Short Story Podcast from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Super busy, but still need a little mystery in your life?

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine has a podcast of my short story, Taking Care, available on their website. They also have other free stories available by podcast on their site. Perfect to listen while you sneak in a walk, or finally get that closet cleaned. 

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine also recently announced that they are launching a bigger podcast beyond the website. So stay tuned for more great mystery shorts. 

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Podcast of "Taking Care"

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine has released a podcast of "Taking Care," one of my short stories.  It's a half-hour of mayhem, murder, and fun. I had the opportunity to record the story with Alfred Hitchcock's Editor, Linda Landrigan, and we had a great time.  Just click on the link below to hear the story...

Fault Lines Editor Margaret Lucke Answers Our Questions

Editor and author, Margaret Lucke joins us today to talk about Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers, a short story anthology published by the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime. She is the author of three mystery novels: A Relative Stranger (nominated for an Anthony Award), House of Whispers, and Snow Angel. She has taught writing classes for more than 20 years, and she has published two how-to books on the craft of writing.

Margaret will be appearing at the Book Passage bookstore this Sunday at 4pm on a panel called "A is for Anthology: the Writing and Publishing of Short Stories." Also appearing on the panel are Robin C. Stuart, Deborah Lacy, JJ Lamb, and Judith Janeway. 

What do you want to tell readers about the anthology? What can they expect when reading it?

Sisters in Crime NorCal has long had a goal of producing an anthology to showcase its talented members, and we’re very excited to see it become a reality. Fault Lines contains 19 stories of crime, justice, guilt, and innocence. There is plenty of suspense, a touch of humor, and fascinating characters that readers will be glad to meet. Some of the stories are by well-established writers, while others are new voices. If you’re a fan of crime fiction, Fault Lines has stories you’re sure to enjoy.

Not only are you the editor of the anthology, but you also have a story in it. How did it feel to be both a writer and an editor? Was switching hats hard?

While this is the first anthology I’ve edited, I have a lot of experience as both a writer and an editor. Both of those functions are necessary to produce the best possible story. They require different kinds of skill and attention, they are two sides of the same creative coin. So when I go from one to the other, I don’t think of it as switching hats so much as flipping one hat inside out.

In this case, I wrote my story, “Two Hundred Miles,” well before the editing process for the anthology began. Reading it during the editing phase was almost like reading someone else’s tale. But at that point I had other people read it with their sharp editorial eyes.

What was your biggest challenge with this anthology?

Wrangling all of the many tasks and details. In addition to being the editor, I’m the chief project wrangler, coordinating the entire project, from chairing the first planning meetings to arranging for some of the publicity. SinC NorCal choose to act as its own publisher, and that has meant become familiar with the demands and techniques of indie publishing. 

But I did not do it alone. One of the most rewarding aspects has been working with a wonderful team of talented and enthusiastic people—our submissions manager, the selection panel, the proofreaders, the interior designer, the cover coordinator, and many more who contributed their efforts and ideas.

What was the most fun?

Celebrating the publication of the book! We introduced Fault Lines at Left Coast Crime in Vancouver in March and had a festive book launch party last month at Borderlands Books in San Francisco. It was very exciting to finally hold a copy in my hand after all of the hard work.

But much of that work was fun too. I enjoy editing and helping authors achieve their stories’ full potential. And working with the team—the brainstorming, the idea exchange, all of the assistance, support, and friendship we gave each other: that was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the project.

Where did you get the idea for the Fault Lines theme?

It seemed like a natural theme for a Northern California anthology, and it was one of the first decisions that the planning team made. The most obvious reference is to the earthquakes and seismic activity and susceptibility that many people associate with our region. But the phrase Fault Lines has various meanings and nuances, and a writer’s imagination could take it in many directions. These stories explore the faults that exist not just in the earth but in people—the flaws and failings that lead us to commit grievous acts against someone else, and the guilt and culpability we bear. They also examine the lines that we draw to connect clues, expose secrets, establish bonds, and lead us to justice.

What short story writers inspire your work?

