Journalist Margaret Bikman wrote a lovely feature on Crimes Against Nature for the Salish Current, an independent local news organization in Bellingham, Washington. She interviewed editor Robert Lopresti, Josh Pachter, Susan Breen, Jon McGoran, and yours truly.
You can read the story by clicking the link below:
“The Roots of Environmental Evil: ‘Crimes Against Nature’” by Margaret Bikman
I have a new short story out! Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy was released this week with Down & Out Books and edited by Robert Lopresti.
My story is called “The Gift” and it features influencer culture and its effects on national parks, beaches, etc. I love that half of the proceeds will go to an environmental nonprofit of our choice. I chose the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles based in San Pedro. They respond to marine mammals in distress and rescue them all up and down the Los Angeles County coastline. They were in danger of closing their doors in 2019 but the community rallied together and saved them. They rely heavily on financial donors. The number of abandoned elephant seal pups and sickened marine mammals sadly increases each year.
Here’s the official description of the anthology:
The way we treat the world is a crime—fifteen of them, in fact. Some of the best and most honored mystery writers today have written new stories for this book dealing with environmental issues including pollution, wildfire, invasive species, climate change, recycling, and many more.
Authors include Michael Bracken, Susan Breen, Sarah M. Chen, Barb Goffman, Karen Harrington, Janice Law, R.T. Lawton, Robert Lopresti, Jon McGoran, Josh Pachter, Gary Phillips, S.J. Rozan, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mark Stevens, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden.
The stories cover a wide variety of styles including noir, comic, caper, psychological, police procedural, and even a tale inspired by comic books.
Available to buy now!
I’m thrilled to be part of the discussion on Kristopher Zgorski’s YouTube vlog “We Are What We Read” in which he invites guests to talk about their favorite books. A big thank you to Kristopher and co-host Shawn R. Simmons for inviting me.
For this episode, he wanted to talk about favorite short stories which is right up my alley! My pick was Faye Snowden’s “One Bullet. One Vote.” It’s available in Low Down Dirty Vote, Volume II, edited by Mysti Berry (which also has one of my stories!) and also was included in Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2021, edited by Steph Cha and Alafair Burke.
These are some of the other fabulous suggestions, most of which I’d never heard of so clearly I have some catching up to do. (Thank you to Gabriel Valjan for this awesome graphic!)
To hear why we picked these, check out the episode! And while you’re at it, susbscribe to Kristopher’s channel. There are always some great recs!
Today is release day for Witnesses for the Dead from Soho Press, edited by Gary Phillips and Gar Anthony Haywood. I’m so excited to be a part of this stellar line-up of authors. All proceeds go to The Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops.
The premise is inspired by people who witness crimes and do something about it, most notably Darnella Frazier, the seventeen-year-old girl who recorded George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.
My story “A Family Matter” takes a look at the complicated politics in Taiwan when Vanessa Chu witnesses a stranger’s murder while staying at her father’s home in Taichung. Just before I wrote this story, I had been reading about a bookstore owner who fled Hong Kong during the mass protests in 2019 and opened his store in Taipei. Four days before he was to open his store, unknown assailants threw red paint on him while he sat outside at a cafe. Three men were later arrested. They were upset by the bookstore’s commitment to disseminating democratic ideals and free speech. I was struck by how the bookstore owner wasn’t concerned for his own safety but for the safety of those who helped him open the store.
Here’s the full description of the book:
How does witnessing a crime change a person? This powerful collection of stories by a star-studded roster of contributors examines this very question, with proceeds benefitting the Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops.
Inspired by recent true events, the all-original stories in Witnesses for the Dead are set in motion by the act of witnessing. The characters who populate these pages are not themselves the perpetrators of the crimes they see, but as they grapple with what to do—take action or retreat into the shadows—their lives are indelibly changed.
In “Envy” by Christopher Chambers, a sweet, shy wallflower looks on as something horrific happens in his neighborhood—revealing something horrific about himself. Agatha Award–winner Richie Narvaez’s “The Gardener of Roses” sees a Puertorriqueña college student on the run from the FBI for her accidental involvement in a “terrorist” plot. Anthony Award–winner Gary Phillips confronts police corruption in “Spiders and Fly.” And the protagonist of “A Family Matter” by IPPY Award–winner Sarah M. Chen investigates the murder of a stranger, leading her to question the political structure of Taiwan entirely. Other stories feature a brothel, the film industry, immigrant detention centers at the Mexico-US border, World War II–torn France, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories are incisive, unflinching, wry, dark, and, in some cases, terrifying. You’ll ask yourself: If I saw what they saw, what would I do?
Edited by Anthony Award–winner Gary Phillips and Shamus Award–winner Gar Anthony Haywood, the collection includes contributions from NAACP Image Award–winner Pamela Samuels Young, New York Times bestsellers Cara Black and Tod Goldberg, Edgar Award–winner SJ Rozan, Agatha Award–winner Richie Narvaez, and more.
Pick up a copy at the following links!
