Several SMFS list members are published in Indelible
#7: The Science and Sensibility Issue. Available online at the website,
the members in the issue are:
John M. Floyd with the short story,
"Illumination."
Joan Leotta with the story poems, “Peter Rabbit,
Stand-in” and “Without Music, Mothing from Einstein.”
Paula Messina with the essay, "Science for the
Senses."
Josh Pachter and RenĂ© Appel with the short story, “Cell Division.”
SMFS list member Suzanne Baginskie’s latest novel, Dangerous
Undercurrents, has been published by DS Productions. This is the fourth
book in her FBI Affairs series that began with Dangerous
Charade. The read is available in digital format at Amazon.
Amazon Description:
After a fiery explosion kills their trusted FBI
partner, Special Agent Elaine Bishop’s life is thrown into jeopardy, along with
her tough-as-nails partner, Agent Mike Weber. Their covers blown, and a drug
dealer orders a target on their back. In an instant their lives become terrorized.
They agree to a covert mission using a fake marriage as their cover and are
whisked aboard a seven-day cruise traveling to the Western Caribbean. Posing as
a honeymooning couple, they board the cruise ship with a newly appointed FBI
agent named Franklin Knight.
They dive into their assignment investigating missing
women and so called accidental drownings, that threatens to ruin the ship
captain’s reputation. His own security officers have failed at discovering the
source. When Agent Bishop disappears on the twelfth deck’s walking path, Agent
Weber combs the ship like a madman in search of her. Once he finds her, he
becomes her twenty-four hour protecter and seeks to flush out her stalker.
Agent Bishop worries every corridor poses a threat, but within Weber’s arms she
finds a safe haven. Soon the three agents discover a sinister conspiracy
onboard involving human trafficking and border infiltration. Will they learn
the stalker’s identity before he intervenes and destroys their chance of
forever?
Website Description:
Our 95th issue has a lot of fun stuff—starting off
with an original mystery by Robert Lopresti (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael
Bracken). Also on the mystery side, “Haitian Divorce,” by Simon Wood, courtesy
of Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman, as well as a pair of classic novels by
Hulbert Footner and R. Austin Freeman...plus a solve-it-yourself puzzler from
Hal Charles.
On the fantastic side of things, A.R. Morlan has a
modern tale of clones, Alfred Coppel has a scientific monster, Seabury Quinn
has a weird horror, and Fritz Leiber has a comic mermaid tale. And there a
classic science fiction novel by John Taine. Good stuff!
Here’s the complete lineup:
Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:
“Memorial,” by Robert Lopresti [Michael Bracken
Presents short story]
“The Case of the Petty Porch Pirate,” Hal Charles
[Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
“Haitian Divorce,” by Simon Wood [Barb Goffman
Presents short story]
Putting Crime Over, by Hulbert Footner [novel, Madame
Storey series]
The D’Arblay Mystery, by R. Austin Freeman [novel, Dr.
Thorndyke series]
Science Fiction & Fantasy:
“Boog’/4 and the Endicaran Kluge,” by A. R. Morlan
[short story]
“The Terror,” by Alfred Coppel [short story]
“Pipe Dream,” by Fritz Leiber [short story]
“Out of the Long Ago,” by Seabury Quinn [short story]
Seeds of Life, by John Taine [novel]
SMFS member Cate Moyle’s short story, Talking in Your Sleep, has been published in the ParABnormal Magazine: June 2023 issue. It is available at the publisher website.
Website Description:
PARABNORMAL MAGAZINE June 2023 edited by H David
Blalock
parABnormal Magazine features stories that focus on the paranormal, including ghosts, spectres, witchcraft, the afterlife, and the occasional bit of dark magic. The main article in this issue is Does the Mythological River Saraswati Really Exist? by Sonali Roy.
