Sunday, March 19, 2023

SMFS Members are 2023 International Thriller Award Finalists

 

The 2023 International Thriller Award Finalists in seven categories have been announced. Again this year, SMFS list members are represented in the “Best Short Story” category. Those members are:

 

Barb Goffman for “The Gift.” (Land of 10,000 Thrills: Bouchercon Anthology 2022, Down & Out Books)

 

Smita Harish Jain for "Publish or Perish.” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: September/October 2022)

 

Josh Pachter’s translation of Dominique Biebau's short story, "Russian for Beginners." (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: March/April 2022)

 

Anna Scotti for "Schrödinger, Cat" (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: March/April 2022)

 

Winners will be announced at ThrillerFest XVIII on Saturday, June 3rd, in New York City. For more information, including the full list of all the finalists this year, go to the International Thriller Writers website.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

SMFS Member Podcast News: Peril in Pasadena by Edith Maxwell

 

The current AHMM podcast features SMFS list member Edith Maxwell's short story, Peril in Pasadena.  The story originally appeared in the September/October 2022 issue of AHMM. The podcast is available here for free.

 

Website Episode Description:

Edith Maxwell, who also writes under the name Maddie Day, is the Agatha-winning author of the Quaker Midwife Mysteries. Here, she reads her story "Peril in Pasadena" (AHMM Sept/Oct 2022), which features 1920s private eyes Dorothy Henderson and Ruth Skinner in a case involving a woman astronomer.

https://edithmaxwell.com

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Refusal Camp: Stories by James R. Benn


Today is publication day for SMFS list member James R. Benn’s new book, The Refusal Camp: Stories. Published by Soho Crime, the short story collection is available in audio, digital, and print formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.

 

Publisher Description:

These dazzling stories show a crime fiction veteran at the height of his career.

In his first-ever collection, the award-winning author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries presents an eclectic mix of new and previously published mystery stories rife with historical detail and riveting wartime storytelling.

“The Horse Chestnut Tree” explores betrayal and murder during the American Revolution. In the speculative work “Glass,” an atomic supercollider and the breakdown of the time-space continuum change the lives of two cousins devoured by greed. “Vengeance Weapon,” a historical thriller about an enslaved Jewish laborer working at the Dora concentration camp, looks at how far someone will go to get revenge. And for his Billy Boyle fans, Benn delivers “Irish Tommy,” a police procedural set in 1944 Boston featuring Billy’s father and uncle.

Full of terror, action, amusement, and bliss, The Refusal Camp is a must-have collection from a crime fiction veteran at the height of his career.

Monday, March 13, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Shade Tree Mechanic by Hugh Lessig


SMFS list member Hugh Lessig’s short story, Shade Tree Mechanic, was published yesterday in Black Cat Weekly #80. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

Our 80th issue has some great tales for you, starting with an original mystery by Hugh Lessit (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and a great reprint by Jim Thomsen (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman). Plus we have a pair of detective novels, the first featuring New York-based private investigator Nick Carter, and the second another original Hardy Boys mystery. If you read the later editions, you will be shocked to find how much was changed from the originals. These are not the watered-down Hardy Boys most of us read as kids. Give it a read.

On the science fiction and fantasy side, we have a Frostflower & Thorn tale by Phyllis Ann Karr, as she brings her famous duo to a world created by M. Coleman Easton...in collaboration with Easton. Great fun. Plus classic SF by Mike Curry, Robert Silverberg, Robert F. Young, and Murray Leinster.

 

Here’s this issue’s complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“The Shade Tree Mechanic” by Hugh Lessig [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Clear as Glass” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“The Ride Home,” by Jim Thomsen [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

The Little Glass Vial, by Nicholas Carter [novel]

The Tower Treasure, by Franklin W. Dixon [novel]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“A Glassmaker’s Courage,” by Phyllis Ann Karr and M. Coleman Easton [short story]

“Metamorphosis,” by Mike Curry [short story]

“Come Into My Brain!” by Robert Silverberg [short story]

“Bbruggil’s Bride,” by Robert F. Young [short story]

The Gadget Had A Ghost, by Murray Leinster [novella]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Cat Scarf Advice by Joan Leotta


SMFS list member Joan Leotta’s short story, Cat Scarf Advice, appears online today at Spillwords.Com. You can read it here for free.

