Happy St. Patrick's Day!

River Bandon, County Cork

Kinsale, Ireland

Cobh, Ireland

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I'm posting a few photographs I took during a trip to Ireland in 2003. 

"Ireland is rich in literature that understands a soul's yearnings, and dancing that understands a happy heart." ~ Margaret Jackson

Ben Hecht: The Shakespeare of Hollywood

On this date in 1894, one of my favorite screenwriters of all time was born. Ben Hecht was also a director, producer, playwright and a novelist.

Ben was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Original Screenplay, for the movie Underworld (1927).

The screenplays he wrote or worked on (many times uncredited) include the following:

Scarface (1932), The Front Page, Twentieth Century (1934), Barbary Coast (1935), Nothing Sacred (1937), Some Like It Hot, Gone with the Wind, Gunga Din, Wuthering Heights (all 1939), His Girl Friday (1940), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Monkey Business, A Farewell to Arms (1957), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), and Casino Royale (1967; released after Hecht's death in 1964).

He also provided story ideas for such films as Stagecoach (1939). In 1940, he wrote, produced, and directed Angels Over Broadway.

Six of his movie screenplays were nominated for Academy Awards; two won.

My personal favorite is His Girl Friday. If you've never seen it, try to get it from your library (or watch it online at IMDb). The rapid-fire dialogue is extraordinary. As a police officer, I worked with the media for 16 years, so this movie is even more endearing to me. It's quite evident in this film that Mr. Hecht had an extensive background in journalism.

When Hecht was living in New York in 1926, he received a telegram from a screenwriter friend who had recently moved to L.A. "Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots. Don't let this get around." He traveled to Hollywood, and began his career by writing the screenplay for Underworld, as the sound era had ended.

We know where that landed him!

The 2012 Academy Awards

I'm thrilled that Woody Allen won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for Midnight in Paris. I blogged about my admiration for the film on Women of Mystery in January.

How wonderful that Christopher Plummer finally gets to take home the Oscar. I loved his acceptance speech the most. Such class!

I'm glad I got to see The Artist, the Best Picture winner. I took my teenage daughter to see it ~ we absolutely loved it. After it ended, I asked her, "Well ~ what do you think for Best Picture? Midnight in Paris, Hugo, or The Artist?" since we had seen and loved all of them, and we knew it would be a tough decision. We were stumped.

A theatre patron on the way in as we were heading out asked if we liked it. Her hesitation, as I've heard from so many others, was that it was a "silent" film. We reassured her that she would enjoy it thoroughly. When you think about it, there is no other way to honor the silent film era but to make a silent film, and in black and white.

During the Oscar telecast, my husband keenly noticed a cameo of Jim Parsons, the extremely talented, multi-award-winning actor who portrays Dr. Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, during an extremely brief video clip of the winning Best Original Song, "Man or Muppet." If you're a fan of the show, you'll love the video -- it's awesome.

Available for a limited time, you can watch the Oscar-winning "Best Animated Short Film," The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. 

For a complete list of winners, click here.

Did you watch the Oscars? Did any of your favorites win? Didn't Angelina Jolie look ridiculous as she awkwardly stood with her right leg sticking out of the slit in her dress while presenting? It didn't take long for @AngiesRightLeg to pop up on Twitter (which currently has more than 13,000 followers).

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

On January 29, 1845, readers of the New York Evening Mirror were treated to a narrative poem called "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

The editor of the Mirror, Nathaniel Parker Willis, introduced the poem, calling it "unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent, sustaining of imaginative lift...it will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it."

Image: The Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore

Poe was paid nine dollars for its publication.

George Rex Graham, a friend and former employer of Poe's, had declined Poe's offer to be the first to print "The Raven." Graham said he didn't like it, but paid Poe $15.00 in charity. Graham made up for his poor decision by publishing Poe's essay, "The Philosophy of Composition" in Graham's American Monthly Magazine for Literature and Art, a year later.

Happy Birthday, Wilkie Collins

On this date in 1824, British novelist Wilkie Collins was born. 


