Little Big Crimes Review: OBF, Inc, by Bernice L. McFadden

Little Big Crimes: OBF, Inc, by Bernice L. McFadden: "OBF, Inc," by Bernice L. McFadden, in Cutting Edge, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, Akashic Press, 2019. The publisher sent me...

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 72

As posted by Peter DiChellis to our SMFS list….

This week’s blog dishes the straight dope with links to a devilish dose of reviews, releases, free reads, and more.

Includes: Compare notes as four reviewers converge on Tough 2: Crime Stories and Mystery Weekly magazine.

Plus: Encore! EQMM Editor Janet Hutchings discusses a recent submission trend, a type of mystery she often doesn't like, 1st vs. 3rd POV, and her view on story endings.

A short walk down a dark street (#72). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.

https://shortwalkdarkstreet.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/short-walk-72/

Best wishes,

Peter

SleuthSayers: KDP Paperback Decisions by R. T. Lawton

SleuthSayers: KDP Paperback Decisions: by R.T. Lawton Warning. Today's offering may give you a headache. It covers number of pages, font and font size, cost of printing, cos...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Joan Leotta

SMFS list member Joan Leotta’s short story, An Ancient Recipe: Mystery Short Story, appears today in the latest issue of Kings River Life Magazine. You can read it here.

Ladies of Mystery Blog: Writing without Pen in Hand by Susan Oleksiw

Ladies of Mystery Blog: Writing without Pen in Hand by Susan Oleksiw

SMFS Short Story Saturdays: Jacqueline Seewald

Each Saturday, we feature a SMFS list member whose work can be read online for free. These short stories are at least a year old.  

For SMFS Short Story Saturdays today, Jacqueline Seewald shares the 2014 published short story, “Murder and Money” archived at Over My Dead Body!  

If you would like to be included and are a member of the SMFS list at yahoo groups, email the link to your story to KevinRTipple at Verizon dot net. If you are not a member, this would be a good time to check us out at Yahoo Groups.

SleuthSayers Blog: A little about Private Eyes by O'Neil De Noux

SleuthSayers: A little about Private Eyes: by O'Neil De Noux We all know there is no one-way to write, no one type of private eye, no rules – except to write clearly. In ...

Jacqueline Seewald: 19 Tips on Choosing Titles: What’s in a Name?

Jacqueline Seewald: 19 Tips on Choosing Titles: What’s in a Name? 

SMFS Member Publication News: Toni Kelner

SMFS list member Toni L. P. Kelner, writing as Leigh Perry, sends word today that her book, The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking: A Family Skeleton Mystery, was released Tuesday, September 24rth.  Published by Diversion Books, the read is available in paperback and digital formats from Amazon, the publisher, and other vendors.

Synopsis:

Sid is back with a murder that’s sure to send a chill down your spine in Leigh Perry’s sixth Family Skeleton mystery.

Dr. Georgia Thackery is back at home with her parents after finding a new adjunct position at Bostock College. Everyone is excited for their first family Christmas with nothing to hide. Why? Because Georgia’s daughter Madison is now in the know about Sid, their walking, talking family skeleton.

But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog Byron goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again.

Except that all of Sid’s bones are present and accounted for. 

This bone is from somebody else, and when they trace Byron’s trail to an overgrown lot nearby, they find the rest of the skeleton. It’s the normal kind, not moving or telling jokes, and when the police come to take charge, they’re sure it was murder.

And one of Georgia’s adjunct friends could be implicated.

With tensions stirring at the college and everyone hiding a secret or two, Sid and Georgia must uncover the truth before the ghost of a Christmas past strikes again.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Debra Goldstein

SMFS list member Debra Goldstein sends word that her book, Two Bites Too Many: A Sarah Blair Mystery, was released Tuesday, September 24rth.  Published by Kensington Books, the read is available in mass market paperback, audio and digital formats from Amazon, the publisher, and other vendors.

Synopsis:

Far from a domestic goddess, Sarah Blair would rather catch bad guys than slave over a hot stove. But when a dangerous murder boils over in Wheaton, Alabama, catching the killer means leaving her comfort zone …
 
Things are finally looking up for Sarah Blair following her unsavory divorce. Settled into a cozy carriage house with her sassy Siamese cat, RahRah, she has somehow managed to hang on to her modest law firm receptionist job and—if befriending flea-bitten strays at the local animal shelter counts—lead a thriving social life. For once, Sarah almost has it together more than her enterprising twin, Emily, a professional chef whose efforts to open a gourmet restaurant have hit a real dead end …
 
When the president of the town bank and city council is murdered after icing Emily’s business plans, all eyes are on the one person who left the scene with blood on her hands—the Blair girls’ sharp-tongued mother, Maybelle. Determined to get her mom off the hook ASAP, Sarah must collect the ingredients of a deadly crime to bring the true culprit to justice. But as neighbors turn against her family, can she pare down the suspects before another victim lands on the chopping block?
 
