“Amy, is everything all right in there?” He waited a few beats before he opened the door. A small window above the last stall sat open, letting the night spill through.
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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
J.D. ALLEN was a Killer Nashville Claymore Award-nominee and a Mystery Writers of America Freddie Award-winner. She attended Ohio State University and earned a degree in forensic anthropology with a creative writing minor. She has a short story in the Anthony Award-winning anthology, Murder Under the Oaks. In 2018, her Sin City Investigations series launches from Midnight Ink. She is a member of the Bouchercon National Board, MWA, PI Writers of America, and her local Sisters in Crime chapter.
SHARON BADER hails from a small town in upstate New York, but lived most of her life in California before settling in North Carolina. She has always loved reading mystery and adventure stories. With a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Masters in Geological Oceanography, she taught for many years until she succumbed to the lure of technology and began to program lessons for computer-based training. She is an emerging writer with a strong interest in producing fiction, including mysteries, linked short stories and poetry.
ANTOINETTE BROWN is a mystery writer and reader. She lives in Apex, NC with her two small dogs. Her first published short story appeared in Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust, Love and Longing in 2014.
Hailing from a small town in North Carolina, COURTNEY CARTER has had a passion for reading and writing from a young age. She has served as both the membership committee representative for Triangle Sisters in Crime and as the chapter secretary. “Set Them Free, If Need Be” is her first publication credit, and she is thrilled to be involved with the latest edition of Carolina Crimes.
JAMIE CATCHER writes from her home in South Carolina where she lives with her family and a big, fluffball collie. She has a degree in English literature and can be found behind a book most of the time. She has written short stories for Bella Magazine and the Sisters in Crime anthology, Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, published by Wildside Press. She has a love for all things British, and yes—shoes.
TONI GOODYEAR is a former journalist, winner of the North Carolina Press Association Award. Other past careers include ghostbusting (yes, really). Her short stories have appeared in the Anthony Award-winning anthology, Murder Under the Oaks; The Killer Wore Cranberry: Room for Thirds; Kings River Life magazine; Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing; and Fish or Cut Bait: A Guppy Anthology. A member of Sisters in Crime, she holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
LINDA JOHNSON is originally from Chicago where her first career was in advertising. When the cold and gray of Chicago got to be too much, she and her husband packed up their dogs and horse and relocated to warm and sunny North Carolina. After working for several years as the owner and manager of a hunter/jumper equestrian facility, she decided to trade riding for writing. Linda writes suspense novels and short stories and particularly enjoys creating smart, psychopathic villains. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the North Carolina Writers Network, and has published two novels and several short stories. Find her online at LindaJohnson.us.
Obsessed with books, dogs, and creepy old houses, SU KOPIL writes short fiction about peculiar people. Her stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including: Woman’s World; Murder Most Conventional; Flash and Bang; Destination Mystery; and Fish or Cut Bait: A Guppy Anthology. She is the owner and founder of EarthlyCharms.com, a graphic design company that has been working with authors since 2000. Visit sukopil.com or follow @INKspillers.
BONNIE KORTA is a native Virginian and graduate of the College of William and Mary with a degree in English and American literature. She is retired from a career as a licensed clinical social worker. She studied creative writing at George Mason University, Radford University, and the Hindman Settlement School. Her writing has received awards from the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Poetry Council of North Carolina, Poetry in Plain Sight, and Carolina Woman magazine. She has been published in a variety of journals and online sources. She lives and writes in Pittsboro, North Carolina, and is currently working on three mystery novels, one set in the English Department at UNC; another the fictionalized treatment of the oldest unsolved mystery in Chapel Hill, the murder of Miss Rachel Cook, whose store became the location of the restaurant, Crook’s Corner; and the third featuring Eudora Welty as a fictional character.
GINA LEA grew up sharing time between Southwest Ohio and the Deep South. She began writing and illustrating stories as a child, hoping to create the next great comic strip. Having fallen in love with the Carolinas at a young age, she found it a natural setting for her books. Gina draws on her experiences living in a small town and working in the coffee industry for inspiration for her stories. Kirkus Reviews called her first novel Defining Destiny, “An ideal and frothy beach book.” Gina’s next novel is her first traditional mystery set in the fictional town of Destiny Bay. She lives in North Carolina with her best critics, her husband and Zuzu the Wonder Dog.
