Thomas Pluck's Blog, page 8

A book signing that will live in infamy…

That time has come when the year is in its last throes and lashes out with its most terrible weapons:

The holidays.

Joy, stress, grief, elation, blessed rest, anxious busyness… they all take a swing at you.

Roll with the punches, my friends. A new year is not far off.

But before it’s over, one more book event. Perhaps the biggest one I’ve ever been part of:



Lawrence Block, SJ Rozan, Lee Child, Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Santlofer, Sarah Weinman, Jill Block, and Gail Levin will attend. And somehow I crashed that party. The Mysterious Bookshop has suggests you RSVP, and if you can’t make it, you can reserve a copy signed by the attendees here.

My story is based on “Truth Comes Out of Her Well to Shame Mankind” by Jean-Léon Gérôme, a painting that has haunted me for years. It’s a slight departure for me in that it’s not a crime story, but a creepy tale that plumbs “man”kind’s deepest nightmares. I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t, there are stories by Joe Lansdale, David Morrell, Michael Connelly, Nicholas Christopher, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch to tide you over….

So I wish you a wonderful holiday season. If you like a good scare or thrill, I always recommend Cruel Yule, the ThugLit holiday anthology, which is the only place to read my Krampus tale “Letters to Santa” until LIFE DURING WARTIME comes out in January.

Watch out for snowballs! and stay out off the naughty list.

Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee Postmortem

I had a wonderful time at Murder & Mayhem in Milwaukee, and I write all about at Do Some Damage this week.

[image error]

Murder & Mayhem in Milwaukee!

I’m honored to be a guest at Murder & Mayhem in Milwaukee this year. Thanks to the Jordans and everyone involved. I was planning on attending anyway–I’ve heard so much about this great convention/party–but this makes it extra sweet. I’ll be on a panel moderated by Shaun Harris, author of The Hemingway Thief, which is a great fun read whether you love or hate Ernest, so check it out.

The Malmons will be there as will by publisher, Eric Campbell of Down & Out Books, with copies of Killing Malmon, where 30 writers (including myself) killed Dan in amusing ways, to raise money for the MS society. If you can’t make it for a signed copy, get yours here.

Of course I’ll have Bad Boy Boogie and I’ll be writing Born on the Bayou, so if you want to influence a scene that I’ll write hungover on Saturday or Sunday morning, or late in my motel Friday night, now is the time. I can’t incorporate the Bronze Fonz, as it is all set in Louisiana, but I may have Jay meet the statue of Ignatius Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces… I’m 17,500 words in and having a blast. Which I hope means you will too, when you get to read it next year.

There will be a lot of beer. I’m going to the Lakefront Brewery to see the Schlitz bottling line filmed in the opening credits of Laverne & Shirley and I will only answer to the name The Big Ragu during this trip. I do not care if Milwaukee is “trying to shed the L&S image” as I read on one website… embrace it. You are so much more, I am sure, and I will see that, but come on. Hassenpfeffer Incorporated! Bah. It’s like Jersey trying to shed The Sopranos. It’s not like Laverne and Shirl were the cast of Jersey Shore.

And I’m jealous that your city has such a great song named after it. Written in 1903 by Dan Quinn before Jerry Lee Lewis made it (more) famous… I like this version:

What Made Milwaukee Famous Made a Loser Out of Me

And in case you missed it, I went as Bluto for Halloween. S.W. Lauden went as a California Highway Patrolman, mirror shades and all. If he brings his costume, we may walk around the con looking like half of The Village People.

[image error]

 

Tagged: Halloween, Murder & Mayhem in Milwaukee

Shot as a mark of affection from his brother

This is a somewhat famous tombstone, because if you read it quickly, it reads “accidentlly shot as a mark of affection from his brother.” I took this photo in the nineties on Madeline Island in Wisconsin, hunting this grave marker down after hearing about it.

I was also lucky enough to see the island’s secret replica village in the woods, tiny concrete buildings made to look like the town at the tip of the island. I took photographs (real ones!) and they are in a box somewhere. I kept my secret for twenty years. I don’t know how to get there. There’s a fine story called The End of the Season by Trent Kollodge in the Autumn Cthulhu anthology that is set in this little fake village. If I dig up my photos, I’ll share them. They do nothing to reveal the location.

[image error]

Tagged: Madeline Island

Sunday in Asbury Park with George, and Life During Wartime

This Sunday I’m reading in Asbury Park with a gaggle of great writers:

[image error]

Yeah that’s Dennis Tafoya AND Wallace Stroby. Life goals.

All the details are above. Come join us, and then wait at the Stone Pony for Bruce to show up. I hear if you say “Jersey Freeze” three times he appears.

Also, my story collection LIFE DURING WARTIME from Down & Out Books has an official release date: January 29th! It collects stories from best-ofs and anthologies and defunct periodicals, and stories I’ve only read at Noirs at the Bar, new ones, and “The Last Detail,” which begins right after Bad Boy Boogie ends. And check out that snazzy cover:

[image error]

Tagged: Life During Wartime

Killing Malmon: 30 Authors Kill Dan to Fight MS, now available

Killing Malmon is now available!

Crime fiction fans and Crimespree Magazine reviewers Dan and Kate Malmon approached 30 writers including myself, to KILL DAN MALMON. My story is called “Russian Roulette,” and not only pits Dan against a bigmouth Jersey goombah in some of my favorite Twin Cities haunts, it’s also based on a humiliatingly funny and true story involving myself, a snazzy leather jacket, and rogue feminine hygiene products.

