Erik Arneson's Blog, page 10

Noir at the Bar in Harrisburg – Tonight! (May 20)

[image error]Noir at the Bar returns to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, tonight!

Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Sturges Speakeasy, 400 Forster Street. Admission is free, the restaurant serves great food and great beer, and there will be book giveaways. So join us!

Join us for a great lineup (complete bios available here) that includes:

Owen Laukkanen, author of the brand new maritime adventure thriller Gale Force (which has been praised by the likes of Clive Cussler and Lee Child), along with six critica...

17 Games You Can Play Right Now!

[image error]For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of board games. A few of my current favorites are Ticket to Ride (especially the Pennsylvania map), Betrayal at House on the Hill (can’t wait for the upcoming Betrayal Legacy), Pandemic (and its offspring), and Downforce (a wonderful auto racing game).

But there are times when you find yourself stuck somewhere without any games. No cards. No dice. Not even a coin to flip.

That’s why I put together the ebook 17 Games You Can Play Right Now!.

As lo...

Huntingdon County Library – This Saturday (11/4)

Four mystery authors will be at the Huntingdon County Library in Huntingdon, PA, this Saturday (Nov. 4, 2017) at 11 a.m. Please join us if you can!

The lineup includes Jane Kelly, Don Helin, Susan Thibadeau, and me. We’ll be talking about “The Long and the Short of Mystery” — discussing what goes into writing both novels and short stories.

The library is located at 330 Penn St., Huntingdon, PA. The event, organized by Mystery Writers of America, is free and open to the public. I hope to see y...

Noir at the Bar Crawl: May 19-21 (Richmond, DC, Baltimore)

The first-ever Noir at the Bar Crawl is taking place in Richmond, Washington, DC, and Baltimore on May 19-21. Click on the flyer below for all the details:

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All the events are free, feature great authors reading great stories, and there’s a good chance you might win a book.

Noir at the Bar is always a great time, and I’ll be reading a story on Sunday, May 21, in Baltimore. Hope to see you there!

Filed under: Angel Colón, Anjili Babbar, Damien Angelica Walters, Louis Bayard, Matthew Iden, Meg O...

Baylee Schultz Wins Second James & Jeanne Arneson Memorial Scholarship

Baylee Schultz, a student at Wilmot High School in South Dakota, is the winner of the second annual James & Jeanne Arneson Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to graduates of Wilmot High School who display an aptitude in creative writing by authoring a short story.

Baylee’s story, “The Market,” was chosen as the winner by novelist Merry Jones and the scholarship selection committee.

“The Market” opens with a compelling and disquieting question — “Have you ever wanted to just fall...

Pennsylvania Authors at Muhlenberg Community Library

[image error]On Saturday, I had a great time talking about mysteries and crime fiction with a great group of Pennsylvania authors at Muhlenberg Community Library in Berks County.

Many thanks to the library for hosting (left to right in the photo) Jon McGoran, Don Helin, Nancy A. Hughes, organizer Jane Kelly, and me. We had a lot of fun!

Filed under: Don Helin, Jane Kelly, Jon McGoran, Libraries, Nancy A. Hughes

Best Wishes to Bob McGinn

Since 1984, Bob McGinn has covered the Green Bay Packers. First for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, then for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

I’ve been reading Bob’s work regularly since the Internet first gave me access to the Journal-Sentinel. His articles and columns are among the very best sportswriting you’ll ever read. Heck, they’re among the very best writing, period. His day-after-the-game stories are always the best, his in-depth game analyses later in the week are uniformly outstanding,...

New Episodes of the Word Crimes Podcast

[image error]Season 4 of the Title 18: Word Crimes podcast is underway!

We’re three episodes in, and all three have featured an outstanding new reader, Mary Wilson, a reporter and producer at Slate’s The Gist.

So far, Mary has read “Thoroughly Murdered Millie” by April Kelly, “Knockout” by Eryk Pruitt, and “A Nice Pair of Guns” by Nick Kolakowski.

We have a lot more great crime fiction lined up this season, including stories by Lawrence Block, James Grady, Lyndsay Faye, and many more! I’m completely pumpe...

Interviewed by the Lebanon Daily News

Years ago… well, decades ago, I was a reporter for the Lebanon (PA) Daily News. I covered the courthouse and politics and whatever else I was assigned. (My boss, editor Paul Baker, once had to remind me — strongly remind me — that my job included covering stories that were somewhat less interesting than a murder trial. He was, needless to say, correct.)

So I’m particularly excited to be interviewed in the LDN about my crime writing.

I talked to Les Stewart — a reporter straight out of Centra...

Interviewed in The Interrogation Room

[image error]Tom Leins recently interviewed me in his Interrogation Room about my contribution to the anthology WAITING TO BE FORGOTTEN: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak Inspired by The Replacements.

You can read the interview here.

The collection, published by Gutter Books and edited by Jay Stringer, includes 25 stories by David Accampo, Hailey Ardell, Gorman Bechard, Eric Beetner, Kristi Belcamino, Jerry Bloomfield, William Boyle, Angel Luis Colón, Jen Conley, Rory Costello, Josh Flanagan, Ed Kurtz, S.W....