KAREN MCCULLOUGH’S wide-ranging imagination makes her incapable of sticking to one genre for her storytelling. As a result, she’s the author of more than a dozen published novels and novellas, which span the mystery, fantasy, paranormal, and romantic suspense genres. Awards she’s won include an Eppie Award for fantasy and a Vixen award. She has also been a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, and Scarlet Letter Awards, and a semi-finalist in the science fiction Writers of the Future contest. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. Her most recent novel is Wired for Murder, the second in her Market Center Mysteries series. A former computer programmer who made a career change into publishing, Karen has been an editor, managing editor, and senior web editor for an international trade publishing company. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, and now runs a web design company that specializes in creating web sites for authors and other small businesses to support her writing habit. Karen is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and the Writers’ Group of the Triad. A former president of the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, she has served on the boards of MWA National and the Writers’ Group of the Triad.
LIZ MCGUFFEY lives in Durham. She’s a retired pharmacist who spends her time writing, traveling, and playing bridge. She’s written and published scientific articles but now she’s trying to figure out how to write creative fiction and nonfiction. In July of this year her essay, “Rediscovering Mary Hancock, Warrior for Whimsy,” was published in the North Carolina Literary Review. She lives with her husband, Mike, and their dog, Rosie.
DON MARPLE has been writing fiction—short stories and one novel—since 2009. One of his stories, “Mara’s Baby,” won honorable mention in the 2103 Doris Betts fiction contest. The judging editor told Don it would make the basis for a good novel. He has written that novel and is seeking a publisher.
RUTH MOOSE’S first novel, Doing it at the Dixie Dew won the Malice Domestic St. Martin’s Press Award. Its sequel, Wedding Bell Blues, was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2016. She has published in Elliot Queen’s Mystery Magazine and several Malice Domestic anthologies.
BONNIE OLSEN is a former research technician (surprise!) and—now that she’s retired from that—a new writer. She spends her days chugging away on a multi-volume historical fiction series that’s still in progress. This is her first attempt at writing a short.
BRITNI PATTERSON is the author of the Justice & Mercy mysteries set in San Antonio, Texas, in the Hill Country near where she was born and raised, and the Rosa Parks short stories set in Raleigh, North Carolina, one of which was a finalist for the 2015 Derringer Best Short Story. She enjoys writing traditional mysteries that invite the reader to try and figure it out, with capable, clever, and flawed protagonists. She also
occasionally writes for Cracked.com, studies medieval book arts, watches Ru Paul’s Drag Race religiously, and is a bullet journal addict. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, or at britnipatterson.com, because she loves hearing from readers.
JENNIFER RILEY moved to North Carolina thirty years ago, delighted to discover writer courses and critique groups. After earning a master’s degree in English, she branched into computer software technical documentation. A technical report she assisted with earned her a trip to Rome, Italy. After her software technical writing, she entered a clinical trials two-year degree program. While sitting in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry courses, she learned various methods for murder. Her core competency is the analysis and explication of literature. Creative writing has intrigued Jennifer for the past two decades.
SARAH R. SHABER is an award-winning mystery author from North Carolina. Her World War II historical mystery series begins with Louise’s War. It features young widow Louise Pearlie, a government girl who works for the Office of Strategic Services, the United States’ first spy agency. Shaber is also the author of the Professor Simon Shaw mysteries, Blood Test, and editor of Tar Heel Dead. Her first book, Simon Said, won the St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Award for best first traditional mystery. She was the Bouchercon15 (World Mystery Conference, 2015) Local Guest of Honor.
Novelist, poet, and scholar JUDITH STANTON’S Deer Diaries, her first collection of poetry, was published in 2016. A romantic herself, Stanton published four historical romance novels, Wild Indigo and His Stolen Bride with HarperCollins, and The Mad Marquis and The Kissing Gate with Leisure Books and Montlake Press. Recently, she published her first equestrian suspense, A Stallion to Die For, with her own Cat Crossing Press. As a scholar, she edited The Letters of Charlotte Smith (1749-1806). This definitive edition of 400 letters helped restore Smith’s reputation as the first Romantic poet and has garnered Stanton a nomination as a Distinguished Alumna at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A lifelong book addict, CAROLINE TAYLOR has published several short stories in online and print magazines and anthologies. The stories are listed on her website, www.carolinestories.com. She is the author of two mysteries and one nonfiction book.
