My new website went live this afternoon. In addition to a redesign and reorganization of information, it's now mobile phone friendly! crimefictionwriter.com

Released today: A new historical short story anthology, Time After Time, which includes my story "Under the Proctor Street Bridge." www.amazon.com/dp/B0GS23VYCQ #TimeAfterTime #HistoricalFiction #NewRelease #ThaliaPress #ShortStories

Spend 4 weeks in S. Carolina learning to write crime fiction with Joe R. Lansdale, Cheryl Head, Michael Bracken, and Warren S. Moore at the Newberry Crime Writing Workshop. Learn more at www.newberry.edu/academics/ac...

Spend July 6-31 at the Newberry Crime Writing Workshop in Newberry, SC, learning to write crime fiction from some of today’s masters: Joe R. Lansdale, Cheryl Head, Michael Bracken, and Warren S. Moore. Learn more and apply here: www.newberry.edu/academics/ac....

I feel this first reader's pain. Red Flags in Short Story Submissions open.substack.com/pub/devonhal...

I'm interviewed today in Cold Caller: coldcallermag.substack.com/p/an-intervi...

My short romance, "Takes the Cake," appeared in yesterday's Micromance. open.substack.com/pub/microman...

I needed a treat, so I registered for this. Hoping to see some short crime fiction and DC area buddies. Also hoping Art Taylor's session on novel-in-stories helps me fix my current WIP mess. www.eastcoastcrime.com

My story "Store-Crossed Lovers" appears today at Cold Caller. Store-Crossed Lovers open.substack.com/pub/coldcall...

The application window for the Newberry Crime Writing Workshop is now open. Spend four weeks this summer with instructors Joe R. Lansdale, Cheryl Head, Warren S. Moore, and me, learning how to write crime fiction. Learn more and apply at www.newberry.edu/academics/ac...

My story "Collateral Damage" appears in today's issue of Black Cat Weekly.

At our first member meeting of the year, this Wed, Jan 21, Michael Bracken & Stacy Woodson present "Writing for Anthologies: How to Slip Between the Covers." All welcome! Register at DesertSleuths.com #SinC #SMFS #MysteryWriters #CrimeWriters #ShortStories @crimefictionwriter.bsky.social

The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025 picked up a 5-star review on Amazon. Do you have your copy yet? www.amazon.com/Best-Private...

My short romance, "Drawn to Love," appears today at Micromance. open.substack.com/pub/microman...

Please welcome back author Tom Milani to the #Blog as he shares the backstory of his #shortstory, Amanda Ross, that appears today in the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. Kevin's Corner: Guest Post: Bringing “Amanda Ross” to the Page by Tom Milani kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/12/gues...

My story "Field of Bodies" appears in Black Cat Weekly #224.

The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025, featuring the 20 best PI stories of 2025 and an essay on the state of the genre by Kevin Burton Smith, is now available. www.amazon.com/Best-Private...

Coming to ShortCon 2026? Need a room? Hotel registration information is now available! Scroll down to the bottom of the home page for the link: www.eastcoastcrime.com#/

Looking for a good Christmas read? Consider Murder, Neat—winner of the Derringer Award for Best Anthology AND an Anthony Award nominee for Best Anthology. Edited by Barb Goffman and me, it features stories by the writers who blog together at SleuthSayers. bookshop.org/p/books/murd...

Today is National Adoption Day, and today my romance story "Forever Family" was published by Micromance. micromancemagazine.substack.com/p/forever-fa...

Coming Soon from Level Best Books: The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025.

If you had (or will have) a PI story published this year and you want it considered for The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2026, follow the submission instructions here: www.crimefictionwriter.com/submissions.... Remember: If I don't see your story, I can't consider your story.

