Some Significant Contributors & Other Writers of Interest The most influential and best known of the detective pulps, what's surprising about the following list of contributors to the legendary Black Mask is not only who's on it (Louis L'Amour? Max Brand?), but who isn't, or how few times writers we instantly associate with the venerable mag actually … Continue reading Published in Black Mask
Tag: Writers
Day Keene
Pseudonym of Gunnar Hjerstedt Other pseudonyms include Lewis Dixon, Alvin F. Hunter, William Richards, Clark Nelson, Daniel White, John Corbett & Donald King (1904-1969) "Keene is a natural storyteller; he keeps things moving right along, and no reader is likely to bored." -- Bill Crider in 1001 Midnights "Even in his minor books, you can see … Continue reading Day Keene
True Detectives
Real-Life Eyes Who've Written P.I. Novels Sometimes it seems like every jasper that ever got a P.I. ticket decided to chuck it all to become a writer, perhaps dreaming of fame and riches (or perhaps, just not wanting to pee in a bottle while on a stakeout again), but the sad fact is that first-hand … Continue reading True Detectives
Robert B. Parker
(1932--2010) Well, the guy had balls, anyway. It's one thing to be compared to the Holy Trinity of Hammett, Chandler and Macdonald. It's quite another to elbow your way in. Particularly for Chandler fans who saw Parker first step into Chandler's hallowed shoes: his completion of Chandler's unfinished last Philip Marlowe novel, Poodle Springs, which … Continue reading Robert B. Parker
Telling Lies for Fun and Profit
Lawrence Block Writes (and Writes) About Writing Some writers write. Some writers write about writing. But Lawrence Block does both. And he's damn good at both. No wonder I still hate him. Like many a starting writer, I tried to figure out how to write by reading books and amgazines about writing. Some … Continue reading Telling Lies for Fun and Profit
Bill Pronzini
Pseudonyms include Jack Foxx, Alex Saxon, Brett Halliday, William Jeffrey, Romer Zane Grey, and Robert Hart Davis (1943 --) BILL PRONZINI is simply one of the genre's masters. Top of the Line. An Ace Performer. The Bomb. He seems to have taken a crack at just about everything in the mystery genre: noirish thrillers, historicals, locked-room … Continue reading Bill Pronzini
Death is Not the End (The Long, Long Goodbye)
Private Eyes Who Just Won't Stay Dead (Even If Their Creators Are) "No question about it. Once you die, you really start losing control of things." --Mike Hammer in Murder, My Love (2019), by Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins That whirring sound coming from the mystery section of the local cemetery these days? It … Continue reading Death is Not the End (The Long, Long Goodbye)
Raymond Chandler and the Case of the Lost Libretto
Or: Pour O Pour The Goblin Wine "She was the beat of my heart for thirty years. She was the music heard faintly around the edge of the sound. It was my great and now useless regret that I never wrote anything really worth her attention, no book I could dedicate to her." -- Raymond Chandler, … Continue reading Raymond Chandler and the Case of the Lost Libretto
John D. MacDonald
Pseudonyms included John Wade Farrel, Robert Henry, John Lane, Scott O'Hara, Peter Reed & Henry Reiser (1916-1986) "If any two people could ever really get inside each other's head, it would scare the pee out of both of them." -- Travis McGee in Dress Her in Indigo "(He was) the great entertainer of our age, … Continue reading John D. MacDonald
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (1918-2006) "Anyone who doesn't recognize Spillane's importance is an idiot." -- Max Allan Collins FRANK MORRISON SPILLANE was a Brooklyn kid, born on March 9, 1918, the only child of Catherine Anne and John Joseph Spillane, an Irish-American bartender who nicknamed him "Mickey." He passed away July 17, 2006 at his home in … Continue reading Mickey Spillane