Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton (Panther, 1966). #HangoverSquare #PatrickHamilton #1960s #book #books #paperback #cover #PantherBook #PantherBooks #crime

My arteries may never recover. Oh, well... Happy holidays, everyone.

Porchetta’s out of the oven.

Made a mostarda this year. Very simple—pears, cherries, wine, mustard grains, sugar, salt. Adds a nice sweet-and-spicy note to antipasto or cheese-and-cracker plates. A great idea for holidays and parties.

Christmas ciabatta fresh from the oven. Porchetta on deck.

Humphrey Bogart was born on this day, exactly one week before a century of music halls, muskets, and monarchy ticked over into one of movies, machine guns, and fighting fascism. His birth foretold the future just as his image and values came to symbolize it. Merry Christmas, friends.

My town’s greatest peddler of sass. And nitrates.

There's only one story in this collection that has a happy ending, it's called 'Keys to the Castle', and it was written in hope for a future I want to be. Working on it today. :)

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Stanwyck and MacMurray are as great together in REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940) as they are in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. Or maybe it’s the Preston Sturges dialogue that always wins me over. Or maybe it’s the eggnog going to my head... #TCMParty

The vicissitudes of Oklahoma Sooner fandom.

For the third year in a row, the most charming Christmas movie of all time airs the night we decorate the tree. This has become a holiday tradition by accident. Serendipity! #TheShopAroundTheCorner #TCMParty

Grateful for this woman’s service, proud that she represents me in the Senate.

Because the United States is going out of business after 249 years and everything in the store must go.

OUT NOW! Another year's worth of hard-hitting short fiction from some of the best crime writers around. Welcome to Stone's Throw 2025. Get your copy today: bit.ly/4jaRnjw

Link to watch: m.ok.ru/video/2578919590580 #FilmNoirClub

Our Spring issue call is all about LUCIA...

Here’s my cover design for the upcoming issue of NOIR CITY Magazine.

New Year’s Eve is a stay-at-home holiday for us, but we still like to keep it fizzy. After kicking things off with a Thin Man movie, we always laugh our way through WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. (“Well that symptom is fucking my wife!”) RIP, #RobReiner. And thanks for all the great nights.

Do you gag at every new click-bait headline promoting the Rich Mom look? If so, Meghan Leigh Paulk’s wicked crime story, “Keeping Up With the Janes,” is for you. Thanks to @muchadoaboutnil.bsky.social for the generous crime-fic package that included this issue of EQMM. @paulkwrites.bsky.social

His range was phenomenal. There were performances that made you recoil, as if he were a snapping dog, and other turns that compelled you to draw him close and protect him from the world. Happy birthday to one of the great artists of the crime genre. #BOTD #EdwardGRobinson

Great post by @scsheil.bsky.social about birthday boy Eddie G. #TCMParty

Year’s end. A time for family, reflection, and one last stab at self-promotion. Also, an opportunity to thank @bristolnoir.bsky.social, All Due Respect, and Punk Noir Magazine (twice!) for sharing my stories. In case you missed them:

We are excited to share our nominees for Best Microfiction 2026: Margo Griffin & Amanda Ashworth! Best of luck & big hugs to these brilliant writers. See reckonreview.com/award-nomina... for links to their stories.

"Post a favorite work of art from exactly 50 years before you were born."

A new Criterion release that everyone has strong opinions about. I was a nineteen-year-old movie usher when this came out, and I spent my lunch breaks rewatching it in mesmerizing half-hour increments even as other viewers left their seats to petition the manager for a refund.

This great story by @charliekondek.bsky.social stirs up complex feelings I associate with a lot of classic sci-fi—stuff by PKD, Fredric Brown, etc.—even while taking on a subject that's very *now.* Highly recommended. Published by @literarygarage.bsky.social. literarygarage.com/sincerely-n-...

