born in '73. 26yrs old.
hardy boys started it, in second grade, which quickly led to
classics: sherlock holmes, agatha christie, erle s. gardner,
and then to chandler and hammett. i subscribed to Alfred
Hitchcock MysMag when i was 11. really. i still have some of
those issues. in junior high and high school, i veered away
into comic books (Frank Miller, Batman, The Shadow), sci-fi,
and literature (Hemingway and Vonnegut) before turing to a
serious attempt at writing fiction, both literary and crime.
So I sent a couple of stories out to AH and EQ when I was 19.
Deservedly rejected, as I wasn't much good yet.
In college, returned to hardboiled fiction with a vengence:
discovered Burke and Ellroy and Jim Thompson and Elmore
Leonard, Pelecanos (what a hero), etc... eventually received
a Master's in Creative Writing. Currently working on PhD
while a fiction editor with Mississippi Review Web, and
co-editor.co-creator of Plots With Guns.
So, I love the classics that started me on the path, but
began to grow interested on what it will take to keep
hardboiled writing fresh and vital for right now. I look for
the writers who I think are doing this as a fan, an editor,
and I try to write towards that, also.
Neil Smith
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