Thursday Treats: 7/30/2026

Some reading opportunities of interest this week.

 

SMFS list member Armand Rosamilia announced that his flash fiction short story, Coffee And A Glazed Donut, was published online at The Yard: Crime Blog. You can read it for free here.

 

SMFS list member Chuck Brownman announced that his short story, Rendering the Truth, was released as Episode 13 of Season 9 of the Mysteries to Die For podcast anthology series. You can listen for free at https://m2d4podcast.com/. As is done at the close of the season each year, a book will be generated of all the episodes and available at a variety of vendors.

 

Black Cat Weekly #256 is out and includes short stories by SMFS list member Michael Bracken (Satan’s Wings) and others. You can pick up the latest issue here. 

 

SMFS list member James W. Ziskin  latest novel, The Prank, is now out. “Set in Christmas 1968, a thirteen-year-old sociopath befriends his teacher, unaware she loved the man his prank accidentally killed.” Published by Level Best-Historia, the read is available in both digital and print formats at Amazon and other vendors.

 

Also now out is the new anthology, What the World Needs Now: Mystery Stories Inspired by the Music of Burt Bacharach. SMFS list members Joseph Goodrich (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) and Josh Pachter (Me Japanese Boy) are included in the charity anthology edited by Martin Edwards. Funds raised are for autism charities in the US and UK. It is available at Amazon.

 

 

Speaking of musical themed anthologies, In Too Deep: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Genesis, is once again released into the world. Edited by Adam Meyer, the new publisher is Audecyn Books. The read contains short stories by Kathleen Barber, Eric Beetner, Michael Bracken, Austin Camacho, Barb Goffman, Debra H. Goldstein, James A. Hearn, Smita Harish Jain, Hugh Lessig, Adam Meyer, Tom Milani, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter, Rob D. Smith, Joseph S. Walker. You can get it at Amazon or other vendors.

A reminder that by this time next week, another anthology will be out. Edited by SMFS list members, Editors Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead, All the Crime in the World: Locked Room Mysteries and Impossible Puzzles. According to the synopsis, the anthology will feature 14 short stories by “Victor Bonini, James Scott Byrnside, Shelly Dickson Carr, S.A. Cosby, Anne van Doorn, Martin Edwards, Sulari Gentill, Paul Halter, Christopher Huang, Vaseem Khan, Josh Pachter, Masaya Yamaguchi, Ovidia Yu, and a brand-new collaboration from the editors.” It is currently available for preorder at the publisher, Crippen and Landru.

 

As Gigi Pandian posted to the SMFS list recently and I quote: “We've got several SMFS members in the anthology. Josh mentioned his story, "The Allegory of the Five Senses," which is terrific. Tom Mead and I wrote "The Problem of the Poison Garden" as a nod to our favorite author, John Dickson Carr. I had no idea co-writing could be such fun!”

 

  

Until next time…. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Thursday Treats: 7/23/2026

Some reading opportunities of interest this week.

 

SMFS list member Mia Dalia announced that her short story, B Minor, was published online at The Sunlight Press. You can read it for free here.

 

SMFS list member James Patrick Focarile announced that his short story, What Whiskey Won’t Cure, was published online at The Saturday Evening Post. You can read it for free here.

 

Black Cat Weekly #255 is out and includes short stories by SMFS list members N. M.  Cedeño (Mirror Life Meltdown), Stacy Woodson (She Loves You), and others. You can pick up the latest issue here. 

 

SMFS list member James W. Ziskin announced that his latest novel, The Prank, comes out on the 28^th. “Set in Christmas 1968, a thirteen-year-old sociopath befriends his teacher, unaware she loved the man his prank accidentally killed.” Published by Level Best-Historia, the read is available in both digital and print formats at Amazon and other vendors.

 

As I told you earlier this month, Level Best—Level Short is scheduled to release on the 28^th the anthology, What the World Needs Now: Mystery Stories Inspired by the Music of Burt Bacharach. SMFS list members Joseph Goodrich (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) and Josh Pachter (Me Japanese Boy) are included in the charity anthology edited by Martin Edwards. Funds raised are for autism charities in the US and UK. The digital version is up for preorder at Amazon.

 

Coming early next month. and edited by SMFS list members, Editors Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead, All the Crime in the World: Locked Room Mysteries and Impossible Puzzles. According to the synopsis, the anthology will feature 14 short stories by Victor Bonini, James Scott Byrnside, Shelly Dickson Carr, S.A. Cosby, Anne van Doorn, Martin Edwards, Sulari Gentill, Paul Halter, Christopher Huang, Vaseem Khan, Josh Pachter (The Allegory of the Five Senses), Masaya Yamaguchi, Ovidia Yu, and a brand-new collaboration from the editors. It is currently available for preorder at the publisher, Crippen and Landru.

 

And, finally, for something completely different, the fantasy novel, Immortalized Memories of the Omniverse: Rise of the Draconic Hero, by Alex Rosen  is now out. Epic Fantasy and more are present in this read. I am reading more than one book right now, always a dangerous practice on my part, and this is one of them. I am not one for fantasy these days, but I am enjoying it. Sent to me by the publisher, you can get it at Amazon or many other vendors.

