Monday, August 01, 2016

My Panel at Bouchercon: Lesser Known Writers of the Pulp Era

 Pete Rozovsky asked us each to choose one writer to concentrate on and I chose Dolores Hitchens. I am midway through my second novel by her. I would really appreciate any insight into Hitchens or other female writers of the era. I was going to chose Helen Nielsen but couldn't depend on getting her books in time. Whereas Hitchens has some ebooks.
Poor Pete is going to read along with all of us (Martin Edwards, Gary Phillips, Rick Ollerman, Eric Beetner).

So if anyone has anything to say about female pulp writers or Dolores Hitchens in particular I would be glad to hear it. I did find a few reviews of her work on one or two of your blogs.

I think this is like the first panel on Thursday morning so we may just be going out for coffee. 

Thanks.

11 comments:

Rick Robinson said...

I'd love to help, but I haven't read any of her work. I saw the announcement of that panel on his blog, and 9am first day is a crummy time to get scheduled, as many people aren't there, or aren't awake, but you know that. Make it the panel everyone talks about the rest of the con, saying "You should have gone to that one! It was great!"

J F Norris said...

What is considered the pulp era by your moderator? Did he give a date range? Isabel Ostrander was one of the first women crime writers who wrote exclusively for pulp magazines, but in the very early 20th century from 1918 - 1924. And she was very prolific for that short period before she died suddenly. Hitchens I wouldn't consider a pulp writer. She never wrote anything for the pulp magazines nor did she write for the PBO publishers that continued the "pulp" style crime novel. But I guess if the term being used is "pulp era" then she fits. You can read my reviews of her books as D.B. Olsen (the bulk of her output was under that pen name) on my blog. There's a page on Hitchens at the Library of Congress website created to help sell that anthology of women crime writers that Sarah Weinman edited. You probably already found that.

Is anyone going to talk about Kathleen Moore Knight? She had two stories published in Black Mask during the 40s. Not many people know that. She's also under-rated and overlooked, IMO. Doubt anyone knows who she is. She's on my blog, too. Of course. ;^)

Anonymous said...

(Hope this doesn't get spammed, but here goes...)

The mid-century female writer I enjoy the most is Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, especially how she would intertwine domestic details with mystery (in one of her books, a killer is discovered because a certain item of clothing was drying on the clothesline when it shouldn't have been). It might be interesting to talk about how female writers explored the round of domestic duties expected of a woman of the era and how the plots subverted those expectations.

Whatever you decide, I'm know you'll be successful. Good luck!

--Deb

Jeff Meyerson said...

Well, we'll be there but 9 is a little early for panels for me. I will try and make it before the end. I haven't read anything by Hitchens, I'm afraid. Didn't she write a railroad detective series with her husband?

Jeff Meyerson said...

Well, we'll be there but 9 is a little early for panels for me. I will try and make it before the end. I haven't read anything by Hitchens, I'm afraid. Didn't she write a railroad detective series with her husband?

pattinase (abbott) said...

Yes, Jeff.
I love Holding but I wanted to find someone I hadn't read. So far, Holding, Millar, and Highsmith are better but only read one and a half. Never heard of KMK, John. Will look on your blog. I have very little time to get these books so more obscure writers were not in the cards.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Kathleen Moore Knight wrote a couple of series. Here is a link to a review with a list of books with her main series character. She also wrote as Alan Amos. Doubleday Crime Club published a lot of them, as I remember, and I used to find British paperbacks of her books in England.

seana graham said...

I really enjoyed Sleep with Strangers, which Peter Rozovsky turned me on to when he was doing the Long Beach Bouchercon panel. I tried to get the other in the series, Sleep with Slander, but something went badly wrong at the used book vendor I was ordering from and I didn't end up persisting. I grew up in the L.A. area not that long after she was writing and really liked the way she conveyed the L.A. atmosphere, as well as reminding me of many noir movies of the era.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Reading that right now, Seana. Like it much better than Fools,Gold!

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...

I really liked SLEEP WITH SLANDER Patti - reviewed it here: https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/sleep-with-slander-1960-by-dolores-hitchens/

Anonymous said...

This is a fascinating-sounding panel, Patti! I'll bet you'll do a great job.