N@B 2015 Newsletter vol. 4

John F.D. Taff - Thank goodness I got off my ass just in time to host a N@B in town while Taff still lived here. I'm not sure if it was already in the works, but the guy split permanently right after reading at our tawdry little event. If you don't know him yet check him the fuck out. Dude's got chops. He'll give you nightmares and shit. Keep up with John, his work, opinions awards and accolades at his website.

Dennis Tafoya - Without a new book in 2015 Tafoya's actually been eclipsed by his own kids (Rachel & Scout). He can join Dan O'Shea in the therapy sessions N@B is sponsoring (mail me donations). But me-thinks there's something new in the works and new DT is always worth waiting for. Fuckin-A right. Check in with him here.

Richard Thomas - When he says he's going to do something he by-gosh does it. Don't ever doubt Thomas. Breaker is brand new, as is the Exigencies anthology and look out for Gamut magazine coming in 2017. Or hey, if you're in Oklahoma or Transylvania he might be near by teaching craft to the next generation of dark fictioneers... Neo-Natal-Noir. There's tons to keep up with at What Does Not Kill Me.

Mark W. Tiedemann - Mark stays busy, that's for certain. When he's not writing novels or to be found at Left Bank Books, you can find him keeping The Proximal Eye - a critical blog - as well as Distal Muse - an observational blog. I, for one, am holding out hope that one of his speculative novels will take off and he'll be rolling around in that sweet, sweet nerd money (which will trickle down to me). C'mon, make it rain.

Fred Venturini - This dude's been wined and dined and unjustly maligned for the last year since The Heart Does Not Grow Back was released, and I, for one, am looking the fuck forward to whichever semi-completed project is next. Dude's got too much to say to not have a couple books a year out... and they're waiting... One of my favorite ways to spend an evening is listening to Fred spin yarns over beers. I hope more of that is in store for 2016. Check in here.

Frank Wheeler Jr. - This Milwaukee transplant and demi-god of the psycho-cop genre has the most placid exterior for the roiling seas of deep, dark shit that surely lie beneath. Look at that face. Shake his hand. Receive an aw shucks smile and a how do you do. Then pick up The Wowzer or The Good Life and consider changing your name and burning your life to the ground hoping you've left no trace and can go on to some semblance of normalcy without fearing he knows you're still alive and is fixated on you somehow. Perhaps more than any other writer in the N@B community I can't understand why people aren't burning Frank's books and making a high holy stink over his lack of exposure. This guy doesn't just have the goods, oh crime fiction fan, he is those goods. Here's hoping Paul von Stoetzel's short film based on Frank's story Your Blind Spot is available to the public soon. And dammit, Frank, I want another book. 

Benjamin Whitmer - This motherfucker here. In the last year he's been to the French place and has a film in development over there (an adaptation of Pike - and maybe not starring Mel Gibson). I got to catch up with Ben this year and we talked about his next book, and I don't want to hear that any of you have been distracting him until that thing is out and ready for me to read. It sounds amazing. Go check out an opinion or two from Whitmer here.

Jonathan Woods - Yet another N@B community member who spent time in France in the last year, but Jonathan was there for the the Cannes Film Festival where the film Swingers Anonymous (based on Jonathan's story of the same name) was screened. I mean... I've had material at film festivals before, but... Keep up with Woods at Southern Noir.

Josh Woods - Book. Woods. Please. Find Josh's short fiction in several anthologies (several of which he edited), but this guy needs a book of his own. Fucking right now. 

Nic Young - I think my emails are getting stopped at the border, 'cause I keep suggesting that Nic and Roger Smith hop a flight from South Africa to do a special Cape Town edition of N@B, but sadly this has not and may never happen. I keep my eyes peeled, but have yet to find more Young to point you toward (so check him out in Warmed and Bound and Noir at the Bar vol. 2).