Happy pub day to @jordanharper.bsky.social ... the rest of my TBR pile is on hold now that I've got this bad boy in my hands.

Harper's previous short in SWW, "My Savage Year," is among my "gold standard" short stories. Get on this.

Once again, Snake Plisken is on point.

In light of recent news, I figured I'd re-post this one: No, you do not have to separate the artist from the art. open.substack.com/pub/craigcle...

I read the “Save America Act,” so you don’t have to. Most of the media apparently *hasn’t* read it because, if they had, they would be sounding the alarm about the provision in Point 1, below, which almost none of them have even mentioned. I hope this summary helps raise awareness. 1/

New post, finally getting around to addressing what I think about AI. Link in first comment.

Looks like Bookshop is matching the sale too bookshop.org/p/books/moth...

Here's a brief reprieve from doomscrolling to shout out the Amazon Kindle deal on #MotherHowl. I just dropped close to a grand at the mechanic, so... you know what to do. Link in first comment.

I don't recall when or where I tripped across "Death Will Have Your Eyes," but that impulse buy ultimately became one of my desert island reads. We've lost a giant. Sleep good, good man. James Sallis (12/21/44 - 1/27/26)

"... you only become a good nurse... like Alex P because you understand that the world doesn’t rotate around you... you understand the message and the meaning of the good samaritan story in the book of Luke." will7christopher.substack.com/p/who-are-th...?

If you freely chose not to vote, then you voted for this.

1/3 Read an interesting post earlier* about how SFF that portrays a dystopia often falls short of showing how it came to be, i.e., what fascism looks like after it’s too late, not how it came to be...

I'll be in San Francisco for this year's Left Coast Crime, doing a panel on "Getting Inside a Criminal Mind." Now, why would they choose me for that topic, I wonder...? Friday, February 27, 4pm leftcoastcrime.org/2026

I'll be in San Francisco for this year's Left Coast Crime, doing a panel on "Getting Inside a Criminal Mind." Now, why would they choose me for that topic, I wonder...? Friday, February 27, 4pm leftcoastcrime.org/2026

a writeup from someone else in the twin cities. it is shocking TBH. horrible

First round filled up, so we've added a second.

Kicking off another workshop, starting in February. Seating's tight and a few slots have filled, so we'll open another if this one overflows. Details in the link (first comment), though it may still say it's not public (it very much is) or not specify dates. But it's on.

Lugging the Hollywood Trilogy in the park is too much. Carpenter will be my room read, today I brought outside, THE CONTORTIONIST'S HANDBOOK Been in my tbr pile for a spell. I read his other book, MOTHER HOWL, in '23, solid book, made me want to snag up this one. @craigclevenger.bsky.social

Maybe we should put a wooden stake through 2025 just to be sure.

20 of the best books I read in 2025, including titles by @meganabbott.bsky.social, @wmboyle4.bsky.social, @danchaon.bsky.social, @craigclevenger.bsky.social, @blacktopkid.bsky.social, @derfbackderf.bsky.social, @chrisdeville.bsky.social, @elongreen.bsky.social, and @johnlingan.bsky.social

Lemmy, (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015. Photo credit: Travis Shinn (link below).

Shout-out to anyone punching a clock today.

'Tis the season... again and again. Credit follows.

RE todays rotten vaccine news... A Pox on Fools arrives in May. It's a historical polemic that traces the serial falsehoods that drive today's anti-vax movement. It's my most important work. And it needs help. Pre-orders & 1st week sales make or break books. If you are interested...here's a link:

Literature moves the needle. I can see it transforming and mobilizing readers in realtime. The world needs fiction.

You are missed, Daniel Woodrell. Sleep. #DanielWoodrell

Scrolling through the ancient posts on my other socials... found a few gems that I absolutely stand behind.

Why? Sarah Kendzior is one of the main reasons I moved here. If you're going to just be Twitter-lite than there's no point in staying. You can't suspend an account of her magnitude and expect it to go unnoticed and unchallenged @jay.bsky.team @aaron.bsky.team @support.bsky.team

A long round-trip to Los Angeles, but worth it. Got to shake hands with @danchaon.bsky.social at Book Soup.

@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social is documenting the resistance, and it’s an encouraging read. But the message remains: We keep fighting!! #MomSky www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

FIVE-OH.

Couldn't make it to the launch in Los Angeles earlier, but the latest from Mark Z. Danielewski's in my hands, so I'm turning off my phone for a few days. #Tom'sCrossing

Mini-brainstorm on my work breaks over the weekend; I wrote a book group guide to a non-existent novel. open.substack.com/pub/craigcle...

One more shout-out before this weekend... hoping for a solid enough turnout that the library lets me run with this program.

A mother and her girl (about 5 y.o.) at the circulation desk... Me: This one's one of our honor books. You don't have to check it out, just return it when you're done. Girl: We can return it whenever we want? Me: Yup. We can trust you... right? Girl: Not always. I love my job. #libraries

This book. Goddamn. Seventy-five pages in and it's already on a (very) short list of 'do not read right before I go to sleep' books. Get this one, stat. @danielkraus.com

We celebrate the signing of this document annually. But here we are. "...But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government...

It's October, so it's officially The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (not that other holiday), so I'm kickin' off a new thing at the library. Come on down and let's hash it out over @sgj.bsky.social and #TheBuffaloHunterHunter. Saturday, October 18th, 1-2pm, Goleta Valley Community Center.

Cheers, Craig.

Philadelphia could be a shining city on a hill for this tactic

"They fed our novels to the machine without asking if we wanted to be the voice of skynet." will7christopher.substack.com/p/highway-64

Back home from New Orleans #Bouchercon and just rolled a trinket shop voodoo doll in catnip and threw it to the little beasts. Now waiting to see if someone out there spontaneously rips open.

Turns out the cafés in New Orleans frown on it when you motorboat their pastries in public. But you get it, right? #Bouchercon2025

Security gave me this li'l scarlet letter to carry through airport screening. Sorta like a coupon for a free pat-down and a side-eye. And the extra time in line meant I got to hear my name over the airport PA for the boarding gate. Not quite the win that it sounds like. But I'm in NOLA. #Bouchercon

Hey y'all, I'll be at Bouchercon this coming week. Hit me up.