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.

The latest Monday Interview at my blog, Things I'd Rather Be Doing, is with Michael Connelly. We discuss his new book, the fantastic and brief The Overlook, as well as the trials and tribulations of Det. Harry Bosch. I know I'm one of many, many people to talk with Connelly with this week's release of the new book, but I think there are a couple of new bits of information there for even the most hardcore… Continue

My Monday Interview at Things I'd Rather Be Doing this week is with thriller/mystery author David Morrell. We discuss his two latest books, Creepers and the new Scavenger, his teaching experience and the way research impacts his work.



I was a late-comer to Morrell's work, dismissing him as the writer behind those big, dumb Rambo movies. Boy was I wrong, and while I was missing out all that… Continue

My Monday Interview at Things I'd Rather Be Doing today features author Harlan Coben, whose new thriller The Woods comes out on Tuesday. We talk about his return last year to the Myron Bolitar series and his thoughts on the French film of his breakout stand-alone, Tell No One.

You can find the interview here.

This week's Monday Interview at Things I'd Rather Be Doing is with author William Gay, who discusses his new novel, Twilight, among other things. Gay isn't usually thought of as a crime writer, butwhen I asked him about his influences and the ways his works are characterized, he cited hard-boiled fiction as an influence:



"I also read a lot of Raymond Chandler, Ross McDonald, hard-boiled stuff. There is… Continue

Just a note to say that over on my blog, Things I'd Rather Be Doing, I have an interview with Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime. We talk about the success of the imprint, the principles that guide what they publish and what the future holds.



It's part of my Monday Interview series, which also includes chats with… Continue