(1 of 2) TITANIUM NOIR is a PI story at heart, but takes place in a SFF world where the rich can enhance their bodies and prolong life. When one of these Titans is murdered (an uncommon occurrence), detective Cal Sounder is swept up in the intriguing mystery, hunting for clues.

(1 of 2) Finished WHIPCORD from @pointofimpactbooks.bsky.social, and it’s another home run. This installment sees Frenzi trying to start anew on a ranch in Montana. Great side story that draws him back into the mix, followed by nonstop action straight through to the wild finale.

What a finale! #DannySophabmisay’s “Pain Killer” is as dark as it gets, touching on the nature of addiction and how far it will drag a person down. Just brutal stuff, but so damned good. Go grab this issue. Fantastic stories from start to finish.

Never a dull moment when #AnthonyNeilSmith is at the helm. “Mapache Is Ravenous” brings back a favorite of mine, this time in a scheme that has more twists and turns than an amusement park ride. Add in some gritty shenanigans and dark humor, and it’s another winner from The Professor.

Issue 15 of Guilty Crime Story Magazine is shaping up to be one of the best installments yet. “Missing Rachel” by #ChristineEskilson tells the story of an unfortunate death that happens during a girls’ weekend…but was it truly an accident?

“Mick and Petey’s Dumpster Dive” by #JackBunker is another winner in this already-excellent issue of @GuiltyCrimeMag. What starts as a quick check for a misplaced item turns into so much more for the title characters.

Been thinking I’m due for a rewatch of World’s Greatest Dad, one of the most darkly humorous movies I’ve ever seen, to the point of laughing at stuff that is so uncomfortable you wonder what the hell is wrong with you. Any other fans of this one out there?

My Guilty read-through continues with “Play It Cool” by @brandonbarrows.bsky.social, the tale of a bored group of friends who goes out looking for trouble and finds it…with a twist. A little different writing style from Brandon in this one, which I dug.

After reading some pretty heavy stuff lately, @ajstanton.bsky.social’s GUTTER PUNCH was the perfect change of pace. Two rival media moguls have it out for each other in this over-the-top tale of mayhem, humor, sleaze, and debauchery. Fans of Ryan C. Thomas’ RATINGS GAME would dig this one.

“Gunman at the Corner of Naples and Damnation” by @coyhall.bsky.social leads off the latest issue of Guilty Crime Story Magazine, and daaaaaaamn is it good. Completely caught me off-guard. Excellent use of setting, and just the kind of down-and-dirty tale I like. Well done.

I’m only on Book Five in the series, but you can be damned sure I’ll be picking up this new one when it’s released. You should too. The Frenzi series is so good.

Back to #EdMcBain’s 8-7. After disliking the last two installments, I was pleasantly surprised with THE BIG BAD CITY. Two interesting new cases as well as a callback to a previous storyline made for some great action. Plenty of twists, humor, and unique characters. Good stuff!

Thanks to @witchingmetal66.bsky.social for taking a chance on my story for the latest theme at Pistol Jim Press. This one’s a bit of a departure in that it’s a piece of creative nonfiction, which doesn’t bode well for me when the theme is “Nails in the Coffin.” 😳👇 open.substack.com/pub/pistolji...

Thanks to @witchingmetal66.bsky.social for taking a chance on my story for the latest theme at Pistol Jim Press. This one’s a bit of a departure in that it’s a piece of creative nonfiction, which doesn’t bode well for me when the theme is “Nails in the Coffin.” 😳👇 open.substack.com/pub/pistolji...

Happy to be back at @urbanpigspress.bsky.social with a story in their “Deception” series. Thanks to @ajstanton.bsky.social for giving it a home. Click through to read “As for Me and My House,” then check out the other stories in the theme. They’re fantastic. urbanpigspress.co.uk/2025/11/01/a...

Happy to be back at @urbanpigspress.bsky.social with a story in their “Deception” series. Thanks to @ajstanton.bsky.social for giving it a home. Click through to read “As for Me and My House,” then check out the other stories in the theme. They’re fantastic. urbanpigspress.co.uk/2025/11/01/a...

Happy Halloween! I have a new short story to share with you, but it’s so unique in format and design that I felt it needed a brief essay for folks who don’t know the backstory. Click through to read the essay and “Monstrum Sub Lecto,” and enjoy! api.omarshehata.me/substack-pro...

Happy Halloween! I have a new short story to share with you, but it’s so unique in format and design that I felt it needed a brief essay for folks who don’t know the backstory. Click through to read the essay and “Monstrum Sub Lecto,” and enjoy! api.omarshehata.me/substack-pro...

My house is in the middle of a two-block long street. In the back is a grass alleyway that separates all of the backyards along the stretch. Went for a walk this morning, looked down the alley, and saw this guy. A hundred yards away, so zoom distorts it, but he was *huge*.

Hell. YES!! Huge congrats to @caseystegman.com! Cannot tell you how happy I am for him, and how lucky we are as readers to have these to look forward to.

I have a tbr tower next to my bed in the master, but I’ve also started a new one in the downstairs spare room annnnnnnnd wifey has noticed. 🤣

CITY PRIMEVAL: HIGH NOON IN DETROIT by #ElmoreLeonard is a cat-and-mouse game between a career criminal who keeps slipping the noose and a detective who is determined to finally take him down. Great characters, snappy dialogue, detailed setting: another home run by Leonard.

Happy @joe-hill.bsky.social Day!

I took advantage of this deal last week, choosing a “crime fiction” grab bag. Couldn’t be more excited with what I got. Thank you, @pmpress.bsky.social!