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Thursday, March 9, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Reciprocity by Cate Moyle

 

SMFS list member Cate Moyle’s short story, Reciprocity, appears in the recently released, Bang!: an anthology of modern noir fiction. Published by Head Shot Press, the book is available at the publisher and Amazon.

  

Publisher Description: 

Noir: 

the boulevard 

of broken dreams

 

In this anthology of twenty-two crime stories there are crooks and crooked cops, lost and missing persons, those running and those hiding, femme fatales, avocados, downbeat PIs, deadbeat insurance investigators, hotel detectives and unsavory gangs, those doing wrong and those done wrong by, fated lovers and failed robberies; even Inspector Maigret at the infamous château in Roissy. Why not take a shot?

 

The table of contents is as follows:

Introduction 

BANG! 

Out of Town – Tim Lees

Salamander – Douglas Thompson

Savour Life – Jamey Gallagher

Time To Say Goodbye – Roxanne Dent

Avocado Noir – Charles West

The Also-Rans – Benedict J Jones

A Stretch of Ground – Grant Tracey

 

BANG!

BANG!

 

Payday – Saira Viola

Slap Happy – Andrew Humphrey

The Last Best Thing – Mia Dalia

Reciprocity – Cate Moyle

Shall We Not Revenge – Gary Fry

Blow Jobs and the Meaning of Noir – Maxim Jakubowski

Going Clean – Gabriel Heller

 

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

 

Film Noir – Yvette Viets Flaten

Neon Graveyard – Melissa Pleckham

Fifty Shades of Maigret – Rhys Hughes

Angel Wings – Jenean McBrearty

Slimeball – Leif Hanson

The First Suspect – Brian Howell

The Liao Women – Song Gao Lei

Highway 29 – Mike O’Driscoll

 

Purchase “Bang!” in our store.

SMFS Members Published in Trouble in Tucson: A Left Coast Crime Anthology

 

SMFS list members are published in the Trouble in Tucson: A Left Coast Crime Anthology. The read is available in print from Amazon. The members in the book are:

 

Cynthia Sabelhaus with “High Times in Javelina Junction.”

 

Elena E. Smith with “One Night at Fred’s.”

 

Amazon Description:

Have a little murder with a side of castor beans. Perhaps some ghostly mischief is more to your liking. Trouble in Tucson is a collection of stories to make you smile or ponder the more serious side of life.

Authors / Contributors: 

EVA ELDRIDGE 

SUSAN CUMMINS MILLER 

KRIS NERI 

MINERVA RAZ 

MARY BALL 

CYNTHIA SABELHAUS 

ELAINE A. POWERS 

CONDA DOUGLAS 

LYNN NICHOLAS 

JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE 

JANET ALCORN 

PATRICK WHITEHURST 

ELENA SMITH 

EMMA PEREZ 

KATHY McINTOSH 

AMBRE LEFFLER

Monday, March 6, 2023

SMFS Members Published in Reckless in Texas: Metroplex Mysteries II


Following up on their success with the Malice in Dallas anthology, The Sisters in Crime North Dallas Chapter has released, Reckless in Texas: Metroplex Mysteries II. The book was edited by Short Mystery Fiction Society member Barb Goffman.  The introduction was written by SMFS list member John Floyd. Currently available in print format from Amazon with the digital version coming out on the 15th, the book features short stories by several SMFS list members. Those members are:

 

Karen Harrington with "The Mysterious Disappearance of Jason Whetstone."

 

Shannon Taft with "Monster.”

 

Mark Thielman with "Steer Clear."

 

Amazon Description:

There’s just something about Texas … May you have as much fun with these ten tales of murder and deception as I did, and may you remember them long afterward. As Carl Sandberg said, “Texas is a blend of valor and swagger.” So are these stories.

—from the Foreword by JOHN M. FLOYD

A Perfect Gift For Mystery Lovers!

