Category: A.B.Patterson AUTHOR - A.B.PATTERSON

COPS WRITING CRIME - Anthology Project Update.

5/6/2020

I'm very excited about this project, which I think will be unique in the annals of crime fiction anthologies.
My call out to members of The Squad, crime fiction writers who are ex-cops, law enforcement, or PIs (and some still serving), has already resulted in over 30 interested authors for the project.
I've got interested Squad members from the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
So, the project blurb has been dispatched, and hopefully pens and keyboards are getting worked up for some fine new crime stories.
The initial deadline for submissions is the end of September this year, so realistically I should be publishing the anthology around the end of the year.
The working title is: A Blue Anthology: Cops Writing Crime.
I think this is going to be a great collection of realistic crime fiction. Watch this space.
Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Another 5 members join The Squad!

3/6/2020

Another 5 colleagues - 1 Brit, 3 Americans, and our first Brazilian (sadly deceased recently) - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 230.

That's 230 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. James Ellson - served with the police in the UK in both London and Manchester.
2. Rubem Fonseca - recently deceased - our first Brazilian member and he served for a long time with the police in Rio de Janeiro.
3. Misha Jordan - served with the police in the USA, and I believe Florida (Tallahassee PD?).
4. Anthony Zeoli - served with the New York Port Authority PD.
5. Jerry C. Scott - served with the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

Our Squad now consists of:

134 American
47 British
12 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

Special Deal - 2 for 1 on the Harry books in Australia!

31/5/2020

DOUBLE TROUBLE - SPECIAL DEAL on the Harry novels! 🕵️‍♀️😎
You like your crime fiction hard, dark and sexy? Then come and meet PI Harry Kenmare. But be warned, these are not stories for the fainthearted, my friends.
2 for the price of 1, posted anywhere in Australia.
That's just $30, incl. postage, for both Harry's World and Harry's Quest, signed by me and with some Harry bookmarks thrown in.🕵️‍♀️
Deal good until 15 June 2020. Contact me via email.
And apologies to overseas readers, but the postage costs mean I can only offer this deal in Australia.
Cheers, ABP

A.B.Patterson LIVE READING - Thrilling Detective - Noir at the Bar

23/5/2020

Absolutely thrilled to be reading live tomorrow (Australian time) on the Thrilling Detective website's first Noir at the Bar - virtual, of course. More's the pity, I'd love to be back in California reading in person. Still, hopefully next year. If you read my blogs, you'll have seen me talk about the excellent website, The Thrilling Detective, run by Kevin Burton Smith in California. If you are into private eye crime fiction, you MUST get familiar with this site: it is the holy grail for our genre.

So, if you fancy some live reading from crime writers, including me reading some Harry, here's the blurb:

Next up is our first-ever THRILLING DETECTIVE NOIR AT THE BAR, set for Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 5:00 PM PST, which hopefully means most North Americans can participate. If this is a big problem, let me know. And if there’s a big global uprising, I may hold a more international one next time (but hey, we’ve got an Australian!). It should last about two hours, and will feature past and current contributors to the site, reading from old and new works of private eye fiction. Scheduled to appear are Thrilling Detective’s former fiction editors Victoria Esposito and Gerald So, and readings from Ron Miller, Mark Troy, A.B. Patterson, Mark Best, Josh Lanyon, David Avallone (reading from the Nooniverse), Victoria Esposito (reading for Gerald So), and Graham Powell. So far…
Come for the readings, stay for the schmoozing!

Yep, no prizes for guessing, I'm the Australian component. And honoured to be in the line up.

So, my local Aussie fans, it's 10 a.m. Sunday morning, 24 May, on the Australian east coast (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, and Canberra), 8 a.m. for Perth and the west coast, and 9.30 a.m. for Adelaide and Darwin, and anyone else in the middle bits).

The link you need: (https://thrillingdetective.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/the-thrilling-detective-zoom/)

Cheers,
ABP

Cops Writing Crime - update on the anthology project

12/5/2020

The Cops Writing Crime anthology project hit a slight pause as our lives got rearranged for us, but I'm now trying to get it back on track.

I've had a great response from Squad members I've reached out to (those I know on Twitter, basically) and there are potentially 34 interested authors, so far.
Now that is a goer, as a proposition. I've had interest shown from the USA (18), the UK (8), Australia (3), New Zealand (2), Canada (2), and Pakistan (1). If even half of the interested authors produce contributions that work for the anthology, then we have a book, my friends.

Anyway, early days yet, but this project has promise and I'm going to drive it hard. The project blurb will be going out to all the interested authors over the next couple of days.

And if you're a Squad member, or think you should be, and you'd like to join this project, please reach out and we can chat.

Stay safe everyone.

Cheers,
ABP

EXCITED! - Part 2: Interior images for my new book - the PI Harry Kenmare short stories.