T.S. Eliot described The Moonstone as the first and greatest of English detective novels.


A quote from The Woman in White seems to have stood the test of time:


"There are foolish criminals who are discovered, and wise criminals who escape.  The hiding of a crime, or the detection of a crime, what is it?  A trial of skill between the police on one side, and the individual on the other. When the criminal is a brutal, ignorant fool, the police, in nine cases out of ten, win.  When the criminal is a resolute, educated, highly-intelligent man, the police, in nine cases out of ten, lose."


Click here for more Wilkie Collins quotes.  

New Gilgo Theory: One Killer

Today's Newsday headline blasts, "Newsday Exclusive: New Gilgo Theory: One Killer - From LI" with a sub-headline, "Top cop: Police fear serial killer will strike again."

This information surprises me, and then again, it doesn't. The first thing that came to mind is that the Police Commissioner of the past eight years, Richard Dormer, is leaving office soon (as a new County Executive, Steve Bellone, takes office in January, he will choose a new police commissioner). It's conjecture on my part, but it's possible that Newsday wanted to give him a chance to say any last parting words about the case, and he gave it to them (hence the exclusive). The article has been written by Tania Lopez.

It was nearly one year ago that a K-9 cop, conducting a search in the hopes of possibly finding evidence of missing person Shannan Gilbert, came across remains. Subsequent searches turned up multiple remains (eight females, one male, one female toddler); yet none belonged to Shannan. Dormer states in the article that detectives do not think Shannan's case is connected; that it was pure coincidence that she went missing in Oak Beach, and the bodies were found on Gilgo Beach.

I worked on the Crime Stoppers tips line (1-800-220-TIPS) for thirteen years, and spoke with hundreds of people who called with information that lead to arrests for homicide, narcotics, robbery, larceny, and other felonies. This case truly needs the break of someone with information to step forward. If you, or someone you know has information, please consider giving a call, or emailing or texting a tip anonymously. There is a cash reward available via the Crime Stoppers program, a civilian organization, of which I am a volunteer.

The Suffolk County Police Department's website has set up a page with sketches of two unidentified victims, and jewelry recovered with the remains of two victims. Please give it a brief view and see if it looks familiar.

Blast at St. Louis Bouchercon 2011

Bouchercon 2011 at St. Louis was terrific. It is truly amazing to see so many authors all in one place. This was my second Bouchercon. The host hotel, the Renaissance St. Louis Grand, was sold out quickly, so I stayed at the historic St. Louis Union Station Marriott, which was such a treat; it's converted from the original St. Louis railroad station. I shared a room with my fellow New York Sister in Crime, Cathi Stoler, the author of Telling Lies. While attending a paragraph-reading party at Left Bank Books, in which Cathi read a paragraph from Telling Lies, I had the honor of meeting my Twitter friends, Chad Rohrbacher and Ron Earl Phillips.

Lobby of St. Louis Union Station Marriott

L to R, top to bottom: Catriona McPherson, Kathleen A. Ryan, Cathi Stoler, Clare Toohey

Left Bank Books, St. Louis

My New York Sister-in-Crime, Hilary Davidson, Anthony Award winner for Best First Novel, The Damage Done

Duane Swierczynski, Anthony Award Winner for Best Paperback Original, Expiration Date

Reed Farrel Coleman, Three-time Shamus Award winning author and fellow Long Islander!

I was honored to moderate a panel called, "Writing From the Headlines" with authors Pamela Callow, Diane Fanning, Ryan David Jahn, Karen E. Olson, and Rick Reed.

I was thrilled to finally meet in person the fabulous Patti Abbott.

I met a new friend, author Catriona McPherson. What a sweetheart!

Glad to see folks I've had the privilege of meeting before, at last year's Bouchercon in San Francisco, or at book signings in New York City, such as Brad Parks, Joelle Charbonneau, Barb Goffman, and of course seeing another fellow New York Sister in Crime, Clare Toohey.

Plans are underway for Bouchercon 2012 ~ in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-7.