Coming Soon: Fight Card (Hard Road)

If you're a fan of boxing and/or noir, head over to Amazon and check out Fight Card.  Some excellent writers like Paul Bishop, Mel Odom, and Eric Beetner have already contributed and more writers will be a part of this great series throughout the coming year (my entry: Hard Road will be out later this spring).

Check it out!

A Top 10 List of Writing Tips From Famous Writers

A Top 10 List of Writing Tips from Famous Writers…

10. Work according to the program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time! (Henry Miller)

9. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. (George Orwell)

8. Don’t sit down in the middle of the woods. If you’re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page. (Margaret Atwood)

7. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.” (Elmore Leonard)

6. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing. (Henry Miller)

5. Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it. (Neil Gaiman)

4. Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils. (Margaret Atwood)

3. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. (George Orwell)

2. Don’t overuse exclamation points!! (William Safire)

1. Leave out the parts readers tend to skip. (Elmore Leonard)

(with thanks to Streets, Bridges, Harbors for letting me steal this.....)

Death By Killing

Absolutely Kate Pilarcik - writer, editor, publisher, and promoter extraordinaire (in no particular order of skills) has listed my story Who's Got The Action as one of her Top 5 picks over at Death By Killing.  Death By Killing is Chris Rhatigan's site for reviews of short fiction - you can always find some quality stories as well as a few surprises there on a regular basis.  You can check out the link to Kate's list here, and find links to some of Chris' stories as well.

Get over there and check it out!

Q and A at Julie Morrigan's Blog

I sat down recently with Julie Morrigan for a little question and answer session about writing, Lost Exit, and the world of publishing (she makes me sound almost coherent).  You can check out the interview here.

She's also got some other Q and A's with writers and creative types like Paul D. Brazill, Chris Rhatigan, Charlie Wade, and Iain Rowan that you can check out.

More Updates About Pushcart Prizes (and Literary Whatnot)

For the second time in less than two weeks I’m honored, flattered, and humbled by a Pushcart prize nomination….

I’ve just been notified by Kate Pilarcik (publisher of "At the Bijou"), that my short story WHO’S GOT THE ACTION has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in literature (You can read it here).

What makes this one special and fun is that some of my fellow nominees are not only friends, but writers whose work I greatly admire like Joseph Grant, Anthony Venutolo,  Eric Beetner, and Sean Patrick Reardon.  It’s great to share the stage with them.

Some times you just run out of words…..I’m truly honored and flattered.

Fisticuffs, Palookas, and Noir

The November Noir feature over At The Bijou continues to roll along even as the calendar slides out of November and into December.  Up for the next couple of days is my story BEFORE THEY FALL - a tough, gritty homage to boxing and the less than glamorous aspects of the sport.  The Fisticuffs, Palookas, and Noir showbill featured Anthony Venutolo's AN UNLIKELY PARTNER last week, and will soon showcase a new short story from LA Detective and writer Paul Bishop.

You can read BEFORE THEY FALL right here.

Pushcart Prize

I'm honored and tremendously humbled that my short story, NO TEARS FOR CRYING has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  It's flattering to not only be nominated for the literary prize that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" (especially the whatnot part in which I clearly fall), but one that has recognized the work of some of my heroes like Junot Diaz, Raymond Carver, Tim O'Brien, and William Monahon.

You can read the story here

Thanks very much.

Lost Exit Book Trailer

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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November Noir Update

An update on Noirember AT THE BIJOU (as rechristened by Harry Sanderford).

Some excellent stories so far this month, including today's feature from Joe Grant.  Joe is a long time friend and as part of the AT THE BIJOU feature I got the opportunity to take a minute of his time and ask him some questions about writing, writing, and dead Russian writers.

Check it out here

November Noir

Check out At The Bijou tomorrow - my story "Love Struck Trouble" will be part of the initial November Noir lineup, along with Graham Smith, Julie Morrigan, and Chris Rhatigan- more great writers will follow all month.  It should be a great month with some killer stories from excellent writers (this will be my attempt at channeling a little Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler).

You can read At The Bijou right here.

And you can read my story here

Be sure to check back all month At The Bijou for some great stories....... 

Adopt An Indie

LOST EXIT is one of the books that will be featured during November’s “Adopt An Indie” Month.  You can check it out here

“Adopt An Indie” is about bringing authors, readers and book bloggers together to dispel some of the indie myths and show readers that “if you’re missing indie, you’re missing out.”  As part of the month-long event, readers will be able to talk to published authors and learn about their experiences while authors will be able to find out what really matters to readers and if they really care about the ‘indie/SP/small press’ labels.

