Dearly Departed at NoHo Noir

There's a new installment of NoHo Noir up at patch.com. The "Noir" is subtle on this one but it's there. I'm still introducing characters but along about Christmas, you'll see some story arcs beginning to emerge. (My initial contract is just for three months, and that'll be up early in the new year, so just in case I don't get "renewed," I do want to tie off some of the story threads.)

As you can see, the story is illustrated by another great piece of art by Mark Satchwill. You can see more of his art on his site, but also in the upcoming Dark Valentine Magazine winter issue. The winter issue of Dark Valentine will be available Friday, December 3.

One of the things about the stories appearing on patch.com is that I'm visiting the site several times a day and they publish hyper-local crime news. I never knew my little corner of the world was so ... crime-infested. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

I hope you like the story. If you do, please click on "recommend." Or leave a comment. My editors love comments and so do I. Thanks for your support.

New NoHo Noir Story: Wrong Turn

With the Halloween story "Wrong Turn," my print-based web series NoHo Noir really starts rolling on Patch.com's North Hollywood-Toluca Lake site. This series of interlocking tales will follow a diverse cast of people who live and work and drive through the cities of North Hollywood and Toluca Lake, California--two cities that could not be more different.

The series made its debut the same day as the website and the first story in the series, "House Blend" got a lot of buzz. ("House Blend" was the most popular story on the site from Sunday, when it was posted until late Friday night.)

The series is a collaboration between me and illustrator Mark Satchwill, who furnishes illustrations for each story and also created the creepy clown logo for the series. I'm really hoping to develop a following for NoHo Noir. The NoHo/Toluca Lake Patch site is the first to offer fiction and I am, frankly, having a ball.

Read the story here.

NoHo Noir--Tales of the City of North Hollywood

If you've ever driven through North Hollywood, California, chances are you've passed Circus Liquor. And if you've passed it, you've seen their creepy clown logo looming over the street. That image perfectly encapsulates the feel of a new series of weekly fiction I'll be writing for patch.com, a hyper-local news site based in North Hollywood and Toluca Lake.

I am really, really, really excited about this new writing gig. (I almost used exclamation points, which I almost never do. That's how excited I am.) Illustrator Mark Satchwill will be collaborating with me to create stories and visuals that are connected by characters, themes, locations and plot elements. Eventually the stories will stitch together in a patchwork quilt of a novel along the lines of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. We hope.

The first story isn't really noir but trust me, they'll get darker next week with the publication of "Wrong Turn" for Halloween. This is how we describe the series: NoHo Noir is fiction that’s not for the faint-hearted. Written by Katherine Tomlinson and illustrated by Mark Satchwill, these tales are weekly walks on the wild side, narratives torn from the bleeding heart of North Hollywood and Toluca Lake; stories of love and death and everything that lies between…

Please go by the site and check out "House Blend." I think you'll like it. Stories will post every Sunday and be up until Monday. They'll be archived.