SMFS Member Publishing News: Dinner with the King by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker reported that his short story, Dinner with the King, is published in Black Cat Weekly #168. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Website Description:

This issue, we begin the second volume of Ed Glasby’s monumental fantasy trilogy with The Dark Pilgrimage, plus we have a complete science fiction novel by Nelson S. Bond and a complete classic mystery novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, adapted from their play by acclaimed author Stephen Vincent Benét.

   On the mystery short story end of things, Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken has an original from Tom Larsen, and Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman has a Thanksgiving tale by Joseph S. Walker that’s perfect for the holiday. We also have a great original tale by Vy Kava.

   For the fantasy & science fiction readers, we have an original fairy tale-inspired story by Maureen Bowden, plus a dark fantasy classic by John S. Glasby, plus a science fiction survival-in-space classic by E.C. Tubb.

   Here’s the complete lineup—

 

Cover Art: Stephen Hickman

 

NOVELS

 

The Bat, by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, and Stephen Vincent Benét

   A killer stalks a mansion, cloaked in darkness. Can a sharp-witted woman unmask The Bat?

When Freemen Shall Stand, by Nelson S. Bond

   A Nazi spy disrupts a war-ending chemical experiment. Centuries later, the survivors awaken…

 

SERIAL NOVEL

 

The Dark Pilgrimage, by Edmund Glasby (part 1 of 2)

   Beginning the second volume in The Apocalypses of Brother Santiago.

 

SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MYSTERY

 

“The Campground Caper,” by Hal Charles

   An aging teen idol is assaulted backstage during intermission. Can you solve the case before the detective?

 

SHORT STORIES

 

“The Other Brother,” by Tom Larsen [Michael Bracken Presents]

   A botched smuggling operation. A missing brother who knows too much. Can Wilson Salinas uncover the truth before the shadows close in for good?

“Dinner with the King,” by Joseph S. Walker [Barb Goffman Presents]

   A cunning pickpocket, a tough-as-nails detective chasing counterfeiters, and Thanksgiving dinner!

“The Badge and the Interpreter,” by Vy Kava

   An interpreter faces murder, secrets, and impossible choices. Can she survive the truth?

“Edna Lowry’s Legacy,” by Maureen Bowden

   Earth is dying, and humanity’s time is running out. Sean Lowry’s family carries a legacy that may be their only chance to survive.

“Something About Gargoyles,” by John S. Glasby

   A man is dying without any medical explanation. Can the secret to his illness be found in the shadowy feud with a local stonemason?

“Emergency Call,” by E.C. Tubb

   A spaceship loses critical oxygen mid-journey. Survival demands impossible choices...   Until next time, happy reading! 

SMFS Member Publishing News: Run and Gun by Joseph S. Walker

Today is publication day for Run and Gun by SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker. This is the second novella in the Chop Shop series created and edited by SMFS list member Michael Bracken. Published by Down & Out Books, the eBook is exclusively available at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description:

Car thieves and the chop shop that buys from them combine to create high-octane stories of hot cars, hot crimes, and hot times in Dallas, Texas.

When Lyle Mulaney steals his first car in “Run and Gun,” he doesn’t know he’s also stealing a blackmail film hotter than a Dallas summer. Now, the disgraced cop is caught between a progressive firebrand eager to take down the powerful and a cold-blooded fixer who will kill to protect them. Mulaney’s a hell of a driver, but can he outrun the man he has no hope of outgunning?

SMFS Members Published in Black Cat Weekly #120

SMFS list members are published in Black Cat Weekly #120. Published by Wildside Press today, the issue is available here in digital format. The members and their stories are:

 

Eve Fisher with "The Four Directions."

 

Joseph S. Walker with “A Right Jolly Old Elf.”

 

Website Description:

This issue, we have four original tales to entertain you—mysteries by Eve Fisher (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Joseph S. Walker (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman)—and science fiction by Janice Law and Alan J. Wahnefried. Three stories are Christmas-themed, and the holiday comes up in passing in a few other stories as well. Plus we have classics by Robert Silverberg, Ron Goulart, Evelyn E. Smith, ,and Sir Anthony Quiller-Couch, plus a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles. Great fun!

Here’s the complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

• “The Four Directions,” by Eve Fisher [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
• “A Christmas Surprise,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
• “A Right Jolly Old Elf,” by Joseph S. Walker [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
• “My Christmas Burglary,” by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch [novelet]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

• “The Argo,” by Janice Law [short story]
• “Garrison Is Dead,” by Alan J. Wahnefried [short story]
• “The Yes Men of Venus,” by Ron Goulart [short story]
• “Mr. Replogle’s Dream,” by Evelyn E. Smith [short story]
• “There Was an Old Woman—,” by Robert Silverberg [short story]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Stacy, Under The Sky by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Stacy, Under The Sky, appears in the recently released anthology, So West: Wrong Turn. Published by the Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter, the read is available in digital and print formats at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description: 

Assassins ♦ Blackmail ♦ Revenge ♦ Protecting the family ♦ Redemption ♦ Escape from abuse Survival.