11/3/2020

Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service

I blogged a while ago to announce my next publication project - the collection of Harry Kenmare short stories. The manuscript is still being polished up (final edits), so actual publication is probably 2 months away yet, allowing for printing time.
However, I am HUGELY EXCITED to have just received the final artwork for the interior images, and the cover (see previous blog).

I have been inspired by the anthology magazines I read and their penchant for including artwork/images between, or to head up, stories. Great examples are Pulp Modern, Switchblade, and Econoclash Review.

So when I was conceptualizing putting together my collection, I started thinking about maybe including artwork.
Long story short, I perused Pulp Modern long and hard and, suitably inspired, went seeking out the services of Ran Scott over in the US.
And, hey presto, I now have eight superbly dark and gritty images to go into my new book. Each story gets its own image (Ran read them all before he started drawing) and there's an image to go with Harry's own introduction in the book.
Anyway, at left are two samples (all eight will go on my website shortly): the Harry introduction image, and the one that accompanies the story "A Sex Kitten for a Cabinet Meeting".
I love Ran's work and I am thrilled to have his work incorporated into my new book.

Stay tuned for the book launch.

Cheers,
ABP

EXCITED! - Part 1: Cover for my new book - the PI Harry Kenmare short stories.

11/3/2020

Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service

I blogged a while ago to announce my next publication project - the collection of Harry Kenmare short stories. The manuscript is still being polished up (final edits), so actual publication is probably 2 months away yet, allowing for printing time.
However, I am HUGELY EXCITED to have just received the final artwork for the cover, and the interior images (see next blog).
So the superb cover work you see to the left has been done by a US designer, J.T. Lindroos. I saw some of his work on the covers of two of Alec Cizak's novels (Breaking Glass and Down on the Street), which have been two of my outstanding crime noir reads in recent times (see my book review blogs).
Anyway, I touched base with JT, and now here is the stellar result of his craft. I am so thrilled with the cover work, and it sets the tone for the Harry stories beautifully. Aside from a gorgeous woman and the jacarandas (if you've read the Harry novels this makes sense - the jacarandas, not the woman, that's obvious!), those of you local to Sydney may well recognize, on the back cover, my local watering hole, the Glebe Hotel (formerly the Australian Youth Hotel), renamed in the books as the Emerald Bar - Harry's local watering hole.
So, there are seven hard-core stories in the collection, and the back cover blurb says it all. If you love Harry, you're in for a serious treat with this lot. Three of the stories have appeared in the sizzlingly dark US magazine, Switchblade, and the other four are previously unpublished, although I did read from one of them in LA last year at the Switchblade authors' evening in June.
Stay tuned for the book launch.

Cheers,
ABP

Cops Writing Crime - Anthology Project

16/2/2020

Into 2020 and it's going to be a big year in this author house!

So, an update on a project I mentioned a bit over a year ago, but which I now want to fire up.

"Anthology in Blue: Cops Writing Crime" (working title only, but it could stick?)

If you follow my blogs and tweets, you'll know about my project "Cops Writing Crime". Starting in 2017, I set out to collect all the crime fiction authors I could find who had served (or are still serving in some cases) as police officers or related law enforcement roles. I've also included a handful of PIs. My interest in this category of crime writer, apart from being one myself, is the sheer realism that I've found in any crime fiction I've read from ex-cops.
Check out The Squad - Also: Cops Writing Crime

As at today (16 February 2020), I've collected 208 members for The Squad, from all over the world (and I've still got a few dozen more names to research). I'm not aware of any similar project on this scale, let alone an anthology dedicated to this cohort of crime fiction writers. Well, I'm going to change that and have a lot of fun in the process.

I'll firm up all the parameters in due course, but I'm keen to hear from members of The Squad who would potentially be interested in contributing.
I won't be able to pay you (this'll be a love project!), but it's an opportunity to have some fresh short story work published in what I think will be a unique collection. I'm intending original print paperback, print-on-demand, and digital versions, and I will send all contributors a couple of original paperback copies.

I'm also keen to have another author (or two) who could be an official co-editor with me (I'm happy to shoulder the work, but a source for second opinions and reality checks would be invaluable).

Looking forward to hearing from you sisters and brothers!

Cheers,
ABP

Bouchercon 2020 - A.B.Patterson will be taking his Aussie hard-boiled noir to the main event!

26/1/2020

Ever since I published my first crime novel back in 2015, I have been looking at the online publicity each year for Bouchercon in the US, and wishing like hell I was going to it. Bouchercon is the leading get together for the crime mystery genre, and its website says thus:
The World Mystery Convention is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization which holds an annual convention in honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author.
Well, yesterday I made the decision, took the plunge, and registered for Bouchercon 2020.
In July last year I enjoyed a tremendous author trip to California, I loved the US, and I loved the amazing collegiate feel the crime writing community has over there. You are a great bunch, guys, and thank you so much for welcoming me in.
So, come October, I'll be heading back. Firstly for Bouchercon in Sacramento, but also hoping to be able to join in some crime author evenings in LA again.
And, of course, I'll be making a whole host of new author friends at the conference.
Roll on October!
Cheers,
ABP

PI Harry Kenmare heads for the town of Kenmare in County Kerry!

