Saturday, January 23, 2010

BFP's 2010 schedule!

Here are the books coming out from Busted Flush Press in 2010. Enjoy!

February
Just Enough Light to Kill (by A. E. Maxwell)
Paperback, $14, 978-1-935415-02-2

March
Misleading Ladies (by Cynthia Smith)
Paperback, $13, 978-1-935415-04-6

May
Killer Instinct (by Zoë Sharp)
With a new foreword by Lee Child.
Paperback original (first U.S. publication), $15, 978-1-935415-13-8

June
Old Dogs (by Donna Moore)
Paperback original (first U.S. publication), $15, 978-1-935415-24-4

July
Riot Act (by Zoë Sharp)
Paperback original (first U.S. publication), $15, 978-1-935415-15-2

September
Soul Patch (by Reed Farrel Coleman)
With a new foreword by Craig Johnson.
Paperback, $15, 978-1-935415-09-1

Hard Knocks (by Zoë Sharp)
Paperback original (first U.S. publication), $15, 978-1-935415-10-7

Tomato Red (by Daniel Woodrell)
With a new foreword by Megan Abbott.
Paperback, $15, 978-1-935415-06-0

October
Dark End of the Street (by Ace Atkins)
Paperback, $15, 978-1-935415-17-6

Empty Ever After (by Reed Farrel Coleman)
With a new foreword by S. J. Rozan.
Paperback, $15, 978-1-935415-19-0

November
Damn Near Dead 2: Live Noir or Die Trying (edited by Bill Crider)
With an introduction by Charlaine Harris.
Paperback original, $18, 978-1-935415-40-4

A Cool Breeze on the Underground (by Don Winslow)
Paperback, $15, 978-1-935415-21-3

And coming in early 2011:
Silver and Guilt (by Cynthia Smith)
Road Kill (by Zoë Sharp)
The Death of Sweet Mister (by Daniel Woodrell; with a new foreword by Dennis Lehane)
Bloody Kin (by Margaret Maron)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Ace Atkins short story nominated for the Edgar!

We are very excited to announce that Ace Atkins's original Nick Travers tale, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down," -- published for the first time in Busted Flush Press's reprint of the first Travers novel, Crossroad Blues -- has been nominated for the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Short Story! He's in good company, with Dana Cameron, Jim Fusilli, Dennis Lehane, and Luis Alberto Urrea. (Find the complete list of Edgar nominations here.)

We wish Ace lots of luck! Be sure to keep an eye on where Ace will be signing his new historical crime novel, Infamous (Putnam; April), about Machine Gun Kelly & his wife... he'll post the tour soon here.

And here's something interesting... there are three Edgar Award streaks of three in effect this year:

John Hart -- Three straight books up for Edgar!
The King of Lies
-- Edgar Award nominee for Best First Novel (2007)
Down River -- Edgar Award winner for Best Novel (2008)
The Last Child -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Novel (2010)
(He didn't have a book out in 2008.)

Megan Abbott -- Three straight nominations in years she's been eligible!
Die a Little
-- Edgar Award nominee for Best First Novel (2006)
Queenpin -- Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original (2008)
Bury Me Deep -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Paperback Original (2010)
(She had no books in 2007 or 2008, but two in 2007.)

Busted Flush Press -- Three straight Short Story nominations!
Bill Crider's "Cranked" from Damn Near Dead -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story(2007)
Daniel Woodrell's "Uncle" from A Hell of a Woman -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story (2008)
Ace Atkins's "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", an original short story published for the first time in Busted Flush Press's reprint of Atkins's first novel, Crossroad Blues -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story (2010)
(BFP didn't have an original story out in 2008.)

UPDATED 01/20/10: Ace Atkins comments on the Edgar nomination...

"One of the best things about being a writer is that an old story is never really old; that story is as new and fresh as when you first wrote it. It’s alive in the hands of your reader in that great collaboration.

