SMFS Member Publishing News: Misconception by Denise Johnson

 

SMFS list member Denise Johnson reported that her new book, Misconception, was released today. Published by Latchkey Publishing, the book is available at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Amazon Description:

Cassie Nichols wants a baby. Badly.

She’s certain a baby will anchor the crumbling relationship with her husband, Jake, who she suspects is having an affair.

But after a miscarriage and continued trouble getting pregnant leads the couple down the frustrating and expensive road of in vitro fertilization, Cassie finds herself running out of time.

Pumped on hormones, fueled by anxiety, and believing it is the only way to save her marriage, she does the unthinkable to ensure a viable pregnancy.

Now, the happy family she envisioned remains out of reach and is instead wrought with lies, deception, and murder.

SMFS Members Published in Issue 10.1: A Case Of Kink

SMFS members are published in Issue 10.1: A Case Of Kink. Published by Cowboy Jamboree Magazine, the read is available online and free to read here. The SMFS list members that reported being in the issue are:

 

Tom Andes with “Deadhead.”

 

Stephen M. Pierce with “The Ugly Death of Ferrari McGee.”

SMFS Member Publishing News: Twenty Centuries by James D.F. Hannah

SMFS list member James D.F. Hannah reported that his short story, Twenty Centuries, appears in the anthology, Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir. Recently published by Soho Crime, the book is available from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.

 

Amazon Description:

The perfect holiday gift for the crime fiction lover in your life!

Curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg, this collection of eleven delightful and twisted Hanukkah capers will entertain you through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.

In Stefanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” an unstable pharmaceutical rep tries not to kill anyone at her family dinner on the last night of Hanukkah; in Ivy Pochoda’s “Johnny Christmas,” a taciturn Gulf War vet commissions a tattoo from a man he knew from his prison days, a man not named Christmas but Goldfarb; in David L. Ulin’s “Shamash,” it’s the last night of Hanukkah, and a live-at-home adult son considers doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment; in James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries,” a pair of detectives solve a curiously unprompted murder during the holiday season.

This captivating collection contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals, and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, offering something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales.

With stories by: Ivy Pochoda, David L. Ulin, James D.F. Hannah, Lee Goldberg, Nikki Dolson, J.R. Angelella, Liska Jacobs, Gabino Iglesias, Stefanie Leder, and Jim Ruland, plus a foreword and story by Tod Goldberg.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Anything For You by Brandon Barrows

SMFS list member Brandon Barrows reported that his short story, Anything For You, was recently published in JOURN-E: The Journal of Imaginative Literature; vol. 3, no. 2. The issue is available for purchase at LuLu.

 

Publisher Description:

JOURN-E: The Journal of Imaginative Literature is a semi-annual compendium of fiction, poetry, and illustration across the several genres of the High Imagination: Adventure, Detection & Mystery, Fantasy, Horror & the Supernatural, and Science Fiction. It is published on the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes each year.

SMFS Members Published in Sex & Violins: An Erotic Crime Anthology

Today is publication day for Sex & Violins: An Erotic Crime Anthology. Edited by Sandra Murphy, the book is published by White City Press, an imprint of Misti Media. The read is available at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members that reported being in the anthology are:

 

 

Chandler Christie with “The Tail.”

 

Linda Kay Hardie with “The Cello of Monkey Pawn Shop.”

 

Wendy Harrison with “Last Ride of the Valkyries.”

 

Shari Held with “Concerto for Harp and Homicide.”

 

Karen Keeley with “Through a Looking Glass Darkly.”

 

Steve Liskow with “Reed Between the Lines.”

 

Editor Sandra Murphy with “Rescue Me.”

 

Anna V. Nelson with “Piano Tuning.”

 

Joseph S. Walker with “Ruby Wants to Watch.”

 

Publisher Description:

PLEASE NOTE: This anthology contains scenes with graphic depictions of sexual acts between consenting and wildly enthusiastic adults. We advise readers to read a maximum of two stories at a time to reduce the risk of overheating.

