Oh, the 1990s! A decade of excellent music, questionable fashion and–in this incisive fictionalization of the post-punk, quasi-grunge, anti-sellout scene rubbing shoulders with the moneyed in New York City–the origin of the fires that will fuel the earnest everyday heroes of our own more recent past in taking up the good fight against the seemingly…
Every holiday season, I get bombarded with messages from friends and fans telling me they’re dying to buy me a crime-fiction-related present but aren’t sure what to get such an accomplished author…
When you tell people you are writing (or aspire to write) crime fiction, many of them will tell you, “Don’t quit your day job.” Don’t listen to them. You should totally quit your day job. And then get a much better one—one that’s ideally suited to you becoming a successful crime novelist. You see, most…
GIFnotes: Giving you the basic plot summary of an upcoming book with the help of the Graphics Interchange Format. This week, channel your inner Swayze and travel to the otherside in Nigel Williams hilariously dark cozy mystery, Waking Up Dead.
Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder is a black comic thriller that tells the tall tale of estranged brothers Mike and Dan Miller (Available July 1, 2016). Estranged brothers Mike and Dan Miller—accountant and con-man talent agent respectively—are up to their necks in the virtual quicksand of LA's San Fernando Valley during the hottest…
One of the funniest movies of last year—albeit, one that not a lot of people know about—was the vampire mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows. Written and starring New Zealand’s Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement (the latter of HBO’s Flight of the Concords fame), this film balls up centuries worth of bloodsucking canon and…
We need to show New Zealand more respect. After all, the Kiwis gave us Lord of the Rings. The ruggedly handsome Cliff Curtis (of Fear the Walking Dead and recent Under the Radar film Push). The hilarious comedy duo/show Flight of the Conchords. And now they've delivered What We Do In the Shadows,one of the…
Second to Nun by Alice Loweecey is the 2nd cozy Giulia Driscoll mystery about a nun-turned-private investigator (available September 22, 2015). The Other Side has hired Driscoll Investigations. The owner of Stone’s Throw Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast insists that a tarot reading told her to hire Giulia to evict the family ghost. Since the ghost…
In “Mr. Big,” the debut episode of Get Smart (1965-1970), there’s an opening shot of the US Capitol as a deep monotone voice-over melodramatically states: This is Washington, DC. Somewhere in this city is the headquarters of a top secret organization known as CONTROL. Its business is counter-espionage. The scene switches to an audience enjoying…
Grab your boomsticks, Bruce Campbell and Evil Dead fans, because the new “horror sitcom” for Starz is Ash vs. Evil Dead, where he returns to battle the numberless, ravening hordes of the abyss! If you haven't seen the original quadrilogy of cult films, beginning with The Evil Dead (1981) and products of the unholy team…