"I was more than thrilled to get an early morning phone call from Busted Flush Press yesterday letting me know that 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' was nominated for an Edgar for Best Short Story. This was a story that had a hell of a time finding an audience. I wrote it fifteen years ago, the first story where Nick Travers, who would find action in four novels, burst into my imagination and started my career as a writer.

"When David and I first spoke about bringing out a new edition of
Crossroad Blues, I instantly thought of the short. I hadn’t read it for some time and was really surprised as veteran writer to see how well it held up. Not to say I didn’t make a few small edits, but the story is pretty much as I’d left it back in 1995.

"Chandler
wrote about the 'animal gusto' of a new writer really pounding the keys, finding passion and energy in those first stories. And I do believe 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' had that in spades. I had always thought of the short appearing alongside Crossroad Blues, a book that was initially written as a novella. But as I said, I was a young writer, and when I mentioned the word 'novella' to my editor at St. Martin ’s, he said: 'Can you add about 100 pages in a month?'

"And so
Crossroad Blues and 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' were separated for all these years. The story was relegated to the hard drive of an old computer that never did enter the internet age.

"This story was the first time I felt that I could really do this, work as a storyteller. But I had no idea what I was writing as a fledgling author, only 25, would ever be good enough to be nominated for an Edgar. After all these years, eight novels later, it’s a thrill to see that first tale getting some respect."

Friday, January 15, 2010

Saturday, January 9, 2010

BFP acquires two Daniel Woodrell books!

We announced last month that Busted Flush Press will be reprinting two novels by Daniel Woodrell, one the most important American novelists that most people have not yet heard of...

A year before
James Lee Burke released the first Dave Robicheaux novel, Woodrell introduced the genre to Cajun cop Rene Shade in Under the Bright Lights (1986; still in print from Simon & Schuster). Woodrell followed with two more Shades: Muscle for the Wing (1988) and The Ones You Do (1992). His other early novels include Woe to Live On (1987; a.k.a. Ride with the Devil), set in the last days of the Civil War; Give Us a Kiss (1996), a "country noir" novel... and then he wrote Tomato Red (1998) and The Death of Sweet Mister (2001), the two noir novels that BFP will reprint in 2009/2010, with new forewords by Megan Abbott and Dennis Lehane, respectively. Both were New York Times Notable Books, and both are considered by critics & fans of the genre to be among the best noir novels of all time. Hyperbole, yes, but please read on...

And once I announced the Woodrell reissues, I discovered that some of Woodrell's biggest fans happen to be Busted Flush Press authors, as they made known
very quickly through e-mails that included many exclamation points... then through Twitter and e-mail, I learned that this acclaim was shared by many other crime writers. Below are some early comments from some of Woodrell's peers...

“There are writers who break all boundaries and break your heart with the sheer level of their art. Daniel Woodrell is not only the most truly humble writer I've encountered but one of the very few I refer to again and again to learn how true poetic writing is achieved. His on-the-surface simple style conceals a master craftsman at work. There is no writer I know I would love to devote a whole novel to just quoting from his work. There are crime writers… literary writers… and then… Daniel Woodrell. Nobody comes near his amazing genius and I very doubt anyone ever will.”—Ken Bruen, award-winning author of London Boulevard

"Reading
Tomato Red -- the first Daniel Woodrell novel I came upon -- was a transformative experience. It expanded my sense of the possibilities not only of crime fiction, but of fiction itself -- of language, of storytelling. Time and again, his work just dazzles and humbles me. God bless Busted Flush for these glorious reissues. It's a service to readers everywhere, and a great gift." -- Megan Abbott, award-winning author of Bury Me Deep (and she'll write the foreword to the new edition of Tomato Red!)

