Sandra Ruttan's Page

As the Baltimore Examiner's crime fiction columnist I've started a new series of reviews called The First 39. I review the first 39 pages of a book and determine whether or not the writer has done their job by successfully hooking the reader. If you follow the link, you'll see the first one went up last week, followed by a two-part interview with Robert Gregory Browne.… Continue

I am recovering from moving to a new house, and I hate moving. I doubt many people actually enjoy it, but I've done enough moving in the past 18 months to make me truly loathe the process. I like knowing where my things are, being able to find them when I'm looking for them, feeling a sense of comfort where I'm working and not having a long list of things to do that extends beyond the normal things I already have to do. And then there are the other things about moving - the expenses, the running… Continue

The new issue of Spinetingler is live and, as Patrick Shawn Bagley so eloquently put it, "locked and loaded". There's a double dose of short stories, plenty of reviews and interviews.

My thanks to Jack Getze, who has remained with us as the editor, and Damon Caporaso and Jay Tomio of BSC Review, who finance the… Continue

My latest post for the Examiner includes a short Q&A with Craig McDonald, who has a new book out featuring author interviews with James Crumley, Elmore Leonard, James Sallis, Lee Child, Ken Bruen and many more.

My partner has taken on the literature column for the… Continue

The full list of nominees for the 2nd Annual Spinetingler Awards has been announced. Anyone can vote online through a simple polling system until April 25. Winners will be announced April 30.

The list of nominees can be read here. The master list has a link to the polls for voting.

Congratulations to all the nominees... and especially those on Crimespace!