Something Is Going To Happen: “The Importance of Titles” (by Josh Pachter)
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
SleuthSayers: The Man Who Almost Wasn't There by Robert Lopresti
SleuthSayers: The Man Who Almost Wasn't There: I have been having trouble with a story I am thinking about writing. Nothing odd about that, but the type of trouble is unusual for me. ...
Writers Who Kill: An Interview with Alicia Beckman (Leslie Budewitz) by E. B. Davis
Writers Who Kill: An Interview with Alicia Beckman (Leslie Budewitz)...: When four women separated by tragedy reunite at a lakeside Montana lodge, murder forces them to confront everything t...
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
SMFS Member Publishing News: Bev Vincent
SMFS list member Bev Vincent’s horror novella, The
Dead of Winter, was recently published in the book, Dissonant
Harmonies, a collaboration with Brian Keene. Published by Cemetery
Dance in print format with an eBook on the way, the read is available at the publisher
and Amazon.
The Spotify play list of musical selections that served as
inspiration can be heard here.
Synopsis:
Inspired by specially curated mixtapes, Bev Vincent and
Brian Keene present two new spine-chilling novellas...
As a blizzard descends upon the sleepy town of Bayport, Rhode Island, brothers Joey and Frank Shaw investigate the mysterious disappearances of several townsfolk. After the discovery of strange tunnels, tunnels that only Joey can see, the trio suspect something is lurking beneath the snowbound town. Something burrowing. Something hungry. And it looks like Joey might be next in The Dead of Winter.
Did you imagine the world vanishing to a flood or a comet,
the hand of God or nuclear war? What if it started with something as innocuous
as the Berenstain Bears, and something known as the Mandela Effect? Barricaded
in a seedy motel room, one man makes sense of love, loss, and life as the end
of the world looms. Do you see what he sees? Do you know what he knows?
SleuthSayers: What Drives Me ... And Maybe You Too by Barb Goffman
SleuthSayers: What Drives Me ... And Maybe You Too: Why do people write fiction? For enjoyment? That seems likely. For money? I guess that could be true, although except for a lucky few, wri...
Monday, March 29, 2021
SMFS Member Podcast News: Sandra Murphy
From the site:
This episode features the mystery short story Sweet Tea and
Deviled Eggs by Sandra Murphy. It is read by local actor Donna Beavers. Sweet Tea and Deviled Eggs was published by
Untreed Reads in the anthology From Hay to Eternity: Ten Devilish Tales of Crime
and Deception. In each episode, we share with you mystery short stories and
mystery novel first chapters read by actors from the San Joaquin Valley. If you
enjoyed this episode please review or rate it as that helps more people be able
to find us! Also, consider subscribing so you never miss an episode-both to
this podcast and to the podcast newsletter.
If you would like to help support this podcast and Kings
River Life financially, and get some fun perks, check out our Patreon Page. You
can also purchase some fun Mysteryrat's Maze merchandise on Redbubble.
SleuthSayers: Where Did THAT Come From? by Steve Liskow
SleuthSayers: Where Did THAT Come From?: The debate between plotters and pantsers is as old as writing itself, especially in the mystery field. I used to list all my novels' sce...
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Little Big Crimes Review: The Ladies of Wednesday Tea by Michael Bracken
Little Big Crimes: The Ladies of Wednesday Tea, by Michael Bracken: "The Ladies of Wednesday Tea," by Michael Bracken, in Bullets and Other Hurting Things, edited by Rick Ollerman, Down and Out Boo...
2020 Agatha Award Nominees
Established in 1989, Malice Domestic™ is an annual fan
convention in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area that celebrates the
traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie, containing
no explicit sex, excessive gore, or violence. This year, instead of the annual in
person convention, MORE THAN MALICE will take place entirely online from
July 14-17, 2021. There are twelve SMFS list members up for an Agatha Award in six
different categories. The awards will be presented on July 17th.
