The Best Mystery/Crime Fiction of 2009

Over at BSC Review The Nerd of Noir, Keith Rawson and Brian Lindenmuth have compiled their top 10 lists for the year.

It's a diverse list that includes some familiar names as well as some new ones.

The full piece can be found here.

Crooked replaced by Eastern Standard Crime

Change is always for the better or else nothing would be changed.

I have a new plan for Eastern Standard Crime, which will now incorporate my sister site Crooked Web Zine. Starting on August 5 (or maybe later that month since this is kind of short notice), Eastern Standard Crime will become a bi-weekly .PDF publication.

And guess what? I'm looking for...

CRIME FICTION SUBMISSIONS

I'm looking for award-winning, unique, pulse-pounding, face-grabbing, ubercool crime fiction. Similar to Crooked, I want something with a hardboiled kick or a crunch. I'm not looking for anything dark, poetic or disgusting. The guidelines are as follows...

• Must be 500 words or more.
• Must include a crime or something criminal.
• Must be new and unpublished.
• Format preference: block paragraphs on a Notepad or Word file. Submit them this way because that is how they will be published.

And since this is a non-profit site, this is a non-paying publication. I'm sorry. I still love you, though.

CRIME FICTION REVIEWS

Whether it be a novel or short story, I am looking for a few new reviewers to add more voices to this publication. A few people have asked me since I started this site if I would be interested in having other people do reviews. That time has finally come! Contact me if you are interested and we will discuss things. If you review for other sites, that's fine but I am not going to put something in the publication that has been posted elsewhere so this has to be original.

OTHER

• THE BULLET AWARDS will still be a monthly happening for flash fiction authors. It looks like the lack of Micro Fiction in the crime fiction genre may force me to only give out a Mini Fiction (Under 500 words) and Flash Fiction (Under 1000 words) award. Check out the guidelines in the right column over there for more info.

• Authors can feel free to plug upcoming novels in the ESC publication. Contact me if you have something coming out that you wanna put out there.

• I'd also like to put some cheesy artwork (similar to the old school Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen issues) with stories. Black and white only.

New stories up at Powder Burn Flash and Darkest Before the Dawn

Hi All,

It has been a busy past few weeks. I have a few new stories up at Powder Burn Flash and at Darkest Before the Dawn. I have posted the links for you.....

At Powder Burn Flash......

Chocolate Karma by James C. Clar
http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/330


Brian's Brown Paper Bag by Scott Wilson
http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/331


Candy Sangrai by Walt Conley
http://www.powderburnflash.com/?q=node/332


and over on Darkest Before the Dawn.....


The Gravitron Twister by Michael C. Keith
http://www.darkestbeforedawn.net/?q=node/31


and a great twofer....


The Accident by Frank Bill
http://www.darkestbeforedawn.net/?q=node/32


Playing The Part by Frank Bill
http://www.darkestbeforedawn.net/?q=node/33


There are more great stories to follow during the month of July. Take a gander, sign into the sites and leave some feedback for these authors. I know that they will appreciate it.

New Spinetingler

The new issue of Spinetingler is live and, as Patrick Shawn Bagley so eloquently put it, "locked and loaded". There's a double dose of short stories, plenty of reviews and interviews.

My thanks to Jack Getze, who has remained with us as the editor, and Damon Caporaso and Jay Tomio of BSC Review, who finance the operation and make it possible. I would also like to thank Mark, who looks after all the design work and site maintenance. We have faced a lot of obstacles with this issue, but are thrilled to finally have it available for your reading pleasure.

Submissions Open for The Lineup: Poems on Crime 3

The third issue of The Lineup: Poems on Crime, due out in April 2010, is open to submissions from June 15 through July 31. Please follow the submission guidelines.

Darkest Before Dawn Has a new URL

Hi All,

Just a quick note to let you all know that I moved my short story site over to

www.darkestbeforedawn.net

Up this week is TWO LEFT by Eric Beetner

Last week I had Barry Baldwin's THE GOOD WOMAN

When you have a moment, swing by and share some comments.

The Lineup 2 Available Now

Click on the image to enlarge.

The Lineup: Poems on Crime 2 is now available for $6.00 USD from Lulu.com, and will be in stock soon at Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis and Murder By the Book in Houston.

You can hear poems from Issues 1 and 2 this week on Seth Harwood's CrimeWAV.

For more information, visit The Lineup's official blog.