▪ I get a lot of comments from readers about Lydia Chin's mother. Everyone, it seems, either knows someone with a mother like Chin Yong-Yun or has one. (My favorite comment ever at a book signing: a young Chinese man who said, "I only have one question. When did you meet my mother?") "Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case" was my first shot at giving Ma Chin her own voice, at seeing things from her side of the kitchen table. It probably won't be the last; I have a feeling she's just getting started.
Mickey Spillane was the best-selling American mystery writer of the twentieth century. He introduced Mike Hammer in I, the Jury (1947), which sold in the millions, as did the six tough mysteries that soon followed. The controversial PI has been the subject of a radio show, a comic strip, two television series, and numerous films, notably director Robert Aldrich's seminal film noir, Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
Luis Alberto Urrea is the author of several books, among them In Search of Snow, The Hummingbird's Daughter (winner of the Kiriyama Prize), and The Devil's Highway (a finalist for the Pulitzer and winner of the Lannan Literary Award). He was born in Mexico and currently lives in the Chicago area, where he teaches at the University of Illinois. His story "Amapola," from Phoenix Noir, won the Edgar Award in 2010.
▪ This story began its life as a set of notes dating back to my time as writer in residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I was taken-as who wouldn't be-by zydeco music and Cajun/Creole culture. I was a huge Beau Jocque fan, and when I finally met him and talked one night, I knew a zydeco story had to happen. I jotted notes for a "literary" fiction. What is that? I knew ol' Chester Richard was my hero, but beyond that… I had no idea. My advice to all lazy writers is to team up with David Corbett. He writes like some well-oiled machine and apparently doesn't mind doing a year's worth of research in one night.
