Lesa Holstine
Friday, July 31, 2015
Lesa's Latest Contest--- Suspense Novel Giveaway
This week, I'm giving away two suspense novels, Peter Swanson's The Kind
Worth Killing & Sophie McKenzie's You Can Trust Me. Details on my blog at
http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com. Entries from the U.S. only,
please.
Writers Who Kill: WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW: A VARIATION
Writers Who Kill: WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW: A VARIATION: Write What You Know, a Variation on the Theme For a long time I have wondered why — Write W...
BookEnds Literary Agency: Query Don'ts: Putting a Stop to This Latest Query ...
BookEnds Literary Agency: Query Don'ts: Putting a Stop to This Latest Query ...: There's a new query trend out there, one that isn't helping authors at all, but is driving me crazy. Here is how the query goes: ...
FFB Review: "THE NIGHTRUNNERS" (1978) by Michael Collins (Reviewed by Barry Ergang)
Friday means Friday’s Forgotten Books. This week Evan Lewis has
link gatherer duties so make sure you head over to his excellent blog for the full list of
reading suggestions. Of course, do that after you read Barry’s review below...
THE NIGHTRUNNERS (1978) by Michael Collins
Reviewed by Barry Ergang
Hired by Wallace Kern, head of the
pharmaceutical company Kern Laboratories, to find his compulsive gambler
brother Bill, private detective Dan Fortune quickly finds himself embroiled in
a far more convoluted case loaded with multiple murders, one victim being an
old friend, and an attempt to rescue Kern’s son Bradley from a Mexican prison.
It’s a case whose players include, in addition
to the aforementioned personalities, a con man named Nestor Cebellos, his
twice-divorced-from-him wife Adelita and her professional gambler father; the
Kern wives, who couldn’t be more unlike; a scientist feted at least as much for
a magnificent act of heroism as for his research; Kern’s right-hand man; Anna
Botha, an attractive young Ph.D. Kern employee who is passionate about rescuing
Brad Kern; a deadly pair of Bolivian guerillas; and an assortment of other
major and minor characters.
Under his Michael Collins pseudonym, the late Dennis Lynds, known for his literary as well as his mystery fiction, brought
that literary sensibility to the Dan Fortune series, which is marked by insightful characterizations, a strong sense
of place, and evocative prose:
“A man can’t hide in a small town. Not from
others, not from himself. So he comes to the city to hide. From the hunters
outside, or the hunters inside.
“Only the city is my land, and if I am the
hunter sooner or later I will find my rabbit. I know how to hunt through the
solitary rooms and the faceless river of humanity, through the forest of stone
and the glare of neon, through the shadows and the silence.”
The one-armed Dan Fortune is as smart and
savvy as any fictional private detective who walks the mean streets, and The Nightrunners is a good entry in a
superior series.
© 2015 Barry Ergang
Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s written work has
appeared in numerous publications, print and electronic. Some of it is
available at Amazon
and at Smashwords. His website is http://www.writetrack.yolasite.com/.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Vanishing Point
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Vanishing Point: Vanishing Point ~ Now this is a film of legend. The only way it could be seen when I was a kid was on late night Friday nights on loca...
Today at the Cancer Doc
Things are relatively stable for Sandi right now. They gave her the shot and sent us on home.
The concern is that over the weekend she may plummet again and may require a major blood transfusion on Monday. From a blood work testing point of view, her numbers are slightly higher at this point post chemo than they have been the two previous rounds of chemo. The hope is that just maybe the delay in chemo over last weekend when things went badly may have inadvertently done something good for her and she may not need the massive blood transfusion early next week. Time will tell.
We go back Monday for tests, shot, and visit and see what happens.
The concern is that over the weekend she may plummet again and may require a major blood transfusion on Monday. From a blood work testing point of view, her numbers are slightly higher at this point post chemo than they have been the two previous rounds of chemo. The hope is that just maybe the delay in chemo over last weekend when things went badly may have inadvertently done something good for her and she may not need the massive blood transfusion early next week. Time will tell.
We go back Monday for tests, shot, and visit and see what happens.
REMNDER: Mystery Writers this Saturday, August 1, 2015, 9:30am
Harry Hall:
Make Your Book Signing a Wow!
We’ve all attended book signings that were held in quasi-sterile environments amidst quiet conversation, where you stood around for a few minutes, then after some low-key congratulations, and a quick book purchase, left unimpressed.
Yours can be different. You can have your friends, family and acquaintances fill a room, stand in line to purchase your book and still have a good time.
Book signings are a perfect venue for authors to highlight their work and showcase their talents.
But too many fail to capitalize.
At our August meeting, nationally-recognized author Harry Hall will present, “Make Your book Signing a Wow!” in which he will show us how to conduct successful book signings, from publicity to venue selection.
