The Beat On The Street

Breaking new from Lily Childs' blog: Col Bury has a new site and it is looking very impressive. Rather than go into all the details why that is, see for yourself HERE

Paul Brazill was kind enough to make me an offer I couldn't refuse as a guest blogger on his site. To have a peek, click HERE

"Wake up Dead" was one of the top novels I read last year and the author Roger Smith dances with himself over at Nigel Bird's blog HERE

Over AT THE BIJOU, Absolutely*Kate is looking for stories for her Fab Feb Filmfest. Details HERE

If you didn't know it, the above picture is Fredo Corleone from "The Godfather", played by John Cazale, who just happens to be from Revere ( Reveah to me ) Mass. I just watched a documentary on him and it was very good. He died way to young and the list of actors paying homage to him is a true testament to how respected he was by his peers. RIP and I'm jonesing to watch "Dog Day Afternoon" again as well as "The Conversation" which I have never seen before.

The Beat On The Street

PD Bazill, as only he can, offers up his list of the 5 best cime stories of 2010 over at Chris Rhatigan's blog HERE

Thanks to Nigel Bird,  I found about a pretty cool story challenge that is going on over at the Things I'd Rather Be Doing Blog. I knew all those Fractured Fairlytale cartoons I use to watch as a kid would payoff someday. Find out the details HERE

Declan Burke is offering the opportunity to win some free crime fiction over at Crime Always Pays HERE and while you're there, be sure to check out the post regarding the Literary vs Genre fiction pissing contest, where heavy hitters Stuart Neville and John Connolly joined the fun HERE

On a more cerebral note, Seana Graham has a nice post on some recon she did regarding where she lived as a child. Well worth a look HERE

And finally, a special round of well wishes go out to Dave Barber's dad, who's had some challenging health issues lately. Dave's a top guy and you can let him, as many already have,  know he's not alone HERE

Richard Godwin Interviews Jason Michel

The thing I love about blogs, at least the ones I follow, is that most times, one good blog post leads to another and then some.

Thanks to Paul Brazill's POST I found out about Jason Michel, who turned me on to Richard Godwin's blog, where he just happens to have a tremendous  interview with Jason HERE

Of course I knew of Paul (who doesn't these days) and Richard, who's novel Apostle Rising, looks awesome and I'm purchasing as part of Erin Cole's way cool December Promotion, but finding out about Jason and his writing was a real treat. Check out all of the above, if at all possible.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I guess the official holiday season kicks off this weekend with Halloween on Sunday. Saw my first Christmas commercial last night, unbelievable. My kids are getting older now, so each Halloween is extra special, because there won't be anymore trick or treating for them in a few years. This is a bummer, but another fact of life I must face.

In the writing business, here are a few great stories I have read this week. Check them out, ya hear now.

Dave Barber's An Urban Myth
Matthew C. Funk's Certain Saints
Chad Eagleton's The Price of Copper
PD Brazill's Guns of Brixton You can read it in PDF, or buy it and a collection of other crime stories HERE

Adrian Mckinty has a pretty wild video regarding Charlie Chaplin and time travel HERE

Declan Burke has a nice interview with Eoin McNamee HERE and a great take on the Irish Book Awards HERE

Myself,  I have a story pending at A Twist of Noir, one submitted to Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers, wrote a couple scenes for the next novel, and have started a new crime short story.

Oh yeah, special thanks to Peter Rozovsky over at Detectives Beyond Borders, who snagged me a picture of (be still my heart) Crista Faust at Bouchercon 2010 HERE

Have Great Halloween Everyone!

Some Positive Updates for a Shitty, Gloomy Monday

Well, the cold weather settled in here in the Northeast US, so I figured some happy positive news is in order.

My local indie bookstore called to tell me Scottish author Donna Moore's novel "OLD DOGS" finally arrived and I picked it up yesterday. Started reading it and it is awesome. I expected it to be a good one, knowing the unsavory company she keeps in the blogsphere. Did I mention I love unsavory things? I'll post a review when I finish, so stay tuned. Donna alos hosts a great crime blog HERE

In other news, crime blogger / author extraordinaire PD Brazill interviewed one Col Bury on his website HERE. I wish I could say I read it, but I must have some browser issues that prevent me from getting PD's site content. I really, really need to read this, so if someone can help me out with that, I'd be much obliged.

My "Kindle Author" interview was ranked in the top 10 for September for page views and comments. That was way cool to me, and I know followers of this blog, had a lot to do with it.. A big thanks to all of you!

Credit Where Credit is Due

If you take a peek at the links on the right side of my blog & check out the people (all six) who are following this blog, it will give you an idea of the "virtual" gang that I hang with. In reality, I feel like I'm the little, wide-eyed shrimp, trying to make the team, carrying the helmets, getting my arse snapped with towels etc... In other words, paying attention, keeping my mouth shut (not really), trying to learn the ropes, and always enjoying it and having a few laughs along the way.

I don't know any of these people personally, but all of them are top notch in my book. Once a week I'll provide a few updates on what they got going on and I truly hope that if you are into crime / thriller writing or reading, you would do the same.

- I am waiting for Scottish author Donna Moore's novel "Old Dogs" to be delivered. It sounds like a good one. Check out her blog HERE

- English author Col Bury has just been signed by NY agent Nat Sobel. Like I said, I don't know Col, but his blog is way cool and he comes off as one hell of a nice guy, and this news is just fabulous. Check him out HERE

-Another English author, PD Brazill, has an awesome website and is a heck of writer. If you want the beat on the street in the crime world and also read some awesome author interviews, Click HERE

Like I said, I'll try to do this once a week, and mix it up everytime with different authors, as the three I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.