers seeking fiction about the city. Most of our anthologies’ romances describe historical or cultural backgrounds in a very engaging format, meeting the bookstores’ customers’ requests. Robin Hillyer-Miles, a certified tourism professional, has assisted all the participating writers in confirming the accuracy of the details in their work.

In addition to giving authors a writing credit, contributing to the anthology allows the opportunity for learning new writing skills, trying out new genres, and developing different characters. Not all writers enjoy crafting short stories, but the attempts demonstrate how to be more economical with word usage and narrative. Except for hints at relationships, I had not written romances prior to my stories in the anthologies. They also represent my first efforts at exploring time travel, which allow me to involve modern day characters with historical figures and events, something I find fascinating.

One author in the first anthology used her story as part of a trilogy. She offered the prequel in her newsletter to entice readers to try her work. That gave me the idea to consider how two characters I developed for my story in the first anthology (the two rejected by the main love interests) might appear subsequently. (Note: it continues to be a challenge to find those two less desirable characters’ more likable qualities.)

In the second anthology, my story had three potential romantic couples, one that became predominant. Determining how to resolve the characters’ interacting plotlines became a fascinating puzzle that led me to contemplate writing a more expansive account, featuring each couple independently.

Even if you don’t ordinarily read or write short stories, try dipping into an anthology or two. They offer some great examples of craft and compiling material by theme, not to mention some excellent reading.

The Meet Cute

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by Paula Gail Benson

Cover from First LRWA Anthology

Currently, I’m working on an up-to-10,000 word short story for the third Lowcountry Romance Writers’ (LRWA) anthology. The story must somehow involve South Carolina and a vacation.

I’m basing mine on characters I developed in my story that appeared in the first LRWA anthology. It’s been fun to give this couple its own romance since they were the antagonists in the original story. Figuring out how two basically disagreeable folks become likable and get together has been both challenging and delightful!

During a brainstorming session with some of the other anthology contributors, I described the female protagonist’s situation, background, and desires. She was focused on finding a way to connect with her 10-year-old daughter, who seemed more in sync with the ex-husband and his fiancée. I was interrupted from describing my character’s angst with the question: what’s her love interest and where’s the “meet cute”?

I’d heard the term “meet cute” and recognized the concept. Wikipedia, referencing Merriam-Webster, describes it as: “a scene in media, in which two people meet for the first time, typically under unusual, humorous, or cute circumstances, and go on to form a future romantic couple.” Wikipedia illustrated the entry with a depiction of Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting.

Image that appears in Wikipedia

Romeo and Juliet opens with a “meet cute”? I had to reread the play.

So, Romeo is pining after Rosalind, who is a Capulet niece. The Capulets are trying to fix Juliet up with Paris. Then, Romeo sneaks into the Capulets’ banquet at their home. Tybalt protests his presence, but Mr. Capulet says, don’t call attention to him. Meanwhile, Romeo sees and zeroes in on Juliet. After some fancy talk about pilgrims’ hands meeting in prayer resembling kissing, they trade a few smooches.

Okay. I understand the setup as a “meet cute.” Romeo goes to romance the girl he’s fascinated by and instead falls in love with the daughter of his family’s worst enemy. It’s the story’s tragic overtones (not to mention all the pilgrims’ hands speeches) that obscure the humor of that scene.

I thought about some of my favorite Rom-Coms: Legally Blonde, where Elle meets Emmett at Harvard, or Shakespeare in Love, where the bard first sees his muse dressed in male attire and auditioning for a role. One of my favorite romances is Lisa Kleypas’ The Devil in Winter, one of her wallflower series. The couple are acquainted but have their actual first face-to-face meeting after the male has kidnapped the female’s friend in a previous book. Evangeline Jenner is the shy, stuttering daughter of a wealthy gambling house owner who approaches Sebastian, Lord Vincent, one of London’s best-known rakes to save her from her relatives’ manipulations. That initial scene sizzles with sexual tension.

