I can’t explain it, but I seem to feel the need to give something away. With the various Matthew Scudder stories from The Night and the Music now available individually as Kindle Select offerings, it’s within my power to make one of them free for a couple of days.

lookingfordavid2So here you go. The story, “Looking for David,” first appeared in 1997 in Whydunit, a collection of stories by members of the Crime Writers of Canada; the question in all of the stories was less that of the murderer’s identity but his motive, and the chap in “Looking for David” has an unusual urge propelling him.

The story grew out of a couple of threads—my recollection of the role the statue of David played in my hometown of Buffalo, and a woman’s observation on the metamorphosis of her husband from Greek god to Roman emperor. Ah, well. These things happen…

It’s free for all Kindlefolk from 3am Eastern time Wednesday, December 12, to 2:59am Saturday, December 15, and I can only hope—

Say what?

Physical books? You’d rather hear about physical books?

Sure, we’ve got those. They’ve been flying out of LB’s eBay Bookstore, but David’s outdone himself in unpacking boxes and restocking the virtual shelves. (That’s David Trevor, not the titular chap from the free story. In case you were confused for a moment.) Here are some recent listings, noteworthy anthologies, each with a story of mine which I’ve taken the liberty of signing:

Otto Penzler’s Murder for Revenge – $14.99 SOLD
Anne Perry’s Death by Horoscope – $9.99 SOLD
Bouchercon 26 Program/Anthology – $9.99 SOLD
Otto Penzler’s The Mighty Johns (football stories) – $14.99 SOLD
Gelb & Garrett’s Hot Blood X – $9.99 SOLD
Pronzini & Adrian’s Hard-Boiled – $14.99
Spillane & Collins’ A Century of Noir – $9.99 SOLD
Robert J. Randisi’s The Eyes Still Have It – $9.99 SOLD

And these special bargains:

The Specialists, a one-book series: $4.99
One Night Stands & Lost Weekends: $4.99
Jerrold Mundis’ Break Writer’s Block Now – $5.99

At the moment, we have 170 different items in LB’s eBay Bookstore, enough to accommodate the most daunting holiday gift list. And we ship orders within 24 hours of receipt, so what you order today (or even tomorrow) should reach you in plenty of time for Christmas.

But $14.99 or $9.99 or even $4.99 isn’t the same as free, is it? So here’s another free offering—but we’re not the ones offering it, and you can’t just grab it up like “Looking for David.” You have to win it.

I recently recorded The Night and the Music for AudioGo. And if you go to The Criminal Element website, you can enter a contest to win a free download of the just-released audiobook. It’s not exactly Powerball, but then the odds aren’t nearly that long against you, and there’s no ticket to pay for.

And, while you’re there, you can listen to an excerpt from the first story in the volume, “Out the Window.”

All on Orange Wednesday…

LB