My short story “Grateful Touring” is getting another life with an appearance in the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly e-magazine. Barb Goffman selected it as part of her Barb Goffman Presents short story series. Thank you, Barb!
“Grateful Touring” was originally published in Windward: New England Crime Stories 2016 by Level Best Books. I was so excited because I’d been wanting to be in the New England Crime series for a while. Every year I submitted to the anthology as well as the Al Blanchard Award but was never selected. The anthology launches at the Crime Bake Conference which was one of the very first mystery conferences I went to. It remains one of my favorite conferences. I went to Crime Bake in 2016 even though I wasn’t registered so I could meet the other contributors of the anthology and participate in the signing. I had so much fun and I even crashed a panel featuring Hank Phillippi Ryan (don’t tell anyone).
“Grateful Touring” was inspired by a good friend of mine who is a tour director and does the foliage tours every fall. He’s a big Deadhead like my protagonist Jack. My friend doesn’t smuggle cigarettes on the side, although he agreed that it would be pretty easy to do while on tour so who knows, maybe I gave him something to think about.
Here’s a brief description of my story:
As the director for New England foliage tours, Jack has an easy side hustle smuggling cigarettes while entertaining a motor coach of leaf peepers—as long as he’s teamed up with his driver, Chris. Things get complicated, though, when Bob announces he’s the new driver and Chris is MIA. Fearing the worst and with the trip still on schedule, Jack braces himself for a bumpy ride.
If you’re not a subscriber to Black Cat Weekly (and why aren’t you?), you can pick up the issue here: Black Cat Weekly, #34.
I’ll be speaking on a short story panel this Saturday, July 17 at 10:00am PST for an awesome literary festival celebrating storytelling. It’s my first event for 2021 and it’s free to register!
I’ll be on with Steph Cha and Nikki Dolson with Ed Aymar moderating.
This discussion will focus on the state of short stories in crime fiction, its past and how social changes are affecting the form. Steph Cha was recently the new editor of the celebrated series, the Best American Mystery Stories, and her stewardship promises to bring forth an exciting new era in crime fiction. And Sarah M. Chen and Nikki Dolson are both celebrated practitioners of short fiction who can discuss the history of the form and what the future promises.
Register for free here! 1455 Literary Summer Festival
Last night we chatted presidents and politics with our esteemed editor / publisher Peter Carlaftes. It was a blast! We also read excerpts from our stories in The Faking of the President. To watch, click on the YouTube link below!
Buy links for The Faking of the President, a New York Times Editors’ Choice!
My friend and co-editor, E.A. Aymar, writes a column for the Washington Independent Review of Books. His latest features short stories and he asked two very talented short story writers, Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski (who by the way are also in The Swamp Killers!) to name their favorites. Oh, and he also asked me.
So if you want an escape from all this craziness but still find it difficult to break away too long from the endless updates, then a short story is your answer!
Read the column for some excellent recommendations. I don’t really have a favorite short story but I do have a favorite short story writer. Read on to find out who!
The upcoming anthology I’m in just received its first review and it’s a good one from Publishers Weekly! Woot!
Check it out here: Publishers Weekly review
For more information about the book, here’s Three Rooms Press editor and publisher, Peter Carlaftes, talking about the inspiration behind The Faking of the President and the process of putting this White House noir collection together: Inspiring Change Through Noir Fiction
I’m so excited to be a part of this unique collection! It includes my dystopian story “In Mother We Trust” set in the not-too-distant future of the 2024 election.
THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir pulls back the curtain on the “new norm” for America’s highest office, with a collection of bizarre new stories by a diverse group of renowned authors that take readers across the chasm of reality into an alternate universe—where Nixon takes a wacky psychedelic trip with Elvis Presley; where a time-traveling renegade targets members of the George Bush administration with disastrous results; where a spy seizes a sudden opportunity for power after Woodrow Wilson’s stroke. The stories are outlandish—but when it comes to the White House of today—strange behavior and kinky, zany antics are no longer implausible.
Spinning new tales of White House noir, these yarns confirm that absolute power—minus checks and balances—absolutely corrupts. THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT acknowledges the wacko state of politics today, and openly wonders how far down the rabbit hole the American presidency can go.
The line-up of award-winning authors includes Eric Beetner, Peter Carlaftes, Christopher Chambers, Sarah M. Chen, Angel Luis Colon, S. A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Mary Anna Evans, Kate Flora, Adam Lance Garcia, Danny Gardner, Alison Gaylin, Greg Herren, Gary Phillips, Travis Richardson, S. J. Rozan, Alex Segura, Abby Vandiver, and Erica Wright.
What a nice surprise to find out that my flash fiction story “A Big Appetite” was featured today over at The Gutter’s Flash Fiction Offensive. A big thank you to Jesse Rawlins, Jim Shaffer, and Mick Rose! And then Canadian writer Beau Johnson talks up Finn in a video! Such love. 🙂
“A Big Appetite” is a weird vengeance tale that wasn’t my usual style (but really fun to write). It was first published over at Close to the Bone.