Surprises and twists abound in these sixteen stories set on Arizona’s city streets, highways, and in the desolate desert where the heat muddles the mind and the next turn may be your last.

Get your copy today.

Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter Contributing Authors: Paula Barr Skillicorn, Patricia A. Bonn, Lauren Buckingham, Susan Budavari, Jo Burrough, William D. Butler, Meg E Dobson, Suzanne E Flaig, Robert Gibson, Kim McCavan, Kathy McIntosh, Laura MacKenzie, Susan Cummins Miller, Claire A Murray, D.R. Ransdell, Joseph S. Walker. Lead Editor: Claire A Murray. Co-editors: Meg E Dobson, Suzanne E Flaig, Sarah Smith. Cover Designer: Maegan Beaumont.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Making the Bad Guys Nervous by Joseph S. Walker

 

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Making the Bad Guys Nervous, is now published in Black Cat Weekly #102. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format.

 

Publisher Description:

Black Cat Weekly #102 has quite an eclectic lineup. We have modern mystery tales by Joseph S. Walker and Marc Lecard (thanks to Acquiring Editors Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman. A parody of Harlan Ellison’s work from Larry Tritten. Noir from Bruno Fischer. A story featuring traditional British detective Sexton Blake from Hal Meredith. Classic sci-fi by Lester del Rey. And let’s not forget our solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.

We also have more than a few stories by famous authors that appeared outside of the genre for which they are most famous. This time it’s mystery writer Evan Hunter, plus horror writers Joseph Payne Brennan and H.P. Lovecraft, all with science fiction stories. Lovecraft’s first appeared as a 3-part serial in Astounding Stories.

How did Lovecraft’s work manage to appear in Astounding? For a brief time, he had an agent—who made the sale for him to a market that paid significantly more than Weird Tales. Surely Lovecraft never would have submitted to Astounding on his own. And never mind that it really is a science fiction story, though there are cosmic horrors as well. Literary quality sold it. And so Lovecraft became a science fiction pulp writer!

Evan Hunter—slumming in the science fiction field—sold his story to Science Fiction Quarterly—a respectable market, if not in the top tier. Brennan’s tale appeared as an original in his 1963 collection, Scream at Midnight.

 

Here’s the complete lineup:

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

"Making the Bad Guys Nervous," by Joseph S. Walker [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

"Things That Go Bump," by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

"Teardown," by Marc Lecard [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

"Py Ponk," by Hal Meredith [Sexton Blake series, short story]

"Stop Him!," by Bruno Fischer

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

"Painbird, Painbird, Fly Away Home," by Larry Tritten

"Operation Distress," by Lester Del Rey

"The Dump," by by Joseph Payne Brennan

"Reaching for the Moon," by Evan Hunter

At the Mountains of Madness, by H. P. Lovecraft [novel]

2023-2024 SMFS Derringer Coordinators Announced

 

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is pleased to announce our two new Derringer coordinators:

 

Joseph S. Walker is the Derringer Coordinator.

 

Paula Messina is the Assistant Derringer Coordinator.

 

Each is in place for a one year term. With their ascension to office, the Derringer Awards Policy has been updated to reflect the new schedule for their term in office.

 

They join President, Kevin R. Tipple, and Vice President, Kathleen Marple Kalb, in office.

 

Both the President and Vice President serve two-year terms while the Derringer Coordinator and Assistant Derringer Coordinator each serve a one year term. More information about the duties and responsibilities of the officers can be found here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Sins of Sherlock Holmes by Joseph S. Walker

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 Member Publishing News: Slow Movin' Outlaw by Joseph S. Walker

 

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Slow Movin' Outlaw, was published yesterday at TOUGH. The story is free to read online here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Awaiting the Hour by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Awaiting the Hour, in the recently published new book, Tales From The Golden State of Mind: An Anthology of Poetry and Short Stories Celebrating Life in the Golden Years. Published by Ramirez & Clark Publishers LLC, the print format is available at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description:

Tales From the Golden State of Mind is an anthology of poetry and short stories, both fiction and non-fiction, celebrating age and aging. The focus of this work is on the positive aspect of of life through the golden years. The work in this anthology includes humor, romance, and thrillers, but all are heartwarming and inspiring.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Truncated Reign of Melvin, Prince of the Enveloping Darkness by Joseph S. Walker

 

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, The Truncated Reign of Melvin, Prince of the Enveloping Darkness, was published today at The Saturday Evening Post. You can read the piece for free online here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Between the Ties by Joseph S. Walker

 

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Between the Ties, appears in the recently released anthology, The Haunted Train: Creepy Tales from the Railways: Gothic Ghost and Horror Stories. The read is available in digital and print formats at Amazon.

