Patrick Whitehurst's Blog, page 5

Murder and Mayhem in Tucson in Top 21 for 2021

Thank you to Punk Noir Magazine and Stephen J. Golds for ranking “Murder & Mayhem in Tucson” as one of their top 21 picks for 2021! If you haven’t checked out Punk Noir yet, be sure to take a look at their content here!

Read the full Top 21 of 21 here! And click here to get your copy of Murder & Mayhem in Tucson!

REVIEW AND INTERVIEW: Author Dietrich Kalteis on Under an Outlaw Moon

There are two writers I look forward to reading every year: Stephen King and Dietrich Kalteis.

Like King, Dietrich is a writer readers can count on to produce compelling stories on a regular basis. His intense latest thriller, like many of his prior novels, takes us back to an era when life wasn’t as peachy. In “Under an Outlaw Moon” readers are introduced to Bennie and Stella, a couple of lovebirds from the 1930s, who are destined to go down in history. Not as lovebirds, however, but as outlaws.

Outlaw Moon is based on real life couple Bennie and Stella Mae Dickson, semi-famous bank robbers of the Depression-era, and their ill-conceived quest for a better life, one that pits them against the relentless J. Edgar Hoover and the F.B.I.

I got a chance to talk with Dietrich about the book. Read the interview below!

WHITEHURST: First off, congratulations on “Under an Outlaw Moon.” Is this project how you spent the pandemic? And what else kept you busy during that time?

KALTEIS: Thank you, Patrick.

I came upon the story of Bennie and Stella Dickson while doing research for Call Down the Thunder. That was two years before the pandemic, but by the time I finished that novel and the one after it, Cradle of the Deep, we were already in lockdown as I started the first draft.

I’ve kept busy writing. When I’m not doing that, I’m going for long walks, cooking, reading a lot, watching films, and when I get in the mood, I paint or play guitar.

WHITEHURST: Your novel is based on real life criminals Bennie and Stella Mae Dickson, bank robbers from the Depression-era. What led you to these two?

KALTEIS: What struck me about their story, Stella had just turned sixteen when they got married and robbed two banks. The scores weren’t huge, and they pulled them off without anyone getting hurt, yet they quickly found themselves at the top of the FBI’s most-wanted list, becoming the focus of a nationwide manhunt — newlyweds wanted dead or alive. Their story fascinated me.

WHITEHURST: Bennie and Stella Mae meet for the first time in a roller rink, and this is where we meet them in the opening pages of Outlaw Moon. What instinct told you to begin the book here?

KALTEIS: I wanted the reader to get to know them as they meet and fall for each other. I think Bennie and Stella become likable in this scene, and I hope the reader will be drawn in as the sparks fly between them.

Photo/Andrea Kalteis

WHITEHURST: A lot of readers, and writers, like to know how an idea begins. What burst of inspiration led to Under an Outlaw Moon?

KALTEIS: When I read a 1938 newspaper article that introduced me to them, I saw a story of the underdog, and as I dug some more, I saw them as misunderstood and treated unjustly.

WHITEHURST: You once told me you listen to music to block out the white noise while you write. Was there a soundtrack for this book?

KALTEIS: There’s always music, and its whatever works with the rhythm of the story I’m writing on any particular day. There’s no set playlist, I just put on whatever feels right in the moment.

WHITEHURST: When you talk about Outlaw Moon, how do you describe it conversationally?

KALTEIS: Side note: Some years back I was asked by another writer what my first novel was about, and I found myself tongue-tied and stammering, like a deer in headlights, stumbling as I tried to explain what the story was about. Since then, I’ve always had a pitch ready.

For this one it’s: Under an Outlaw Moon follows the true story of Bennie and Stella Mae Dickson. He’s reckless and she’s an outsider longing to fit in. When they pull off a bank robbery to celebrate her sixteenth birthday, their lives take a turn that they never could have imagined.

WHITEHURST: Where can readers get their hands on the book? And is there an audiobook?

KALTEIS: Readers can find the book in print or digital formats at the ECW Press website here, through Amazon, or at a favorite bookstore. And yes, there’s an audiobook version coming soon via ECW Audiobooks here.

WHITEHURST: With many restrictions being lifted across the globe, will there be any signings or in-person events in your future?

KALTEIS: For now, certain restrictions remain in place here, so all events will be online. As soon as they lift, I’ll be looking forward to signings and live events. Events and updates will be posted on my website here.

WHITEHURST: Are you working on anything new?

KALTEIS: I finished final edits for Nobody from Somewhere, a crime novel set to be released by ECW Press next June.

Here’s the pitch: When long retired cop, Fitch Henry Haut, sees two men forcing a runaway girl into their vehicle, he steps in and gets the upper hand. He and the girl escape in his broken-down Winnebago, and as Fitch listens to her story, he realizes the men will come after them. A bond forms as he and the girl struggle to escape out of town. Anyone interested can find out more on ECW’s website here.

Visit Dietrich’s website here.

Order Under an Outlaw Moon here.

Christmas horror in December

Blood Rites Horror, in honor of their first anthology, is putting out a special edition of “Bitter Chills” this holiday season. Not only will it feature my original horror story, “The Violent Snow,” but an all-new sequel written just for this new holiday edition titled, “The Cruel Heat.” Each story in this special holiday edition will come with an all-new illustration as well.