Welcome to the second anthology by the chapter members of Sisters In Crime North Dallas. The city of Dallas and surrounding locales offer great fodder for mystery writers—and readers. These inspire the stories contained in Reckless in Texas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume II.

MONSTER, by Shannon Taft

THE PRIME WITNESS TO THE MURDER OF DR. MALACHI SAMSON, by Derek Wheeless

TRACTION, by Terry Shepherd

THE LAUNDRY LARCENY, by ML Condike

WHO SHOT THE PARTY CRASHER?, by Amber Royer

STOOD UP, by Dänna Wilberg

STEER CLEAR, by Mark Thielman

RISK REDUCTION, by L. A. Starks

ROAD RAGE, by Pam McWilliams

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF JASON WHETSTONE, by Karen Harrington 

BARB GOFFMAN, who edited this anthology, is a short story writer and freelance crime-fiction editor. She’s won the Agatha Award (twice), as well as the Macavity Award, Silver Falchion Award, and Readers Award given by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. She’s been nominated for major crime-writing awards thirty-seven times, including seventeen Agatha nominations (a category record), and multiple nominations for the Anthony, Macavity, and Derringer awards. Novels and stories she’s edited have won the Agatha, Derringer, and EQMM Readers Award and have been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, Macavity, and Shamus awards. In 2020, Crime Travel, a time-travel mystery anthology Barb edited, was nominated for the Anthony. She blogs at SleuthSayers.org. Learn more at barbgoffman.com.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Disappearance of a Serial Spouse by N. M. Cedeño

 

SMFS list member N. M. Cedeño’s short story, Disappearance of a Serial Spouse, is published today in Black Cat Weekly #79. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

Our 79th issue features a pair of original mysteries by N.M. Cedeño (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Bryon Quertermous (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman). Cedeño is no stranger to BCW readers, having already appeared in our pages twice before. Hopefully Bryon Quertermous will match that hat trick, too. 

Rounding out the mystery section are a pair of novels: Francis Beeding’s The House of Doctor Edwardes (filmed by Alfred Hitchcock as Spellbound) and The House on the Cliff, by Franklin W. Dixon, which you may recognize as the very first Hardy Boys book. If you grew up reading the modern revisions of the original Hardy Boys series (which began in 1927), you’re in for a shock: these brothers are tougher, edgier, and face real peril. They were definitely watered down beginning in the 1950s. And often the titles were the only things that remained from the original stories. 

And, of course, no issue would be complete without a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles (the writing team of Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet). 

In the science fiction & fantasy section, Phyllis Ann Karr continues the adventures of her legendary fantasy duo, Frostflower and Thorn, in “Night of the Short Knives.” Don’t skip her Afterword about the story; it’s fascinating. Plus we have tales by Philip José Farmer, a rare science fiction foray by mystery author Wenzell Brown, and tales by Oliver Saari and George O. Smith. Great stuff.

 

Here’s the lineup: 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“Disappearance of a Serial Spouse,” by N.M. Cedeño [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“An Impossible Theft,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“Visiting Artist,” by Bryon Quertermous [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

The House of Doctor Edwardes, by Francis Beeding [novel]

The House on the Cliff, by Franklin W. Dixon [novel, Hardy Boys #1] 

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“Night of the Short Knives,” by Phyllis Ann Karr [short story, Frostflower & Thorn]

Daughter,” by Philip José Farmer [short story]

“Murderer’s Chain,” by Wenzell Brown [short story]

“Moon Dust,” by Oliver Saari [short story]

“Bombs Awry,” by George O. Smith [novella]

SMFS Member Guest Post: The Pause that Refreshes by Paula Messina


Please welcome our fellow member, Paula Messina, back to the blog today...

 

The Pause that Refreshes

by Paula Messina

 

On Christmas Eve last year, the priest celebrating Mass never came up for air. During the responsive prayers, he spoke immediately after the lector. He was consistently a beat or two ahead of the congregation.

He galloped through his sermon as if the steeple were collapsing. I had no idea what his sermon was about. I stopped listening.

The priest failed to pause.

Pauses are part of pacing. They create mood, emphasize a point, and clarify phrases and sentences. They reveal character. Above all, pauses make room for the audience.

