If you’re thinking of getting copies of my books, it couldn’t be easier. I’ve got you covered, even for autographed books!
I’ve been recommending this essay for years to every writer I know. And it’s free to read online…
I compiled a list of fun facts about this brilliant mathematician after reading two biographies. The oddest little things stayed with me, and here they are…
I have a short story in a new anthology that is published today! I’m excited to tell you about it because, believe it or not, it’s my first appearance in a fiction anthology. The book is a collection of 24 short stories by 24 different writers who contribute to the SleuthSayers mystery blog that I am always crowing about here…
January is revered by Sherlock Holmes geeks each year because the biggest Sherlock Holmes geek ever—the late William S. Baring-Gould—decreed that Sherlock’s presumed birthday is January 6th. The best-known mystery magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, actually pubs a Sherlock Holmes issue each year at this time. And at the top of the year, I too try to do some sort of Sherlockian post at SleuthSayers, the mystery writers blog that I write for…
I’m a frustrated artist. I was into both painting and writing when I was a kid. When the time came to pick a college, I rolled the dice and went with a writing major. Guess it turned out okay, but I’m still strongly attracted to art of all kinds, especially illustrations. It’s a great form—often representational, but still demanding technical mastery.
A few months back, I did a post for SleuthSayers about how mystery writers can actually own a piece of art that once graced their stories in major mystery magazines. This is somewhat inside baseball, I admit, but it shakes down like this…
The multiple award-winning writer Art Taylor runs a blog called “The First Two Pages,” in which various writers take turns discussing the craft decisions they made writing their short stories. I was honored to be invited by Art to talk about my latest story in Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
Yes, this is the same historical mystery—centered on a flower shop in 1893 New York City—that I recently talked about at the mystery blog, Sleuthsayers.
But in this essay I’m drilling down into structure, word choices, and other decisions I had to make while using real-life people as fictional characters. If you’re into that kind of discussion, I hope you will stop by.
One of the beautiful things about short stories is that they’re often a quick, wonderful way to learn about a new writer. If you’re into mysteries, it’s definitely worth bookmarking Art’s blog.
You will absolutely discover countless new mystery writers that you ought to know about.
Art Taylor, for example, is married to the writer Tara Laskowski, author of the suspense novel One Night Gone and the upcoming The Mother Next Door.
See what I mean? That’s two writers right there!
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Flower shop image by Alisa Anton via Unsplash.
You’ll find a new short story of mine, “Mr. Tesla Likes to Watch,” in the May/June 2021 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM). The hard-copy issue hits newsstands today, April 20. Digital issues are already available.
“Mr. Tesla” is set in New York City in 1893. Mark Twain and Nicola Tesla—who were friends in real life—are presented with a strange mystery concerning a flower shop that they attempt to solve independently. The “winner,” i.e., the one who cracks the case, must buy the other dinner at Delmonico’s, a popular restaurant of the era. I’ve wanted to do something with these two real-life figures ever since I learned that they were unlikely friends.
You can buy digital issues via B&N, Kindle, Apple, Magzter, and Kobo. All the links are here at Hitchcock’s website. If you want to check out my story, make sure you are downloading the issue shown here.
Submission stats: I finished this story sometime in October 2018, but it did not find a home until Hitchcock’s bought it in February 2020. They took 309 days to say yes, and the story is appearing about 14 months from acceptance. Payment was $480.
Yes, I will someday release an e-book version of of the story, which I’ll offer free to readers on my list. If you’d rather wait for the free copy, please join my e-newsletter. (See bottom of this page.)
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Flower shop image by Alisa Anton on Unsplash
You’ll find a new short story of mine, “The Detective Who Stopped by Bedford Street,” in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. The hard-copy issue hits newsstands today, December 17. Digital issues are already available.
"The Detective Who" is set in New York City during an unspecified decade. A detective uses an unconventional method to crack murder cases. It’s a story inspired in part by the old John Cheever short story, “The Enormous Radio.” Mine’s probably more a work of fantasy than mystery, but it was fun writing.
You can buy digital issues via B&N, Kindle, Google Play, Apple, Magzster, and Kobo. All the links are here at Hitchcock’s website. If you want to check out my story, make sure you are downloading the issue shown here.
Submissions stats: I finished this story sometime in Jan 2018, but it did not find a home until Hitchcock’s bought it in June 2018. They took 109 days to say yes, and the story is appearing about 17 months from acceptance. Payment was $350.
Yes, I will someday release an e-book version of of the story, which I’ll offer free to readers on my list. If you’d rather wait for the free copy, please join my e-newsletter.
Radio Photo by Felipe Belluco via Unsplash
I was out of town for a while and returned home to find these greeting cards in the mailbox—a gift from my agent, who knows I love mysteries.
The paper is good stock, the print very nice, and the interiors blank. I’m guessing they were ordered from this shop on etsy. Either way, very funny.
Thanks, Yfat.
Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!
Today I'm up on Something Is Going to Happen, the official blog of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, talking about a childhood obsession of mine that led to my fascination with mystery and crime fiction. You can check out the article here.
In other news:
* I actually have a story appearing in the March/April issue of EQMM, out on newsstands next week, February 23. I haven't seen a copy yet, but I'm definitely excited. It's my first for that magazine.
* My children's book, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, is finally appearing in stores with a cover medallion announcing its selection as an Honor Book in the Mathical Prize for math-themed children's literature. Yay! Cool to have one of those award thingies on your book cover.
* My local bookstore, Malaprop's, is now officially carrying copies of my self-pubbed fiction and nonfiction.
* If you're reading this via my Tumblr blog, please take a moment to reroute your reader to my official blog at: http://www.josephdagnese.com/blog. I will most likely discontinue the Tumblr feed in the near future. It would be smart to make the move now.
When I was a kid, I read AHMM and its sister publication, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (EQMM), on a regular basis until I just couldn’t keep up with the subscriptions anymore.
I would also, from time to time, submit stories to these magazines during my teens. Shockingly, they were all returned with little white slips—the first rejections I ever got in my life.
Decades later, I finally have some good news to report on that front. This year I committed to submitting my short fiction to magazines on a more regular basis instead of self-pubbing them right off the bat. Besides Even, which ran back in August on Shotgun Honey, two of my short pieces have been bought by Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM). I couldn’t be more thrilled—penetrating that market has (obviously) been a lifelong dream of mine.
One is a straight-up story of corruption I wrote years ago. The other is one I wrote this year. It’s set in Rome. I’ve been thinking of it as written in the voice of an Italian Jane Austen, if such a thing were even possible. Seriously, the voices of both pieces couldn’t be more different.
They’ll run sometime next year. I’ll post the info when I have it.
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