Life Is Short and Then You Die_First Encounters With Murder From Mystery Writers of America
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EMMY LAYBOURNE is a young adult novelist best known for her Monument 14 series, an internationally bestselling trilogy that has been translated into nine languages. Her stand-alone book Sweet won a Junior Library Guild Award, was a YALSA Quick Pick, and got a Perfect Ten rating from VOYA. Her latest books, Berserker and Ransacker, tell the story of a family of Norwegian teens with ancient Viking powers and are currently being adapted for television. A former character actress, she is occasionally recognized from her role as Mary Katherine Gallagher’s best friend in the movie Superstar. She lives outside New York with her husband, two kids, faithful dog, and flock of seven nifty chickens. Visit her online at www.EmmyLaybourne.com.
Y. S. LEE’s debut novel, The Agency: A Spy in the House, features a mixed-race girl detective in Victorian London. It won the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s inaugural John Spray Mystery Award in 2011. The Agency tetralogy continues with The Body at the Tower, The Traitor in the Tunnel, and Rivals in the City (Candlewick Press). Ying was born in Singapore, raised in Vancouver and Toronto, and lived for a spell in England. She has a PhD in Victorian literature and now lives in Kingston, Ontario, not far from the penitentiary where Sarah Jane Pierce served her sentence.
Called a “YA rebel-author” by Kirkus Reviews, BARRY LYGA has published more than twenty novels in various genres in his career, including the New York Times–bestselling I Hunt Killers. After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Lyga worked in the comic book industry before quitting to pursue his lifelong love of writing. In 2006, his first young adult novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Publishers Weekly named Lyga a “Flying Start” in December 2006 on the strength of the debut. Since then, he has written more critically acclaimed novels, including Boy Toy, Hero-Type, and Goth Girl Rising (the sequel to his first novel), as well as the Archvillain series for middle-grade readers and the graphic novel Mangaman (with art by Colleen Doran). His series I Hunt Killers was called by the LA Times “one of the more daring concepts in recent years by a young-adult author” and an “extreme and utterly alluring narrative about nature versus nurture.” Lyga lives and podcasts near New York City with his wife, Morgan Baden, their nigh-omnipotent daughter, and their preternaturally chill son.
JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times–bestselling author, six-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes in multiple genres, including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and action, and he writes for adults, teens, and middle-grade readers. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-Wars, is in production as a Netflix original series, starring Ian Somerhalder (Lost, Vampire Diaries) and will debut in 2019. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies, including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. His comics include Black Panther: Doomwar, The Punisher: Naked Kills, and Bad Blood. He is a board member of the Horror Writers Association and the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. He lives in Del Mar, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com.
MELISSA MARR writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have been bestsellers internationally as well as on the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists in the United States. She is best known for the Wicked Lovely series for teens and the Graveminder series for adults. She lives in Arizona with her family and a multitude of pets.
EILEEN RENDAHL is the national bestselling and award-winning author of the Messenger series and four Chick Lit novels. Her alter ego, Eileen Carr, writes romantic suspense. She writes cozy mysteries as Kristi Abbott and Lillian Bell. Born in Dayton, Ohio, she moved when she was four and only remembers that she was born across the street from Baskin-Robbins. Eileen remembers anything that has to do with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or champagne. She started writing for the worst of reasons (she thought it would be easy!) and has since spent years working on her craft, earning an MFA in creative writing at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She now teaches creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She has had many jobs and lived in many cities and feels unbelievably lucky to be where she is now and to be doing what she’s doing.
CALEB ROEHRIG grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but has also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Helsinki, Finland. A former actor and television producer, Roehrig has experience on both sides of the camera, with appearances on film and TV, and seven years in the stranger-than-fiction salt mines of reality television. In the name of earning a paycheck, he has hung around a frozen cornfield in his underwear, partied with an actual rock star, chatted with a scandal-plagued politician, and been menaced by a disgruntled ostrich.
STEPHEN ROSS’s short stories and novelettes have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, three previous MWA anthologies, and numerous other magazines and anthologies. He has been nominated for an Edgar Award (2011), a Derringer Award (2011), an International Thriller Writers Thriller Award (2015), and was a 2010 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award finalist. He has lived in Auckland, London, and Frankfurt, and he currently resides on the beautiful Whangaparaoa Peninsula of New Zealand, where his dog, Mycroft, takes him for regular walks. Stephen maintains a website at www.StephenRoss.net.
JEFF SOLOWAY won the 2014 Robert L. Fish Memorial Award from the Mystery Writers of America. His Travel Writer mystery series, published by Random House/Alibi, includes The Travel Writer, which takes place in Bolivia; The Last Descent, which takes place in the Grand Canyon; and, most recently, The Ex-President, which imagines the surprise resignation of America’s billionaire reality-TV-star president and his subsequent comeback, beginning on a luxury cruise in the Bahamas. Jeff’s short fiction has been published in the anthologies The Black Car Business, Volume 2 (edited by Lawrence Kelter) and Scream and Scream Again! (edited by R.L. Stine).
