Anthony Award Win

Art Taylor shared this photo from Bouchercon.

Wow, what great news to hear — especially because I had to miss Bouchercon this year, sob! — that MURDER UNDER THE OAKS edited by Art Taylor won the Anthony for best anthology. I think my hand’s still sore from signing all the copies we did at last year’s Bouchercon but it was totally worth it. I’m grateful for Thomas Pluck reminding me of the due date so I got ‘Life Just Bounces’ in just before the deadline. Tom also had a terrific anthology up for the award PROTECTORS 2: HEROES which includes my short story ‘Mesquite’ which I’m planning to use as the start of a novel. Great to be rubbing such prestigious shoulders.

Click the images to check out the full ToC for each:

Interviewed by Linda Sands

Hey, that award-winning writer Linda Sands has grilled me with her 10 Questions. Drop by to see if you really should put haggis on your burger…

Triple Whammy!

Wow, great news! The Anthony awards are out and I’m quite pleased to find myself in two nominated anthologies. My story ‘Life Just Bounces’ is in Murder Under the Oaks edited by Art Taylor and my tale ‘Mesquite’ appears in Protectors 2: Heroes which Thomas Pluck edited. I owe Tom a double debt of gratitude because he reminded me about the deadline for the Bouchercon anthology and I hastily turned my short comic play into a story just in time. Great to see so many folks I know on the list of nominees — it’s going to be a tough ballot to decide on in New Orleans.

And hey! That Frank Duffy has an interview up with me on Facebook. It’s public so you should be able to see it here. Fun interview to do. You should check out the other interviews Frank has done with folks on his author page.

Hey, do you like some fine German-language noir? Look no further than PULPCORE! Now available and FREE! Kostenlos! Get stuck in. Practice your German or give it to you friends. As you can see it’s a stellar lineup.

Pledging at Bouchercon

I handed out pledge pins all over Bouchercon: enough people were amused. I do wish I’d snapped Heather Graham wearing hers.

Even the bar got into the theme.

The big event: I do enjoy reading even when we had to fit 19 readers into a panel!

I have never signed so many books! And editor Art Taylor won an Anthony that night: hmmm, maybe that will be luck for next year.

Everyone’s ready to pledge! Thanks, Julie Beman (check out Chica Non Grata) and Lys Guillorn (who made the badges and is also a terrific singer).

All the reading, writing and promo makes you thirsty…

Pledging at Bouchercon

After some rather considerable postal shenanigans, the pledge pins arrived via FedEx so I could hand them out to all and sundry. It was a hoot to see folks wearing ‘I’m pledging Sigma Tau Nu’ badges — even the gals at the Twisted Mango!

Thomas Pluck made sure that the word was out about Protectors 2: Heroes. Posters and flyers in the halls of the hotel and of course at Thursday night’s Noir at the Bar. Alas, that was the only time I got to see Patti Abbott and Dr Phil. Bouchercon was madness and I didn’t see half the people I thought I would but met lots of new folks too.

The Murder Under the Oaks reading and signing was absolutely amazing. We each had three minutes to read. I made a quick intro and read a lively part from ‘Life Just Bounces’ and it seemed to go over well. Then we signed more books than I have ever signed in my life (so far!). No complaints from me about that. Maybe editor Art Taylor’s golden touch will anoint this book as well: he picked up an Anthony for best short story that night.

Tomorrow: it’s out! Satan’s Sorority will be hitting the streets. You best watch out for those gals.

Song for a Saturday: Some Memories Just Won’t Die

My story in Protectors 2: Heroes ‘Mesquite’ is a little different than a lot of what I do because it’s set in Houston where I lived for three years, eleven months, seven days, fourteen hours, forty-three minutes and however many seconds. It’s safe to say I didn’t enjoy much about my time there, but I have managed to get a few stories out of the experience. This one — turning west instead of east — will become a novel, but not yet (too busy).

And Marty Robbins is always class.

