Three swell dames

A great thing about living in Los Angeles is the proximity to great cinema. I had the pleasure of making my daughter's first movie in a theater a 35mm print of The Wizard of Oz. That was amazing. In a city like this we also get a visit by any and all major authors coming by on their book tours. Today I got to see and meet Megan Abbott, Theresa Schwegel and Laura Caldwell and hear them discuss their work. It's so great to be able to just pop over while Molly is napping and see this kind of thing, pick up a few books, get them signed and be able to thank Megan in person for her generous blurb of One Too Many Blows To The Head (more on that as we get closer to release)
With the closing of Kate's Mystery Books in Boston (where I used to live) I have a renewed appreciation for The Mystery Bookstore in Westwood and Mysteries to Die For out in the valley. Small indie booksellers are struggling, we all know it. Places like this offer the one-on-one that Amazon will never be able to. As much as it pains me to pay full price for a hardcover it is worth it to meet the author.
Wow, this sounds almost like a real blog post and not just my usual self promotion. Probably a sign of a lack of stories lately. I've been busy on a final edit of the book, plotting out the sequel with Jennifer, working on a new solo novel (or two) and having a real life in between. Plus I am trying to hold back and make a big push when we have a date for the book to make the little bit of heat coming off the published stories mean more.
Although now that I have mentioned it maybe a full-on post about my hatred of the hardcover is warranted. At least it might generate some hate mail...

Meeting Seth

Had the great pleasure of meeting Seth Harwood, author of Jack Wakes Up and the man behind the fantastic Crimewav.com. Seth is a tireless promotor of his work and is setting a new template for how to get a book out there DIY style. Inspired by him I am looking into maybe doing a regular podcast of my unsold novel. A good idea? Too soon to tell. Mostly it's just going to be the logistics of it. I am not a web savvy guy so it may prove harder than I know. I've been stumped by two wireless routers in a row here at home so my batting average is not good. Seth offered help and support though which is all I have gotten from so many in the crime fiction community. Tops among them is the Mystery Dawg himself Aldo Calcagno who was also there at Seth's event at the Mystery Bookstore. Meeting Aldo was great to put a face to the guy I've been e-mailing with for so long. If I can actually sell a few books in my life it will be thanks to guys like this.

A little blurry but you get the idea. Me with Seth and Aldo. Thanks to Linda from the Mystery Bookstore for snapping a quick shot on her iPhone.

New Story, New Site

Thrillers, Killers n' Chillers is a great fiction site out of the U.K. and I am honored to have my story Bleeding Out up there. On the same day Christopher Grant posted the sequel to his new creation Greta. It's great to see Chris' own writing after he has supported so many of us on A Twist of Noir.

My first sequel

It was suggested that my story Get Gone may be a good candidate for a sequel. I gave it a shot. I have to say it was fun. You can read it here. It does make me think about how much I am slacking in coming up with the outline for the sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head but I have a lot of irons in the fire right now. Even just starting it is a great reminder of how fun those characters were to write and it is a pleasure to renew my collaboration with JB Kohl.

Our world class illustrator is working on the cover art. I have already made arrangements to do a signing at The Mystery Bookstore in LA and working on others including Phoenix and Chicago. It's moving slowly but becomes more of a reality every day. I will also be featured in an anthology called Murder is on the Wind. I quite like the story I wrote for that one. Very dark.

In July I am really looking forward to Seth Harwood's signing of Jack Wakes Up and Megan Abbott's signing of Bury Me Deep. I'm going to try to make it to Jason Starr's signing too.

Big Weekend

Well when it rains it pours I guess. I have a new story up at Darkest Before the Dawn which is a really great site for slightly longer stories and some that are a little more off the beaten path, which my story is. Two Left is a western. I still had a little Deadwood residue in my system I guess so I tried to get into that mindset with a little story of gold fever.

Also, and I'm really excited about this, I have recorded my first podcast. My story Past Due has been podcast as episode 39 on the amazing crimewav.com I love this site. It is so great to hear stories read out loud. I wish I could have had someone with a better voice or more dramatic flair read mine but I did okay. If you haven't been to this site take some time and browse around to listen to some of the stories. A really great experience. 

AND...my contribution to Six Sentences is up as well. This site is great and shows a huge range of storytelling all in only six sentences. It is amazing to see what people can do with so little. I realized my story had a typo in it and it made me feel like an idiot. I can't even proof a six sentence story. Sheesh! And it is no comment on our educational system. I had all the breaks, just lazy or ignorant or both. 

I hope I can keep up the pace for a year full of quality output (sans typos). News about the novel I co-wrote with JB Kohl is coming soon.

Starting them young

I wasn't sure where else to share these pictures of my daughter but why not here. She turns 3 next month but already has great taste in literature.

A shorty

What's better for a writer with very little time on his hands than flash fiction? Not much. The top of the heap in crime flash fiction is Powder Burn Flash and they just posted a new story of mine called Worth It. Check it out if you've got 90 seconds to spare.

Get Gone

It's been a while since I've written anything new. Give me a break I've been busy! I've been working on outlining a new novel and I think it's going to be good. Now I just need to clear some time to actually write it (details). We are getting close to publishing 'One Too Many Blows To The Head'! I don't want to jinx it before the contracts are actually signed. More details as that comes together.

In the mean time I did manage some time to knock out a quick one called Get Gone. It is up at A Twist of Noir and it was proposed, by someone other than me, that it become the first of a series. Hmmm...could be interesting. Read it and tell me if you want to know more about this guy. Because, y'know, I've got lots of time....

A winner! (sort of)

The results are in for the Twist of Noir short story contest is in and I won - kind of. The panel of judges were deadlocked so Christopher flipped a coin. I came out in 2nd place. It is an honor to even be in the top 3, or top 10 for that matter. Check out the winning stories. Both great. It is nice to finally see this one published. 

I need to get back on the keys and start writing again after my grueling time doing two jobs. I've had some progress on the novels. People seem interested. What will come of it, who knows? 

Keeping it quiet but...fingers crossed.

My favorite story

The long awaited publication of the new issue of Thuglit just hit the cyber-newsstands. These folks can really pick a gritty and hard boiled crime story to I am honored to be included with my story 'Ditch'. This one is a personal favorite of mine. Some may hate it due to the structure which may seem like a gimmick but I sure do like it. Judge for yourself here.

Really hope you dig it.

I'm midway into my first Wade Miller novel and I am really liking it so far. It's from 1952 and it feels "vintage" if you know what I mean. Wish I had more time to read and my Dad just left Beat The Reaper with me on his recent visit so I'm eager to get to that one too. So many books....