 Includes quick and easy recipes!

SMFS Member Publication News: John M. Floyd

SMFS list member John M. Floyd has another mystery short story appearing in the Woman’s World Magazine. His latest mystery short story, “Suzie’s Special Clues” is in the current issue (September 30, 2019) of  Woman’s World Magazine. The publication is available on some newsstands and by subscription.

Members are reminded that Mr. Floyd shared in his piece at SleuthSayers Blog how he goes about writing short stories for this market. Well worth reading, especially if you are looking to break into this market.

Little Big Crimes Review: Pentecost by Eve Fisher

Little Big Crimes: Pentecost, by Eve Fisher: "Pentecost," by Eve Fisher, in  Me Too Stories,  edited by Elizabeth Zelvin, Level Best Books, 2019. This is the second appear...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Edith Maxwell

Today is publication day for SMFS list member Edith Maxwell’s new novella, Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse appearing in the three novella collection, Christmas Cocoa Murder. Writing as Maddie Day, the read is published by Kensington Books. The book is available in print, audio, and digital formats, from Amazon and other vendors.  Edith Maxwell’s novella is part of her well established Country Store Mysteries Series.

Synopsis:

'Tis the season for hot chocolate and mouthwatering treats. But sometimes too much of a good thing can be downright deadly . . .
 
CHRISTMAS COCOA MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR
Siobhán O’Sullivan’s hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she’s pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics—or worse—that led to his death by chocolate? 
 
CHRISTMAS COCOA AND A CORPSE by MADDIE DAY
When local businessman Jed Greenberg is found dead with a Chocolate lab whimpering over his body, the police start sniffing around Robbie Jordan’s country restaurant for answers. Was it something in Robbie’s hot cocoa that killed Jed, or was it Cocoa the dog? As the suspects pile as high as her holiday tree, Robbie attempts to get to the bottom of the sickly-sweet murder . . .
 
DEATH BY HOT COCOA by Alex Erickson
A Christmas-themed escape game seems like the perfect pre-holiday treat for bookstore café owner Krissy Hancock and her best friend. But when the host is found dead in a pool of hot cocoa, it’s up to Krissy and her team to catch the killer—or escape before getting killed.
 
There’s nothing like a hot cup of murder to warm up the holiday season!

SMFS Member Publication News: Barry Ergang

SMFS list member Barry Ergang’s poem, “Paradise Costs” is published online today at The 5-2.  The piece appears at the long running site operated by SMFS list member and former officer, Gerald So.

Guest Post: How A Novelist Writes Short Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Zelvin

Please welcome back Elizabeth Zelvin to our SMFS Blog. Among other things, Elizabeth Zelvin is the editor for the Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology recently published by Level Best Books. 

How A Novelist Writes Short Crime Fiction

Elizabeth Zelvin

I hope it goes without saying that every writer writes in the way that suits, er, them, as we say in the 21st century, best. But here are a few tips on craft from this writer, who writes two series that include both novels and short crime fiction as well as standalone short stories.

My Bruce Kohler series is a straightforward mystery series. In every case, an amateur sleuth and his two sidekicks address the familiar pattern of crime, investigation, and solution. A novel is too long to proceed in a straight line. Once the investigation starts, complexity must be added: revelations about the victim, unexpected witness and suspects, subplots that may involve the protagonist's personal life rather than the murder. Another murder may lead to further plot twists.

A story of 3,000 to 5,000 words can be more streamlined. I've never found such a space too cramped to set a scene, develop character, and deliver scenes of witty dialogue and emotional intensity. But the plot doesn't have to be extended to sustain the reader's attention, so complications aren't needed. As long as the writing is tight and the pace brisk, one crime, one investigation, and one solution are enough in a traditional detective story.

I use the Rule of Three in many of my short stories. I did it by instinct first and named it afterwards, when I realized it worked from story to story and in a variety of forms. The first time, my protagonist Bruce makes the mistake of letting a charming but feckless Australian sleep on his sofa. The Australian brings a different woman home with him every night until the morning Bruce finds him dead on the sofa. The women who participated in the victim's one-night stands are obvious suspects. But how many? And how about clues? I had Bruce find small items the Australian left in the pockets of a sweatshirt—Bruce’s sweatshirt.

