Theresa Schwegel's training as a screenwriter is evident in her fiction. She is able to zoom from the setting of Chicago to vivid locales in a flash, to enter and exit scenes with cinematic efficiency, and to focus on just those details that flesh out characters with heartrending minimalism. This focus on character, and a keen eye for the distinctions between Law and Justice, earned OFFICER DOWN the Edgar for best first novel, and make Theresa's January 2007 release PROBABLE CAUSE equally compelling. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

Author and editor Charles Ardai is a double-feature unto himself. In the first half of this special hour-long episode Richard Aleas (Ardai's anagrammatical authorial alter ego) discusses his Edgar and Shamus Award nominated novel LITTLE GIRL LOST: its literary predecessors--from William Blake's poetry to period pulp, and its complex vision of justice. In the second half of the interview, Ardai the entrepreneur speaks of his imprint Hard Case Crime: the reasons for its creation, the decision to commission fresh artwork from some of the finest painters of the classic era of paperback originals, and the particular challenges of editing and publishing a line that mixes period reprints with new titles while maintaining a consistent noir worldview. Abundantly clear are the intelligence and vision that have made Ardai the reigning Pasha of Pulp publishing, and Hetman of Hard-Boiled writing. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

Ex Private Investigator, failed academic, frustrated musician, and inspired writer--David Corbett himself is perhaps the best illustration of his theory on character development: if the back-story wound is evident, the person will act in meaningful and poignant ways. Only an author who has done his share of living could pen so piercing a tale of the dedicated cops, oddly talented citizens, and self-interested criminals, developers, and politicians who struggle in the incendiary communities of California. DONE FOR A DIME may be the definitive California crime novel--a work as acute, eclectic, ambitious, heart-wrenching, and vast as the state itself. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

The tagline is "mystery writers revealed" and Duane Swierczynski's frankness makes for truth in advertising. He admits that behind his hard-boiled exterior, a soft spot for family fuels his writing. He acknowledges that his Catholic upbringing creates a particular brand of justice in his novels, and that his ambivalent relationship with his hometown of Philadelphia injects those novels with dark longing. He speaks of how the characters in THE WHEELMAN helped to plot its action, and even shares a personal maxim with aspiring authors: if it's not action, it may not be worth writing. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

With his Sundance hit film BRICK, writer-director Rian Johnson attempted to convey his powerful reactions to the work of Dashiell Hammett. Thus, BRICK is a deeply personal film; though it may be evident that a Hammettesque script propels its action, its nuances can only be appreciated when a familiarity with Johnson is achieved. In this episode, Rian reveals how his personal experience, gourmand taste in movies, and willingness to heed his cast allowed him to leap-frog the conventions of film noir, and craft his eclectic hard-boiled debut. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

Where does pulp end and the real begin? As Paul Malmont discuses the historical facts underpinning his fantastic and fantastical throwback pulp novel THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL, he provides surprising answers to this question. THE SHADOW author Walter Gibson was a world-class magician, and married a woman who did a fortunetelling act with a chicken? Yes! The flesh-dripping zombies who chase DOC SAVAGE author Lester Dent through the pages of THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL have a basis in historical fact? Well, you'd best hear the shocking answer to that one from Malmont himself. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.