JODI MACARTHUR

By AJ Hayes

Jodi MacArthur, is our own captured hurricane/sprite/elf/devil/favorite kid sister. 

If that definition confuses you, maybe her -- Arr Matey-Avast lubbers-by Davey Jones'es snakey beard-thar be black holes' ere -- best pirate series ever, The Wicked Woman's Booty, will clear it up for you. 

You can find her Ragtag Buccaneers over at the fantastic Pulp Metal Magazine.

SANDRA SEAMANS

Friend of the blog Sandra Seamans is bringin' it over at Shotgun Honey with the action-packed Brotherly Love. This is one unusual diner and a pair of nasty criminals dishing out just revenge... do I mean just as in justice or as in only? Hmm... definitely one of those... 


But don't stop there--I was browsing through ye olde archives at Beat to a Pulp and found this gem also from Ms. Seamans, Brothel Justice. 


It's a delicious, sci-fi-pulp romp through the Milky Way's red-light district. Elaine Ash sums this up nicely in the comments: "Oedipus in space! Feminist noir!" 

NoHo Noir

Katherine Tomlinson has some top-shelf stories up at NoHo Noir Short Fiction. Her latest, Collateral Damage, might be my favorite.

It's a quiet shift for Ethan, a cop back on duty after injuring his leg, until he gets a call about a guy brandishing a weapon at a 7-Eleven store on Camarillo Street. He's praying that's it's a false alarm, but when he shows up, one guy's already dead and another is circling the drain. Ethan tries to establish control over the chaos and surmise what the hell happened.

The story is loaded with vibrant details and dark humor. Tomlinson illustrates the everyday horror of crime with a tragic but quiet ending. This kind of effort is rare and I really appreciate her no-frills approach.

AT PULP METAL

I've got a shorty up today. A bit of classic detective genre mishmash called It Wasn't Slim Ricky. Mosey on over to the always-fantastic Pulp Metal Magazine to check it out.

Also, Paul Brazill interviews Allan Guthrie and Richard Godwin's disturbing Pony Trip series continues.

THE OUTLAW MARSHAL

Edward Grainger (aka David Cranmer) has a gritty Western up today at The Flash Fiction Offensive, The Outlaw Marshal.

Mason Doig and the ex-cons are playing high-stakes cards. But Doig's winning a little too often for the Stranger's liking, and when Doig deals from the bottom of a deck, a show-down ensues.

The dialogue flows easily and the action is fierce. What really sold this one for me is the cold-hearted ending. Cash Laramie's Wild West is a real, dark, and merciless place. A far cry from the crap that makes it to the big screen--where the West was fun!

And if you like this one, stay tuned--a collection of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles stories will be released in June.

MCBRIDE, CALLAWAY

Matt McBride is one of the meanest writers out there and two of his recent stories are prime examples. Over at Yellow Mama, he's got a scorcher of a classic gangster tale with Hard Luck Dance. 

The Boss wants Benny Tulips (who got his name cause he once force-fed a guy flowers) and Fancy go to rough up Donnie the Repairman. This is crime fiction, so things go wrong. 

McBride's got another one in Kung Fu Factory, Red Donkey. I made a note never to go to this bar. It's the kind of place where badasses beat the shit out of each other. Both highlight McBride's adrenalin-fueled style and are well worth checking out.

Also in the sticky pages of The Factory is I Don't Fuckin' Care About Nothing by Jimmy Callaway. Johnny Frigidaire and vigilante ass kicking! Easily one of the funniest goddamned stories I've ever read. So go forth and enjoy!

The Characters I Like...

I'm reading Allan Guthrie's Slammer right now (ridiculously brilliant), which is about a guy named Glass, a softie of a prison guard losing at the game of life. Man, this guy just can't catch a break--wife hates him, the other prison guards hate him, the prisoners use and abuse him. And the poor guy just takes it... along with a steady dose of drugs.


But soon that will all change. Soon, as the book jacket tells me, Glass will shatter! And I predict he will go on a rampage of epic proportions.


I'm very hungry for that moment. Can't wait for it. As a reader (maybe even as a writer, though haven't quite figured out that one yet) I relish this kind of character--the one who gets pushed around until one day he freaks out and scorches the earth.


A classic example of this is the Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas. He managed to tap into a real, everyday anger. Went from being mild-mannered to insane in seconds.


I'm not sure why I like these characters. I guess they're easy to relate to--most of the time most people must compromise or follow orders, so it's cool to see characters who say "Fuck that!" I also like that this character drives plot. The person who snaps--action is part of who they are.


What kind of characters do you like? Do you find yourself gravitating to certain kinds of characters?


***


A couple of great interviews: Chris Holm is part of the Conversations with the Bookless series at Spinetingler. He is one likable dude who knows a lot about writing. And I share his love for P.G. Wodehouse, one of the funniest writers ever.


Pulp Metal Magazine mastermind Jason Michel is at Bombs from Underground. He shares his refreshingly unpretentious approach to all things writing and editing, which shows in his excellent magazine.


The force of nature otherwise known as Paul Brazill is at Ginger Nuts of Horror. He's come up with the best reason I've heard for writing crime: "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss sticks a nutty on you, so it’s a good way to face the darkness. Maybe."

CINDY ROSMUS

By AJ Hayes

We all know Cindy Rosmus as the editor of Yellow Mama, one of the classiest 'zines on the web. We all know she writes hard boiled, kick in the balls, slobber knockin' noir par excellence. 