Harry has written two books, most recently, The Pedestriennes, America’s Forgotten Superstars, the first book ever written on the professional endurance walkers whose on and off the track exploits dazzled America in the latter 19thcentury. It has won a Mayborn and Independent Publisher’s (IPPY) Award.
Additionally, for the past 20 years, Harry has taught public speaking at the University of Dallas and SMU. He frequently presents at writers conferences.
Harry lives in Grand Prairie, Texas with his wife Susie and son Zane.
-- Make Your Book Signing a Wow!
We’ve all attended book signings that were held in quasi-sterile environments amidst quiet conversation, where you stood around for a few minutes, then after some low-key congratulations, and a quick book purchase, left unimpressed.
Yours can be different. You can have your friends, family and acquaintances fill a room, stand in line to purchase your book and still have a good time.
Book signings are a perfect venue for authors to highlight their work and showcase their talents.
But too many fail to capitalize.
At our August meeting, nationally-recognized author Harry Hall will present, “Make Your book Signing a Wow!” in which he will show us how to conduct successful book signings, from publicity to venue selection.
Harry has written two books, most recently, The Pedestriennes, America’s Forgotten Superstars, the first book ever written on the professional endurance walkers whose on and off the track exploits dazzled America in the latter 19thcentury. It has won a Mayborn and Independent Publisher’s (IPPY) Award.
Additionally, for the past 20 years, Harry has taught public speaking at the University of Dallas and SMU. He frequently presents at writers conferences.
Harry lives in Grand Prairie, Texas with his wife Susie and son Zane.
Location:
The Dallas MWASW group meets the first Saturday of each month at Texas Land & Cattle, 812 South Central Expressway, Richardson, TX 75080. Meeting time is 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. There is a $5.00 door fee, cash only. All who attend are invited to remain for lunch. Contact info: james@gaskin.com
Member Internet Press Guild
Portfolio
Review: "Between the Living and the Dead: A Dan Rhodes Mystery" by Bill Crider
Clearview, Texas, in Blacklin County
has a little bit of everything. Feral hogs, a Wal-Mart, and, of course, the
occasional murder or death by misadventure. It may even be the home of a
haunted house if you listen to some folks. Not that Sheriff Dan Rhodes puts
much stock in ghost stories, haunted houses, or anything paranormal.
He does put stock in reports of
gunfire. Called out late one night to the supposedly haunted house over a
report of flashing lights and gun shots, the Sheriff is relived to find no sign
of Seepy Benton and his new enterprise known as Clearview Paranormal
Investigations. With Officer Rudy Grady as his backup and a summer storm
rolling in Sheriff Rhodes would like to believe somebody took the weather for a
sign of something nefarious. Unfortunately, that is not what happened as they
find the body of Neil Foshee.
The drug business exists everywhere
and it certainly does in East Texas. Meth dealer Neil Foshee was well known in
these parts for his criminal exploits as are his surviving cousins Earl and
Louie. Nearly as bad as their departed cousin, Neil, Earl and Louie are not
very bright and are not fine upstanding citizens. That makes them immediate
suspects though Sheriff Rhodes, who has given up drinking Dr. Pepper, knows
there are others. A possible suspect is
Neil’s former girlfriend, Vicki, who these days seems to have turned her life
around and may have the romantic eye of her boss over at the local auto parts
store. There are others in a case that has no easy answers and very few clues. Solving
the crime isn’t easy and with Seepy Barton constantly going on about ghosts and
claiming to be helping out things don’t get any easier. A runaway bull and a
couple of other problems don’t help matters, but that is life in Blacklin County.
The latest in a long series is
another solidly good read that includes Ivy, Hank, Lawton, Jennifer Loam and a
host of other regulars. It takes Rhodes some time to assemble the mystery
pieces in Between the Living and the Dead: A Dan Rhodes Mystery and that mystery
journey sprinkled lightly with humor is once again what makes this series so
much fun. Scheduled to be released August 11, 2015 from Minotaur Books, the
read is another good one in a long line of good ones.
Between the Living and the Dead: A Dan Rhodes Mystery
Bill Crider
A Thomas Dunne Book (Minotaur Books)
August 11, 2015
ISBN #978-1-250-0397-05
Hardback (also available in e-book
form)
272 Pages
$25.99
ARC was provided by the author in
exchange for an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Hardware
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Hardware: Someone recently recommended Lost Soul to me, the recent documentary about writer/director Richard Stanley and his journey making 1996&#...
Mystery Fanfare: The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion: Review...
Mystery Fanfare: The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion: Review...: Beahm, George. The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion (St Martin’s Minotaur, 2002) Reviewed by Jane Mattisson Ekstam George Beahm ...
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: The New Electra Woman and Dyna Girl
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: The New Electra Woman and Dyna Girl: If you listened to The GAR! Podcast 's interview with Bryan J.L. Glass at this year's Camden Comic Con , you know how big a fan ...
HISTORY’S RICH WITH MYSTERIES with Earl Staggs --- Albert DeSalvo – Was He Really The Boston Strangler?
