© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 12:30 A.M.
This year's Halloween poem is "Ode to the Homicidal 'Gentlemen'":
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Submit James Bond-themed poems by November 6.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Flash and Bang Launched
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 1:00 P.M.
Published October 8 by Untreed Reads, Flash and Bang is the Society's first member anthology. Available in paperback (ISBN 9781611878295) and ebook, it features nineteen new short (1,500–3,000 words) and flash stories (300–1,000 words) containing either a flash or a bang:
Individuals: If you purchase the paperback ($16.00) and ebook ($4.99) at the same time from the Untreed Reads store, the ebook cost will be subtracted from your total. Also, in October, Flash and Bang is part of Untreed Reads' 30% off sale on horror and mystery titles.
Retailers and Libraries: Email Jay Hartman (JHARTMAN at UNTREEDREADS dot COM) about carrying copies. Standard retailer/library discount is 40% on returnable copies, 50% on nonreturnable copies. On orders of ten or more, the discount on returnable copies goes to 43%.
Reviewers: Email Jay Hartman (JHARTMAN at UNTREEDREADS dot COM) for ebook review copies.
Independent bookstores carrying copies:
The Society had long considered anthology ideas, but it wasn't until March 2014 that one finally got off the ground. As vice president at the time, I received approval from President Tom Sweeney to create the SMFS Anthology Plans Yahoo! Group, where interested members could explore anthologies without disrupting the main Shortmystery Yahoo! Group.
I didn't steer Antho group discussion, but as facilitator, I wrote the pitch to Jay Hartman to publish the first Society-themed anthology. Jay came up with the flash-or-bang guidelines and opened submissions to all Shortmystery members. I couldn't be prouder to see this plan come together.
Now having read the finished product, I most enjoyed the stories by Bobbi Chukran, O'Neil De Noux, and Barb Goffman, but as the Society represents all of mystery & crime short fiction, Flash and Bang has something for every taste: from cozy to hardboiled, historical to contempory, amateur and animal sleuths to police and private detectives.
Published October 8 by Untreed Reads, Flash and Bang is the Society's first member anthology. Available in paperback (ISBN 9781611878295) and ebook, it features nineteen new short (1,500–3,000 words) and flash stories (300–1,000 words) containing either a flash or a bang:
- "The Conflagration at the Nameless Cotton Gin" by Bobbi A. Chukran
- "The Perfect Crime" by Herschel Cozine
- "Don't Let the Cop into the House" by O'Neil De Noux
- "Fireworks" by P.A. De Voe
- "Rosie's Choice" by John M. Floyd
- "The Wrong Girl" by Barb Goffman
- "Murder on Elm Street" by Su Kopil
- "Silent Measures" by B.V. Lawson
- "Don't Be Cruel" by JoAnne Lucas
- "A Simple Job" by Andrew MacRae
- "Arthur" by Sandra Murphy
- "Thor's Breath" by Suzanne Berube Rorhus
- "Beautiful Killer" by Judy Penz Sheluk
- "A Day Like No Other" by Walter A.P. Soethoudt (translated by Willem Verhulst)
- "The Raymond Chandler Con" by Earl Staggs
- "The Bag Lady" by Laurie Stevens
- "Fractured Memories" by Julie Tollefson
- "The Fruit of Thy Loins" by Albert Tucher
- "Sierra Noir" by Tim Wohlforth
Individuals: If you purchase the paperback ($16.00) and ebook ($4.99) at the same time from the Untreed Reads store, the ebook cost will be subtracted from your total. Also, in October, Flash and Bang is part of Untreed Reads' 30% off sale on horror and mystery titles.
Retailers and Libraries: Email Jay Hartman (JHARTMAN at UNTREEDREADS dot COM) about carrying copies. Standard retailer/library discount is 40% on returnable copies, 50% on nonreturnable copies. On orders of ten or more, the discount on returnable copies goes to 43%.
Reviewers: Email Jay Hartman (JHARTMAN at UNTREEDREADS dot COM) for ebook review copies.
Independent bookstores carrying copies:
- The Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren St., New York, NY 10007
The Society had long considered anthology ideas, but it wasn't until March 2014 that one finally got off the ground. As vice president at the time, I received approval from President Tom Sweeney to create the SMFS Anthology Plans Yahoo! Group, where interested members could explore anthologies without disrupting the main Shortmystery Yahoo! Group.I didn't steer Antho group discussion, but as facilitator, I wrote the pitch to Jay Hartman to publish the first Society-themed anthology. Jay came up with the flash-or-bang guidelines and opened submissions to all Shortmystery members. I couldn't be prouder to see this plan come together.
Now having read the finished product, I most enjoyed the stories by Bobbi Chukran, O'Neil De Noux, and Barb Goffman, but as the Society represents all of mystery & crime short fiction, Flash and Bang has something for every taste: from cozy to hardboiled, historical to contempory, amateur and animal sleuths to police and private detectives.
At The Five-Two: Clarinda Harriss
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 4:30 A.M.
