A Collection of essays and columns which discuss the writing and publishing business in and out of the genres of Science Fictiuon, Horror, Suspense, as well as writing for televisions and film. It is full of wit, humor, and experience.

Somewhere in Africa, more than a million years ago, a line of apes began to rear their young differently than their Great Ape ancestors. From this new form of care came new ways of engaging and understanding each other. How such singular human capacities evolved, and how they have kept us alive for thousands of generations, is the mystery revealed in this bold and wide-ranging new vision of human emotional evolution. Mothers and Others finds the key in the primatologically unique length of human childhood. If the young were to survive in a world of scarce food, they needed to be cared for, not only by their mothers but also by siblings, aunts, fathers, friends—and, with any luck, grandmothers. Out of this complicated and contingent form of childrearing, Sarah Hrdy argues, came the human capacity for understanding others. Mothers and others teach us who will care, and who will not. From its opening vision of “apes on a plane”; to descriptions of baby care among marmosets, chimpanzees, wolves, and lions; to explanations about why men in hunter-gatherer societies hunt together, Mothers and Others is compellingly readable. But it is also an intricately knit argument that ever since the Pleistocene, it has taken a village to raise children—and how that gave our ancient ancestors the first push on the path toward becoming emotionally modern human beings.

In The One Percenter Code, best-selling Motorbooks author and editor of Easyriders magazine Dave Nichols takes up where he left off in One Percenter: The Legend of The Outlaw Bikers. Nichols takes readers inside the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs and pulls back the secretive curtain on the biker lifestyle. He explores the concept of brotherhood, ultimately arriving at a new definition of family and community in the process. Being a member of a one percenter motorcycle club requires extreme discipline; in this book, Nichols shows us what that life offers in return. Nichols delves into the one percenter code of conduct and honor and finds something that is sorely lacking in modern society. In this book, he shows us how we can apply those values in our own lives. The world of the outlaw biker has its own rough-hewn rules of order, and The One Percenter Code acts as a guidebook to that truth-, honor-, and brotherhood-based world.

NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES The electrifying, untold story of the women born into the most deadly and obscenely wealthy of the Italian mafias – and how they risked everything to bring it down. The Calabrian Mafia—known as the ’Ndrangheta—is one of the richest and most ruthless crime syndicates in the world, with branches stretching from America to Australia. It controls seventy percent of the cocaine and heroin supply in Europe, manages billion-dollar extortion rackets, brokers illegal arms deals—supplying weapons to criminals and terrorists—and plunders the treasuries of both Italy and the European Union. The ’Ndrangheta’s power derives from a macho mix of violence and silence—omertà. Yet it endures because of family ties: you are born into the syndicate, or you marry in. Loyalty is absolute. Bloodshed is revered. You go to prison or your grave and kill your own father, brother, sister, or mother in cold blood before you betray The Family. Accompanying the ’Ndrangheta’s reverence for tradition and history is a violent misogyny among its men. Women are viewed as chattel, bargaining chips for building and maintaining clan alliances and beatings—and worse—are routine. In 2009, after one abused ’Ndrangheta wife was murdered for turning state’s evidence, prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti considered a tantalizing possibility: that the ’Ndrangheta’s sexism might be its greatest flaw—and her most effective weapon. Approaching two more mafia wives, Alessandra persuaded them to testify in return for a new future for themselves and their children. A feminist saga of true crime and justice, The Good Mothers is the riveting story of a high-stakes battle pitting a brilliant, driven woman fighting to save a nation against ruthless mafiosi fighting for their existence. Caught in the middle are three women fighting for their children and their lives. Not all will survive.

“Plenty of mayhem for fans of dark fiction . . . Suburbia may be even meaner than the big city.” —The New York Times Long Island may bring to mind quiet middle-class homes among leafy trees and lawns, or the glitzy enclaves of the Gold Coast and the Hamptons. But this gigantic stretch of land jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, home to nearly eight million people, can also be home to schemes, scandals, and various criminal activities. This volume collects an assortment of noir short stories set in Nassau and Suffolk counties—among them “The Shiny Car in the Night” by Nick Mamatas, selected for inclusion in The Best American Mystery Stories 2013. Original stories by: Jules Feiffer, Matthew McGevna, Nick Mamatas, Kaylie Jones, Qanta Ahmed, Charles Salzberg, Reed Farrel Coleman, Tim McLoughlin, Sarah Weinman, JZ Holden, Richie Narvaez, Sheila Kohler, Jane Ciabattari, Steven Wishnia, Kenneth Wishnia, Amani Scipio, and Tim Tomlinson. “New stories as diverse as the massive island itself . . . even the Hamptons have a wrong side of town.” —Kirkus Reviews “An eclectic and effective mix of seasoned pros and new voices.” —Publishers Weekly

