SleuthSayers: Once More, With Feeling by Michael Bracken

SleuthSayers: Once More, With Feeling: Though writing has gone well this year, I’ve spent a great deal more time on the editorial side of the desk than in any previous year. Editi...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Curtis Ippolito

SMFS list member Curtis Ippolito’s flash tale, “Take It To The Bank” appears today at Pulp Modern Flash. You can read it for free here

FICTION on the WEB short stories: Fast Times at Spiro Agnew High by James Blakey

FICTION on the WEB short stories: Fast Times at Spiro Agnew High by James Blakey: High school student Michael Wimmer owes money to a dangerous acquaintance, and must undertake some detective work to make things right; by J...

SleuthSayers: What Does It Say About You? by R. T. Lawton

SleuthSayers: What Does It Say About You?: Almost every author has at least one of what I'm going to talk about. And, some of what I've seen are better than others. I'm r...

SMFS Member Publishing News: David H. Hendrickson

SMFS list member David H. Hendrickson’s short story, “Housewarming Gift” appears in Sins of the Father: Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Issue Four out now. Billed as a “Quarterly Mystery Magazine,” the read is published by Knotted Road Press. The read is available in both print and eBook formats from Amazon and other vendors.

 

Synopsis:

A father's sins fall under a multitude of transgressions. Hiding family secrets. Stealing intellectual property. Being an alcoholic. Or even demanding a daughter marry for business, not love.

These sins and others, as well as how they effect the people around them, are explored in issue four of MCM.

Sins of the Father-So Criminal, it's Good.

And be sure to pick up all the issues of MCM! Published quarterly.

SleuthSayers: Cozying Up the Facts by Judy Penz Sheluk

SleuthSayers: Cozying Up the Facts: Melodie, here! Are you ready for Hot Crime in a Cold Climate? In between the usual loopy columns by yours truly, I'll be introducing ...

Little Big Crimes Review: Death of Another Hero by Susan Daly

Little Big Crimes: Death of Another Hero, by Susan Daly: "Death of Another Hero," by Susan Daly, in Ellen Hart Presets: Malice Domestic 15: Murder Most Theatrical, edited by Verona Rose...

SMFS Members Published in Unexpected Heroines (Cutter's Final Cut: Issue 1)

Several SMFS list members are published in the anthology, Unexpected Heroines (Cutter's Final Cut: Issue 1). Published by Kydala Publishing, Inc., the read is available in both eBook and print formats at Amazon and other vendors. The SMFS members in the book are:

 

Lauryn Christopher with "How Emmy Lou Saved the World, More or Less."

 

Dayle Dermatis with “Left Behind, She Waited.”

 

Robert Jeschonek with “Ollie and the Designated Bitch.”

 

Annie Reed with  “The Strength She Gave.” 

 

Synopsis:

Tired of superheroes? Those folks with perfect hair and eight-pack abs?

These are stories of everyday women. Humble women. Not the ones endowed with god-like talents. These women have ordinary jobs. Take care of their families. Their friends.

Until something happens. It may be terrible. It may be a light-hearted crime.

It isn't the expected heroes or heroines who save the day.

But rather, these unexpected heroines who no one has even noticed before.

They are the ones who step forward.

Come dip into this wonderful collection of heart-warming tales of simple, or not so simple, justice. You'll be glad you did.

And maybe you will start to see the unexpected heroine among the women in your life.

SMFS Member Publication News: John M. Floyd

SMFS list member John M. Floyd has another short story appearing in Woman’s World Magazine. His latest tale, “A Musical Mystery” is in the current issue (November 30, 2020) of  Woman’s World Magazine. The publication is available in grocery stores, at some newsstands, and by subscription.

SleuthSayers: So Many Murder Methods, So Little Time by Barb Goffman

SleuthSayers: So Many Murder Methods, So Little Time: How can I kill you? Let me count the ways. Last month, I was on a Bouchercon panel titled What's A Weapon: Choosing Ways to Murder. We h...

SleuthSayers: The Same Old Story by John M. Floyd

SleuthSayers: The Same Old Story: How many of you have unfinished or unpublished stories (or novels) stashed away in a drawer or under the bed, or in a folder someplace on yo...

Shortcuts For Writers: Behind The Rewrite With Judy Penz Sheluk: Varied Words Aren’t Always a Given

 Shortcuts For Writers: Behind The Rewrite With Judy Penz Sheluk: Varied Words Aren’t Always a Given

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: MYSTERY AUTHOR JUDY PENZ SHELUK WEAVES A TALE AROUND OLD DAGUERREOTYPES

Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: #CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--MYSTERY AUTHOR JUDY PENZ S...:   A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of The Glass Dolphin Mysteries and the Marketville Mysteries. Her ...

SMFS Member Publishing News: Art Taylor

SMFS list member Art Taylor’s short story, “The White Rose of Memphis” is now out as part of the Barb Goffman Presents Series at The Black Cat Mystery & Science Fiction eBook Club (Wildside Press). The story originally appeared in NEEDLE: A MAGAZINE OF NOIR. The  read is free and can be picked up here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Richard Helms

SMFS list member Richard Helm’s latest book, Brittle Karma: An Eamon Gold Novel is now out. Published by Barbadoes Hall Communications, the read is available in eBook and print formats at Amazon.  

