The Panic Days

Every two months I sit down to do the layout on Crimespree and usually it takes a good to solid days. Issue 6 and 7 involved longer than usual periods with out sleep. As I get better with the software I think the issues look better and better.

Well, number 8 is coming down fast and the panic comes along with it.
Do I have enough material?
Do I have too much material?
If I have too much, how can I whittle it down?
Does someone get bumped?
That’s weird, I don’t remember talking to this person about doing an article, and yet here it is with a note saying that we had talked about…
Do I have enough reviews?
Did I forget to review something?
Are my regular contributors going to make the deadline?


Well, so far I have a fair amount of stuff a little early, so the layout has already begun. A number of regular contributors always manage to scare me, but always, and I mean always, come through in the end.

So I’m going through everything lined up for this coming issue and trying to figure out the page count. And of course I also have to try and get the ads in there and remember all of them.

So far so good.

We have some great pictures from Mary Reagan and from Rik Shepherd of event in the UK, a nice piece from Harry Hunsicker on his book launch, David Morrell sent us a great article, we have Sandra Tooley and some great thoughts on Self Publishing. Julia Spencer-Fleming interviews Zoe Sharp, Maureen Robb interviews Patricia Sprinkle. Cover boys Michael Connelly and William Kent Krueger. A nice piece on Michael from Craig McDonald and a great interview of Kent by Jeremy Lynch. Lori Avocato, Shirley Kennet, Ray Banks, and Will Staeger are here too. Great fiction from Iain Rowan, Steven Torres and Otis XII. And of course Reed Coleman, Robert J Randisi and Jim Pascoe.

And just so no freaks out, it will ship the Friday before Bouchercon, this means with bulk mailing it will be between 10 and 16 days before it shows up.

It will be on sale at Bouchercon® in Chicago at the MYSTERY ONE booth in the dealer room.

All in all a pretty action packed issue. Will it all jam into the 76 pages between the covers? I hope so…