Last Rites

Duck you suckers!

Hey, wait a minute, isn’t that one-eyed Frigga again?

Ain’t that always the way? You wait ages for one Shotgun Honey story and then two come along at the same time.

Well, this isn’t your usual ride and this time it’s only partly my fault.
I’m delighted to say that my brother, life coach and partner in crime, RYAN SAYLES and I are equally to blame for the very first collaborative story ever to be published at Shotgun Honey. I know, cool right? Right.

The idea of writing colab stories is something we’ve kicked around the Zelmer Pulp locker room a few times, but for one reason or another we never really got around to doing it. So back in the summer Ryan and I decided to give it a shot. LAST RITES is the result. It's kind of a love story or maybe a love gone bad story would be a better description. We actually wrote the second half of it first. That was on me. I took the girl’s part, because Ryan told me I was in touch with my feminine side (yeah, whatever, bro). When I had the ending down, I sent it over to Ryan who set the whole thing up beautifully from the guy’s point of view and seamlessly linked the two halves together. I kind of hate that he did it better than I could have, but I’ll get over myself. Telling a whole story in just 700 words can be tough, as I’ve said on here before. Telling half of one in 350 was an absolute blast.

I’m kind of proud of the fact that we have broken some new ground with this one. Maybe one day we’ll try a longer piece, but for now why not hop on over to SHOTGUN HONEY and give us a little sugar, sugar.

The Blues, Mary The Blues

Is there anybody alive out there?

If there is then I expect you’ve been wondering much the same thing. Well, I’m still here...sort of. I’ll admit I have been letting this place slide of late. Life has developed this annoying habit of getting in the way of fiction. You know how that goes, right?

Anyhow, it’s high time I got back in the saddle and what better way to do so than with a brand new piece of flash fiction over at SHOTGUN HONEY.  I haven’t written anything this short for a long time and I forgot just how liberating it can be. Just like the Boss, “I’m sick of sitting around here trying to write this book.”  But distilling a whole story into just 700 words is also a real challenge.

That word limit is why I dig SHOTGUN HONEY way more than any of the other online zines.  You have to bring your A game, every single word has to count. Delta Blues is probably one of the tightest pieces I’ve ever written. It’s also one of my favorites. If you’re in the mood for a good old fashioned love story then head on over and check it out.  

Westbound and Down

One Eye Frigga, the original Shotgun Honey is here to mark my return to the pages of crime fiction's coolest hangout. I’m back for my third go around at SGH with a brand new story, “Westbound and Down.” As always, many thanks to Ron Earl and the team for letting me lower the tone once again. This could well be the only story of mine to appear online this year, so make the most of it!
I hope you’ll take the time to stop by and give it a read and maybe drop me a comment if you feel so inclined.

 

Both Barrels Reloaded.

Here’s a first look at the cover for RELOADED, the new anthology from those good people at Shotgun Honey. Inside this killer artwork, you will find 25 tales of crime and noir written by some of the very best in the business. This line up just oozes class.



Featuring stories from:

Patti Abbott, Hector Acosta, Erik Arneson, Cheri Ause, Trey Barker, Eric Beetner, Terence Butler, Joe Clifford, Elliott Garnett, Rob W. Hart, Andy Henion, John Kenyon, Nick Kolakowski, Ed Kurtz, Frank Larnerd, Chris Leek, Mike Loniewski, Bracken MacLeod, Julia Madeleine, Brian Panowich, Terry Rietta, Rie Sheridan Rose, Ryan Sayles, Richard Thomas and John Weagly.

I’m delighted to have my story "Loose change" included and to be alongside my Zelmer Pulp Brothers, Brian Panowich and Ryan Sayles in yet another top crime anthology.  

RELOADED will be out on the 10^th September.  

A Double-Barreled Blast

Hey, I have a new one up at Shotgun Honey this weekend, 700 words of bad-ass called Candy’s Room.  It’s really a love story and one that I’m pretty darn proud of. For one reason or another it has taken over two years to see the light of day, which makes its belated publication all the sweeter for me. I hope you’ll stop by and give it the once over. It will only take you a couple of minutes, and who knows, you might even dig it?

While we are on the subject of Shotgun Honey, I am stoked to tell you that I have got myself a slot in their second print anthology, Both Barrels – Reloaded.  The first anthology was killer and I was gutted to have missed out, but with so many great writers and only 30 slots, I wasn’t too surprised that I did.

This time around I was determined to raise my game and make the cut. My story is called Loose change and I think it is one of the best I have ever written. Congratulations are also due to my brother from another mother, Brian Panowich who also got the nod with his flat out awesome story, Set Fire To The Trees.  The anthology will be out in September, I’ll be sure to mention it here once or twice, just to remind you.  

In the meantime, get on over to SGH and show Candy a little love: Candy’s Room

Happy Fathers Day, Muthas!

Drinks at Romero's

                                                                              

How about this for a very cool start to the week. Today I'm up at that legendary home of hard boiled bad ass, Shotgun Honey. I have been pretty stoked about this ever since the honoable Mr. Phillips told me I'd made the cut.

Drinks at Romero's is the story of Kelly, a hard working girl just trying to make her living in a man's world.

I've saved you a stool at the bar and ordered another jug of Strawberry Margaritas, so won't you join me for a drink?
Click here to raise your glass: Shotgun Honey - Drinks at Romero's

Six Shooter

You may not have seen much in the way of wordsmithing from me recently (assuming anyone was looking), but that doesn’t mean I've been sat on my backside drinking beer and watching sports, well not all the time anyway.

In fact I've got a foaming six pack of stories that will be cracking open this summer. They're an eclectic bunch, some happy, some sad and some downright dangerous to know.


First of all much Kudos is due to Chris Rhatigan for his excellent site, All Due Respect. I'm honored to say that my story Ties that Bind will be featured in Issue #32, which is due out in August

The first of two blasts of white hot flash fiction comes to you from the kings of the short stuff, Shotgun Honey. Those first class guys have my story Drinks at Romero's locked and loaded.
Now online

The second number comes in the form of A Red Headed Woman. This ballad of badness will grace the hallowed pages of flash fiction now hosted at Out of the Gutter. Big thanks to Joe Clifford for wading through my goat-fuck-formatting.
Now online

The July edition of of Hobo Camp Review contains my short story about a Texas drifter who finds his anchor in Spare Parts. This one is unusual for me mainly because nobody dies horribly. Really you could read it to your Grandma, or somebody else’s Grandma, it's entirely up to you. Now online

Issue #4 of the excellent Downer Magazine (I really dig this 'zine) will feature the battle for hearts and minds in small town USA recited in my short story Nebraska. More surprises, this one has some social stones. Now online

Issue #6 of The Stone Hobo Magazine, (two Hobos are always better than one, unless they start fighting over bindles) has the crackle of Dry Lightning, a story of new beginnings at the end of a long, hot Arizona summer. I had to draw deep on experience here, living in the UK again means that summer is now just a distant memory.

Adding a little something extra to this cocktail of delights is the rumour that the old Mystery Dawg is cranking things up again over at Powder Burn Flash. I've got one of my Vegas stories Candy's Room in the starting line up for the next game to be played there, so fingers crossed for a home win.

Okay, I know, that's seven not six, but who ever heard of a seven shooter? I'll be sure to tip you the nod when they go live, and if you can find it in your heart to humor this delinquent pen monkey (who now owns three toasters, but still has no matching socks) and check one or two of them out. I'd sure appreciate it. May your beers always be cold ones and the gods of gratitude copulate in your greenhouses, or something some old Greek guy said.