One, two, three. Three clues, three suspects to investigate. Just right, like the porridge in Baby Bear's bowl, his chair, and the bed where the three bears found Goldilocks sleeping. In fact—and I say this with pure hindsight—look at fairytales and folk tales, and we see that three has always been the magic number, the number that makes a story work.

In a standalone story I wrote a few years later, I used the Rule of Three in a different way. I set myself the challenging task of blending several disparate elements. The setting is Queens, the second least interesting borough of New York City. It’s a story of domestic violence and betrayal. It’s the coming of age story of the protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy. And the backdrop is a true story that has always haunted me, the execution of the Rosenbergs, leaving their children—New York Jewish kids my age—orphans.

In the first draft of my story, the protagonist is approached by a mysterious man whom most readers will identify as an FBI agent. The man asks questions about the boy's parents' political activities, and the boy responds because he is angry at his father. When I reread the draft, I realized it lacked tension. So I applied the Rule of Three. In the revised version, the agent approaches the boy three times. I made sure the second encounter had more emotional impact than the first. And the third time, after a violent scene at home, the boy succumbs.

In detective fiction, one advantage of short stories over novels is that not every procedural detail must be included. The writer can leave out what Elmore Leonard called "the parts that readers tend to skip." You don't have to study maps of the town where you set your scene or email your cop friends to be sure you've used the right caliber ammunition in the handgun found near the body. You can even get away with not explaining how the investigators get from the moment of revelation to the arrest. In my first Bruce story, Bruce's Proustian moment is the smell of garlic—and in the next sentence, the cops are knocking on the killer's door.

In a novel, I'd have had to write a believable scene in which Bruce convinces the police his reasoning is correct and gives them probable cause to search the suspect's apartment. In a short story, it doesn't matter, as long as you end with a bang. The bang can be supplied by either the hallowed "twist at the end" that everyone knows a short story requires or, just as good, in my opinion, a cracking good punch line. In a twist, the action or deduction takes a clever turn. In a punch line, either the narrative or a character delivers a zinger. This may be done with language, or twist and punch line may be combined in the sudden revelation of some new aspect of character. The example that comes to mind is the end of the movie Some Like It Hot: "I'm a man!" "Well, nobody's perfect." The only real criterion is that it leaves the reader gasping.

Elizabeth Zelvin ©2019

Elizabeth Zelvin is the author of the Bruce Kohler Mysteries and the Mendoza Family Saga. Her short stories have been nominated three times each for the Derringer and Agatha awards and have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, among others. She has edited two anthologies: Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology and Where Crime Never Sleeps: Murder New York Style 4. Visit her author website at http://elizabethzelvin.com.  

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 71

As posted by SMFS list member Peter DiChellis….

This week’s blog piles it on with links to an awesome stack of reviews, releases, free reads, and more.

Includes: Free stories from Akashic Books anthologies Kansas City Noir, Mumbai Noir, and The Speed Chronicles.

Plus: Excerpts from the upcoming issue of Occult Detective Quarterly. And a Bill Pronzini review of Anthony Boucher’s best mystery stories.

A short walk down a dark street (#71). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.

https://shortwalkdarkstreet.wordpress.com/2019/09/22/short-walk-71/

Best wishes,

Peter

SMFS Short Story Saturdays: Lisa de Nikolits

Each Saturday, we feature a SMFS list member whose work can be read online for free. These short stories are at least a year old.  

For SMFS Short Story Saturdays today, list member Lisa de Nikolits shares her November 2017 published short story, “Burning Bridges” archived at Open Book.

If you would like to be included and are a member of the SMFS list at yahoo groups, email the link to your story to KevinRTipple at Verizon dot net. If you are not a member, this would be a good time to check us out at Yahoo Groups.

Something Is Going To Happen Blog: “The Secret Lagoon” (by Josh Pachter)

Something Is Going To Happen Blog: “The Secret Lagoon” (by Josh Pachter)

Lev Raphael's Blog: How Should Women Authors Write About Crimes Against Women? by Elozabeth Zelvin

Lev Raphael's Blog: How Should Women Authors Write About Crimes Against Women? by Elozabeth Zelvin

SleuthSayers: Pithy and Thought-Provoking...or Not by Michael Bracken

SleuthSayers: Pithy and Thought-Provoking...or Not: by Michael Bracken I’ve been so busy the past month that I’ve not had time to draft something pithy and thought-provoking. In August, I ...

