What’s Happening With…
In each issue of Mystery Scene we feature an interview with a writer who at one time wrote a successful series, but who has now stopped for one reason or another. It’s called What’s Happening With…
This department was started at a reader’s request, and all the writers interviewed are submitted by our readers. Sometimes tracking down a writer is as simple as looking in a trade directory, and sometimes it takes a little detective work. In one case we actually called the CIA!
Notables we’ve found and asked What’s Happening With include:
- Dorothy Simpson, who ended her series about Thanet and Lineham due to a severe case of RSI in her wrists;
- Paul Levine, who had taken time out for a Hollywood career but who has now come back to mystery novels with a vengeance;
- Maureen Tan, who started a new career with Silhouette Bombshell after her successful “Jane” books (AKA Jane, Run, Jane, Run);
But there have been a few writers you’ve asked about that we haven’t tracked down:
One persistent rumor has been that Jacks was one of Lawrence Block’s many pseudonyms, but we can put that to rest right now: we asked Block, and he said emphatically it’s not him.
Karen Kijewski, who wrote nine mystery novels, all with Kat in the title, and all about Sacramento P.I. Kat Colorado. We have had more requests to know What’s Happening With Kijewski than for any other author to date, but we haven’t reached her yet.
We were asked to track down L.V. Slyke, who wrote Murder on the Rocks and Murder with a Twist in the mid-90’s, but when we reached this person, they politely agreed to an interview – entirely off the record! The only thing we can tell you is that this person also wrote as L.S. Riker, and maybe you’ll get the joke in that pseudonym, and maybe you won’t. We can tell you that Slyke has had continued success.
Another author we’ve had many requests for is Stephen Greenleaf, but there have been multiple interviews with him on this very topic, one of them available on the Thrilling Detective website, so we haven’t pursued this yet.
So there you have it. To date we’ve missed out on only three requests. There are other requests outstanding, but no others that we’ve given up on.
Please keep them coming.