Robert Lopresti, Authorfella, Fall Newsletter

 I shot right past Summer. Sorry. It's been busy.

Biggest busy-maker happened this month.  Down and Out just published the first anthology I have edited. Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy features mystery stories focused on ecological issues: pollution, drought, invasive species, recycling, environmental justice, etc. And get a load of the contributors!

Michael Bracken, Susan Breen, Sarah M. Chen,  Barb Goffman, Karen Harrington, Janice Law, R.T. Lawton, Robert Lopresti, Jon McGoran, Josh Pachter, Gary Phillips, SJ Rozan, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mark Stevens, David Heska Hanbli Weiden.

That's a ton of prize-winners with some relative newcomers mixed in.   And they all put their money where their mouths are: Half the royalties are going to environmental nonprofits they selected.  

I hope you give it a look.

So, what else?

I made my fourth appearance this year in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.  "Christmas Dinner" in the November/December issue is the third novella starring Delgardo, a beat poet in 1958. This is the sixth time I have been on the cover, and ain't that some cover?   The first two Delgardo tales, The Red Envelope and Please Pass the Loot can be purchased in Amazon if you want the complete set.  

My story in Ellery Queen is the opposite of a novella: flash fiction (less than 1,000 words).  You might say "Welcome to JFR!" ia my revenge for 35 years of work as an academic librarian.  It introduces a scholarly journal written for and by felons.  Silly but I've heard from some readers how much they enjoyed it.

Let's see. What else?

My mystery-writer-and-reluctant-amateur-sleuth Leopold Longshanks made his fourth appearance this year.  "Shanks's Last Words" arrived in Black Cat Weekly #161. This one explores the cliche of the dying words message. Shanks is most fun for me when he's poking around in our Big Pile o' Tropes. 

In case you're keeping track (which would border on the creepy) I have had 12 stories published this year, and if things go as expected there should be a few more coming. 

I didn't have time to record a new song this time (although I wrote a few, including an ode to chickpeas, and a jolly song about Julius Caesar being killed). But here is an older one I haven't linked to before.

See you in three months!