The placement of the text on the page creates visual pauses. Contrast the abundance of pauses in poetry with the more niggardly use in prose. Fooling around with that formatting creates a whole new world. For example, here’s Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem about the loss of his dear Fanny, “The Cross of Snow.”

 

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,

   A gentle face — the face of one long dead —

   Looks at me from the wall, where round its head

   The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.
Here in this room she died; and soul more white

   Never through martyrdom of fire was led

   To its repose; nor can in books be read

   The legend of a life more benedight.
There is a mountain in the distant West

   That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines

   Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast

   These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes

   And seasons, changeless since the day she died.

Now read the same poem as prose:

In the long, sleepless watches of the night, a gentle face — the face of one long dead — looks at me from the wall, where round its head the night-lamp casts a halo of pale light. Here in this room she died; and soul more white never through martyrdom of fire was led to its repose; nor can in books be read the legend of a life more benedight. There is a mountain in the distant West that, sun-defying, in its deep ravines displays a cross of snow upon its side. Such is the cross I wear upon my breast these eighteen years, through all the changing scenes and seasons, changeless since the day she died.

Not the same, is it?

Punctuation creates pauses. Sentence length, paragraphs, and white space do as well. You might not think of these as pauses, but they are. White space, the placement of words on the page, is a pause.

Pauses can shape character. One with a folksy manner might speak slowly with few words and plenty of dead air. This might drive another character crazy a la the interviewer in Bob and Ray’s classic sketch, “Slow Talkers of America.” A maniacal character might spill his words out in one long rush and leave the listener or the reader confused and irritated.

The flip side of a pause is no space. For example, a character chased by a bear isn’t about to slow down for anything. Gasping for air, he’s bent on breaking the sound barrier.

Once up that tree, he slows down and catches his breath.

And so does the reader.

Pauses are important when reading aloud as well, and for all the reasons stated, but they also are vital to the performer. Breathing or pauses help with nerves as well as create pacing, emphasis, drama, humor, suspense. Breathing aids projection. After all, without air it’s impossible to speak.

Winston Churchill, arguably the greatest orator of the twentieth century, knew the importance of pauses. In her article, “Pace, Pause & Silence: Creating Emphasis & Suspense in Your Writing,” Lorelei Lingard notes that “Winston Churchill is said to have annotated his speeches with reminders to himself about rhythm and tempo—when to be silent, when to appear to struggle for the right word, when to pause for audience response (whether heckling or applause).

“Like other effective public speakers, Churchill knew that what is not said impacts the audience as much as what is. A pregnant pause whets appetites.”

In Speaking Skills for Every Occasion, Peter L. Miller says, “Besides allowing you to fill your lungs with air, pausing also allows the audience to absorb the spoken words and create pictures in their own minds...and adds emphasis to your last point.”

“But,” you object, “pauses, too much white space, too many commas slow down the action for the reader.”

Gordon A. Long agrees with you and says, “When readers come to a pause, unless the author specifically tells them otherwise, nothing is going on.” I disagree. Poorly placed pauses can slow down the action, but using them wisely enhances the audience’s experience. The right pause at the right place allows the reader’s imagination to take flight.

Lingard says, “Prose need not always be a fast-flowing faucet, and readers need not be continuously engulfed. Pacing, pause and silence are important tools in your writing. Knowing the conventions of punctuation and syntax allows you to bend them strategically in order to both help your readers pay attention and enlist them into productive engagement with your ideas.

Use pauses deliberately and judiciously. Your writing will benefit and so will your readers.

A good illustration is the opening to Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities. It is essentially one long sentence.

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Changing the punctuation changes the rhythm.

 

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity....

You get the idea. It’s a subtle difference, but the periods create a bigger break, a longer pause. The original is driven, a quality that is diminished by changing the commas to periods.

Of course, Dickens and his Victorian cohorts were masters of expansive pauses, leaving the reader lusting for more by serializing their works.

As was that famous tease Scheherazade. In One Thousand and One Nights, she used cliff-hangers to avert her overhanging execution. Her husband, King Shahryar, cannot kill her because he is dying to know what happens next. And Scheherazade ain’t telling until tomorrow night.