ROBIN WHITTEN is a physician’s assistant in family practice. Writing is her gift and her passion, one she has developed and explored throughout her life. She continues her search for the one story, the one word on the tip of her tongue, that she can put down on paper and share with the world. She has published in the Red Clay Review; the Bethlehem Magazine; the Main Street Rag, and has published a novella called Epona.
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OTHER TITLES FROM DOWN & OUT BOOKS
AND ITS IMPRINTS
See DownAndOutBooks.com for a complete list
By J.L. Abramo
Catching Water in a Net
Clutching at Straws
Counting to Infinity
Gravesend
Chasing Charlie Chan
Circling the Runway
Brooklyn Justice
Coney Island Avenue
By Anonymous-9
Hard Bite
Bite Harder
By Jonathan Ashley
South of Cincinnati
By Trey R. Barker
2,000 Miles to Open Road
Road Gig: A Novella
Exit Blood
Death is Not Forever
No Harder Prison
By Richard Barre
The Innocents
Bearing Secrets
Christmas Stories
The Ghosts of Morning
Blackheart Highway
Burning Moon
Echo Bay
Lost
By Eric Beetner (editor)
Unloaded
By G. J. Brown
Falling
By Rob Brunet
Stinking Rich
By Milton T. Burton
Texas Noir
By Dana Cameron, editor
Murder at the Beach: Bouchercon Anthology 2014
By Eric Campbell, editor
Down, Out and Dead
By Stacey Cochran
Eddie & Sunny (TP only)
By Mark Coggins
No Hard Feelings
By Angel Luis Colón
No Happy Endings
By Jen Conley
Cannibals and Other Stories
By Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid
Gitmo
By Matt Coyle, Mary Marks and Patricia Smiley, editors
LAst Resort
By Tom Crowley
Viper’s Tail
Murder in the Slaughterhouse
By Frank De Blase
Pine Box for a Pin-Up
Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights
A Cougar’s Kiss
By Les Edgerton
The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping
Lagniappe
By Nora Gaskin Esthimer, editor
Carolina Crimes: 21 Tales of Need, Greed and Dirty Deeds (*)
By A.C. Frieden
Tranquility Denied
The Serpent’s Game
The Pyongyang Option (*)
By Danny Gardner
A Negro and an Ofay
By Jack Getze
Big Numbers
Big Money
Big Mojo
Big Shoes
The Black Kachina (*)
By Keith Gilman
Bad Habits
By Richard Godwin
Wrong Crowd
Buffalo and Sour Mash
Crystal on Electric Acetate
By William Hastings, editor
Stray Dogs: Writing from the Other America
By Jeffery Hess
Beachhead
Cold War Canoe Club
By Matt Hilton
No Going Back
Rules of Honor
The Lawless Kind
The Devil’s Anvil
No Safe Place
By Naomi Hirahara, Kate Thornton and Jeri Westerson, editors
LAdies’ Night
By Terry Holland
An Ice Cold Paradise
Chicago Shiver
By Darrel James, Linda O. Johnston and Tammy Kaehler, editors
Last Exit to Murder
By David Housewright and Renée Valois
The Devil and the Diva
By David Housewright
Finders Keepers
Full House
By Beau Johnson
A Better Kind of Hate (*)
By Jon Jordan
Interrogations
By Jon and Ruth Jordan, editors
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego
Cooking with Crimespree
By Lawrence Kelter
Back to Brooklyn
By Lawrence Kelter and Frank Zafiro
The Last Collar
By Jerry Kennealy
Screen Test
Polo’s Long Shot
By Dana King
Worst Enemies
Grind Joint
Resurrection Mall
By Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg
Triple Shot
By JB Kohl and Eric Beetner
Over Their Heads
By S.W. Lauden
Crosswise
Crossed Bones
By Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks, editors
Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast 2
By Terrence McCauley
The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood
The Bank Heist, editor (*)
By Daniel M. Mendoza, editor
Stray Dogs: Interviews with Working-Class Writers
By Bill Moody
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz
The Man in Red Square
Solo Hand
The Death of a Tenor Man
The Sound of the Trumpet
Bird Lives!
Mood Swings (TP only)
By Gerald M. O’Connor
The Origins of Benjamin Hackett
By Gary Phillips
The Perpetrators
Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes (editor)
Carolina Crimes Page 21