Sunday, February 28, 2021

Little Big Crimes Review: Katerina Goes to Studio City by Thomas Perry

Little Big Crimes: Katerina Goes to Studio City, by Thomas Perry:  "Katerina Goes to Studio City," by Thomas Perry, in The Strand Magazine, LXII, 2020 . This story puts me in an awkward position....

SleuthSayers: Come Along for the Ride by R. T. Lawton

SleuthSayers: Come Along for the Ride: So, I'm sitting with my buddy Mike(Huey pilot and one-time deputy sheriff) on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, treating ourselves to rum ...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Annie Reed

SMFS list member Annie Reed has two stories published in The Year of the Cat anthology titled, The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Artistic Sensibilities. Published by WMG Publishing, the anthology is available in print and eBook formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. Annie Reed’s two stories in the anthology are “Essy and the Christmas Kitten" and "Paintings of Cats by Mice."

 

Synopsis: 

Cats and art mix in odd ways, at odd times. 

Scratch the surface on just about any well-known author and you will find a cat, or more likely, many cats. Not just authors. Painters, composers, dancers, and magicians all seem to need cats at some time or other. 

Cats inspire art. 

Or damage a piece of art. 

Or sit on a keyboard and create weird writing all their own. 

In this fantastic group of stories, we have cats as muse, cats falling for violinists, cats using love as an art, and even cats as feline photographers. 


Includes: 

“The Cat Who Lived in a Drainpipe” by Joan Aiken 

“I Bleed Music” by Stefon Mears 

“Pigeon Drop” by Mary A. Turzillo 

“Essy and the Christmas Kitten” by Annie Reed 

“The Secret Lives of Cats” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 

“Cat Caught in the Art” by Dean Wesley Smith 

“My Father, the Cat” by Henry Slesar 

“Paintings of Cats by Mice” by Annie Reed 

Thursday, February 25, 2021

SMFS Members Published in Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Crime In The Countryside

Several SMFS list members are published in the new, Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Crime In The Countryside. Published by Knotted Road Press, this fifth issue in the series is available in eBook and print formats at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members in the issue are:

 

Joslyn Chase with “Cromwell’s Echo.”

 

Diana Deverell with “Crete Robbers.”

 

Michele Lang with “Murder in Mountain View.”

 

Steve Liskow with “Double Whammy.”

 

Lynn Maples with “The Name of That Tune…Is Murder.” 

 

Synopsis:

Come and enjoy the cozy side of crime! Whether it's robbers in Crete or murder over the holidays, you'll find something special in this issue of Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem. 

Be sure to pick up all the past issues of Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Gerald So

SMFS list member Gerald So’s poem, “Gray” appears online at Journal of NoirCon: Retreats from Oblivion. You can read it for free here.

Little Big Crimes Review: The Tennis Church by Sophie Hannah

Little Big Crimes: The Tennis Church, by Sophie Hannah:   "The Tennis Church," by Sophie Hannah, in The C Word, Spellbound Books, 2021. The proceeds from this book go to support Britain...

Monday, February 22, 2021

SMFS Members Published in The Great Filling Station Holdup: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Jimmy Buffett

Today is publication day for the anthology, The Great Filling Station Holdup: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Jimmy Buffett. In addition to the several SMFS list members in the book, SMFS list member Josh Pachter edited the anthology and wrote the introduction. Published by Down & Out Books, the read is available in eBook and print formats at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. In alphabetical order, the SMFS members and their stories are: 

 

Michael Bracken with “Tampico Trauma.”

 

Micki Browning with “Einstein was a Surfer.”

 

John M. Floyd with “Spending Money.”

 

Leigh Lundin with “Truckstop Salvation.”

 

Laura Oles with “Everybody's on the Run.”

 

Josh Pachter with “The Great Filling Station Holdup.”

 

Lissa Redmond with “If I Could Just Get It on Paper.”

 

Elaine Viets with “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About.”

