China's cyberassaults: life imitates genre

Today, on the opinion page of the WSJ is an article by Richard Clarke opining about China's assault on the computer networks of America's businesses and the need for the US government to do something about it. This scenario is very close to the plot of my mystery thriller, A POINTED DEATH, which deals with the stealing of industrial intellectual property and biological samples in the biotechnology industry. Sadly, truth is imitating fiction, although I am not claiming any huge prescience or originality here. The Chinese certainly give fiction writers s lot of fodder when it comes to nefarious doings. It is kind of like the Russians during the Cold War; an author just couldn't resist making them the heavies. These days we have a lot of evil actors to choose from, but when it comes to cyber-hacking, it is pretty clear who leads the pack.

A Pointed Death (The Pointer Mysteries)

Ideas Picked Up at Left Coast Crime 2011 in Santa Fe

I picked up on a couple of possible emerging trends while attending the Left Coast Crime Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. By the way, the organizers this year did a bang up job and deserve copious kudos! I particularly enjoyed the Cuento channel, not just because my own presentation was a Cuento, but because I found the topics presented in that track to be the most innovative or provocative. I also appreciated being 'showcased' at the  new authors breakfast, a particularly gracious idea cooked up by our thoughtful hosts.

Now, to the trends --

A new sub genre seems to be emerging, called variously Cozy Thrillers or Thrillzies. I have seen references to this fledgling category in the blogosphere, but it was useful to hear it 'validated' at a major conference. Women authors are penning more thrillers, but their work tends to be less violent, dark and fever-paced compared to the classic thriller. I think my own mystery/triller, A POINTED DEATH, falls in this category.

I also noticed quite a few authors who are writing amateur sleuth books that feature a female protagonist from the world of science, technology or medicine. I am not talking about forensic pathologists and other science-trained individuals who work in law enforcement and detection. I mean science types who are in the private sector or the academy. This is a great trend that reflects the progress women have made and the changed face of the modern American workplace.

I've come up with a designation for this emerging sub genre, the SASSIES, for Scientific Amateur Sleuth Sisters. If you are an author who fits in the SASS grouping, drop me an email. (russellwrites@gmail.com)

To all my friends at LCC, see you next year in Sacramento CA!

The Femme Fatales on Thrillzies