All Categories - A.B.PATTERSON

Harry Kenmare, PI - hits the bookstores!

28/9/2020

Yes, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service will be adding a sizzle to the crime sections in certain bookstores.

Many of the independent bookstores in Sydney are very supportive for independent self-published authors like me, and are prepared to give your books a go. Total opposite to the one large chain bookstore left in Australia, who don't want to know me.

So, the three wonderful bookstores below all now have the new Harry collection on their shelves!

Currently, in Sydney, the original paperback is available at the following:
1. Abbey's Bookshop in the city (131 York Street).
2. Gleebooks in Glebe (49 Glebe Point Road).
3. Better Read Than Dead in Newtown (265 King Street).

Many thanks to these independent bookstores, and the faith they put in writers and readers. Get shopping in there and help them survive.

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short stories - thank you to all who made my new book possible!

16/9/2020

So, book number three is now published - super excited here! The first collection of Harry short stories, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, arrived yesterday.
The sense of achievement as a writer when you can actually hold the book in your hands is beyond description, even for a writer!

Now, aside from slaving over the manuscript writing the book, which is down to yours truly (writing is a very solo project in that regard), the final book only gets there with a whole lot of input and assistance from others. So, my acknowledgement page in the book records for posterity all those who were part of this effort. And now it's time to say THANK YOU to them all here and, for the professional contributors, to shout out my recommendations for their work. I've embedded the website links so you can check them out further.

First up my partner, Ruth, who puts up with the author and all his mess (and thousands of books!). Ruth was also a beta reader for the stories, as was my sister, Katie, over in France, and my good friend here, Allan Yates (who will be the MC again at the upcoming book launch - stay tuned on that one). Beta readers are invaluable - thank you all.
This time, being short stories rather than a full-length novel, I did all the editing myself, so there was no separate editor. I'll be getting an editor back on board for the third novel, currently in progress.

For liking my short story work enough to publish it in the USA, including three of the Harry stories in this book, and for the fundamental encouragement and motivation that gave me, thank you to Scotch Rutherford, the editor of Switchblade magazine out of L.A.
And also for the encouragement arising from publishing my short fiction, and not a Harry story, thank you to J.D. Graves, the editor of Econoclash Review magazine also over in the US.

Thank you to the recently formed Independent Fiction Alliance for their support. This Alliance, set up in L.A., is for writers and publishers who are committed to freedom of speech and who loathe censorship of any kind - yeah, if you've read any Harry, you can see why I joined them. The Alliance didn't make the acknowledgements page in the book, as the manuscript had already been typeset, but their Kraken logo was able to be added to the back cover.

Talking of typesetting, there is a vast range of work that goes into the mechanics of publishing a book, including typesetting the manuscript, formatting for publication, arranging the printing, and doing all the digital and ebook conversions. As for my two novels, I returned again to the wonderful Publicious up in Queensland. Andy McDermott and his team there have been superb to work with every time, and if ever you're thinking of self-publishing, I can't recommend Publicious enough.

The cover work here really does speak for itself, and I'll certainly be going back to the hugely talented J.T. Lindroos for future book covers. J.T. really nailed what I wanted and I couldn't be happier with the cover.

And on the subject of artistic talent, Ran Scott drew me a set of eight superb noir images, one for Harry's introduction at the start of the book, and then one each for the seven stories. I sent Ran drafts to read and he totally captured the dark feel of each story. You can find Ran on Twitter: @RSPMystery

And to round out the design contributions, thank you to my friend Stephen Hill at Dylunio, who did the original ABP logo with my Irish heritage clover, and has done the bookmark collection to accompany the new book. There's a set of eight, each with one of the internal images and a quote.

THANK YOU so much to all of you.

Cheers,
ABP

Paperbacks are here!!! "Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service" is now in print.

15/9/2020

Oh, YES!!!

It's that great day in an author's life when the boxes with the new book arrive!

This afternoon, 20 boxes of Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service arrived here, and they are looking bloody great!
The cover work is superb (thanks J.T.Lindroos) and the interior artwork is just what I wanted (thanks Ran Scott).
And the stories - well, I take full responsibility for those.

These are seven short stories of some of the hardest pulp fiction you'll find out there. Read them at your peril.

Want an original paperback copy?

You know where to find me.

Cheers,
ABP

COPS WRITING CRIME - Another 5 members join The Squad.

12/9/2020

Another 5 colleagues - all Americans - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 250.