 

 

Until next time…. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Thursday Treats: 7/16/2026

Some reading opportunities of interest this week.

 

I am leading off with this publishing news as I am in the new issue this week. Black Cat Weekly #254 is out and includes my crime fiction short story, A Plan Comes Together. Also in the issue are frequent guests here, Tom Milani (Andrea Gutiérrez) and Paula Messina (A Little Help). You can pick up the latest issue here. 

 

 

Also now out is the latest issue of Kings River Life Mystery Magazine. In addition to the book giveaways, reviews, and other pieces, Leslie Budewitz announced that publication of her short story, Pepper Reece and the Ghost of Arthur Goodwin: A Spice Shop Short Mystery. You can read it for free here.

 

Janet Rudloph announced that the latest volume of the Mystery Reader’s Journal was now out. Mystery Readers Journal: Mysteries Set in France (Volume 42:2) is available here. By the way, if you are not already paying attention to her great Mystery Fanfare blog, you should be. I watch a lot of British, and elsewhere, mystery television and I get most of my news on the programs via her blog.

 

 

Author James H. Lewis announced that his latest novel, The Boy in the Mirror, is now out. You can pick it up direct from the author here, or through several vendors including Amazon.

 

 

Author Allen Wyler announced that his latest novel, Deadly Odds 9.0 was out. Published by Stairway Press, the latest in a long line of techno-thrillers is available at Amazon and other vendors. Aubrey reviews it Monday here on the blog. 

 

 

SMFS Derringer Coordinator Mark Schuster sent word that John Joseph Adams has curated the Magic & Mystery collection scheduled to be released on July 28^th. These are seven Amazon Original Tales on Kindle. Learn more at Amazon. 

 

 

Speaking of SMFS, recently re-elected President Joseph S. Walker posted his latest compilation of recent publishing news of the members. News of the various books and short stories can be found here.

 

By the way, Joseph’s post title reminded me of the great blog, Make Mine Mystery. While it is dormant now, you can still read the posts if you go to the Make Mine Mystery blog here.

 

The anthology, Bad Intentions: A Crime Fiction Anthology Based on the Music of Warren Zevon, has been released by Literary Garage. Edited by Michael K. Downing, the read features fifteen stories from authors, Chance Adorjan, Colin Brightwell, Jesse Binger, Geonn Cannon, Andrew Careaga, Dylan Demasi, Zakariah Johnson, Whiskey Leavins, Scott MacLeod, Bruce W. Most, Joel Nedecky, Nathan Pettigrew, Keith Roysdon, DJ Tuskmor, and Mike Zimmerman. Cover design by Frank Vatel. All proceeds go to benefit Philabundance, a Philadelphia-based charity working to end food insecurity. You can pick it up in print or digital formats at Amazon and other vendors.

 

 

Until next time…. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

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Guest Post: Bringing “Amanda Ross” to the Page by Tom Milani

 

Please welcome back author Tom Milani to the blog today as he shares the backstory of his short story, Amanda Ross, that appears today in the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly.

 

Bringing “Amanda Ross” to the Page

by Tom Milani

“Amanda Ross” had a difficult birth. Originally titled “The Missing Person” and part of a dual-timeline story, the Amanda Ross portion was the PI origin story for Erin Ferrigno, my protagonist. The other portion, which became “Riley Walker,” was about Erin’s first case as a PI. Too complicated by half, “The Missing Person” didn’t work.

I decided to separate the stories and submitted a revised version of the Amanda story to my writers group. The discussion was … lively and the ensuing criticism remarkably constructive. Several people with IT experience pointed out flaws in Erin’s approach to hacking into her client’s husband’s computer to access his day-trading account. Other people pointed out that Erin solved her client’s problem without facing any obstacles.

It was a lot to take in, and I put the story aside for a while to work on “Riley Walker,” a missing-persons case that, in many ways, was more straightforward to write. When I finally got back to “Amanda Ross,” I knew I needed to add some obstacles, and I needed to know more about day-trading. One of my neighbors has been day trading for years, and over dinner he filled me in on the personalities of day traders, the computer setups they used, and how margin accounts work. When our discussion strayed to powers of attorney, my neighbor, who’d been a lawyer in the military, explained the difference between a specific and a general power of attorney. That difference became an unexpected key to the story.

One final piece remained. After I pitched the story to Michael Bracken, he asked me to revise the ending, pointing out where it fell short. One small revision later, and it was done.

I hope you enjoy meeting Erin Ferrigno. Thanks to my writers group for their critiques, my neighbor for sharing his knowledge and expertise, and Michael Bracken for seeing a flaw I had missed.

“Amanda Ross” appears in Black Cat Weekly #226.

Tom Milani ©2025

Tom Milani’s (www.tommilani.com) short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies. “Barracuda Backfire,” his novella, Book 4 of Michael Bracken’s Chop Shop series, was nominated for a Derringer award. “Barstow,” which appeared in Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir vol. 5, was an “Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2024” selection for The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025. Places That Are Gone, his debut novel, was released on May 13, 2025.

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