“Singer. Dancer. Burlesque club stripper. Gangster moll. Communist revolutionary. Screen legend Karen Jamey has worn a lot of hats in her time and loved more men than the staff of a Reno cathouse. From her auspicious beginnings on the Baltimore stage to her status as the reigning queen of the B-movie scene, hers has been a sordid journey.

With characteristic wit, candor, and cluelessness, Ms. Jamey reflects on the events that have shaped her into the beloved American figure she is today — her mother’s sad descent into hoboism, the untimely death and subsequent resurrection of her grandfather, the films that built her up, and the men that tore her down. Relentlessly doling out morbid humor and mercilessly skewering Hollywood cliches, I, An Actress is a rabid romp through the darkly funny underbelly of fame.”

Publisher’s Weekly Said:
Dinsmore takes a cheeky look at the life and times of a tawdry B-movie actress in his entertaining pulp debut, written as the autobiography of Karen Jamey Hitler, a nonstarlet of the 1930s. A precocious, gorgeous German girl whose immigrant parents worked the minstrel circuit, Jamey drops her surname and injures a competitor to get her first significant part. Her career takes off in earnest once she moves from Baltimore to L.A. with her father, overcomes a corrupt agent and hooks up with Tony Tarantella. The seedy gangster introduces Jamey to the “big” names, gives her a job as a stripper and becomes her lover. When he catches her in bed with Fletcher Bisque and kills Fletcher, Jamey flees to Guatemala, where she quickly becomes a local celebrity and gets involved in revolution (and romantic intrigue with a pair of political rivals). A return to America to rebuild her career leads to monster movies, alcoholism and a breakdown. Dinsmore cobbles together a nice blend of Hollywood shtick and bloated narcissism for Jamey’s voice, and the result is a light diversion: dirty, low, funny and stylish.

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“Contemporary Press presents Danger City, thirteen twisted tales of heartfelt revenge, unsavory cops, huggable drug dealers, badly-timed payoffs, and strange love. Completely without restraint, totally unhealthy, and more addictive than a slot machine full of whiskey, the short fiction in Danger City puts the bite back in noir and the wood back in pulp.

For months, Contemporary Press combed endless streets, bus stations, and dive bars seeking the finest in modern noir writing. These up-and-coming authors have created a truly sleazy pulp underworld, filling Danger City with page-turning adventure, knuckle-biting suspense, and laugh-out-loud humor. Once you begin wandering through its shadowy alleys and seedy motel rooms, you may find it difficult to leave.”

I contributed the short story “Faggy on the Streets” and co-edited the book. Mike Segretto, Jess Dukes and I chose the stories from open submissions. Some of the stuff is great, some of it is so-so, but overall, I’m very proud of the book. Jeff Somers’ “Ringing the Changes,” which was a blind submission, was chosen for the Best Mystery Stories of 2006 anthology, edited by Scott Turow.

“In the future, disco is king. Johnny Astronaut is the story of a hard-boiled, hard-drinking P.I. who stumbles upon a mysterious book that changes his life forever. Caught between a vindictive ex-wife, a powerful crime boss, and a sinister race of lizard people, Johnny becomes embroiled in a warp-speed, hilarious adventure that stretches across space and time.”

My first attempt at writing a novel, I decided to write this one under the pseudonym Rory Carmichael. It works for the concept of the book, but the one problem I discovered with writing your book under a pseudonym is that no one believes you actually wrote it. I did, I swear. If you look closely at the cover, the rocketship says “Jeffrey D.” on it. Also, I own the copyright, so even if someone else did write it, I still get the money. I thought it would be clever to create a whole world around Rory before I started the book, to get people excited. I don’t know if it actually did get anyone excited, but it was fun. If you’re interested, check out the columns I wrote as Rory here.

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