Please welcome
back award winning Texas author Earl Staggs with his latest installment of his
History’s Rich With Mysteries series. This installment he considers the
question of whether Albert DeSalvo was The Boston Strangler?
When I look at the past, I find stories
about people which fascinate me, particularly those in which there is a curious
mixture of fact, legend, and mysterious uncertainty. In this series of articles, I want to explore
some of those stories. I think of them
as mysteries swaddled in legend. While
truth is always desired in most things, truth easily becomes staid and boring.
Legend, on the other hand, forever holds a hint of romanticism and an aura of
excitement borne of adventure, imagination and, of course, mystery.
HISTORY’S RICH WITH MYSTERIES
Albert DeSalvo –
Was He Really The Boston Strangler?
The
answer to that question is: realistically - probably not; technically -
definitely not since he was never charged, tried, or convicted for The Boston
Strangler killings.
Albert Henry DeSalvo, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on
September 3, 1931, tortured animals as a child and was arrested at the age of
12 for battery and robbery. After a stint in a school for boys, he worked as a
delivery boy but was soon returned to the same school for auto theft. Upon release this time, he joined the Army and
served in an Armored Cavalry Regiment. After an honorable discharge, he
returned to civilian life in the Boston area.
Between June 1962 and January 1964, thirteen women between
19 and 85 were murdered in and around Boston, most of them also sexually
assaulted. Due to the wide gaps in the victims’ ages and other variant details
of each case, the police were not convinced they were the work of a single
individual. The public and the media, however, chose to believe they were all
committed by one man. He was called The Mad Strangler of Boston, The Phantom
Fiend, The Phantom Strangler and other names, but eventually became known as
The Boston Strangler.
In October 1964, ten months after the last reported
Strangler killing, Albert DeSalvo, now married with two children, gained entry
to a woman's home by posing as a detective, tied her to her bed, sexually
assaulted her, and then left. The woman's description led to his arrest, and
when his photo was published, a number of women came forth and identified him
as the man who had assaulted them.
DeSalvo was arrested and charged with a number of rapes. He
was NOT connected to the Strangler killings at that time. He was known to the
police as “The Measuring Man,” because he approached women posing as
a fashion model recruiter and fondled them under the pretense of taking their
measurements. He was also known as “The
Green Man,” because he dressed in green when he reputedly committed more than
300 sexual assaults over a two-year period.
While he was in jail awaiting trial, however, he confessed
to being The Boston Strangler. F. Lee Bailey then became his lawyer and set up
interrogations and interviews. There was no physical evidence tying him to the
killings, but in his confession, DeSalvo gave some details of the murders which
had not been made public. Bailey wanted to present an insanity plea for DeSalvo
so he would be hospitalized rather than simply imprisoned. Bailey said,
"My goal was to see the Strangler wind up in a hospital, where doctors
could try to find out what made him kill.” He felt studying serial killers
might provide a means of identifying and deterring other mass murderers.
The judge, however, would not allow his Strangler confession
or the insanity plea. Instead, DeSalvo was tried and convicted of being a
serial rapist and sentenced to life in prison. He was never charged with The
Boston Strangler killings.
So why was his
confession not accepted and why was he not charged with being the Strangler?
From the very beginning of the
murders, some investigators found it hard to believe one man committed all the
killings attributed to the Strangler. The victims were from different age and
ethnic groups, and the MO varied from one to the other. While most of the
victims were strangled with articles of their own clothing, one died of
a heart attack and two others were stabbed to death, one of whom was also badly
beaten.Two expert examiners felt DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler. One called him "a very clever, very smooth compulsive confessor who desperately needs to be recognized." A former FBI profiler said, "You're putting together so many different patterns, that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual." Author Susan Kelly argued that the stranglings were the work of several killers rather than one single man. Adding more doubt was the fact that while DeSalvo was right about some details of the Strangler killings, some of what he said didn’t match the facts.
A fellow inmate claimed he overheard another convict coaching DeSalvo about the murders. The inmate who coached him may have been George Nassar, who was in prison for an unrelated murder. Many who have investigated the case in great detail now feel Nassar may have actually been the real Boston Strangler. In fact, the only survivor of the Strangler attacks insisted that Nassar was her attacker, not DeSalvo.
Why would
Nassar coach DeSalvo? One theory holds that the two inmates formed a plan
between them. Nassar would report that DeSalvo was The Boston Strangler,
DeSalvo would confess, and Nassar would collect a reward which he would share
with DeSalvo’s wife and children. In this theory, DeSalvo would be providing
some financial support for his family in addition to having the everlasting
notoriety he craved. Since he was already sentenced to life in prison, he had
nothing to lose.
