The Angel Deeb

It's always a pleasure to have Patti at BEAT to a PULP and this time with "The Angel Deeb."

Review: The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories

The seven tales presented are all good ones that push the boundaries in small and big ways. If you like considering the idea that there is far more going on than meets the eye this book is for you. A crime is present in many of the tales, but the tale itself might be fantasy, fiction or something else. The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories: Veridical Dreams Vol. 1. is one of those rare deals where each story is incredible good making the read simply fantastic from start to finish. --Kevin Tipple

Full review: The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories: Veridical Dreams Vol. 1. Edited by David Cranmer

The Lizard's Ardent Uniform & Other Stories

There will be more on this very personal BEAT to a PULP release in the next week. But for now here is the cover and description.

"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream."--Edgar Allan Poe

The Lizard's Ardent Uniform and Other Stories (Veridical Dreams Vol. I) takes you on several voyages into every day nightmares, bizarre detours, and hellish worlds. Enlisting the talents of authors Chris F. Holm (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine), Terrie Farley Moran (Well Read, Then Dead), Patti Abbott (Home Invasion), Evan V. Corder, Steve Weddle (Needle: A Magazine of Noir), Hilary Davidson (The Damage Done), and Garnett Elliott (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine), thought-provoking fragments from the dream journals of Kyle J. Knapp (writer and poet of Pluvial Gardens and Celebrations in the Ossuary, who passed away in 2013 at the age of twenty-three) are fleshed out into seven stirring tales of crime, science fiction, literary, and fantasy. Edited and with an introduction by BEAT to a PULP's David Cranmer.

Stories:
The Lizard's Ardent Uniform -- Chris F. Holm
Dust to Dust -- Terrie Farley Moran
Twin Talk -- Patti Abbott
The Malignant Reality -- Evan V. Corder (including "The Needles" poem by Kyle J. Knapp)
Ghosts in the Fog -- Steve Weddle
The Debt -- Hilary Davidson
The Zygma Gambit -- Garnett Elliott

A portion of the proceeds from this collection will go to higher education.

Ron Scheer

Patti has an update on our friend Ron Scheer. I hope you click over there and leave a comment. Ron's one of the good guys and I know will appreciate the well wishes.

Down This Long Road Is A Mailbox

At the bottom of this long and winding hill is a mailbox. I enjoy the walk down and even the difficult trudge back up -- gets the blood pumping, which is a welcomed change after typing all morning, and my Saint Nicholas gut tells me I should make the climb a few more times every day. Yesterday’s delivery (from the postman as he said with a smirk, “Read much?”) was HARDBOILED 3. I ripped open the package on the long climb up and read aloud, huffing and puffing, the glossy cover’s names: a distinguished gathering of greatness -- Josh Stallings, Andrew Nette, Patti Abbott, Sophie Littlefield, Chris F. Holm, Keith Rawson, Fred Blosser, Hilary Davidson, and Kieran Shea. A new co-editor is on board by the name of Elise Wright. I’m still tempting her with a full-time gig at the webzine, but she is holding out for more Jelly Bellies. We’ll see who wins.

So, after, I grab another coffee, I will admire the current paperback and then get moving on the next. Always be closing with quality, and the next book is a time traveler that I’ve left stranded for far too long in the 24th century.

And, more importantly, I plan on making more snow angels with my daughter. I didn’t mention that did I? Well, with the dusting of snow we got late yesterday afternoon, she made a total of thirty before the sun went down over the tree line. And I know with her daddy’s help, we can triple that number today. Here's a shot of one of our earliest efforts.

BEAT to a PULP: Hardboiled 3

BEAT to a PULP: HARDBOILED 3 is now available at Createspace, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Kobo, and iBooks to follow soon.

Description: The third time's a blood-splattered charm as BEAT to a PULP and nine of today's hard-hitting, top writers stalk the depraved streets where no good deed goes unpunished, vengeance is the norm, and lady luck is a cold-hearted bitch that just left you for dead in a back alley. Raw-nerved, pure virtuosity seeps from the grunge-tainted keyboards of Patti Abbott, Fred Blosser, Hilary Davidson, Chris F. Holm, Sophie Littlefield, Andrew Nette, Keith Rawson, Kieran Shea, and Josh Stallings.

Co-edited by David Cranmer, who brought you the 2012 winner of Spinetingler's Anthology of the Year, this bold and riveting collection is a worthy continuation in the best-selling BTAP "Hardboiled" series.

Trails of the Wild

I've been working on TRAILS OF THE WILD for a few months and am happy to finally set it free. This eclectic western collection features six  short stories from the cutting edge talents of James Reasoner, Patti Abbott, Chuck Tyrell, Kieran Shea, Evan Lewis, and Matthew Pizzolato. Grounding the beautifully packaged book (thank you, dMix) is a new Cash Laramie novella by Wayne D. Dundee that gives new meaning to the moniker The Outlaw Marshal. TRAILS is available through Createspace or an eBook for the Kindle and print. By the end of the day I hope to have it in the Nook and iBooks stores. And Kobo follows in about a week.
I certainly hope you have as much enjoyment reading TRAILS as I did while putting it together. 

Patti Abbott at BEAT to a PULP

Patti Abbott is the author of more than one hundred stories online, in print journals, and in numerous anthologies. She is the author of the ebooks, MONKEY JUSTICE and HOME INVASION (Snubnose Press), and co-editor of DISCOUNT NOIR (Untreed Reads). She won a Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society for her story, “My Hero,” in 2009. Recent stories appeared in THE HUFFINGTON POST and THUGLIT. Forthcoming stories will appear in PLOTS WITH GUNS, YELLOW MAMA and MALFEASANCE OCCASIONAL. You can find links to more of her stories at http://pattinase.blogspot.com.

Patti helped put BEAT to a PULP on the map back in 2008 and I'm very happy she has returned this week with "The Big Lug."

The Reading Habits Of A Tired Traveler

I’m pooped. I’ve been in, like, twelve states in two weeks. Published one book during that time and working on publishing three others. Not complaining, just letting you know the reason I haven’t made my usual round of the blogs. We’re trekking again this weekend, and I hope to play catch up when we get to our destination. Many of you know I read several books at the same time. Odd, but that’s me. (And, hey, I still knock on wood religiously and carry a bottle of holy water just in case.)

During my travels—and whenever I can steal some time—these are a few that I’m reading. ALL THE WILD CHILDREN by Josh Stallings. Because I just bought this book, it’d normally be farther down on my TBR list, but the opening chapter hooked me good. An interesting life well-told. HOME INVASION by good friend, Patti Abbott. Do I need to say more? This novel in stories has all the dramatic power you would expect from one of the finest short story writers of our time.

I’ve been on a kick of recent reading letters written by various writers, most recently Charles Bukowski’s SCREAMS FROM THE BALCONY: SELECTED LETTERS 1960-1970 and Hunter S. Thompson’s FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICA (GONZO LETTERS).

Rounding out the list is THE KILLER IS DYING by James Sallis. I started reading this one a year back, but circumstances with day job distracted me, and the book ended up in storage. I was rummaging through boxes this week when I rediscovered it, and I’m savoring this fresh, unique novel.

So that and several ARCs—for blurbs I’m working on—is what I’m reading. What’s on your nightstand?

How to Stay Ahead by Patti Abbott

Patti Abbott returns to BEAT to a PULP with "How to Stay Ahead." You will not want to miss this one.

Next week: Eric Beetner's "Family Secrets."

Short, Sharp Interview: Patti Abbott

Another great interview over at Mr. Braill's top site.

Monkey Justice

One of the finest writers has finally released a collection. I'll be grabbing a copy asap.