In the “Best Short Story” category there are four
members that are nominated. Those members are:
Barb Goffman for "Dear Emily Etiquette" in Ellery
Queen’s Mystery Magazine: September/October 2020.
You can listen to the podcast for this story here.
Art Taylor for “The Boy Detective & The Summer of
‘74" in Alfred
Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: January/February 2021.
You can read Art’s essay on how the story came together here.
Gabriel Valjan for “Elysian Fields” in the anthology, California
Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology,
published by Wildside Press.
James W. Ziskin for “The 25 Year Engagement” in the anthology, In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, published by Pegasus Crime. You can read James’ essay on how the story came together here.
Our members up for Agatha Awards for longer works are:
Donna Andrews is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best
Contemporary Novel” category for Gift of the Magpie, published by
Minotaur.
Tina deBellegarde is up for an Agatha Award in the
“Best First Novel” category for Winter Witness, published by
Level Best Books.
Mary Keliikoa is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best
First Novel” category for Derailed, published by Epicenter Press,
Inc.
Edith Maxwell is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best
Historical Novel” category for Taken
Too Soon: A Quaker Midwife Mystery,
published by Beyond the Page Publishing.
Leslie Brody in the “Best Non-Fiction” Category for Sometimes
You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of
Harriet the Spy, published by Seal Press.
Martin Edwards in the “Best Non-Fiction” Category for Howdunit:
A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club,
published by Collins Crime Club.
Fleur Bradley in the “Best Children’s/YA Mystery”
Category for Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, published by Viking
Books for Young Readers.
Richard Narvaez in the “Best Children’s/YA Mystery”
Category for Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, published by
Piñata Books.
SMFS salutes our members on this honor and wishes them
the best as they represent SMFS at Malice Domestic. The full list of nominees
can be found at the Malice Domestic website.
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Friday, March 26, 2021
SleuthSayers: The Zone can be elusive by O'Neil De Noux
SleuthSayers: The Zone can be elusive: In October 2017, I put up a post here entitled In The Zone, where I spoke about The Zone, a sort of Twilight Zone, a separate existence, a ...
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
SMFS Member Publishing News: Michael Bracken
SMFS list member Michael Bracken’s short story, “Fading
Memories” appears in Unnerving Magazine: Issue 15. Published by Unnerving Books, the read is available
in eBook format at Amazon.
Synopsis:
It's finally here! Issue #15 includes a previously
unpublished Bentley Little short story, guaranteed to rattle your ribcages. A
reprint from Michael Bracken that's one part paranormal and one part sexy. A
revenge tale by Serena Jayne and an odd terror by James Richard O'Brien. Danger
Slater is back with some of his most inspired film pitches to date. Renee
Miller returns as well, this time with her most outrageous instalment of Black
Brothel yet. Danielle Trussoni and Tess Gerritsen tell of their early horror
memories. Plus reviews by Victoria Lester, Ben Walker, and Eddie Generous.
SMFS Member Podcast News: Joseph S. Walker
In the latest AHMM podcast, SMFS list member Joseph S.
Walker reads his short story, “Etta at the End of the World” which originally appeared
in Alfred
Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine: May/June 2020 issue. The story is currently
an Edgar
Award Nominee in the Best Short Story category. You can also read about how
Mr. Walker went about writing the tale in this February 2021 guest
piece at the First Two Pages hosted by SMFS list member Art Taylor.
You can listen to Mr. Walker read his short story here
on the Podomatic.
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
After a hiatus, our podcast series is back with a tale
by Joseph S. Walker from the May/June 2020 issue. The story, which is currently
nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story, is read here by
the widely published short-story author.
SleuthSayers: Fare Thee Well, Paul D. Marks
SleuthSayers: Fare Thee Well, Paul D. Marks: Paul D. Marks joined SleuthSayers in 2015 and has been a treasured member of the gang ever since. He died on February 28th of this year. Hi...
Monday, March 22, 2021
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Little Big Crimes Review: The Phone Message by Robert Cummins
Little Big Crimes: The Phone Message, by Robert Cummins: "The Phone Message," by Robert Cummins, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2021. I think it has been years since I...