In 1973, Albert DeSalvo recanted his confession to being the
Boston Strangler while serving time at a maximum security prison known as
Walpole. Shortly after that, he was stabbed to death in the prison infirmary. He
may have been killed because he was selling drugs at a lower price that his
competition in the prison, or it may have been to keep him from revealing the
true identity of The Boston Strangler. Another convict was tried for the
murder, but the trial ended in a hung jury. No one else has been charged, and
DeSalvo’s murder remains unsolved.
The final
chapter in the Strangler story involves DNA evidence. The only DNA sample from any of the Strangler
killings was seminal fluid found near the body of his last known victim,
19-year-old Mary Sullivan. She was sexually
assaulted and strangled with nylon stockings on January 4, 1964. DeSalvo's
remains were exhumed in July 2013, nearly fifty years after the crime, to
obtain a sample of his DNA. Test results
proved that Albert Henry DeSalvo was the source of that fluid and, therefore, he
killed her.
While we can say with reasonable certainty that DeSalvo
killed one of the victims attributed to the Strangler, there are serious doubts
as to his involvement with the others. Perhaps George Nassar was really The
Boston Strangler, or perhaps Nassar was only one of several who committed the
crimes.
So we’re left with a number of unknowns, unsolveds, and
unanswereds. Putting it all together, we have to grant The Boston Strangler a
solid position in the All-Time Mystery Hall of Infamy.
Earl
Staggs ©2015
Earl
Staggs earned a long list of Five Star reviews for his novels MEMORY
OF A MURDER and JUSTIFIED ACTION and has twice
received a Derringer Award for Best Short Story of the Year. He served as
Managing Editor of Futures Mystery Magazine, as President of the Short Mystery
Fiction Society, and is a frequent speaker at conferences
and seminars.
Email: earlstaggs@sbcglobal.net
Website: http://earlwstaggs.wordpress.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Sandi Is Home--Chemo Round Three Completed
Sandi is home and has finished the third round of chemo for the new stuff that seems to be working based on the Pet Scan of last week. She is tired, but otherwise seems to be doing okay.
We see the doc Thursday morning for a visit, blood work and probably the white blood cell booster shot.
We see the doc Thursday morning for a visit, blood work and probably the white blood cell booster shot.
Review: "Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales" by Garnett Elliott
Scorched Noir: A Collection Of
Southwestern Crime Tales
features eight previously published tales by Yuma, Arizona native Garnett
Elliott. That harsh desert landscape with limited opportunities is the setting
for these tales. These short stories are set in Yuma, Arizona or towns like it contain
a couple of consistent themes that become clear as one reads through the book.
It opens with “Trailer de Fuegeo.”
Corrections Officers need somewhere to go to blow off some steam after work.
They tend to go out to a certain spot in the nearby desert to drink, smoke, and
trade stories. One guard stands out in the battle to keep the inmates in line.
His name is Tench and he has done fifteen years of guard duty in a lot of bad
places from Texas to Arizona. He has always done what needed to be done and
tonight will be no exception.
“Somerton Sangre” features a man
named Jesus Vega. Known to do some questionable things when necessary, Mrs.
Sandoval wants him to find out who killed her brother. Her brother was killed
and dismembered just after he illegally crossed the border. While the way he
was killed would indicate drug runners, his sister is sure he was not into
that. She has the money to pay for Vega
to look into things and find out who killed him. To do that Vega is going to have
to cross into Mexico and try to find the people who transported her brother
across.
Jesus Vega is also very much
involved in the next story titled “Jesus Contra las Brujas Plasticas” or “Jesus
Versus the Plastic Witches. “ While working for a witch lady, Dona Cruz, he is
assigned the task of checking out a new and nearby competitor. He needs the
money and is used to doing dirty deed for her. Not because of her supposed
powers, but the fact that he needs the money she is willing to spend. He does
not fear the alleged power of those who claim to see the future, cast spells,
and the like. Maybe he should.
The landscape and everything on and
in it cooks under the summer sun in Arizona. That certainly is true of those
storage places scattered around the area. It was brutally hot when Motorcycle
Officer Ray Satoshi and Robert Opp wheeled into a storage lot run by Joe
Pender. They are looking for a guy who shot and killed a bouncer at the nearby
gentleman’s club before getting away with forty three grand.
People are going out into the desert
to commit suicide at a certain rock landmark .Why they are doing that and
whether they can be stopped are just two of the issues Shari faces in “Bad Night
at Burning Rock.”
In “Snowflake” he has been waiting
for the stripper to show up for food at the IHOP when she got off work down the
street. Dwayne knows by the way she dances just how class Lisa is. He also
figures he can do something to help her career as he is a social media
specialist.
“The Greatest Generation” are the
targets of Vonda and her partner. They pose as home health care workers and
steal everything they can to fund their travel and drugs. They figure it is
their right because the seniors took everything with no though to the future. With
their next score in sight it is time for Vonda and her partner to to clean up
as fast as they can and do what needs to be done to claim their latest prize.
The three women, all with the first
name of Debbie, work the ER at the local hospital. “The Darkest of the Debbies”
works the job to do what has to be done to keep home together. Way easier said
than done.