Could I do that with my characters? I’ve tried by having them reconnect at a restaurant where the female does not at first recognize the male, who is her server. I asked for some feedback from another writing group and was fascinated to hear their reactions to this couple. The group had a lot of good suggestions and questions. I always find questions encouraging because it means readers want to know more.

What’s your favorite “meet cute” scene and has it ever involved unlikable characters?

Cover of LRWA Anthology Volume 2

What Kind of Writer Am I?

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by Paula Gail Benson

I’ve heard about plotters and pantsers. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott commends E.L. Doctorow’s advice that writing is like driving a car and only being able to see as far as your headlights, yet having the ability to complete the trip with that view.

Plotters create a road map. Pantsers have an idea of where they are going and find the path as they take it.

I’m trying to figure out what to call my writing style.

For my latest short story, I started with an idea: what if (I’m a big advocate of “what if” questions—I heard Mary Higgins Clark liked to start that way)—so, what if a former step-father gets a visit from his adult former step-daughter on Father’s Day? She’s terrified because she thinks she might have killed her husband. She goes to her former step-father because he’s the only man she truly trusts.

To help her, the former step-father goes to see if the husband needs medical help. He finds the husband bruised, but alert and with the step-daughter’s biological father. The husband and biological father are concerned the step-daughter has resumed company with those who supported her addiction. Previously, while the step-daughter received treatment for addiction, her mother served as conservator for the step-daughter’s funds. The biological father suggests he’s ready to establish a new conservatorship, with him in charge of the money.

Who should the step-father believe—his step-daughter or her husband and biological father? What should he do?

At this point, I’m not sure where the story is going, only that the step-daughter has confessed to hitting her husband with a candlestick her mother gave her as a wedding gift and that the husband and biological father are determined to control the step-daughter.

The step-father takes a long route home, figuring the biological father might have him tailed. He sees evidence of someone following him. The step-daughter doesn’t answer the phone and when he gets home, he finds she’s gone. With reluctance, he calls his ex-wife and learns she did not support her daughter’s marriage. He goes to visit the ex-wife, who gives him some potential leads for locating the daughter. Notice, the ex-wife is depending upon him to do the legwork, just as she did during the marriage.

As I’ve followed this meandering trail, I’ve figured out more about the characters I’ve met and made myself hone-in on why the husband and biological father are intent on finding the step-daughter. I’ve made myself focus on the premise of the story and the theme it will convey.

Each day, I’ve written my way forward in a notebook, setting out the steps and leaving room to fill in the details as I type up my notes. I see places to make connections and endeavor to add seamlessly to the story.

When I started, I wasn’t sure about the end. Now I have an inkling of what that might be, but it’s still subject to change.

Am I a combination, plotter and pantser—plantser? The hand-written notes seem like a form of plotting, but in fact, I’m just following where the characters lead me. What happens next? Set up the scene and I’ll sketch it out as you (the characters) live it.

Recently, listening to a talk by best-selling romantic comedy author Katherine Center (her latest novel is The Rom-Commers), a member of the audience asked if the characters spoke to her. Center replied no, but the characters let her watch as they took their journey.

I think I may resemble that remark. What do you think? Am I depending upon the headlights in a vehicle driven by my characters?

Summer Reading List

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by Paula Gail Benson

Mary Lee Ashford has already visited this subject in her excellent post from June 6 (‘Tis the Season … for Summer Reading). I particularly like her tips for choosing a summer read. She also has a list of guides with current reading lists.

I’ve always enjoyed reading, but I admit that summer allows for greater leisure and flexibility in choice. Every year, in May or June as school recesses for the summer, libraries offer reading programs to keep young minds occupied during the warmer months. When I was growing up, I remember trying to be diligent in meeting the requirements (dependent upon age and comprehension level) so I could qualify for the certificate or award being given.

During high school, I found a list of great books that a person should read to be considered, ah—well-read. I tried to follow it. While I didn’t succeed getting through the list, I did find some different authors to enjoy.

