Kate Flora: This past weekend, a few of us were selling books at the Cool Little Book Fair in Bath. Usually I bring the standards: first Burgess, first Thea, most recent books including my three thrillers and the romantic suspense. This time, as I was choosing what to bring along—always a challenge for someone who has published 28 books—I thought it would be fun to bring some different ones. Sorting through the boxes in my garage, I was reminded of some of the diversions I’ve taken along the way.

First on the list were short stories, beginning with those anthologies published by the first iteration of Level Best Books. Level Best Books was the brainchild of my friend and sister crime writer Susan Oleksiw. We’d been discussing the question of how interesting it might be to take a snapshot of the New England crime writer’s mind through the medium of the crime short story. Were there things about our landscape, our history, our culture that influence the way our minds work? It was a fascinating project that we pursued for seven editions and the answer was yes. There are definitely things peculiar to New England. I always throw a bag of those in the car and give them away when someone buys another book.

Next up was another collection of crime stories. One of the requirements for being a LBB editor was that each of us had to write a story approved by the other editors to be included in the collection. I gathered up those stories, plus stories I’d published in other collections, and created my own collection, Careful What You Wish For: Stories of Revenge, Retribution, and the World Made Right. Working with LBB taught me a lot about the choices that go into assembling a collection—long, short, dark, light, and what’s a stunning story to go first and a powerful one to finish. I also had a great time designing the cover. I found a photo that worked with the stories and my wonderful cover designer, Dave Fymbo, tweaked it for the cover.

Yes, there was another story collection I toted along, because we’re in the season of holiday shopping. It’s A Sampling of Sleuths, which is a compilation of ten stories featuring their series characters by “proven mystery authors each one with strong backlists.” Designed as a great way to introduce new writers to mystery lovers, it’s the perfect gift for a mystery lover if you don’t know what they’ve read or what they like. It was fun to write a short story with Burgess, and I got to make Fideau the “crime scene dog” he adopted a few books ago as the real hero of the piece.

Still moving on from my usual offerings, I included Beat, Slay, Love: One Chef’s Hunger for Delicious Revenge by Thalia Filbert. Thalia Filbert doesn’t exist. She’s the brainchild of one of my blog groups, a crime novel written by a committee of five mystery authors. Once we’d agreed on the theme of the book, each writer would write a chapter, taking the book in whatever direction they chose, and the next writer would have to work with wherever the story had been sent. Dark, sexy, violent, hilarious, and outrageous, this tale of a serial killer of famous TV chefs is a great book for readers who like stories that are a bit different.

Last on the list is another book I included both because it makes a great gift, and because it’s another project I was invited to participate in, Mystery Muses: 100 Classics that Inspire Today’s Mystery Writers. It was edited by Jim Huang. In the mystery world, there is no one better, wiser, or connected than Jim. Long-time creator of a mystery newsletter, runner of a mystery bookstore, and mystery publisher. This is one of the great reference books Jim put together for the mystery-loving community.

Intrigued? Want one of these books? Most are on Amazon. Or you can contact me at writingaboutcrime@gmail.com. I also have a secret horde of all my mysteries, hidden in my garage.