A big thank you to our editors, Naomi Hirahara, Eric Stone and Juliet Blackwell; to our anthology committee, Darrell James, Lori Wolf and Ashley Ream; to Michael Mallory for the introduction and his work on the story intros; and to all who helped in various ways.  This was a big job truly well done and the result is a book we are proud to call our own.  

 

The anthology provides not only reading pleasure to the mystery fan and exposure for our chapter, but can also be a launching pad for a writer’s career. Darrell James explains: “SinC/LA anthologies just seem to get better and better. Being accepted into one is an accomplishment of rare distinction for the author. For me, it directly led to my being published in the Writer’s Digest Book How I Got Published, with such notables as  J.A. Jance, David Morrell, and Clive Cussler. And, overall, it became part of my writer’s resume that led to a book deal with a publisher.”

 

WHAT THE EDITORS SAY

“Murder in La-La Land was a true pleasure to work on,” says Juliet Blackwell, one of the three editors. “The most difficult task, by far, was choosing amongst all the fabulous entries – we editors had our work cut out for us.  But we soldiered on and found the cream of the crop: 12 stories of great range, distinct voice, and high caliber … each of which reflects a Los Angeles experience rarely depicted by Hollywood, much less witnessed by the casual visitor. Hurray for all the authors whose stories went into making Murder in La-La Land such a memorable volume!”

 

Says editor Eric Stone: “All too often anthologies of stories about Los Angeles play up the clichés about the place: Hollywood, the beach, palm trees, 1940s-style noir. So I thought it was important to try to get a mix of stories that dealt with other parts and aspects of the city, to help give a broader picture of this place. That’s one of the thematic things that I first looked for in helping pick the stories. Jack Maeby’s story, “Beethoven’s Last Chorus,” is a good example of that. It’s contemporary, but set in South Central L.A. in the remnants of the once great music scene there. It is firmly rooted in Los Angeles and its history, but may come as a surprise even to people who live here. That sort of thing was my primary interest in terms of theme.

 

“Then, of course, like any good short story,” Eric notes, “the stories had to grab me as quickly as possible; ideally from the first sentence on, but certainly within the first three or so paragraphs. A short story that doesn’t have me hooked in some way by the end of the third paragraph is not going to be a great short story. It is possible that something might happen later that will turn it around and make it a good short story, but it isn’t going to be great.

 

“Some stories try to do too much; they are really thinly disguised book ideas. Short stories and novels are entirely different forms. So it was important to me that the stories weren’t too big – a slice of life, not the whole pizza. A story can deal with a big theme, but it needs to do it from a smaller point of view. Jack’s story did that, as did the other stories I edited: “Continental Tilt” by Paul Marks, “Just Like Jay” by Pam Ripling, and “This I Know” by Kathy Kingston, as well as all of the stories that made it into the anthology.

 

“It was particularly pleasing that most of our submissions were from writers who either haven’t yet published a book, or who are just starting out,” Eric continues. “One of the things I’ve always loved about Sisters in Crime as an organization is how supportive it is of aspiring writers, not just established authors. This anthology really helps uphold that. The fact that it was put together from a blind submission process to fill the entire book, without anyone specifically invited by name to submit, is one of its strengths, as it is one of the organization’s.”