Sex can be the greatest pleasure or the deepest disappointment. It’s an expression of love, a few moments of fun, the way to scratch an itch, a lifetime commitment and all with two (or more) bodies tangled in the dark. The human form comes together in perfect harmony, like musical instruments coming together to create the ultimate composition or concert..

Twelve authors have penned tales of sex, crime, revenge, ego, espionage, and unexplainable events, each involving a musical instrument commonly found in an orchestra.

Couples, threesomes, group sex, same-sex, multiple partners, a bit of bondage, and one mermaid—no matter who they are or what configuration they choose to satisfy their lust, all participants soon learn it’s not just about sex.

Of course, with just one wrong note…it’s murder.

Sex & Violins features stories of crime and intimacy by Jack Bates, Laura Hazan, Anna V. Nelson, Chandler Christie, Albert Tucher, Shari Held, Karen Keeley, Joseph S. Walker, Linda K. Hardie, Steve Liskow, Wendy Harrison and Sandra Murphy.

 

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Readers Journal: Mystery Readers Journal: Partners in Crime, Volume 40, No. 3, Fall 2024

 

Several SMFS list members have published essays in the Mystery Readers Journal: Partners in Crime, Volume 40, No. 3, Fall 2024. Published earlier this week by Mystery Readers International, the read is available at the website. The SMFS list members that reported they were published in the issue are:

 

 

Ron Katz with the essay. “(Life) Partners in Crime.”

 

Josh Pachter with the essay, “Multiple Accomplices.”

 

M. E. Proctor with the essay, “Bop City Swing or How I Fell in Step with a Dancing Partner.”

 

Jennifer Slee and Jessica Slee with the essay, “Finishing Each Other’s Sentences.”

 

Elizabeth Zelvin with “Detection in the Harem.” 

 

Publisher Description:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

·         Unforgettable Duos: Fictional Partners in Crime by Ayoola Onatade

·         If You’re Ever in a Jam, Here I Am by Margot Kinberg

·         Morse & Lewis—The Perfect Partners in Crime by Paul Charles

·         Those Loveable “Sidekicks!” Who’s Your Favorite? by Lou Armagno

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

·         An Author and Her Characters Team Up by Annamaria Alfieri

·         Partners Balance Crime Fighting by Saffron Amatti

·         A Study in Contrasts by Paul A. Barra

·         Why Two by Two? by Albert Bell

·         A Partnership—Not that I Wanted One by J. F. Benedetto

·         Two Voices Morph into a Third by Cordelia Biddle and Steve Zettler

·         Collaborators Continue the Molly Murphy Series by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles

·         Partners in Crime: The Pear Mystery Series by Robin Castle

·         Partners in Magic and Murder by Ron Cook

·         The Working Group by Susan Courtwright

·         You Can’t Do It Alone by J. Salvatore Domino

·         Double Doubles: Two Sets of Partners in Crime by Martin Edwards

·         Partners Write Partners by Lee Elder

·         Cronies, Chums, and Colleagues by Kate Fellowes

·         The Unique Partnership in The Nest by Hal Glatzer

·         When Two Are Not Enough by Bradley Harper

·         The Birth of “Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski

·         The Partner Sleuths in My Mysteries by Adrian Magson

·         (Life) Partners in Crime by Ron Katz

·         One Plus One Makes It More Fun by Tim Maleeny

·         The Equalizer by Jeanne Matthews

·         The Conjuror and the Copper by Tom Mead

·         Why I Write with Partner Sleuths, Sort Of by Mike Orenduff

·         Father/Daughter Detective Duo by Marcy McCreary

·         Multiple Accomplices by Josh Pachter

·         Writing Together Can Be Murder, But That’s Not All Bad by Larry and Rosemary Mild

·         In It Together by Priscilla Paton

·         Bop City Swing—or How I Fell in Step with a Dancing Partner by M.E. Proctor