Read this magazine with all the lights on…
Stories
Beyond Medicine by Dusty Grinnell
THE WINTHROP WITCHES: A Little Help Along the Way by
Karen Dent
The Action of Turning Back by Michael Burke
Talking in Your Sleep by Cate Moyle
My Birth God is Anubis by Zary Fekete
Bhurghali, demon storm by Shasha Kadapa
Hell's Bridge by William Presley
Poems
dancing around dunes by Roxanne Barbour
Tanuki by Chris Dickinson
Ghosts in Oil by Denny Marshall
Darkling by Lori Green
Land of No Return by Lily Tierney
The Candle by Sarah Cannavo
Articles
The Animal Unconscious by R. D. Hayes
Does the Mythological River Saraswati Really Exist? by
Sonali Roy
It Moved by Renee Conley
Several SMFS list members have published essays in Hobbies
& Crafts in Mysteries, Volume 39, No. 2, Summer 2023. Published earlier
this week by Mystery Readers International, the read is available in print and
pdf formats on the website.
The SMFS list members published in the issue are:
Elizabeth Elwood with “Pulling Strings.”
Sybil Johnson with "Blending My Love of Crafts
and Cozies."
Maggie King with “Theme Mystery Book Groups.”
Erica Obey with “The Brooklyn North Murder.”
Website Description:
Volume
39, No. 2, Summer 2023
Buy
this back issue! Available in hardcopy or as a
downloadable PDF.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ARTICLES
AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
COLUMNS
Several SMFS list members were published earlier this
week in Unlikely Partners: Thrill Ride - The Magazine #2. Published by
Buchman Bookworks, Inc., you can pick up the issue at the publisher, Amazon, and other
vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are:
Daniel C. Bartlett with "Pure Survival Instinct."
Diana Deverell with "Under the Influence of
Elmore Leonard."
Wil A. Emerson with “Huey and Madelyn, Dead Heat.”
David H. Hendrickson with "Squirrel and Worm."
C.A. Rowland with “On the Rails.”
Anne Swardson with "Eiffel in Love."
Amazon Description:
10 Tales of Unlikely Partners
The Odd Couple, Remington Steele, The Man from
U.N.C.L.E., Kirk and Spock, any couple in Friends or The Big Bang Theory or...
Thrown together by chance, assignment, or
circumstance. Driven apart by skills, personality, or they just don’t trust
each other. Until their lives are on the line and their only options are to
cooperate—or die.
Partnerships from the too perfect couple to the new
met stranger. And when your partner isn’t another person?
SMFS list members appear in Starlite
Pulp Review #2. Published by Starlite
Pulp, the read is available in print format from Amazon
and other vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are:
Michael Bracken with “Family Tree.”
Veronica Leigh with "Of Two Minds."
Amazon Description:
Fourteen pulp tales by authors Frank Bill, Michael
Bracken, Alec Cizak, 'Doc' Clancy, Eric Esquivel, Gabriel Hart, E. B. Hunter,
Nolan Knight, Veronica Leigh, Nevada McPherson, Daniel Pyne, Brian Townsley,
James Whelpley, and J. Wiltz. Features horror, sci fi, crime/noir, adventure,
westerns, and everything in between. Summer 2023 issue.
SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, The
Sins of Sherlock Holmes, appears in the recently released anthology, The
Detective and the Clergyman: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown.
The read is available in print at Amazon and other venues.
Amazon Description:
Sherlock Holmes: A man who needs no introduction. The
Greatest Detective of them all. The Master of observation and deduction.
Father Brown: Roman Catholic Priest and Great
Detective . . . Sometimes called the counter to Sherlock Holmes due to his use
of intuition when solving cases.
Holmes’s career overlapped that of Father Brown, and
they would certainly known and worked with one another. Now, for the first
time, Belanger Books presents a new collection in their Great Detective series,
solely dedicated to the shared adventures of The Detective and the Clergyman.
Seventeen new stories, ranging from one of Father
Brown’s earliest investigations, in the 1880’s during the heights of Holmes’s
career, to tales set in the years during and after World War I. Join us as we
journey from the gaslit alleys of London to obscure and dangerous spots on the
Continent – along with Dr. John Watson and Hercule Flambeau as well!
