NEW STORY AT DARK VALENTINE MAGAZINE

So, my last story of the year is up at DARK VALENTINE MAGAZINE

'Six Geese A Laying ' is part of  Dark Valentine's 'Twelve Days Of Christmas' and is a follow up to my story 'Drunk On The Moon' which was in issue one of DARK VALENTINE MAGAZINE.

It's here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Future's So Bright I've Got A Migraine!
Have Good 2011 all!

Long Live the Short Story!

Over at MY LITTLE CORNER, Sandra Seamans gives a great round up of  the short story scene in 2010.

(The above pic is by Walter Conley BTW) 

MYSTERIES IN PARADISE best Crime Fiction reads in 2010

Over at Mysteries In Paradise, Kerrie is once again collecting top tens of crime fiction reads from 2010.

So, I've narrowed  my recent 13 down to 10. Not easy, but here we go!

 

1, Bye Bye Baby – Allan Guthrie

2. One Too Many Blows To The Head- JB Kohl & Eric Beetner

3. Broken Dreams - Nick Quantrill

4. The Twelve (The Ghosts Of Belfast) – Stuart Neville

5. Old Dogs - Donna Moore

6. Bed Penny Blues- Cathi Unsworth

7. The Ice Harvest – Scott Phillips

8. The Windowlicker Maker - Danny Hogan

9. A Quiet Belief In Angels – R J Ellory

10 .Gutted - Tony Black

There are more Top Tens at Mysteries In Paradise here

MY XMAS NOIR AT DO SOME DAMAGE

MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE DO SOME DAMAGE XMAS NOIR CHALLENGE IS  THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Dark Valentine Magazine & A Twist of Noir & Walter Conley & Mike Maclean

Well, aren't you glad that all that Christmas cobblers is over? Of course you are!

And look at all the smashing stuff out there on the interweb to help you recover!
 

At  Dark Valentine Magazine, the Twelve Days of Christmas series has kicked off with stories  from Andrew Douglas and Kat Parrish. There are more wicked tales to come from the likes of Cormac Brown, Nigel Bird, John Donald Carlucci, Christine Pope, Kaye George and me. 

The 600-700 word challenge continues over at A Twist of Noir. 

Look at this lot!

AJ Hayes’s SHARED PAIN

Richard Godwin’s THURSDAY MAN

Sandra Seamans’s BEST LEFT BURIED

Cindy Rosmus’s THE WIDOW GAME

Chris Benton’s NOCTURNE

Ian Ayris’s SUNDAYS

Matthew McBride’s SET YOUR HEAD ON FIRE
 
Jane Hammons’s THE UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE
 
There's also some great new art from Walter Conley ,who tells us a bit about the pic and has an offer that you can't refuse at his blog. 

And Mike Maclean, hardboiled crimewriter and the man behind Sharktopus, has a great The Best Of Whatever over at Day Labour 

So, sorted? 
 

Happy Boxing Day

Enjoy Boxing Day with ...

A BOXING NOVEL

A BOXING FILM

A  BOXING SONG

& A NEW BOXING THEMED BLOG

And, of course, BEAT TO A PULP!

Happy Birthday to HB!

Merry Xmas & All That Old Cobblers

13 Top Crime Novels 2010

Okay, I read all of these for the first time this year. I've cheated a bit , of course. So there are more than 13. And an anthology isn't a novel, is it?  I can't help it. It's the way of my people.

13 Top Crime Books from 2010

Bye Bye Baby – Allan Guthrie

One Too Many Blows To The Head- JB Kohl & Eric Beetner

Broken Dreams - Nick Quantrill

The Twelve (The Ghosts Of Belfast) – Stuart Neville

Old Dogs - Donna Moore

Bed Penny Blues- Cathi Unsworth

The Ice Harvest/ Rut – Scott Phillips









The Windowlicker Maker - Danny Hogan

Eight Pounds - Chris F Holms 

A Quiet Belief In Angels – R J Ellory

Crime Always Pays /The Big O  – Declan Burke

A Darker Domain – Val McDermid

50 Grand – Adrian McKinty

Gutted/ Loss – Tony Black

Radgepacket Volume Four - Byker Books

Merry Xmen & Happy New Beer!

