SMFS Member Publishing News: A Man and His Dog by S. B. Watson

 

SMFS list member S. B. Watson’s short story, A Man and His Dog, appears in the recently released anthology, The Back Forty. Published by JayHenge Publishing, the read is available in digital and print formats at Amazon.

 

Amazon Description:

In the 1860s, the Homestead Acts granted farmers a quarter section; a section was nominally 1 square mile containing 640 acres, a quarter section was 160 acres, and the quarter section was itself subdivided into four quarter-quarter sections of 40 acres each: two front forty and two back forty. It now refers to the most remote part of a farm, or even the most remote or inaccessible part of any place.

In The Back Forty, you will find stories that explore new, lawless frontiers, backwater towns, self-appointed sheriffs, lonesome explorers, bounty hunters, and other Wild West in Outer Space adventures.

SMFS Member Podcast News: Lewenda Gets Married by Francelia Belton

SMFS list member Francelia Belton’s short story, Lewenda Gets Married, is featured this week at Mysteryrat's Maze podcast. Produced by Kings River Life Magazine, the podcast can be heard here.

 

Website Description:

This episode features the mystery short story Lewenda Gets Married, written by Francelia Belton. It is read by local actor Jessica Williams. This story was first published in the anthology, Glimpse: A New World, in 2016, and is part of the collection, Crime & Passion: Three Short Stories, published in 2021. You can learn more about the author on her 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.

SMFS Member Podcast News: Don't Mess with the Boss Cat by Nikki Knight

Nikki Knight’s story, Don't Mess with the Boss Cat, is featured at CastCast 16: Don’t Mess with the Boss Cat of the CatsCast from Escape Artists podcasts. You can find it where you get your podcasts or here.

 

Author Description:

The cozy mystery cat trope is turned on its head, with a little help from a big gray cat from the Bronx, is this month's CatsCast from Escape Artists podcasts. I'm really excited about the story -- and the amazing narrator -- but it's also worth mentioning that Escape Artists has a bunch of podcasts under their umbrella, mostly edging toward sci-fi and speculative, and other writers might find opportunities too.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Motel Kidnapping by John M. Floyd

SMFS list member John M. Floyd’s short story, Motel Kidnapping, appears in the current issue of Woman's World. The June 5^th issue is available in grocery stores, newsstands, and at Woman’s World.

SMFS Members Published in Black Cat Weekly #92

 

SMFS list members are now published in Black Cat Weekly #92. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format. The SMFS members in the issue are:

 

John M. Floyd with “On the Road with Mary Jo.”

 

O’Neil De Noux with “A Pretty Slick Guy.”

 

Website Description:

Our 92nd issue features a pair of classic novels, the science fiction tale Destiny Times Three, by Fritz Leiber, and The Clue of the New Pin, a mystery by Edgar Wallace. Leiber is one of my favorite authors (he has an amazing body of work, notably the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sword and sorcery series, but also much else of note in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror fields). And Edgar Wallace was an amazing British author who created scores of classic stories, novels, and movies (including the original King Kong). At one point, a quarter of all novels sold in England were by Wallace.

If you’re a fan of the French answer to Sherlock Holmes, Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin, you’re in for a treat. Here is a rare 1912 Arsène Lupin short story, “The Man with the Goat Skin,” in a brand new translation. (I’m finally putting my 7 years of French studies to good use.)

And, of course, our acquiring editors Barb Goffman and Michael Bracken have been hard at work. This issue, we have a story by O’Neil De Noux, thanks to Michael. Barb snagged reprint rights to John M. Floyd’s Derringer Award-winner, “On the Road with Mary Jo.”

Plus we the final 3 stories from Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer, by Darrell Schweitzer; a dark fantasy tale by Adrian Cole; a solve-it-yourself mystery by Hal Charles; plus vintage science fiction from Lester del Rey and Wm. Gray Beyer.