24/1/2020

Copyright: Above photo from County of Kerry Library website.

PI Harry Kenmare - possibly one of the hardest living private eyes you'll come across in the realms of hard-boiled crime fiction. And he's my main man - a flawed hero who loves women, booze, and tobacco. He loves justice and hates political correctness. And he's no fan of the Establishment. I'm liking him already!

If you've been at any of my public talks as an author, then you may have heard the question asked as to how Harry's name came about - it's been asked a few times.
I chose "Harry" for a good strong first name, and I think it suits this type of detective character well.
As for his surname, "Kenmare", we have to look to Ireland and my own heritage. I have a number of Irish lines in my ancestry. Five generations ago, Mr Patterson came from Belfast to the then colony of New South Wales. But generationally my closest Irish link, and my Irish citizenship source, was a great-grandma who hailed from Kenmare in County Kerry (see the map).
So it occurred to me in a flash one day late last year that Kenmare probably had a town library and how fitting would it be for the Harry Kenmare novels to be right there in the town for the Kenmare residents to enjoy (depending on reading tastes, of course!)
I made contact with the County Kerry Library Service and indeed the good folk at Kenmare Library (pictured at left) were keen for Harry to join their collection.
So today a parcel left Sydney headed for Kenmare with my donated copies to entertain any crime fiction fans in Kenmare.
And since a trip around the Emerald Isle is high on my priority list, at some stage soon I'll hopefully be able to give an author talk to the town of Kenmare.
Cheers,
ABP

2020 - The year ahead for this author.

19/1/2020

And we are off to a New Year - 2020. Happy New Year to you all.
As a kid, saying any year with 20 in front of it suggested science fiction reading. And I always loved that genre as a youngster. Still do, and definitely not young any more!

Alas, the back half of 2019 became inundated with my consulting work (which pays the bills, so can't be ignored!) and my author pursuits suffered somewhat. Anyway, the holiday period is now over and I've had a break to reset and refocus.

So here's the list of my main author projects for the coming year:
1. The manuscript for my collection of Harry short stories is done and in the final stages of editing. The cover work and internal artwork are also in progress. Expect the book, Harry Kenmare, P.I. - At Your Service, around late March.
2. Going to try and pull off the first ever "Noir at the Bar" event for Sydney - just trying to rustle up some local crime authors to join in. Unfortunately I haven't found much sense of a collegiate crime author community here, unlike the wonderful experience I enjoyed in LA last year. However, I'm nothing if not stubborn.
3. The third Harry novel, Harry's Grail, is now well underway. First goal is to have the manuscript finished before the end of the year. If I can also publish before then as well, all the better. But realistically, early 2021.
4. Push on with some more short stories, Harry and others, and hopefully get some published.
5. And push on with a novella project I started way back, The Scent of the Wattle. It's a crime story about paedophiles and corruption, but definitely not Harry. Heavily based on my detective experiences.

Now...time to pull the finger out!

If I can stick to plan, then it's going to be a big 2020 for this author. Hope you'll join me for the ride, or at least parts of it.
Cheers,
ABP

"Harry's Quest" named Finalist in the 8th Beverly Hills Book Awards!

24/11/2019

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that Harry's Quest has been named as a Finalist (and, in fact, the runner up) in the Crime category of the 8th Beverly Hills Book Awards out of the USA.

Back in 2016, Harry's World also made Finalist in the same award, so looks like Harry goes down well in Beverly Hills!

Cheers,
ABP

A.B.Patterson on the radio - Link to 2SER interview "Death of the Reader"

18/11/2019

Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Flex and Herds at radio 2SER here in Sydney, joining them for their weekly "Death of the Reader" show.

So, here's the link for that interview: CLICK here.
Or paste this into your browser: https://2ser.com/tales-from-two-pockets-by-karel-capek-part-two/

And they're running a competition on Twitter (see below) to win the Harry novels.

Cheers,
ABP

A.B.Patterson on the radio this evening - "Death of the Reader", on 2SER 107.3FM

6/10/2019

During the week I had the pleasure of joining Flex and Herds for the recording of their show, "Death of the Reader".
We had a great chat about crime writing, including mine.
Here's the link for the show tonight

It's also available on podcast after the show.
Cheers,
ABP

Silver Medal for "Harry's Quest" in the Global Ebook Awards 2019.

20/8/2019

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that Harry's Quest picked up the silver medal in the Mystery category of the 2019 Global Ebook Awards out of the USA.

Back in 2016, Harry's World picked up the bronze medal in the same award, so looks like the sequel has stepped it up a notch.

Here's hoping the next novel, Harry's Grail, might take out the gold medal.

Cheers,
ABP