SUMMER 2008

The weather today slipped from June to August temperatures and mugginess. The view from my balcony is unremitting haze dulling the lights of the city. On the street early this afternoon, people seemed not to mind the maddening heat -- but, of course, they were, like me, crazy enough to venture out and allow the sun to sap moisture and energy.

This issue is filled with a lot of good summer reading -- stories, interviews, and columns. And, our podcast list is expanding. This issue Frank Zafiro reads Laddie, the second story in his series, joining him in the podcast pool are Scott Hove reading Ati, the third installment of his series and Steve Olley reading his latest Jack Best story.

We hope you'll enjoy all of it.

A REAL HONOR

The Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) has chosen me to edit a collection of stories from among those which have been lucky enough to be sonsideredn Derringer Award material. SMFS has been nominating and choosing stories for this award since 1998 and the society is a recognized force in its field. Stories are nominated for Derringers in a number of categories from the shortest shorts to the longer variety. Over the years some wonderful pieces have been given this honor and the writers run from the widely famous to newer lights in the field of mystery.

In 2007, our own Barry Ergang won a Derringer for a story published right here in Mysterical-E -- Vigilante. Read it, you'll see why it won.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the anthology. I'm really excited and quite honored by this.

CONGRATULATIONS

Mysterical-E and its Staff wish to congratulate the winners of the recent election of officers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society:

President: Gerald So

VicePresident: Jim Doherty

Derringer Coordinator: Nikki Dolson

You might recognize two of those names because Gerals and Jim are columnists here at M-E and both garner lots of compliments with their work.

MYSTERY MEN

In May, I had the pleasure of attending a reading/discussion by three of the top writers of gay mystery. I'd attended a similar event last year when they and a fourth writer did a reading in New York. When I heard they were coming to Philly and to Giovanni's Room (an independent, gay/lesbian bookstore) which is virtually around the corner from my building, I made plans to attend. In alphabetical order, Anthony Bidulka, Neil Plakcy, and Mark Zubro drove up from Washington., DC (another stop on their tour) and took in the delights of Philadelphia.

Mark Richard Zubro (seated) and Anthony Bidulka

Each of them hails from a different corner of the continent. Bidulka from Saskatchewan , Plakcy from Florida, and Zubro from Illinois. But so committed are they not only to their own work but to being a presence in gay communities around the country, that they fund these trips themselves in order to accomplish their goals.

Neil Plakcy

Anthony Bidulka is the author of a series of mysteries featuring Russell Quant who gets embroiled in one interesting situation after another. HIs books have enticing titles such as Amuse Bouche and Flight of Aquavit.

Neil Plakcy's Kimo Kanapa'aka is a police officer just emerging from the closet in his first novel Mahu Surfer. The titles in his series so far, carry the word Mahu -- the Hawaiian word for homosexual. (Mahu Fire is reviewed in this issue of M-E)

Mark Richard Zubro is one of the most published gay mystery writers. He has two series going: the Tom & Scott series and the Paul Tyrner series. Turner is a Chicago police officer and has adventures on and off the job. Tom Mason is a high scholl teacher and who sleuths along with his pro baseball partner Scott Carpenter.

Mark Richard Zubro

All three of these guys write with a lot of humor and sensitivity. Each of them works in very different setting. All of them are good reads.

If you haven't tried one of these mysteries, summer is here and you've got a spot on the beach with your name on it. All you need is one of these books.