The eight short stories of Scorched
Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales feature complicated reads
of multifaceted characters often doing what has to be done to survive. Nothing
is right or wrong when one is doing what has to be done to survive. Drugs and
crime, like the sun and the desert, are always present in these tales of people
coping with what they have and what they can do each day. Scorched Noir: A Collection Of
Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnett Elliott may not make you feel
better about yourself, but it might make you feel more appreciative of your
working air conditioning as well as some of the life choices you had to make
along the way.
Scorched Noir: A Collection Of
Southwestern Crime Tales
Garnett Elliott
Beat To A Pulp Press
June 2015
ASIN:
B00ZNZP7FA
E-Book
90
Pages
$1.99
Material
supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
I have Done 2---97 To Go (Amazon Associates Ad Unit Migration - Final Notification)
Hello,
Effective August 1, 2015, any remaining legacy product links, ads and widgets will be replaced with a public service announcement banner that will no longer send referring traffic to Amazon.
For those of you currently working to replace your legacy units, we appreciate your continued focus on addressing this issue. As previously communicated, we have been making changes to our technology platform that require you to replace some of the older product links, banners, and widgets currently hosted on your website.
Take Action Now
Visit Associates Central to access your dashboard, which identifies the impacted ad units that still need to be replaced. https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/link-migration/dashboard.html/
Starting September 1, 2015, these legacy advertising units will no longer render, thereby either creating a broken link or the ad unit not appearing on your website.
Please use the following link to obtain more information and view the FAQs: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t401
Should you have additional questions, visit the following page to contact Customer Service: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/contact
The Amazon Associates Team
Effective August 1, 2015, any remaining legacy product links, ads and widgets will be replaced with a public service announcement banner that will no longer send referring traffic to Amazon.
For those of you currently working to replace your legacy units, we appreciate your continued focus on addressing this issue. As previously communicated, we have been making changes to our technology platform that require you to replace some of the older product links, banners, and widgets currently hosted on your website.
Take Action Now
Visit Associates Central to access your dashboard, which identifies the impacted ad units that still need to be replaced. https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/link-migration/dashboard.html/
Starting September 1, 2015, these legacy advertising units will no longer render, thereby either creating a broken link or the ad unit not appearing on your website.
Please use the following link to obtain more information and view the FAQs: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/help/t401
Should you have additional questions, visit the following page to contact Customer Service: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/contact
The Amazon Associates Team
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: The Sinister Shadow -- Will Murray
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: The Sinister Shadow -- Will Murray: As I mentioned last Friday, I prepared myself for reading The Sinister Shadow by first giving myself a refresher course in the history of T...
She walked into my office....
wearing a trench coat and no smile. She said her name was "Brenda" with a "B" as if there was any other way to spell it. She laid out the problem succinctly and came across with a bit of an attitude as she did it. Maybe that was my hangover talking. It was a Monday after all....
Mystery Fanfare: New Sherlock Holmes stories to raise money to rest...
Mystery Fanfare: New Sherlock Holmes stories to raise money to rest...: 60 authors will contribute to the anthology and all royalties will go towards renovating Undershaw, the former home of Sherlock Holmes a...
Monday With Kaye: "Allison Hewitt is Trapped” by Madeleine Roux (Reviewed by Kaye George)
I am beginning to think Kaye
George has a secret zombie addiction that she does not talk about. Her column
this week is on another book that has zombies in it. Today she reviews Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine
Roux. If you are like me and not in to zombies, or even if you are, scroll back
in time on the blog and check out the numerous other posts making up the “Monday
With Kaye” segments. Between her posts and FFB each week one could come up with
quite the reading list.
“Allison Hewitt is Trapped” by Madeleine Roux
In this novel,
written as a blog complete with comments, we join a huddled mass, mid-
zombie-apocalypse, hiding out in the employee break room of a book store. We
never find out where the book store is located, but this reader's best guess
would be Wisconsin or Minnesota, perhaps Illinois or Indiana. This reluctance
to locate the first part of the story is puzzling, since the other bloggers
give their locations and the last part of the book takes place in very specific
places.
That was about the only problem I
had with the novel, though. The blog device is well used and the book is
liberally sprinkled with humor. A military wifi called sNet has survived The
Outbreak, even though military personnel seem not to have, and, across the
globe, whenever laptop owners can get recharged, they hang onto this tenuous
thread to keep up each others' spirits.
Allison Hewitt, book lover and
employee of Brooks & Peabody book store, is the blogger who keeps them all
together. She also assumes leadership of the other employees when the manager
holes up in his adjacent office. The others, at the start, are two assistant
managers, Janette and Matt, and two customers, Holly and Ted, who have a
relationship that earns them the nickname Hollianted. The closed circuit
cameras, that keep running on emergency power unlike the heat (it's late
September and getting cold out), enable the band to keep track of where the
zombies are and to make forays for vending machine junk food and diet sodas. Allison,
back at the first invasion, remembered the ax from the glass fire alarm case and this
weapon serves her well as she battles the two types of zombies, Floaters and
Groaners.