 

Synopsis:

Richard Helms' Derringer Award-winning and Shamus Award-nominated San Francisco private eye Eamon Gold returns in BRITTLE KARMA, a classic tale cast in the molds forged by Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, and Robert B. Parker. Eamon Gold turns away a potential client named Abner Carlisle, a recently paroled armored car robber, who is looking for a man named Eddie Rice. Rice was the wheelman for the robbery a quarter century earlier, and ran off with the take of almost twenty million dollars--and Carlisle's daughter. Gold believes Carlisle intends to murder Rice, and refuses the case. After Carlisle is murdered in his hotel room, Gold becomes intrigued when he discovers the insurance company will pay ten percent of whatever fraction of the robbery take he can recover. Gold is temporarily bucks-up, but has no paying client on the horizon, so he dives in on spec, trying to make a little quick bank on the coldest of cold cases. Along the way, he encounters crooked cops, an aging porn star, an ex-Army Ranger turned gangland muscle, the boozy estranged wife of a City Supervisor, dangerous mobsters, and a surprise player he never saw coming.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Laura Ware

SMFS list member Laura Ware’s short story, “The Vampire Versus the Elder Court” appears in the recently released anthology, Nightly Bites Volume 3. Published by Kydala Publishing, Inc., the read is available in both eBook and print formats at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Synopsis:

A varied collection of vampire stories from flash to novella-length, from the past to the future. Sometimes they mingle with other supernatural creatures, sometimes they're the only non-human of the story.

 

THE STORIES

"Blood on the Ice" by David H. Hendrickson

"Nun Survived" by Rebecca M. Senese

"Job Interview", "Dracula Makes House Calls" and "Don't Move" by Trent Walters

"Jamie: Blood of Betrayal" by Joleene Naylor

"The Vampire vs. The High Court" by Laura Ware

"Blood" by Kate Pavelle

"A More Ancient Killer" by Bonnie Elizabeth

"One Who Cannot Be Destroyed" by Barbara G.Tarn

"Young Monster Hunters in Love" by Stefon Mears

"Rebels of Seduction" by Meyari McFarland

SMFS Member Publishing News: David H. Hendrickson

SMFS list member David H. Hendrickson’s short story, “Blood on the Ice” appears in the recently released anthology, Nightly Bites Volume 3. Published by Kydala Publishing, Inc., the read is available in both eBook and print formats at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Synopsis:

A varied collection of vampire stories from flash to novella-length, from the past to the future. Sometimes they mingle with other supernatural creatures, sometimes they're the only non-human of the story.

 

THE STORIES

"Blood on the Ice" by David H. Hendrickson

"Nun Survived" by Rebecca M. Senese

"Job Interview", "Dracula Makes House Calls" and "Don't Move" by Trent Walters

"Jamie: Blood of Betrayal" by Joleene Naylor

"The Vampire vs. The High Court" by Laura Ware

"Blood" by Kate Pavelle

"A More Ancient Killer" by Bonnie Elizabeth

"One Who Cannot Be Destroyed" by Barbara G.Tarn

"Young Monster Hunters in Love" by Stefon Mears

"Rebels of Seduction" by Meyari McFarland

SleuthSayers: It's Not Funny to Them by Robert Mangeot

SleuthSayers: It's Not Funny to Them: by Robert Mangeot I should warn you I have a liberal arts education. Now warned, it might not surprise you that I think about classic story ...

SMFS Members Published in Cozy Villages of Death

Numerous SMFS list members are published in the recently released anthology, Cozy Villages of Death. Edited by SMFS list member Lyn Worthen, who also wrote the introduction to the book, the read is published by Camden Park Press in print and eBook formats. The read is available at Amazon and other vendors. The SMFS members in the book are:

 

Lauryn Christopher with “Tea and Roses.”

 

John M. Floyd with “Valentine’s Day.”

 

C.C. Guthrie with “Cahoots.”

 

Ben Harshman with “"Aloha, Captain!”

 

Margaret S. Hamilton with “Dealing at the Dump.”

 

Ursula Hoult with “Death and Other Changed Plans.”

 

Clifford Royal Johns with “Death in the Lower Forty.”

 

D.T. Langdale with “A Clean Kill.”

 

Annie Reed with “Murder Runs in the Neighborhood.”

 

Merrilee Robson with “Death by Natural Causes.”

 

Joseph S. Walker with “"Villainy in the Vertical Village.”

 

Kelly Zimmer with “Crossed Off.”

 

Synopsis: 

Secrets hide behind those peacefully shuttered windows... 

Deception awaits around the next curve in the road. Rumors spread over garden hedges, fishing ponds, and knitting circles. Neighborhood cats discover a boneyard. 

And when Death strolls through the tranquil countryside or checks into the quaint village inn for the weekend, it's the intrepid - and often accidental - investigators who must find and decipher clues, unravel mysteries, and bring the killer to justice. 

Includes stories by John M. Floyd, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Annie Reed, Lauryn Christopher, C.C. Guthrie, Joseph S. Walker, Margaret S. Hamilton, Ben Harshman, C.J. Mattison, Clifford Royal Johns, D.T. Langdale, Kelly Zimmer, Merrilee Robson, N.K. Wardley, and Ursula Holt. Edited by Lyn Worthen.

Victoria Weisfeld: Where Writers’ Ideas Come From: Theme

 Victoria Weisfeld: Where Writers’ Ideas Come From: Theme