SMFS Member Publishing News: Once by Alan Orloff

SMFS list member Alan Orloff reported that his short story, Once, was published at Shotgun Honey. You can read the piece for free online here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Sanctuary Motel: A Mess Hopkins Novel by Alan Orloff

 

SMFS list member Alan Orloff’s new book, Sanctuary Motel: A Mess Hopkins Novel is now out. Published by Level Best Books, this first read in a new series is available in digital and print formats. The read can be purchased at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Amazon Description:

Mess Hopkins, proprietor of the seen-better-days Fairfax Manor Inn, never met a person in need who couldn't use a helping hand-his helping hand. So he's thrown open the doors of the motel to the homeless, victims of abuse, or anyone else who could benefit from a comfy bed with clean sheets and a roof overhead. This rankles his parents and uncle, who technically still own the place and are more concerned with profits than philanthropy.

When a mother and her teenage boy seek refuge from an abusive husband, Mess takes them in until they can get back on their feet. Shortly after arriving, the mom goes missing and some very bad people come sniffing around, searching for some money they claim belongs to them. Mess tries to pump the boy for helpful information, but he's in full uncooperative teen mode-grunts, shrugs, and monosyllabic answers. From what he does learn, Mess can tell he's not getting the straight scoop. It's not long before the boy vanishes too. Abducted? Run away? Something worse? And who took the missing money? Mess, along with his friend Vell Jackson and local news reporter Lia Katsaros, take to the streets to locate the missing mother and son-and the elusive, abusive husband-before the kneecapping loansharks find them first.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Power of Evil by Alan Orloff

SMFS list member Alan Orloff’s short story, The Power of Evil, is now published in Black Cat Weekly #108. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format. 

 

Website Description: 

It seems the Halloween season starts earlier and earlier each year. I first began noticing Halloween candy in stores in July (!), and every time I turned around since then, there were more decorations, party favors, and treats at hand. Is it any wonder I’ve been wandering around the house humming “The Monster Mash” for the last few weeks?

Our 108th issue kicks off a truly epic celebration of the season, with a pair of nightmarish treats. You will never look at seagulls the same way after experiencing Adrian Cole’s “The Birds Are Back in Town.” And Lin Carter’s “Keru” is a tale that would have been right at home in Weird Tales in its heyday.

 “The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff, is not a supernatural tale, but futuristic suspense (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), so it’s doing double duty this time. And the grisly-sounding “A Burn That Reaches Bone,” by Karen Odden is not a mad slasher tale, but a tale of a horrible crime that reaches through the generations. (Thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman for this one.) And, of course, there are traditional mysteries, too—I found a rare Victorian-era mystery by Australian writer Ernest Favenc while I was browsing issues of Australian Town and Country Journal looking for mysteries by Mary Fortune (my favorite classic Australian mystery writer) and couldn’t resist adding it to this issue. Plus we have a detective novel featuring Nick Carter and a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.

On the science fiction and fantasy side, we have another great Norman Spinrad story, a classic by Robert F. Young, and the first entry in the Pillsworth & Toffee series by Charles F. Myers (we have more coming up). Fun stuff

Here’s the complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

 “The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Swimming into Troubled Waters,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“A Burn That Reaches Bone,” by Karen Odden [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

“The Mystery of the Death Stroke,” by Ernest Favenc

The Forced Crime, by Nicholas Carter [novel]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“The Power of Evil,” by Alan Orloff [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“Entities,” by Norman Spinrad [short story]

“The Birds Are Back in Town” is copyright © 2019 by Adrian Cole [short story]

“The Courts of Jamshyd,” by Robert F. Young [short story]

“Keru,” by Lin Carter

“I’ll Dream of You” by Charles F. Myers [short story]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Two Tofu Tacos, a Taurus TX22, a Taycan, and a Ton of Trouble by Alan Orloff

 

Yesterday was publication day for Two Tofu Tacos, a Taurus TX22, a Taycan, and a Ton of Trouble by Alan Orloff. This is the latest installment of Season Four of the Guns + Tacos series edited by Trey R. Barker and SMFS list member Michael Bracken. Published by Down and Out Books, the read is available at the publisher, Amazon, and elsewhere.

 

Publisher Synopsis:

Blackmail is such an ugly word. Even uglier when it’s happening to you, especially when you don’t know who’s behind it, and defense lawyer Jefferson Bell doesn’t have a clue. Disgruntled client? Current mistress? One of a handful of pissed-off ex-mistresses? An opportunistic co-worker? A team of blackmailers looking for a big payday?

If the truth comes out, however, it will destroy his career and cause the end of Bell’s marriage. And he can’t let that happen, not after all the hard work he’d put in, not after all sacrifices he’d endured over the years. So following the advice of a friend, Bell visits a multi-purpose taco truck and procures what he needs to bring the extortionist down, and hard. Now he just has to find him. Or her. Or them.

With the help of his buddy and former client Rags Richland, Bell follows the trail through Chicago. When the blackmailer sets up an exchange, Bell attempts to seize the opportunity and spring a trap. But things go sideways, and Bell is no closer to learning his tormentor’s identity. To complicate matters, Bell’s situation has attracted the attention of the managing partner at his law firm, who gives Bell an ultimatum: fix things and make sure there’s no blowback on the firm. The ultimatum comes with a veiled part: Or else.

The more Bell searches, the more things come unraveled, and the more his desperation grows. And keeps growing, right up to the snapping point.

Then blows right past it.

Publication News: Mystery Magazine

 

The May issue of Mystery Magazine features stories by:

John M. Floyd. "Pocket Change."

Robert Mangeot. "Flour Dusted and Pan Glossed."

Alan Orloff. "Lita's List."

Joseph S. Walker. "Filthy Looker."

