William G. Tapply

I just saw on the Writer Magazine online of the death of William G. Tapply. Now, I have never read Tapply. No, not completely true.

Truth was I heard of him first through my mother. She’s a reader of mystery novels. Me, not so much, yet anyway. Mom always warned me that one day I would no longer be as interested in romance and I’d turn to mystery, too.

I’ve been seeing her point more and more lately, but not because I’m not interested in romance but because I am not finding the kind I most love to read. Let’s just say I haven’t been happy with the books I’ve found. So many of my favorite authors are writing romantic suspense and mysteries now. And that’s all right. Not my favorite, but all right, but more I wonder if because I have spent so much time dissecting how to write romance and/of novels it’s harder to really wow me. I know it’s been forever since I’ve found a book that kept me up reading all night.

Back to Tapply. He was one of my mother’s favorite authors and his new releases were few and far between. I spent many a Saturday afternoon at Barnes and Noble looking for his latest for my mother. Now, the criteria in my mother’s opinion for a good book, is good writing. She likes good dialogue and writing that is pitch-perfect. So after looking for his books for her over the years his name became familiar and when I noticed it I paid attention.

He wrote columns for the Writer magazine and they pulled me in. His writing and instruction was exact, clear and accessible. He never stopped writing, though he had been sick for some time, according to a note on his website— www.williamtapply.com . He has five books of fiction and essays coming out this next year and an article in the October Writer magazine.

Check out his website, there is a wonderful essay called Invisible Writing. I read it before, quite some time ago, but it bears reading again and often. I will miss his instructional articles in the Writer. From reading them I always said, if I could ever do a weeklong workshop, I would want Tapply to be the instructor.

I can’t have that, but he leaves behind over 40 books, mysteries, collected essays on fishing, a book about his father, H.G. “Tap” Tapply, who wrote for Field & Stream. Reading his work ought to be an education, but there is also “The Elements of Mystery Fiction” about the writing process.

In his Boston Globe obituary it mentions how generous he was, how he took time to help young writers. Sounds like a good man, a good writer, a good life.