THIS JUST IN . . .

Funny you should ask, as I do my best to explain to uber-interviewer Jeremy L.C. Jones, over at the always excellent site, BookLife, just what makes me tick….

Why, it’s Needle: A Magazine of Noir! And if I may be so bold, it’s one of the hottest looking publications to come along in some time. I’m not just saying that because the brand-spanking-new issue, Winter 2010, contains one of my stories, a tale of drugs, murder, and store-bought pie….

Here’s the lowdown:
Needle: A Magazine of Noir, is a tri-annual publication featuring tales of murder and mayhem. New fiction by Graham Powell, Matthew C. Funk, Sophie Littlefield, Graham Bowlin, Michael Gonzales, Kieran Shea, Richard Godwin, Anthony Neil Smith, Matthew P. Mayo, Matthew McBride, and Libby Cudmore. And featuring PART ONE of the new novel by Ray Banks – WOLF TICKETS.

That’s a beefy 202 pages, plus a drop-dead cover, all for the reasonable tag of $7.50. Go ahead, grab the Needle!

Much bookishness has happened in Mattland since my last update…. For instance, Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks continues to sell like hotcakes! Over the next few weeks, I’m scheduled to do a number of radio, podcast, and print interviews on behalf of the book. That should put a serious dent in the publisher’s inventory. So, be sure to stay tuned and don’t forget to buy copies of Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks for all your friends and family (even smelly Aunt Bunky). They’ll love you for it. No, really….

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Click cover for larger image.)

According to my publisher’s national accounts sales rep, Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks is its #1 best-selling title on Amazon and elsewhere this week. Go, book, go!

Also at Amazon, for two weeks now, Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks has held all of the top positions in the 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-centuries, and New England subcategories in the History category. Atta book … go!

(Click on cover for larger image.)

My Western Steampunk short story, “Scourge of the Spoils,” is due for release in early November, 2010, in the DAW Books anthology, Steampunk’d. But why wait? The book’s available for pre-order RIGHT NOW! Woo hoo! (You know you need it…. )

Here’s a sneak preview of the final cover. And is it ever a cool one—this is a damn fine looking book.

(Click here for a peek at the back cover, too!)

Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks will soon be available (October 5) as an e-book! Click here to pre-order your very own Kindle copy of what is sure to be the season’s hottest-selling book about Bootleggers, Lobstermen and Lumberjacks…. Oh my!

My lovely wife, Jennifer Smith-Mayo, was out and about this weekend, photographing for the upcoming Vermont and New Hampshire books we’re working on. She dropped in at The Yankee Bookshop, in Woodstock, Vermont, and saw my new book on the shelf! Ayuh, Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks is well and truly available:

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As you can see, the book is popular with all manner of reader. Pictured is Jill Perry, Weekend Manager of The Yankee Bookshop, ably assisted by Zoë, the Beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog!

(Click photo for larger image)

Incidentally, The Yankee Bookshop is Vermont’s oldest continuously operated independent book store, in the biz since 1935. Be sure to support your local book store, folks!

Although the official release date isn’t until October, Amazon is already shipping my newest non-fiction book, Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments in the History of Hardscrabble New England!

It’s 300 pages of gritty grimness and Yankee determination in the face of all manner of adversity. And you can own a copy now … simply by clicking here! Yowza!

A while ago I was asked to participate in a mini e-panel for Jeff Vandermeer’s excellent site, Booklife, about how music affects one’s writing, and vice-versa.

Click here to read all about Birds, Breathing & the Song of Passing Cars: Writing & Music #5.