Some of us don't know however that she can also -- whenever she wants to -- scare the livin' bejeezus out of you. She's got a new one up at MediaVirus Magazine that will stick in your head and make you see things reflected in the window panes at midnight that you really don't want to see. Get your picture taken here

Above is the photo that inspired Cindy's piece. As AJ puts it, guaranteed to make you shudder!

SHOTGUN HONEY

Shotgun Honey is a new zine that does crime/noir/hardboiled flash fiction only.

The first two entries are real screamers--the calloused and snarky Two-Phones from Dan O'Shea and a disturbing, fowl, and fun tale, Disney Noir by Peter Farris.

Editor Kent Gowran says he'll be posting stories on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. I love the tight word count--700 or less. And if these first two stories are any indication, it appears Shotgun Honey will be an excellent addition to the crime fiction community. 

TOP SUSPENSE

Review by Fiona Woods
Top Suspense: 13 Classic Stories by 12 Masters of the Genre, (by Max Allan Collins, Bill Crider, Stephen Gallagher, Lee Goldberg, Joel Goldman, Ed Gorman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Vicki Hendricks, Naomi Hirahara, Paul Levine, Harry Shannon, and Dave Zeltserman)

There's something for everyone in this anthology: from Max Allan Collins's noir to Lee Goldberg's humor to Bill Crider's crime to Ed Gorman's horror and everything in between. It's all here. Different readers will find different favorites.

There are surprising plot turns in every story. These stories are dark, raw and bloody, with irony  and humor thrown in just to keep you off balance. Don't think this is the kind of anthology you can read from front to back at one sitting. You'll need to take your time to savor each story.

The whole collection is tied up with a bow in The Chase by all twelve of the anthology contributors doing a double round robin story. Try to figure out who wrote each section before you click the link at the end for the answer.
 

Each story in here is well worth the price of the whole collection, so you're getting a real bargain!

WINNER

First off I want to thank everyone for their support and creativity. A lot of really cool entries.


Nigel and I took a look through and decided the name of the anthology will be... 


PULP INK, which was from Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. She wins a copy of the Mammoth Book of British Crime 8, already out on Kindle with the hard copy version available later this month. 


Anyways, thanks for playing! PULP INK will be available at an e-bookseller near you late this summer. 


-- The Greek Seaman

YOU NAME IT

Alright, so we ran into some copyright issues with the name... 

But maybe that's a good thing because now you--the reader--get to name our anthology! 

Here's the idea in a nutshell: "Using the soundtrack from Quentin Tarantino's 90s classic Pulp Fiction as a starting point, these 26 writers are pumping the pages full of bullets, bodies, and brains (not intelligence, actual bits of gray matter)." 

(A lot more on this at PDB's blog.)

Here are some of the names we've heard thrown around:

Pulp Overheard 

Pulp Undertones

Pulp Wise

Pulp Up the Volume

Pulp Royale

Pulpology

So vote for one of those or come up with one of your own!


AND the winner will get a free copy of the Mammoth Book of British Crime, which is already out for Kindle with paper copy due out later this month. Great list of writers there--including Ray Banks, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, Paul Brazill, Allan Guthrie, and Nigel Bird.

Coming Soon

I'm ridiculously excited about what's at Paul Brazill's blog this morning.

Nigel Bird and I will have the pleasure of editing this anthology.

Like Nigel says--it's so hot you need goggles and gloves to handle it!

D.V. BERKOM

By Jenni Conner


DV Berkom takes her readers on a suspense-filled race across Mexico with her heroine, Kate Jones, in her new novella, Bad Spirits. Kate always manages to get herself in so much hot water she could boil tea! The story, ending on a cliffhanger, makes the reader want to move into the next part as soon as they can download it. Written in the clever style of the old serials there's a twist, turn, and gun shot around every corner. 

Bad Spirits takes place in Mexico with Kate trying to escape a well-known and menacing drug lord. The fact that she lightened his money stash is an even better reason to get out of the country. You won't be disappointed in the read, but you will be hungering for more. And good news...Books To Go Now is where you can find them.  Part 1 of Bad spirits is available as a free download on the Android Marketplace.

Here is the blurb on the book: 
Kate's life plans didn't include being the girlfriend of one of Mexico's most ruthless drug lords. 


Now, getting out is her only chance. With a bag full of dirty money, her life has become part of the stakes. 

WAYNE ANTHONY CONAWAY

By Kaye George

Wayne Anthony Conaway fits the grit into a literary tale effortlessly. Even though his story, "Intellectuals in Bubbatown," was published in a Canadian literary magazine, it would sit comfortably on the pages of any noir publication. It takes place in Houston, just down the road apiece from where I live, in the good old days of the oil boom.

Follow this link and see if you don't agree with me: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/02/03/intellectuals-in-bubbatown/.

He himself calls this story humorous in his blog, but it's decidedly dark humor. Just the kind I like! I wish I could find some more stuff by him.

http://wayneaconaway.blogspot.com/

JOYCE JUZWIK

By AJ Hayes


Joyce Juzwik is a submarine. She patrols the noir scene like one of those old War two U-boats. Sometimes you forget she's there. Don't do that because she never, repeat, never stops working at her trade. 


Each week she launches a flash fiction story on her website that blows the reader out of the water. She's relentless that way. Every week BOOM! She blows up her readers with twisty and twisted stories that cover every genre. All short shots. All deadly. Like a U-Boat. This week's tale is of a forties style PI and family and treachery.  Her sub base is located here.