Stories

Some top stuff out there at the moment.

Here are three good uns.

Action Item by Keith Rawson at A Twist Of Noir

Sweet Charity by Julie Lewthwaite at Gone Bad.

Santa Plugs a Leak by Daniel B O'Shea at Do Some Damage.

The "New" Slasher Issue | Plots with Guns is UP!

Issue 11 - The "New" Slasher Issue | Plots with Guns

 

 

So get over there! 

Angry Robot open to unsolicited manuscripts – for one month only!

This is the SP

'Like most mass-market publishers, Angry Robot only accepts novel proposals from literary agents. This is all set to change in 2011, when Angry Robot opens its doors for the first time to unrepresented authors, everywhere.

The month of March 2011 will be Open Door Month at Angry Robot.  The publisher has put together a dedicated team of readers, who will diligently work through every submission received. The best of these will be considered for publication by the Angry Robot editorial team.

If this pilot is successful, Angry Robot will consider further Open Door Months for later in the year and beyond.

Angry Robot’s Editor, Lee Harris, said, “We’re delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to unpublished and unrepresented novelists. There are a lot of exciting authors out there, just waiting to be discovered, and we’d like to be able to help them kick-start their careers.”

Open Door Month runs for the entire month of March 2011. Further details can be found on our submissions page.'

More information here

(Thanks to Julie Lewthwaite for this tip off)

Richard Godwin - ‘Apostle Rising’

APOSTLE RISING

Richard Godwin, was recently interviewed at 'The Authors Show' about his first novel, APOSTLE RISING, which is out in March 2011. The interview is  here.

CONCORD FREE PRESS / RUT BY SCOTT PHILLIPS

I'M  HALFWAY THROUGH 'RUT' BY SCOTT PHILLIPS AND IT'S PRETTY DAMNED FANTASTIC SO FAR.


RUT IS PUBLISHED BY CONCORD FREE PRESS .


HERE'S WHAT THEIR GIG IS:

'We publish books and give them away for free

Let’s get this straight right from the start—we’re not proposing free books as a cure for what ails modern publishing. That would be stupid. We like books. We buy books. We don’t think all books should be free—just ours.

That said, we’re dedicated to a different kind of publishing, one that "reconceptualizes the very goals of publishing." We’re interested in making waves, challenging assumptions, and re-invigorating the book, which isn’t dead yet, by the way.

Think about it this way. No matter who published them or how good they are, most books go on a familiar trajectory—new, used, shelved permanently, dusty. Ours keep going from hand to hand, generating donations along the way. Readers are generally good people. We give them a chance to get a great book for free—and encourage contributions to organizations and individuals in their own community or further afield. Writers are generous too, and interested in being part of something new and positive in publishing. Publishing a book with us doesn't preclude it going on to a second commercial life.

From our global headquarters in West Concord, Massachusetts, high above (well, we’re on the second floor) the mighty Nashoba Brook (more like a creek, actually), we’re publishing books that connect reading and giving like never before. And that’s enough for us.'

GOOD STUFF,EH?

POP OVER HERE AND FIND OUT MORE. 

 

THE DSD FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE

THE DO SOME DAMAGE FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE HAS KICKED OFF LIKE A FIGHT IN A BILLINGHAM KEBAB SHOP. BRYON QUERTERMOUS, CHRIS DEAL & STEPHEN D. ROGERS ARE GETTING STUCK IN THERE AT THE MOMENT.

HAVE  A GANDER HERE.

"Strutter" a film by Allison Anders & Kurt Voss

FYI:

'Allison: film director/ screenwriter: "Gas Food Lodging" , "Mi Vida Loca" "Four Rooms", "Grace Of My Heart" and "Things Behind The Sun" . 