That's 250 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. Dana Ridenour - served with the FBI.
2. Gary Dillman - served with the Metro PD in Washington DC, and then worked as a PI.
3. William M. Glenn - served with the Norwich PD in Connecticut.
4. Richard Rosenthal - served with the NYPD, and also the Wellfleet PD in Massachusetts.
5. Mark Mynheir - served with the Palm Bay PD in Florida.

Our Squad now consists of:

150 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

PI Harry Kenmare is here!!! All print-on-demand platforms.

6/9/2020

The PI Harry Kenmare short story collection is here. "Dark, debauched, and disturbing" is the blurb, and it's obscenely accurate. This is not a read for the faint-hearted, so buckle up, bite down, and enjoy the hardest and most explicit crime fiction you'll find anywhere on this seedy planet.

Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service is now available on all the major print-on demand platforms. Here are the links:

And here is the link to my website page for my books:

A.B. Patterson Author

Ebook also available, and original paperbacks here in about a week.

Cheers,
ABP

PI Harry Kenmare is here!!! All ebook platforms.

6/9/2020

The PI Harry Kenmare short story collection is here. "Dark, debauched, and disturbing" is the blurb, and it's obscenely accurate. This is not a read for the faint-hearted, so buckle up, bite down, and enjoy the hardest and most explicit crime fiction you'll find anywhere on this seedy planet.

Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service is now available on all the major ebook platforms. Here are the links:

And here is the link to my website page for my books:

A.B. Patterson Author

Print-on-demand also available, and original paperbacks here in about a week.

Cheers,
ABP

Harry is here!!!

25/8/2020

Dark, debauched, and disturbing!!! That's the blurb.

The Harry short story collection, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, went live today (at least for ebooks).

So, if you love Harry and you're an ebook fan, then it's on Kindle (in the US, and will be on the other Amazon shops over the next few hours). It's also on Kobo worldwide. Other ebook platforms are following.

For the paperback, I'm told 2 weeks here until the originals arrive from the printers. And the POD version will be going online in the next few days.

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection is at the printers!

17/8/2020

Harry is almost here!

The inaugural Harry short story collection, Harry Kenmare, PI - At Your Service, is imminent, folks!
The typesetting was finished and approved today, so it's on its way to the printing presses.
The ebook version, as well as the print-on-demand, should be available in a few days.
Watch this space!

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #7.

4/8/2020

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 #7 - "The Reluctant Bride".

She had all the dignity of a novice porn starlet who’d just had the money shot sprayed all over her face, in a gang-bang scene.
I stood there and looked at her, lying back propped up on pillows against the bed-head.

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

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #6.

3/8/2020

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 #6 - "The Missing Lily".

Panda bear, pick-up, pussy, phone call, pagodas, Peking duck, paternal loss, prostitutes, pay-day, and pussy galore.
So, the question is: what do these ten Ps have in common?
And the answer is: the most recent assignment for me, PI Harry Kenmare.
Being a gumshoe sure as hell has variety. Just as well. If I had to do the nine-to-five corporate hamster wheel ever again, I’d fucking shoot myself.

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

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #5.

2/8/2020

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 #5 - "Wankers".

She had a rack that would’ve distracted a Catholic priest from the altar boys. My first client in a fortnight sashayed unannounced into my shitty, smoke-filled office as I was pouring my first Jameson for the day. Well, it was a touch after 11 a.m. I nearly spilt the amber nectar. I was transfixed. She reached my desk and held out her hand.

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

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #4.

1/8/2020

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 #4 - "The Lonely Corpse".

She was standing outside my office door: fretful, indecisive, uncertain. Clearly in need of help. Like a furtive adolescent outside the VD clinic, for the first time.
The young woman was dowdy, with plain clothes and no make-up.
Unlike Terri I’d taken home from the pub last night. Plenty of make-up, and then no clothes. The reason I was late this morning. Pretty sure her name was Terri. Totally sure the sex was awesome.

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

Cheers,
ABP

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #3.

31/7/2020

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 #3 - "A Sex Kitten for a Cabinet Meeting".

Lying back in your birthday suit, with a barely legal young tart, also sensationally naked. Said young hussy has her mouth full, stretched wider than an anaconda swallowing a peccary, except in this case it’s your ragingly hard cock.
There’s a problem with this image: when it’s photographed for posterity. Raises eyebrows in certain circles.

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

Cheers,
ABP

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

The Harry short story collection - opening lines #1

29/7/2020

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 #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