After a long layoff from here and from writing crime fiction short stories, I finally have something to report: A new short story of mine is up now at Beat to a Pulp. "A Wild and Crazy Night" tells of a recent parolee and his troubles with the generation gap.



If anything, getting this story out there finally is testament to the fact that you can find a market for your story if you wait long enough. After a couple of rejections from places that sought more blood and guts than I… Continue

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the latest Monday Interview at Things I'd Rather Be Doing is with author Craig McDonald, a fellow Crimespacer who has a great new novel, Head Games, out now. We talk about that book, his pending series and his past work doing wonderful Q&As with some of the top crime writers in the business.

As someone who has been dabbling with fiction writing for years with little to show for it, I'm happy to report that I have a new story in the latest issue of ThugLit. The story, "Cut," came quickly and showed me that perhaps all of my years of reading mystery and crime fiction has given me a sort of innate sense of how to write my own. None of my attempts at straight fiction have been as easy or felt so complete. Of course, mine isn't the only story there; Todd and Co. have picked a great… Continue

This week's Monday Interview at Things I'd Rather Be Doing is an interview with author Jason Starr timed with the release of his great new novel, The Follower. Check it out here.

The latest Monday Interview at my blog, Things I'd Rather Be Doing, is with Chicago author Sean Chercover, who talks with me about his debut thriller, Big City, Bad Blood. It's a great book, and Sean is an open, engaging interviewee. We discuss the way he approached the book knowing it would the first in a series, his love of Chicago and the way his background affected his writing.