Little Big Crimes Review: Stumped by Gary Pettigrew

Little Big Crimes: Stumped, by Gary Pettigrew: "Stumped," by  Gary Pettigrew, in Mystery Weekly Magazine, September 2019. A charming historical mystery this week.  Let's...

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 70

As posted by SMFS member Peter DiChellis to our list…

This week’s blog treks bad-ass back roads with links to a fearsome clan of reviews, releases, free reads, and more.

Includes: A review of a Daniel Woodrell collection and two rural noir free-reads from Tough.

Plus: Make your characters more interesting with lies.

A short walk down a dark street (#70). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.

https://shortwalkdarkstreet.wordpress.com/2019/09/15/short-walk-70/

Best wishes,

Peter

SMFS Member Publishing News: Joe Walker

SMFS list member Joe Walker’s short story, “Gnat” appears in the new anthology, Life Is Short And Then You Die: Mystery Writers of America Presents First Encounters with Murder. Published by Macmillan, the read is available in both print and digital formats from Amazon and other vendors.

Synopsis:

Life Is Short and Then You Die is the Mystery Writers of America's first teen anthology, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Adolescence is a time of “firsts.” First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. The first taste of adult responsibilities, and the first look at an independent life away from both the restrictions and the security of home.

And in this case, a very different type of “first”: murder.

This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term “backstabbing” too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

Contributors include Barry Lyga, Caleb Roehrig, Emmy Laybourne, Jonathan Maberry, R.L. Stine, Rachel Vincent, Y.S. Lee, and more!

SMFS Member Publishing News: Frank Zafiro

SMFS list member, Frank Zafiro, writing as Frank Saverio, has a short story in the new anthology, The Wand That Rocks The Cradle: Magical Stories Of Family. Published by Lagrange Books, the read is available in both print and digital formats at Amazon. Mr. Zafiro’s short story is titled,  “To Find A Peach.”

Synopsis:

Warm, heartbreaking, tender, poignant—eight fantasy stories of the family.Family is filled with magic. It can be the warm magic of love, with bonds that can never be broken; it can be the bitter magic of old resentments and keen disappointments. It can be achingly beautiful or terrifyingly cruel.Explore the hidden depths of family in this anthology of stories from celebrated and award-winning authors. Transport yourself to dazzling settings like an isolated lake cottage watched over by a mysterious protector, a reality-TV show about a family of witches, a world besieged by dragon-wielding terrorists, an oddly relaxing coffee shop, and New Orleans after the rise of the unquiet dead.Experience the wonder and magic of family.The Wand that Rocks the Cradle features the following stories:“Bellwethers Know Best,” by Marion Deeds“Legacy,” by Joanna Michal Hoyt“Coffee Break,” by W.O. Hemsath“She That Was So Proud and Wild,” by Misha Burnett“Dead in First Grade,” by P.L. Sundeson“The Dragon Detector,” by Elana Gomel“The Lake Cottage, by Michelle F Goddard“To Find a Peach,” by Frank SaverioWith an introduction by editor Oren Litwin.

SMFS Short Story Saturdays: Richie Narvaez

Each Saturday, we feature a SMFS list member whose work can be read online for free. These short stories are at least a year old.  

For SMFS Short Story Saturdays today, list member Richie Narvaez shares his May 2018  published short story, “Withhold the Dawn” archived at CrimeReads.

If you would like to be included and are a member of the SMFS list at yahoo groups, email the link to your story to KevinRTipple at Verizon dot net. If you are not a member, this would be a good time to check us out at Yahoo Groups.

Writers Who Kill: Writers and Mistakes by Warren Bull

Writers Who Kill: Writers and Mistakes by Warren Bull: Writers and Mistakes by Warren Bull Image by Daniela Holzer on Upsplash To be human is to err. Authors are people too. Y...

Something Is Going To Happen: “Too Good to Be True?” (by Anne van Doorn)

Something Is Going To Happen: “Too Good to Be True?” (by Anne van Doorn)

The First Two Pages: “Yorkshire Ripper” by Mysti Berry

The First Two Pages: “Yorkshire Ripper” by Mysti Berry

SMFS Member Publishing News: Edith Maxwell

Today is publication day for SMFS list member Edith Maxwell’s new book, Judge Thee Not: A Quaker Midwife Mystery. Fifth in the series, the book is published by Beyond The Page Publishing. It is available at Amazon and other vendors in print and digital formats.

