War and Police

There’s plenty of small stuff making the rounds today--not worth whole posts, but certainly deserving of mention: Civil War General William T. Sherman might be surprised to find his statement, “war is hell,” applied to a crime-fiction magazine. But that’s the theme of Out of the Gutter’s third issue, due out in November. And OOTG has put together a rather abrasive, but nonetheless affecting, video to drill their theme into your hard noggin. Screen it here. ... John Kenyon of Things I’d Rather Be Doing applauds the novelty of two new independent-press releases from notable authors Alan Guthrie and Charles Ardai (aka Richard Aleas). ... I haven’t even had time to look closely through Craig McDonald’s new Head Games, but Marshal Zeringue has already convinced him to put his novel through the Page 69 Test. ... Akashic Books’ growing series of “Noir” short-story anthologies continues to demonstrate its strength, with Glenn Harper of the nicely redesigned blog International Noir Fiction, celebrating the new publication of Havana Noir, edited by Achy Obejas, “the first [book in this series] based on a non-Anglo culture.” I’m looking forward, as well, to Detroit Noir, due out in November and edited by E.J. Olsen. ... Thirty-five-year-old Will Beall, the much-heralded author of L.A. Rex, tells the San Jose Mercury News that he writes fiction as a necessary release from his day-job as a Los Angeles cop “investigating gang killings in the city’s blood-soaked 77th Division in South Central.” ... And finally, at a time when obstructionist Republicans are under attack for doing more to condemn MoveOn.org than to protect the health and welfare of U.S. troops in the Middle East, and when even George W. Bush’s defense secretary isn’t sure whether it was smart to invade Iraq, the GOP might relish a distraction from their failures. But probably not this.