Noir at the Bar in Philadelphia – This Sunday! (Oct. 28)

I’ll be joining a crew of great writers in Philadelphia this Sunday night (Oct. 28) for another Noir at the Bar!

The show begins at 6:30 p.m. at Misconduct Tavern, 1511 Locust St, Philadelphia. Admission is free, and the restaurant serves great food and drinks, so join us!

This is part of a series of Noir at the Bar events called CHILLED TO THE MARROW. Authors around the world are participating in Noir at the Bar events to help raise funds to cover medical expenses for Evie Swierczynski, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Evie is awesome, and she’s the daughter of Duane Swierczynski, author of a lot of amazing novels and comic books.

For more information about supporting #TeamEvie, visit this GoFundMe page.

Hosted by the inimitable Jon McGoran, the Philadelphia lineup includes these amazing authors:

• Robb Cadigan
• Gregory Frost
• Merry Jones
• Don Lafferty
• William Lashner
• William Myers, Jr.
• Bernard Schaffer
• Dennis Tafoya

There will be a raffle to help raise funds, and probably a few surprises…

Hope to see you there!

Noir at the Bar – A Great Night in Baltimore!

Last night’s Noir at the Bar in Baltimore, part of the CHILLED TO THE MARROW N@B series, was fantastic.

Host Nik Korpon put together a great lineup of authors to to help raise funds to cover medical expenses for Evie Swierczynski, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Evie is awesome, and she’s the daughter of Duane Swierczynski, author of a lot of amazing novels and comic books.

For more information about supporting #TeamEvie, visit this GoFundMe page.

The lineup of authors included:

• Kim Alexander
• S.A. Cosby
• Jessica McHugh
• Andrew Novak
• Damien Angelica Walters

The show was held at Zella’s Pizzeria, and I can personally (and heartily) recommend the calzone.

Noir at the Bar in Baltimore – Tonight! (Oct. 21)

I’ll be joining a crew of great writers in Baltimore tonight for another Noir at the Bar!

The show begins at 6:30 p.m. at Zella’s Pizzeria, 1145 Hollins St., Baltimore. Admission is free, and the restaurant serves great food, so join us!

This is part of a series of Noir at the Bar events called CHILLED TO THE MARROW. Authors around the world are participating in Noir at the Bar events to help raise funds to cover medical expenses for Evie Swierczynski, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Evie is awesome, and she’s the daughter of Duane Swierczynski, author of a lot of amazing novels and comic books.

For more information about supporting #TeamEvie, visit this GoFundMe page.

The lineup of authors includes:

• Kim Alexander
• S.A. Cosby
• Jessica McHugh
• Andrew Novak
• Damien Angelica Walters

And the whole thing is hosted by the great Nik Korpon.

I hope to see you tonight in Baltimore!

Noir at the Bar – A Great Night in Harrisburg

A stellar crew made the most recent Harrisburg Noir at the Bar one to remember. We took over the second floor at Sturges Speakeasy in Harrisburg, PA, on Sunday night, May 20, and had a blast.

Everyone read great stories. So many great stories! I want to thank all of the authors who came out for the event:

• Owen Laukkanen, who was on tour in support of his latest novel GALE FORCE, which has been praised by the likes of Clive Cussler and Lee Child.
• Robb Cadigan
• Beth Fantaskey
• Gabriella Gill
• Merry Jones
• Catherine Jordan
• Jon McGoran
• John L. Micek
• David Nemeth

And last but certainly not least, singer-songwriter John Austin and trumpeter Nathan Froehlich, who helped end the night with the surreal experience of me performing a (mostly spoken-word) song (the very romantic “We’re Still in Love”).

If you want to know more about the authors, check out their full bios here.

Noir at the Bar in Harrisburg – Tonight! (May 20)

Noir at the Bar returns to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, tonight!

Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Sturges Speakeasy, 400 Forster Street. Admission is free, the restaurant serves great food and great beer, and there will be book giveaways. So join us!

Join us for a great lineup (complete bios available here) that includes:

Owen Laukkanen, author of the brand new maritime adventure thriller Gale Force (which has been praised by the likes of Clive Cussler and Lee Child), along with six critically acclaimed Stevens and Windermere FBI thrillers.

Robb Cadigan, author of Phoenixville Rising and an upcoming second novel which is based on a true crime story and set in Pennsylvania.

Beth Fantaskey, author of five paranormal and mystery novels for young adults and middle-grade readers and (as Bethany Blake) the Lucky Paws Petsitting Mysteries.

Gabriella Gill, author of Saving Metropolis, Behind the Mask, and the upcoming The Gentlemen’s Flying Club.

Merry Jones, author of Child’s Play, the third novel featuring unreliable narrator Elle Harrison, as well as a series of thrillers featuring heroine Harper Jennings, an Iraq war veteran.

Catherine Jordan, author of the paranormal thrillers The Book Seller’s Secret and Seeking Samiel.

Jon McGoran, author of eight novels including Spliced, a near future science fiction thriller, and the ecological thrillers Drift, Deadout, Dust Up, and Down to Zero.

John L. Micek, author of the upcoming novel Saving Time and the opinion editor and political columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa.

David Nemeth, writer of the crime fiction blog Unlawful Acts and a columnist at Do Some Damage.

And last but certainly not least, singer-songwriter John Austin, who has released 10 critically acclaimed albums, will be performing a new song with… me. But don’t worry, I won’t be singing.

I hope to see you tonight at Sturges Speakeasy!

17 Games You Can Play Right Now!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of board games. A few of my current favorites are Ticket to Ride (especially the Pennsylvania map), Betrayal at House on the Hill (can’t wait for the upcoming Betrayal Legacy), Pandemic (and its offspring), and Downforce (a wonderful auto racing game).

But there are times when you find yourself stuck somewhere without any games. No cards. No dice. Not even a coin to flip.

That’s why I put together the ebook 17 Games You Can Play Right Now!.

As long as you have a pencil and paper, you can play any of these 17 great public domain games, including laugh-out-loud party games, deep-thinking strategy games, clever word games, and more. I rewrote the rules from top to bottom to ensure clarity and consistency. (That was the goal, anyway. You can decide if I succeeded.) Here’s the full list of games:

• Bulls & Cows (2 players)
• Capture (2 to 4 players)
• Categories (3 to 12 players)
• Celebrities (4 to 12 players)
• Charades (4 to 12 players)
• Dots (2 players)
• Geography (2 to 8 players)
• Ghost (2 to 6 players)
• Gomoku (2 players)
• Hangman (2 players)
• Labyrinth (3 to 6 players)
• Paper Soccer (2 players)
• Paper Telephone (6 to 10 players)
• Poker Squares (2 to 8 players)
• Salvo (2 players)
• S.O.S. (2 players)
• Word Squares (2 to 8 players)

17 Games You Can Play Right Now! is available as an ebook for Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Nook, Kobo and other e-readers.

And right now, it’s just 99 cents!

Huntingdon County Library – This Saturday (11/4)

Four mystery authors will be at the Huntingdon County Library in Huntingdon, PA, this Saturday (Nov. 4, 2017) at 11 a.m. Please join us if you can!

The lineup includes Jane Kelly, Don Helin, Susan Thibadeau, and me. We’ll be talking about “The Long and the Short of Mystery” — discussing what goes into writing both novels and short stories.

The library is located at 330 Penn St., Huntingdon, PA. The event, organized by Mystery Writers of America, is free and open to the public. I hope to see you there!