tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post1126250635145039862..comments2024-03-28T19:52:07.635-04:00Comments on Sweet Freedom: Crime fiction best-of-the-yearsTodd Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-38366631059892204182009-08-24T17:07:27.698-04:002009-08-24T17:07:27.698-04:00Stumbled across this, and didn't see any conta...Stumbled across this, and didn't see any contact forms or emails here. I'm looking for some contemporary places to submit my neo-noir fiction. Do you guys have any ideas? My work is typically dark, with a gritty, urban tone and dense, lyrical settings. My blog is http://www.whatdoesnotkillme.wordpress.com or you can hit me up at wickerkat@aol.com if you want, thanks great blog.<br /><br />Peace,<br />RichardRichard Thomashttp://www.whatdoesnotkillme.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-71347594105676235472009-08-09T00:03:11.596-04:002009-08-09T00:03:11.596-04:00As it turns out, Fischer Doesn't have a story ...As it turns out, Fischer Doesn't have a story in that volume. Pity. Also kind of notable how no THE SAINT MYSTERY MAGAZINE nor ED MCBAIN'S MYSTERY BOOK stories made it in, either (the only year of the MCBAIN title's publication, and that magazine's Ross Macdonald "Midnight Blue" or Robert Bloch's "Hobo" might've certainly taken the place of the less than their best from Talmage Powell or C. B. Gilford, at least...). Hell, I've just realized that Bloch's brilliant suspense story, my favorite of his in that wise, "Final Performance," was published in a 1960 issue of SHOCK, a similarly shortlived magazine that Someone should've put under Dresser's nose, if he didn't find it himself.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-24049479873317352692009-08-06T10:10:52.968-04:002009-08-06T10:10:52.968-04:00Well, we have three active BOTYs in crime fiction ...Well, we have three active BOTYs in crime fiction now...albeit Ed's has been having less fun with publishers than it has deserved, scrambling as St. Martin's dumped its annuals and C&G went kaput(St. M also discontinued the Datlow/Link & Grant YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR last year, and the Robinson annuals had to find a new US publishing partner), and Maxim Jakubowski's is focused on UK publications, even as BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES is restricted to US and Canadian fiction. Don't much care for any of them? <br /><br />I'm not sure that any of the three is excessively cautious, either...if anything, BAMS particularly is often called to the carpet for being off to the fringes of crime fiction (which of course is not synonymous with innovation).<br /><br />Do you find the webzines excessively retro? CRIMEWAVE as well as EQMM too staid?--not a complaint I'm sure I'd agree with in either case, but one which has certainly been lodged against the oldest extant CF magazine, as well as its stablemate. Was MURDALAND moving in the right direction?Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-88042865451729470812009-08-06T09:30:29.892-04:002009-08-06T09:30:29.892-04:00I've lamented the lack of a good, consistent B...I've lamented the lack of a good, consistent BOTY antho for crime fiction. I think there might be a market for it, albeit smaller than SF. I'd buy it. Am I alone?<br /><br />Part of the reason might be that the mystery genre does well with novels. SF, for example, does better with the shorts because an author can experiment with a concept in a short and, later, determine whether the concept would make for a good novel. For the mystery genre, however, the tropes are pretty set and the novel is a good medium for said tropes. Perhaps if there were some more experimentation in the mystery genre, we might get some BOTY anthos...Scott D. Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293540073601809197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-67758215832834382322009-08-05T22:26:40.588-04:002009-08-05T22:26:40.588-04:00Blushing, Ed. The Halliday volume was hampered, I ...Blushing, Ed. The Halliday volume was hampered, I think/hope uniquely, by ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE having no representation in the volume--a result of a snit on Dannay's part, perhaps, given that Davis Dresser/Halliday was the nominal driving force of the "competing" MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE? As it was, MSMM isn't overwhelmingly nor unfairly represented, and the lack of EQMM stories is felt...but not cripplingly so.<br /><br />I could've sworn I indexed or reviewed the Halliday, maybe even as a Friday Forgotten Book, but can't find the index nor review. Middle-aged moment. Fischer definitely has a story, and wish I could remember which one it was. (Talmage Powell's was a bit minor.)Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-62276485821765802052009-08-05T21:25:32.251-04:002009-08-05T21:25:32.251-04:00Ed Hoch and Anthony Boucher did great work. I alwa...Ed Hoch and Anthony Boucher did great work. I always wondered about the lone Halliday Best Of. As I recall that had a really strong Bruno Fischer story in it. Really enjoy your blog.Ed Gormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06126267358266480356noreply@blogger.com