This week, Clarinda Harris returns a snapshot of raunchiness at a Confederate memorial:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
This week, Clarinda Harris returns a snapshot of raunchiness at a Confederate memorial:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
Monday, October 12, 2015
At The Five-Two: Nancy Scott
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 8:00 A.M.
This week, Nancy Scott reflects on a bygone era of adventurous shoplifting:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
This week, Nancy Scott reflects on a bygone era of adventurous shoplifting:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Art Taylor 3 Minutes From Live
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 5:30 P.M.
Award-winning story writer Art Taylor is today's guest at my virtual event space, 3 Minutes From Live, reading from his debut novel-in-stories, On the Road with Del & Louise.
Award-winning story writer Art Taylor is today's guest at my virtual event space, 3 Minutes From Live, reading from his debut novel-in-stories, On the Road with Del & Louise.
Laissez le Bouchercon rouler!
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 4:30 A.M.
I'm not attending Bouchercon 2015, Thursday in Raleigh, NC, in part because the main hotels were full by the time I was free to register. Despite that, I helped organize many of the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Bouchercon 2015 activities, including our opening ceremonies Derringer Award presentation and our Friday meetup lunch.
Not wanting to miss out again, yesterday I registered and booked a room for Bouchercon 2016 in New Orleans. Let me know if you'd like to fly or ride with me from New York.
I'm not attending Bouchercon 2015, Thursday in Raleigh, NC, in part because the main hotels were full by the time I was free to register. Despite that, I helped organize many of the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Bouchercon 2015 activities, including our opening ceremonies Derringer Award presentation and our Friday meetup lunch.
Not wanting to miss out again, yesterday I registered and booked a room for Bouchercon 2016 in New Orleans. Let me know if you'd like to fly or ride with me from New York.
Monday, October 05, 2015
In My Prime
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 3:30 A.M.
I turn another prime number today, forty-one. I'd like to think I've lived mostly right up to now, but wouldn't everyone? I'd like to look back on a mountain of accomplishment, but having spent the past eleven years as a freelancer (writer, editor, blog admin, moderator, graphic designer, social media admin...), it's more like several dunes.
Coincidentally, last Tuesday, my friend John Ricotta and I went back to our alma mater, Hofstra University, for an evening poetry reading by Rowan Ricardo Phillips. A group of high school students was in attendance, and Phillips especially addressed them, jokingly calling himself old and crackly by comparison. On the contrary, his enthusiasm for poetry and life was clear.
One of the reasons John went was to bump into Erik Brogger, faculty advisor to Font, the student literary magazine we helped start in 1995. Brogger, in fact, came up with the name Font when none of our suggestions stuck. We ran with it, and I like to think we made it popular as Ian Fleming did the otherwise plain-sounding James Bond. It's been through a few phases since then, but it's still around.
Brogger, meanwhile, is retiring in the spring after twenty-eight years teaching. John and I were students just before he got tenure. Well deserved. He's going on to projects a teaching load wouldn't allow.
Reflecting, I realize I've retained my sense of wonder about much of the world. I believe solutions to most immediate dilemmas can be found by remaining agile in thought, keeping dialogues open. Inertia sets in when people think the way it's been for ages is the way it will always be. I believe in doing what I can, when I can, and always expanding what I can.
I turn another prime number today, forty-one. I'd like to think I've lived mostly right up to now, but wouldn't everyone? I'd like to look back on a mountain of accomplishment, but having spent the past eleven years as a freelancer (writer, editor, blog admin, moderator, graphic designer, social media admin...), it's more like several dunes.
Coincidentally, last Tuesday, my friend John Ricotta and I went back to our alma mater, Hofstra University, for an evening poetry reading by Rowan Ricardo Phillips. A group of high school students was in attendance, and Phillips especially addressed them, jokingly calling himself old and crackly by comparison. On the contrary, his enthusiasm for poetry and life was clear.
One of the reasons John went was to bump into Erik Brogger, faculty advisor to Font, the student literary magazine we helped start in 1995. Brogger, in fact, came up with the name Font when none of our suggestions stuck. We ran with it, and I like to think we made it popular as Ian Fleming did the otherwise plain-sounding James Bond. It's been through a few phases since then, but it's still around.
Brogger, meanwhile, is retiring in the spring after twenty-eight years teaching. John and I were students just before he got tenure. Well deserved. He's going on to projects a teaching load wouldn't allow.
Reflecting, I realize I've retained my sense of wonder about much of the world. I believe solutions to most immediate dilemmas can be found by remaining agile in thought, keeping dialogues open. Inertia sets in when people think the way it's been for ages is the way it will always be. I believe in doing what I can, when I can, and always expanding what I can.
At The Five-Two: "Failure" by Charles Rammelkamp
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 3:00 A.M.
Rammelkamp returns with a morbid poem I thought perfect for back-to-school:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
I'm currently seeking new poems for mid-November and beyond. Thanksgiving and crime, anyone?
Rammelkamp returns with a morbid poem I thought perfect for back-to-school:
Subscribe to Channel Five-Two for first view of new videos.
I'm currently seeking new poems for mid-November and beyond. Thanksgiving and crime, anyone?
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