SleuthSayers: 50+ Troublesome Words and Phrases by Leigh Lundin
SleuthSayers: 50+ Troublesome Words and Phrases: My friend/editor Sharon sent me an article titled ’ 43 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make ’. I’ve become complacent about ...
Saturday, March 20, 2021
SleuthSayers: Hitched and Posted by John Floyd
SleuthSayers: Hitched and Posted: Lately some of my SleuthSayers colleagues have been discussing their recent short stories and the way they were written--either the idea...
Friday, March 19, 2021
SMFS Members Published in The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Fantastic Whims
SMFS list members are published in The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Fantastic Whims. Published by WMG Publishing, the anthology is available in print and eBook formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members in the book are:
Liz Pierce with “Dead Fred.”
Annie Reed with "Queen of the Mouse Riders"
has been published in Year of the Cat #10: A Cat of Fantastic Whims.
Synopsis:
Most cats pursue the business of their lives in ways both
fantastic and whimsical.
In this entertaining volume of stories, cats perform as
muses, inhabit fairy tales, consort with ghosts and zombies, and one cat even
reigns as fantasy queen.
Enter the fantastic world of whimsical cats and enjoy!
Includes:
“Searching for the Familiar” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Speechless in Seattle” by Lisa Silverthorne
“Queen of the Mouse Riders” by Annie Reed
“The Kingdom of Cats and Birds” by Geoffrey Landis
“Cat Leading the Way” by Dean Wesley Smith
“A Powerful Friend” by E. Nesbit
“Clyde and the Ghost Cat” by Jamie Ferguson
“Dead Fred” by Liz Pierce
“Un-Familiar” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
SMFS Members Published in Rock and a Hard Place: Issue 5, Winter/Spring 2021
Several SMFS members are published in the Rock
and a Hard Place: Issue 5, Winter/Spring 2021. SMFS list member Jay
Butkowski is the Managing Editor and SMFS List members Paul J. Garth and Libby
Cudmore are Associate Editors. Published by Rock and a Hard Place
Press, the read is available in print and eBook formats at Amazon.
The SMFS list members published in this issue are:
Paul J. Garth with “Eat for a Week on $9.70.”
Deb Merino with “A Son Needs His Mother.”
J. B. Stevens with “This French 75 is a Living Thing.”
Synopsis:
Gangs, guns and tomatoes—what could go wrong?Yeah,
turn your back on that gray-haired woman in the old Lincoln.Dumpstering a life
is never just a job, especially when the owner is watching.Rock And A Hard
Place shifts into fifth gear, and the people have never been more desperate or
the decisions worse. Fiction, essays, poetry, and photography by:Travis Wade
BeatyJerry BloomfieldC.A. ColeBill DavidsonPaul J. GarthJames D.F.
HannahLindsey HeatherlyClaude LalumièreAdrian LudensJeff MaschiDeb
MerinoMichael J. MooreRoger NokesThomas PluckRichard RisembergJ. RohrS.J.
RozanJohn Joseph RyanJ.B. StevensDon StollR.D. SullivanTim P. WalkerBraxton
YountsIn issue five of Rock And A Hard Place you’ll find crime and much more.
Wherever making the rent or a day of sobriety counts as a win, and wins and
losses never even out, that’s our territory, and yours.
SMFS Member Publishing News: David Goudsward
SMFS member David Goudsward has an article in the recently published, Pulp Adventures #38. His piece is titled “Dr. Whitehead & The Naked Secretary.” Published by Bold Ventures Press, the read is currently is available in both print and eBook formats at the publisher and at Amazon.
Synopsis:
Pulp Adventures #38 features pulp history along with new and
classic pulp fiction!