SMFS list member Gary Phillips’ short story, One Night
in Brownsville, appears in the recently released anthology, A Sampling of
Sleuths: Short Stories from Bingeworthy Mystery Authors. Published by Thalia
Press, the read is available in both print and eBook formats at Amazon
and other vendors.
Amazon Description:
A Sampling of Award-Winning Mystery Authors For You To
Try
Is there anything better than discovering a new crime fiction author you like — then finding out that they have plenty of books in their series for you to enjoy?
From cozies to contemporaries, with a crime caper or two thrown in for good measure, A Sampling of Sleuths features short stories from 10 proven mystery authors, each one with strong backlists. It's a great, risk-free way to quickly explore authors you may not have heard of yet — and find the ones that you deem bingeworthy. After that, the rest is up to you...
Featuring short mystery stories by:
Anne R. Allen
Michelle Bennington
Kate Flora
Lise McClendon
Katy Munger
Gary Phillips
J.M. Poole
Sarah Shaber
Connie Shelton
Susan Slater
SMFS list member James Patrick Focarile’s short story,
Carolyn’s Eyes, is published at Shotgun Honey. The story is free to read online here.
SMFS list member Michael Bracken’s short story, Bottom
Girl, was published yesterday at TOUGH. The story is free to read online here.
SMFS list member John M. Floyd’s short story, Lucifer,
is the Grand Prize winner in the Fiendish Father's Day Challenge at Tales
from the Moonlit Path. The winning story as well as the Honorable Mentions
can be read for free online at their site.
Two SMFS list members were published yesterday online
at Punk Noir Magazine. The stories are free to read here. Our members and their
short stories are:
Robert Jeschonek with “One Truffle Too Many.”
S. B. Watson with “Less Popular Crimes.”
SMFS list members appear in the recently released, Thriller
Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2. The read is available in both print and eBook
formats at Amazon.
The SMFS members in the issue are:
Peter DiChellis with “Lost Souls.”
M. E. Proctor with “Mutti.”
Amazon Description:
Featuring established and new literary voices comes
the eigth issue of Thriller Magazine!
---
This issue features short stories that will leave
readers on the edge of their seat. Showcasing a wide range of tales, everything
from psychological thrillers, to brutal tales of murder, to political
thrillers, and much more, this issue has it all!
Authors & Poets included are:
Edward Ahern, Arthur Davis, Robb T. White, Peter
DiChellis, John Grey, Michael Mallory, Joe Giordano, Richard Cass, Teel James
Glenn, & M.E. Proctor
Several SMFS members are published in Rock and a
Hard Place: Issue 10, Summer 2023. Published by Rock and a Hard Place
Press, the read is available in print and digital formats at Amazon.
The SMFS list members in this issue are:
Heidi Hunter with "Comic Con.”
Mike McHone with "Carousel Horses."
Amazon Description:
Don't Talk to the Cops.
A conscience can be a real bummer sometimes . . .
There's cash in comic books.
I mean, there's always Tomorrow. Right?
Rock and a Hard Place returns again with Issue 10,
featuring more of the hard luck stories you love, from writers at the top of
their craft, including: Jerry Bloomfield, Barry Charman, Michael A. Gonzales,
Gabriel Hart, Heidi Hunter, Wailana Kalama, Nolan Knight, Don LaPlant, Megan
Lucas, Vincent Marshall, Mike McHone, and Mary Thorson.
Rock and a Hard Place is the literary magazine that
knows when it seems like the whole world is against you, it's because it's
probably true.
Earlier this week, The Private Eye Writers of America announced their Shamus Award nominees for
the 2023 Shamus Awards. There are four categories for awards given for private
eye novels and short stories first published in the United States in 2022. SMFS
list members are nominated in two of the four categories. The categories and members nominated are:
Best Original PI Paperback
Gabriel Valjan for, Hush Hush, published
by Level Best Books.
Best PI Short Story
Libby Cudmore for, Charlie’s Medicine, in Lawyers,
Guns, and Money: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Warren Zevon,
published by Down & Out Books. Edited by SMFS list members Libby Cudmore
and Art Taylor.
