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The Harry short story collection - opening lines #2

30/7/2020

Over 7 days, here are 7 tastes of the Harry short stories in Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, with their opening lines …

Here's #2 - "White Powder, Black Leather, Grey Badges".

Naked, aching, lying on cold, wet tiles in an outlaw bikie gang’s clubhouse. Hot, acrid urine streaming over my face, head, chest. Was that asparagus? Not a usual bikie type of food. And how much could one human bladder hold? I’d seen elephants at the zoo finish more quickly. How much more? That’s what I was asking myself.

And the accompanying image in the book is from the superb Ran Scott.

Cheers,
ABP

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The Harry short story collection - opening lines #1

29/7/2020

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Over 7 days, here are 7 tastes of the Harry short stories in Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, with their opening lines …

Here's #1 - "Little Rich Street Girl".

Coagulating semen clung to the lock of grubby, blonde hair dangling next to her cheek. Obviously not all of a previous load had gone down her throat. I guessed she wasn’t concerned about the finer points of her appearance. On these seedy streets, appearances were shallow, skanky, and purely commercial. It was about semen and cash, giving and receiving. Prices depended on the delivery context: oral, vaginal, or anal; condom or bareback (for the true fatalists); and how desperate the girl was for her next hit.

And the accompanying image in the book is from the superb Ran Scott.

Cheers,
ABP

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Time to meet PI Harry Kenmare - in his own words!

28/7/2020

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My short story collection, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, is almost here. Unlike my Harry novels, the short stories are written in the first person, as Harry.
So, I thought it only fitting for Harry to introduce himself at the outset of the collection. And here he is...
Cheers, ABP
(Harry drawing by Ran Scott)

Harry Kenmare, PI

G’day, I’m Harry. Harry Kenmare, Private Investigator.

I used to be a cop, detective sergeant. Until I got the arse for belting a rock spider. A child molester to most of you. Well, of course I belted the prick. I’d just lost my daughter, Orla, to scum like him. Orla was raped and murdered, by paedophile animals. And, being only human, that has shaped me as a man since then. You got a problem with that? Guess what, here’s fifty cents, go call someone who cares.

Orla’s mother, my very ex-wife, left at the same time. Decided her yoga instructor was more ‘sensitive’ to her needs. He was a pretentious arse-wipe, but he had inherited money. Yeah, so I married shallow, as it turns out. Not the first bloke down that baited burrow. And then she shagged a couple of other detectives. Sure it was to spite me. Rooting another detective’s missus was a no-no, totally against the brotherhood’s Code. Anyway, the arse-wipe yoga instructor got done for dealing ‘herbal remedies’, went to prison, and the ex became his ex, too. Some degree of karma, maybe. No doubt she’s off now making some other poor bastard’s life an abject misery.

Anyhow, my motto now is: ‘Here for a good time, not a long time’. And I live by it. I smoke, I drink like a fish, I eat rich food, and I bed every good sort I can charm back to my apartment. I love the ladies. I’m what in days gone by was described as a libertine. And if you’ve got a problem with that, hear this: I don't give a flying rat’s arse.

Enough of my loves. What about the other side of the ledger? I hate injustice, I hate hypocrisy, I hate misogyny, I hate bullies, and I hate the Establishment. A long list. No shortage of candidates in Sydney. And wherever I can deliver karma, I’ll do so in spades.

You might love me, or you might hate me. But you’ll never forget me.

Cheers,
Harry

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Short story collection is imminent - manuscript headed for typesetting today.

27/7/2020

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A big day here in Sydney today...
I love it when you press "send" on the email with your manuscript on its way for typesetting, and then printing.
Yes, the manuscript for my first collection of short stories, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, headed off today for its last stage before birth.
This is my third book now, and I always find the editing process seems to go on endlessly. Of course, you could edit forever, but you have to draw a line somewhere.
So, hopefully the paperbacks will be ready in about 4 weeks, with the ebook and POD versions a bit before that.
I'll keep you posted on the dates.
As for the official book launch at my favourite pub, upstairs in the Nude Bar and scene of both previous launches, we will have to wait and see. It was all set to go, but then the restrictions came back in and events are now off the cards.
Meantime, here's the great cover work by J.T.Lindroos, and a couple of the beautifully noir 8 internal artworks by Ran Scott. And the back cover blurb says it all - Harry is coming to town and it's going to get dirty, in more ways than one!
Cheers,
ABP

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COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 new members join The Squad.

14/7/2020

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Another 5 colleagues (including 2 historical entries) - 2 Brits and 3 Americans - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 245.

That's 245 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. John Nicholl - served in the police in the UK, although I'm not sure which Force.
2. Leslie T. White - (deceased 1967) - served with the L.A. County DA's Office as an investigator.
3. Maurice Procter - (deceased 1973) - served with the Yorkshire Police in the UK.
4. R. L. Link - served with the Ames PD in Iowa.
5. Colin Conway - served with the Spokane PD in Washington State.

Our Squad now consists of:

145 American
50 British
13 Canadian
12 Australian
4 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese
1 Brazilian
2 "International" (listed as this due to current serving officer requirements)

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

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The Harry short story collection - opening lines #2

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #1

Time to meet PI Harry Kenmare - in his own words!

Short story collection is imminent - manuscript headed for typesetting today.

COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 new members join The Squad.

A.B.Patterson

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