Connections Clearinghouse for Thriller & Mystery Authors
Week of August 5, 2026
Each week, we’ll put the book cover of an Upcoming Release in the header image of the article. If you register your book in the Upcoming Release List, it could be your book cover up there.
Featured Title of the Week
This week’s Featured Title, Die Another Slay (The Biggest Little Mystery Series Book 1), is from our very own Faye Berg.
When a performer is run down under the glow of the Reno Arch, the Reno police are content to call it a drunk driver. Four women in their 60s are not. The world stopped noticing women of a certain age, which is precisely why no one sees them coming.
I’m actually in the middle of writing an editorial review for this book too. (And if you want an editorial review for your own work or to write one of these, reach out to me, K.E. Bartlet)
This novel released in eBook form on August 1, 2026 and releases in print on September 1, 2026.
If you’re interested in Advance Review Copy (ARC) reading the above work for the purpose of leaving reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and / or elsewhere, complimentary copies are available.
Contact K.E. Bartlet to get started.
What is Connections Clearinghouse?
A weekly-ish post with connection opportunities for Directory authors. Think of it as a community bulletin board with ways to connect, collaborate, and support your fellow authors. Let us know if you:
Need ARC readers for your upcoming release
Want to write or need a guest post
Need an expert to weigh in on some arcane technical detail
Are attending a conference and looking to meet up with other Substackers
Please Welcome Our New Members
Faye Berg. Genre: Thriller. Faye Berg, Author. I’m a retired U.S. Navy veteran, and I came to fiction late and by necessity; my ADHD brain demanded a productive outlet. I write from the perspective of a “woman of a certain age” who isn’t done yet.
Doug Collins. Genre: Thriller, Speculative Science Fiction. Doug Collins. My extensive technology background and interest in future technology leads my speculation in writing. I futurize on subjects of AI and quantum effects on society.
NOTE: If you have friends who are Thriller or Mystery authors, at any stage of their writing journey and however they’re publishing, please let them know that they can join our little island of misfit toys through:
authordirectory.substack.com/join
We’re stronger together than we are apart!
Releasing in the next 30 days.
August 16, 2026 — Blizzard of Stories: A Collection of Mystery Short Stories (Appalachian Mountain Mysteries Book 10) by Lynda McDaniel. Genre: Mystery Short Stories. 16 Mysteries from beloved characters in the award-winning Appalachian Mountain Mysteries series. Stuck inside Coburn’s General Store during a blizzard, they spin mystery stories from their past while huddled around the woodstove.
Interested in ARC Readers and Editorial Reviews from other authors. Review Copies Available Now.
August 16, 2026 — Carbon Secrets: A Georgia Steele Thriller. Genre: Technothriller. A secret buried in human DNA. A secret society willing to kill to protect it. Georgia Steele’s search for the truth may rewrite humanity’s understanding of itself—or end her life.
August 24, 2026 — Shall We Play A Game? (The fall of the CRINK Alliance Volume III) by K.E. Bartlet. Genre: Military / Espionage / Political Techno Thriller. What happens when the “island of misfit toys,” a ragtag group of spies and special operators from all over, come together to kill a rogue Iranian AI before it takes over the world? Tom Clancy meets Marvel’s Thunderbolts* meets Terminator’s Skynet.
Interested in ARC Readers and Editorial Reviews from other authors. Review Copies Available Now at SWPAG-Reviewer.KEBartlet.com.
September 1, 2026 — Shattered, A De-Extinct Zoo Mystery - Book 4, by Carol Potenza. Genre: Mystery. An opening night spectacle. A vanished woolly rhino. A deadly demand: trade one life to save two.
Interested in ARC Readers. Review Copies Available Now.
Connections for this week:
Who’s going to Killer Nashville this month, from the 20th to the 23rd?
David Bruns is organizing a Substack meetup, probably in a bar.
Carmen Amato is seeking experienced authors to serve as on-the-spot mentors for Author Speed Dating.
Sharon Woodhouse is a business coach/consultant, specializing in helping authors develop a sustainable business. She runs monthly free Zoom Power Hours on business topics, such as branding, expanding into audiobooks, and organizing events.
Pamela Fagan Hutchins is booking crime fiction authors now for the The Next Chapter Podcast with Pamela Fagan Hutchins.
Cold Caller Magazine is a paying venue open for short fiction submissions of crime and mystery short fiction. Find submission guidelines here.
Directory Update:
We’re now at 95 members (54 Thriller & Suspense Authors, 37 Mystery Authors, 2 Podcasters, 1 Publisher, and 1 Business Coach / Consultant).
If you’d like to update your entry in the Directory (i.e. genres or blurbs), please fill out the Directory Application Form and we’ll get it done.
Keep calm and write on,
David Bruns is a former US Navy submarine officer who writes national security thrillers with co-author JR Olson, a retired naval intelligence officer, including the bestselling Command and Control series. Over 12 years and 12 novels, they have crowdfunded, self-published, and been published by St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan. David is a graduate of the prestigious Clarion West Writers Workshop and writes science fiction in his spare time.
K.E. Bartlet is a former Silicon Valley engineer, professional hacker, university professor, and graduate of the University of Sex, Mayhem, and Crayons (U.S.M.C.) who writes Political Techno Thriller à la Tom Clancy, Alt History / Time Travel Science Fiction Military Thrillers, Romance, and Comedy. For anyone who’s read this far, she would like to “thank you for your service” to authors and inform you that she does in fact use a pen name, because she only slept through the part of her OPSEC training that came after she ran out of snacks.