[image error]

Dan and Kate are great people, and Down & Out Books will publish this handsome volume and donate the proceeds to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Maybe you’ve bought Kate’s delicious cookies to help fight MS. Or sponsored a bicycle ride. Now you can read stories from myself and Dana Cameron, Hector Acosta, Eric Beetner, Sarah M. Chen, Matthew Clemens, Angel Colón, Hilary Davidson, Cory Funk, Danny Gardner, Paul J. Garth, Rob Hart, Ed Kurtz, S.W. Lauden, Russel D. McLean, Jeff Macfee, Erin Mitchell, Erica Ruth Neubauer, Brad Parks, Bryon Quertermous, Todd Robinson, Alex Segura, Jeff Shelby, Nathan Singer, Josh Stallings, Jay Stringer, R.D. Sullivan, Bryan VanMeter, Holly West, and Dave White.

I wrote my story with Josh Stallings at his mountain retreat, while he pecked away at his hilarious superhero tale, and Erika delivered life-saving medication: her delicious chili and sips of fine whisky. I got to hear several of these at the secret Noir at the Bar we held for Dan & Kate, and they are gut-busting wallops of hard-boiled crime from some of the best writers in the genre (and me). You can order it here:

KILLING MALMON edited by Dan and Kate Malmon

*note: killing Dan Malmon will NOT cure Multiple Sclerosis.

**Eating ketchup on a hot dog does not cause “tongue psychosis.”

Tagged: Anthologies, Killing Malmon

Cover Reveal for Life During Wartime

LIFE DURING WARTIME is my newest story collection, out January 29th 2018, from Down & Out Books. It collects my best stories and includes some new ones, such as the title story, and stories heard only at various readings across the country, such as “The Cronus Club,” “Gunplay,” “Deadbeat,” and others. I’ll let you know when it is available for pre-order. Most of these stories have never seen print. Some were in Kindle collections, but those are now out of print. It does NOT include “Russian Roulette,” which you can only read in the excellent collection KILLING MALMON.

Here is the cover:

[image error]

Tagged: Life During Wartime, short stories

Bouchercon 2017: Elsinore Brewery Edition

I look forward to invading Canadia for the fourth time in my life this week. Sadly I will not be reenacting the greatest film of all time, Strange Brew. But I will try!

October 11-15th, Toronto: Bouchercon. I am booked and eager to visit Toronto again. I’m moderating a panel on Friday at 8:30am, Beautiful Brutality? The panel consists of Chris Holm, Joe Clifford, E. C. Diskin, Amy Stuart, and Sara Jayne Townsend.

On Wednesday I’ll be reading at the Bouchercon Noir at the Bar hosted by Rob Brunet and Tanis Mallow, 9:00PM at Rivoli, 332 Queen Street West, Toronto: [image error]

And that’s it. I’ll have copies of Bad Boy Boogie in the book room at Sleuth of Baker Street’s table, and I’ll be carrying copies of it and Blade of Dishonor around with me if you want a signed one. And I’ll be at the bar and the lobby and various panels, when Sarah and I aren’t exploring museums and breweries and the delicious poutine mines.

Hope to see you there, eh?

If you got any Elsinore beer, bring it along.

[image error]

Tagged: Bouchercon, Canadia, Strange Brew

Noir at the Bar DC: There Can Be Only One

[image error]

This Saturday I’ll be in D.C. joining this great line-up of writers reading our most hilarious shocking tales, battling for a prized sword… a blade of “dishonor” if you will.

Join us, it is sure to be a memorable evening.

 

Tagged: DC, Noir at the Bar

Writing at the End of the World, and Where I’ll Be…

Over at SleuthSayers, I write about how we write in an age of chaos and fear. Dance Band on the Titanic, at SleuthSayers.

Had a good time at Brooklyn Book Festival, and I can’t wait for the next one. There’s just a great atmosphere there, hipsters and haredim and old-school Brooklyn weirdos all mashed together in a sea of books! I met Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn. We first corresponded in 1994 when I reviewed his noir/SF dystopia Gun, With Occasional Music on the nascent internet, and he sent me a broadsheet from Moe’s Books with a short-short story called “Hardboiled Coda” in thanks. I still keep it on my desk. But if you missed me there, here’s where I’ll be in October and November:

On October 7th at 7pm, it’s Noir at the Bar DC at the Wonderland Ballroom. Host Ed Aymar is running the show and giving away a SWORD to the audience favorite, so I’m gonna bring my A-game (A stands for “ass.” So I’ll be using my whole ass instead of half-assing it). There can be only one! What a great lineup, and a terrifying, Hieronymous Bosch inspired poster for the event.

The week after that I’ll be in Toronto for Bouchercon, from Wednesday 10/11 until Sunday. On Wednes, I’ll be reading at Noir at the Bar Bouchercon at 9pm. It’s at pin

Rivoli, 332 Queen Street West, and a bunch of great writers will be kicking off the International crime fiction convention. On Friday I’m moderating the panel Beautiful Brutality, with Chris Holm, Bryon Quertermous, E. C. Diskin, Amy Stuart, and Sara Jayne Townsend. Other than that I’ll be free to schmooze and booze with y’all! And Firecracker’s coming with me, to bring the Southern sass.

Closer to home, I’ll be reading at Noir at the Bar Asbury Park on Sunday 10/29 at 6:00PM at Capitolines bar, with Jen Conley and many others, including Dennis Tafoya and Wallace Stroby! Jersey can bring the crime…

and lastly I’ll be at Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee on November 4th. I’m honored to be one of the invited guests, and look forward to chumming it up with the mighty Jordans and the crime fiction fans of the north, eating squeaky cheese curds, wrestling a hodag, and so on.

Tagged: Bouchercon, Brooklyn Book Festival, Jonathan Lethem, SleuthSayers