The only thing as evocative as a good noir crime novel is music. So, award-winning crime writer Matt Rees thought, how about making an album of music about crime fiction? That’s what he has done and he unveils. The project’s called Poisonville, after the mispronounced location of Dashiell Hammett’s first novel “Red Harvest.” (The place was really called Personville, but Hammett’s Op learns that people call it Poisonville for a reason.) You can listen to the songs free on Matt's website. Share them. Matt found it inspiring to work on these songs. You’ll see the styles vary from industrial to rock to funk to the sound of hoboes in a speakeasy, as well as Matt's impersonations of Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed

Award-winning crime writer Matt Rees was born in Britain and lives in the Middle East. But as a lover of noir crime fiction, he's always had a soft spot for the Los Angeles of Raymond Chandler and has spent a great deal of time there. A soft spot that's almost as soft as Los Angeles itself... An outsider's witty take on Los Angeles, which Agelenos would surely describe as "deep."

A writer's identity is important to his work. Award-winning crime writer Matt Rees examines his own amusing confrontations with Italians who questioned his identity...though not as a writer.

Before I became a writer, I worked a number of crappy jobs. I hauled cement on my back, gleefully destroyed hospitals, ate meat pies, and watched homoerotic wrestling while draining a deep-fat fryer. And got paid badly for all of them. But without them, I wouldn't be the writer I am.

When I was a very young journalist in London, I had the last interview with Salman Rushdie before Khomeini pronounced his fatwa against the writer. Unfortunately I was drunk. He was rude, and so was I. Here's the story of how it happened.

Writers usually decide to be writers before they know what they might write about. In the case of Matt Rees, it was a journey from teenage isolation in Britain to the violence of the Middle East which led him to the elements of his fiction which could be true -- not just in the sense that they're based on reality, but in the sense that they show something true about the souls of the people he had come to know and most of all about himself. Here he talks about how Dashiell Hammett, journalism and teenage alienation were staging points on that journey.

As an award-winning crime writer, Matt Rees has studied the greats of the genre and lectured about how they do what they do. Here he takes his three favorite openings to crime novels -- including "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett, "The Little Sister" by Raymond Chandler, and "The Saint-Fiacre Affair" by Georges Simenon -- and examines what makes them great. Either as a writer or a reader, you'll be intrigued by his analysis.

It’s hard to tell them apart, Wolfgang Mozart and the great composer’s sister Nannerl. Both had prominent noses, mischievous eyes, and a certain naiveté to their gaze. But there was a difference. Nannerl was a girl, and that decided which of these fabulous musical talents would be remembered. Until now. Award-winning novelist Matt Rees talks about how he -- in his novel MOZART'S LAST ARIA -- and other artists are reviving the often-scorned sister of the great composer.

This is a guided meditation for writers, to help you focus on your creativity. Sit or lie down and listen with your eyes closed, doing what I suggest you do. Use it as often as you like -- daily meditation has been proven to change the structure of your brain within a couple of months. I’ve used meditation techniques to help my concentration and to build my creativity in writing my award-winning crime fiction and historical novels. I’ve also found it transformative in my daily life. I hope you do too.

I've used meditation techniques to help my concentration and to build my creativity in writing my award-winning crime fiction and historical novels. I've also found it transformative in my daily life. This podcast describes why that is and tells you a little about the guided meditation for writers I'll be doing in my next podcast. In other words, here's why you ought to do it. The next podcast will be a practical tool with which you can meditate, clear your mind, and open up your creativity.