Name That Tune

Well hot-damn it raining anthologies. Following hard on the heels of the ADR from Full Dark City Press, will be a sexy little number from Daz & Craig at Near To The Knuckle.

If you’re familiar with the quality of writers they host on their site, then you won’t be surprised to hear they have some top talent lined up for the anthology.

The doors on this baby have just slammed shut and those that have made it inside are: Gareth Spark, Michael Monson, Aidan Thorn, Chris Leek, B.R. Stateham, Jim Spry, Walter Conley, David Barber, Tom Pitts, Allen Miles, Richard Godwin, Alan Griffiths, Brian Panowich, Ryan Sayles, Paul D. Brazill, Graham Smith, Veronica Marie Lewis Shaw, Vic Errington, Pete Sortwell.

 

Sound Good? Good. There’s also a chance for you to snag a copy for free, I’ll Let Daz tell you how.

We'd like to appeal for help in naming the anthology. We'll be heading it wit Near To The Knuckle Presents.... and then our chosen title. The person who suggests the winning title will receive a complimentary copy of the anthology. So, email me with the word TITLE as the subject. The email address is close2thebone@hotmail.com. We’ve tried our very best to remain true to the spirit of the site and I know that our regular readers will enjoy the anthology as much as they enjoy the site. Darren Sant - Editor

 

Click here to go to NTTK



All Due Respect - The Anthology

On February 1st Full Dark City Press will be publishing the first anthology from the gritty crime e-zine All Due Respect.

Some of the short stories that make up this book have been taken from the site while many others are being made available here for the very first time.  The line up includes some of the hottest names currently plying their trade in on the dark and dangerous streets of crime fiction.

The anthology will be available in both e-book and print editions; may I humbly suggest you snag yourself a copy as soon as possible.

Here’s the full roll call:

Joe 'Google me' Clifford, Tom Hoisington, Mike Toomey, Erin Cole, Stephen D. Rogers, Scotch Rutherford, Patricia Abbott, Nigel Bird, Andrez Bergen, Benedict J. Jones, Garnett Elliott, Alec Cizak, Christopher Grant, Gary Clifton, Jack Bates, Ryan'The Walnuts' Sayles, Tom 'Pedal to the Metal' Pitts, Pete Risley, CJ Edwards, Jim Wilsky, Chris Leek, Richard Godwin, Mark Joseph Kiewlak, Mike 'The Man' Monson, Tyler M. Mathis, Matthew C. Funk, Fiona Johnson, Ron T. Brown and David Cranmer.

Okay, so you noticed that I'm in it too, well don't let it put you off.

Full Dark City Press

All Due Respect
 

Roadkill Review: Miles To Little Ridge - Heath Lowrance

I'll make no secret of the fact that Heath Lowrence is one of my favorite authors. His horror - western series featuring the enigmatic righter of wrongs, Hawthorne is right up there for me. Having enjoyed those books so much I was keen to see how Heath would handle a more traditional western so I picked up Miles To Little Ridge on the Kindle to find out.

Miles to Little Ridge continues the story of US Marshall Gideon Miles, who first appeared in the Cash Laramie stories written by Edward Grainger.

The Marshal has arrived in the sleepy Montana town of Little Ridge to arrest a wanted fugitive and bring him back to face trial. But he gets more than he bargained for from the town’s racist Sheriff and a couple of bungling outlaws with some long waited for revenge on their minds. Those who know Gideon Miles judge him by the speed of his hand and the depth of his character, while others who make the mistake of judging the man by the color of his skin rarely have the chance to regret it.

This is a great little tale chocked full of atmosphere. Heath’s writing simply never disappoints and I really enjoyed the wry humor he wove into the grit of this story.  In a time of back shooters and bushwhackers, Gideon Miles rides tall in the saddle and brings an honest to goodness hero back to the written page. If you want to know how a western should be told then read Miles to Little Ridge.

  CLICK To buy from Amazon.

The 7-7-7 Meme

I got tagged on Facebook by Mike Monson and Ryan Sayles with the latest writer’s meme that’s doing the rounds.

The rules are: go to either page 7 or 77 of your manuscript. Count down 7 lines and then copy the next 7 lines to your Facebook status. Well, okay I did all that so I figured I might as well post it here as well. I hope you dig it.

…The rain was shot through with flecks of snow that turned pink in the bubble gum glow of strip club neon.  I dodged behind a checker cab and took shelter in the doorway of a Laundromat. Inside was a large woman dressed in sweat pants and a crop T that would have been too tight on someone half her size. She sat eating raw cookie dough and watching her clothes turn with a thousand yard stare that I recognized from the fox holes of Vietnam. A yellowing sign on the wall above her machine proclaimed, ’24/7 - we’re always open.’ Somehow I doubt this was what Sinatra had in mind when he was singing about the city that never sleeps…

 

That's an excerpt from a story provisionally titled ‘Exit Wounds'.  It has been a work in progress for a while now. I can’t help it; I’m easily distracted by shiny things. I also have a shit load of other stuff that’s just way more pressing, but maybe this one will see the light of day at some point.

 

To keep this going I tagged a few of the Brit Grit boys: Darren Sant, Paul D. Brazill, Nigel Bird and Gareth Spark.  So if you’re on the FB thingy keep a look out.