In The Mafia Cookbook, Joe Dogs took the quintessential Mob formula—murder, betrayal, food—and turned it into a bestseller, not surprisingly, since Joe Dogs's mixture of authentic Italian recipes and colorful Mafia anecdotes is as much fun to read as it is to cook from. Now The Mafia Cookbook is reprinted with Cooking on the Lam—adding thirty-seven original new recipes and a thrilling account of Dogs’s recent years since he testified against the Mob in five major trials, all told in his authentic, inimitable tough-guy style. The new recipes are simple, quick, and completely foolproof, including such classic dishes as Shrimp Scampi, Tomato Sauce (the Mob mainstay), Chicken Cordon Bleu, Veal Piccata, Marinated Asparagus Wrapped with Prosciutto, Baked Stuffed Clams, Veal Chops Milanese, Sicilian (what else?) Caponata, Gambino-style Fried Chicken, Lobster Thermidor (for when you want to celebrate that big score), and desserts rich enough to melt a loan shark’s heart. You can follow these recipes and learn to cook Italian anytime, anywhere, even on the lam, even in places where Italian groceries may be hard or impossible to find. Tested by Mob heavy hitters as well as FBI agents and US marshals, these recipes are simple to follow, full of timesaving shortcuts, and liberally seasoned with Joe Dogs’s stories of life inside—and outside—the Mob. This is the perfect cookbook for anyone who wants to make the kind of food that Tony Soprano only dreams about.

In the Name of the Mother examines the cultural relationship between African American intellectuals and Italian American writers and artists, and how it relates to American blackness in the twentieth century. Samuele Pardini links African American literature to the Mediterranean tradition of the Italian immigrants and examines both against the white intellectual discourse that defines modernism in the West. This previously unexamined encounter offers a hybrid, transnational model of modernity capable of producing democratic forms of aesthetics, social consciousness, and political economy. This volume emphasizes the racial "in-betweenness" of Italian Americans rearticulated as "invisible blackness," a view that enlarges and complicates the color-based dimensions of American racial discourse. This strikingly original work will interest a wide spectrum of scholars in American Studies and the humanities.

It’s hard to believe, but this anthology first appeared 28 years ago. In re-reading the stories in this gathering of the weirdest tales, I am also reminded of how strikingly fresh and original the material remains. As its title implies, Borderlands contains fiction that resides out there on the edge, on the perimeter of what's being done in the field of horror, dark fantasy, and suspense literature. When I solicited material for what I hope will be the first of many volumes, I made it clear I didn't want stories that employed any of the traditional symbols and images of the genre. I wanted writers to expand the envelope, to look beyond the usual metaphors, and bring me something new. Some fresh meat, so to speak. So, dig in! Stories by David B. Silva * Nancy Holder * John DeChancie * Francis J. Matozzo * Bentley Little * Darrel Schweitzer * Michael Green * Poppy Z. Brite * Jeffrey Osier * John Shirley * Lee Moler * Nina Kriki Hoffman * T. E. D. Klein * Chet Williamson * Ed Gorman * Jack Hunter Daves, Jr. * Thomas Tessier * Les Daniels * David B. Silva * Karl Edward Wagner * Elizabeth Massie * Charles L. Grant * G. Wayne Miller * Joe R. Lansdale

How do you solve a murder nobody wants solved and catch a killer nobody wants caught? When a woman with explosive secrets is murdered, City Hall orders a cover up. But fired TV reporter Reno McCarthy has never been politically correct. Reno's out for justice and he won't back off---even if it means a showdown with a brutal manipulator intent on turning Chicago into a branch office of the Russian mob. Reno's city is on the verge of a 21st Century mob war; one that will make the Roaring Twenties seem like a cap gun fight. It's summer in Chicago. It's supposed to be cooler by the lake. Not this summer. ". . .complex, fast-paced. . .snappy." --Barbara D'Amato, past President, Mystery Writers of America "Crisp, street-wise dialogue. Cummings pulls no punches." --John Drummond, author of Thirty Years in the Trenches: Covering Crooks, Characters and Capers ". . .a crime spree all by itself. It has politics, sleaze and sleazy politics. It's peopled by cops, hookers, gangsters and even nastier types like radio hosts and senators. And Doug Cummings knows the territory." --Sam Reaves, author of Dooley's Back