Tag: mystery

Slang from Storm Waters, Part 8

Posted on by kat_richardson

Cutting (up) Foxy:

This is an odd term you don’t see anymore and I first encountered it in “Crooked Souls” by Dashiell Hammett. The short story was originally published in Black Mask in October, 1923. The story was later reprinted in the May, 1953 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and again in a 1962 collection A Man Named Thin, edited by Fredrick Dannay (who was also one half of the writing/editing team we know as “Ellery Queen.”) With thanks to Don Herron of Dashiell Hammett Tour fame for posting the Ellery Queen connection on his website.

Now, where the term comes from before Hammett put it on paper, I don’t know, though there’s an obvious connection to the idea of foxes as sly or clever.

Cutting (up) Foxy: (v) acting clever.

The term is usually applied with some derision as in “You keep cuttin’ up foxy, and I’m gonna bop you in the beak.” It also shows up as just “cutting foxy” upon occasion. Sadly, I have no further etymology for the term and it’s always possible that Hammett just made it up—he did that from time to time—but it does appear in a few other places through the 1940s, and then disappears. Alas, poor foxy….

black on white clip art of a fox, created with spline curves. it looks very like it's thinking clever things.

 

Noir At the Bar!

Posted on by kat_richardson

Black, white and Red flyer for Noir at the Bar. Reads: Noir at the Bar. Ladies Night. October 24, 2024. 8PM. Hosted by Scotti Andrews & Bethany Maines

Tonight! (10/24)

I’m going to be reading first so, if you’re interested in hearing me read the first (or maybe the second) chapter from my upcoming Noir fantasy novel Storm Waters, be there early!

Tonight’s Readers: Kat Richardson (me), Lisa Liebeman, J.M. Phillippe, Laurie Rockenbeck, Bethany Maines, Kate Jackson, Roz Ray, and Scotti Andrews.

The Alibi Room, off Post Alley in Downtown Seattle, is located under Pike Place Market, just down from the information kiosk. Starting at 8PM, there will be swearing. There will be drinking. There will be women behaving badly. And that’s even before we start reading! See you there!

 

Free Short Story!

Posted on by kat_richardson

a poker hand—two pair: aces and eights—is shown on a moody red background under the title "Card Sharp". Below the cards is the author's name: Kat Richardson

Featuring Marty F-ing Storm

So, with the help of the very wonderful John Hartness (owner/publisher/editor-in-chief of Falstaff Books), I have a Marty Storm short story up at Prolific Works. And it’s FREE! So if you want to know a bit about the notorious protagonist of my upcoming dark-fantasy noir crime novel, Storm Waters, go get it! Did I mention it’s free? Click this link: Card Sharp at Prolific Works. Or click the cover image on the left.

You’ll also get the Falstaff version of my Harper Blaine short story “Chemotherapy” from my collection Through the Grey that they published in 2022. Why? Because I want you guys to buy the books! But I’m also happy if you just like the stories and tell other people to read them. That’s always cool.

I hope you enjoy them!

 

More Event Updates

Posted on by kat_richardson

New Info and Changes

New information for Squatchcon, and Left Coast Crime has been posted to the Events Page.

Pretty exciting stuff for me: teaching a Magic Systems Workshop at SquatchCon, as well as hosting a Writers Meetup there and speaking on some cool panels. Some small changes to a reading at  Norwescon, and updates on the Left Coast Crime panels I’ll be on in April. Check it out!

 

Upcoming New Novel!

Posted on by kat_richardson

 

Marty Arriving in November!

There will be a new Kat Richardson Fantasy Crime Noir novel out in November 2024 from Fairwood Press! (Working title: Storm Waters. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the listing.)

So, I’ve been saying “damn it Marty” for a while and referring to “Marty Fucking Storm” off and on for… umm… about 5 years. And I’ve read the opening scene in several iterations at a couple of conventions, so some of you know what I am talking about. But for those who don’t:

Some wisecracking ex-bootlegger named Marty Storm turned up in my brain a while back, pestering me to write about him. He looks and sounds like a character from a classic 1930s Hollywood crime film and talks like a character out of Dash Hammett or Raymond Chandler. He’s also a water mage, owner of a shipping company based in Los Angeles and Long Beach California, with some spooky-ass family in Bayou Barataria outside of New Orleans. Initially his story was pretty grim, but over multiple revisions, it got a little less bleak, though it’s still pretty Crime Noir with a big ol’ heap of Magic. The story takes place in the first half of 1934—just before the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde, and immediately after the repeal of Prohibition—when Marty finds himself suspected of the murder of his mistress. Investigating the crime to save his own ass drags Marty back into the heart of family problems he’s been dodging for years, and magical contracts he didn’t know existed.

So after a lot of revision, rejection, more revision, more rejection, etc… I threw in the towel and got in touch with Patrick Swenson and Fairwood (who is also a big crime noir fan, like me) and he said “Yes.”

So, spread the word: Storm Waters! Historical Fantasy Crime coming in November from Kat Richardson!

Looking forward to your comments and questions.

(And, yes, I’m still editing and coaching, and I’ll be attending some conventions this year, too.)

 

Upcoming Conventions

Posted on by kat_richardson

Norwescon and Left Coast Crime 2024

So, I’ve gone and registered for two upcoming genre conventions in my area: Norwescon—Seattle-area’s longest-running Science Fiction and Fantasy convention, which happens over Easter Weekend  (March 28-31 this year) at the Hilton-Doubletree near SeaTac airport; and Left Coast Crime—a wandering Mystery Literature convention which will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue On Seattle’s Eastside (what a mouthful), in mid-April.

I’m already talking to the programming folks at NWC, so I will be on at least a few panels and I might be holding some workshops. LCC is a bit of a different beast, since the programming folks essentially look at who wants to be on programming and what they are good at or interesting to hear talking about, and then stick them on a panel that fits. Or don’t. Because you don’t attend Mystery conventions as a pro the same way you attend SFF cons. Panel selection is based on the programming folks knowledge of the genre and the attendees, so the panels are likely to be created to showcase the writers and other pros that the attendees are most likely to want to see or hear from, plus a few smaller names to round out the panel and give the newer or lesser-known folks a hand up. Therefore, I have no idea if I’ll be on anything at all. But it’s always fun to hang out with the Mystery Fans and writers regardless.

So if any of you are hoping to catch up to me in person before the my next book comes out (sometime next year) that’s a couple of places you can find me. Hope to see some of you around!