Amazon Description: 

Come on board for a Gothic journey in a funicular railway in Victorian England, a freight train in the Carpathian mountains, a high tech sky train in Bangkok, an underground railway in Tokyo. Visit stations which lure with the promise of safe shelter but harbour unexpected dangers. Meet the people who work on the tracks – stationmasters, porters, signal-men – and those who travel – commuters, tourists, dead bodies, murderers and ghosts.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Kindling Delight by Joseph S. Walker

 
SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Kindling Delight, is the inaugural offering at the new site, Stone’s Throw: A Rock And A Hard Place Publication.  Each month a new tale will be selected to appear on the first and will be free to read online. You can read Mr. Walker’s short story here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Dominion of All the Earth by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, The Dominion of All the Earth, appears in the new anthology, Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne. Published by BearManor Media, the read is available in print format at the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.

 

Synopsis:

 BEFORE SCIENCE FICTION, THERE WAS JULES VERNE

In the late 19 Century, during a span of 42 years, Jules Verne wrote over 50 novels in the Voyages Extraordinaires collection. His style and subject matter shaped Science Fiction into the genre we now know. Verne led the way, and his amazing tales still delight us today.

The North American Jules Verne Society is pleased to present its first-ever anthology of short stories, written by a select group of modern authors, inspired by classics like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days, as well as Verne’s many other works.

What secrets await a salvage team raising the Nautilus, and who else wants that submarine?

What really happened when Nellie Bly met Jules Verne during her 1889 trip around the world?

On the front lines of World War I, did a steam-powered mechanical elephant join the fray?

The Baltimore Gun Club wouldn’t try to alter Earth’s rotational speed—would they?

What if your son recreated a thrilling chapter of 20,000 Leagues in your house?

What is so odd, very odd, about a particular shop full of Vernian antiques?

Mysterious beings dwell at the center of the Earth, but might they take revenge on the surface?

Verne’s spirit and imagination remain vibrant and relevant today. His voyages continue in Extraordinary Visions.

Little Big Crimes: More Than Suspicion, by Joseph S. Walker

Little Big Crimes: More Than Suspicion, by Joseph S. Walker: "More Than Suspicion," by Joseph S. Walker, in A Hint of Hitchcock, edited by Cameron Trost, Black Beacon Books, 2022. First of a...

SMFS Member Publication News: A Thousand Miles Away by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, A Thousand Miles Away, is published today on the website, Uncharted. You can read it for free here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Two Black Bean and Shrimp Quesadillas and a Pink Ruger LCP by Joseph S. Walker

Today is publication day for Two Black Bean and Shrimp Quesadillas and a Pink Ruger LCP by Joseph S. Walker. 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: 

Alvin Bleeker has a ratty apartment, a rusted-out car, and a dead-end job, managing a big-box store barely clinging to life. He also has a compulsive gambling habit that’s put him tens of thousands of dollars in the hole to Lamar, the bookie and loan shark rarely seen without his brutal enforcer, Jimmy. Alvin can’t bring himself to worry too much about his debts, though. He’s just marking time, waiting for his rich Aunt Elaine to kick off and leave her only living relative with a fortune that will end all his problems forever.

Unfortunately, Aunt Elaine has other plans, leaving Alvin out of her will almost entirely. Even worse, Lamar knows it. He extorts Alvin into Plan B: stealing a priceless Picasso sketch from Aunt Elaine’s North Shore mansion. Naturally, Jimmy will come along for the ride. So will Brittany Orozco, who has the face of a cheerleader, the heart of a killer, and the sharpened icepick of a sociopath. Behind Brittany is Lamar’s boss, the shadowy mob chieftain who doesn’t care how many bodies have to drop if he can add the sketch to his collection.

Alvin is in way over his head, but it should be a simple enough job, in and out in ten minutes. He’s just playing it safe when he goes to the taco truck to buy some insurance, in the form of the first gun he’s ever owned—a gun which, to his dismay, turns out to be pink. He’s betting he won’t really need it.

It’s one more bet he’s going to lose.

SMFS Member Podcast News: Nobody Home by Joseph S. Walker

SMFS list member Joseph S. Walker’s short story, Nobody Home, is featured this week  at Mysteryrat's Maze podcast.  The story originally appeared in the 2021 anthology, ComingThrough In Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd. Produced by Kings River Life Magazine, the podcast can be heard here.

 

From the Site:

This episode features the mystery short story Nobody Home by Joseph S. Walker. It is read by local actor Sean Hopper. Nobody Home was published in Coming Through In Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd in February of 2021 and the anthology is available for purchase (we mistakenly said in the episode that it had not been published). You can learn more about the author on his website.

In each episode, we share with you mystery short stories and mystery novel first chapters read by actors from the San Joaquin Valley. Our theme song was written and performed by Kevin Memley. 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 our podcast newsletter.

If you would like to help support this podcast and Kings River Life financially, and get some fun rewards, check out our Patreon Page. You can also make a one time donation through Paypal and you can 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.

Publication News: Summer Bludgeon

 

The new book Summer Bludgeon includes 

"Double Play." Bev Vincent.

"Worse Things" by Joseph S. Walker.

Member Publication News: Joseph S. Walker

Joseph S. Walker's new story "Last Seen Heading East" appears in Issue #39 of Black Cat Weekly.

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."