Many TCM fans aren’t crazy about the channel’s aggressive promotion Warner content, but the results are occasionally delightful. Like a Valentine’s Day lineup that follows up Bogie and Bergman, saying their tearful goodbye, with a Pepé Le Pew short. #TCMParty

The flavor of this short piece from Frabk Vatel is like a fine wine dancing on the tongue and in the nose. It's a rich, full piece of noir in the sun that is easily worth the read. A story about a man released from prison that could be about anything, really. But could only ever be about one thing.

Enjoyed KING, QUEEN, KNAVE immensely. But for its comic tone, this early Nabokov effort about a deadly love triangle would hit the noir bullseye. (Three-hundred pages of swirling, cinematic prose more than compensates.) Highly recommended.

For the evening crowd...

A flash story of mine, titled “The Macaw,” was published today at Revolution John. It’s a crime story. And a love story. Just in time for Valentine’s Day. Many thanks to Anthony Neil Smith and AnneMarie, the editors at RevJohn. revolutionjohnjournal.wordpress.com/2026/02/12/f...

UPDATED LINK: ok.ru/video/408477... TONIGHT @ 8 PM #FilmNoirClub 🗝️ #TheBigLebowski (1998) 🎳 l i v e w a t c h p a r t y Everyone Welcome #filmnoir #NeoNoir
#filmsky

He finished his drink. “I don’t like mornings either,” he said. “That’s why I’m a writer.” —Dorothy B. Hughes, IN A LONELY PLACE (1947)

Appeal to the intelligent.

The line I wish I'd written. Seriously, what's the point anymore? *Tosses legal pad, flushes pens down the toilet.*

Coming April 7th. The final Carter McCoy novel. Hope I did him proud

For a decade, the nicest man in rock & roll went everywhere dressed, coiffed, and (one assumes) scented like the yuppie villain in a Cinemax feature. Ringo, we love you.

Experimenting by releasing a short story on Kindle & KU. Rider in the Widow Lands is a 25 page sword & sorcery tale. Available now! Mybook.to/widowlands

By way of explanation, Rabbit Season is a comedy about a man who wakes up a century in the future and finds the only people left are two rival religious groups who have based their faith on a VHS copy of the WB cartoon 'Duck Season'. Just in case you were curious. 😁

No, I’m not having nachos for breakfast. These are “chilaquiles.” And the beer is a chaser to a bloody mary that never arrived. Judgmental bastards.

I have a book that I WROTE IN MY OWN FUCKING HANDS!!!

You’d think this crop of Nazis would learn from the mistakes of earlier ones. 🤔

Artist: Stanley Zuckerberg

Post the cover of a book you love from the 90s. (Any century!) #BookSky #bookchallenge #readingchallenge #readingcommunity #booktok #bookish #books

The prize for the world's first trillionaire....

A prosecutor tries to frame a police chief for murder, but it doesn’t stick. Now they must work the case together. This crackerjack premise is the brainchild of Richard Wormser, a very underrated noir author. THE BODY LOOKS FAMILIAR finds him at his sharpest and most perceptive. Highly recommended.

In Italian families, we call this “the suicide option.”

Berlin at the moment. IMHO Simenon’s best book, which is saying something, given how many he wrote.

Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests

Rewatched DELIVERANCE last night. Wow, talk about a film that has retained its power. (I had only seen pan-and-scan versions in the past, so TCM’s letterboxed presentation surely helped.) A great movie for instructors to screen whenever character arc is discussed in film or lit courses.

Congrats on the stellar year, sir! 🍻

On finding a publisher. My latest substack. On being a writer and not being a writer. open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...

Congrats, Alan (and contributors)!

13 Days Until Mercy! Fact 1! I wrote the book, why not use the R. J. Calder name? Calder has his own brand of R-rated action. A couple of sex scenes, but mostly action. In this, the sex scenes are more hardcore. I don't want readers expecting a Calder story to be surprised, hence Dick was born.

✨ 𝑭𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚'𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 #𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 ✨ 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 🕵️‍♂️ 📽️ 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝟖𝒑𝒎 𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎: ok.ru/video/250690...

Hey, I know that guy! I'm thrilled to join the ranks of the amazing writers who have contributed to Stone's Throw. Many thanks and much love to the RHP crew for thinking this story fit the February bill!

An unlikely tour through the detritus of pop culture that gets funnier with each revelation. Great work, Ron Clyburn and @literarygarage.bsky.social.

Some terrible losses in crime fiction this past year. Ken Bruen, Daniel Woodrell, and now James Sallis. Rest in peace.

Was delighted to get to work with Jim Sallis (1944-2026), publishing two collections of his unique, genre-bending work. He was a great writer, a fine musician, and one of those genuinely wonderful people. He is missed. #BookSky #JamesSallis

Even those of us who prefer reading to audiobooks must admit that some book/voice actor pairings are too irresistible to pass up. Two bangers for your immediate consideration: Samuel L. Jackson reads A RAGE IN HARLEM. Mia Farrow reads ROSEMARY’S BABY.

Bart Simpson striking his Betty Grable pose always makes me smile.

Went on a George Harmon Coxe binge recently. The violence and brusque poetry that immortalized the work of Hammett, a pulp contemporary, are absent from his straightforward mysteries. But he always made a point of stirring a well-drawn femme fatale into the mix, which I love.

I had to write up a short description of my next book, SEVEN ANGELS, so I figured I might as well put it out there. It's coming this summer from our Constellate Publishing.

Often a humble innovation in media format transforms both marketplace and artistic content. Many of us think small, cheap, mass-market paperbacks changed things for the better. Their imminent death, as reported by PW, was long foreshadowed. But it’s still depressing.

YouTube must be the oldest and whitest thing on the internet. Every other vid is like: “Watch what happens when a black millennial rapper hears Zeppelin IV—his mind is blown!”

Yeah, Greg, we see what you’re doing there. Clever. Quick question, though. Do you recall what happens to him at the end of the movie?

Hollywood considered Edmond O’Brien strictly B-list, but he enjoys a singular place in the hearts of noir aficionados. The dirty cop in SHIELD FOR MURDER (1954)—a programmer O’Brien co-directed—was his best role, and he plays it to snarling, sweaty perfection. Airs tonight on Noir Alley. #TCMParty

SCARLET STREET (1945). Arguably the darkest noir ending for three decades—until CHINATOWN.

A film company logo that tells you you're about to see highly entertaining greatness

Might want to check out the book after my interview from @frank212.bsky.social shotgunhoney.com/books/catalo...

For the rush hour crowd who just fought their way through traffic...pull up a chair, grab something cold and frosty to drink, and check out @michaelwegener.bsky.social 's very cool story at the Garage.

Hey internet strangers, a long time writer friend of mine and one of the earliest supporters of TBQ suffered a stroke this week and if using my platform can help his beautiful family in any way, I'm happy to do it! gofund.me/212e79a0f

“It was a funny feeling, being naked and fighting a man with a gun. I didn’t like it. I felt the bullets would hurt more naked.” —Jonathan Latimer, SOLOMON’S VINEYARD (1941)

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

New in PN: Kristi Noem's assault on the Fourth Amendment "The Department of Homeland Security deliberately confuses reasonable suspicion and probable cause in hopes that no one will notice that ICE and CBP are making illegal arrests as standard operating procedure."