I was bowled over by this debut digital short story by H.R. Toye: great narrative, intense content and a very nice hard-boiled read. This is going to be a series and I for one am all for that; keep them coming. The author has created a world that has been built on misery, misfortune, and bad choices. The first character basically seems to have the ideal life, the ideal wife and the ideal job. Drop the $.99 on this story and read how H.R. Toye strips this guy down to his barest of emotions…

This series has quickly become one of my favorites, The Call Me Smitty Series. I just love the hard core, hard-boiled hit man that can be equal parts bad and compassionate. B.R. Stateham has composed a character that I think is going to stand the test of time. Basically I can’t say enough good things about the series from A to Z on this, I just can’t!  This is a novella so it is a bit longer in length then its predecessors, which is an added bonus for us fans of this intense series. If I…

Some people are always expecting or hoping for a war. They’re even working towards that end. When you live in the Middle East, you come to such a realization eventually.

Most people are like me, however. The wars sneak up on them. They notice the signs, then they bury them because they think they’re being unduly negative. Or they’re simply afraid to see what’s in front of…

Over in my blog I wrote about watching Dashiell Hammitt's 'The Glass Key' on Turner's Classic Movies.  The movie had Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and William Bendix in it.  A great movie.  Go over and read it and see if you agree with me.  Maybe you will.  Maybe you won't.  But let's have some fun talking about it.

http://noirtaketurner-frank.blogspot.com/

Talk about intensity, competitiveness, and fun, that was just the beginning of the day for me as I gave each team the three words that were going to spark eight authors into action. They jammed off of each other’s work like jazz musicians or rockers going to it trying to outdo each other. It was fun sending the next piece to all involved; I enjoyed the comments I was receiving from the other participants as they were reading through not just their own piece but the next one that was played…

"Fingerprints" is the Web's first journal of crime flash non-fiction, and it's an honor to have the ubiquitous Paul D. Brazill contribute a piece. It's called "Heart of Saturday Afternoon." If you've ever blown weekends of your youth harassing the help at shopping malls, you'll enjoy what he has to say.

Click here to read, "Heart of Saturday Afternoon."

A red herring by definition is a person that gives your readers a false trail to follow. They fall under the "whodunnit" category and can lead the reader to falsely believe someone else committed the crime while concealing the identity of the true villain. You cannot have a mystery without them.



When I was growing up I loved the game CLUE. And it serves as a good example of what a red herring is. Lots of suspects who all look guilty in some way. There was nothing as satisfying as…

Hello to everyone and welcome to the middle of the week. Joy of joys. Things have been hopping here @ Gelati’s Scoop/ The G-Zone  and I couldn’t be happier. The rest of the week we have some really nice novels, and digital shorts to feature. Our guests the next few days are a great assortment of genres and personalities. Thursday in the G-Zone is Gary Ponzo, today’s featured author/post, and on Friday in a return engagement Leonardo Ramirez author of the graphic novel Haven and…

Set up a Wordpress blog this week, still refining its look (but not obsessing).  Stop by in the future if you have a moment free.  Thanks!  Wordpress blog

  LINK: http://exm.nr/garcia-1-LA

This interview was so fascinating I wanted to share it all around. In the tradition of Donnie Brasco or Serpico, Jack Garcia…

It is challenging to keep coming up with original ideas for writer's group presentations. Today’s Spotlight in the Las Vegas edition of Examiner.com is about Sisters in Crime Southern Nevada met the challenge with the custom Mystery Jeopardy game presented by Sisters (and Misters) in Crime/Southern Nevada this past Sunday. What a hoot. Scott Duncan who has designed games for major accounts delighted everyone with his…

I am going to get right into the action with this one. I mean, what exactly does the title mean? Here you go:

“Over the past year, one thing we've come to appreciate on The Literary Lab blog is the value of artistic freedom. To celebrate this freedom, we put together a collection of stories that were accepted before they were actually written. Our fellow writers gained entry into the anthology by impressing us with past work or proposals. From those early applications, we selected…

People frequently ask how it came to be that two sisters wrote a novel together and what it was like to work as a team. The answers are “simple” and “great.”

It was March. The snow was dirty brown and the sun was absent here in Bangor, Maine. I was spending a lot of time on my sofa, channel surfing and landing nowhere. Joanne called from her home in Florida.

“Wanna write a book together?”  I wrapped the afghan around me tighter and yawned from lack of blood flow to my…