Thanks to Graham Smith....

I love it when Facebook actually serves a purpose, besides letting me know what someone had for dinner or a whole bunch of other useless information.  Yesterday, TRESTLE PRESS author and CRIMESQUAD reviewer Graham Smith  had a status with a link to the OCEANVIEW PUBLISHING site, and the accompanying pic (see below) was of John F. Dobbyn's novel BLACK DIAMOND.  Of course, I had to take a look,  was not disappointed,  and thanked Graham for the info.  You can check out all Graham's offerings HERE as well as a nice interview he just did over at Paul Brazill's place HERE

Well, Graham, being the gent he seems to be, did me one better. He told me about another Oceanview author, Tom Macdonald, who,  like Mr, Dobbyn, is from Boston, and had a novel, "THE CHARLESTOWN CONNECTION" that I might enjoy. Bing, Bang, Boom..Just like that, two novels I cannot wait to read, especially after reading the samples. Nothing like an Irish crime story, set in Boston. What a day, but..... it got better....

When I find out about a new author, I like to do some recon on them and their writng, website, blog, and any local signings on their schedule.  Primarily, to get some background, before I spend the cash, but also to be able to let them know that I enjoyed their writing (if that is the case) 

Well, when I checked out Tom Macdonald's site, it mentoned that on Feb 23 he was going to be at a big local author event in Nashua, NH (15 mins from my house.) The date / location sounded familiar, and much to my suprise, it turns out I am going to be at the event as well ( as an author).  I am so excited, as there are some very impressive writers attending, and it freaks me out that I will be with them. I agreed to participate in Sept, and have been so busy, had not thought about it. You bet your ass, I am  counting the days now!

So, a heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Mr. Smith. Check out his writing, and Crimesquad, which is a tremendous site!

The Great God Pan and....

After reading a post regarding suspense, by Charles Gramlich, that he did over at the Novel Spaces blog, The novel "The Great God Pan" by Athur Machen popped into my mind. This is an old novel, but perfectly defines a form of horror based suspense, for me at least. Anyone else ever read this? If not, might want to give it a go. Charles' post can be found HERE and info about the novel can be found HERE

-Over at Adrian McKinty's place, he's listed his top 25 "Micksploitation" ( great term ) movies that are condesending toward the Irish folk, and a few that truly depict how things should be portrayed. Tons of interesting comments and def worth a look HERE

- Found a couple of short stories that I really enjoyed reading, and you might too. Nick Bolduck's "Exposure" is over at A Twist of Noir HERE and Graham Smith's "Shooting Stars" is at Thriller's Killer's -n- Chillers HERE