Synopsis:

Quaker midwife Rose Carroll must fight bias and blind assumptions to clear the name of a friend when a murderer strikes in nineteenth-century Massachusetts . . .

No stranger to judgmental attitudes in her small town of Amesbury, Quaker midwife Rose Carroll is nonetheless stunned when society matron Mayme Settle publicly snubs her good friend Bertie for her nontraditional lifestyle. When Mrs. Settle is later found murdered—and a supposed witness insists Bertie was spotted near the scene of the crime—the police have no choice but to set their sights on the slighted woman as their main suspect.

Rose is certain her friend is innocent of the heinous deed, and when Rose isn’t busy tending to her duties as midwife, she enlists the help of a blind pregnant client—who’s endured her own share of prejudice—to help her sift through the clues. As the two uncover a slew of suspects tied to financial intrigues, illicit love, and an age-old grudge over perceived wrongs, Rose knows she’ll have to bring all her formidable intelligence to bear on solving the crime. Because circumstantial evidence can loom large in small minds, and she fears her friend will soon become the victim of a grave injustice…

Little Big Crimes Review: The Dead Man in the Pearl Gray Hat by Bruce W. Mos...

Little Big Crimes: The Dead Man in the Pearl Gray Hat,by Bruce W. Mos...: "The Dead Man in the Pearl Gray Hat," by Bruce W. Most, in Mystery Weekly Magazine, August 2019. Lillian de la Torre was the ...

SMFS Member Publication News: Larry Chavis

SMFS Vice President Larry Chavis’ poem, “The Hunt,” is published online today at The 5-2. Inspired by a form of Welsh poetry, the piece is Mr. Chavis’ first poetry publication at the long running site operated by SMFS list member and former officer, Gerald So.

Guest Post: How to Make A Story: What to Put In, What to Take Out by Elizabeth Zelvin

Please welcome back Elizabeth Zelvin to our SMFS Blog. Among other things, Elizabeth Zelvin is the editor for the Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology recently published by Level Best Books. 

How to Make A Story: What to Put In, What to Take Out

Elizabeth Zelvin

The topic of my new anthology, Me Too Short Stories, is crimes against women, tales of retribution and healing. I had two agendas. One was to give a voice to women and girls who had survived abuse and violence. The second was to do it through fiction—specifically, through short stories. I had a story of my own already written, a perfect fit for what I had in mind.

When I started reading submissions, I found that some of them were too linear. A woman was victimized, she had her feelings, she reacted. Such a narrative was heartfelt, but it wasn't a story. I was looking for stories in which something happened. I wanted plot, craft, and context, not fictionalized versions of personal testimony, heartfelt and powerful as such testimony can be.

Full disclosure: as I realized the above distinction between the manuscripts I was accepting and those I was rejecting, I realized that I'd only written half a story. Back to the keyboard! I left the opening pages as I'd written them, introducing my protagonist. Then I added a second protagonist and started to develop her very different story. By the time I was done revising, while the two main characters never meet, their destinies are on a collision course.

I still had something to learn with that particular story. I asked a respected writer of short stories for a critique.

"This scene is too long," he said. "You don't want to give the reader time to guess what happens. Besides, the scene is close to the end, so you need to pick up the pace.”

“How do I fix it?” Some critters make you solve it yourself, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

This is the paragraph you can do without," he said.

He was absolutely right. As an editor, I help others with pace all the time. But sometimes I still need someone else to point it out in my own story.

It wasn’t the first time. I was in a workshop group that was giving critique of one of my novels. Chapter One started with the telephone ringing. The protagonist answers, rolls out of bed, throws his clothes on, runs down the stairs, and dashes out into the rain, where two friends are waiting in their car.

Once again, it was a short story writer, another master of the brief, who put a finger a third of the way down the page and said, "The story starts here."

Out came everything from the ringing of the phone to the opening of the car door. The first two words of the published novel are, "I scootched." Thanks to that writer’s finger, the book starts with a surprising verb instead of a series of boring actions that the reader doesn’t need to know.

Elizabeth Zelvin ©2019

Elizabeth Zelvin is the author of the Bruce Kohler Mysteries and the Mendoza Family Saga. Her short stories have been nominated three times each for the Derringer and Agatha awards and have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, among others. She has edited two anthologies: Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology and Where Crime Never Sleeps: Murder New York Style 4. Visit her author website at http://elizabethzelvin.com.  

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 69

As posted by SMFS list member Peter DiChellis…

This week’s blog serves up the hot stuff with links to a smokin’ assortment of reviews, releases, free reads, and more.

