Quick Hits

• In the wake of last week’s killing spree at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (aka Virginia Tech) and revelations that the shooter, Seung-hui Cho, had--before murdering 32 people, as well as himself, with a couple of guns--provoked concern among his English professors with “warning signs of psychosis” in his writing, novelist Stephen King muses in Entertainment Weekly on whether violence in an individual’s prose might be a predictor of their future violent behavior. Read his thoughts here. Meanwhile, New York journalist Sarah Elizabeth Richards asks in Salon, “how should creative writing teachers handle students who turn in gruesome stories?” The best quote comes from Michelle Carter, a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University, who notes that “sometimes working through rage in that way [creative writing] can be healthy. If students start worrying that every time they write something violent or aggressive or express anger or rage--or they fear they’ll be sent to an administrator or a therapist or their parents will be called--you can’t teach art classes with that hanging over them. Part of teaching in the arts is to push people to places of disturbance.” Read more here.

• For The Wall Street Journal, Anne Perry names her five “favorite fictional tales rooted in history.” It’s a rather eclectic selection comprising: I, Claudius, by Robert Graves (1934); Full Dark House, by Christopher Fowler (2004); The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1905); To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis (1998); and The Ballad of the White Horse, by G.K. Chesterton (1911). You’ll find her explanations for making these choices here.

• Euro Crime brings a modicum of relief to fans of Irish wordsmith Ken Bruen: “those of us who had read with distress that the next Jack Taylor book ..., Benediction, was going to be the last in that series, can rest easy. There are now plans for another outing, called Amen.” Hmm. Nobody would’ve been distressed about this, had the author himself not said that Taylor’s days are numbered.

• Blogger and book reviewer Bill Peschel sends me into laugh fits every now and then, with his bits of commentary. Today he offers this observation, based on something J.A. Konrath (Whiskey Sour) wrote in his own blog: “Joe Konrath wonders why, if he’s living the writing dream, why isn’t he happy about it? My guess: There’s the writing dream, and there’s the writing WORK. And WORK is still WORK whether you’re turning out widgets or screwing Pamela Anderson on a regular basis. Some days, you still wake up and say, ‘Oh, God, time to service Pam again.’”

• Author Elaine Viets’ recent stroke temporarily threw for a loop the organizers of the Malice Domestic XIX conference, scheduled to take place in Arlington, Virginia, from May 4 to 6. After all, Viets was supposed to serve as that event’s toastmaster. But “Malice author liaison” and fellow novelist Donna Andrews (No Nest for the Wicket) sent a note to the DorothyL listserv, explaining:

We’re pleased to announce that Kate Grilley has agreed to step in for Elaine as toastmaster this year. Malice veterans will remember what a terrific job Kate did last year as toastmaster for Malice XVIII, and we hope you’ll enjoy this unexpected encore. Of course, that doesn’t quite make up for not having Elaine with us.

The toastmaster for Malice XX, in 2008, has already been chosen (and will be announced, along with the other honorees, at the convention), but we do want to promise you that we will be reinviting Elaine as toastmaster as soon as her health and schedule permit.

• Finally, the Web site Cinematical, which plugged the bejesus out of last year’s James Bond movie, Casino Royale, recently launched a series of podcasts about all things Bondian (and some only vaguely so). It’s hosted by Cinematical’s own Kevin Kelly and Athena Stamos from the Commander Bond appreciation site. Links to the four episodes so far can be found here.