The group eventually has to leave
the bookstore and make their way cross-country on a quest for a place they can
settle in relative safety. Some of the original band don't survive, but they
pick up others, becoming a fluid group hacking their way through zombies,
splattered with zombie juice, and ever in danger of infection.
This manuscript, consisting of the
blog entries, is submitted in 2018, one hundred years later, for inclusion in a
volume commemorating the event. The book begins with the query letter, followed
by the blogs. The ending is excellent!
Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of A Patchwork of Stories
for Suspense
Magazine
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR KAY KENDALL
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR KAY KENDALL: Kay Kendall writes mystery/female amateur sleuth novels and books set in the 1960’s. Learn more about her and her books at her Austin Sta...
A Sandi Update
She was in good spirits when we saw her earlier today. This despite some of the issues that have been going including the fact that they had to stop chemo for a day while they gave her a blood transfusion. Her anemia worsened Friday night so much of yesterday was spent with her sleeping while units of blood dripped into her.
At this hour they are giving her premeds which will also put her to sleep so that they can give her more chemo. The drug they will be putting into her takes 12 hours to drip in so it takes awhile. Then there is a multi hour gap while they wait for her to stabilize and then it is on to the next drug.
At this point the revised schedule indicates she will come home sometime Wednesday.
At this hour they are giving her premeds which will also put her to sleep so that they can give her more chemo. The drug they will be putting into her takes 12 hours to drip in so it takes awhile. Then there is a multi hour gap while they wait for her to stabilize and then it is on to the next drug.
At this point the revised schedule indicates she will come home sometime Wednesday.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
The Education of a Pulp Writer: Washburn, Mims, and Foley
The Education of a Pulp Writer: Washburn, Mims, and Foley: I'm at Macmillan's Criminal Element with Women Authors Leading the Western Charge .
KRL This Week Update
Up this morning in KRL a review & giveaway of "Scents
and Sensibility" by Spencer Quinn http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/scents-and-sensibility-by-spencer-quinn/
Also up, the latest mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny
Frazier along with giveaways from Janet Cantrell, James Callahan, and Kristin
Elise http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/coming-attractions-busy-august-edition/
And a review & giveaway of "Rainy Day Women"
by Kay Kendall http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/rainy-day-women-by-kay-kendall/
We also have a review & giveaway of "Dead Rapunzel"
by Victoria Houston http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/dead-rapunzel-by-victoria-houston/
And a never before published mystery short story by Barry
Wiley http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/kind-of-blue-a-mystery-short-story/
We also have a fun article about the British mystery TV show
"Vera," based on the books by Ann Cleeves http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/vera-stanhope-detective-loner-winner/
And a review & giveaway of "The Bomb Maker's Son"
by Robert Rotstein http://kingsriverlife.com/07/24/the-bomb-makers-son-by-robert-rotstein/
And for those who also enjoy fantasy, a review &
giveaway of "Spider's Trap" by Jennifer Estep, and an extra giveaway
for being a part of her blog tour http://kingsriverlife.com/07/25/spiders-trap-by-jennifer-estep/
--
KRL is now selling advertising & we have special discounts for
mystery authors & bookstores! Ask me about it!
Mystery section in Kings River Life http://KingsRiverLife.com
Check out my own blog at http://mysteryratscloset.blogspot.com/
mystery authors & bookstores! Ask me about it!
Mystery section in Kings River Life http://KingsRiverLife.com
Friday, July 24, 2015
The Chemo IS WORKING!!!!!!
Finally home so I can post the news.....the results of the Pet Scan are that the chemo IS WORKING!!!!! Sandi still has a long way to go to get to any possibility of remission on a temporary basis, but this Pet Scan showed that there has been "marked improvement."
So, because of that and the fact her blood numbers were just good enough, they started chemo at Texas Oncology before sending her over to the main hospital. Admission there took four hours plus before they finally got a room for her. She is now admitted and they should be starting the second chemo drug late tonight.
She probably won't get out again until sometime late Monday.
So, because of that and the fact her blood numbers were just good enough, they started chemo at Texas Oncology before sending her over to the main hospital. Admission there took four hours plus before they finally got a room for her. She is now admitted and they should be starting the second chemo drug late tonight.
She probably won't get out again until sometime late Monday.
FFB Review: "Fallen From Grace" by J. R. Lindermuth
Another
Friday is upon us with all that entails… good and bad. Today’s selection, Fallen From Grace, by J. R. Lindermuth
is a complex mystery that has a western
feel to it despite being set in Pennsylvania. It is also a mighty good read.
For more reading suggestions, head over to Patti Abbott’s blog where she will have the reading
list later today.
