Crime Fiction Grab Bag No. 3

It's the weekend, which means it's time for another crime fiction grab bag here on The Overnight Bestseller, where we're constantly beating the bushes for the best new tidbits in the world of crime fiction.

Jonathan Santlofer, Director of New York's Crime Fiction Academy, gives us a heads-up on this fall's workshops, including participation by Lawrence Block, Susan Isaacs, and Dennis Lehane, along with editors and agents to discuss the ins and outs of the publishing world. If you'd like to brush up on crime fiction writing fundamentals and you've a hankering to visit NYC, this might be for you.

"If you haven't heard of the insanely talented and clever Wolf Haas," Seattlepi.com tells us, then it's about time you did. One of the best-selling crime fiction authors in Germany, Haas features private investigator Simon Brenner in a hard-boiled series of which Brenner and God, the first translated into English, is the latest.

Ian Rankin gives us a look back at his Inspector Rebus series, and chooses some of his favourite moments, courtesy of the Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/23/rebus-ian-rankin-favourite.

From the "are-you-freaking-kidding-me" category, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports on Hollywood's incredible goof in casting Tom Cruise (I'm a fan, just not right now) in the role of Jack Reacher in the upcoming film based on Lee Child's bestselling series featuring the ex-Army M.P. major: "Okay, he doesn't look exactly right," Child finally admitted.

And finally, a generous new profile of the Canadian author of the Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series, by Joseph Morin in the EMC News/Advance, in which he looks at the long road to publication and the development of "memorable and richly detailed characters."