JEFF SOMERS (www.jeffreysomers.com) was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He wrote his first novel at the age of nine and was sent to a deprogramming camp by his parents. Escaping, he set several records in hard-boiled-egg consumption, video games, and sleeping. He’s published nine novels, including the Avery Cates series and the Ustari Cycle. On the internet, he writes about books, and his book on the craft and business of writing, Writing Without Rules, published in 2018. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with his wife, the Duchess, and their cats. He considers pants to always be optional.
R.L. STINE is one of the bestselling children’s authors in history. His Goosebumps and Fear Street series have sold more than 400 million copies around the world. He has had several TV series based on his work, and the movies Goosebumps (2015) and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) starred Jack Black as R.L. Stine himself. Bob lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher.
JULIE TOLLEFSON grew up in the sand hills of Southwest Kansas and now makes her home in the northeast corner of the state. She landed her first paying writing gig just out of high school, investigating such hard-hitting stories as “Do blondes really have more fun?” and “Does father know best?” for her hometown newspaper. After stints as a copy editor for a daily newspaper and an editor in a corporate technical writing department, Julie joined the ranks of academia, helping researchers communicate their discoveries to the public. Find her on Twitter @jtollefson, Instagram @julie.tollefson, and the web (julietollefson.com).
RACHEL VINCENT is the author of more than twenty-five novels for teens and adults in a variety of genres. A former English teacher and an eager champion of the Oxford comma, she shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats, two teenagers, and her husband, who’s be
en her number one fan.
JOSEPH S. WALKER is a teacher and cultural critic living in Indiana. His story “The Only Child” appeared in the MWA anthology Scream and Scream Again! and his fiction has also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Dark City, and other magazines and anthologies. Two of his stories, “Pill Bug” and “Awaiting the Hour,” have been named Distinguished Stories of the Year in recent volumes of the annual Best American Mystery Stories. He is almost halfway through a quest to see a game at every major league ballpark. Follow him on Twitter @JSWalkerAuthor.
AMANDA WITT’s fiction has been called “hottest of all” by Kirkus Reviews and “arresting” by Publishers Weekly. She served as a judge for the 2017 MWA Edgar Awards, holds a PhD in English, has taught writing at various universities across the United States, and is happy to now be settled with her husband back in their home state of Texas. Though mystery is her first love, she also has written four dystopian novels in the Red Series.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
INTRODUCTION
KELLEY ARMSTRONG
FLOATER
KELLEY ARMSTRONG
THE DAY I KILLED COACH DUFFY
R. L. STINE
IN PLAIN SIGHT
Y. S. LEE
DADDY’S GIRL
MELISSA MARR
SUMMER JOB
AMANDA WITT
THE BOY IN THE RED VANS
RACHEL VINCENT
THE COMPANY I KEEP
JEFF SOMERS
CONCEALMENT
EILEEN RENDAHL
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DOG
DAVID BART
MURDER IRL
JEFF SOLOWAY
A KILLER STORY
JULIE TOLLEFSON
GNAT
JOSEPH S. WALKER
A DIFFERENT HERO’S DAY
ANTHONY FRANZE AND BARRY LANCET
FIRST PARTY BACK
EMMY LAYBOURNE
WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION
JONATHAN MABERRY
THE THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT
STEPHEN ROSS
ENEMY LINES
CALEB ROEHRIG
SIX WAYS TO KILL YOUR GRANDMOTHER
BARRY LYGA
AUTHOR THE EDITOR
COPYRIGHT
A part of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
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LIFE IS SHORT AND THEN YOU DIE: MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS FIRST ENCOUNTERS WITH MURDER.
Copyright © 2019 by Mystery Writers of America.
Introduction copyright © 2019 by Kelley Armstrong.
“Floater” copyright © 2019 by Kelley Armstrong.
“The Day I Killed Coach Duffy” copyright © 2019 by R.L. Stine.
“In Plain Sight” copyright © 2019 by Y. S. Lee.
“Daddy’s Girl” copyright © 2019 by Melissa Marr.
“Summer Job” copyright © 2019 by Amanda Witt.
“The Boy in the Red Vans” copyright © 2019 by Rachel Vincent.
“The Company I Keep” copyright © 2019 by Jeffrey Somers.
“Concealment” copyright © 2019 by Eileen Rendahl.
“Night of the Living Dog” copyright © 2019 by David Bart.
“Murder IRL” copyright © 2019 by Jeff Soloway.
“A Killer Story” copyright © 2019 by Julie Tollefson.
“Gnat” copyright © 2019 by Joseph S. Walker.
“A Different Hero’s Day” copyright © 2019 by Anthony Franze and Barry Lancet.
“First Party Back” copyright © 2019 by Emmy Laybourne.
“What I Did on My Summer Vacation” copyright © 2019 by Jonathan Maberry.
“The Things We Don’t Talk About” copyright © 2019 by Stephen Ross.
“Enemy Lines” copyright © 2019 by Caleb Roehrig.
“Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother” copyright © 2019 by Barry Lyga.
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First hardcover edition, 2019
eBook edition, September 2019
eISBN 9781250196408
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