I've been working on several projects, and every now and then a speed bump pops up. When that happens, I read, usually a mix of fiction and nonfiction. Nonfiction of the moment is Writing Mysteries, which Sue Grafton edited. Not all edited books create a cohesive whole, but his one does. It has three major sections -- Preparation, the Process, and Specialties.
Topics include "Writing a Series Character" (Sara Paretsky), "Pacing and Suspense" (Phyllis Whitney), and "Revision (Jan Burke). The thirty-five articles are concise, none more than twelve pages, making it possible to delve in and out of the book. Though the publisher was Writer's Digest, it was prepared with the support of Mystery Writers of America.
I read much of this book not long after it came out in 2002. It was worth the time to browse it again.
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