I’ve seen several online lists this summer, many of them with the same or similar recommendations. Here are three you may wish to consider:

17 Books Everyone Should Read Before They Die (msn.com)

18 must-read classic books that have remained popular years after their original publication (msn.com)

Read or Regret – 21 Books You Absolutely Must Tackle Before Your Time’s Up (msn.com)

On June 9, 2024, the online Readers’ Digest featured an article by Leandra Beabout entitled 100 Best Books of All Time. I found the selections she recommended to be inclusive of classics, favorites, fiction and nonfiction, children’s and young adult books, and plays, as well as representative of diverse cultures and literary forms (short stories by Alice Munro and David Sedaris and even a graphic novel published in 2000, Persepolis: the Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi). Among the authors included are Steven King, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Zora Neale Hurston. There also is what I considered a surprise inclusion: Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls (1966).

Please take time to peruse Ms. Beabout’s list. Here are a few of her suggestions:

Classics:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1878)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)

1984 by George Orwell (1949)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (1962)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915)

The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton (1920)

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1603)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847)

 

My Favorites:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

Short Story Provides Met Gala Theme

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by Paula Gail Benson

This year’s Met Gala, the annual event held as a fund raiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute drew its theme, “The Garden of Time,” from the name of a short story by J.G. Ballard. Here’s a link, if you want to read the story:

Read the 1962 Short Story That Inspired This Year’s Met Gala Theme ‹ Literary Hub (lithub.com)

In LitHub, the story is described as: “Count Axel and his wife live and listen to Mozart in a magnificent villa, surrounded by a garden of crystal flowers, as an angry and unruly army advances upon them. To keep the ‘approaching rabble’ at bay, Axel must turn back time by plucking the flowers, one by one, until they are all gone, and there is no time left.”

True to the theme, the gowns and suits worn to the Gala featured images of flowers, aristocracy, and time.

1st Edition Hardcover (Wikipedia)

Ballard (whose name was James Gordon) was born in Shanghai International Settlement in the Republic of China where his father, a chemist, became the chairman and managing director of the China Printing and Finishing Company. During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the settlement and imprisoned the Allied civilian families. From his experiences during this time, Ballard wrote the semi-autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun, which became a film written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Steven Spielberg.

Today, as we celebrate Memorial Day, let us remember those who gave their lives while serving in the United States Armed Forces. We acknowledge with gratitude their sacrifice and wish comfort and peace for their families.

Mesmerized by the Met Gala

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by Paula Gail Benson

Until I watched Ocean’s 8, a female heist film featuring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchette, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Helena Bonham Carter, in 2018, I wasn’t very familiar with the Met Gala. Now, after having seen that movie numerous times, I’ve become intrigued by the event and wanted to know more about it.

Wikipedia tells us it was initially organized in 1948 by Eleanor Lambert as the Costume Institute Benefit, a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute’s annual exhibit. Tickets for the first event were $50 each. According to cbsnews.com, a ticket this year cost $75,000 (up 50% from last year’s price of $50,000), with a table for ten started at $350,000.

Except for 1996, since 1995 Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor in chief, has organized the event. Held on the first Monday in May, it showcases influencing figures from drama, sports, fashion, and other cultural pursuits, who are asked to dress conforming to a theme.

This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time,” based on a short story of that title by J.G. Ballard. In the story, two aristocrats wait in their villa as an angry mob approaches. The protagonist keeps the rebels away by picking a flower that turns back time briefly. In the end, all the flowers are gone and the villa is overtaken.

Interpretations of the theme featured many variations on floral arrangements, time, and aristocratic uniforms. Harpers Bazaar characterized the exhibit that invitees had the opportunity to view, entitled “Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion,” as spotlighting 250 historically significant designs that are “too fragile to ever be worn again.”

On the red carpet, those attending wore both regal and elegant garments (like Anna Wintour’s black embellished with colorful flowers) and structurally intricate (like Mindy Kaling’s beige, textured “Melting Flower of Time,” by Indian designer Gaurav Gupta; Demi Moore’s black column made of wallpaper and accessorized by a stunning Cartier necklace; and Tyla’s form fitting sand outfit that required she be carried up the steps and cut out).

To respect photo copyrights, please let me refer you to Vogue’s coverage of the event. Once you start looking at the designs, I think you’ll be a fan, too.