PULP HISTORY
1936: YEAR OF PULP UPHEAVAL by Will Murray — The Hero Pulp
genre was at its peak, and a tipping point, in 1936; DR. WHITEHEAD & THE
NAKED SECRETARY byDavid Goudsward — An author of Weird Tales faced the horror
of typing his own manuscripts when his secretary became Miss Florida 1931
CLASSIC PULP FICTION
DEATH IS A REBEL by Roger Torrey — Murder was occurring in
Florida, right under Detective Mahoney’s snoot — exceptionally baffling murder
that speedily developed angles rough and tough, plus painful international
aspects of continent-shaking revolution; THE FIREPLACE by Henry S. Whitehead —
Angry embers burned many years after the fact.
NEW PULP FICTION
ROOM 801 by Jack Halliday — Just another date for some, but
August 5 signified revenge and redemption for other people; TUNNELS OF LAO FANG
by James Palmer — An unspeakable horror dwelled among the stalactites; TAKING
THE PLUNGE byPaulene Turner — The world’s high-rolling cockroaches look forward
to a long, hot night of partying, unless special agent “Valentina” stops them;
FROM HERE TO SHEBOYGAN by Charles Burgess — A one-way trip to hell, with Murder
as the back-seat driver; ALL IN HER HEAD by Bruce Beattie — Want to take a
mindtrip? No drugs involved,” read the classified. What could go wrong, Joshua
decided.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Pulp Modern Flash: TOURIST TRAP by John M. Floyd
Pulp Modern Flash: TOURIST TRAP by John M. Floyd: “Y ou smell anything funny?” Angelo asked. Rosa, hard at work with her whetstone, said, “No. Hold it tighter, okay?” He adjusted his grip on...
SleuthSayers: By Way Of No Explanation by Robert Lopresti
SleuthSayers: By Way Of No Explanation: I'm working on a story with a twist ending and I am trying to figure out how much to explain. It's a tricky thing. Wherever I dr...
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Writers Who Kill: Starting with Plot by Paula Gail Benson
Writers Who Kill: Starting with Plot: by Paula Gail Benson I write short stories. Even if I’m writing for a themed anthology, I start with character. I need to know the people ...
One Writer's World: Getting Organized: A Lesson in Keeping Track by Susan Oleksiw
One Writer's World: Getting Organized: A Lesson in Keeping Track: Image by Hatice EROL from Pixabay I recently made a mistake that at the beginning of my writing life would have made me cringe and...
SleuthSayers: Drafts? I Don’t Keep No Stinking Drafts! by Michael Bracken
SleuthSayers: Drafts? I Don’t Keep No Stinking Drafts!: When Eve Fisher wrote “I’m so relieved to hear that I’m not the only one with 50 versions of the same damn story on my hard drive” in her re...
SMFS Member Publication News: Curtis Ippolito
Today is publication day for Curtis Ippolito and his new
book, Burying The Newspaper Man. Billed as “a gritty tale of fear
and redemption” it is published by Red
Dog Press in England. Currently it is available in eBook format at Amazon.
You can also read an interview with Curtis about the new book at the Bristol Noir.
Synopsis:
A dead body. A dark past. An ordinary man with everything to
lose.
Marcus Kemp is a regular beat cop living a normal life in
San Diego, California. Until the day he makes a shocking discovery: a dead body
in the trunk of a stolen car. Worse, the victim turns out to be the man who
abused him as a child.
Marcus instinctively wants to help the killer get away with
murder and, disregarding his police oath, will stop at nothing to make it
happen. With both his job and freedom in jeopardy, his investigation leads him
to an unexpected killer, and Marcus is soon faced with an impossible decision.
Can he finally bury the past before it drags him under?
Monday, March 15, 2021
SleuthSayers: The Waiting by Steve Liskow
SleuthSayers: The Waiting: by Steve Liskow Lately, I've seen writers posting at various sites that they're having trouble writing now. The lockdown has made ...
SMFS Member Podcast News: Cathi Stoler
The latest KRL Podcast features the first two chapters from the mystery, Out of Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure by Cathi Stoler. This book and the author was previously featured here on the SMFS blog back in November 2019 when the book was published. You can listen for free to the KRL Podcast here.