Oh, so many! A well-crafted short story is a small treasure. They make different demands on a writer than a novel does, and I admire writers who can do them well. In terms of mystery and crime stories I’ll mention the one of the classics—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. For a more contemporary short story master, there’s Lawrence Block. And of course all of the authors in Fault Lines.

What is the best thing that has happened to you as a result of your writing?

It’s impossible to single out one best thing. Here are a few things that I love about being a writer:

* The spark and excitement when a new idea takes hold.

* Getting to know my characters as they gradually reveal themselves to me.

* Coming up with just the right plot twist.

* Those (rare) days when the writing goes so well that time flies and dinnertime arrives five minutes after breakfast is over.

* The many interesting experiences I’ve had while doing research and going to conferences.

* Friendships I’ve developed with fellow writers.

* Hearing a reader say, “I loved your book.”

What are you working on now?

I’m putting the final touches on House of Desire, a follow-up to my haunted house mystery, House of Whispers. While attending a fundraising party in a grand San Francisco Victorian, reluctant psychic Claire Scanlan runs into a mysterious young woman in old-fashioned garb whom no one else can see. When a murder occurs in the mansion, the invisible girl—a time-traveling “soiled dove” from the 1890s—is the only witness. To find her and solve the crime, Claire must risk a perilous journey into the past from which she may never return. The book will come out later this year.

I’m also putting together a series of handbooks of fiction craft, based on the writing classes I teach. The first one, on creating characters, is almost ready to go.

Starting the New Year with Mystery Playground

Happy 2019! I thought I'd start the New Year off right and talk about a change we're making to Mystery Playground this year. In addition to Kerry Hammond and me (Deborah Lacy), we've added a new regular blogger & reviewer, TK Starr. She'll be joining us starting later in the month, so look out for her byline. Sharon Long, Pat Hernas and Janet Kuchler will continue to be on assignment. 

Of course, we'll still be doing Drinks with Reads on Fridays and covering our favorite authors, TV shows, mysteries, thrillers, short stories and books from all sides. We'll be adding more coverage on audio books, different TV shows, and speakeasies around the country.

You can always find Mystery Playground on Twitter @mysteryplaygrnd and on Facebook. You can also follow the blog by clicking the link on the upper right-hand corner of this webpage. 

Now that we've gotten some of the business sorted, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite mystery and book-related gifts that I received this holiday season. 

First off is The 2018 Best American Mystery Stories, edited by Louise Penny and stories curated by Series Editor, Otto Penzler, and the Book Lovers Candle by Frostbeard Studios.

I enjoy writing short stories and it's my dream to be selected for this anthology - BUT my dream will have to wait. None of my stories were chosen, but a friend of Mystery Playground -- Paul Marks -- did have his excellent story "Winward" selected. And another friend, John M. Floyd, had his excellent story "Gun Work" selected. Their stories join those of Joyce Carol Oates, Lee Child, Charlaine Harris, James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, and others. It's an awesome anthology and if you get a chance, take a read. 

Kerry Hammond, a good friend, short story writer, and fellow MP blogger, gave me this ceramic vase shaped like a book. It's so cute that I decided to put it on my desk for pens so I can see it every day. The box said there were other book vases and sizes, but mine is clearly the best. 

Ok, I may have bought the Barnes & Noble Happy Socks with books all over them for myself, but you deserve to know that these socks exist, so I'm including it. 

I also received this mystery novel called the 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. It's different than anything I've read. Here's the description from the back of the book:

There are three rules of Blackheath House:

1. Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.
2. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.
3. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

Understood? Then let's begin... Evelyn Hardcastle will die. She will die every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. Some of his hosts are helpful, and others only operate on a need to know basis.

I've just started this book, so I'll let you know what I think some future Monday. The excellent bookmark that you see with it also came from Kerry Hammond. 

Just a note to authors:

If you are an author and have a traditionally published book that you'd like one of us to review or your an author who'd like to guest on Drinks with Reads, the best way to contact us is by sending a message to us on the Mystery Playground Facebook page. 

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2019! 