Publication News: Murder Most Diabolical

Wildside Press has just published: Malice Domestic 16: Murder Most Diabolical.  Society members included are:

Paula Gail Benson. "Reputation or Soul."

Mary Alyce Blum. "Little White Lies."

Christine Eskilson. "The Reunion."

Nancy Gardner. "Death's Door."

Barb Goffman. "Go Big or Go Home."

Peter W.J. Hayes. "The Ice House."

Smita Harish Jain. "Keeping Up With the Jainses."

Cynthia Kuhn. "There Comes A Time."

Margaret Lucke. "The Devils-Work Ball." 

Lisa Q. Mathews. "Fly Me to the Morgue."

Adam Meyer. "Crime Rate."

Alan Orloff. "There Once Was a Man Named Larue."

Cynthia Sabelhaus. "Exegesis."

C.J. Verburg. "A Terrible Tragedy."

Honors: Agatha Award Nominations

Congratulations to the many Short Mystery Fiction Society members nominated for the Agatha Awards this year.  

Best Contemporary Novel Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books) Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books) Best Historical Novel The Devil's Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing) Best First Novel Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books) Best Short Story "A Family Matter" by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021) "A Tale of Two Sisters" by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders) "Doc's at Midnight" by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books) "The Locked Room Library" by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021) Best Non-Fiction Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books) Best Children's/YA Mystery I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)

Publication News: Murder by the Glass

 Untreed Reads has just published Murder by the Glass: Cocktail Mysteries.  Stories by members include:

Debra H. Goldstein: "Bucket List Dreams"

Teresa Inge: "Murder on Tap." and "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson."

Eleanor Cawood Jones: "Brayking Glass."

Maggie King: "How do you Mend a Broken Heart?"

Alan Orloff: "A Taste of Murder."

Josh Pachter: "Zero Hour."

Publication News: This Time For Sure

The ironically-titled Bouchercon 2021 anthology This Time For Sure includes stories by Society members:

Elizabeth Elwood: "The River of My Return"

Alan Orloff: "Killing Calhoun Again."

David Heska Wanbli Weiden: "Turning Heart."

Andrew Welsh-Higgins: "The Lake."

Member Awards: Thrillers

 The International Thriller Writers announced the Thriller Awards yesterday.  Winners included Alan Orloff's "Rent Due" for Best Short Story (in Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, edited by Michael Bracken), and David Heska Wanbli Weiden's Winter Counts for Best First Novel.

Publication News: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine May/June 2021.

 The May/June issue of AHMM is released today and features several stories by members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.  These include:

Bracken, Michael.  "Last Waltz Across Texas."

D'Agnese, Joe. "Mr. Tesla Likes to Watch."

Egan, Kevin. "Lydia's Law."

Lopresti, Robert. "The Fourth Circle. 

Orloff, Alan.  "Gatorpalooza."

Walker, Joseph S. "Wednesday at Ten."

SMAF 2021: Alan Orloff and Art Taylor in Conversation

 SMAF 2021: Alan Orloff and Art Taylor in Conversation

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...

SMFS Member Podcast News: Wrong Place, Write Crime Episode 102: Alan Orloff & 100 Episodes!

 SMFS Member Podcast News: Wrong Place, Write Crime Episode 102: Alan Orloff & 100 Episodes!

Shotgun Honey Flash Fiction: Fore! by Alan Orloff

 Shotgun Honey Flash Fiction: Fore! by Alan Orloff

Mysteristas Guest Post: Alan Orloff

Mysteristas Guest Post: Alan Orloff

Killer Nashville: Please, Turn Off the Idea Faucet! by Alan Orloff

Killer Nashville: Please, Turn Off the Idea Faucet! by Alan Orloff

SMFS Member Publishing News: Alan Orloff

Today is publication day for SMFS list member Alan Orloff’s new book, I Know Where You Sleep. Published by Down & Out Books, it is available in both print and digital formats. The read can be purchased at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.

Synopsis:

When Anderson West takes on the pro-bono case of Jessica Smith, a twenty-something restaurant hostess being stalked, the last thing he expects is for his investigation to spiral into breaking and entering, assault, and legal threats from the suspects and the victim.

But that's what happens when you run a private investigation firm with your rule-breaking, loose-cannon sister at your side.

While Anderson spends his time deducing and interviewing possible suspects, Carrie handles interrogations in her own unique--and personal--fashion. And it seems like everyone is a suspect. There are Jessica's ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend, her incredibly creepy boss and the suspicious reverend at her church who definitely seems to be hiding something.

Or someone.

The closer Anderson and Carrie get to an answer, the more danger Jessica finds herself in. Her stalker's notes become increasingly more threatening, trading the scary phone calls and text messages for terrifying photographs and notes at her gym, work, and home. To make things even more complicated, Jessica's backstory begins to unravel, and the secrets of her past could potentially solve everything...if only she'd let Anderson and Carrie in.

With time ticking down, will the brother-sister investigative team be able to solve Jessica's case before she tries something foolhardy, like facing up to the tenacious bastard on her own, armed only with a handgun and a prayer?

The First Two Pages: I Know Where You Sleep by Alan Orloff

 The First Two Pages: I Know Where You Sleep by Alan Orloff

SMFS Member Podcast: Alan Orloff

SMFS list member Alan Orloff’s short story, “Bark Simpson and the Scent of Death”  is currently the subject of Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast. Actor Sean Hopper reads the tale.

Podcast Synopsis:

This episode features the mystery short story, “Bark Simpson and the Scent of Death” by Alan Orloff, read by local actor Sean Hopper. This story was published in Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies in March or 2018. You can learn more about Alan Orloff and his writing on his website alanorloff.com. 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. You can find more mystery fun on our websites Kings River Life Magazine and KRL News and Reviews.