  

Editor Jopsh Pachter also created an Apple music playlist for the book. Mr. Pachter reports that, unfortunately,  Apple does not have the “Beach House on the Moon” album that includes the song, “Spending Money” which was the inspiration for Mr. Floyd’s story, “Spending Money.”

https://music.apple.com/us/ playlist/the-great-filling- station-holdup/pl.u-YvB0uDK1L3

 

Synopsis:

Jimmy Buffett is one of the great contemporary singer/songwriters, and it’s hard to imagine a citizen of Planet Earth unfamiliar with such classic hits as “Margaritaville.” Jimmy has also written novels, children’s books, memoirs, and a stage musical based on Herman Wouk’s Don’t Stop the Carnival, and his family-friendly concerts almost always sell out to audiences comprised of a mix of dedicated Parrotheads, casual fans, and newbies.

 

In The Great Filling Station Holdup, editor Josh Pachter presents sixteen short crime stories by sixteen popular and up-and-coming crime writers, each story based on a song from one of the twenty-eight studio albums Jimmy has released over the last half century, from Leigh Lundin’s take on “Truckstop Salvation” (which appeared on Jimmy’s first LP, 1970’s Down to Earth) to M.E. Browning’s interpretation of “Einstein Was a Surfer” (from Jimmy’s most recent recording, 2013’s Songs from St. Somewhere).

 

If you love Jimmy’s music or crime fiction or both, you’ll love The Great Filling Station Holdup. Mix yourself a boat drink, ask Alexa to put on a buffet of Buffett tunes, kick back, and enjoy!

Sunday, February 21, 2021

SMFS Members Published in Yellow Mama Webzine, Issue 84

Several SMFS list members are in Yellow Mama Webzine, Issue 84. The issue is online and a free read here. The SMFS list members in the issue are:

 

C. W. Blackwell with the poem, “Daybreak Over I-15.”

 

Jan Christensen with “The Map.”

 

Stephen J. Golds with the poems, “Perpetual Motion” and “The Best Ones Are the Crazy Ones.”

 

Bobby Mathews with “The Handyman.”

SleuthSayers: A Buffett Buffet by Leigh Lundin

SleuthSayers: A Buffett Buffet: Why get stoned when there’s rock? Stone crabs and rock shrimp, of course, boiling in sea water seasoned with Old Bay , served outside a rust...

Friday, February 19, 2021

SMFS Member Publishing News: John M. Floyd

SMFS list member John M. Floyd’s short story, “According to Luke” appears in the anthology, What Lies Beyond. Published by Red Penguin Books, the read is available in in print and eBook formats at Amazon. The eBook version is currently free now and 2/23/21.






Wednesday, February 17, 2021

SleuthSayers: Brand New Cliches by Robert Lopresti

SleuthSayers: Brand New Cliches:   Yesterday the March/April issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine hit the newsstand, assuming such institutions still exist.  I am de...

SleuthSayers: When Red Herrings Stink by Barb Goffman

SleuthSayers: When Red Herrings Stink: I'm going to go out on a limb and say something that may be controversial, at least among writers: Readers should understand why a red h...

SMFS Members Published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: March/April 2021

SMFS list members are published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: March/April 2021 issue. The issue is available at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are: 

 

David Dean with “Stone Coat.”


Kevin Egan with “Escape Velocity.”

 

Josh Pachter with “The City of Light.” Mr. Pachter also translated the Passport to Crime story for this issue, “A Bucharest Arrest” by Romanian author Bogdan Hrib.

 

Elizabeth Zelvin with “Who Stole the Afikomen?”

SMFS Members Published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: March/April 2021

SMFS list members are published in the Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: March/April 2021 issue. The issue is available at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are:

 

John M. Floyd with “Friends and Neighbors.”

 

R. T. Lawton with “St. Paddy’s Day.”

 

Robert Lopresti with “Shanks’s Locked Room.”

 

William Burton McCormick with “A Night of Lies, Thieves, and Thunder, Long Ago.”

 

O’Neil De Noux with “The Girl with the Gibson Girl Look.”

SMFS Member Publishing News: Terry Shames

SMFS list member Terry Shames’s short story, "Double Exposure” appears in the recently released tribute anthology, Bullets and Other Hurting Things: A Tribute to Bill Crider. Published in print and eBook formats by Down & Out Books, the read is available at Amazon and other vendors. As previously announced, the book also includes “The Ladies of Wednesday Tea” by Michael Bracken.