Kurt: film director/screenwriter: "Delusion," "Where The Day Takes You," "Down and Out With The Dolls," "Ghost on The Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club"

"Strutter" a film by Allison Anders & Kurt Voss

 

The last feature in a trilogy from award-winning filmmakers Allison Anders and Kurt Voss, "Strutter" tells the story of 22 year old BRETT (Flannery Lunsford) , a singer for a Los Angeles rock band who finds himself heartbroken when he loses his muse JUSTINE (Ericka Clevenger) to his own local idol, the fast-ascending art rocker DAMON (Dante White Aliano). But with the support of his filmmaker gal pal REGGIE (Elyse Hollander) , Brett not only learns to love again, he comes to form an oddly simpatico friendship with former romantic rival Damon. Along the way, Brett also learns to better understand his parents’ odd marriage, and the complications and compromises that come with adulthood.

Since their first co-directed post-punk feature film "Border Radio" (1988) Allison Anders and Kurt Voss have together or separately written and directed 20 films and various other writing and directing gigs including TV and music videos. They have between them directed everyone from Terrance Stamp and Salma Hayek to Ice-T and Madonna. They co-wrote the screenplay to a Peabody Award winning film "Things Behind The Sun" which Anders directed, and have been nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for both film's in the trilogy "Border Radio" (Best First Feature 1989), and "Sugar Town" (2000) (Best Film, Best Debut Performance). With your help "Strutter" completes the trilogy!

Your generous contributions will finance the costs of our feature film from principal photography to final sound mix (yes we do make films efficiently)! You're an indie film hero because your contributions enable us to make our feature film 100% on our own terms. And for your heroism, we will reward you handsomely with some of the coolest swag and grooviest opportunities our supportive pals have to offer! 

In addition to cool stuff from our fave vendors we also have hand-picked FUN BAGS exclusively for this "Strutter" Kickstarter fund drive by our supportive pals Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., film directors Edgar Wright, Ethan Coen and Quentin Tarantino! And -- there are more to come!'

Find out more HERE

BORROWED TROUBLE BY J B KOHL & ERIC BEETNER

ONE TOO MANY BLOWS TO THE HEAD BY J B KOHL & ERIC BEETNER WAS ONE OF THE  BEST  BOOKS  THAT  I  READ  IN 2010.

WELL, A COUPLE OF MONTHS BACK I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO READ AN ARC OF THEIR FOLLOW UP , BORROWED TROUBLE, AND IT'S PERHAPS EVEN BETTER!

OVER AT HIS BLOG, ERIC BEETNER GIVES US A SNEAKY TASTE OF THE CRACKING COVER OF BORROWED TROUBLE AND A TIP, TOP BOOK  TRAILER  THAT HE MADE HIMSELF.

POP OVER AND HAVE A PEEK!

PULP METAL MAGAZINE is LIVE again!

YEP!

Loads Of New stuff at PULP METAL MAGAZINE!

Paul D Brazill, Marc Lissenburg, Mike Meraz, B.R. Stateham, Shaylen Maxwell, Austin James, Chris Rhatigan, Chad Rohrbacher, Kevin Atherton, Andrew Kolarik, J.J. Anselmi

Pop over and have a gander!

BITS & BOBS!

There's a new issue of YELLOW MAMA out with stuff from A J Hayes, Chris Rhatigan, Garnett Elliot and Matt C Funk, amongst others.

Al Tucher has a new Diana Andrews story called SHOOT ME at Temptation Magazine.

Cormac Brown has a new flash story SOMETIMES at Cormac Writes.

Dave Zeltserman interviews himself at SEA MINOR.His VAMPIRE CRIMES is also out NOW.

The winter issue of MiCrow is out with stories from Nigel Bird, Chris Deal, R.S Bohn, Richard Godwin and others.

On Monday, at http://www.theauthorsshow.com/ Richard Godwin is interviewed.

MY TOP FIVE CRIME SHORT STORIES OF 2010- DEADLIER THAN THE MALE

OVER AT THE BRILLIANT DEATH BY KILLING  CHRIS RATTIGAN IS PUBLISHING PEOPLE'S TOP FIVE CRIME SHORTS OF 2010.

SO HERE'S MINE,

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE.

Maxim Jakubowski - My Friend Robin

Mullholland Books' website is still knocking out some cracking stuff.

