Bloody Signorina now on sale

Now that the 2014 Derringer Awards have concluded, I’m releasing an “official” paid version of my short story, “Bloody Signorina.”

This edition comes with the full story, an alternate ending, and an excerpt of my upcoming novel featuring the detective I introduced in the original Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine story. I don’t normally think it’s worth doing a paper edition of short stories, but I did one for this title, just because.

The e-book’s only 99 cents. But readers of this blog can snag a free copy via Smashwords, using code LL86C upon checkout. The freebie ends in 7 days, so grab it now. (Please note: Coupon has expired.)

By the way, the cover for “Bloody Signorina” was done by designer James at GoOnWrite.com, who is a writer in his own, um, right. I read two of his "Humble Nations" shorts on the beach in SC recently, and enjoyed the hell out of them. They’re definitely unusual stories that don’t fall into a particular genre.

"Bloody Signorina" is available here:

Smashwords

Amazon USA - ebook & paperback

Amazon UK - ebook & paperback

Apple

Nook

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News—about an upcoming novel and life in general—coming soon. 

Free Copy of My Derringer Finalist

If you’re curious about reading “Bloody Signorina,” that story of mine which made it to the Derringer Award finals, you can download it free at this Smashwords page.

You’ll be able to choose the format that best fits your device—epub, mobi, or plain old PDF. Heck, you can also just read it on the screen.

If you are a Derringer Group voter, you should probably read the RTF  version of this story via the official Derringer Voting Group site.

The story will remain free on Smashwords until midnight of March 31, the last day of voting.

Read it online.

Download a free PDF.

Download a free mobi file.

Download a free epub file.

Nominated for Derringer Award

Woke up this morning to discover that one of my short stories has been nominated for the Derringer Award for Best Long Story. The Derringers are one of the top prizes for mystery short fiction. The announcement is here.

Sort of shocked right now.

The story, “Bloody Signorina,” ran in the September 2013 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Magazine. It’s the story of young, spoiled expat American woman living in Rome who acts out, to put it mildly.

Feel really…proud. Considering I ignored my fiction for such a long time, this feels good. Today, cake and beer.

Nominations rock.

Look for my short story "Nighthawks" in Hitchcock’s Mystery Mag!

Look for my short story in Hitchcock’s Mystery Mag!

Almost forgot. One of those short stories I was telling you about appears in the April 2014 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM), on newsstands now.

The story is called “Nighthawks,” after Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 painting of the same name. It’s probably the most parodied painting on the planet after the Mona Lisa. Four people sit in an oddly shaped diner in the middle of the night. What’s going on there? Well, my story offers just one scenario.

The artist Hopper said the painting was inspired by a diner on Greenwich Avenue in New York, but no one has ever located the original site. Some years ago, blogger Jeremiah Moss investigated the mystery, and has written about his search in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and on his blog. Great reading, if you’re fascinated by the painting.

You can find a hard-copy version of AHMM wherever magazines are sold. (My local B&N tends to carry it.) Failing that, in a few days you can download a single digital issue via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Zinio, Magzter, Sony, and Google Play. Just make sure you are downloading the April 2014 issue shown above.

"Bloody Signorina" in Hitchcock's!

Look for my short story in Hitchcock’s Mystery Mag!

I have a short story in the September 2013 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM), on newsstands now. Can’t believe I got a cover mention!

Truth is, I’m a little surprised how this story, “Bloody Signorina,” turned out. I’d call it an experiment. It doesn’t sound like my voice at all. It sounds like me pretending to be Jane Austen, an Italian Jane Austen, or something. Anyway, check it out and let me know. The detective who makes a brief appearance in this short goes on to bigger and more horrifying things in my next book, The Marshal of the Borgo. More on that book soon, I hope.

You can find a hard copy version of AHMM wherever magazines are sold. (My local B&N tends to carry it.) Failing that, in a few days you can download a single digital issue via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Zinio, Magzter, Sony, and Google Play. Just make sure you are downloading the September 2013 issue.

(BTW: I’ve been reading and downloading these magazines via the Magzter app on my iPad, and it’s been great. Good customer service, too. Highly recommended.)

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Speaking of magazines, my piece for Plots With Guns got a little mention on a blog by Andy Henion, who is always “searching for the perfect sentence.” I hope the other sentences in the story added up to something equally enjoyable!

First ever appearance in Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

Returned home from our trip with a nasty head cold, so I’ll be working from the couch today and perhaps tomorrow. But I had to share this image of the new issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM). The hard copy issue hits stands tomorrow, but digital versions are already out, which is how I spotted this.

Needless to say, I was blown away by the cover mention. The inside note from the editor is also pretty nice, and my piece (“Button Man”) is the lead story. All pretty cool, unexpected and humbling for my first outing in this publication, to say the least.

Links to the digital editions are: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iPad, Zinio, Magzter, and Sony.