You can find out more info about AAI and all the books featured!

Thanks to Donna Brown for including Lost Exit.

Fiction Daily

My story "CANDY'S SMILE" from A Twist Of Noir was featured in yesterday's Fiction Daily in the genre section (thanks to Paul D. Brazill for flagging that for me).  If you haven't yet checked it out, you can find this story as well as some other great fiction at:

http://fictiondaily.org/

FictionDaily

fictiondaily.org

Good Stuff To Read In Places You Wouldn't Normally Look

COMING SOON - Nine In The Morning

NEWEST VERSION......would look a little better if you could see the outline of the book and not just an image an words against a white background.....

Candy's Smile

I have a new story: CANDY"S SMILE up at A Twist of Noir as part of Christopher Grant's 600-700 word challenge (my first story was NO TEARS FOR CRYING).  You can check it out at the following link:

http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/2011/09/twist-of-noir-683-kevin-michaels.html

There are also some excellent stories from Christopher Grant, Matthew McBride, Richard Godwin, and Albert Tucher to check out while you're there.

New Reviews For Lost Exit

A couple of excellent new reviews for LOST EXIT at both Amazon and Goodreads from Paul Bishop (author and one of the stars of ABC's Take The Money And Run) and Jeff Dawson.  "Basketball noir" and "A compelling read" that is "brutally honest and thought provoking."

10-60

Over the past few years I’ve written stories about 9/11 and its impact, especially on those of us who lost friends, neighbors, and people we knew.  With the 10^th anniversary of the attacks this Sunday I’m re-running one of my stories written about that day (part of the collection: THINGS WE LOST ON TUESDAY ).

Hardly a day passes that I don’t think about that day, friends who are no longer here, and what so many have sacrificed and lost since then.

          It looked like snow falling from the buildings but in reality it was raining flesh; the streets were covered in it as Fire Fighter Michael Stone rushed into the South Tower and headed up the B stairs with five others from Ladder 10/Engine 10.  Over his handie-walkie radio Stone could hear “MAYDAY’S” as they joined other fire fighters and climbed the stairs, pushing past single file lines of evacuees streaming down from the lower floors.  Everyone was reasonably calm considering the chaos inside the building although Stone was scared about what he would be facing – when he had entered the Tower it looked like at least fifteen floors were burning and he had never seen a fire that big; Stone didn’t know how they would ever get it under control.  Around the twenty-first floor they came upon a pregnant woman taking the stairs one step at a time and one of the Lieutenants from Engine 21 told Stone to get her down while the rest of Ladder 10 kept going up.  Stone had the woman wrap her arms around his neck so it was easier to carry her; there was a mixture of fear and panic in her face and he gently reassured her that everything would be okay.  He thought of his own wife, due with their first child in a few weeks, and wished he had called her before entering the building to let her know everything was alright so she wouldn’t worry.

MY HOLOCAUST

Nick Triplow has a new site: STATUS STORIES (which features short fiction in 100 words or less).  One of my stories: My Holocaust, is up there - you can also check it out below:

My Holocaust

My father left when I was two – just walked out the front door and never looked back.  I grew up in a world suddenly different than the one my friends shared, shaped by something that had been out of my control, but carrying a pain that stayed with me forever.  I spent too many years emotionally crippled, chasing the shadows of ghosts I hoped could fill his space. 
I could never erase the longing.
The emptiness lasted a lifetime.
I wish I could explain to my own children why I left their mother, but those words never come out right.

SOUVENIRS

My newest story: SOUVENIRS is up this week at Jeanette Cheezum's CAVALCADEOFSTARS.  You can check it out at:

http://cavalcadeofstars.wordpress.com/

Thanks to Jeanette and her readers for debuting this story.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

My latest post/rant about the WSJ, publishing, and noted author and literary giant from The Jersey Shore - Snooki is up at SLIDING DOWN THE RAZOR'S EDGE.  You can check it out at:

http://slidingdowntherazorsedge.blogspot.com

Lost Exit Climbing The Amazon Best Seller Charts

Not a misprint .....as of today, LOST EXIT is now #43 on Amazon's list of Best Selling Sports Fiction, ahead of books by greats like Dan Jenkins, Frank Deford, Peter Gent, and Don deLillo.  It comes as a little bit of a surprise since I never considered LOST EXIT much of a sports book, even though the central theme revolves around basketball.  For me it is more about a troubled kid coming of age, with a few mobsters, drugs, and dead bodies thrown in for good measure, along with a little sex and some more violence added to round out the good, wholesome fun......but I'm excited about the book's climb up the charts.