New Noah Milano short story online!

It's been a while, so I'm sure all Noah Milano fans will enjoy the new short story posted at the fantastic Thrills, Kills and Chills blog.
Let me know what you thought of it!

Q & A with Tom Lowe

Q: What makes Sean O'Brien different from other (unofficial) PIs?
I don't know if O'Brien is a lot different from many of them. I think what they all have in common is a sense of doing the right thing and compassion for victims of abuse, crime, etc. O'Brien, however, is a sharp observer of people. He has an uncanny gift to detect when someone is lying. He notices when things are not what they seem to be, and when they are not what they should be.

Q: How did you come up with the character?
I used to be a journalist and I was exposed to a lot of cops and crime. O'Brien reminds me of a detective I once knew.

Q: How much research went in your latest novel?
My latest novel is THE 24TH LETTER.. I consulted with attorneys and cops to give a work of fiction as much accuracy as possible within the fast-paced format.

Q: What's next for you and Sean?
What's next for Sean or me? For Sean, the next novel, THE 24TH LETTER, will be published March 16th. For me, it's one day at a time.

Q: How do you promote your books?
I spend a lot of time going to book signings and events. I think face-to-face meetings with readers is a great connection. I do a newsletter and hit the social media on the Internet as often as possible.

Q: Do you have any favourite Sons of Spade yourself?
Some of the mystery/thriller writers I enjoy include: Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke, John Connolly and many others.

Q: In the last century we've seen new waves of PI writers, first influenced by Hammett, then Chandler, MacDonald, Parker, later Lehane. Who do you think will influence the coming generation and in what way?
Writers like Michael Connelly and Lee Child are very popular. I believe the hybrid of the mystery/thriller is the kind of work that may fuel the imaginations of the next generation - and whatever content they deliver to e-books.

Q: Joe Lansdale came up with the following question: If your PI could choose to be a comic book superhero, which would he choose and why?
I have no clue. Ironman maybe. Probably because I saw the film recently.

Q: What question should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer?
You might want to ask them why they do this genre of storytelling. For me, it's a great way to entertain people with escapist fiction that can have a subtle theme that resonates with social relevance of today, i.e., the death penalty.

A False Dawn (Sean O'Brien) by Tom Lowe

Sean O' Brien is an ex-cop who promised his dying wife to steer away from the darkness of criminal investigations, living in Florida with his dog. When he stumbles upon a dying young woman he can't help but find justice for her. Along the way he has to face human trafickers, corrupt cops and a psychopathic serial killer. Luckily, Sean still has some friends he can trust and a past as an Special Forces paratrooper.
Sean is not a very original kind of hero, neither is the plot. There is a very well written dark tone however and enough action to enjoy. It's a cross between James Lee Burke, James MacDonald and Lee Child. Since I like all those writers a lot, I enjoyed this one although it didn't blow me away.

Q & A with Joe Lansdale

Q: What makes Hap & Leonard different from other (unofficial) PIs?
I think their backgrounds are different. They aren't the first blue collar guys to do private eye type stuff, but they are really, really blue collar and it's my own background. Hap is a liberal, Leonard a conservative, not a right winger, but an old fashioned conservative, and in ways, Hap is an old fashioned liberal. Hap is heterosexual, Leonard is gay and proud of it and obviously masculine. Hap is introspective, Leonard not so much. I think the contrast is what makes the series work. I'm less interested in plot and more interested in those two characters. Seems to be the same for readers.

Q: How did you come up with the characters?
I based a lot of Hap on myself, and Leonard on friends of mine. It's that simple. But, of course, a lot of who they are is made up. I had a number of the jobs Hap had, and some of the other experiences. No murders and killings, but the background.

Q: What do you like writing best: horror or crime?
I like them all. I really love Westerns, and though I've written in that genre, my favorite being THE MAGIC WAGON, I want to do more, and plan on it. But, I love Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, absurdist, "literary" stories, you name it. Second to that, I enjoy screenplays and comics and essays and plays. I've even written a few poems, but I'm not a great reader of poetry, and I'm not much of a poet. I like poetic language better than I like pure poetry.