"Genius is a word that gets thrown around a little too much these days, but when it comes Daniel Woodrell, it’s nearly an understatement." --
Reed Farrel Coleman, award-winning author of Innocent Monster

"I can't remember coming across a more precise evocation of innocence lost since Golding's The Lord of the Flies. With The Death of Sweet Mister, Daniel Woodrell has written his masterpiece — spare, dark, and incandescently beautiful. It broke my heart..." -- Dennis Lehane, best-selling author of The Given Day (and he'll write the foreword to the new edition of The Death of Sweet Mister!)

"The Death of Sweet Mister is a strong contender for my all-time favourite novel, crime or othewise." -- Allan Guthrie, Edgar Award-nominated author of Slammer and Killing Mum

"Put [
The Death of Sweet Mister
] on the shelf alongside Faulkner, Jim Thompson, and Cormac McCarthy. With this one, Mr. Woodrell has earned himself a piece of immortality." -- George Pelecanos, best-selling author of The Way Home (and writer for HBO's The Wire and The Pacific)


"Daniel Woodrell is one of those authors that's doing something not enough writers do. Write well about rural people, and about people that aren't all savvy and hundred dollar bills. He knows how to just tell the story. Reminds me of the storytellers I grew up with. They knew the power of a simple tale well told, and so does Woodrell." --
Joe R. Lansdale, award-winning author of Vanilla Ride

"Daniel Woodrell is consistently referred to as 'The Greatest Writer You Haven't Read Yet,' and as much as I hate that kind of labelling, I can't argue its veracity. Fact is,
The Death of Sweet Mister is one of the finest novels, regardless of genre, published in the last fifty years, and Tomato Red is snapping at its heels. Nobody else can condense whole lives into less than 200 pages with such emotional truth, and nobody else comes close to the brittle perfection of his prose, stiletto sentences that leave you wondering why Woodrell isn't held in higher regard. Perhaps it's just because people haven't read him. I hope that changes with the new editions, and I envy those coming to him for the first time -- they're about to read real noir, the kind that comes from human beings, not characters." -- Ray Banks, author of Sucker Punch and No More Heroes

"City slickers like me go on and on about the 'mean streets,' but the country noir of Daniel Woodrell can be so rawboned, nasty and violent, it sends me scurrying back to relative safety and comfort of the closest dark, seedy alley. Grab all of the Woodrell you can find -- but don't say I didn't warn you." -- Duane Swierczynski, author of Expiration Date

"Tomato Red. Death of Sweet Mister. The Ones You Do. Under the Bright Lights. Give Us a Kiss. Woe to Live On.
These are just a few of Daniel Woodrell's stunning, unforgettable, and beautifully written books. His prose is lean, brutal and poetic, as are his characters. And yet despite the tragedy, violence and emotional pain in his stories, Woodrell always manages to find the humor, and the humanity... and even a little redemption. This man should be a bestselling author, held in the same high, popular regard as Michael Connelly, T. Jefferson Parker, George Pelecanos, and Dennis Lehane. But while he's well-reviewed, he's not well-read, which is a shame. Hardly anybody besides critics and fellow writers are aware of him despite the fact that he's one of the best crime writers alive today... hell, he's one of the best novelists out there in any genre. He's the writer that other writers read to see how a master does the job... and to stay at the top of their game. If you love crime fiction, or just damn good writing, you've got to read this guy." -- Lee Goldberg, author of Mr. Monk in Trouble and The Man with the Iron-On Badge

"The first Daniel Woodrell book I ever read was Tomato Red. You know that feeling you get when you read something by a new to you author and your heart beats just that wee bit faster. You think 'this is it -- this guy is going to be one of my all time favourite authors' -- what a great feeling that is. From the first, awe inspiring sentence which is over 250 words long to the last heartbreaking page I was simply transported. As it happens, the second Daniel Woodrell I read was The Dead of Sweet Mister -- an uncomfortable, painful, brutal tale which is also poetic and beautiful and just... breathtakingly wonderful. It's a book of lost innocence, simmering rage, and ineffable cruelty that makes your heart ache. Daniel Woodrell is the master of making you care about people who live "lives of rancid nothingness". Their stories are so big, yet their lives are so small. I am so glad that Busted Flush Press are reprinting these two great books. Daniel Woodrell deserves a far wider audience. He's a genius." -- Donna Moore, author of Old Dogs and Go to Helena Handbasket...

