Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine 03/01/11 (33 page)

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REVIEWS

Blog Bytes

by Bill Crider

At the Bouchercon in San Francisco, I caught up with Janet Hutchings, the editor of this magazine, and asked her to do a short video interview about the magazine’s Internet presence. You can find the interview at http://tinyurl.com/27aeyr8, and you can find the links she talks about at the magazine’s website (http://www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm). The podcasts she mentions (http://www.themysteryplace.com/podcasts/mystery_podcasts.aspx) are very entertaining, and there are now fifteen of them, with stories being read by such authors as Doug Allyn, Toni Kelner, Charlaine Harris, Margaret Maron, and Nancy Pickard. If you’ve ever wondered what some of your favorite writers sound like, now’s your chance to find out.

Disclaimer: I’ve recorded a story for a future podcast. It might not be available by the time you read this, but you can check back later.

Len Wanner has a new website called The Crime of it All (http://www.thecrimeofitall.com). He reports that the site already has “over 200 interviews with some of your most famous friends and fellow writers [one of whom would be me]. The Crime of it All offers a forum for discussion as well as a collection of reviews, articles, polls, blogs, and event listings.”

Kevin Tipple reviews books over at Kevin’s Corner (http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com), old books for Friday’s Forgotten Books and new ones on other days. He reviews anthologies and novels, always thoughtfully and often at more length than some reviewers. Well worth a look.

Another review site, this one even wider-ranging, is Thrills Blog (http://thrillsblog.blogspot.com). Current reviews include books by such disparate authors as Agatha Christie and James Rollins. Also included on the blog are links to worthwhile short essays on “The Thriller,” “Psychological Suspense,” and “The Art of Suspense.”

Another review blog that I enjoy is Old Bones (http://www.oldbonesreviews.com), mainly because it has reviews of a lot of books I love, old paperbacks by writers like Gil Brewer, Wade Miller, and Bruno Fischer. Not that a more recent novel might not slip in now and then, such as something from the Hard Case Crime series or one of Max Allan Collins’s collaborations with Mickey Spillane. Just looking at the covers on this site is fun.

Sea Minor (http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com) is Nigel Bird’s blog, and he’s been running a series of interviews (yes, including one by me) with a different slant. He doesn’t interview the writers. They interview themselves. This leads to sometimes strange but always interesting conversations.

Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magazine can be found at http://billcrider.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2011 by Bill Crider

ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Vol. 137, Nos. 3 & 4, Whole Nos. 815 & 816, March/ April 2011. ISSN 0013-6328, USPS 523-610. Dell GST# R123054108. Published monthly except for combined March/ April and September/ October double issues by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. 1-year subscription Ē55.90 in U.S. and possessions, in all other countries Ē65.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. Subscription orders and mail regarding subscriptions should be sent to Ellery Queen, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855, or call 800-220-7443. Editorial Offices, 267 Broadway, 4th Fl. New York, NY 10007-2352. Executive Office, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855-1220. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing offices. Canadian postage paid at Montreal, Quebec, Canada Post International Publications Mail, Product Sales Agreement No. 40012460. ©2010 Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, all rights reserved. Dell is a trademark registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Protection secured under the Universal Copyright Convention and the Pan American Copyright convention. ELLERY QUEEN’S MYS TERY MAGAZINE® is the registered trademark of Ellery Queen. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, 6 Prowitt St., Norwalk, CT 06855. In Canada return to: Quad/Graphics Joncas, 4380 Garand, Saint-Laurent, Quebec H4R 2A3. Printed by Quad/Graphics, Taunton, MA. USA. 1/3/11.

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