It is deep in the night October 5,
1897 when Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman is awoken by someone throwing small rocks
at his bedroom window. Doctor Mariner has sent a young boy, Simon Hinkle, over
to wake the sheriff. The good doctor
sent for the sheriff because he is treating a man that has been stabbed. Local
resident Ollie Cramer found the man stabbed out on the road by the new bridge
on the south side of town. A man that the doctor and almost no one else in the
small town of Arahpot, Pennsylvania, seems to know.
Not only does the sheriff know the
name the man of the man, he had seen him earlier with Valentine Deibert. Both
men seemed to know each other and had words with Valentine Deibert looking
absolutely terrified at the end of their meeting. When Sheriff Tilghman asked
him about it, Valentine Deibert totally denied everything and claimed to not
know the man.
The same thing the man had claimed
when Sheriff Tilghman tracked him down at Buchner’s livery. The man told the
sheriff he didn’t know Valentine Deibert and was just passing through
town. Sheriff Tilghman didn’t believe
him then, but couldn’t really do anything about it. Now that the man, who called himself Conrad
Runkle, is a victim of a criminal assault Sheriff Tilghman can investigate and
ask questions. Since Mr. Runkle can’t answer any questions as he lost a lot of
a blood and is unconscious, Sheriff Tilghman will start with Valentine Deibert
and his family.
While Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman has
lots of questions, he receives very few answers in this complex mystery. His
situation with the Runkle case is almost as confusing and complicated as is the
target of his romantic intentions, Lydia.
A story willed woman who seems to welcome his romantic interest,
frequently has him over to meals and clearly enjoys his company, but for
unknown reasons of her own continues to turn down his marriage proposals. A
mystery of its own that has confounded the good sheriff for some time. One that
will have to take a backseat to solving what happened to Conrad Runkle.
This is an engrossing and complex
mystery that quickly pulls readers into the world of Sheriff Tilghman. A world
populated by fully developed characters in all walks of life that give rise to
side stories and details. A world that is slowly changing before readers eyes
as these are the waning days of the telegraph, gas lights, etc. A world that is
full of history and mystery as well as the occasional funny moment.
Fallen From Grace by R. R. Lindermuth is a complex mystery full of twists and
turns. Authentic to its time, the read
from start to finish has a deeply western frontier type feel to it though the
setting is Pennsylvania. The result is a very good read and one that works on all
levels.
FALLEN FROM GRACE
J. R. Lindermuth
Wild Oak Westerns (Oak Tree Press)
March 2011
ISBN# 978-1-61009-011-7
Paperback (also available as e-book)
174 Pages
$12.95
Material supplied by the author in
exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2012, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!: With Sharknado , the third time is the charm, and by now, let's face it, The Asylum is just having fun. After protecting Los Angeles...
In Honor Of Bill Crider
The below is something that belongs on Bill's blog. But, Bill testified earlier today that he is on the way to Armadillocon up in Amarillo (hopefully he will be there by morning) for the weekend so I post this below on his behalf.
Turtle Time
It is that time of year when the turtles climb up the slope from the creek far below......
to the flat surface at the base of our back stairs. They do this under the cover of darkness. Once there on the small flat spot at the bottom of the stairs they begin to dig. It takes hours for the turtle to dig a hole deep enough to lay eggs. Usually the sun is up long before they finish the process so when we are out early on the porch we can watch them hard at work.
Eventually the turtle will finish and slowly work its way back down to the water. That journey back is often made with a sense of urgency because of the small children that are not supervised or the fact the turtle has been out of the water quite some time and needs to get back.
Fun to watch at a distance as well as proof that life goes on no matter the circumstances of each day. Watching life in and on the creek as nature does its thing each day has brought both Sandi and I some brief respites here and there as things relentlessly roll along.
to the flat surface at the base of our back stairs. They do this under the cover of darkness. Once there on the small flat spot at the bottom of the stairs they begin to dig. It takes hours for the turtle to dig a hole deep enough to lay eggs. Usually the sun is up long before they finish the process so when we are out early on the porch we can watch them hard at work.
Fun to watch at a distance as well as proof that life goes on no matter the circumstances of each day. Watching life in and on the creek as nature does its thing each day has brought both Sandi and I some brief respites here and there as things relentlessly roll along.
Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and The Wild West: DOC SAVAGE meets THE SHADOW: "The Sinister Shadow"...
Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and The Wild West: DOC SAVAGE meets THE SHADOW: "The Sinister Shadow"...: I am in awe of this book. Pulp fans like me have been dreaming about a Doc/Shadow encounter for decades, and The Sinister Shadow ...
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
PET Scan Finally Completed
Always a long process, the PET Scan took far longer to do today than previous ones. We don't know why. At least it is now done.
We wait for Friday and hopefully results that indicate the chemo is working.
We wait for Friday and hopefully results that indicate the chemo is working.
Smashwords: How to Publish Ebooks - An Ebook Publishing Intens...
