Albert Tucher
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Deadly Ink
July 13th, 2013 17:30 by Albert Tucher
Welcome back to the Deadly Ink conference, which has been on hiatus for several years. I will be attending in New Brunswick NJ, August 2-4. I'm looking forward to meeting Brad Parks, among others, and catching up with Jeff Markowitz, Bob Daniher, and one of my favorite people, Kate Gallison.
Thirty years ago I read two of Kate's novels, Unbalanced Accounts and Death Tapes. Both feature a soft-boiled PI in Trenton named Hank Magaracz. Kate's publisher dropped the series after that, and when I met her a few years ago, she told me I was the only reader she had ever met who had read both novels.
I would love to have Hank back.
I will be sitting on two author panels, one on the differences between novels and short stories, and on romance and sex in murder mysteries. I hope I can do a reasonable impersonation of a thoughtful, articulate writer.
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This just in!
July 8th, 2013 16:50 by Albert Tucher
I have just seen a mockup of the cover of the first Diana novel, The Same Mistake Twice, which is due out soon from the ebook publisher Untreed Reads. When the cover is finalized, you'll see it first here.
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Untreed Reads
June 27th, 2013 00:07 by Albert Tucher
Jay Hartman and the crew at the e-publisher Untreed Reads have published three Diana Andrews stories: The Retro Look, Value for the Money, and Calories. They are also set to bring out the first Diana novel, The Same Mistake Twice.
AND, Jay just asked me for a Diana story for an anthology of stories about series characters already published by Untreed Reads. Once again my Technical Consultant came to my rescue. I appropriated her experience with the Baker.
Without spoiling the story I can only say that the Baker was one of the most difficult assignments of her career. He and she both survived the encounter, but the fictionalized Baker does not.
The story sprang into my head almost written. I just took dictation. I love it when that happens. It's rare.
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Orphan Black
May 23rd, 2013 17:03 by Albert Tucher
For the record, I am a fan of Orphan Black and its star, Tatiana Maslany.
This is the crime/scifi drama on BBC America, in which Ms. Maslany plays ... I lost count of how many characters, They're all clones, and someone is trying to track them down and kill them all. In some scenes the star plays two or even three of the clones, which I understand involves body doubles, multiple takes, careful duplication of tone and gestures, and seventeen-hour shooting days.
The writing is some of the best I have ever seen onscreen, and the supporting cast is also superb. I worry about Ms. Maslany, though. She's not even thirty, and when will she ever have such fun again?
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EQMM !!
April 23rd, 2013 16:30 by Albert Tucher
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is the top of the heap when it comes to short crime fiction. After at least a dozen tries dating back ten years, I have finally made it. My contributor's copies of the July 2013 issue just arrived, with my stand-alone story Hangman's Break.
I'm in there with some A-list people, including Bill Pronzini, Edward Marston, Peter Tremayne and Twist Phelan.
I keep opening the magazine and admiring the table of contents, although I try not to do it when I'm driving.
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Who can't use a morale boost like this?
March 11th, 2013 15:24 by Albert Tucher
My short story Calories, published by Untreed Reads, has received a very positive review.. No matter what writers say about reviews, we all love those occasions when somebody "gets it."
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"Stimulus" in more ways than one.
March 7th, 2013 14:38 by Albert Tucher
Diana is not sure she approves of this, but she's thinking about it:
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ThugLit 4!
March 6th, 2013 14:26 by Albert Tucher
Issue no. 4 of the new, revamped ThugLit is now available. It includes stories by such hardboiled/noir stalwarts as Eric Beetner and Patti Abbott, as well as a new Diana story called Under the Bus, in which Diana tangles with the religious right.
Seriously, I look at the lineup in this issue and I feel pretty damn A-list.
Kindle edition available here
Hard copy, here
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Diana takes on Valentine's Day!
February 15th, 2013 12:07 by Albert Tucher
Plan B is up at A Twist of Noir.
Editor Christopher Grant issued a challenge to all his authors to come up with a noir story with a Valentine's Day theme. As I so often do, I channeled my Technical Consultant. I once asked her for her take on Valentine's Day, and she said it was a ridiculous Hallmark holiday, and she and her boyfriend paid little attention to it.
She usually gave me the unvarnished truth, but once in a while I had the feeling that she was falling back on her work habits and telling the client--me--what he wanted to hear. And that gave me my story.
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This hooker joke isn't funny!
December 15th, 2012 23:33 by Albert Tucher
Cast Iron just went online over at Shotgun Honey, a great venue for flash fiction--stories generally under 1,000 words. I recommend staying around to see what else is there.
Like so many of my Diana stories, this one comes from the experience of my Technical Consultant. Early in her career she found herself alone in a motel room with a 300-pound man who announced that they were going to skip the condom, because "You have HIV anyway." Think about what that implies. She put his money back and left, and fortunately he didn't stop her.
By the rules of the business she was entitled to keep the money, but it wouldn't have been prudent to stand on her rights.
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