From the site:
This episode features the first 2 chapters of Out of Time by
Cathi Stoler. It is read by local actor Ian Jones. Out of Time was published by
Black Opal Books in November of 2019 and is available for purchase. You can
learn more on the author's website. In each episode, we share with you mystery
short stories and mystery novel first chapters read by actors from the San
Joaquin Valley. If you enjoyed this episode please review or rate it as that
helps more people be able to find us! Also, consider subscribing so you never
miss an episode-both to this podcast and to the podcast newsletter.
If you would like to help support this podcast and Kings River Life financially, and get some fun perks, check out our Patreon Page. You can also purchase some fun Mysteryrat's Maze merchandise on Redbubble.
You can find more mystery fun on our websites Kings River
Life Magazine and KRL News and Reviews.
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Little Big Crimes Review: A Winter Night's Dream by Michael Wiley
Little Big Crimes: A Winter Night's Dream, by Michael Wiley: "A Winter Night's Dream," by Michael Wiley, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2021. This is the second appearanc...
Saturday, March 13, 2021
SleuthSayers: Don't Make Me Turn This Car Around by Robert Mangeot
SleuthSayers: Don't Make Me Turn This Car Around: I’ve convinced myself–against all experience–that Asheville is four hours from my driveway. Every trip, I’m cranking the music and thinkin...
Friday, March 12, 2021
SleuthSayers: The Joy of Monotasking by Joseph D'Agnese
SleuthSayers: The Joy of Monotasking: When my wife and I hang out in the backyard at the end of a day, inevitably our conversation turns to productivity. How can we get more thin...
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Writers Who Kill: Did You Hear the One about the Mystery Writers at a Conference? by K.M. Rockwood
Writers Who Kill: Did You Hear the One about the Mystery Writers at ...: Marie, Joyce, and Helen shared a room in the main hotel for an international mystery conference. They were booked into a big room on the six...
Monday, March 8, 2021
SMFS Member Publishing News: Bruce Harris
SMFS list member Bruce Harris’ short story, “Subway Swindle” appears in the Lowestoft Chronicle: March 2021- Issue 45. You can read the story for free online here.
SleuthSayers: Revisiting Early Work by Elizabeth Zelvin
SleuthSayers: Revisiting Early Work: Does a novel I wrote at age 28 count as juvenilia? It certainly does by the definition in Collins English Dictionary: "works of...liter...
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Little Big Crimes Review: Truckstop Salvation by Leigh Lundin
Little Big Crimes: Truckstop Salvation, by Leigh Lundin: "Truckstop Salvation," by Leigh Lundin, in The Great Filling Station Holdup, edited by Josh Pachter, Down and Out Books, 2021. T...
Saturday, March 6, 2021
SMFS Member Publishing News: Jeffrey James Higgins
SMFS list member Jeffrey James Higgin’s short story, The Interrogation, is now available in eBook format on Amazon.
Synopsis:
Hillsborough County Deputy Sheriff Alec Barnes begins
his first day as a narcotics detective investigating the murders of two drug
traffickers. Alec has dreamed of becoming a detective since childhood, and he
is desperate to impress his senior partner, the legendary Detective Maricela
Diaz. Hoping to prevent a drug war, Alec and Maricela interrogate and flip a
member of a new opioid trafficking group, but it may be too late to stop the
violence. Sometimes, what you don't know can kill you.
SMFS Member Publishing News: O'Neil De Noux
SMFS list member O’Neil De Noux latest book, The Spy Who Used My Love: A Private Eye Mystery is now out in print and eBook formats. This is the sixth book in the Lucien Caye Private Eye Series that began with New Orleans Rapacious. The read is available at Amazon.