Next Friday (Dec 12) in Wilson, NC, I will be reading alongside some incredibly talented authors, including: @authorcreekmore.bsky.social, @pmraymond.bsky.social, @isaachughesgreen.bsky.social

After years of war and crime, Jake Halligan has settled down with his wife and daughter in rural Idaho. He soon makes a bet to get ahead that will have disastrous consequences. RIGHTEOUS TRASH by @nkolakowski.bsky.social. Take it from Scott Adlerberg and get your copy today: bit.ly/3J1ekYN

Look for my story MURDER ME IN THE NEON LIGHTS in the BLACK MASK section of the current issue of @elleryqueenmm.bsky.social 👇 Grab a copy at your local bookstore 😎

My daughter is currently crowdfunding for her first short film as a writer-director, based on her experience of working as a waitress over the past few years, shooting on location in London with a talented, young, all-female crew. Please share/donate if you can! www.kickstarter.com/projects/pos...

So Down & Out went out of business in October without paying their authors, including the great @beaujohnson44.bsky.social. Now they’re back “under new ownership”? Do what you want, but I’d encourage writers to stay away from this one.

Agree. The best kind of voyeurism.

One of the coolest dudes to ever live

🧵1/3: Made a special pilgrimage during my Thanksgiving travels to King’s Books in Detroit, one of the nation’s great sources of vintage paperbacks. Bottom Left: The Ace Doubles section 😯 Bottom Right: The Fawcett Gold Medals 🤯

In CRY OF THE CITY (1948), the two most prominent Italian-American actors of Hollywood’s golden age square off, cop against robber, in a kind of proto-HEAT. The movie sizzles when they share the screen. Airs tonight on #NoirAlley. #TCMParty

Wish we’d eaten tamales on Thanksgiving instead of bland turkey. Bring on the racial-replacement menu!

It's been a good year for me writing-wise, thankful for that. For those keeping score, here's a list ICYMI:

I’ve been busy promoting my short story collection this year, but I also had a few short stories published in anthologies as well. Here they are in case you missed them!

🧵1/2 : Had a blast talking crime fiction with you during last month’s #Noirvember books tribute. The updated list of featured novels—this year’s thirty, plus last year’s—is attached to the second part of this thread. Happy reading!

Tired of reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the kids every year? The good folks at @rhppress.bsky.social chose to publish my bit of seasonal storytelling, which is completely suitable for family gatherings and church events, I promise. www.rockandahardplacemag.com/stones-throw...

‘The power of Christ and this baseball bat compels you!’

#NoirvemberChallenge Favorite noir ending? Neff: Know why you couldn’t figure this one, Keyes? I’ll tell you. Because the guy you were looking for was too close. Right across the desk from you. Keyes: Closer than that, Walter.

~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~ Day 30: THE FAR CRY (1951) We end the month, fittingly, with an author whose endings always hit like brass knuckles. Fredric Brown’s masterpiece begins with a glum, burnt-out salesman investigating a cold murder. Don’t let anyone tell you how it finishes.

Filling a book with beautiful language is hard. Doing so without coming off high-toned or inauthentic to your characters is even harder. Daniel Woodrell threaded this needle better than any contemporary author I know. His passing is an enormous loss. #RIP #DanielWoodrell

~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~ Day 29: ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (1957) McGivern’s titles are familiar to movie buffs, but his books deserve more readers. This racially conscious heist novel is even better than its classic film adaptation, richer in character and anecdote.

If the news is true, I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Daniel Woodrell, whose work has always been a huge inspiration. RIP to one of the very best on the scene. “You got to be ready to die every day - then you got a chance.”

If you’re looking for a quick fix this holiday weekend, head over to the ‘zon and grab “Irish,” a short story by @russellthayer10.bsky.social. Such a clever bit of noir about a girl wise beyond her years…and not someone you’d ever want to cross. Link below. Best buck you’ll spend today.

Not an official Black Friday deal, but my book is at Amazon for 43% off. If you don't want have anything to do with Amazon, you can purchase the book directly from the publisher, but without the discount. Happy Black Friday! store.bookbaby.com/book/men-don...