Delta Blues

Emily Bingham sat down to interview Alice Jackson, whose story “Cuttin’ Heads” will be in Delta Blues. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Emily Bingham: I wasn’t surprised to discover after reading “Cuttin’ Heads,” which is largely moved by political deception, that you were a journalist and have spent 30 years investigating crime, politics, and public corruption. Could you tell us a little bit about your career and how that has influenced your fiction? Are you retired?

Alice Jackson: No, I’m not retired as a journalist. Like most journalists, especially print journalists, I don’t think I’ll ever retire from news writing. Economic circumstances forced me to seek another writing outlet. From 2000-2007, I reported for Time and People magazines, and it was a wonderful job. I was assigned to fly all over the U.S. covering major news stories, but like most great jobs…more.

Lynne Barrett’s short story “When, He Wondered,” will be published in the March/April edition of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. It’s available on newstands right now.

Ace Atkins was named a finalist for the 2010 Hammett Prize by the International Association of Crime Writers for his novel Devil’s Garden. The winner will be announced in Toronto during the tenth annual Bloody Words conference held at the end of May.

Les Standiford popped in to let us know that he just sent the revised mss. of Bring Adam Home back to Dan Halpern at Ecco Press. It’s the true story of a homicide cop’s 27 year quest to identify the perpetrator in the Adam Walsh kidnapping and murder, which pretty much changed everything as to how the cases of missing and endangered children are dealt with in the U.S. The book is due out early in 2011.