Mysteries are more popular today than ever, hogging bestseller lists year after year—taking up about half the spots unless you include pure thrillers (I don’t), in which case the percentage is higher. The variety of today’s mysteries is mind-boggling, ranging from the manor-house murder committed and solved over a weekend to the urban mystery in which the detective, amateur or professional, most solve a horrific crime or crimes and suffer horrific consequences in the process.  A mystery—of any type—is easier to find a literary agent for, and agents I talk to tell me mystery/suspense is easier to place, particularly if it has “crossover potential.” Which translates to its being really, really good.

''These novels are always popular in ages of great anxiety,'' says P.D. James, whose mysteries always hit the bestseller lists. ''It's a very reassuring form. It affirms the hope that we live in a rational and beneficent universe. Real-life murder is arbitrary, sordid, pathetic, and ugly. Fictional murder is not. The mystery is a kind of modern morality play. But it is a fantasy.''

Owen Laster, a literary agent with William Morris for fifty years until his retirement a few years ago (see my interview with him here), died today in Manhattan. I first knew him in the '70s, when part of my job as senior editor at Stein and Day was to take a literary agent to lunch every day. Lunch with Owen was always a high point. He loved fiction, and I thought he had great taste--because he liked the kind of stories and writing I liked. When I founded this company in 1980 and started pitching books I loved to Owen, he was more than receptive and quick to respond. And any client he took on could expect plenty of personal attention despite the size of the agency and the fame of Owen's big clients.

He talked to me about connecting with stories. He said that if we were excited about something, that was a "shortcut" for him and that if he connected with the story he might then find a publishing editor who would. I miss the connection with the connector.

STILL MISSING debuted on The New York Times extended bestseller list, where it has now stayed for three weeks as of August 1st!

Read more about Chevy Stevens and STILL MISSING, or follow her on twitter (@chevystevens) to keep up with all the latest news. Looking for a great read once you've finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? Try STILL MISSING. You won't be disappointed!

In one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons a cat is maniacally clawing an upholstered chair, obviously not for the first time. In the caption its owner explains to her guests: "We believe that in a former life she was an editor."

Over the forty-five years I've been an editor, I've met plenty of people who think my job is to tear writers' manuscripts to shreds. Other people think I correct spelling and punctuation and grammar, catch typos, and make sure that if the heroine began an evening wearing a blue sweater it hasn't turned green by the time she comes home.

I've left the ancient Blue Ridge mountains surrounding my home in Asheville, North Carolina, for the young ones surrounding Tucson, Arizona, to spend Thanksgiving with Ross and visit with the home office staff. Boy, are they smart and cool and fun to hang out with!

We've been making sexy plans for our thirtieth anniversary celebrations in 2010 and cooking up other big projects too. The one I'm most excited about is DIALOGUE FOR FICTION WRITERS, which Ross at last has time to co-author with me.

Literary agent Owen Laster retired from the William Morris Literary Agency after 45 years during which he represented many of the agency's biggest clients. Editorial Department founder Renni Browne has known him since the 1970s, when she was a senior editor for Stein and Day.  

Most fiction writers begin a novel or short story by coming up with characters firmly in mind and then building a story around them—or by coming up with a plot and then building characters to play the various roles it requires. It’s not really that simple, of course: an unruly character may at some point dictate a change in your plot, or a good plot development may dictate a change in one or more of your characters. But you’re still likely to begin the writing process with your characters or plot worked out in your mind, at least to some extent.

In an entry to our recent Arizona State Writers’ Contest, a man is driving to San Diego with the servant girl he’s just given a Rolex watch—a girl who gave him something he valued much more:

Amir’s assignment had been to gain access to Bonnie Becker’s house, using Marie’s position as a live-in domestic with lawful possession of the keys and codes for all of the doors, gates, and alarms. Marie had given them to him without hesitation.  She was in love with him – and besides, she would still be a prostitute in Juarez if he hadn’t rescued her last New Year’s Eve. Nearly every prostitute wished for a prince to take her away from a miserable life on the street.  Marie had actually found one.

by Renni Browne

What you might hear:

“Publishing-house editors don’t want to read first-novel submissions.”
“Literary agents don’t want to take on unknown writers.”
“Publishers only want novelists who have a good track record.”
“If by a miracle you get a first novel published, it’ll sell 500 copies to your friends and relatives.”
“There’s no place for first novels in today’s bottom-line-oriented publishing scene.”

Would it surprise you to learn that not one of these statements is true? Although having a first novel published is always a long shot, it happens. And there are steps you can take to dramatically improve your odds. Let’s take the received wisdom above and demythologize it.