Steven Torres's Blog (60)

Things I Didn't See in Alaska...

Just got back from Bouchercon late last night. The conference itself was wonderful, the trip was Hell. I had always wanted to go to Alaska and I had thoughts when I signed up that I might make a full week trip of it. I was wrong. Life got in the way and the seven days I was going to use turned into six then five then four - two of the four were spent in airports and on planes. Ah well.

One of the disappointments was in the stuff I didn't get a chance to see. For instance, I…

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Added by Steven Torres on October 2, 2007 at 3:20am — No Comments

A New Story Out

Haven't blogged much lately - start of semester, etc - but I do have a brand new story up on Shred of Evidence. Take a look. It's good stuff - based, in part, on a true story AND a darn good use of scurvy in a story. Have fun and leave me a note.

Added by Steven Torres on September 5, 2007 at 8:20am — No Comments

Welsh Noir

No really. There is, of course, a large contingent of English crime fiction writers. And there are a fair number of Irish crime fiction writers. And plenty of Scots are working hard at the trade. But are there no Welsh crime fiction writers? Or do they write in Welsh? Maybe there are plenty of crime fiction writers from Wales, but I just don't know it. Possibly because they've since moved. How about John Rickards? Is he really from Wales? Maybe Lee Child?

Or is there a paper…

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Added by Steven Torres on August 11, 2007 at 2:19am — 3 Comments

Website Contest

Don't forget. There's a contest to win a copy of THE CONCRETE MAZE over on my website. It costs nothing to enter, but the value of the prize is, well, it's...$7.99.*

* And no, I won't give you cash instead of the book.

Added by Steven Torres on August 10, 2007 at 11:52am — No Comments

Don't Forget...

If you've been looking for a hardboiled, noir story to sink your teeth into, The Concrete Maze is available for free if you go to my homepage and enter the contest. It's free and easy, so give it a try. At the end of the contest, I'll be pulling names from a hat or similar receptacle and mailing out copies.

If that isn't your cup of tea - if you'd prefer NOT to travel all the way to my site, then… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on August 8, 2007 at 4:24am — 1 Comment

My New York Times Article

Thought you might like to take a look at the article I
wrote for the NY Times. This link should get you
there:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/nyregion/thecity/05exte.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Sadly, it's in the CITY section which we don't get
here in CT.

The online article is attached to both an audio
interview and a slideshow. Not the greatest slideshow in history, but the audio has a funny bit at the end from my dad.

Enjoy

Added by Steven Torres on August 6, 2007 at 12:15am — 5 Comments

In case...

You were wondering what Brian Lindenmuth at Fantasybookspot.com was thinking about my book, you can take a look for yourself. He has very nice things to say, but the best thing is he has is a rating system that goes up to 10 for the perfect book - I noticed James Sallis rang the bell with his book DRIVE. Well deserved, of course. Donna Moore almost got there with a 9.5 on the Brian scale. I got a 9. Not bad considering some Ken Bruen novels… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on August 2, 2007 at 11:03pm — 2 Comments

Dave White Asks About Summer Reading

Dave White, author of When One Man Dies (on sale everywhere in September and widely praised already - James Crumley gave it two fingers up...thumbs, that is) asks what you'll be reading this summer. For me the summer is a short one since I've just today finished calculating and entering grades for my summer classes and soon I'll need to prepare for the Fall. Also, I'm a slow reader so I'll be lucky to finish two or three books before I've got…

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Added by Steven Torres on August 1, 2007 at 4:46am — 1 Comment

The Bronx Noir Launch

Were I a more prepared man, I'd have pictures, but, alas...

It was a blast. I probably signed my name to fifty books and probably missed out on many more. The store, Partners and Crime, has a big heart but a small floor and, if I counted correctly, there were thirteen authors from the anthology in person last night. Abraham Rodriguez flew in…

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Added by Steven Torres on July 26, 2007 at 3:35am — No Comments

My Website Contest

Thought I'd let people know that there have been some changes to my website including a contest. There's also a bunch of stuff for the new novel besides the contest, links to stories and interviews I've done with authors.

Only strange thing? My front page promotes THE CONCRETE MAZE and the BRONX NOIR anthology that I'm very proud to be a part of, but the motif of the site is the tropical isalnd of Puerto Rico. The juxtaposition…

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Added by Steven Torres on July 18, 2007 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Amazon Rankings again...

Somehow The Concrete Maze jumped from 1.5 million to 108k. Maybe I sold a book. Maybe Amazon simply weeded out their stock and pulped the 1.4 million books that were ahead of mine. Hard to say. Still, I won't rest until I've taken control of the #1 spot. Who's there now? Harry Potter? My Tio Luis can kick his patootie… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on July 13, 2007 at 2:53pm — No Comments

I should have mentioned that...

Demolition Magazine has taken one of my stories and it will apparently be published this month. Many thanks to Bryon Quertermous for liking my Viktor Petrenko character enough to grant him a second go around.

Also, The Concrete Maze has started to garner some good press - Spinetingler Magazine has written up a very nice review. Many thanks to EvilKev for his kind…

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Added by Steven Torres on July 11, 2007 at 2:38am — No Comments

An Update on my Amazon numbers...

My Barnes and Noble numbers are very different from my Amazon numbers. At B&N, my numbers, at the moment, are 467,137. My Amazon numbers, however, have dropped into the 1.4 million zone. I hope to start turning these numbers around in about ten days (that is, the 18th or so) which will still be about ten days before the book is officially out in the world. Here's what I'll be…

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Added by Steven Torres on July 9, 2007 at 6:46am — No Comments

Amazon Rankings (x-posted)

I checked my Amazon ranking for The Concrete Maze today. Oh boy... The book isn't due out for another three weeks or so, but 1,372,424 isn't very encouraging. Of course, it's way better than 1,372,425... Also, there are two things for me to keep in mind (beside the fact that it isn't out yet): first, it… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on July 8, 2007 at 4:41am — 1 Comment

My First Published Story...

Doubleplay

By

Steven Torres

So there he was, on the dusty road. Nineteen years a major leaguer. Nineteen years squatting behind the plate. Over two thousand games. Six thousand plus at-bats. More than fifteen hundred hits. True, not a Hall of Fame career, but not a hand-me-down company car either. One hundred and ninety-two thousand miles. He wondered how many more miles would be clicked off before the day was done. With the road stretching blankly out… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on July 2, 2007 at 6:50am — No Comments

The inside story on The Devil in Jackson County

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see a story about the devil which has never before been published. There are reasons why this is so, but I first want to dispell two possibilities.

Myth #1 - Maybe it was never published because Torres never sent it out or sent it to the wrong places. This is false. I sent the story out to a handful of magazines. Rejections tendd toward personalized, "good writing, but the story is not for us." I also try to do a bit of market research… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on June 26, 2007 at 8:40am — No Comments

A Sunday Short Story

The Devil in Jackson Township

By

Steven Torres

There has always been, shall we say, a warm spot in my heart for Jackson Township. I have toiled very little here while making considerable gains. In fact, I might go so far as to say that evil grows here of its own accord with barely an effort from me or anyone in my employ. When the institution of owning human chattel was in place, Jackson was one place slaves dreaded; a place where… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on June 25, 2007 at 6:03am — No Comments

If you ask Al Guthrie...

Allan Guthrie, author of HARD MAN, has said some nice things about my latest effort, which, of course, I want to share. A bit of disclosure here first. I've recently interviewed Al for Crimespree Magazine. (Look for that interview in the upcoming issue.) I've read his last two books including the aforementioned title and KISS HER GOODBYE put out by Hard Case Crime last year. Wonderful, hard boiled books the both of them. But enough about him...

I sent Al an advanced copy of THE… Continue

Added by Steven Torres on June 24, 2007 at 12:17am — No Comments

Bronx Noir

Got my contributor copies of the long awaited Bronx Noir. Never been anthologized before. Hope this is the first of many. Can't help but think that the book is a wonderful book. Stories by Ed Dee, SJ Rozan, and Lawrence Block are in there alongside of mine. I'm honored of course. Also can't wait to dig in. Would it be unethical of me to review other people's short stories over at …

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Added by Steven Torres on June 16, 2007 at 2:00pm — No Comments

The Concrete Maze, Chapter One

I wasn't actually planning to do this until a few weeks from now, but my publisher has recently posted the first chapter of my latest book, THE CONCRETE MAZE. If you want to take a look, you can find it HERE. I should say that it is a hradboiled noir novel set in NYC in the early 1990s.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Added by Steven Torres on June 14, 2007 at 3:51am — No Comments