Year: 2013

Party Girls in December Issue of Ellery Queen

I originally wrote this story in connection to Rockstar’s LA Noire video game, then decided to write another, which is the one Rockstar ran a couple of years ago in conjunction with the video games premier. Recently, I looked at the story again and decided I liked it, updated it a bit and here it is, published in the most recent issue (December 2013) of Ellery Queen Magazine. Here’s an excerpt (hope you can pick up an issue today!): PARTY GIRLS by Jonathan Santlofer I been collecting the souvenirs for almost a year now, a lipstick that belonged to Jeanne French, a butterfly brooch worn by Dorothy Montgomery when she was last seen that I pinned to my sweater the minute I could and almost never take off, and just this morning a compact, Max Factor Dark Ecru, that was in Rosenda Mondragon’s purse the night she was killed, along with the steno pad I … Read more

Crime Fiction Academy Kicks-off with Karin Slaughter

Enjoy a glass of wine while you meet & hear Karin Slaughter talking about her craft, her new novel “Unseen” and the things that have made her one of the most successful thriller writers today. CRIME FICTION ACADEMY kicks off with bestselling author KARIN SLAUGHTER on: Wednesday, September 11, 2013, 7:00pm The Center for Fiction 17 East 47th Street 212 755 6710 View Larger Map

“Picasso Baby” or Pop Meets Performance (and Guess Who Wins?)

Pop. Of course. How could it not? I mean Jay Z versus Marina Abramovic? Gimme a break. Though their stare contest is pretty amusing. And it was kind of genius to have her in the mix: performance meets performance! I could kick myself for not being there. Had I known in advance I would have used every art world connection I have. My doppelganger, art critic Jerry Saltz, was there (I used to be mistaken for him all the time. Once, in a Chelsea gallery, the woman behind the desk asked, “When did you get the hairpiece, Jerry?” I said, “That’s not a nice thing to say, I’m not Jerry Saltz and do you think I’d pay for this lousy hair?” She said, “Oh, c’mon, Jerry.” There have been numerous other times equally funny and strange. I’ve thought about going home to Roberta Smith to test it out then thought better of it. And if … Read more

Vintage Magazine Quarterly – Visual Essay

I’m very proud to be part of the 4th issue of Vintage Magazine, the brainchild of Ivy Baer Sherman, and the most glorious, beautiful and amazing magazine (so much more than that; think, ART), modeled after the brilliant and short-lived Flair Magazine of the early 1950s. But Vintage is like nothing else, entirely unique and has to be seen to be believed. The fact that anyone would take on such an ambitious magazine project in the digital age is incredible, but Sherman pulls it off in spades. I’m not kidding when I say every issue is a collector’s item and not to be missed.  

Erotic Novels & Stories: Does Sex (Still) Sell?

Consider 50 Shades of Grey, the most recent entry and phenomenon in the sex book wars. I read a couple of pages at the checkout counter of a local bookstore and that was enough for me. My daughter says that she and a group of girlfriends read scenes aloud and howled. So what’s to be made of the trilogy’s 65 million in sales? Do women really crave bondage? Or is it simply that every generation needs a sex novel? When I was a boy it was Peyton Place. I was just a kid when it came out so it must have been a few years before I read it though I remember the sex scenes as if it were yesterday, bad girl Betty Anderson and rich boy Rodney Harrington on the beach, illegitimacy, incest and more. Then there was Fanny Hill, a bit flowery for my taste but it did the trick, and of course … Read more

Summer Events and Readings Coming Up

These are the upcoming reading events for the launch of my new anthology The Marijuana Chronicles by Akashic Books. 1. Tuesday, June 25 – 7-9pm, St Marks Bookshop, 31 3rd Avenue, NYC (212) 260-7853 *program starts @ 7:30 2. Sunday, August 4 – 4pm, Spotty Dog, 440 Warren Street, Hudson NY (518) 671-6006 3. September 1-2 – Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle Time TBA  (I’m afraid I can’t be there but Amanda Stern of “HappyEndings” and Maggie Estep and other contributors to the anthology will be. It’s still an event not to be missed!) 4. Tuesday, September 10 – 7pm, WORD, 126 Franklin Street, Brooklyn, (718) 383-0096

The Marijuana Chronicles Launch Contest

Here’s your chance to win this original illustration by Jonathan Santlofer from THE MARIJUANA CHRONICLES! Here’s all you have to do: 1. Buy the book. 2. Take a picture of yourself with the book (make it fun!). 3. Send us that picture one of three ways: a. Tweet the photo using the hashtag  #weedtales b. Post the photo on my Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/jsantlofer c. or Submit the image to http://bak.jonathansantlofer.com/contest 4. Deadline: August 31st. Extended to October 31st. 5. Names will be placed in a hat and drawn at random. *Like they used to say on television: Family members are not eligible!