Includes: All the latest free-to-read flash fiction from Mystery Tribune, and reviews of two issues of cutting edge crime ‘zine Switchblade.

Plus: Interviews with the editors of Tough and The Strand Magazine (for those who missed them on the SMFS blog).

A short walk down a dark street (#69). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.

https://shortwalkdarkstreet.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/short-walk-69/

Best wishes,

Peter

SMFS Members Published in the Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology

Numerous SMFS list members are published in the just released, Me Too Short Stories: An Anthology. Published by Level Best Books, the read was edited by SMFS list member Elizabeth Zelvin. The book is available in print and digital formats from Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members in the anthology are:

Ana Brazil with  “Miss Evelyn Nesbit Presents.”

Diana Catt with “The Final Recall.”

Dayle A. Dermatis with “Women Who Love Dogs.”

Eve Fisher with “Pentecost.”

Lyn Hesse with “Jewel’s Hell.”

VS Kemanis with “No Outlet.”

Madeline McEwen with “Stepping on Snakes.”

Ann Rawson with “A Dog’s Life.”

Carol Sojka with “Chrissie.”

Elizabeth Zelvin with “Never Again.”

Synospis:

What do women want? A voice. To be heard. Respect. To be believed. Justice. To be both safe and free. The women in these stories have daughters, sisters, friends. The minister worries about her parishioners. The banshee worries about the Hippocratic Oath. The microbiologist worries about her obligation to the dead. They will use any means to protect themselves and those they love: a childish jingle, a skillet full of cornbread, a candle, their own quick wits. We cannot ignore their voices.

SMFS Short Story Saturdays: Jim Doherty

Each Saturday, we feature a SMFS list member whose work can be read online for free. These short stories are at least a year old.  

For SMFS Short Story Saturdays today, list member Jim Doherty, writing as Scott Morrison, shares the May 2003 published short story, “Red-Handed” that originally appeared on Hand Held Crime.  Thanks to the Wayback Machine Internet Archive you can read it.

If you would like to be included and are a member of the SMFS list at yahoo groups, email the link to your story to KevinRTipple at Verizon dot net. If you are not a member, this would be a good time to check us out at Yahoo Groups.

Writers Who Kill: Idioms and Their Meanings with Sources Noted Too b...

Writers Who Kill: Idioms and Their Meanings with Sources Noted Too b...: Idioms and Their Meanings with Sources Noted Too by Warren Bull Image by Monkgogi Samson on Upsplash From:     ...

Jacqueline Seewald: Tips on Overcoming Writer’s Block

Jacqueline Seewald: Tips on Overcoming Writer’s Block: As a writer, there are times when my creativity dries up like a parched desert. Writer’s block is something most authors experience at on...

What Editors Want You To Know: Check this Out! Strand Magazine

What Editors Want You To Know: Check this Out! Strand Magazine

SMFS Member Publishing News: Jack Bates

SMFS list member Jack Bates’ short story, “Bonne Chance Confidential” appears in the new anthology, Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline: Dieselpunk and Decopunk Fairy Tales. Published by World Weaver Press, the read is available in both print and digital formats from Amazon, the publisher, and other vendors.

Synospis:

Dieselpunk and decopunk are alternative history re-imaginings of (roughly) the WWI and WWII eras: tales with the grit of roaring bombers and rumbling tanks, of 'We Can Do It' and old time gangsters, or with the glamour of flappers and Hollywood starlets, smoky jazz and speakeasies. The stories in this volume add fairy tales to the mix, transporting classic tales to this rich historical setting.

Two young women defy the devil with the power of friendship. The pilot of a talking plane discovers a woman who transforms into a swan every night and is pulled into a much more personal conflict than the war he’s already fighting. A pair of twins with special powers find themselves in Eva Braun’s custody and wrapped up in a nefarious plan. A team of female special agents must destroy a secret weapon–the spindle–before it can be deployed. Retellings of The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Monkey King, Swan Lake, Pinocchio and more are all showcased alongside some original fairy tale-like stories. 

Featuring stories by Zannier Alejandra, Alicia K. Anderson, Jack Bates, Patrick Bollivar, Sara Cleto, Amanda C. Davis, Jennifer R. Donohue, Juliet Harper, Blake Jessop, A.A. Medina, Lizz Donnelly, Nellie Neves, Wendy Nikel, Brian Trent, Alena Van Arendonk, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sarah Van Goethem, and Robert E. Vardeman.