Deborah Lacy

Bunker Hill Blues – And the Howard Hamm Sazerac

Paul D. Marks is the author of the Shamus Award-Winning mystery-thriller White Heat. Publishers Weekly calls White Heat a “taut crime yarn.” His story Ghosts of Bunker Hill (EQMM Dec. 2016) was voted #1 in the 2016 Ellery Queen Readers Poll. Howling at the Moon (EQMM Nov. 2014) was short-listed for both the 2015 Anthony and Macavity Awards. Midwest Review calls his novella Vortex “…a nonstop staccato action noir,” (Drinks with Reads: February, 2016: http://www.mysteryplayground.net/2016/02/vortex-and-green-absinthe-fairy.html ). Marks’ story Windward, from the Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea anthology, has been selected for the 2018 Best American Mystery Stories (fall 2018), edited by Louise Penny & Otto Penzler.

White Heat is being reissued by Down & Out Book on May 21, 2018 and is available for pre-order now on Amazon and D&O’s website. Its sequel, Broken Windows, will be released in fall, 2018.

Howard Hamm didn’t believe in ghosts. At least that’s what he’d been telling himself ever since he watched Poltergeist as a kid. On the other hand, if there are no such thing as ghosts or vampires or werewolves, his kid self would ask, why do we have words for them? He was still asking.

That’s how my story Bunker Hill Blues (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2017) opens. It’s the second story to appear in the Howard Hamm series. The first was Ghosts of Bunker Hill (Ellery Queen Dec. 2016). 

Bunker Hill was L.A.’s first wealthy residential neighborhood, right near downtown. It was filled with glorious Victorian mansions, as well as offices, storefronts, hotels, etc. After World War I the swells moved west and the neighborhood got run down and became housing for poor people. It wasn’t shiny enough for the Powers That Be, who wanted to build up and refurbish downtown. Out with the old, the poor, the lonely, in with the new, the young, the hip. The wealthy.

So, in the late 1950s and ’60s, the Powers decided to get rid of the “blight” and modernize downtown. To that end, they began a massive redevelopment of the area, including leveling or flattening some of the hills, changing street configurations, removing and demolishing houses and other buildings. So by the late 1960s/early ’70s it was all torn down and redeveloped and progress was achieved. 

By the time Raymond Chandler, who had lived there a couple of different times in his life, was writing about it he was already calling it “shabby town”. In The High Window (1942), he said:

Bunker Hill is old town, lost town, shabby town, crook town. Once, very long ago, it was the choice residential district of the city, and there are still standing a few of the jigsaw Gothic mansions with wide porches and walls covered with round-end shingles and full corner bay windows with spindle turrets. They are all rooming houses now, their parquetry floors are scratched and worn through the once glossy finish and the wide sweeping staircases are dark with time and with cheap varnish laid on over generations of dirt. In the tall rooms haggard landladies bicker with shifty tenants. On the wide cool front porches, reaching their cracked shoes into the sun, and staring at nothing, sit the old men with faces like lost battles.

 Raymond Chandler, The High Window

Several of the grand Victorian mansions were moved to Carroll Avenue in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of L.A. near Echo Park (and Echo Park Lake), not all that far from downtown. 

Through a series of circumstances in Ghosts of Bunker Hill, P.I. Howard Hamm finds himself living in one of these houses, while still maintaining his high-tech, high-rise apartment on the “new” Bunker Hill…maybe even in the exact spot his current house once lived. In that story, Howard “inherits” one of these old Victorians when his friend, the house’s owner, is murdered on the front porch and it falls into his hands.  He hadn’t planned on living there. 

In Bunker Hill Blues, a woman shows up on Howard’s doorstep – she had lived in his house as a child, when the house was still on Bunker Hill. She asks if she can tour her old home. Her visit leads to the uncovering of long-buried family secrets and murder. And it solves the mystery of the two sets of initials carved on the floor in the corner of Howard’s home office, her former playroom. These events call for a drink:

An aura of emptiness filled the house after Bowen left. Howard poured single malt into a lead crystal snifter. Sat in the Victorian parlor chair in the study, sipped slowly. The liquid burned his throat, but soon the liquor crawled its way through his body, warming him from the inside out. He could still smell Bowen’s perfume wafting through the house. Did cops wear perfume on the job?
He finished the glass, poured another. Leaned his head back against the chair. The room seemed to spin.
―Paul D. Marks, Bunker Hill Blues