 

Synopsis:

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Bill Crider published more than sixty crime fiction, westerns, horror, men’s adventure and YA novels. In this collection 20 of today’s best and brightest, all friends and fans of Bill’s, come together with original stories to pay tribute to his memory. Authors include: William Kent Krueger, Bill Pronzini, Joe R. Lansdale, Patricia Abbott, Ben Boulden, Michael Bracken, Jen Conley, Brendan DuBois, Charlaine Harris, David Housewright, Kasey Lansdale, Angela Crider Neary, James Reasoner, James Sallis, Terry Shames, S. A. Solomon, Sara Paretsky, Robert J. Randisi, SJ Rozan, and Eryk Pruitt.

 

William Kent Krueger (Ordinary Grace, the Cork O’Connor series) brings us a story of romance and grift. Bill Pronzini (the Nameless Detective and Carpenter & Quincannon series) offers a taut episode of a midnight raid. Joe R. Lansdale (The Bottoms, the Hap and Leonard series) tells a tale of two hit men working through their differences. James Sallis (Drive, the Lew Griffin series) shows us how a deadly figure once helped out a man called Bill. Charlaine Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas series) reminds us to be careful of what we wish for. Sara Paretsky (the V.I. Warshawski series) shows how truly deadly a terrible storm can be.

 

These and fourteen more stories are offered here in the appreciation of our friend and colleague, Bill Crider. These stories were written for him.

SMFS Members Published in Fiction River: Chances: An Original Anthology Magazine

SMFS list members are published in Fiction River: Chances: An Original Anthology Magazine. Published by WMG Publishing, the read is available in print and eBook formats at Amazon. The SMFS list members are:

 

Michele Dean with “Fog and Memory.”

 

Dayle A. Dermatis with “An Ocean of Secrets in Her Eyes.”

 

Annie Reed with “"Baked with Love." 

 

 

Publisher Synopsis: 

Lovers take chances. History and literature both bubble over with stories of chances and mischances, of love lost as often as love won, and even of wars launched in retaliation for stolen chances and illicit rendezvous.

The stories in this volume tug at the heartstrings and tease the brain. In each of them, two fascinating people throw themselves against the whims of fate in order to find a way to live happily ever after.


Includes:

Baked with Love by Annie Reed

An Ocean of Secrets in Her Eyes by Dayle A. Dermatis

Twice Told Tales by Loren L. Coleman

Sprinters by Michael D. Britton

On Thin Ice by Daphne Crowe

Trail Run by Katie Pressa

Gun Running on Vacation by Stefon Mears

Burned Out Souls by Michael Warren Lucas

Fog and Memory by Michele Dean

Reunion by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

SMFS Member Publishing News: Michele Dean

As posted by Michele to our SMFS list...

My short romance, "Date & Switch" was today's "advent calendar" offering. If you haven't already subscribed to the spectacular, you can read it on my website for the coming week (until ~midnight Feb 21):

https://www.micheledean.com/date-and-switch/

SMFS Members Published in A Heart Full of Love: A Collection of Romantic Short Stories

SMFS members appear in the new anthology, A Heart Full of Love: A Collection of Romantic Short Stories. Published by Red Penguin Books, the read is available in print and eBook formats at Amazon. The SMFS members in the book are:

 

Suzanne Baginskie with “Crackerjack Proposal.”

 

John M. Floyd with “Elevator Music.”

 

Synopsis:

Relationships present themselves to us in many forms. While some are as short-lived as a glance across a crowded bar, others prove to be as epic as the quest for true love's kiss so often celebrated in the movies.

In this Valentine's Day inspired edition of The Red Penguin Collection, read the stories of a dozen writers who have explored love stories of all kinds—from the gooey and romantic to the most unexpected one can find in the genre. For the reader with "A Heart Full of Love" in their chest and a glass of red in their hand.

Edited by JK Larkin

Featuring the following authors, poets and playwrights:

Debbie De Louise

Suzanne Baginnskie

John M Floyd

Skye Ballantyne

Christina Hoag

Jim Tritten

William John Rostron

Steve DeWolfe

Ella Moon

Shevaun Cavanaugh Kastl

David Lange

Anita Haas

Little Big Crimes Review: Boo Radley College Prep by Karen Harrington

Little Big Crimes: Boo Radley College Prep, by Karen Harrington:   "Boo Radley College Prep," by Karen Harrington, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2021. As I have said b...

