Chris Diamantopoulos

'The Stooges' used to be ubiquitous, back in the '60s and '70s. They were on TV all the time, but they're not on so much anymore. Kids aren't getting the chance to watch them, not to mention the fact that kids don't really necessarily relate to black-and-white stuff.

Short stories are my favorite art form. A good one is compact and complete, a telling little slice of life, capturing a moment in time that - for the character - defines her, changes her, is the tipping point for all that will follow.

Mysteries include so many things: the noir novel, espionage novel, private eye novels, thrillers, police procedurals. But the pure detective story is where there's a detective and a criminal who's committed a murder and leaves clues for the detective and the careful reader to find.