Albert Tucher
-
Noir at the Bar
September 17th, 2015 22:37 by Albert Tucher
I think I have mentioned these events before. Crime writers gather at a bar and read from their works. In between, we drink. In fact, we drink during readings as well.
On Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend I attended such an event at the Shade Bar on W. 3rd Street in Manhattan. Organizer Todd Robinson had an idea for a twist. This time, writers read from each other's writings. That gave all participants the option of going for maximum embarrassment. Rob Hart took particular advantage of the option, leaving Jen Conley needing a drink after her stint.
I sat at the bar next to a totally charming couple from Glasgow, who wandered in and ended up staying for the entire program. We had great fun discussing, among other topics, the great Scottish crime TV show Taggart, which I have missed since it wrapped up.
Noir at the Bars (or is it Noirs at the Bar?) have been popping up all over the country. I can think of worse plans for my retirement than following them from coast to coast and Mexico to Canada.
-
Agnes Rodrigues in her first starring role.
September 4th, 2015 14:43 by Albert Tucher
As I have mentioned previously, Agnes is a criminal defense attorney character on the Big Island of Hawaii, and Detective Errol Coutinho's frequent adversary. Coutinho, in turn, is a supporting character in my unpublished Diana Andrews novels. That makes Agnes a supporting supporting character.
With me so far?
She also carries two stories of her own. One of them will appear in Issue Two of the great new crime magazine Betty Fedora. In Luxury To Die For Agnes swims the extra mile for her client.
I hope that's intriguing enough for now. I'll post the details when the issue becomes available.
-
So that's where Diana has been.
July 28th, 2015 13:34 by Albert Tucher
She had gone off the grid for a while, but the tough chick will out:
-
I love it when this happens
May 5th, 2015 13:03 by Albert Tucher
I have a Diana story called The Zen of Mickey D's, in which Diana discovers that the "college call girl" is not just urban folklore. The story runs 11,000 words, which is an awkward length (most magazines have a word limit of around 5,000 words).
Now comes a call from 18th Wall for an anthology to be titled All the Petty Myths. Not only do they want stories that use urban myths, but their word range is 3,000 to 15,000. Highly unusual, and most welcome.
Of course, they still have to like the story.
-
"The magazine of kickass women."
March 23rd, 2015 16:33 by Albert Tucher
That's Betty Fedora, the first issue of which is just out. Diana appears in Cheeks, which shows that her post-hooking career is if anything more stressful. The issue also includes stories by some high-flying crime writers. I especially look forward to anything by Patti Abbott.
-
Coutinho on the case!
January 2nd, 2015 14:20 by Albert Tucher
In the rainforest of the Big Island of Hawaii, a young woman's obsession with revenge reopens a closed murder case and threatens to ruin lives, and it's Detective Errol Coutinho's problem. The story is A Pocketful of Sand, and it's in the Winter 2014-2015 issue of Needle, a Magazine of Noir.
I have written before about my fascination with the Hilo side of the Big Island and especially with the Puna region. Sparsely populated and lightly policed, the rainforest is home to marijuana farmers, meth dealers, survivalists, fugitives and Sixties holdovers. I know of no author who has used the setting, which is a natural for dark crime fiction.
-
Oh, well
December 11th, 2014 14:44 by Albert Tucher
My story The Forgettable Man, featuring Big Island attorney Agnes Rodrigues, failed to make the cut in the Hofstra contest or at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. This happens. Bismarck Rules, which Lee Child selected for The Best American Mystery Stories 2010, also had a long career of rejection before I finally placed it.
-
Desperation
November 3rd, 2014 15:08 by Albert Tucher
"Although suggested by real events, this story is fictional ..."
The boilerplate from Law and Order applies to my new Diana story Desperation, which appears in ThugLit 14. The real event is the case of Ariel Castro, who kept several women imprisoned as sex slaves in Cleveland for years. Can Diana avoid the same fate and rescue another young woman?
The issue includes seven other stories by a great lineup of crime writers. Get some!
-
Lo, the Former Egyptian!
September 3rd, 2014 16:44 by Albert Tucher
That's a title by the humorist H. Allen Smith (1907-1976), who now seems nearly forgotten. Forty years ago, however, he made quite an impression on me with his collections of jokes. One that has preyed on my mind all these years goes as follows:
A guy goes into a drugstore to prepare for his big weekend. He has a hot babe on the string and access to a boat. So, he buys condoms for the usual reasons and Dramamine to ward off seasickness.
"Not my business," says the druggist, "but if it affects you that way, why do you bother?"
Yeah, it's kind of on the same level as fart jokes, but I was a teenager back then, and like most men, I still am on some level. But I have finally managed to put the joke to constructive use in my story Karma, which is now online in Spinetingler magazine.
-
Deadly Ink!
June 26th, 2014 15:22 by Albert Tucher
I will be attending the Deadly Ink Mystery Conference in New Brunswick, Aug. 1-3. I don't have my panel assignments yet, but I would go just to hang out with some of the best crime writers in the business and meet crime fiction fans.
I have been going to Deadly Ink off and on since 2004. Check it out and consider attending: Deadly Ink 2014
-
