Are You Noir?

There are so many blogs out there a person could get finger whiplash clicking through the Internet. One of the blogs I click into now and then is Moments in Crime, a blog set up by St. Martin's Minotaur for their stable of authors. Usually I drop by when it's an author I know and admire or if there's a catchy title that grabs my attention. The title yesterday was "Are You Noir", the author, Dennis Tafoya.

Now a lot of people refer to my work as noir but it's not a tag I've hung on myself because the truth is, I'm still grappling with the old argument of "what is noir?". Which is why Tafoya's title grabbed me and the essay was totally worth the read because it gave me another view of what noir might possibly be. Here's the url http://www.momentsincrime.com/2009/06/are-you-noir.html While you're there, take the time to check out some of the other posts he's done through the past week. He talks about the process of writing, using music as you write, and movies, all with an interesting perspective.

Now, I don't know Mr. Tafoya, so this isn't a plug for his book, especially since I haven't read it, but I did take the time to see if he had any short stories out here on the web and found this gem called "Sleight of Hand" http://www.eclectica.org/v8n2/tafoya.html

Back to noir for a moment. If you're still interested in learning more about the noir/hardboiled side of the mystery genre be sure to check out Richard Helms' excellent essay over at The Back Alley. http://www.backalleywebzine.com/hardboiled%20and%20noir.htm It never hurts to learn all you can about the genre you're writing in.