A Few Fun Items to Share

I have a few fun items to throw out for you all, in case you haven't seen them elsewhere.

We're hearing a lot of depressing news about the publishing industry so it's always nice to hear optimistic news. One such tidbit is the launch of MysteriousPress.com. MysteriousPress.com in partnership with Open Road Integrated Media is going to "digitize classic works of crime, mystery and suspense fiction by the most distinguished crime writers in the world." To kick off the launch, MysteriousPress.com is hosting a contest. If you follow them on Twitter (@eMysteries) you're entered to win three free eBooks in the format of your choice. The books include: The City When It Rains (Thomas H. Cook), Rilke on Black (Ken Bruen) and The Mordida Man by Ross Thomas. You need to be following @eMysteries before November 2nd to be eligible.

You can also follow the MysteriousPress.com blog at their website.

Ken Bruen is among writers on the Mysterious Press docket and he happens to be blogging now. Love what he had to say about Craig McDonald!  

Another fun tidbit from publishing is the announcement of Dennis Lehane's imprint with William Morrow.

And since there are so many publishing opportunities opening up for crime fiction, we need crime fiction writers, correct? Well then it is a good thing that the Center for Fiction is debuting a Crime Fiction Academy in February! The Academy will hold classes in Manhattan and will include instructors such as Dennis Lehane (wait, when is this man going to be writing???), Megan Abbott, Linda Fairstein, Laura Lippman, Lee Child and others. While I don't have a burning desire to write, I'd love to sit in on the classes just to see what goes on. I'm sure it's a fascinating experience. If any one of you enroll and take the classes, let's talk so I can interview you about your experience. I'll see Megan Abbott in Muskego in a few weeks so I'll get more of the lowdown and share it with you.

I also thought this was really great, partly because I learned of John Burnham Schwartz through xuni.com. He's been tapped to write HBO's screen play for a Bernie Madoff movie. I've learned about the most fascinating people working with Maddee James and the xuni crew. Are you following us on Twitter or Facebook? I try to keep folks apprised of all the wonderfully fun things the authors are doing.

Later this week I'll be covering a couple of books to contribute to Jenn's Bookshelves' Murder, Monsters & Mayhem Month. Watch for those reviews and check out what else she's done over at her blog. It's a great celebration of Horror and Thriller in honor of Halloween.

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by earlier this week to talk about how they pick their next read from the overwhelming TBR pile. I may have to try some of the approaches people take. The conversation was fascinating and informative.

That's it for me today. Do you have any fun tidbits to add to the roundup?

Happy Reading everyone!