Tuesday night marked the second #NoirBarYYC event for Calgary’s burgeoning crime-writers scene..

Presented by Coffin Hop Press in cahoots with Dickens Pub and Vertigo Theatre, who I must give the “mad props” and all due respect and admiration.

There were a few last minute cancellations, reader-wise, but we forged on with Dwayne Clayden, S.L. Asmundsen and Rick Overwater joining me in the fictional shenanigans.

I read a selection from HOT SINATRA, as well as a chapter from a WIP tentatively called Con Morte (here’s a little taste):

It took about ten seconds for me to pull my tools and open the door. An alarm panel affixed to the wall blinked silently, marking our presence on the motion sensors. Mikey clicked on his flashlight and hunched over it, referring to a crumpled piece of paper he pulled from a pocket. He turned and shrugged at Freddy before giving me a thumbs up, meant to imply that he had turned off the alarm. I hadn’t heard the usual beeping of the buttons, but I also wasn’t hearing the shrieking that would accompany us tripping the damn thing. Freddy stepped past us and into the hallway to inspect the rest of the downstairs area and find the office where he needed to find a small safe with certain files incriminating Carmine in a variety of crimes.
Mike, on the other hand, was rattling around in the refrigerator, coming up with a beer that he laid against the counter and knocked the cap off of with his hamhock fist. I turned and stared a hole through his pudgy face.
“What? I’m thirsty.”
I put the same two fingers back up to my lips again, then drew them across my throat in another universal gesture meant to display my intentions if he didn’t bone up and get to work. He guzzled down the beer and set the empty on the counter with a clang, before letting loose with a loud belch. Our previous encounter must have already faded from the mushroom soup fog between his ears.
“Scusa,”
I thrust a finger towards the hallway, reminding him that we were on a job.
“Ain’t nobody here,” he mumbled, finally sauntering off into the hallway.

There were prizes, including tickets to Vertigo Theatre’s Bloodshot, several books, a Coffin Hop Press prize pack, a vintage PSYCHO poster, a comic book pack featuring Rick Overwater’s FUTILITY and much more. There was excellent fiction, literary badassery by the score, booze, broads and ballyhoo. I was proud to announce Coffin Hop Press’s next anthology project AB NEGATIVE, and offer up a preview of TALL TALES OF THE WEIRD WEST, which we are nearly finished editing and formatting (debuting sometime in April!).

There may be some video footage coming forthwith, but here’s a few pics until then: