Discount Noir

I am thrilled to announce that my story, "Secret Identity" appears in the Untreed Reads crime fiction e-book, Discount Noir, edited by Patricia Abbott and Steve Weddle.

Here's the description from Untreed Reads:

If you thought standing in line at your local warehouse store was murder, then you haven't been to Megamart. These flash fiction tales of superstore madness and mayhem will make you think twice the next time you hear "clean up on aisle 13."

This anthology contains works by: Patricia Abbott, Sophie Littlefield, Kieran Shea, Chad Eagleton, Ed Gorman, Cormac Brown, Fleur Bradley, Alan Griffiths, Laura Benedict, Garnett Elliot, Eric Beetner, Jack Bates, Bill Crider, Loren Eaton, John DuMond, John McFetridge, Toni McGee Causey, Jeff Vande Zande, James Reasoner, Kyle Minor, Randy Rohn, Todd Mason, Byron Quertermous, Sandra Scoppettone, Stephen D. Rogers, Steve Weddle, Evan Lewis, Daniel B. O'Shea, Sandra Seamans, Albert Tucher, Donna Moore, John Weagly, Keith Rawson, Gerald So, Dave Zeltserman, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen, Jay Stringer, Anne Frasier, Kathleen A. Ryan, Eric Peterson, Chris Grabenstein and J.T. Ellison.

A tremendous thank-you to editors Patricia Abbott and Steve Weddle, agent Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, and Jay Hartman of Untreed Reads.

Discount Noir lists at $5.99, but is on sale at Untreed Reads for $4.49 until October 31, 2010, and is available in PDF, EPUB and Palm Reader formats (I downloaded it straight to my laptop). The ebook is also available for Kindle at Amazon for $5.99.

"Secret Identity" was written in response to a flash fiction challenge posed by Patricia Abbott in 2009, and it had a different title then. My story won a Flash Fiction Award in the Public Safety Writers Association's 2010 Writing Competition. I proudly accepted the award during their Las Vegas conference this past June.

"The Cleansing" Flash Fiction Story

I responded to a flash fiction challenge posed by Chuck Wendig, the novelist/screenwriter, on his "terribleminds" site. Chuck requested horror flash fiction stories with a theme of "vacation hell."

My story, "The Cleansing" now appears on his site as a guest post. It's my first attempt at horror, and I think it's more like "horror-lite," but I am grateful for this opportunity.

Thanks, Chuck!

Monkeybicycle Lightning Round! Reading Series

I just returned from San Francisco after attending Bouchercon 2010, which was fabulous. I will certainly be blogging about the convention, things I learned, great quotes from panelists, posting photos, etc. As you may know, I also blog at Women of Mystery, and I already posted something while at Bouchercon, after attending a one-hour session hosted by the best-selling Irish authors, Declan Hughes and John Connolly, entitled: Ten Crime Novels You Must Read Before You Die. I sat in the front row and took this photo of the duo.

In the meantime, I've also blogged about tomorrow night's Monkeybicycle Lightning Round! Reading Series that will debut tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at the KGB bar on 85 E. 4th Street, New York City. Among the participants will be author Robert Swartwood, who is also the editor of the soon-to-be-released Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer, published by W.W. Norton ~ of which I am extremely proud to have a story included.

Hope to see you at the KGB bar tomorrow night!

War Story Wednesday - A Good Night's Sleep

I'm on my way to San Francisco to attend Bouchercon 2010 ~ my very first one.

Today is Wednesday, which means another war story coming your way. As always, if you have one to share, feel free to write it in the comments below or provide a link to your blog.

This is a sad one.

I can't remember if this was the end of a midnight tour or the beginning of an 8x4 tour. One of my coworkers got a call of a baby not breathing. The reason the baby wasn't breathing was because the parents, in a desperate attempt to get a good night's sleep, taped a pacifier to the baby's mouth. You can guess what happened; the baby choked on its own vomit.

Despite CPR attempts by officers, racing lights & siren to the hospital, with officers blocking major intersections to get the PD to the hospital even quicker, the poor baby died.

The distraught and grieving parents were not charged in the tragedy.

The Ultimate Flash Fiction Package

To celebrate the upcoming November 1st release of W.W. Norton's Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer, the editor, Robert Swartwood, is hosting a contest. From those who leave a comment with links announcing this contest (either through Twitter, Facebook, blog post, etc.), a random winner will be chosen to receive eight anthologies (flash, short, micro, hint), valued at $120.

The contest runs until midnight, October 31, 2010, EST. Five runners-up will receive a copy of the Hint Fiction anthology.

For more details, and a list of those terrific books ~ go straight to the source!

I recently received my contributor's copy of the Hint Fiction anthology, and I must say, I am impressed. What a gem of a collection. Each story is like unwrapping and savoring a piece of candy. I am thrilled to have a story in this anthology.

Good luck!

Astoria/LIC Int'l Film Festival

Later this month, Astoria will host its first annual International Film Festival, from October 22-24, featuring "over 50 indie films from and about England, Hungary, Austrialia, China, Darfur, Ecuaror, Russia, Spain, Bhutan and Cape Town as well as best of every NYC borough's pick."

What a bargain, too; $10 gets you a full-length feature, a short and a supershort; a $75 Superpass gets you in all three days. Daypasses are $35. Events also include readings of screenplays and short stories.

The Discover New York blog lists the Astoria Film Festival as the #1 thing to do in NYC this fall.

All activities will be held at The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St., Long Island City, NYC 11101.

I'm happy to announce that the New York/TriState Sisters in Crime (SinC) will have a session on Saturday, October 23, from 2-4 p.m., where several members will read their work. For information on tickets for that session, visit here. A special thank-you to fellow SinC member Lina Zeldovich for arranging this session with the Festival organizers. Lina has written an awesome article about the Astoria Film Festival at Woman Around Town, including a brief overview of the films. I'm excited to learn that Love in the Age of Dion by writer-filmmaker Phillip Cioffari is among them.

On Wednesday, October 6th, from 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., a press conference will be held at the LIC Market ~ (a French cafe with baking on the premises) 21-52 44th Drive. Enjoy a free tasting menu and trailers of festival films, plus an interview with the Film Festival Director Dennis Cieri and the director of The Secret Theatre, Robert Mazda.

For further information or to RSVP, please contact: info (at) astorialicff (dot) com. or visit www.astorialicff.com. If you are interested in helping out, the Festival is looking for volunteers.

The Festival is on Facebook & on Twitter @AstoriaLICff. For a listing of films and events, click here.

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

My Town Monday @ Women of Mystery

It's Monday ~ and I have got a "My Town Monday" post up over at Women of Mystery about my recent trip to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Come on over for a visit and see some of the photos I took.

I learned about the mystery of the missing Tiffany Lily stained glass window.

Here's the link: Women of Mystery: MTM: Bar Harbor, Maine

Guest Post at Jen's Book Thoughts

It was my absolute honor and privilege to attend a "Trifecta of Book Launches" on Tuesday, September 28, and report about it for Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts.

If you get a chance, stop by and read all about the event held at Partners & Crime on Greenwich Avenue in New York City ~ for authors Hilary Davidson, Joelle Charbonneau, and Joshua Corin. Check out the photos, too!

If you'd like to see additional photos from this event, visit my gallery.

SkyWatch Friday

I took this on the Long Island Railroad on July 16, 2010, as I was heading into New York City.

Check out more SkyWatch Friday entries.