Your Guide to New Developments, Exclusive Content and Giveaways at WildBlue Press | June 14, 2015 THIS WEEK’S CONTENT
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Ted Bundy’s murder kit, as seen by Kevin Sullivan |
Volume 1 No. 6
On the Horizon at WildBlueAs Summer 2015 gets underway, we are excited to be busier than ever with the addition of new authors to our already impressive roster. Most of you know WildBlue press as a publisher of true crime and crime thrillers. We pride ourselves on our team of crime writers who pour themselves into research to bring you the most authentic and entertaining crime reads on the market. With that said, we have our scope set on a much wider horizon and intend to expand into other genres such as business productivity and marketing, romance, history and more–so tell your friends, family, neighbors and the people in the checkout line at the grocery store to look us up! Readers who subscribe for our free membership will receive the publication two times per month, granting them access to exclusive content from authors and experts in our expanding genres, as well as advanced notice of contests and giveaways. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already! Coming soon to WildBlue Press This Summer: new true crime books from Burl Barer, Steve Jackson, John Ferak and Carolina Sarassa, as well crime fiction mysteries and thrillers by John Robinson (Cameron Bane) and Debbi Mack.
From Russia With Love Check out the media gallery from a blessing ceremony held in honor of Steve and his fellow team members and watch his latest update from the field! Catch up with Steve’s series From Russia With Love here! | Upcoming Releases
Jessica O’Grady BODY OF PROOF: Tainted Evidence in the Murder of Jessica O’Grady? This new true crime by John Ferak will be released this Summer 
John Robinson PITFALL Crime thriller by new WildBlue author John Robinson writing as Cameron Bane will be released this Summer
New Releases
THE OBITUARY by Ron Franscell 
NO STONE UNTURNED by Steve Jackson
Featured Blog Posts
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Now in Libraries and BookstoresBookstores and libraries can now order WildBlue Press books in print at traditional discounts and terms either through Ingram Publishing or, for an even greater discount, directly from WildBlue Press. Our fans can help bring our books to shelves by calling their bookstores and libraries and asking that they carry our great works. Bookstores and libraries can contact us at info@wildbluepress.com
Author Spotlight
“I had always pictured writing a series of Sam McRae novels, but to actually be doing it brings me a pleasure I can’t begin to describe.”This month’s featured author is Debbi Mack, recent addition to the WildBlue Press team. Despite having multiple career options with degrees in journalism and library sciences and law, Debbi was called to be a writer. After nine years of practicing law, she finally decided to pursue her dream full time. Debbi left her practice and sat down to write her debut novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, which is the first of four books in her Sam McRae mystery series. For a full list of titles by Debbi Mack click here! We asked Debbi to give some insight into her mystery-thriller series and the character of Sam McRae, and here is what she had to say: “As time goes by, Sam continues to evolve as a character. And the law provides almost a never-ending supply of story ideas.”“Years ago, when I was practicing law, I developed the idea for a mystery series in which a lawyer acted as a sleuth. This was a few years before I actually began writing fiction on a regular basis. My initial idea was that the lawyer would work at a law firm and that her sleuthing would put her at odds with the partners. Or something like that. As I thought through the concept, I decided it would be even better to portray her as a solo practitioner. In a sense, I figured that would make her more like the old-style hardboiled private eye. The kind of guy (or, in this case, gal) with his own office, his own rules, and a bottle of bourbon in his lower-desk drawer. Well, Sam’s kind of like that, sans the bottle of booze. Sam McRae is a lawyer in Maryland, who gets involved in solving murders connected with her cases. The way I tend to think of Sam is like Kinsey Millhone as a lawyer. The genre is hardboiled, with a touch of noir to it. And, contrary to many people’s assumptions, her name isn’t short for Samantha, but an acronym of her initials – Stephanie Ann McRae. I had always pictured writing a series of Sam McRae novels, but to actually be doing it brings me a pleasure I can’t begin to describe. What’s more, I’m currently adapting my first novel into a screenplay. That’s something I’d never expected to do. As time goes by, Sam continues to evolve as a character. And the law provides almost a never-ending supply of story ideas. I suspect Sam will continue to solve cases for a good long while.”
