2016 was a great year in many ways and a sad year in many ways, but it certainly was never a dull year. Here’s my annual look back at the now-past year.
In October, I released my first book — THE THROES OF CRIME, a collection of 26 short stories and six true-crime essays.
In May, Beth and I traveled to Wilmot, South Dakota, to present a check to the first winner of the James & Jeanne Arneson Memorial Scholarship. It was an amazing trip, and we were overjoyed to both help remember the way my parents encouraged me and my sisters and to pass on a little bit of that encouragement.
In terms of new short stories, Shotgun Honey published “Heritage” in January, “Election Day” was included in the Replacements-themed anthology WAITING TO BE FORGOTTEN, and “Swing and a Miss” was featured in the anthology CLOSE TO THE BONEYARD.
On this website, I published four more stories in Spanish: “American Beauty,” “Noose of Trust,” “The Murder of Ernest Trapnell,” “A Decent Hand.”
Season 3 of the Title 18: Word Crimes podcast was a sort of mini-season featuring a group of authors named Erik/Eric/Eryk reading each other’s stories.
I hosted two Noir at the Bar events in Harrisburg (on May 9 and Nov. 8), and read my work at N@B events in Philadelphia (twice) and Queens.
I also wrote true-crime essays for issues #8, #9, and #10 of Duane Swierczynski’s great comic book The Black Hood, appeared on The Crime Scene with Eryk Pruitt, appeared on The Comics Panel, was interviewed by Spinetingler Magazine and by Christopher Irvin, wrote columns for Shotgun Honey and Sirens of Suspense, and had a great time at Broke Hack Mountain.
Like I said, 2016 was never dull. Here’s to a great 2017!
Tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern U.S. time, the Mystery Writers of America New York Chapter is hosting a terrific online reading event!
Erik Arneson 