Saturday, February 13, 2021

SleuthSayers: How It's Done These Days by Robert Mangeot

SleuthSayers: How It's Done These Days: It’s 8:00am Saturday, writing day, and I’m so not ready to write. I’d been up late watching That Space Action Buddy Movie That Is Always O...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Michael Bracken

Today is publication day for the tribute anthology, Bullets and Other Hurting Things: A Tribute to Bill Crider. Published in print and eBook formats by Down & Out Books, the read includes the short story, “The Ladies of Wednesday Tea.” In addition to the publisher, the book is available at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Synopsis:

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Bill Crider published more than sixty crime fiction, westerns, horror, men’s adventure and YA novels. In this collection 20 of today’s best and brightest, all friends and fans of Bill’s, come together with original stories to pay tribute to his memory. Authors include: William Kent Krueger, Bill Pronzini, Joe R. Lansdale, Patricia Abbott, Ben Boulden, Michael Bracken, Jen Conley, Brendan DuBois, Charlaine Harris, David Housewright, Kasey Lansdale, Angela Crider Neary, James Reasoner, James Sallis, Terry Shames, S. A. Solomon, Sara Paretsky, Robert J. Randisi, SJ Rozan, and Eryk Pruitt.

 

William Kent Krueger (Ordinary Grace, the Cork O’Connor series) brings us a story of romance and grift. Bill Pronzini (the Nameless Detective and Carpenter & Quincannon series) offers a taut episode of a midnight raid. Joe R. Lansdale (The Bottoms, the Hap and Leonard series) tells a tale of two hit men working through their differences. James Sallis (Drive, the Lew Griffin series) shows us how a deadly figure once helped out a man called Bill. Charlaine Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas series) reminds us to be careful of what we wish for. Sara Paretsky (the V.I. Warshawski series) shows how truly deadly a terrible storm can be.

 

These and fourteen more stories are offered here in the appreciation of our friend and colleague, Bill Crider. These stories were written for him.

 

SMFS Member Publishing News: Gary Phillips

SMFS list member Gary Phillips' novellete, Snow Shorts #2: Thieves’ Alley is out now. Published by Ben Books, the read is available in eBook format at Amazon.

 

Synopsis:

Big John Salmon had built a new life for himself after being incarcerated. But now an old friend, an unrepentant thief was dying in a prison hospital in the high desert. Pulled back in by personal honor as the man’s family is under threat, Big John is recruited to carry off one last heist -- against a quirky billionaire’s fortified penthouse atop the Phan-Tan Casino under heavy guard. Yet the prize wasn’t money. Squeezed by forces known and unknown, Salmon once again walks down thieves’ alley as he puts his plan in motion. Calling on an edge forged in the fires of adversity might tip the odds in his favor to make it out alive…or wind up on the slab.

 

From the pages of the SNOW series comes a new Snow Short featuring Big John Salmon.

Little Big Crimes Review: Flinders' Flit by H.L. Fullerton

Little Big Crimes: Flinders' Flit, by H.L. Fullerton: "Flinders' Flit," by H.L. Fullerton, in Mystery Weekly Magazine, February 2021. The defining experience of Cassie's life ...

SleuthSayers: Writing to the Don'ts by Elizabeth Zelvin

SleuthSayers: Writing to the Don'ts: In an era when short crime fiction has far fewer and more specialized markets than in the great days when writers could actually make a livi...

Sunday, February 7, 2021

SMFS Member Publishing News: David H. Hendrickson

As posted by David to our list:

It isn't mystery (it's romance) and it's a very different type of publication. That said, my story, "Cape Cod Chips and the Goggles Guy," kicked off the Valentine's Spectacular 2021 today.


(The Spectacular provides readers with a Valentine's Day story delivered to their inbox every day from February 7-14. A year from now, the stories will be collected into an e-book anthology with three more bonus stories.


