Alley Cats

Today brings the introduction of yet another Webzine featuring crime fiction. This one’s called The Back Alley and is edited by novelist Richard Helms (not to be confused with the former CIA director of the same name who was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress). Issue No. 1 can be found here.

As Helms explains in a background note, Back Alley is the new presentation format for Back Alley Press, which used to publish hardcover fiction. He has in mind producing “four issues a year. Each issue will contain five new short stories by emerging or established authors. ... In addition to new fiction, we will also attempt to reprint at least one classic hard-boiled/noir story from the public domain in each issue. We will maintain archives of past issues which can be accessed by new readers, in order to help emerging authors build a fan base. As an added bonus, we will accept submissions of Commentaries, Analytical, and Historical perspectives on these important literary genres.”

What Helms calls his “sterling lineup of authors” for the first issue of Back Alley includes stories by Edgar Award winner G. Miki Hayden (“The Right Thing to Do”), Derringer Award winner Stephen D. Rogers (“ Services Rendered”), Shamus and Anthony awards nominee Jack Bludis (“Available Light”), and--to fill that “classic hard-boiled/nor story” slot, Carroll John Daly’s “The False Burton Combs,” from 1921.

Writers interested in submitting to future issues of Back Alley should know that Helms promises to “pay for [accepted] stories--not much, perhaps twenty-five dollars apiece--but it will be a paid publishing credit. [And] we will submit, or arrange to have submitted, every story published in The Back Alley to the major awards--Edgar, Shamus, Derringer-- that accept open submissions.” Submission guidelines can be found here.

Issue No. 1 is a promising start. We look forward to seeing more of what Helms & Co. can produce in the months to come.