Category Archives: Crime fiction

Noir Con or bust guest post #5 Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

For my fifth ‘Noir Con or bust’ guest post, I’d like to welcome New Jersey based crime writer Thomas Pluck.

Pluck’s stories have appeared in PANK, Crime Factory, Spinetingler, Beat to a Pulp, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Utne Reader, to name a few.

I’ve been pimping my own work a lot lately, but I was keen to get Pluck to write a guest post so I could shill for his latest project Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT, which he’s the editor of. Seriously, this anthology contains some seriously good writing talent doing a mixture of crime, science fiction, Western, noir and other stories. I mean serious. There’s a copy on my Kindle.

I’d try and explain why there’s other good reasons you should buy the book, but Pluck does a better than me. Read his post, then buy the book. 

“Hemingway once wrote, ‘The world is a fine place, and worth fighting
for.’ I believe in the second part.”

That’s from the screenplay of Seven, written by Andrew Kevin Walker. I
don’t know if Hemingway actually wrote what he said he did, but that’s
a great line and it explains how I can write hardboiled fiction and
not eat a gun in the morning. As writers, we peer into the dark heart
of humanity and the abyss winks right back.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir Con, Noir fiction

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Anthologies, my novel and more shameless self-promotion

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Andrew Nette| 6 Comments

In over a couple of weeks I will be jetting off to spend a couple of weeks in the US, New York mostly, followed by a few days in Philadelphia to attend Noir Con.

I-can-not-wait.

Several more ‘Noir Con noir bust’ posts are scheduled between now and when I leave, but I just wanted to take a short break from these to do a bit of shameless self-promotion. A lot of writing I’ve been working on for the last year is being released around the same time. By the end of the year it’ll be back to the drawing board, but for now I’ve got some serious pimping to do.

First up, is Crime Factory’s latest publication, Hard Labour, an anthology of 17 noir and hardboiled Australian short crime stories, edited by Cameron Ashley, Liam Jose and myself. We launched this baby last week at Grumpy’s Green in Collingwood.  A fine time was had by all and we managed to sell enough copies on the night to more or less pay the printing bill.

The print version of Hard Labour is now available from our website for $13.99 plus postage. The digital book is available on Amazon here for just $2.99.

It’s a bargain for crime fiction this good.… Read more

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Posted in Adrian McKinty, Angela Savage, Australian crime fiction, Australian noir, Crime Factory, Crime fiction, David Whish-Wilson, Garry Disher, Leigh Redhead, Noir Con, Snubnose Press

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Noir Con or bust guest post #4: “I Can’t Kill Him. He’s My Brother”

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Andrew Nette| Leave a comment

Fourth cab off the rank in my ‘Noir Con or bust’ series of guest posts is Baltimore writer Nik Korpon.

I’m looking forward to meeting this guy at Noir Con. Korpon’s got serious crime writing form. He’s one of those writers I’ve heard more about than I’ve actually read. But that’s changing. Earlier this year I read his knock out dystopian noir novella, By the Nails of the War Priest, and I’m half-way through his recently released short story collection, Bar Scars. Both are excellent. In the US I’m hoping to pick up a copy of his one novel that’s been published so far, Stay God.

I never thought of myself as a ‘theme’ writer. After I’d gotten over the delusion that I was saying Important Things About The Human Condition (like most new writers do, I think) I had no interest in commenting on anything other than the impact a good story can have and creative uses of a broken bottle. In my mind, I was writing about the people I saw as I wandered through Baltimore, only superimposing a more dramatic arc to their day. I was filling in blanks between the guy I saw at the laundromat, guardedly loading his clothes into the washer, and the woman with scratches on her forearms who was getting coffee at the 7-11 across the street.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir Con, Noir fiction, Snubnose Press

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Noir Con or bust guest post #3: Roachkiller

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Andrew Nette| 1 Comment

For my third ‘Noir Con or bust’ guest post I’m thrilled to welcome New York writer Richie Narvaez.

I don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in the Australian publishing scene the words ‘self published’ and ‘e-book’ generate pretty negative reactions, especially when they’re put together.

Roachkiller and Other Stories is both those things  and it’s an incredible read. The book first came to my attention when Eva Dolan, one of Crime Factory’s reviewers, submitted a glowing piece on it for the magazine. Now Eva has a nose for the good stuff, so straight after reading her review I jumped on line bought a copy. I wasn’t disappointed. Roachkiller is kick arse collection of noir short fiction, ranging from hard boiled crime pieces in the vein of Edwin Torres to the blackest dystopian tales. 

Your can check out Richie’s site here. You can buy Roachkiller on Amazon here. Seriously, read Richie’s post then by the book. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed either. 

About a decade ago, I was like a lot of writers: I talked about writing but I didn’t scribble a single story. Not a sentence, not a dependent clause, not a word. Then at some point I read a notice from Mississippi Review calling for postmodern noir stories.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir Con, Noir fiction

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Noir Con or bust guest post #2: Patti Abbott

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Andrew Nette| 6 Comments

For the second of my ‘Noir Con or bust’ guest posts I’m very happy to welcome Detroit based writer, Patti Abbott. 

Not only does Patti host a terrific blog of her own, she is a major contributor to the on-line and print crime short fiction that thrives in the US. Seriously, it’s hard to over emphasise just how prolific Patti is. What’s more, her short crime fiction is always of high quality. If you’re not convinced check out her first anthology of short stories, Monkey Justice, here. 

Welcome to Pulp Curry, Patti.

Thanks to Andrew for hosting me. His suggestion to me was to talk about the online crime fiction market, and I will do so if a bit circuitously.

It took me a long time to 1) find my way to writing 2) find my way to writing fiction (I started out with poetry) 3) find my way to writing crime fiction.

I began writing poetry (as an older student) in a college class in the mid 1990s. The class was ideal for me since I harboured such ambitions. I was  lucky to have a supportive instructor and I managed to publish a couple dozen poems in small literary journals. But editors would often send a note saying that my story was overly narrative and had I ever tried my hand at short story writing?… Read more

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Posted in Crime Factory, Crime fiction

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