A Short Review of the Reviews

Since I landed the gig at Out of the Gutter all of my book reviews have headed that way. This is mainly due to the fact that my week doesn’t usually allow the time needed to read two books. I want to change that, make more time for reading and start posting some reviews back here again, perhaps take a look at some books which don’t fit in with the Gutter’s style. 

My OOTG reviews tend to focus on emerging and independent authors as I feel these are the guys and girls who can make best use of the platform. I’m a writer and I know how tough it is to get the word out there. Established authors don’t need a half-assed critic like me to blow literary smoke up their ass, they already have the platform  that comes from a five book deal with a major. That said, another thing I'd like to do is pass comment on some of those bigger guns from time to time.  So keep a look out for that kind of thing here and remember to check the Gutter on Tuesdays for my weekly slice of the crime stuff. (You can find those crime reviews just by clicking the linky thing to the right).

 

Show Some Respect

Here’s a first look at Eric Beetner’s superb cover for the new All Due Respect anthology. This bad boy is going to hit the shelves in a few weeks time. I'll be posting further details, including the full line up shortly. I'll also be explaining why your life is not complete until you own a copy. 

A Legend is Born

 

Back in the hedonistic days of 2012 Ryan Sayles and Brian Panowich were writers who plied their trade in the gritty world of noir. All that changed one bourbon soaked evening when they struck upon the idea of writing some shit about zombies instead. They enlisted the mighty talents of Chuck Regan and Zelmer Pulp was born.

Zelmer Pulp's first release, C’mon And Do The Apocalypse, Volume 1 hit the street around the same time as the Mayans lost count and has to date earned several (mostly) rave reviews and some discount coupons for dry cleaning.

Not satisfied with this seemingly unmatchable success the trio pushed on and sort out the suave and sophisticated Isaac Kirkman for his incredible writing ability and to help them get girls. When I mentioned that I still had the photos of Ryan and the chinchilla I too was invited aboard.

Now we few, we happy few, we band of brothers are working our fingers to the bone in basements, trailer parks and dry out centers across the globe to bring you the very last word in Sci-fi , Hey! That Robot Ate My Baby, Volume 1.

At Zelmer Pulp we set out to provide you with the very best in retro-futuristic, pulp hero, dark crime, monster noir, and neoclassical post-apocalyptic multi-generation uber-exploitive psychodrama. We also do seasonal recipe books.

So tell your friends there’s a new sheriff in town and make sure you like us on Facebook because we're all really needy and just wanna be adored.

Click here to Visit Zelmer Pulp on Facebook and keep watching the skies people.


Buy from Amazon



So this is 2013 AKA The brochure looks nice.

The New Year is upon us and with it comes renewed hope in the belief that this year might not suck as hard as the last. Who knows maybe this one won’t.

I’m not big on resolutions; they usually involve something called willpower and concentrate solely on removing some form of enjoyment from your life.

Plans however, those I like. Plans are fluid; you can change them as you go along and adapt them as things change around you.

I’ve got plans for 2013; some of are already in motion. First up I can tell you that I will have new stories appearing in four anthologies this year. The first one likely to hit the shelves is Chris Rhatigan’s All Due Respect, which includes my story ‘The Honeymooners’. I’ve recently seen the full line up and I can tell you it’s awesome. The guys at Near to the Knuckle have also put together a stellar cast for their very first anthology. Daz and Craig were some of the first guys to take a chance on me and publish my work. I’m honored to have my story ‘Brothers under the Bridge’ included in their debut anthology, which is penciled in for a February release. There are two more a little further down the line that I will dish the dirt on at a later date.

Other writing projects are also moving on a pace. You can expect to see me back in the gutter at the Flash Fiction Offensive with my story ‘Pigeon’. I will also be donning my spurs and six gun at Ron Earl Phillips new western fiction zine The Big Adios. I’m a big fan of the western and was delighted to make the cut with my first ever attempt at writing one. I have a feeling I will be trying my hand at some more stories in this genre.

The most exciting news will unfortunately have to remain largely under wraps for now. Okay, I can give you a little. Isaac Kirkman and I have been asked to join Ryan Sayles, Brian Panowich and Chuck Regan on the Zelmar Pulp crew for their next project; all I can tell you is that it will blow your mind, rock your world and leave your breath tasting minty fresh.

Welcome to the brave new world of 2013 people. Let’s hope it’s a good one.

Making The Cut

First up; Happy New Year!

I thought it would be best to start 2013 as I mean to go on, so here is the first 'Me' post of the new year. 



When the alcohol haze of midnight celebrations had cleared a little I was delighted to find that two of my short stories had been included in the ‘best of 2012 online’ lists from the inscrutable Paul D Brazill and the enigmatic Mike Monson.

Paul picked my story ‘Redheaded Woman’, which first appeared at The Flash Fiction Offensive and subsequently in the new anthology Out Of The Gutter 8.
Five you Can't Miss from 2012 - Paul D Brazill

Mike plumped for ‘Party Favors’, which was published at Spintingler Magazine, back in the summer. Special Short Stories I read This Year - Mike Monson

Thanks guys I’m honored to have made the cut.