SMFS Member Publishing News: Pongo’s Lucky Day by Craig Faustus Buck

SMFS list member Craig Faustus Buck’s mystery short story, Pongo’s Lucky Day, was published today at Kings River Life Magazine. You can read the piece for free online here.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Turkey-Cook Off by John M. Floyd

 

SMFS list member John M. Floyd’s short story, The Turkey-Cook Off, appears in the November 13^th issue of Woman's World. The issue is available in grocery stores, newsstands, and at Woman’s World.

SMFS Member Publishing News: Killing Poe by Vinnie Hansen

 

SMFS list member Vinnie Hansen’s short story, Killing Poe, is published in Playing Authors: An Anthology. Published by Old Iron Press, the book is available at the publisher’s website.

SMFS Members Published in Put Out the Lights and Cry: A Diner Noir Anthology

 

Several SMFS members are published in the recently released, Put Out the Lights and Cry: A Diner Noir Anthology. Published by Outcast Press, the read is available in print and digital formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The members in the book are: 

 

Margaret S. Hamilton with "PIckup at the Main Street Diner."

 

Karen Keeley with “Stuck in the Middle.”

 

Joseph S. Walker with "Denim."

 

Description:

What could be more noir than a diner? From the greasy spoon to the gourmet sit-in, these 19 stories show why diners aren’t family friendly. Diners are the place where heists are plotted, bodies get dumped behind, and police are tipped off. These eateries host every crime from domestic disputes and drug deals to premeditated murder and mob mutiny. It's all fluorescent-lit, fly-riddled entertainment to the drunk, recovering, or wish-they-were.

Whether the characters are the cooks, criminals, customers, or somewhere in-between, these short works pack a gut punch on par with the saltiest, soggiest Grand Slam breakfast special. There're breakups and bruises, gambling rackets and gang warfare, butchering and familial dismemberment--even schmoes tapping into a parallel universe or two. No matter who enters or at what time, wet, weary eyes always seem to find a steaming cup of joe to cloud-gaze in--and cry.

(Forewords by Nevada McPherson and Manny Torres, titled, "Get in, loser. We're Going to Waffle House!")

 

1. Moths by LG Thomson

2. Pluto’s Place by Stephen J. Golds

3. The Fragrant Flavor of the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie by Jhon Sanchez

4. Honey Oil by Paige Johnson

5. What’s Left of the Sun by Michael J. Riser

6. Ramblers, L.B.C. by Nolan Knight

7. Vonyetta Mosley’s Marzipan Palace by David Simmons

8. Middle Men by Liv Strom

9. Scar on Scar by Jon Gingerich

10. A Confederate Engaged to a Jihadist by Nathan Pettigrew

11. Two Boys in a Diner by Dino Parenti

12. Atomic Getaway by Jesse Bethea

13. Denim by Joseph S. Walker

14. Watch Yourself by Gordon Dunleavy

15. Stuck in the Middle by Karen Keeley

16. The Eternal Flame Diner by Meredith C. Kurz

17. The Bigger Man by Jim Thomsen

18. Pickup At The Main Street Diner by Margaret S. Hamilton

19. Help Wanted by Wil Dalton

SMFS Member Publishing News: Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter

 

SMFS list member Josh Pachter’s book, Dutch Threat, is out. Published by Genius Book Publishing, it is available in digital and print formats. The read can be purchased at the publisher, Amazon and other vendors.

 

Publisher Description:

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. But when one of his professors offers to send American grad student Jack Farmer to Europe to do historical research in Amsterdam’s Begijnhof—a peaceful closed community in the heart of the bustling Dutch capital—Jack looks forward to a summer of mostly play and not much work. Then he meets Jet Schilders, an attractive young nurse who takes care of the elderly woman next door, and realizes that his summer in The Netherlands might just turn out to be even more fun than he'd hoped.

 

When the woman next door is brutally murdered, though, and her nurse turns out to be the prime suspect, Jack and Jet join forces in an attempt to find the real killer and clear her name. But their investigation puts them in Dutch with the local police, and a second murder raises the stakes … and paints a target on both of their backs.

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Magazine: November 2023

 

SMFS list members are published in the Mystery Magazine: November 2023 issue. The read is available at the publisher and at Amazon. The SMFS list members that reported their presence in the issue are:

 

 

C.W. Blackwell with All Her Diamond Rings.

 

Richard Helms "Corpse Cake".

 

Steve Liskow with "Cold Turkey."

 

Edward Lodi with “Trouble at First Sight.”

 

 

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 ★

 

In our cover feature, “All Her Diamond Rings” by C.W. Blackwell, an auto-mechanic and former car thief gets an opportunity from an unlikely source.

 

“Corpse Cake” by Richard Helms: In 1843 London, legendary—some say notorious—thief-taker Vicar Brekonridge encounters Athelney Cribbins, a law clerk and surreptitious sin-eater, who has a curious story to tell about a possible murder.

 

“How Do I Get To Mount Julep?” by Ken Derry: Fancy Mike was murdered last week on my watch. I was tasked to find out what happened. This was a job for a younger buck.

 

“The Pink Coat” by Siobhan Wright: Amelia, a 17-year-old, heads South for spring break on a Greyhound bus and is lured into the world of crime in the Cleveland bus station.

 

“Trouble At First Sight” by Edward Lodi: A private eye’s search for a young girl’s stolen dog leads him to a shack at the edge of a swamp, where things are not as they appear, and where survival depends on determining who is friend, and who is foe.

 

In the caper, “Zen Man's Sandbag” by George Wilhite, a Zen master who can move through solid substances cons bank robbers.

 

In “Cold Turkey” by Steve Liskow, Harley is doing community service and trying to be a Good Boy. Then two bank robbers on the run break in and take a classmate hostage. What's a guy with a nose ring gonna do?

 

In “Wine Into Water,” A You-Solve-It By Laird Long, a crate of wine allegedly ends up in the river. Can you decern what happened?

 

Custom Cover Art By Robin Grenville Evans

SMFS Member Publishing News: Unplayable Lie by James Blakey

SMFS list member James Blakey’s short story, Unplayable Lie, is published in The Mantelpiece Literary Magazine: November 2023, Issue 5. You can read the issue for free online here.