On to the Next Chapter
Exciting Updates: Sharper Focus on Mystery Thrillers
Sterling Hayden and Marie Windsor star in Stanley Kubrick’s film noir, THE KILLING (1956). Studio photo by MPTV images.
Dear Readers and Friends of the Written Word,
Thank you for joining me on these fictional adventures of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Your comments and support keep me scribbling and plotting and I trust you receive something of value in return.
As each mystery or thriller novel leads us on to new chapters, I’m thinking it’s time to write a new one here. I’m refining my Substack to deliver more of what you love: immersive mysteries, thrillers, and noir. Moving forward, you’ll discover new serial chapters, insights about my writing process, and behind-the-curtain content—all dedicated to the genre I love.
Also, for those of who you follow my BAD POETRY MONDAY poems, I’m considering shifting the style of poetry to noir in keeping with my mystery thriller approach, if you will. I have some noir poetry in my hip pocket which some of you have read. I may resurrect those and add new ones as the muse strikes. But poetry will take a back seat to mysteries, murder, and mayhem— or bagged in the trunk of a black ‘56 Buick and dumped in Disappointment Lake somewhere in the wilds of Canada.
"Noir has a mood that everyone can feel. It's people in trouble, at night, with a little bit of wind and the right kind of music." — David Lynch, filmmaker
My completed novels will continue to be available here and I’m excited to share fresh, unpublished teaser chapters of new work as they develop. The idea of this shift in focus is to bring you more gripping tales while supporting my broader publishing goals.
On the other side of Substack, down in my scriptorium, I continue to write new mystery thriller novels for submission to traditional publishers with the wonderful encouragement and support of my literary agent Terrie Wolf, owner/founder of AKA Literary Management.
Meanwhile, let me know what mystery thriller authors you like, or what you’d like to see next. Drop your thoughts below—I read every comment and am happy to respond.
Many thanks again!
Zoltan James (ZJ Czupor)
ZJ, I've always been interested in your how to blog posts and your analysis of others' writing. I'm also a follower of your Bad Poetry Monday and enjoy what I read there. I have trouble keeping up with serial novels, although I would be interested in teaser chapters here and there. Some of my favorite authors include Deboarah Crombie, Tess Gerritsen, Tana French, Andrew and Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Ellie Griffiths, Kathleen Donnelly, Scott Graham, Mark Stevens, Marie Sutro, Ann Dominguez, Mary Birk, Sue Hinkin. When I add in the Colorado authors, the list could go on and on. I'm sure I've forgotten to include some other authors I enjoy. My TBR pile is so high, I can no longer see over it. Best wishes as you hone your blog posts into what you like. Feel free to experiment. And also, I'd love to read about you and your life as well with photos you take on your daily walks. (If you're like me, my daily life is spent in front of a computer screen, which doesn't make for very interesting material. Ha!)
This will be interesting.