John Fante, one of my favorite writers, best known for Ask the Dust, also lived in and wrote about Bunker Hill:

The old folk from Indiana and Iowa and Illinois, from Boston and Kansas City and Des Moines, they sold their homes and their stores, and they came here by train and by automobile to the land of sunshine, to die in the sun, with just enough money to live until the sun killed them, tore themselves out by the roots in their last days, deserted the smug prosperity of Kansas City and Chicago and Peoria to find a place in the sun. And when they got here they found that other and greater thieves had already taken possession, that even the sun belonged to the others; Smith and Jones and Parker, druggist, banker, baker, dust of Chicago and Cincinnati and Cleveland on their shoes, doomed to die in the sun, a few dollars in the bank, enough to subscribe to the Los Angeles Times, enough to keep alive the illusion that this was paradise, that their little papier-mâché homes were castles.―John Fante, Ask the Dust

In the context of my Bunker Hill/Howard Hamm stories the word ghosts has multiple meanings: ghosts of the past, ghosts of who we were and what we might be and in the case of Bunker Hill Blues the ghosts of the children that once lived in Howard’s house a long time ago. 

Howard might not have believed in ghosts, but they were everywhere if you knew where to look for them: There are more things in heaven and earth, and all that jazz. Not creatures in white sheets like Casper, not malevolent apparitions like in Poltergeist. But ghosts of the past, ghosts of who we were and who we thought we wanted to be. Ghosts of our lost dreams. In some ways those ghosts are always gaining on us, aren’t they?Bunker Hill Blues

I like writing the Howard Hamm stories for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is my love for L.A. and its history. I feel very lucky that I could explore Bunker Hill with a friend before it was totally razed. We did our own little archaeological expedition of several of the houses and I even "borrowed" the top of a newel post from the long and winding interior stairway in one of those houses. A true relic of L.A.’s past, it’s a prized possession.

And Bunker Hill is where the famous Angels Flight funicular railway is. As a kid, I got to ride the original Angels Flight, before it was moved down the road, which was a thrill then and still is in memory. 

I stood at the bottom of the hill, staring up at Angels Flight, the famous little funicular railway in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles, that brought people from Hill Street up to Olive. I desperately wanted to ride those rails up to the top. But now the two twin orange and black cars were permanently moored in the middle, suspended in mid-air, ghosts from another time.―Paul D. Marks, Ghosts of Bunker Hill

***

Howard tends to drink single malt Scotch. But I thought I’d jazz it up a little so he can drink his own version of a Sazerac, thus the:

Howard Hamm Sazerac

The Howard Hamm Sazerac is a variation on the standard Sazerac, which is made with cognac or rye whiskey. Since Howard likes single malt Scotch, the HH is made with that instead of either of the other two.

Tools:

Old-Fashioned Glass

Mixing glass

Barspoon

Strainer

Ingredients:

• 1 sugar cube
• Water
• 1 1/2 ounces single malt Scotch (such as Glenlivet or Lagavulin)
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• Ice
• 1 teaspoon or barspoon of absinthe
• Lemon peel or slices

Directions:

Chill the Old-Fashioned glass by rinsing it in water and placing it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Place a sugar cube in the mixing glass and add enough water to moisten. Mash sugar cube with the barspoon until dissolved.

Add Scotch, bitters and ice to the mixing glass and stir. Set aside.

Remove Old-Fashioned glass from the freezer and add one teaspoon of absinthe. Roll the absinthe around and bathe the inside of the glass. Pour out the excess absinthe.

Strain the contents of the mixing glass into the Old-Fashioned glass

Rub the rim of the glass with the lemon peel and garnish with a slice of lemon.

Sit in your favorite Victorian parlor chair, sip and enjoy!

***

Both stories, Bunker Hill Blues and Ghosts of Bunker Hill can be found for free on my website: http://pauldmarks.com/stories/ 

Look for Howard Hamm to return in Fade Out on Bunker Hill (unless the title changes) in a future issue of Ellery Queen. If you like the movie Sunset Boulevard I think you’ll enjoy Howard in this tale.