 

Here’s the complete lineup:

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“A Pretty Slick Guy,” by O’Neil De Noux [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

“The Case of the Murdered Manager,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

“On the Road with Mary Jo,” by John M. Floyd [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

“The Man with the Goat Skin,” by Maurice Leblanc [short story, Arsène Lupin series]

The Clue of the New Pin, by Edgar Wallace [novel]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“Demon Driver” by Adrian Cole [short story]

“The Deadly Thinkers,” by Wm. Gray Beyer [short story]

“And There Was Light,” by Lester del Rey [short story]

Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer (part 4), by Darrell Schweitzer [4-part serial]

Destiny Times Three, by Fritz Leiber [novel]

SMFS Member Publishing News: Family Matters by Mary Jo Robertiello

 

SMFS list member Mary Jo Robertiello’s mystery short story, Family Matters, was published today at Kings River Life Magazine. You can read the piece for free online here.

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Magazine: June 2023

  

SMFS list members are published in the Mystery Magazine: June 2023 issue. The read is available in print and digital formats from Amazon. The SMFS list members that reported their presence in the issue are:

 

Michael Bracken with "Words on Wheels."

 

O'Neil De Noux with “When Baby Cows Go Bad.”

 

Martin Hill Ortiz with “The Affair of the Wayward Schoolmaster.” (A Sherlock Holmes pastiche and cowritten with Keith Jones.)

 

Josh Pachter with "The First Law of Plumbing."

 

Andrew Welsh-Huggins with "No One Goes Out to Eat Anymore." 

 

Description:

At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery Magazine presents original short stories by the world’s best-known and emerging mystery writers.

The stories we feature in our monthly issues span every imaginable subgenre, including cozy, police procedural, noir, whodunit, supernatural, hardboiled, humor, and historical mysteries. Evocative writing and a compelling story are the only certainty.

Get ready to be surprised, challenged, and entertained--whether you enjoy the style of the Golden Age of mystery (e.g., Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle), the glorious pulp digests of the early twentieth century (e.g., Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler), or contemporary masters of mystery.

 

★ In this issue★

“Lost And Found” by Paul A. Freeman, DI Williamson and DC Page begin an investigation to find an entrepreneur who vanished without trace after visiting Carson’s Gymnasium.

“Humble Servant” by Victor Kreuiter: A self-ordained preacher, Samuel Harris, ministers to the lost and suffering, those not on the path of righteousness. His charge is to save those souls and deliver them to salvation, be they criminal or otherwise.

“Sweet Gum Head” by Blu Gilliand: A bad man is on the run, lost deep in the maze of Florida swamps and back roads. Unfortunately for him, whatever he's running from is nowhere near as bad as what he's about to run in to.

In “The First Law Of Plumbing” by Josh Pachter, a pair of home invaders learn that things don't always work out for the best.

“No One Goes Out To Eat Anymore” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins: Freelance mailman Mercury Carter finds himself in Toronto on a feel-good mission delivering an elderly woman's once-lost locket, when an alarming comment by the woman about her health leads him down a dark path of rescue.

In “Eye On The Ball” by Paul Vivari, a package stolen off a doorstep in a small town keeps trading hands as a group of criminals try to track it down.

“Words On Wheels” by Michael Bracken: Victoria Huptmann and her Border collie Maximillian spend winters driving Words on Wheels from RV park to RV park along the Texas coast, selling new and used books to Snowbirds escaping Midwestern winters. Then one of her customers is murdered.

“When Baby Cows Go Bad” by O'Neil De Noux: “Most of what we university police officers handle aren’t serious matters, then again, when I was NOPD, we got our share of ‘barking dog’ and ‘cat in a tree’ calls. But no baby cows chasing co-eds.”

“The Affair Of The Wayward Schoolmaster” by Martin Hill Ortiz And Keith Jones: Holmes and Watson investigate a popular school teacher who turned to armed robbery.

“A Messy Murder,” a You-Solve-It By Eric B. Ruark: It had all the earmarks of a bungled robbery, but Sheriff Tracy Hyers, with your help, will get to the bottom of the mystery.

Custom Cover Art By Robin Grenville Evans