For those of us not familiar with your work, tell us how you first got into writing, and what works have influenced you the most? I actually got into writing without really realizing it, by playing a play-by-email STAR TREK role-playing game in high school. Back then, I was focused on directing theatre and film, but, looking back, it was the first seeds of my writing career. As far as influences go, I’m a huge fan of epics, so getting to write one in the FABLES universe is pretty fantastic. As a Minnesotan myself, how crazy is it that both you and FABLES creator Bill Willingham both call southern Minnesota home? How has the local...

The Manuel Ramos Interview By Steven Torres This interview is in the latest issue of Crimespree (51) which is in the mail as this is typed. Manuel Ramos is an Edgar Award nominated author of novels and short stories mostly centered in the Denver area. If you haven’t read his books, you have missed out on great stories and some of the smoothest writing in the mystery field. Try Mooney’s Road to Hell if you want a taste of his noir mastery. Try Brown-on-Brown for some of the Luis Montez series. If you want the latest noir masterpiece, look at Desperado. Or, of course, you can find his short story in this issue. Steven Torres: I loved the Luis...

The late 80s/early 90s were a major time for me, musically speaking. My teen years (80s) were spent banging my head to Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Motley Crue (Only for the first two albums, Theater of Pain sent me running from them). But the late 80s saw my musical eyes opened wide. Much was still in the rock/metal genre, but bands like Living Colour and King’s X showed that there was a lot of music that did not easily fit into just one category. Here are five albums from the early 90s that did not feature flannel clad rockers. They range of tribal rock to alt country to power pop. Mother Love Bone: APPLE (1990). Prior to the...

From Crimespree 21 BACK TO THE STREETS An interview with Steven Torres By Russel D McLean Steven Torres made his name writing about Puerto Rico, but his new novel, The Concrete Maze, moves into the more definitively hardboiled territory of New York in the early 90’s and packs one hell of a punch into the bargain. Your intrepid Crime Spree Correspondent (Scots division) caught up with Torres in cyberspace to discuss Hardboiled cozies, the difficulty of settings and the meaning of noir in relation to the real world. Russel: The Concrete Maze is a very different beast from your previous novels. What made you decide to move away from the Puerto...

This week , in conjunction with Friday Reads Facebook page, we are giving away copies of Mary Higgins Clark’s DADDY’S GONE A HUNTING, Max Allan Collins’ TARGET LANCER and Bill Willingham’s WEREWOLVES OF THE HEARTLAND. DADDY’S GONE A HUNTING by Mary Higgins Clark When the family-owned furniture firm, including the mansion where priceless antiques are kept, explodes into flames in the middle of the night, Kate must escape to save her life. But the suspicious circumstances point to her involvement. Was the explosion set deliberately? Why was Kate, a gorgeous CPA for one of the biggest accounting firms in the...

Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, is pleased to announce the Anthony Award Nominees for 2013. The winners will be chosen by the full time members of the 44th Bouchercon September 19-22, in Albany, New York. BEST NOVEL Dare Me – Megan Abbott [Reagan Arthur] The Trinity Game – Sean Chercover [Thomas & Mercer] Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn [Crown] The Beautiful Mystery – Louise Penny [Minotaur] The Other Woman – Hank Phillippi Ryan [Forge] BEST FIRST NOVEL Don’t Ever Get Old – Daniel Friedman [Thomas Dunne] The Professionals – Owen Laukkanen [Putnam] The Expats – Chris Pavone...