Thanks to Close to the Bone for publishing my latest short piece Crossing the Queen “Cigarette smoke curled around Veronica’s right wrist like a translucent gray handcuff. She uncrossed her black-stockinged legs, stood up, and dropped ash into the blood that pooled around Allen’s head.”

Crossing the Queen is heavily influenced by film noir, as are many of my stories, but Veronica and Allen are named after Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd of This Gun for Hire, The Blue Dahlia-written by Raymond Chandler, and The Glass Key. I do imagine the two characters looking like them. I hope you enjoy!