Pseudonyms include Roney Scott, Will Duke, Bill Gault, David Crewe & Ray P. Shotwell (1910-1995) "I'm proud of what I can do in my field. And I'm proud of the field. I don't need any false additions to that. If I could write like John Cheever, I'd write like Cheever. Unfortunately I can't, so I … Continue reading William Campbell Gault
Tag: Authors
George Harmon Coxe
(1901-1984) George Harmon Coxe was a journalist, prolific pulp writer, and novelist; an early star of hard boiled crime fiction, and one of Cap Shaw's beloved Black Mask Boys. In a long and prolific career, Coxe put his name to over sixty novels, the last being published in 1975, and hundreds of short stories. His … Continue reading George Harmon Coxe
Ghost Writers: Have Pen, Will Travel
Don't be afraid of no ghosts... The P.I. genre, like most writing genres, abounds with pen names and pseudonyms, but it also has plenty of ghost writers. Sometimes, it's actually a real writer who employs a ghost, but more often than not, it's some celebrity whose "work" is actually ghosted. Although these days, at the … Continue reading Ghost Writers: Have Pen, Will Travel
Nero Wolfe: A Social Commentary on the US
An Essay by Marcia Kiser (2003) All genre fiction provides a glimpse of life for the period in which the works are written. Science fiction shows the reader what the future may hold. Romance can, and does, give the reader insight into social customs and dress for the period covered, usually for a specific group, … Continue reading Nero Wolfe: A Social Commentary on the US
Why I Love Crime Fiction
By Leonard Chang What is a private detective but a philosopher in a trench coat? Picture this: You are a nine-year-old listening to your parents scream at each other in Korean, their words incomprehensible because you don't understand the language, but the savagery of their intent is clear enough. You don't want to leave your … Continue reading Why I Love Crime Fiction
Donald Westlake
Pseudonyms include Alan Marshal, Edwin West, Edwina West, Edwin Wood, Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Timothy J. Culver, Samuel Holt, Curt Clark, J. Morgan Cunningham, Ben Christopher, Grace Salacious (1933-2008) Simply the best. One of the most accomplished crime writers ever, and certainly one of the funniest in the hard-boiled school, Donald Edwin Edward Westlake was … Continue reading Donald Westlake
Thomas B. Dewey
Pseudonyms include Tom Brandt and Cord Wainer (1915-81) This bio, taken from Brian Ritt's excellent Paperback Confidential, highlights the career of one of the true pioneers of the genre--Thomas B. Dewey, a man who bridged the gap between the Hammett/Chandler model and the more socially aware and compassionate eyes that followed, such as Lew Archer, … Continue reading Thomas B. Dewey
You’re a Mean Man with a Typewriter, Sister
The Hard-boiled Lady Writers of the Pulps The story goes that when big shot Hollywood director Howard Hawks finished reading Leigh Brackett's 1944 crime novel No Good From a Corpse, he was blown away by the snappy patter and the rock hard prose, and figured the writer might be just who he needed for his … Continue reading You’re a Mean Man with a Typewriter, Sister
Jonathan Latimer
Pseudonyms include Peter Coffin(1906-1983) "Jonathan Latimer is the best kept secret in noir fiction. One of the great unrecognized masters."-- Max Allan Collins Born in Chicago, Illinois, JONATHAN LATIMER was educated in Arizona and Illinois. He worked as a reporter at the Chicago Herald Examiner for a few years before he started writing fiction. His first book, … Continue reading Jonathan Latimer
The Hammer
Winners of The PWA Hammer Award The Hammer, first presented in 2007, goes to the character, not the author, for his/her contribution to, and longevity in the field. It's named after Mike Hammer, of course, who certainly made his mark, and so far, thanks to Max Allan Collins, has shown no sign of leaving... 2007 … Continue reading The Hammer