O’Neil De Noux for, A Jelly of Intrigue, in Edgar
& Shamus Go Golden: Twelve Tales of Murder, Mystery, and Master Detection
from the Golden Age of Mystery and Beyond, published by Down &
Out Books. Edited by Gay Toltl Kinman and Andrew McAleer.
SMFS congratulates our member nominees as well as all
the nominated authors.
Several SMFS list members have been published today online
at Punk Noir Magazine. The stories are free to read here. Our members and their
short stories are:
Robert Jeschonek with “One Truffle Too Many.”
Zakariah Johnson with “Birds Aren’t Real.”
Albert Katz with “The Strange Disappearance Of
Elizabeth Wright."
Robert Petyo with "Crazy Conspiracy Corey."
Elena Smith with “Bench.”
SMFS list members are published in the Ellery
Queen’s Mystery Magazine: July/August 2023 issue. The issue is available at
the publisher and
other vendors. The SMFS members in the issue are:
Daniel C. Bartlett with “The Riverside Incident.”
(Black Mask story)
John M. Floyd with “The Deacon’s Game.”
Bev Vincent with “His Father's Son.”
Several SMFS list members are published in Alfred
Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: July/August 2023 issue. The issue is available at
the publisher and
other vendors. Those members are:
Kevin Egan with "Italian Alzheimer's."
Jacqueline Freimor with “The Case of the Bogus
Cinderellas” (2022
Black Orchid Novella Award winner)
Steve Liskow with "Crazy Cat Lady."
Robert Lopresti with “Law of the Jungle.”
Ed Ridgley with “Writer’s Block.” (Mysterious
Photograph Contest)
SMFS list members are now published in Black Cat
Weekly #93. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format. The SMFS
members in the issue are:
John M. Floyd with “High Noon in the Big Country.”
Joseph S. Walker with “Mercy.”
Website Description:
Our 93rd issue has a ton (we weighed it!) of great
fiction, starting with an original crime story from John M. Floyd. John remains
one of our most popular authors, and this one comes courtesy of Acquiring
Editor Michael Bracken. We also have a great mystery tale by Joseph S. Walker,
thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman. Plus a Jack the Ripper tale from
Adrian Cole. And mystery classics from James Holding and Dick Donovan—in
Donovan’s case, a complete short story collection. Of course, we also have a
solve-it-yourself mystery from Hal Charles.
On the more fantastic side of things, you will also
find Adrian Cole’s Jack the Ripper story. Plus a pair of classic novels from
Jack Williamson (future war against the robots) and George O. Smith (a time
travel classic), plus a scientific zombie (using the old term, “jumbee”) tale
from Wallace West. Quite a varied selection this time!
Here’s the complete lineup:
Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:
“High Noon in the Big Country,” by John M. Floyd
[Michael Bracken Presents short story]
“The Case of the Patriotic Pilferage,” by Hal Charles
“Mercy,” by Joseph S. Walker [Barb Goffman Presents
short story]
“The Consultant,” by James Holding [short story]
Riddles Read, by Dick Donovan [short story collection]
“In the Wake of the Autumn Storm,” by Adrian Cole
[short story]
Science Fiction & Fantasy:
“In the Wake of the Autumn Storm,” by Adrian Cole
[short story]
“The Belt,” by Wallace West [short story]
The World-Mover, by George O. Smith [novel]
After World’s End, by Jack Williamson [novel]
SMFS list members are published in the recently released Yellow Mama Webzine: Issue 98. The issue is online and a free read here. The SMFS list members in the issue are:
James Blakey with "The Crisp-R Connection."
Shari Held with “Voodoo Wedding.”
Elizabeth Zelvin with the poems,
"Experiment" and "Nibling."
Please welcome SMFS list member Karen Keeley to the
blog today. She has a short story in the upcoming anthology, The
Second Black Beacon Book of Mystery.
AN UNEXPECTED
SURPRISE
By Karen Keeley
The SECOND BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY is coming July 8, 2023. I’m thrilled to be included with my story “Bread Pudding” and to share the TOC with many other wonderful writers, all masters in their own right with their storytelling prowess.
