Shorts, More Shorts, Sickness and Scott Phillips

Another couple of Ramones stories are up:

M J Nicholls with a dark and chilling take on BEAT ON THE BRAT - brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Rosemarie Keenan's witty and clever I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND.

And I've received a couple via e-mail which I will post here on 1st November, including one from my Dad (oh dear, oh dear).

I've been very remiss in telling you about DISCOUNT NOIR - a short story project I was honoured to be involved in, edited by Patti Abbott and Steve Weddle. There are some great stories in the collection. Here's the description and the full list of writers involved:

If you thought standing in line at your local warehouse store was murder, then you haven't been to Megamart. These flash fiction tales of superstore madness and mayhem will make you think twice the next time you hear "clean up on aisle 13."

This anthology contains works by: Patricia Abbott, Sophie Littlefield, Kieran Shea, Chad Eagleton, Ed Gorman, Cormac Brown, Fleur Bradley, Alan Griffiths, Laura Benedict, Garnett Elliot, Eric Beetner, Jack Bates, Bill Crider, Loren Eaton, John DuMond, John McFetridge, Toni McGee Causey, Jeff Vande Zande, James Reasoner, Kyle Minor, Randy Rohn, Todd Mason, Byron Quertermous, Sandra Scoppettone, Stephen D. Rogers, Steve Weddle, Evan Lewis, Daniel B. O'Shea, Sandra Seamans, Albert Tucher, Donna Moore, John Weagly, Keith Rawson, Gerald So, Dave Zeltserman, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen, Jay Stringer, Anne Frasier, Kathleen A. Ryan, Eric Peterson, Chris Grabenstein and J.T. Ellison.

And you can buy it from the lovely people at Untreed Reads (editor Jay Hartman deserves a pay rise, a promotion, and a stand-up comedy gig) by clicking on the wee banner thingy below, if I've done it right.


And you can buy it for the Kindle from Amazon here.

While I've been off ill (now officially upgraded to pneumonia for those keeping track of the Amazing Ever-Changing Diagnosis), I've not been able to read (aaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhh!) so I've been catching up on my TV viewing, watching series 2 and 3 of THE WIRE. Brilliant stuff. And I'm hoping that series 4 and 5 will be dropping through my letter box today. When I am fit to read again, I already have my first book lined up - RUT, by the wonderful Scott Phillips. I've been waiting far too long for a new one from Mr Phillips - I've been a big fan since reading THE ICE HARVEST, and his historical novel COTTONWOOD (which is like Little Whore House On The Prairie) is one of my very favourite books of all time. Not only does RUT look brilliant, but it's published by the Concord Free Press - a revolution in publishing. They give books away for free. Yep, totally free. All they ask is that you make a donation to charity of some description (and record it at their website) and, once you've finished it, you give the book to someone else. Hopefully, they will also make a donation. A totally brilliant idea. Which only has one drawback for me...I have to give away a Scott Phillips instead of keeping it on my bookshelves to stroke with glee and re-read from time to time. Tough, very tough.