If you want a taste of what the stories are like, I've posted mine on my website where you can read it for free for the next seven days.



Friday, February 5, 2021

SMFS Members Published in Coming Through in Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd

Several SMFS list members are published in the new anthology, Coming Through in Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd. Published by Gutter Books, the read is available in print and eBook formats from Amazon. The SMFS list members in this anthology are:

 

C.W. Blackwell with “Jugband Blues.”              

 

Karen Keeley with “The Scarecrow.”

 

Jim Shaffer with "One of These Days."

 

Joseph S. Walker with "Nobody Home."

 

Synopsis:

Perhaps no other major band or artist has equaled the lyrical and musical poignancy that Pink Floyd has achieved in landmark records such as The Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall.In this, the fourth installment in Gutter Books’ Rock Anthology Series, we pay tribute to, and hopefully in some small way enhance the legend of, a band that has spoken so compellingly to— and for—millions of people searching for meaning in the modern world.Featuring some of today's most exciting authors, and edited by horror author and cancer survivor T. Fox Dunham, Coming Through in Waves weaves together a plethora of dark, strange, and intriguing images that only Pink Floyd could inspire.

SleuthSayers: Unreal Estate by Robert Lopresti

SleuthSayers: Unreal Estate:    I am working on a story set in  Bellingham, Washington, the City of Subdued Excitement, where I have lived for almost exactly half my li...

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

SleuthSayers: Do You See Me Now? by Michael Bracken

SleuthSayers: Do You See Me Now?: I am a full-time freelance writer/editor with a part-time job as marketing director for a professional orchestra. During the pandemic, the o...

Monday, February 1, 2021

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Weekly Magazine: February 2021

Several SMFS list members are published in the Mystery Weekly Magazine: February 2021 issue. The read is available in both print and eBook from the publisher and at Amazon. The SMFS members in this issue are: 

 

The “You-Solve-It” solution to last month’s “A Conventional Murder” by Peter DiChellis.

 

John Floyd with “Wanted.”

 

Steve Liskow with "Adam's Prime Rib."

 

Brian Silverman with “"Gastrofunkalicious."

 

 

Synopsis: 

At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery Weekly Magazine presents original short stories by the world’s best-known and emerging mystery writers.

The stories we feature in our monthly issues span every imaginable subgenre, including cozy, police procedural, noir, whodunit, supernatural, hardboiled, humor, and historical mysteries. Evocative writing and a compelling story are the only certainty.

Get ready to be surprised, challenged, and entertained--whether you enjoy the style of the Golden Age of mystery (e.g., Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle), the glorious pulp digests of the early twentieth century (e.g., Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler), or contemporary masters of mystery.

In this issue: In our cover story, “Ghost Eyed Gift” by Marilee Dahlman, it's late 1800s Chicago and barber Nathaniel Tall Cloud just wants to get by. Then a killer strolls in for a shave.“My Year With The Perfect Family” by Mark Nutter: A documentary filmmaker plans to film a perfect family for a year. His plan needs rethinking after he murders the mother, father, son and daughter on the first day.“Wanted” by John M. Floyd: Thirteen-year-old Eddie Webber's dog was dead, his pa was a drunk, his stepmother was a witch, and a killer outlaw was on the loose. And then things got worse …In “Flinders' Flit” by H.L. Fullerton, a woman's husband goes missing and people suspect she had something to do with it. She feels it's history repeating itself.“After Thoughts” by Edward Ahern: Waking in a hospital bed and visited by the people in his life, Jerry discovers sometimes you can't help but change the way you think.“Nightshift In Strange Rain” by Zandra Renwick: Green blood and trench coats and death in the rain—an old-fashioned murder detective and his coroner ex-flame tackle a newfangled problem in this retrofuture gumshoe tale set in a small town not at all close to you.“Jinx” by Cory Braidon: Crime and cats—bad or good luck? Big-time crooks and small-time thugs work it out.In “Adam's Prime Rib” by Steve Liskow, Randi has a date with a chef, and nothing is cut and dried … yet.In “Gastrofunkalicious” by Brian Silverman, a New York food tour guide brokers a deal to import a rare gourmet delicacy to the city. He discovers that what he carries, many will kill to possess.