Thursday, June 18, 2026

Thursday Treats: June 6/18/2026

 Some reading opportunities of interest this week….

 

Fellow SMFS list member Mike McHone announced last week that his short story, The Suicide Disease, was published online at Cold Caller. Mr. McHone stated that this is his 50th story published. Read the tale for free here. 


 Fellow SMFS list member Abe Margel announced that his short story, Redside Ride, was published online at Academy of the Heart and Mind. The story is free to read here.

 

Mr. Margel is also in the new issue of the online publication, Yellow Mama #116. Along with Abe Margel (Exit Through the Back Door) are SMFS list members Elizabeth Dearborn (Who Knew?), Joan Leotta (My Child's New Friends: Poem), J. R. Lindermuth (The Choice),  Joan Leotta (My Child's New Friends: Poem”), and Ed Teja (Clever is for Horses), among other works. As always, you can read the issue for free at the website.

 

Also now out is the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. SMFS list member Steve Liskow announced the publication of his short story, Pictures at an Execution, appears in Black Cat Weekly #250. His story is also the latest in a long line of SMFS list members being featured on the cover. You can pick up the latest issue here

 

Also now out is Thriller Magazine: June 2026. The latest issue features five crime fiction tales. Available at various vendors, you can also pick it up at Amazon. This magazine is also part of their Kindle Unlimited program. During the current ninety-day trial program, as an Amazon Prime member, you can read for free.

 

Speaking of the Kindle Unlimited program, while poking at the offerings, I discovered that the anthology, Streets of Your Town: PI Stories, is coming out on June 27th. Per the Amazon author listing, Frank Zafiro, Phillip Thompson, Meagan Lucas, Gary Phillips, Craig McDonald, Douglas Corleone, Chris Bauer, Jo Ayker, Mark Newman, and Sean O'Leary, all have stories in read. It will be part of the program at release or you can preorder it at Amazon now for $6.99.

 

By the way, and this is a pet peeve, when something claims to be freaking UNLIMITED, it really should mean UNLIMITED. The Kindle Unlimited program limits you to twenty titles at a time in your “library.” When you are sharing your deal with an adult son who is really into fantasy reads, you hit 20 titles very fast. You then discover that you are very limited at Kindle Unlimited.

 

Back in early April in a previous edition of this column, I told you that author Beau Johnson announced on Threads that his books, out of print due to the demise last year of the previous publisher, were coming back into print. Shotgun Honey released, A Better Kind of Hate: Stories, in both eBook and print format the day after that column ran. The Big Machine Eats: Stories, part of the Bishop Rider series, in both eBook and print formats is now available at the publisher and Amazon.

 

Rock and a Hard Place Press has announced they are publishing Curtis Ippolito’s new crime fiction read, Waves of Burden. Learn more at the publisher with vendor links to pick it up in either print or eBook formats, or go to Amazon for the eBook only. It releases on June 24rth. It is my current read via an ARC at the time I am writing this post. Look for the review here soon.

 

Speaking of upcoming reviews, months ago through NetGalley I was able to read and review the soon to be released anthology, Birds of Prey: New Crime Stories. Edited by Harlan Coben and C.J. Box, the book features eleven short stories. Published by The Mysterious Press, the book comes on  June 23rd in a variety of formats. I will have a publication day review of it here on the blog next week. The read is up on Amazon and other vendors to preorder as well.

 

By the way, if you like what we do here, please consider spreading the word of these posts. Also, if you can, please consider making a donation through the PayPal widget on the left side of the blog. I try not to talk about it, or beg, but the desperation is very real. The hits keep coming here and things are really bad.

 

Until next time….

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

6 comments:

Jerry House said...

Silly Kevin! You should not complain about Kindle Unlimited or even the great god Kindle itself. You know that Jeff Bezos needs the money.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

lol!!!!!

Nikita said...

Kevin, I appreciate these updates!

I actually had no idea that Kindle Unlimited was, in fact, limited.

Appreciate you pointing this out!

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you for reading and the support, Nikita. I have wondered whether it was worth continuing the feature.

I was very annoyed when I discovered that. Scott had grabbed a bunch of different books--graphic novels and such-- and so he had 18 or so. I went to get a couple and suddenly it was --you are limited to twenty titles--nonsense. I feel very limited. Quite annoyed as well. I don't blame Scott at all. I think they should put something in the signup deal when they tell you how the program works.

Jerry House said...

Again I have to say, silly Kevin. Of course they don't tell you how the program works because ...repeat with me...Jeff Bezos needs the money!

Kevin R. Tipple said...

lol