Alright, today is Thursday and this completes my trifecta of best lists for 2010. Next year I will be able to expand them a bit more and include Romance novels. Romantic Wednesday is becoming a very large part of our

week here @ The Scoop. After I put this post up in the different areas I

usually put them, I am signing off till after Christmas. The Gelati family

wishes you and yours the best and most Merry Christmas ever. Thanks.…

Are there any Scarecrow fans out there? I am definitely one. You can count me among those that have read everything that is available that Matthew Reilly has written, including the YA Hover Car series. The last time I posted

on a Matthew Reilly novel was for the Five Greatest Warriors novel (please

check the archives for that; I loved it). Here is what this short novel is

about:

“This revised edition of the…

I enjoy all types of lit, really, but noir and crime works really speak to me. The darker the better. I love exploring the human condition and the decisions we make under duress or in desperation. It's the most interesting thing in the world to me. If you guys know any other good stuff to check out, let me know.

Some of my recent favorites include Small Crimes by David Zeltserman (check this out if you haven't already) and The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli.

And hey, I have a…

Hi, me again. I am not going to get up on my soap box and explain my love for the digital short story again, but hey, they rock. Here are 15 of my favs from this year. Next year, I hope to make it a top 50 as I get

into them more. Enjoy and download the fun:

1-      Agents of Treachery…

Over seventy people attended the prize giving ceremony last night of the Wight Fair Writers Circle, Winter Short Story Writing Competition in Newport on the Isle of Wight.

 

I was very honoured to be asked to  give a short talk at this wonderful event and to present the prizes to the adult category of the competition at the Castlehold Baptist Church and new reception rooms in Newport.

I'm very grateful to Wightlink who generously sponsored my ferry trip across to the Isle of…

I am not a year-end list type of guy but I am going to put three out here this week. I have broken my lists up into three categories: novels, digital short stories, and self-published work. The plan is to put them up in that order Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The time frame involved for inclusion in this is the entire year, not just a quarter as I have done throughout the year. Placement of some of the novels may surprise you and/or irritate you (sorry), but I am more than happy to…

Today’s Las Vegas edition Spotlight is on Dennis Arnoldy, a former agent with the FBI during the time Tony “The Ant” Spilotro was the Las Vegas arm of the Chicago Outfit, and Frank Cullotta was his right-hand man. Dennis talks about those days from his side of the fence. Next week’s Spotlight will be an update with Andrew DiDonato, a former Gambino crime family member, whose book “Surviving the Mob” is due to be released. Here is the link:…

-Have you found that the response that you get from those that have read your book to be positive and that they got the spirit of why it was written?

Yes, Readers have written to me from all across America and even several countries around the world with feedback.  Having a dialog with readers is such a pleasure.

-What are some of the positive things that have come from your readers taking your message to heart? There is nothing more meaningful than when readers…

Some thoughts on success in writing, at least for me. Feel free to drop on by One Bite at a Time and leave a comment.

ITALIAN NOIR - THE STORY OF ITALIAN CRIME FICTION BBC4, Dec 27@9.30pm

Timeshift profiles a new wave of Italian crime fiction that has emerged to challenge the conventions of the detective novel. There are no happy endings in these noir tales only revelations about Italy’s dark heart – a world of corruption, unsolved murders and the mafia.

Italian Noir features exclusive interviews with the leading writers…

Is that great or what?!

TOP HORROR RELEASES:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/category/883

READ 50 PERCENT FREE AND CHECK IT OUT!…

People often ask authors where their ideas come from. I speak not for others, but as for me--not a clue most of the time.

THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, my January release, seems to have stemmed from a conversation I had with my son, a Merrill Lynch VP. He mentioned that he had fired one of their employees for selling away. I asked what that was, and he explained. It took root somewhere in my head, and the idea for a mystery formed.

Where the dead part came from, I could not tell…

BOOM! Studios put out this graphic novel written and created by Samuel L. Jackson /Eric Calderon with the artwork done by Jeremy Rock. Yes, it is THE Samuel L. Jackson. Who knew the guy was a comic book fan? He explains all that in the introduction in a style that is all his own. I had the feeling he was talking directly to me, explaining what I was going to be experiencing in the graphic novel. Here is the synopsis of the 112 page Cold Space:

“From Academy Award-nominee Samuel L.…

Check out a review of another Christmas mystery, The Faltese Malcolm, by Peter E. Abresch & enter for a chance to win a copy of the book in the new issue of Kings River Life Magazine http://kingsriverlife.com/12/18/the-faltese-malcom/
Lorie Ham

I was hoping that this was not a digital short story about The South of The Border. I have come to know and now skip stopping at South of the Border off of Interstate 95 on our way down south on vacation. I like the neon as a marker in the evening, the billboards make me think of my childhood, but I could only think a good comedy would come of a story revolving around it. Thankfully David DeLee has something else in mind. Grace deHaviland rides again: ”Tracking a U.S. bail jumper across the…

Today is going to be a hybrid type of day. I got stuck, or should I say had the joy, of doing some serious Christmas shopping yesterday and didn’t finish off Graphic Novel Friday as I would have liked to. Add to that the Samuel L. Jackson graphic novel I picked up and the interest, comments, and questions about it, I knew I had to hustle today and get this all done. Tuesday I launch my best of the year lists a little later than I wanted to, but hey, life happens. Let’s get right into the…