Look for the new holiday edition on December 5th, in hardback, soft cover, and ebook! The original print and ebook version can be found here.

Sam the Thug hits double digits

My crime fiction character, Sam the Thug, with a last name I’ve forgotten, celebrated a milestone this October when his tenth short adventure appeared in Guilty Crime Story Flash. It’s great to immediately connect with a character and have that character connect with readers! I love writing someone with rough edges, a worn-down soul, and only a few morals. For Sam, murder is out of the question. As for other crimes, it all depends. Usually it depends on whether his clients can afford his standard fee of two grand.

Sam is a former San Francisco reporter who turned to a life of crime to pay the skyrocketing cost of living in the city. He’s got a couple mouths to feed besides his own, his daughter “Little Sam” and their black cat Satan. The latter Sam acquired in the short story “Stuffing for a Sacrifice,” which appeared December 2020 in Pulp Modern Flash. Sam first appeared in 2019’s Shotgun Honey story, “Cosplayers Shouldn’t Kill.”

Below is a list of where you can read and/or purchase Sam’s complete tales, and look for Sam’s eleventh adventure coming soon. And, perhaps, a novel length adventure in the years to come.

“Cosplayers Shouldn’t Kill” First appearance FREE here “Kerouac’s Second Scroll” Second appearance PURCHASE here “The Man with Moist Lips” Third appearance FREE here “Stuffing for a Sacrifice” Fourth Appearance FREE here “Art Model Noir” Fifth appearance PURCHASE here  “Jimi’s Dime Bag” Sixth appearance PURCHASE here “Write on me, Sam” Seventh appearance FREE here “A Late-Night Touch of Death” Eighth appearance FREE here “The Palm Reader of Haight Street: A Halloween Tale” Ninth appearance FREE here “The Other Sam” Tenth appearance FREE here

The Other Sam up at Guilty Crime Story Flash

Sam shops for his daughter’s Halloween costume, but ends up dodging bullets in my latest Sam the Thug short story. Read it here for free at Guilty Crime Story Flash!

Murder & Mayhem in the news

Thanks to KOLD News and Tucson Local Media for featuring my latest nonfiction book, “Murder & Mayhem in Tucson.” And also thank you to Barnes and Noble at the Foothills Mall for having me over for a book signing last week. Look below for a few pics and click here to read the story on my latest book in Tucson Local Media.

Sam the Thug meets a palm reader

What happens when Sam the Thug meets Madam Halo in San Francisco’s Haight Street on Halloween?

Find out in “The Palm Reader of Haight Street: A Halloween Tale” – up now from the fine folks at Punk Noir Magazine.

Read the story free here and happy Halloween!

Monterey Noir available in audiobook

Book one of the Barker Mysteries, “Monterey Noir,” is now available in audiobook from Wordwooze Publishing . Narrator Theo Holland does an outstanding job reading Barker’s first adventures! Click here for the Audible copy!

Book Blurb:

A homeless hero with the crime-solving skills of Sherlock Holmes.

Not every hero lives in a mansion or works from a smoky, hard-boiled office. Enter Barker, a mysterious man with no memory of his past. Ferociously handsome and acutely observant, Barker makes his home under the soggy planks of Old Fisherman’s Wharf along California’s foggy Central Coast. His closest friends are an assortment of stray dogs, ranging from a large Rottweiler to a tiny Shih-Tzu, who live with him. Adventure and intrigue have an uncanny knack for crossing Barker’s path.

In this first entry of the series; Bernie, Barker’s sole human friend, bestows his makeshift home upon the man and his dogs just before dropping dead. It’s up to Barker to honor Bernie’s last wish, to atone for his sins, which doesn’t prove to be an easy task. Meanwhile, forces are at work in other parts of the fog-swept city, which will lead the homeless detective and his dogs to a deadly confrontation in the heart of Monterey Bay itself. ©2020 Deerstalker Editions (P) 2021 Wordwooze Publishing

Murder & Mayhem in Tucson is available now

“Murder & Mayhem in Tucson” is now available online everywhere and throughout the southwest. Featuring true crime and tragedies that helped shape the history of Arizona’s second-largest city, MMT is a thrilling addition to anyone’s nonfiction library! Special thanks to author Tom Pitts for writing the foreword.

Buy from Antigone Books here.

Barnes and Noble here.

Amazon here.

And don’t forget I’ll be doing a signing on Saturday, October 9th, at the Barnes and Noble at the Tucson Foothills Mall location on the west side of town from 1 to 3 p.m. Details here.

Watch the book trailer below:

Murder and Mayhem in Tucson reviewed in Punk Noir

My fifth nonfiction book, “Murder & Mayhem in Tucson,” will be available everywhere Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Punk Noir Magazine had a few nice words to say about the new book, which features tales of death and destruction of Tucson, Arizona, and the surrounding area. Read their review here!

Copies for the book can be found locally at Antigone Books in downtown Tucson, Barnes and Noble locations in Tucson and beyond, as well as online here.

I’ll be signing books, in person, at the west side Barnes & Noble location from 1-3 p.m. October 9th. Learn more here.