When I saw that Dave Duncan is a contributor, my jaw dropped. He was a huge influence on me, in my early years of wanting to write. To be included in an anthology with him (all these years later) is like coming face to face with a childhood hero, someone larger than life, a frickin’ rock star!
Back in the late 80s when I was a heck of a lot younger than I am now, my family and I lived in Calgary (think Canada’s breadbasket on the prairies with a splendid view of the Rockies), busy with day-jobs, school, sports, friends, and life. But I’d always had a hankering to be a writer. Hubby said go for it, so I took a creative writing class as my first introduction into writing fiction. The teacher encouraged us to attend the Writers Guild of Alberta Writers Conference to be held in Calgary that year. Feeling like a complete charlatan, I went with a fellow student. We slunk around in the shadows, totally unsure of what was expected of us. Which of course, was nothing, other than to attend the different author readings and panel discussions. We were, after all, there to learn. And, learn, we did. It was there we met Dave Duncan.
He was coming off a thirty-year career working in Alberta’s oil patch. Now, unemployed for the first time in his life, he took to writing fiction. In Dave’s words: “My first attempt at a novel came when I was in my fifties: the kids had left home; the house was complete; I had my own business and could sneak time off when I felt like it.”
He submitted a manuscript to Del Rey in New York, and it was accepted. That was the beginning of a lucrative enterprise. He went on to pen more than sixty science fiction and fantasy novels over a thirty-year writing career. He was a founding and honorary lifetime member of SF Canada, and a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) Hall of Fame. Back then, in the 80s, I remember being in awe of him, a soft-spoken gentleman, almost shy—an individual who weighted his words carefully, readily sharing his writing experience with us, answering questions, giving advice, telling us to never give up on our dream. We could do this!
Over the years, I read many of his books, my favorite being the Great Game trilogy. His world building was epic. His characters relatable. The adventures they found themselves in plausible. His books are still bestsellers today, timeless in their storytelling. I always thought it was just so darn cool that a guy from the prairies had rocketed onto the SF&F literary stage with a bestseller, the forerunner to all that would follow. And like Dave said, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.
When I heard of his death in 2018, it felt like a part of me died, too—he’d been such a force in my life. A fellow Canadian who had made it big, who stayed true to his storytelling beliefs, such a humble and likeable guy, much sought after at Writers Conferences and book readings.
From one of Dave’s interviews: “One of the few things that can be taught (as opposed to just learned) about writing is that fiction must be about people. Whether human or not, characters must want, fear, hope, love, etc. in a way that furniture does not.”
For those of us who have chosen the crime and mystery genre as our platform to tell our stories, we know only too well that conflict is what drives the story forward. We are, after all, people too, and most days we deal with our own wants, fears, hopes, and loves—everything that drives the human condition.
As part of my ongoing correspondence with Cameron, I shared this story with him. He got back to me, telling me: “I hadn't heard of him (understandable since Cameron is on the other side of the big pond) but looked him up after receiving the submission from his editor and was duly impressed. I'm so glad I'm bringing you and Dave together in this anthology.” Me too, Cameron—me, too!
Never in a million years would I have thought Dave would write a mystery, but it appears he has. I now look forward to reading Dave’s story (along with all the others) in the SECOND BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY. Maybe you too, have had the pleasure (and the wonder) of being included in a publication with someone you greatly admire. If so, there’s no other feeling like it—like standing on top of the world, feeling as though you’ve made it, no longer that shy, awkward wannabe you may have been all those years ago. You too, are a storyteller, and you too, can do great things.
Karen Keeley © 2023
Karen Keeley has published
short fiction in more than a dozen anthologies: literary, speculative and
crime, the most recent Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age (Sisters-in-Crime,
Canada West) and Tales from the Monoverse (Last Waltz Publishing). She
is a member of the Short Fiction Mystery Society (SFMS) and Sisters-in-Crime
(Canada West.) Her novella Sticks and Stones was short-listed as a
finalist in the 2022 Eyelands Book Awards. A proud Canuck living north of the
49th parallel, she divides her time between family, friends,
the outdoors, and writing—not necessarily in that order.