"Daniel Woodrell's work transcends genre. Don't bother calling it 'crime' or 'noir' or 'southern gothic.' Just call it 'brutally magnificent' and get your dirty hands on as much of it as you possibly can." -- Tom Piccirilli, author of Shadow Season

We'll have covers for
Tomato Red and The Death of Sweet Mister in about a month, as well as book synopses, trade reviews, excerpts, and more! In the meantime, we encourage you to seek out Woodrell's latest release, Winter's Bone (2006, Back Bay Books), which is also very highly recommended by Busted Flush Press!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Some of the conventions we'll be attending this year...

We're looking forward to several book conventions & conferences this year...

Crimefest (Bristol, UK; May 20-23) We probably won't be able to attend, but Zoë Sharp's Killer Instinct should be out in time for the convention!

BookExpo (New York, NY; May 25-27) We'll share a booth with Tyrus Books in the Consortium area. I've attended several times as a bookseller, but this will be my first with a booth... Please be sure to drop by! We'll have authors at the booth... galleys, promo materials, more.

Bouchercon (San Francisco, CA; Oct. 14-17) Come on, is there an American city that personifies crime & noir fiction more than San Francisco? The Maltese Falcon, Vertigo, Bullitt, Dirty Harry... We should have Reed Farrel Coleman's Empty Ever After and Ace Atkins's Dark End of the Street out by then.

NoirCon (Philadelphia, PA; Nov. 4-7) More intimate than Left Coast Crime or Bouchercon, but heavily attended by the best of hard-boiled & noir fiction. Already tentatively scheduled to attend: George Pelecanos (guest of honor), Johnny Temple (Akashic Books), Charles Ardai (Hard Case Crime), Megan Abbott, Christa Faust, Laura Lippman, Jason Starr, Duane Swierczynski, Reed Farrel Coleman, Vicki Hendricks, Scott Phillips, S. J. Rozan, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Kent Harrington, Allan Guthrie, and so many more. We'll launch Damn Near Dead 2 (edited by Bill Crider) at NoirCon, and Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red will be out, too.

NEW UPDATE (01/07/10): Daniel Woodrell (Tomato Red, The Death of Sweet Mister) will attend NoirCon! Also let me know they'll be there: Jason Pinter, Anthony Neil Smith.

And of course, it's never too early to register for Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis! I'll be co-chairing (w/ Crimespree Magazine's Jon & Ruth Jordan, and my wife McKenna).

Sorry, running behind...

My New Year's resolution was to stay more on top of things and NOT get behind any longer... Crap, less than a week in, and I've already blown it.

Very quickly, I need to thank Janet Rudolph (pictured at left) of Mystery Readers Journal for allowing Reed Farrel Coleman (Walking the Perfect Square) the opportunity to talk about what it was like to write Tower with Ken Bruen (London Boulevard)... "We never disagreed over who had final say. There were no pissing contests." Read more here.

Also, coming later this year... Busted Flush Press will reprint Reed's Shamus Award-winning 4th & 5th Moe Prager novels, with new forewords! Soul Patch (w/ a new foreword by Craig Johnson) is tentatively scheduled for May, and Empty Ever After (w/ a new foreword by S. J. Rozan) will be out in time for Bouchercon 2010 in San Francisco, and in time for Tyrus Books's publication of Moe Prager #6, Innocent Monster! Cover art coming soon.

I hope to get back on track with blogging later this week. As always, thanks so much for dropping by! And if you have any comments, suggestions, complaints (or, ahem, praise!), don't hesitate to drop me a line at bustedflushpress@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear from you.