At the moment there's a beaut of a piece from Maxim Jakubowski about Derek Raymond AKA Robin Cook.

Day Eight Of The A TWIST OF NOIR 600 To 700 Challenge

 Day Eight Of The 600 To 700 Challenge

The new stories at A Twist Of Noir  are:

Christopher Grant’s GRETA FOR THE HOLIDAYS

R.S. Bohn’s EXIT

A.S.’s REMEMBER PARIS

Naomi Johnson’s PURSUIT

Ron Earl Phillips’s FISH STEW

and

Tom Leins’s OTHER PEOPLE’S PUSSY 

THE FOUR HORSEMEN @ FICTION DAILY

A few month ago, those very clever people at  FICTION DAILY had my story ANGER MANAGEMENT as a GENRE choice.

Well, I'm chuffed to say that my story THE FOUR HORSEMEN is today's GENRE  choice.

Beut, cobber!

Needle Mag of Noir Winter 2010 Issue

Needle Mag of Noir Winter 2010 Issue

Needle - Magazine of Noir is a tri-annual publication featuring tales of murder and mayhem. 

The winter issue has new fiction by Graham Powell, Matthew C. Funk, Sophie Littlefield, Graham Bowlin, Michael Gonzales, Kieran Shea, Richard Godwin, Anthony Neil Smith, Matthew Mayo, Matthew McBride, and Libby Cudmore. And featuring PART ONE of the new novel by Ray Banks -- WOLF TICKETS. 

GET IT!

NoirSongs: Joy Division - Shadowplay

Both of my Noir Songs so far have been connected to the 1979 Futurama festival in Leeds- where I saw Joy Division before they went synthypop.

Very noir city,Leeds. 

This is very cinematic and dramatic, eh?

To the centre of the city where all roads meet - waiting for you
To the depths of the ocean where all hopes sank - searching for you
Moving through the silence without motion - waiting for you
In a room with a window in the corner I found truth

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death - knowing no more
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor
And with cold steel, odour on their bodies, made a move to connect
I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left

I did everything, everything I wanted to
I let them use you for their own ends
To the centre of the city in the night - waiting for you
To the centre of the city in the night - waiting for you 

ALOUETTE BY ANNE BILLSON

ALOUETTE  BY  ANNE BILLSON

ANNE BILLSON is a novelist, film critic and photographer. Her books include SUCKERS (an upwardly mobile vampire novel), STIFF LIPS (a Notting Hill ghost story) and THE EX (a supernatural detective story), as well as several works of non-fiction, including SPOILERS, a selection from her 25 years of film criticism. She reviews films for the TV pages of the Sunday Telegraph and writes a film column for the Guardian.

And she's just directed her first short film: ALOUETTE

She says:'This is my first short film. It was shot in August 2010 in my flat in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, with one actor (the very wonderful Madeleine Bongard) and a crew of one (me). The videocam packed up immediately, so it was shot on a combination of Canon Ixus, Sony Ericsson K800i and Sony Ericsson W910i. Sound effects were added later, so they're a little impressionistic. It was fun.'

Take a look at this classy chiller  here.

Confessions Of A Black Dog has it's own website

Confessions Of A Black Dog has it's own website

Jason Michel says 'COABD has its own website. Besides the usual guff, I've added all my interviews & an old essay on The Black Dog & fear, as well as a video reading(in the first blog post.

Check it out.

http://coabd.wordpress.com/'

And, of course, Jason Michel's PULP METAL MAGAZINE
is celebrating its ONE YEAR birthday.

Spectral Press

Spectral Press

Spectral Press is a brand new imprint, inspired in part by a love of good, well-told stories, also by the idea that books are very much worthy objects in themselves, indeed items very much to be cherished. 

Spectral is also inspired by the classic ghost/horror stories written by some of the great late 19^th/early 20^th century practitioners of the art, people like Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, MR James, HP Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe. Consequently, Spectral Press will be devoted to presenting single-story chapbooks, in the ghostly/supernatural vein, in a high-quality but very classic format. Each will be in strictly limited quantities of 100 only, signed and numbered by the author. There will be some familiar names, others not so familiar: but they all have great storytelling in common and are very much in the vanguard of the modern genre scene - people such as Gary McMahon, Gary Fry, Cate Gardner, Paul Finch, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Alison Littlewood, Thana Niveau and a host of others.

