Name Your Own Price for Crime Fiction E-Books
I've been going on about the crime fiction e-book bundle at Groupees.com that runs through July 31. It lets you name your own price for fiction from 27 authors, with 20% of sales going to the National Kidney Foundation. It’s a stellar collection of crime novels, short stories and poetry.
Oh, and my stuff, too.
That’s a joke. A writer joke. I won’t feel bad if I can’t hear the laughter from inside my bomb-proof author bunker.
That’s because I feel so good about this Groupees bundle. It marks the first time the site has offered e-books. It was my privilege to help assemble the authors.
Vincent Zandri is my hero. While most of us author folk can only daydream about it, he’s out there writing hit crime novels, trotting the globe as a freelance reporter and hitting the trout stream in between. That’s pure Hemingway right there.
After reading Dana King’s two novels (the first of which is in the Groupees bundle), I knew I wouldn’t miss numbers three, four and beyond. He has a tone reminiscent of ‘70s mob movies. There’s a lyricism to his writing I hope to capture some day. I hope he hurries up with those other novels.
McDroll is the pseudonym for Fiona Johnson, Scottish crime author. If a small town Midwestern guy like me can get lost in her Scottish crime writing, then anyone anywhere can do the same. Short stories in her hands are like grenades. They look all quiet and unassuming at first. Then they blow you away.
I admire Laura Roberts for many reasons. She's the only sex writer I'll admit to having in my e-reader. Her sense of humor and journalism background give me plenty of reasons to keep reading her stuff. There's a world-weariness just underneath her prose. Probably from her time spent as a sex columnist in Montreal. I suspect most of her fiction isn't all that far from reality, and that makes it all the more fun.
I couldn’t forget Black Heart Magazine. It’s not a crime fiction publication, but it did release a digital noir issue in 2011. It’s a wonder it doesn’t just switch over. The issue packed two dozen of the best indie crime authors into its pages. The chemical reaction of that much talent in one spot should’ve exploded in the face of the mad scientist who put it together. It’s that good.
In addition to getting these fine folks together, the bundle also carries personal meaning to me. As you know, a portion of the sales will be donated to the National Kidney Foundation. What you may not know is I received a kidney transplant in 2010. It saved my life and kept me writing.
It’s my mission to use my writing talents to help others who aren’t as lucky as me. People die every day waiting for organs. Your donation to the National Kidney Foundation will be used to work toward that never happening again.
If all this isn’t reason enough to enjoy this bundle, then I don’t know what else I can do. Maybe next time the top donors will win a singing telegram from the authors, a cappella-style.
Trust me. You don’t want that.
Click here to check out the Groupees.com bundle while there's still time.
