Smatterings

With a BBC documentary on Columbo slated to air today, Mark Billingham tells The Rap Sheet why he's so keen on the rumpled detective.

Congrats to Laura Lippman on her Quill award win in the Mystery/Thriller category.

The Oregonian found themselves in a pickle as to how to cover Chelsea Cain's HEARTSICK - and the unusual solution didn't quite meet editors' needs.

Patrick Anderson admires Michael Harvey's ambitions on display in THE CHICAGO WAY.

Though Janet Maslin doesn't quite have her claws sharpened, she at least pinpoints some of the problems I had with Brock Clarke's AN ARSONIST'S GUIDE TO WRITERS HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND. I wanted to like this book - and Clarke can certainly write - but my satire buttons weren't pushed at all, alas.

Dave White wonders whether authors plan their series arcs or just wing it.

Serious discussion has ensued over at Bryon Quertermous's site about why crime fiction short story markets pay so much less than speculative fiction ones.

David Montgomery shares why your book may not have been reviewed. Oh, have I been there a few too many times...

Five more Bat Segundo podcasts are up - I suggest checking out the two-parter with Rupert Thomson.

Harry Potter - most profitable movie franchise ever.

And finally, six years ago I was setting up materials for a freshman biology class, and when the news was relayed to me, I kept going. Only when I heard about the Pentagon did it sink in and I began the long, strange walk home from John Jay College to spend the rest of the day on the Internet absorbing, commenting, conveying and wondering. Now it's 9/11 on a Tuesday again and the country may be more jaded and fearful but I can only strive to be neither of those things.

Comments

[David J. Montgomery]

What a boneheaded move by the editors of the Oregonian. Why didn't they just hire a freelancer to review the book? I've written quite a few reviews under that arrangement -- it's hardly a novel idea.

[David Thayer]

I think the Oregonian felt like the grand marshals of a small town parade honoring a former cheerleader now playmate of the year. Their joy is tempered. Some of the other kids are jealous, mom and dad are worried.

[rosie]

I must agree with you on Brock Clarke's book. The premise had so much potential, but it amounted to a screwball comedy with a real lack of focus. And the scene where the real arsonist goes up in flames, although ironic, was just aggravating considering the lead-up. I think most of the positive response is based on the creativity of the book and the very good idea of writing a fictional memoir.

[Steven Torres]

I was about to get onto the bus for work at Yeshiva College when I heard a plane had hit the towers. Didn't think much of it until a while later when I saw cop cars and every other type of emergency vehichles streaming out of the Bronx and into Manhattan. My boss, an Oklahoman, told me to go home because I'd never make it if I stayed the whole day. I told her NYC doesn't close down - not ever, not for any reason. Turned out I was right, but ever so close to being wrong that day. Never prouder of my hometown than that day. You might have seen our knees buckle, but we never touched the canvas.

[Jason]

Now that you're not at galleycat, perhaps you needn't address this, since this is a personal site, after all, but could you at least acknowledge the appearance of a conflict of interest in the link to the Bat Segundo post?