If you scroll down a bit, you'll see a story about the devil which has never before been published. There are reasons why this is so, but I first want to dispell two possibilities.



Myth #1 - Maybe it was never published because Torres never sent it out or sent it to the wrong places. This is false. I sent the story out to a handful of magazines. Rejections tendd toward personalized, "good writing, but the story is not for us." I also try to do a bit of market research… Continue

The Devil in Jackson Township

By

Steven Torres







There has always been, shall we say, a warm spot in my heart for Jackson Township. I have toiled very little here while making considerable gains. In fact, I might go so far as to say that evil grows here of its own accord with barely an effort from me or anyone in my employ. When the institution of owning human chattel was in place, Jackson was one place slaves dreaded; a place where… Continue

Allan Guthrie, author of HARD MAN, has said some nice things about my latest effort, which, of course, I want to share. A bit of disclosure here first. I've recently interviewed Al for Crimespree Magazine. (Look for that interview in the upcoming issue.) I've read his last two books including the aforementioned title and KISS HER GOODBYE put out by Hard Case Crime last year. Wonderful, hard boiled books the both of them. But enough about him...



I sent Al an advanced copy of THE… Continue

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I wasn't actually planning to do this until a few weeks from now, but my publisher has recently posted the first chapter of my latest book, THE CONCRETE MAZE. If you want to take a look, you can find it HERE. I should say that it is a hradboiled noir novel set in NYC in the early 1990s.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

If you scroll down a bit you can read my short story, The Inspector, first published in Shred of Evidence a year or more ago. The story is a good one, but there's a problem that I can't help thinking it has. I'll get to that in a minute. First, the background of where the story came from.



WhenI was young, my family and I attended a church on Manida Street in the Bronx. It was a storefront church… Continue

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see a short story that first ran a couple of years ago in Shred of Evidence. It's from my novel series - Precinct Puerto Rico. Hope you enjoy:

The Inspector

By

Steven Torres



Like many bad days, this one was starting late. Gonzalo was scheduled to leave the station house and head home in fifteen minutes. His relief had already come in and Mari had called to say dinner was nearly done. Instead of finishing up his paperwork for…

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Over at Criminal Brief, the question has been raised as to why so many seem to avoid the short story. The argument is made (I hope to get it right) that working in the short story form helps a writer focus on what is important. Many student writers (a lot is directed at student writers, I think) want to work on novels.

In the comments, I mention that it is not cost efficient for anyone who can sell a novel to spend the time writing short…

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