Synopsis:
The wife of an old army buddy hires New Orleans
Private Eye Lucien Caye. She knows her husband has the occasional girlfriend,
but he might be doing something dangerous at work, something that might land
him in jail or worse. Lucien confirms there’s a girlfriend involved but the
case rapidly whirls out of control with lies, deceptions, espionage, a murder,
a suicide, a Soviet spy and a mystifying femme fatale. The confusing case draws
in the FBI and CIA as Lucien is interrupted by another friend who found $20,000
hidden in a window seat of his apartment and a strange man who hires Lucien to
investigate the growing Beat Generation in New Orleans as well as a nudist
colony across Lake Pontchartrain. Lucien and his alluring wife, the exquisite
Alizée – now a PI – need all their moxie to sift through these cases before
someone else dies.
About Lucien Caye: Lucien Caye works in the run-down
New Orleans French Quarter of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Unlike most
P.I.s, Caye rarely drinks, doesn’t smoke and only wears a hat only when
necessary (it messes up his hair). He’s six feet tall with wavy, dark brown
hair and standard-issue Mediterranean-brown eyes, a sly smile and a clever mind
that often gets him into trouble.He has a weakness for women, children and
fellow World War II veterans, down on their luck. He knows how to make a decent
living but often finds himself working pro-bono – in one case working to find a
little girl’s missing cat, in another searching for a boy’s runaway father and
in yet another, canvassing the Quarter for the child who wrote a note to Santa
Claus, asking Santa to take him to live with the angels so his mother and
father didn’t have to buy food for him anymore. They don’t have much money.Born
in New Orleans of French and Spanish descent, Caye attended Holy Cross High
School before working as a copy boy, then cub reporter for The New Orleans Item.
A stint as a crime reporter drew Caye to law enforcement and he joined the New
Orleans Police Department in 1939 where he was a patrol officer working uptown
until December 7, 1941.Caye joined the U.S. Army serving in North Africa,
Sicily and the subsequent Italian campaign at Anzio and Salerno. At the Battle
of Monte Cassino, Caye met and befriended journalist Ernie Pyle during the
bitter stalemate. Leading an assault on the infamous monastery, Caye was
seriously wounded by a German sniper and sent home with a Purple Heart medal
and a Silver Star for bravery.After the war, he returned to the police
department, working the French Quarter beat until deciding he preferred working
alone and set up shop in 1947 in an apartment building at the corner of Barracks
and Dauphine Streets, not far from the fictional residence of Tennessee
Williams’s Stanley Kowalski. Living upstairs, Caye’s office faces Barracks
Street and the small Cabrini Playground Park across the narrow street.In 1950,
Lucien falls in love three times (see novel ENAMORED) as a seven year old girl
changes his life. In 1951, an alluring, auburn-haired, doe-eyed beauty named
Alizée enters Lucien’s life and things change again for this hardboiled private
eye (see novel HOLD ME, BABE). ENAMORED and HOLD ME, BABE were finalists for
the Private Eye Writers of America SHAMUS AWARD – awarded annually by the
Private Eye Writers of America to recognize outstanding achievement in private
eye fiction. Other Caye books include the collection NEW ORLEANS CONFIDENTIAL
and novels NEW ORLEANS RAPACIOUS, DAME MONEY and WALKIN’ THE BLUES.
SleuthSayers: Cover Me--I'm Going In by John M. Floyd
SleuthSayers: Cover Me--I'm Going In: As if we haven't seen enough blog posts lately about how to sell our fiction . . . My topic today is cover letters . It came to mind af...
Friday, March 5, 2021
Criminal Minds: Remembering Paul D. Marks
Criminal Minds: Remembering Paul D. Marks: Eric Campbell, from Down and Out Books, said yesterday: " Earlier this week we lost a great talent in the world of crime fiction. Pa...
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
SMFS Member Publishing News: Art Taylor
Art Taylor’s essay, “Tales of Mystery & Imagination: A History of the Edgar Allan Poe Short Story Award” appears in Mystery Scene: Spring Issue #167. You can learn more about the current issue at the publisher as well as on newsstands.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Pulp Modern Flash: THE SHOVEL by Alan Orloff
Pulp Modern Flash: THE SHOVEL by Alan Orloff: M ira screamed down the interstate in her beat up Chevy, her sister Zoe riding shotgun. Without any warning, Zoe turned toward the passe...