So, why launch yet another small-press imprint? Well, we here at Spectral Press believe there’s always room for another quality premium press out there, one that presents brilliant short ghostly/supernatural story writing in the classic vein in a stylish package. Buying a Spectral Press chapbook won’t break the bank either, whilst simultaneously being uncompromising on that all-important watchword of QUALITY. Atmospheric covers and clear printing, allied to some of the best genre writing around today, combine to make Spectral a very special and must-have library of the macabre and spooky indeed.

Each of these little gems will retail at a mere £3 each (plus 50p p+p) and can be bought either singly or, alternatively, through a yearly subscription of just £10 (three issues–inclusive of postage). The very first chapbook, Gary McMahon’s What They Hear in the Dark, is already well on its way and will be ready in January, with Gary Fry’s The Abolisher of Roses to follow in May.

For further details about Spectral Press, like what’s due in 2011 and 2012, or to order chapbooks or a subscription, visit spectralpress.wordpress.com or contact the publisher, Simon Marshall-Jones, at spectralpress@gmail.com.

"Spectral Press is a fresh, exciting new venture with a focus on quality and attention to detail. Great writers, top-notch design, a serious approach to delivering a beautiful final product: it all adds up to something worth supporting. I'm proud to have my story "What They Hear in the Dark" kick things off as the imprint's initial release, and hope this is the start of big things for Spectral." Gary McMahon

‎"An exciting new venture that I'm proud to be a part of." Simon Kurt Unsworth. 

“It's not every day that a new small press imprint has the potential to excite - but with the range of names attached to Spectral Press, good times are ahead.” – Johnny Mains

‎"Some great names, some top quality fiction, this could be the line to get into!" Mark West

""It's always nice to see a new imprint concerned with both style and substance. One to watch." Willie Meikle

And, to kick things off, the first volume in the Spectral library is....

WHAT THEY HEAR IN THE DARK – Gary McMahon

“An absence is more terrifying than a presence…

Rob and Becky bought the old place after the death of their son, to repair and renovate – to patch things up and make the building habitable.

They both knew that they were trying to fix more than the house, but the cracks in their marriage could not be papered over.

Then they found the Quiet Room.”

“Gary McMahon’s horror is heartfelt...” –Tim Lebbon

Available for £3 (+ 50p p&p) direct from the publisher – for details: spectralpress@gmail.com.

Further info:

http://simonmarshalljones.wordpress.com/

 

http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PULP METAL MAGAZINE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PULP METAL MAGAZINE

Pulp Metal Magazine  is ONE  year old!

And here's the dodgy bunch that are celebrating !

Kristin Fouquet, Jodi MacArthur, Melanie Browne, Ian Ayris, B.R.Stateham,Charlie Coleman, Chris Pollard, U.V. Ray, Richard Godwin, Kevin Shamel & PULP METAL MAGAZINE Godfather Jason Michel.

And I have a new story there, too,  called Mr Kiss & Tell

Pulp Metal Magazine is here.

Friday's Forgotten Books: The Man with the Iron-On Badge by Lee Goldberg

Friday's  Forgotten  Books: 

The Man with the Iron-On Badge  by Lee Goldberg

The Man with the Iron-On Badge (2005) is the story of Harvey Mapes, a boring man with a boring life. Mapes loves private eye novels and tv shows and, of course, dreams of being a real life PI. Don't we all? When a neighbour hires him to watch his wife, who is behaving strangely,  Harvey watches episodes of Mannix to prepare for his investigation.

The Man with the Iron-On Badge  by Lee Goldberg is a classic PI novel full of great lines and twists and turns with a touch of the Rockford Files and The Big Lebowski about it. There are loads of references to PI novels that I've never read but it didn't stop me enjoying it very much.

It was published in 2005 but is now available to buy as one of them ebook things.