And thanks for stopping by. Now go out and make your own Howard Hamm Sazerac.

Connect with Paul at:

www.PaulDMarks.com 

Subscribe to my Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bkhUbD 

facebook: www.facebook.com/paul.d.marks 

twitter: http://twitter.com/PaulDMarks  

Taking Care Wine Charms and Cupcake

Kick off your next book group get-together with a great conversation starter—A set of 12 wine charms that celebrate Deborah Lacy’s short story, "Taking Care" in the May/June edition of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Lorraine Masonheimer created these fabulous charms that include key elements in the story. To inspire your very own design, select a set of charms that impressed you most about the story. Serve the wine alongside cupcakes tucked into a broken heart wrapper with an edible wine glass top rising from the broken heart. Frost the cupcake using the grass tip and green frosting for the story’s garden setting. 

Supplies

Twelve Hinged ear hoops ¾” to 1”

Swarovski beads (12 blue, 12 green, 24 clear)

Silver round beads (48)

Twelve charms listed above

Round nose pliers

Jump rings 6mm

Self-adhesive rhinestones

Scissors

Cupcake mix

Green frosting

Decorating bag and tip 233

Knife

Premade pie crust

Wrapper, heart and wine glass template

Patterned and red paper and glue dots

Step One: Organize Beads & Prep Charms

Create piles of beads in the order of stringing. Some charms have the jump ring attached. Add jump ring to charms that do not have a ring. Type, cut and glue the word "Mother" to the inside of the frame charm and seat the protective cover. Add rhinestones to the U.S. shape to mark Los Angeles, CA and Raleigh, NC. Add a red rhinestone to the inside of the teacup. Take care when washing the charms and reapply rhinestones as needed.

Step Two: String Beads and Charms

Open the ear hoops and slide a clear crystal bead onto the hoop. Next, slide a silver round bead, a green bead, a silver bead, a charm, a silver bead, a blue bead, a silver bead and a clear crystal bead onto the hoop and close

Step Three: Repeat & Attach

Repeat until all 12 wine charms are completed. Open the hoop, slide the completed ring onto the stem of the wine glass, close the hoop and pour the wine. A nice Chardonnay is a great place to start while whipping up a batch of cupcakes!

Step Four: Print & Cut Templates

Place your cursor over this image, right click, scroll to Save Image As and place it onto your computer desktop. Open a word document, draw a text box and insert the image into the box. Size the templates to the sizes marked on the templates, print and cut out the images.

Step Five: Create Cupcake Wrap

Trace the cupcake wrap and heart templates onto the patterned and red paper and cut out the shapes. Roll the wrapper into a circle to fit the cupcake and glue together. Cut the heart into two broken pieces and glue to the wrapper. If desired, add a drop of blood at the bottom of the heart.

Step Six: Create Edible Wine Glass Top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the wine glass template and place onto the pie crust. Using a sharp knife, cut around the wine glass to equal the number of cupcakes plus a few extra in case some break. Carefully place the glasses onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and brush with egg whites. Bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Lay the glasses flat to cool for a minimum of 15-20 minutes.

Step Seven: Bake & Frost Cupcakes

Bake your favorite cupcakes according to package directions and cool. Mix your favorite medium consistency icing recipe and add green food paste to create the color of grass. Fit the decorating bag with decorating tip 233 and fill the bag ½ full with the icing. Squeeze the bag to form grass. Pull up and away when icing strand is long enough (1/2”) to stop pressure and pull tip away. Grass will form only if you stop squeezing before pulling the tip away. Keep clusters close together so the cake doesn’t show through.

Insert the cupcakes into the broken heart wrappers. Carefully place the wine glass into the center of the cupcake so the glass appears to rise from the center of the broken heart.

Step Eight: Set Up & Party

Set out the wine glasses with charms and the cupcakes. Open the wine and let the conversation begin! You can read the story in the May/June issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. 

For a fun party idea, have the book group vote on a favorite book read that year and have everyone create one wine charm from the book. Draw a name and the wine charms go to the winner.