Mystery Melange

I'm very happy to point you over to this week's story at Beat to a Pulp, which is from the pen of Patti Abbott and titled "The Big Lug." Patti is a terrific story writer and also hosts the weekly Friday's Forgotten books feature that I'm happy to be a part of.

Shindig will host video chats with fifty authors live from Book Expo America, Thursday, May 30th through Saturday, June 1st. Featured authors will include Mary Higgins Clark, Andrew Gross, C.J. Lyons and many more. (Hat tip to Galley Cat)

This, via Austin S. Camacho: If you're an author who registered for the Creatures, Crimes & Creativity conference, they have moved the deadline to June 15 to submit a short story to be included in the collector's anthology that every attendee will receive in a goody bag when you arrive. Don't miss your chance to have everyone read your story alongside the likes of NY Times bestseller John Gilstrap. If haven't registered yet, it's not too late for you to be included in that special volume – but you have to be registered before you can submit your story. Visit the conference website for more details.

Jeff Pierce, over at The Rap Sheet blog and via his column for Kirkus, lists eight crime, mystery, and thriller works due for release
between now and September 1 that he thinks would be particularly worth
investing your time to read. He also has a long list of other crime fiction books being published this summer that should keep you busy at the beach.

Speaking of Jeff and The Rap Sheet, somehow I missed the blog's recent seventh anniversary celebration. If you aren't familiar with The Rap Sheet (and you should be), hop on over and check out one of the most consistently entertaining and informative crime fiction blogs out there.

Omnimystery News has its monthly list of new hardcover mysteries being published. June's roster ranges from the eighth Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry to the tenth Lincoln Rhyme book by Jeffery Deaver to the ninth Walt Longmire installment from Craig Johnson. Other authors like Alafair Burke, Meg Gardiner, and Carl Hiaasen introduce new standalone novels this month.

Kobo announced a rise in e-reader sales of 145% in the first quarter of
2013. Its user base grew to 14.5m, with 15% of its new user base coming
from the US. The top-selling e-books (in the UK) included Gillian
Flynn's Gone Girl, Karin Slaughter's The Unremarkable Heart and James
Patterson's Bloody Valentine.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Crime journalist Steve Lillebuen talking with GalleyCat about digital tools for crime writers; Declan Burke grills Chris Allen about his Alex Morgan series; and Mark Pryor joins the Mystery People.

Book Riot lists the best 15 movies starring bookstores.

Which Shakespeare character are you? Try this interactive PBS feature to find your inner Hamlet or Rosalind.

From the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction department, "10 Craziest Disguises Used To Commit a Crime."