Q: What's next for you and Hap & Leonard?
I just finished a new book, DEVIL RED. A little different for the boys, more introspective and moody.

Q: How do you promote your books?
My publisher sends me on tours, and I've started using the internet more. Word of mouth is still my best way of promotion.

Q: Do you have any favourite Sons of Spade yourself?
I loved Parker's novels, even though I felt they had gotten somewhat thin and repetitious. But I read them all. I like James Lee Burke for prose. Hell, they were both good prose writers. Just different.

Q: In the last century we've seen new waves of PI writers, first influenced by Hammett, then Chandler, MacDonald, Parker, later Lehane. Who do you think will influence the coming generation and in what way?
James Lee Burke, most likely. I keep hearing from writers who claim I'm a big influence, and that's nice.

Q: E. Michael Terrell came up with the following question: If your PI could choose to be a comic book superhero, which would he choose and why?
Well, my Hap and Leonard books have two heroes. Both would want to be Batman and claim the other one was Robin.

Q: What question should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer?
Are you having fun? That's the key for both writer and reader. I don't write for anyone but me, because I'm the only reader I know. But my guess is there are a lot of readers like me out there.

Guest Blog by Stephen D. Rogers

Stephen D. Rogers is the author of SHOT TO DEATH(ISBN 978-0982589908) and more than six hundred storiesand poems. He's the head writer at Crime Scene (where viewers solve interactive mysteries) and a popularwriting instructor. For more information, you can visit his website, www.stephendrogers.com, where he tries to pull it all together.
He's also our special guest blogger today.

You could learn a lot about a community by analyzing how they dealt with their trash.- APPEARANCES TO THE CONTRARY
So begins one of the 31 stories contained in SHOT TO DEATH(ISBN 978-0982589908). Within that beginning lurks the endingto the story and everything that happens between the beginningand the end. Or at least it seems that way to me.
The main character in APPEARANCES TO THE CONTRARY has to be a private investigator. Who better to learn about a community or analyze trash?
I felt the opening sentence consisted of two parts that pivoted around that "by." Learning about community depended on analyzing trash, and knowing what trash to analyze depended onunderstanding the community. The juxtaposition of the singular "a community" and the plural"they dealt with their trash" raised the specter of a communityof communities. The private investigator thus interacts with his client who spends much of their conversation interacting with her friends. The private investigator only gets anywhere with the target after separating him from his coworkers. The client and the target live in the same community and were once a community unto themselves. What is the trash produced by each community? What does that trash say about each of the communities represented?
Where does community end and trash begin?
In the two-part opening sentence, the words in the power positions are "community" and "trash." That told me both that the story was going to keep visiting those two ideas and, since "trash" was in the more powerful position, that the story was not going to end happily ever after. But one person's trash is another person's treasure. How wasthat truism going to play out for the victim? For the target? For the private investigator?
Does the lone wolf private investigator comprise a community? If so, what trash is produced by that community of one? Whattrash is produced by the community of private investigator and client, by the community of private investigator and target?
As soon as I wrote that opening sentence, I stood astride it,one foot on either side of the pivotal "by," gaining enough height to see where the story had to go. All that remained was the writing.
For a chance to win a signed copy of SHOT TO DEATH, click on over to http://www.stephendrogers.com/Win.htm and submit yourcompleted entry. Then visit the schedule at http://www.stephendrogers.com/Howto.htm to see how you can march along. And then come back here to post your comments. Phew.

SHOT TO DEATH contains thirty-one stories of murder andmayhem.
"Terse tales of cops and robbers, private eyes and bad guys, with an authentic New England setting."
- Linda Barnes, Anthony Award winner and author of the Carlotta Carlyle series
"Put yourself in the hands of a master as you travel this world of the dishonest, dysfunctional, and disappeared. Rogers is the real deal--real writer, real story teller, real tour guide tothe dark side."
- Kate Flora, author of the Edgar-nominated FINDING AMY and the Thea Kozak mysteries
"SHOT TO DEATH provides a riveting reminder that the short story form is the foundation of the mystery/thriller genre. There's something in this assemblage of New England noir to suit every aficionado. Highly recommended!"
- Richard Helms, editor and publisher, The Back Alley Webzine