There are more Forgotten Books at Patti Abbott's blog.

The Rutles All You Need is Cash Part 1 Video

DARK VALENTINE MAGAZINE WINTER ISSUE

DARK    VALENTINE    MAGAZINE   WINTER   ISSUE

OUT NOW!

Stories by

Patricia Abbott • Diane Arrelle • David Boyer • Thomas Canfield • Eric Dimbleby • Paul Edwards • Edward A. Grainger • Greg M. Hall • Dave Hunsaker • Simon Marshall-Jones • P. R. O’Leary • Dale Phillips • Christine Pope • Frank Duffy & Brian Trent 

Art by

Jordan Boos • Molly Brewer • Jane Burson • Amanda Clegg • Leanne Hannah • Pamela Jaworska • Natasha Killeen • Karyn Lewis • Larry Nadolsky • Mark Satchwill • Eleni Trigatzi • Zephyrhant

Get it here!

OUT NOW! CONFESSIONS OF A BLACK DOG BY JASON MICHEL

OUT NOW! CONFESSIONS  OF  A  BLACK DOG BY JASON MICHEL

PULP METAL MAGAZINE editor Jason Michel has two new book publications.

youre dead and i killed you - a conversational anthology of noir, crime, and murder" features  a couple of his short stories & a short essay. 

And his classic debut novel "Confessions Of A Black Dog" has also been published by  BrownpaperpublishinG.

“Never has anybody’s work reflected so deeply the actual ‘man’. Complex, obstinately thumbing its nose at convention, astute in its appraisal of both the writer and the world around him, probing, insightful, rich, and unfettered by modern constraints, a poke in the eye for any and all literary establishments, Jason Michel is not a writer for today, nor he is a writer for yesterday, he is a unique amalgamation of all the best parts of all the writers who did it their way. Highly recommended for those genuinely interested in learning something new. But please God, don’t call him the new ‘anything’, he’s his own man.”
-Frank Duffy, The Journal.

You can buy them both HERE

So do it!

Quentin Crisp - Stop The Music For A Minute (1980)

The Small Town Creed

The Small Town Creed 

When You’re Growing Up In A Small Town/ You Hate It And You Want To Get Out.’ Lou Reed.

 

‘The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.’Sherlock Holmes

And small town America seems to be even worse. If we go by films, books and television - Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, The Killer Inside Me, Lolita, Red Rock West - then small towns are dark and sinister places. Claustrophobic and repressive, they are much more suited to noir than the bright lights of the big city with its limitless possibilities. Noir is for losers, after all...

Maggie Greenwald’s cracking film version of Jim Thompson’s small town noir novel ‘The Kill –Off’, for example, starts with a shot of dozens of intersecting telephone lines buzzing with gossip and small town prattle, criss crossing and trapping you. Thompson’s novel is just as smothering with its multiple POVs and every character having a finger in someone else's dirty pie. 

Dave Zeltserman’s ‘Small Crimes’ shows a man trying to escape the past but his home town keeps dragging him back like an umbilical cord tied tight around his neck!

And as for getting out ... 

In Scott Phillips’ dark comedy of errors ‘The Ice Harvest’ the hero Charlie Arglist, has big plans to get away from his small town blues and he is less than twenty-four hours away from escape but those old faces, places and habits keep hauling him back.

And look at Frank Capra’s terrifying noir classic ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ Poor George Bailey has plans the see the world and have adventures. But will those resentful hicks of Bedford Falls let him go? No! So, he tops himself. But even in death he can’t escape. A supernatural creature appears and drags him back ‘home’! It’s like that Sartre play where hell is other people, it really is.

And scariest of all, Bill Murray starts 'Groundhog Day' as a funny and intelligent man but after being tortured by repeating the humdrum routine of a uber-bland town he loses his spark and his wit so much that he even fancies Ali Macdowal, or whatever she’s called. 

Now that is chilling!

This post was first at Day Labour- The Official Blog Of Crime Factory Magazine last month. 


Issue FIVE of CrimeFactory- which includes my story Guns Of Brixton - is out NOW!