·         A Partnership with Heart—and Fur by Neil Plakcy

·         Life Partners/Partners in Crime by Lev Raphael

·         Detecting Partners, Writing Partners by SJ Rozan

·         He Said, She Said: On Writing Devils Island by Midge Raymond & John Yunker

·         Partners in Small-Town Crime: Samuel Craddock and Loretta Singletary by Terry Shames

·         Finishing Each Other’s Sentences by Jennifer Slee and Jessica Slee

·         Brainstorms & Nuclear Bombs: Writing with Your Spouse by Alexandra Sokoloff & Craig Robertson

·         Partners in Crime—Michael and Stanley by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip

·         My Mother, My Partner by Charles Todd

·         Parasols and Poisons: Gilded Age Partners in Crime by N. S. Wikarski

·         Detection in the Harem by Elizabeth Zelvin

COLUMNS

·         Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Aubrey Hamilton, Claire Hart-Palumbo, Lesa Holstine, Dru Ann Love, LJ Roberts, and Jonathan Woods

·         Children’s Hour: Partners in Crime by Gay Toltl Kinman

·         Unexpected Partners in Real Crime by Cathy Pickens

·         Crime Seen: Assorted Ampersands by Kate Derie

·         From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

SMFS Member Publishing News: Sharyn Kolberg with The Gate

 

SMFS list member Sharyn Kolberg reported that her short story, Sharyn Kolberg with The Gate, appears in Black Cat Weekly #165. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Publisher Description:

It’s our final Halloween issue of the year—with lots of treats and only a few tricks. Headlining this issue is Bram Stoker’s “lost” horror tale, “Gibbet Hill,” which a researcher recently discovered in an Irish newspaper supplement from 1890. (It wasn’t listed in any of Stoker’s bibliographies, and it created quite a stir among horror aficionados.) I’ve very carefully edited it, correcting typos and a few dropped words, and fully annotated it. I think you’ll enjoy it.

   We also have original tales from bestselling authors Donna Andrews (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman) and Sharyn Kolberg (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), and one from newcomer Christopher Lawrence Froehlich, who makes his Black Cat Weekly debut. Plus a pair of modern classics from British masters John S. Glasby and E.C. Tubb, plus a nautical thriller by Alan B. Le May—who is most famous as the author of the classic Westerns The Searchers (1954) and The Unforgiven (1957).

   Our novels this issue are Allen Upward’s The Club of Masks—a rare British mystery from the Golden Age—and E.H. Visiak’s pirate fantasy, The Haunted Island.

   Here’s the complete lineup—

 

Cover Art: Ron Miller

 

NOVELS

 

The Club of Masks, by Allen Upward

   There’s murder at a scandalous London club where decadent masked aristocrats mingle…

 

The Haunted Island, by E.H. Visiak

   Being the History of an Adventure to an Island in the Remote South Sea. Of a Wizard there. Of his Pirate Gang; His Treasure; His Combustible…

 

SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MYSTERY

 

“The Purloined Pumpkin,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

   Can you solve the mystery before the detective? All the clues are there!

 

SHORT STORIES

 

“The Gate,” by Sharyn Kolberg [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

   After years of tension and escalating fights with her husband George, a simple accident turns deadly.

 

“The Grim,” by Donna Andrews [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

   A rogue cemetery guardian causes chaos, chasing souls and scaring mourners. A paranormal expert intervenes…

 

“Ghost Lanterns,” by Alan B. Le May

   Sailors begin disappearing as “ghost lanterns” float across the deck. Is the ship cursed?

 

“Gibbet Hill, by Bram Stoker

   The recently discovered “lost” story from the Dracula author—and it’s a supernatural fantasy!

 

“The Other Seance,” by John S. Glasby

   When a famous medium (and skilled charlatan is challenged to prove his powers, his tricks work too well…

 

“Death Plays Baseball,” by Christopher Lawrence Froehlich

   When Death and Nostalgia swap jobs to prove whose job is harder, a cosmic game of baseball leads to unexpected chaos.



“Museum Piece,” by E.C. Tubb

   In a future where war and violence are ancient relics, one man relives fantasies of military conquest…