From his Q & A with Larry D. Sweazy:
Do you feel like you ever have to defend yourself for writing genre fiction?Read the Page 69 Test entries for Crider's A Mammoth Murder, Murder Among the OWLS, Of All Sad Words, Murder in Four Parts, and Murder in the Air as well as an excellent write-up about Dan Rhodes on the big screen at "My Book, The Movie."
Never. It’s what I like to read, and it’s what I like to write. I’ve never even thought about a defense, though maybe I should. I do have a Ph.D. in English, so I’ve read and studied a lot of great literary fiction. On the other hand, I wrote my dissertation on private-eye fiction, and I never felt a need to defend myself for doing that, either.
Why do you write mysteries?
As I said above, mysteries are what I like to read, and when I started to write, it seemed like the natural thing to do. I’ve written a lot of westerns, though, and some horror novels. And a few kids’ books. I like to write all those things, but I keep coming back to the mysteries.
What was the last good western you read?
I liked Redemption, Kansas, by James Reasoner a lot. I read...[read on]
Also see Steve Hockensmith's Q & A with Bill Crider.
Visit Bill Crider's website and blog.
--Marshal Zeringue