“Janie’s Got a Gun”—the third single from Aerosmith’s album Pump—was released this week in 1989, and it’s the title of an anthology of crime stories inspired by the music of Aerosmith. Order here: www.mistimedia.com/product/janie/

KissMet Quarterly: The Greatest Holiday Romance Stories Ever Written releases tomorrow and it includes my story "Home for the Holidays." The ebook is available now; the paperback will be available soon. www.amazon.com/KissMet-Quar...

A week or so ago, I was interviewed by Rich Ehisen for The Open Mic: Writers in Their Own Words, and the interview was posted today at YouTub and all the major Podcast outlets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLP7...

It's been a tough few weeks for crime fiction short-story writers. Hell, it's been a tough year. Anthology publishers have closed and periodical publishers have closed, gone on indefinite hiatus, or announced closure in the near future. What's a writer to do? www.sleuthsayers.org/2025/10/its-...

#ICYMI #ShortStory #Review Kevin's Corner: Short Story Wednesday Review: Renovated to Death by Michael Bracken and Sandra Murphy kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/06/shor...

EXCITED that “Won’t You Be Vine?” appears in this week’s edition of Black Cat Weekly (@wildsidepress.bsky.social). Everybody loves nature, and sometimes nature loves you back! Thanks to editor extraordinaire Michael Bracken for accepting this story—I guess it grew on him!

A little something from "Diana and the Princess," in SLEUTHS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, edited by the amazing Michael Bracken -- out today from Down & Out Books! Where you get your books!

Lunatic Fringe, which contains my story "Black Velvet," is now available for preorder. whitecitypress.com/product/luna...

Now available for preorder: The Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology, which includes my story "4:13 a.m." amzn.to/48ZXrrS

Coming Saturday, October 18: Mystery in the Midlands: Writing Short Mystery Fiction, a free, one-day online conference. Register at us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Coming tomorrow: www.sincchicago.com/chapter-meet...

Submit to The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2026. SJ Rozan will be the guest editor. If you had or will have a PI story published this year, ensure that I get a copy. If I don't see your story, I can't consider it. www.crimefictionwriter.com/submissions....

My short romance, "Banking on Love," appears today at Micromance Magazine. open.substack.com/pub/microman...

Attempting to predict anything in publishing is a mug’s game, especially trying to predict how long it will take for a short story to find a home. In today's post, I examine my 10 most recent acceptances. (Hint: one took 22 years to place.) www.sleuthsayers.org/2025/08/hot-...

My story "Curves" appears today as a Guilty Flash on Guilty Crime Story Magazine's website: www.guiltycrimemag.com/flash/curves...

In "Crafting an Interconnected World, One Short Story at a Time" (Writer's Digest, S/O 2025). P.M. Raymond discusses how the Chop Shop stories all tie together. She also interviewed Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier about her interconnected stories set in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

PW reviewed The Best American Mystery & Suspense 2025 and gave a shout out to Gary Phillips’s “The Darklight Gizmo Matter,” which offers "tantalizing twists on the classic PI story." The original publication: Private Dicks and Disco Balls (Down & Out Books). www.publishersweekly.com/9780063422292

I have stories in the September/October issues of AHMM & EQMM.: "The Girl in the Shop" in AHMM and "Blind Pig" in EQMM.

ShortCon 2026, The Premiere Conference for Writers of Short Crime Fiction, will be held at Elaine's Literary Salon, Alexandria, Virginia, on June 6, 2026 and feature: Gary Phillips, Michele Slung, Art Taylor & Stacy Woodson Registration limited to 50. www.eastcoastcrime.com#/

In advance of our appearance at Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar in Austin this Saturday to discuss Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun, Laura Oles Author, Mark Thielman, William Dylan Powell, Andrew Hearn, & I were interviewed by Scott Montgomery at The Hard Word: www.thehardword.org/single-post/...

In "Schrödinger's Blonde," PI Morris Ronald Boyette is hired to find a potential witness to a decades-old unsolved murder, and all he has to work with is a faded Polaroid of a blonde with Farah Fawcett hair.