CATCH ME ON A BLUE DAY by @meproctor.bsky.social was one of my most-anticipated books of the year, and she delivered in every way. PI Declan Shaw is back, this time to help a friend with research on his upcoming book…until his friend commits suicide and Shaw decides to dig in to the case.

The #BookMail concludes with a late entry in #EdMcBain’s 87th Precinct series. I already own the e-book, and tried reading it earlier this year, but it’s a mess of spelling and grammar mistakes. Just couldn’t do it anymore. Hoping the hardcover is a cleaner read.

The #BookMail continues, and considering how much I love The Wire, I can’t believe it took me this long to get to Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by @audacityofdespair.bsky.social. At just shy of seven hundred pages, I’ll be lost in it for quite awhile.

The #BookMail continues, and this one is embarrassing because I usually get the newest Brubaker and Phillips on release day. Not sure how this one got by me, but happy to have corrected the error of my ways.

All this #BookMail made the virtual shelves a little jealous, so it was time to add some fresh titles to them as well.

Annnnnd another book, this time purchased at my local indie shop. I’ve never read Pynchon, but there’s a lot of buzz among the book peeps over this new release, so what the hell. Throwing a dart, and hoping it hits bullseye.

The #BookMail continues, and this is a rarity for me: a series of books I’ve already read. I was a huge fan of the Hitchhiker series as a kid, and played the hell out of the C64 game. Looking forward to a revisit, all these years later.

The #BookMail continues, this time with some Elmore Leonard. I’m a huge fan of his writing, and it’s been too long since I dove into one of his novels. Time to fix that.

#BookMail, Part Two: if you’re a fan of @trashcatlit.bsky.social (and really, how could you not be?!), go grab their first print antho. Proceeds go to charity, so you’ll be doing some good in the world while enjoying the stellar writing.

#BookMail, Part One: late to the party (seems to be a recurring theme), but finally grabbed the latest issue of Guilty Crime Story Magazine. Killer ToC in this one.

Ever have an intense conversation and realize you are talking about different things? @muchadoaboutnil.bsky.social Andrew Monge manages it beautifully with a Serial Killer tinyurl.com/AndrewsDoubl... Don't miss this month's fun: #OverheardInAnOperatingRoom bunkersquirrel.com/submissions....

This was on my top-ten list a few years back. A thrill-ride from start to finish. Get on it, people!

For the night crew. 👇

Happy to be included in the latest theme at Bunker Squirrel Magazine (especially after seeing the excellent ToC). Click below to read my take on “Confessions of a Serial Killer,” then stick around to read the other stories. They’re bound to be, ahem, killer! bunkersquirrel.com

(1/3) Love a good coming-of-age tale, so when I heard about @keithroysdon.bsky.social’s THAT OCTOBER, I was pretty pumped. Centering on the tragic death of one teenager and the disappearance of a second, the story tracks a close-knit group of friends as they work to make sense of the loss.

Today we have 2 stories that should be TV shows 🦝 We loved @muchadoaboutnil.bsky.social's reluctant hero figuring out his weird gift. This builds wonderfully to a chilling end. Prompts: Morgue/Funeral Home, Nightshift Worker, Unwanted Gift Read and listen here: trashcatlit.com/rubbernecker/

This news greeted me right as I woke up, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Thanks so much, @trashcatlit.bsky.social and @therelphian.bsky.social, for the nomination, and congrats to the other nominees. Let’s scrounge one up for the bin!

(1 of 5) Last year I read SMALL TOWN SINS by #KenJaworowski and was blown away. The characterization, the setting, and the bleak stories with undercurrents of hope all made for the best novel I’d read in years. As such, I couldn’t *wait* for the follow-up, WHAT ABOUT THE BODIES.

“Rubbernecker” is out today, part of the prompted summer pop-up at @trashcatlit.bsky.social. Click below to give it a go. 👇 Thanks to @therelphian.bsky.social for including the story in the series. Always a pleasure to work with her. trashcatlit.com/rubbernecker/

What starts as a simple convenience-store robbery morphs into so much more in @kmwriter01.bsky.social’s “The Way It Works.” If you’re not reading Michael’s work, you’re truly missing out. His broken characters and gritty settings make for some of my favorite noir stories in recent memory.

Loving the essays in the recent issue of @rhppress.bsky.social, especially this one from @magonzales.bsky.social. As a person who grew up in rural MN, I have no concept of what it’s like to live in a city like NYC. Michael brings it to life with his intensely personal accounts. Phenomenal work here.

The hits keep coming with @mikemchone.bsky.social’s “By the Heaven That Bends Above Us,” which is about a bank robbery at the surface level, but offers so much depth with a family’s history peppered throughout. Heartbreaking passages in this one.

“Rubbernecker” is out today, part of the prompted summer pop-up at @trashcatlit.bsky.social. Click below to give it a go. 👇 Thanks to @therelphian.bsky.social for including the story in the series. Always a pleasure to work with her. trashcatlit.com/rubbernecker/

New story out tomorrow at @trashcatlit.bsky.social. Come along to see how I handled A Funeral Home, A Night-Shift Worker, and An Unwanted Gift…then stick around to see how everyone else tackled their unique prompts. Guaranteed to be a blast!

“Make a Choice” by #PhilRobbins is a damned masterclass in slowly building tension that explodes in the finale. Yet another fantastic story in the new @rhppress.bsky.social. Might go down as one of the best issues yet, which is no small feat given the wonderful fiction that’s come before it.

My latest story for Punk Noir Magazine, entitled “While the Goldfinches Forage,” touches upon my greatest fear. Check it out below. 👇 Thanks to Steve Golds for including it in the Mother theme. open.substack.com/pub/punknoir...