The most important reason to use pauses is that they create space for the reader. The reason we write is to communicate with our audience. That can only happen when we allow the reader enough space to really take in our words. Churchill understood this. That was why he spent such care crafting his speeches. Writing, no matter how beautiful, is useless if it doesn’t connect with the reader.

The priest on Christmas Eve failed to connect with the congregation because he left no space. The Mass itself has many pauses. For example, after the sermon, the priest sits for several moments in silence, giving both him and the congregation time to digest what was said. On that particular Christmas Eve, the priest failed to effectively employ pauses to connect with the congregation. It was an unpausable sin.

You now know better.

Go forth and pause.

 

Paula Messina ©2023 

When Paula Messina isn't writing, she explores the United States' first public beach. She writes fiction and non-fiction and is working on a novel set in Boston during World War II.

Thursday, March 2, 2023

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Magazine: March 2023


SMFS list members are published in the Mystery Magazine: March 2023 issue. The read is available in print and digital formats from Amazon. The members in the issue are:

 

John M. Floyd with "The Ghost and Billy Martin."

 

Jacqueline Freimor with “Murder in the Form of a Question.”

 

 Amazon Description:

At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery 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

“The Saga Of Gentleman Bert” by Stan Dryer: The outlaw Gentleman Bert is proud of his reputation as a cold blooded killer. When he is brought to justice for killing a man in a stagecoach robbery, his reputation lives on after his death, thanks to a helpful entrepreneur. 

“Marking Time” by David Stier is a hardboiled noir mystery where a private investigator in Post WWII Jersey City can’t accept the loss of his girlfriend. The gangster that stole her while he was overseas hires him to find her because she has gone missing. 

“Pitboss” by RE Carroll offers a hard boiled mystery where the head of security at a casino takes an unlikely winner to his office to explain a murderous pattern he has been tracking. 

“Murder In The Form Of A Question” by Jacqueline Freimor: A man decides to separate a Jeopardy! mega-winner from her cash but can't decide whether murder is the answer or the question. 

“The Ghost And Billy Martin” by John M. Floyd: When a widow and her young son are held hostage by a bank robber, they both know their chances for survival aren't good. What they don't know is that the thieves are only part of their problem. 

“Gulfport” by Anthony Kane Evans: He made a quick exit out of town, but now he's back with revenge on his mind. 

“People, Glass Houses, Stones” by Victor Kreuiter: What to do and what to say when you’re not quite sure what happened. 

“Intrigue At The Cuckoo Clock Café” by John H. Dromey: Exigent circumstances persuade a fiercely independent private investigator to accept temporary employment with a big agency. Rather than become a team player, he puts his deductive skills to work in his own best interests. 

“So Noted,” A You-Solve-It by Laird Long: Reading between the lines can spell out murder … can you help solve the mystery? 

Cover Art By Robin Grenville Evans


SMFS Members Published in Crimeucopia: One More thing To Worry About

 

Several SMFS list members are published in Crimeucopia: One More thing To Worry About. Published by Murderous Ink Press, the read is available in digital and print formats at Amazon and other vendors. SMFS list members in the read are:

 

N. M. Cedeño with "Danger at Death's Door."

 

Vinnie Hansen with “Killer on the Loose.”

 

Wendy Harrison with "Tears of a Clown."

 

Nikki Knight with "Bad Apples."

 

Joan Leotta with “Ashes, Ashes.”

 

Michele Bazan Reed with “Driven Over the Edge.” 

 

Amazon Description:

New Crimeucopians Aran Myracle, Alexei J. Slater, Gerald Elias, Terry Wijesuriya, Issy Jinarmo, Larry Lefkowitz, and Vinnie Hansen smoothly rub literary shoulders with a fine collection of familiar Crimeucopia old hands: Bob Ritchie, Michele Bazan Reed, Nikki Knight, N. M. Cedeño, Wendy Harrison, Andrew Darlington, Madeleine McDonald, Joan Leotta, H. E. Vogl and Jesse Aaron.

All 17 tell tales that will make you realise there’s always going to be One More Thing To Worry About….