TOUGH: The Good Life, fiction by Richie Narvaez
TOUGH: The Good Life, fiction by Richie Narvaez: Reimagining Ernest Hemingway’s Indian Camp C hibenashi was out of breath from running with the dogs. The dogs followed Chibenashi all the w...
Monday, March 1, 2021
SMFS Members Published in Mystery Weekly Magazine: March 2021
Several SMFS list members are published in the Mystery
Weekly Magazine: March 2021 issue. The read is available in both print
and eBook from the publisher and
at Amazon.
The SMFS members in this issue are:
BV Lawson with “Suite In The Key Of Death.”
Jeff Soloway with “The Hook-Up Scam.”
Mark Thielman with “Exhibiting Signs Of Death.”
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:
“Damaged People” by David Bart: Creed didn’t keep his
promise to Leah and now it’s too late. She's dead.“Suite In The Key Of Death”
by BV Lawson: When Scott Drayco was hired to investigate a suspicious death, he
didn't count on an oddball suspect. Or that he'd wish he'd never taken the case
at all.
In “It Was Always Temporary” by Chris Preston, a hitman
takes on an assignment to make up for recent missteps. Is his loyalty in the
right place?
“The Hook-Up Scam” by Jeff Soloway: The woman was not who
she claimed. But neither was he. And neither was his wife. Would any of them
get their revenge?
“Short Con” by Brandon Barrows: At last, Eli Farris has the
freedom he wanted so badly, but he needs money to sustain it. Working is for
marks, but he has a plan—only it includes his sister. Amber doesn't take
direction well and the buzzing in Eli's head is getting really bad.
In “Billy The Kid, GED” by Jack Clark, a private-eye test
for an ambitious young man leads him down a dark alley.
In “Spanky And Delilah Are In Love” by Roger Johns, a dog
park romance and a chance encounter with an aging mobster renew Alex Abraham’s
desire to find his long-lost brother.
“Exhibiting Signs Of Death” by Mark
Thielman: During a quick stop at a museum gift shop, a retired cop finds a
dead body on display. He and the shop clerk must solve the murder.
SMFS Members Published in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue 10
Several SMFS members are published in the recently released Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue 10. Published by WMG Publishing, the read is available in print and digital formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The members in this issue are:
Dayle A. Dermatis with “Custard: A Romeo & Juliet
Story (Sort of).”
David Hendrickson with “Role of a Lifetime.”
Robert Jeschonek with “Would Sir Prefer the 1918
Influenza?”
Annie Reed with “Paintings of Cats by Mice.”
Johanna Rothman with “Flat Bernie Saves Stanley.”
C. A. Rowland with “Sergei's Swan Song.”
Synopsis:
A three-time Hugo Award nominated magazine, this issue
of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine offers up sixteen fantastic stories by some of
the best writers working in modern short fiction. No genre limitations, no
topic limitations, just great stories. Attitude, feel, and high quality fiction
equals Pulphouse.
Includes:
“Paintings of Cats by Mice” by Annie Reed
“Flat Bernie Saves
Stanley” by Johanna Rothman
“The Conjurer of the Canvas” by Phillip McCollum
“Custard: A Romeo &
Juliet Story (Sort of)” by Dayle A. Dermatis
“Sometimes Gramma’s Gotta Cut A Bitch” by Leah R.
Cutter
“Blind Eclipse” by Rob Vagle
“Would Sir Prefer the
1918 Influenza?” by Robert Jeschonek
“The Developmental Adventures of Phil” by Jason Adams
“Visage” by Lisa Silverthorne
“Used to be Your Victim” by Stephen Couch
“The Artist, The Engineer, and The Sleeping Dog” by
Robert J. McCarter
“Drumbeats” by Kevin J. Anderson & Neil Peart
“Just Write!” by James Gotaas
“Role of a Lifetime” by David H. Hendrickson
“Sergei’s Swan Song” by C.A. Rowland
“Vamp Until Doomsday” by Stefon Mears