Smashwords: How to Publish Ebooks - An Ebook Publishing Intens...: Last week I presented a series of four 90-minute workshops at the Pacific Northwest Writers conference in Seattle. The workshops were pr...
Mark Troy and the Female Private Detective: Violet McDade and Nevada Alvarado, 1935-1938
Texas author Mark Troy is back
today with his ongoing series on the female private detective. In this case,
two female private detectives active in the thirties...
Violet McDade and
Nevada Alvarado, 1935-1938
Before
Rizzoli and Isles, before Cagney and Lacey, were McDade and Alvarado. Violet
McDade and Nevada Alvarado were a pair of private investigators, partners in
the McDade and Alvarado Agency. A greater mismatch of partners you have never
seen. Violet was a former circus fat lady, weighing between 300 and 400 pounds.
Nevada was a slim, dark-haired beauty who served as her partner's Watson,
chronicling Violet's accomplishments in fourteen stories in Clues, Detective Stories beginning in
1935.
Cleve
Adams who went on to give us Rex McBride, John J. Shannon, and Bill Rye, all
popular hard-boiled heroes in the 1940s, penned the stories. Violet and Nevada
were his first pulp series characters. The stories have the hard-boiled
elements that characterized his later works.
Both
Violet and Nevada are hard drinking, gun-toting women. Violet carries a pair of
.45s in her voluminous sleeves and Nevada carries a .32 in a holster above her
knee. The solutions to their cases are brought about as much by chases and
fighting as deduction. Here, though, their styles differ. Where Nevada will
open doors with a smile, Violet will knock them open with her fist. Men fare no
better. When Violet hits a man, he stays hit. Here is Nevada describing one
such encounter: "Violet hit him. Not hard, just a backhanded sweep across
the room."
Violet
is at least as tough as any of her adversaries, but more cunning and morally
flexible. She's not at all shy about using her guns or fists or anything handy
to get information out of the bad guys. Nevada is no slouch either in the
action department. She drives fast (though Violet drives faster) and brings her
gun into play as quickly as her partner.
The
relationship between Violet and Nevada has been called by Ron Goulart (The
Dime Detectives, 1988) as "teasing racism." Violet often
calls Nevada "Mex." Nevada, for her part, is capable of giving back.
She sometimes describes her partner to the reader as "elephant." At
one point, she responds directly to Violet. "You—you lout! My family dates
back beyond the conquistadors and the Spanish grants. Where did you come from?
A circus tent!"
Nevertheless,
the two have a fondness for each other. When they are both at the mercy of some
bad guys who are about to torture them to find out what they know, Violet asks
for one favor, that they don't work on her partner. "Let him play with me
if he's just gotta play, but rub her out kinda easy will you?" To which
Nevada says, "Save your breath. If you can take it, I can." Needless
to say, the torture doesn't happen and the duo make their escape by busting
their way out of a burning building and stealing the fire chief's car.
Adams
was a prominent figure among California writers, counting as friends Raymond
Chandler and Earl Stanley Gardner. He organized a group of about twenty young
writers calling themselves The Fictioneers and served as a mentor until the
group broke up with the advent of World War II.
A few
McDade/Alvarado stories can be found with some diligent searching. You can read
one here: http://davycrockettsalmanack.blogspot.com/2014/07/forgotten-femme-fatales-cleve-f-adams.html.
You can also find one reprinted in Hard-boiled dames, edited by Bernard A. Drew, St.
Martin's, 1986. The series ended in 1938, a year before Earl Stanley Gardner
introduced Bertha Cool, who was likely influenced by Violet McDade.
Writers
in the central Texas area might be interested in a workshop on "Women and
Crime", Saturday, September 5, in College Station, Texas. More information
here: http://www.meetup.com/Brazos-Writers-of-Bryan-College-Station/events/223360417/
Mark Troy ©2015
Mark Troy is the author of The
Splintered Paddle, The Rules,
Pilikia Is My Business and Game Face. His website is at http://marktroymysterywriter.com
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Why George Coe Was Cool
WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Why George Coe Was Cool: Actor and comedian George Coe passed away yesterday. He was an Academy Award nominee, a veteran of stage and screen, the voice of Woodho...
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Vixen -- Bill Pronzini
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Vixen -- Bill Pronzini: Vixen is billed (no pun intended) as a "Nameless Detective Novel," but we fans of the series know that Nameless has had a name ev...
Sandi Update Today
Blood work showed a very slight increase in various things. Just high enough that they are not doing any blood transfusions or doing anything about her kidney function. She remains very weak and easily tired so they have adjusted a couple of drugs to hopefully help her heart rate. Juggling her body chemistry to keep things as stable as possible seems to be an ever more difficult job.
Tomorrow she now has a PET Scan.
They hope to have the results back in time on Friday to start the next round of chemo.
Tomorrow she now has a PET Scan.
They hope to have the results back in time on Friday to start the next round of chemo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