As with all of these anthologies, we hope you’ll find something that you immediately like, as well as something that takes you out of your comfort zone – and puts you into a completely new one.

In other words, in the spirit of the Murderous Ink Press motto:

You never know what you like until you read it.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Palko by Nikki Dolson


SMFS list member Nikki Dolson’s short story, Palko, is the selection this month at Stone’s Throw: A Rock And A Hard Place Publication. Each month a new tale is selected to appear on the first and is free to read online. You can read Nikki Dolson’s short story here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Two-for-Sixty Plan by Jeff Esterholm

 

SMFS list member Jeff Esterholm’s short story, The Two-for-Sixty Plan, has been published at Shotgun Honey. The story is online and free to read at the website.

Monday, February 27, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Murder Must Advertise by Albert Katz

 

SMFS list member Albert Katz’s short story, Murder Must Advertise, is published in the recently released The CultureCult Casebook: Anthology of Detective Fiction. Published at Lulu, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

Culturecult's first anthology of detective fiction features eighteen short stories and a mystery novella.

-----------------------------------------------

Unlock the secrets of nineteen mysteries, each more tantalizing than the other! Throw yourself into the adventure and try to solve each case before the detective, or sit back and let them take you on a hair-raising ride.

Journey into a forbidding forest to find a lost boy, track a missing girl months after her disappearance, walk down the eerie alleys of Whitechapel searching for the Ripper, or investigate the murder of a young socialite with all the suspects still in the house!

Feel a whirlwind of emotions as you uncover secrets and truths that will set everyone free - except the criminal, of course!  Prepare yourself - the mysteries in this book will enthrall and entrap you until you unravel them all!

Featured authors in The CultureCult Casebook:

Martin Eastland, Minoti Vaishnav, Robb T. White, Romit Bagchi, Josh Poole, Hidayat Adams, Rollin Jewett, John A. DeLaughter, Nelly Shulman, Robert McDermott, LJ Jacobs, J. Agombar, Albert N. Katz, Maggie D Brace, Frederick Pangbourne, Robert Burns, Dibyasree Nandy, Zelda C. Thorne AND Jay Chakravarti

Little Big Crimes: Crime and Convenience, by Steve Shrott

Little Big Crimes: Crime and Convenience, by Steve Shrott:  "Crime and Convenience," by Steve Shrott, in Hook, Line, and Sinker: The Seventh Guppie Anthology, edited by Emily P.W. Murphy, W...

Sunday, February 26, 2023

SMFS Member Publishing News: Night of the Laundry Cart by Tom Milani

 

SMFS list member Tom Milani’s short story, Night of the Laundry Cart, is published today in Black Cat Weekly #78. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

Our 78th issue features another lineup sure to please. We have an original mystery by Tom Milani (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken). Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman has selected a great mystery by Brian Cox. Our other two Acquiring Editors, Cynthia Ward and Darrell Schweitzer, are still on break, but we hope they will be back soon.

I’ve balanced out the mystery side of this issue with a Sexton Blake story and a Hulbert Footner novel. For the fantasy side, we have three tales: a Frostflower & Thorn short story from Phyllis Ann Karr, a Jules de Grandin occult detective story from Seabury Quinn, and a ghostly tale by Grant Allen. On the third side, we have three science fiction stories—tales by Joe Bigson, Bill Venable, and Lester del Rey. Fun stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Here’s this issue’s lineup:

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“Night of the Laundry Cart,” by Tom Milani [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“A Valentine by the Numbers,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“The Frozen Fiske.” by Brian Cox [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

“The White Mouse,” by Hal Meredith [Sexton Blake novelet]

Cap’n Sue, by Hulbert Footner [novel]

 

Fantasy & Science Fiction:

“A Night at Two Inns.” by Phyllis Ann Karr [Frostflower & Thorn short story]

“Pallinghurst Barrow,” by Grant Allen [novelet]

“The Man Who Cast No Shadow,” by Seabury Quinn [Jules de Grandin novelet]

“I Like You, Too—” by Joe Gibson [short story]

“If At First,” by Bill Venable [short story]

“Moon-Blind,” by Lester del Rey [short story]