Excellence in Writing

What makes good writing just good and excellent writing immortal?

What do cooking and writing have in common?

A nice little observation in the Harvard Business Review combining Anthony Bourdain, business, and–in my case–writing. First found on The Passive Guy, but visit HBR for the original!

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How to Spend the First 10 Minutes of Your Day

by Ron Friedman  |   8:00 AM June 19, 2014

If you’re working in the kitchen of Anthony Bourdain, legendary chef of Brasserie Les Halles, best-selling author, and famed television personality, you don’t dare so much as boil hot water without attending to a ritual that’s essential for any self-respecting chef: mise-en-place.

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Review: Ariel S. Winter’s The Twenty-Year Death in the Washington Post

While I work on my Part II of A Primer on Book Covers, check out my buddy Art Taylor’s review of the mystery The Twenty-Year Death in the Washington Post.

Art is a professor and writer and gets to review mysteries and crime fiction for the WaPo several times a year. Check out his blog after you check out his review.

Review: Ariel S. Winter’s The Twenty-Year Death in the Washington Post.

Compassion Play: Treating Your Victims With Respect

A few years ago I attended the renowned Boucheron convention, a fan-based convention for mystery and crime fiction. UK comedian-turned-crime fiction-novelist Mark Billingham was one of the many panelists that I listened to that day, but he said something that stuck with me when the words of many other bright lights at the conference faded away. Something I’d never heard a mystery or crime fiction author talk about before.

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The Etiquette of Murder

I had the chance to attend indie publication Barrelhouse Magazine‘s spring “Crime” issue release party last night, where I got to hear cool authors read their work: Tara Laskowski reading “The Etiquette of Murder”, Art Taylor with his “Blue Plate Special”, and “How Sacrifices Are Made in Illionois” by Michelle Dove.

All are great reads that make you think; Tara’s piece reminded me of Armand “Blackbird” Degas from Elmore Leonard’s Killshot, while Art’s piece seemed a thoughtful blend of Chandler and James Crumley (of Last Good Kiss fame). I’m still rolling around Michelle’s piece in my head…it’s a densely-packed story with lots of sly humor tucked in here and there; easy to miss if you’re not paying attention.

It was nice to rub elbows with other writers and poets trying to make a professional go of it. If only the bartender hadn’t turned the music up to 10…I’d still be there chatting craft with some really smart people.

If you like indie publications, check out Barrelhouse at http://www.barrelhousemag.com.

You can read Tara’s piece in its entirety (with roll-over annotations…thank you, internet!) at http://www.barrelhousemag.com/?page_id=1949.