MGOC Contributor News: Michael Bracken Wins Derringer Award

Many Genres, One Craft contributor Michael Bracken's short story "Getting Out of the Box," published in the crime fiction anthology Crime Square (Vantage Point, 2012) received a Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS). This is Bracken's second Derringer Award. He received a Derringer Award in 2004 for his story "All My Yesterdays," and his story "Cuts Like a Knife" was short-listed for the award in 2002.

The annual Derringer Awards were established by the SMFS in 1997 to honor excellence in short mystery fiction. The name ³Derringer,² after the palm-sized handgun, was chosen as a metaphor for a short mystery or crime story.

Bracken is the author of several books but is better known as a highly prolific short story writer. The author of almost 1,000 short stories in various genres, he has had one or more short stories published each month for almost 10 consecutive years.

Former president of the SMFS, former vice president of the Private Eye Writers of America, and former vice president of the Mystery Writers of America¹s Southwest Chapter, Bracken is also an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

He received a B.A. in Professional Writing from Baylor University.

For a complete list of winners and nominees in all categories, visit
http://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2013/03/2013-smfs-derringer-award-results.html

Crime Square can be ordered from Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Crime-Square-Robert-J-Randisi/dp/1936467305

MGOC Editor Event: Heidi Ruby Miller at Frostburg Creative Writing Center

Gerry LeFemina, Michelle Yost, and Nina Forsythe honored Many Genres, One Craft co-editor Heidi Ruby Miller as the guest at their May Coffee with an Author at Frostburg State University's Creative Writing Center. Contributor Jason Jack Miller was also in attendance.

Heidi read from "The Surrender," a flash piece originally published at Every Day Fiction then picked up for the 2008 Best of Every Day Fiction anthology; Ambasadora, her thesis novel from Seton Hill's Writing Popular Fiction program; and "The Islands of Hope," a short story originally published in Fantasist Enterprises' Sails and Sorcery anthology and recently resold to Galaxy's Edge, edited by Mike Resnick.


This July Heidi will be teaching Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror at the Nightsun Writers, four-day literary conference and workshop sponsored by Frostburg State University.

For more information about Nightsun and Frostburg State, please visit them online:
http://www.frostburg.edu/cwcenter/workshops/nightsun-writers-conference/

MGOC Contributor News: Lynn Salsi Wins Literary Awards

Many Genres, One Craft contributor, Lynn Salsi, has won several literary awards for her Children's book Jack and the Giants (illustrated by James Young) and published by Headline Books, Inc.:

Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing
North Carolina General Federation of Women’s Clubs gives the award annually in memory of its first president, Mrs. J. Lindsay Patterson, to honor a female North Carolina published writer for outstanding creative writing. The award recipient receives an engraved Jefferson Cup at a luncheon ceremony and the club will give in Salsi’s honor a $1,000 scholarship to the Salem College Center for Women Writers to a rising senior.

Military Writers of America
Gold Medal, Best Children’s Book

The Great Southeast Book Festival
Honorable Mention Best Children’s Fiction

MGOC Contributor News: Victoria Thompson's Murder in Chelsea

Many Genres One Craft contributor Victoria Thompson has a new book--Murder in Chelsea

DESCRIPTION:
Book 15 of the Gaslight Mystery series

Sarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at Hope’s Daughters Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them.

Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Malloy to investigate. But when he goes to interview the woman at her tenement in Chelsea, he finds she has been murdered.

Though her death leaves Sarah’s claim to Catherine unchallenged, her sense of justice compels her to work with Malloy to find the killer. Their search takes them from the marble mansions of the Upper West Side to the dilapidated dwellings of lower Manhattan and into the deepest and darkest secrets of Catherine’s past.

And while Malloy helps Sarah determine the fate of the child she loves, he faces a challenge of his own—and his decision could change both their lives forever…

MGOC Contributor News: Nicole Peeler's Tempest Reborn

Many Genres One Craft contributor Nicole Peeler's last book in the Jane True series is Tempest Reborn.

DESCRIPTION:
Anyan may be trapped in an evil dragon and Blondie may be gone, but Jane knows one thing: she's not about to give up. She's ready to tear down heaven and earth to save her lover, despite those who believe he's lost.

Luckily for Jane, those who've given up on Anyan do not include those closest to her. Defying The Powers That Be, Jane and Company form their own crack squad of misfits, in whose hands the fate of the world may well rest.

With a little help from her friends, the Universe, and lots of snacks, Jane embarks on her greatest adventure yet, confident that with great sacrifice comes great reward. The question is, who will be that sacrifice?


The fantastic conclusion to Nicole Peeler's urban fantasy series featuring Jane True.

JANE TRUE SERIES:
Tempest Rising
Tracking the Tempest
Tempest's Legacy
Eye of the Tempest
Tempest's Fury
Tempest Reborn

MGOC Contributor News: Death Perception by Lee Allen Howard

Many Genres, One Craft contributor Lee Allen Howard has a new book--Death Perception.

