It’s a cliché to say that such-and-such writer is “the best-keep secret” in noir, and Jim Nisbet does not abide clichés, so we won’t say anything other than that if you’ve not read one of Nisbet’s darkly beautiful and often hilarious novels, you should, right now. But first read his story “Note From Earth,” right here at The Big Click. It’s science fiction, it’s noir, it’s a piece of prose, it’s a theatrical monologue, it’s like nothing else.

Wayne Allen Sallee comes to us from the world of horror fiction. The bloody bard of Chicago has been cranking out short stories, one-fingered, for over two decades, despite being hit by a car once. And also by a bus. His work eschews the supernatural shenanigans of the horror genre, and elides wonderfully into noir. We’re sure you’ll agree.

Tom Piccirilli, another refugee from the world of horror, is back with his latest column … and also his latest book, The Last Kind Words. Be sure to check out the novel that one reviewer called “a clear front-runner for 2012’s Most Tortured Metaphor Award.” Uhm, well, that review was terrible, and misleading. Check out the book and you’ll see that it’s great!

Thank you for all your kind notes and retweets about our July issue. That crazy ol’ bird story had a lot of fans. Remember, if you like The Big Click and want to keep us going, and your favorite writers in coffee and cigarette money, buy an ebook edition straight from us. Don’t have an e‑reader? You can probably read us on your phone, and if you don’t like that you can always buy the ebook file and then just delete it. We get paid either way.

We hope you come back for our September issue, when we’ll be doing our first ever (and we hope, annual) “New Blood” issue, featuring the work of new writers, including a piece of debut fiction from the woods of Maine! Until then, we remain just one big click away …