Hope in Uncertainty: Filmmaker Doug Cunningham on Highway

INTERVIEW: “Bad things happen to the characters in the film. But the engagement with those bad things has motivated the characters to start writing their own stories (metaphorically speaking) rather than having their stories written for them….”

“Knowing You’re Good: Joe R. Lansdale on Elmore Leonard” by Andrew J. Rausch

INTERVIEW: “[Leonard] always approached what he did with class. He believed in what he did. He knew he was good, and you have to know you’re good. That’s not the same thing as being immodest. But you don’t jump out of a plane if you’ve never packed a parachute….”

“Race, Corruption, and Cover-ups: Aaron Clark on Under Color of Law” by Johnnie Hobbs III

INTERVIEW: “I wanted to explore themes of social justice, police abuses, race and identity, and the impacts of trauma. In many ways, Under Color of Law is a character study….”

“’It was raining, but it wouldn’t last’: An Interview with James Kestrel on Five Decembers” by Theresa Rodewald

INTERVIEW: “Noir to me is stylistically very interesting because you have this opportunity to explore very intense emotions and situations but to make it in such a stylized fashion, that is still beautiful. That’s what I’m always striving for….”

Corporate Gangsters, Rogue Cops, and Big Heists: on Gangster Noir (Preview)

INTERVIEW: “I realized that ’50s noirs were both more numerous and richer than I had originally imagined…and addressed other subgenres that I felt were essential to understanding midcentury American noir….”

Nuts and Bolts to the Eight Steps: Paul Tomlinson on Writing the Crime Thriller

INTERVIEW: “Thrillers are more complicated because there’s a lot more variation – many more sub-genres…. All the plots have much in common, but they all have distinct features that readers or film viewers demand – the genre conventions or tropes. Many writers don’t realise how important these are….”

“The Wonderland Murders: an Interview with Michael Connelly” by Roger Leatherwood

INTERVIEW: “The part that’s most interesting thing to me and that’s never really surfaced is what happened after the murders….”

“An Inclusive Genre”: Stephen Jones on The Art of Pulp Horror

I have always regarded horror as an “inclusive” genre—you can take almost any genre and turn it into a horror story. That has been one of the things that’s always attracted me to it. The whole crime/horror crossover is just another example of that. STEPHEN JONES lives in London, England. A Hugo Award nominee, he […]

“Worlds of Weird: Paul Green on Weird Detectives” by Ali Moosavi

Murdoch Mysteries (CBC, 2008- ) “So, what constitutes a ‘Weird Detective’? Some are legendary figures such as Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who is listed under Dracula as the ‘vampire hunter and occult detective‘ and Sherlock Holmes. Some are fiction characters belonging to real cases, such as Inspector Frederick Abberline, played by Johnny Depp in From […]

Interview: Iain McIntyre by Andrew Nette

On The Fly!: Hobo Literature and Songs, 1879-1941 (PM Press) is a new anthology which brings together dozens of stories, poems, songs, stories, and articles produced by hoboes to create an insider history of the subculture’s rise and fall. Adrenaline-charged tales of train hopping, scams, and political agitation are combined with humorous and satirical songs, […]