WildBlue Press looks forward to releasing the Sam McRae series and other Debbi Mack titles to our readers in the near future! KENTUCKY BLOODBATH Makes Hot New Release ListKENTUCKY BLOODBATH by Keven Sullivan has made the Amazon Kindle Hot New Release list for the “Violence in Society” category. Get your copy today! NO STONE UNTURNED Hits Number OneSteve Jackson’s NO STONE UNTURNED is number one in Amazon Kindle’s “Forensic Science” category and number three in “Serial Killers”. Thank you, to our readers for putting us in the best-sellers category time and again! WildBlue Catalogue and ArchivesFind more of what you’re looking for in our catalogue of publications and our blog page. | Bizarre but True: The Celebrity Murderesses of Prohibition-Era Chicago
Belva Gaertner at her trial. DN-0077649, Chicago Daily News, 6 June 1924 in Chicagology “No woman can love a man enough to kill him. They aren’t worth it, because there are always plenty more…”–Belva Gaertner to Journalist Maureen Watkins Most of you know Chicago by the benign moniker “The Windy City,” but historically the great metropolis of the midwest was know around the US as “Murder City” for the high levels of organized crime and apparent lawlessness that had the news media in a constant frenzy and captured the imagination of the country. Thanks to enterprising mafiosi like Alphonse Capone, Chicago was a hub for the illegal alcohol business (bootlegging) during prohibition. New York had become saturated with professional bootleggers who were constricted by the strict hierarchies of the Sicilian mafia and also by the mounting response of law enforcement. Chicago, a perfectly modern city in the middle of nowhere seemed to offer some breathing room for these extra-legal-entrepreneurs and furthermore, something of a rebellious spirit seemed to inhabit the first Northern city to embrace jazz–where guns and gin made troubling bedfellows. Men were not the only larger-than-life outlaw characters making headlines in Chicago during the 1920’s. Cook county jail housed the most notorious female criminal offenders in a cell block that came to be known as “Murderess Row”. A disturbing trend emerged when these murderesses went to trial: the pretty inmates who carried themselves with an air of glamour were acquitted while the plain janes hung. Journalists like Maureen Watkins followed the cases of these murderesses in fine detail. While Watkins actually despised the flawed system which let these women become celebrities and ultimately get away with murder, her stories helped make them celebrities much adored by their fans. Two of the most notable inmates from Murderess Row were the inspiration for hit musical Chicago’s Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. Their real names were Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Beulah was considered a great beauty and relied upon her diminutive frame and studied femininity to woo the public and ultimately the jury, while Belva was a seasoned cabaret performer whose more modest features were enhanced by her self confidence (bordering on arrogance) and her immaculate fashion sense. Beulah Annan was arrested for shooting her lover in the back. Despite the fact that the man (not her husband) seemed to be leaving when he was fired upon, the hours between his death and when the authorities were alerted and Beulah’s ever changing account of what happened that evening, she had the sympathy of the tabloids and the public from the moment they laid eyes on her. In court, Beulah would hold a delicate hand to her face and sigh raising her large sad eyes to gaze at the jury from time to time. 
Beulah Annan at one of her hearings. DN-0076803, Chicago Daily News, 4 April 1924 in Chicagology Belva Gaertner (known as Belle Brown) was also arrested on suspicion of murdering her much younger lover, who was found shot dead in his car with a bottle of gin in hand. Belva was arrested, piss drunk, blood splattered all over her white slip. As opposed to conjuring an air of frailty and daintiness, Belva relied on bravado and the excuse of inebriation, often making humorous reference to the trouble brought about by consuming gin. Belva wore expensive high-fashion attire to trial and kept her hair and make-up in line with the style of the time. Both women stood trial in front of an all male jury. Both women were found innocent and released without further consequences. Surely these cases can be attributed to a failure of the system to treat all murderers objectively, but you have to give credit to these two women who knew how to play to their strengths and play the men of the jury like records. Rest assured both Beulah and Belva never killed again and died in obscurity, Beulah a mere four years after her release and Belva at the age of 80. References: Special Events1. BODY OF PROOF: Tainted Evidence in the Murder of Jessica O’Grady? Release 
David Kofoed John Ferak’s new true crime original explores the murder of Jessica O’Grady and the former Nebraska CSI fallen hero Dave Kofoed who solved her case only to be found guilty of planting evidence in two other cases. Look for the release this Summer. 2. Debbi Mack Launches Crime Cafe Podcast Media AppearancesCaitlin Rother was selected as June’s Author of the month by the
Kevin Sullivan will be interviewed on True Murder with Dan
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