"Lee Allen Howard's DEATH PERCEPTION is a red hot union of Gothic crime thriller and grim humor that burns with supernatural tension. Beneath the sickly sweet scent of caramelized sugar lies the wildly entertaining tale of a man who delivers justice to the dead while fanning the fires of the living. Ever hear the expression, 'laughing in a morgue'? DEATH PERCEPTION feels just like that. Howard has a gift for crafting eccentric characters and clever plots. This is dark fun at its best."
--Jason Jack Miller, author of The Devil and Preston Black and Hellbender

DEATH PERCEPTION by Lee Allen Howard

Release date: May 15, 2013

Available in Kindle, Nook, and in trade paperback

308 pages

ISBN: 0615800696

ISBN-13: 978-0615800691

Front cover art by Neil Jackson

DESCRIPTION:
Kennet Singleton cremates the dead... and then they speak: "Avenge us!"

Nineteen-year-old Kennet Singleton lives with his invalid mother in a personal care facility, but he wants out. He operates the crematory at the local funeral home, where he discovers he can discern the cause of death of those he cremates--by toasting marshmallows over their ashes.

He thinks his ability is no big deal since his customers are already dead. But when his perception differs from what's on the death certificate, he finds himself in the midst of murderers. To save the residents and avenge the dead, Kennet must bring the killers to justice.

"Dastardly devious, cleverly conceived, and just a whole lot of fun to read, DEATH PERCEPTION is Lee Allen Howard on fire and at his finest. Rife with winsome weirdness, it's like the mutant stepchild of Carl Hiaasen and Stephen King, mixing a truly unique paranormal coming-of-age story with a quirky cast of offbeat noir characters into a novel that's simply unforgettable... and hilariously original. A supernatural crime story, blazing with creative intrigue... don't miss it."
--Michael Arnzen, author of Play Dead

"DEATH PERCEPTION has officially made me envious of Lee Allen Howard. It sings like a choir of angels, yet weeps like a ghost in winter. Everyone should have this in their collection.”
--Trent Zelazny, author of To Sleep Gently and Butterfly Potion

Lee Allen Howard writes horror, dark fantasy, and supernatural crime. He’s been a professional writer and editor of both fiction and nonfiction since 1985. His publications include The Sixth Seed, Desperate Spirits, Night Monsters, “Mama Said,” “Stray,” and Death Perception, available in various formats at http://leeallenhoward.com.

You can keep in touch with Lee on his Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lee-Allen-Howard-author/117844011639457. Follow him on Twitter @LeeAllenHoward.

MGOC Contributor News: Matt Duvall's Speculations: Short Stories

Many Genres, One Craft contributor Matt Duvall has a new book--Speculations: Short Stories.

DESCRIPTION:
All proceeds from the sales of this book will go to my brother, Steve, who is battling lymphoma. He (and I) thank you.

This book collects eight stories and one novelette of speculative fiction, originally published in magazines such as Chizine, Horror Garage, The Ultimate Unknown, Eye Contact and more. What would happen if your shorts grew eyes? What could be creepy about Christmas? And why shouldn't you rent your spare room to a stranger? These questions, and more, are answered inside.

Event: Coffee With An Author: Heidi Ruby Miller

EVENTS

Have coffee, tea, and pastries with Many Genres, One Craft editor and contributor Heidi Ruby Miller at Frostburg State University's Creative Writing Center!

MGOC Contributor News: Kaye Dacus's Follow the Heart

Many Genres, One Craft contributor Kaye Dacus has a new novel out--Follow the Heart is the first book of A Great Exhibition series.

DESCRIPTION:
Set during the Industrial Revolution and the Great Exhibition of 1851, Follow the Heart is a “sitting-room romance” with the feel of a Regency-era novel but the fashions and technological advances of the mid-Victorian age.

Kate and Christopher Dearing’s lives turn upside down when their father loses everything in a railroad land speculation. The siblings are shipped off to their mother’s brother in England with one edict: marry money.

At twenty-seven years old, Kate has the stigma of being passed over by eligible men many times—and that was before she had no dowry. Christopher would like nothing better than to make his own way in the world; and with a law degree and expertise in the burgeoning railroad industry, he was primed to do just that—in America.

Though their uncle tries to ensure Kate and Christopher find matrimonial prospects only among the highest echelon of British society, their attentions stray to a gardener and a governess.

While Christopher has options that would enable him to lay his affections where he chooses, he cannot let the burden of their family’s finances crush his sister. Trying to push her feelings for the handsome—but not wealthy— gardener aside, Kate’s prospects brighten when a wealthy viscount shows interest in her. But is marrying for the financial security of her family the right thing to do, when her heart is telling her she’s making a mistake?

Mandates . . . money . . . matrimony. Who will follow the heart?