Out Now – Protectors 2: Heroes

The Protectors Books website has direct links to retailers for the ebook and trade paperback:
http://www.protectorsbooks.org/protectors-2-heroes/

Contains my tale ‘Mesquite’ and a whole lot more! Check out that stellar list of contributors and remember, it all goes to the very best of causes: protecting the most vulnerable!

“Good stories for a good cause. You can’t go wrong.”

— Bill Crider, Mystery Scene Magazine

“By turns chilling, tragic, and just downright entertaining, this collection will have you turning the pages into the wee hours of the morning.”
— Kristin Centorcelli, Crime Fiction Lover

Pre-Order Protectors 2: Heroes

The wait’s almost over. The Protectors 2: Heroes e-book is now available for pre-order! The collection of the season for sure with such luminaries of the crime writing world as Joyce Carol Oates, David Morrell, Charles de Lint, Joelle Charbonneau, Hilary Davidson, Andrew Vacchs and of course editor Thomas Pluck.

The books are available for pre-order in e-book format from the Protectors Books website, here:
http://www.protectorsbooks.org/protectors-2-heroes/

Readers can purchase direct (which generates the largest donation) or from e-tailers such as Amazon and Kobo (which allows you to buy through your favorite bookstore).

Look for the Protectors crew at Bouchercon!

ToC: Protectors 2 – Heroes

Damned pleased to be part of this: great cause, great writers and a great guy behind it all, Thomas Pluck. Coming in September, it’s got a jaw-dropping assemblage:

When!? by Linda Sarah

The Questions by Alison Arngrim

City Water by Allison Glasgow

Black and White and Red All Over by David Morrell

Silvia Reyes by P.J. Ward

Plan B by Andrew Vachss

Gatekeeper by Richard Prosch

The Night Watch by Susan Schorn

One Night in Brownsville by Gary Phillips

Silverfish by S.J. Rozan

Parental Guidance by Scott Adlerberg

Superhero, With Crooked Nails by Rachael Acks

Angel by Terrence McCauley

Mr. Nance by Linda Rodriguez

Something I Said by Bracken MacLeod

El Puente by Rios de la Luz

Mesquite by Graham Wynd

Level 5 by C.R. Jahn

On the Road to La Grange by Karina Cooper

The Whistler in the Graveyard by Chad Eagleton (illustration by Dyer Wilk)

Solar Highway by S.A. Solomon

Jibber Jabber by Reed Farrel Coleman

Doll: A Poem by Jyl Anais Ion (illustrations by Jyl Anais Ion)

Doggone Justice by Joe R. Lansdale

The Occasion of the Black Mirror by Teel James Glenn

Sister Cecilia by Hilary Davidson

Croatoan by Harlan Ellison®

Little Howl on the Prairie by Thomas Pluck

Things Held Dear by Neliza Drew

49 Foot Woman Straps It On by Laird Barron

Moon Over the Midwest by Elizabeth Amber Love

Sixth Floor by Albert Tucher

Adamsville by Clare Toohey

Point of View by Will Graham

High Meadow Storm by Wayne Dundee

Out of Context by Joelle Charbonneau

Lone by Alex Segura (illustrations by Dennis Calero)

Love and Valour on ‘the Victorian Titanic’ by Gill Hoffs

Just Pretend by Martyn Waites

Freak by Charles de Lint

The New Heroes of the Old Fairgrounds by K.L. Pereira

When the Hammer Comes Down by Josh Stallings

Stretching Fifteen by Angel Luis Colón

Bounty by Jerry Bloomfield

Reprisals: Enmity by John A. Curley

Light-Bringer by Laura K. Curtis

Hercules and the Spawn of the Titans by Michael A. Black

How to Paint Your Dragon by Andrew D’Apice

Don’t Fear the Ripper by Holly West

Two Views by Tim Daly

A Hundred Pearls by Errick Nunnally

Snapshots by Christopher Irvin

Deceit by Joyce Carol Oates

The Perfect Weapon by Zak Mucha

An Open Letter to the Children of the Secret by Dionysios Dionou

Behavior is Truth by Gwyndyn T. Alexander

Pigeons for Protect! by Linda Sarah