I'll be at the Pompano Beach Branch Library this Saturday, May 9 at 1 pm, along with the fab Oline Cogdill! Come on by!

Saw Project Hail Mary last night! Loved the book and really liked the movie, too! Thumbs down!

Congrats to my buddy Matt Witten on the recent release of his new thriller, 51%! It’s getting great buzz, and I can’t wait to read it! Get your copy today! From Level Best Books!

At last week’s Malice Domestic mystery convention, I had the great fortune to be included in The Bookish Hour, a video podcast co-hosted by Sarah E. Burr and @jckenney.bsky.social. I appeared with @donnaandrews.bsky.social and @hankphillippiryan.bsky.social (. We had a lot of fun!

After I swim, I put a few drops of a vinegar-rubbing alcohol solution in my ears to get rid of any water. But now I need something to get rid of that solution! I know, I know, I should use a few drops of water.

WOW! The anthology I co-edited with Adam Meyer, HOLLYWOOD KILLS, won the Derringer Award for Best Anthology in a TIE (with the awesome anthology ON FIRE AND UNDER WATER, edited by my buddy, Curtis Ippolito)! Congrats/thanks to the publisher, Level Best Books, and to all the amazing contributors!

My boy's got new headshots! Spiffy!

Thanks to ace book reviewer @olinecog.bsky.social for her lovely review of THE FAMILY BIZ in the South Florida SunSentinel! (Reminder: come see our in-person discussion on May 9 at the Pompano Beach Branch Library at 1:00 pm) From Level Best Books.

Tomorrow night! I’ll be interviewing fab author @courtneypsak.bsky.social at the Wellington Branch Library (FL, 6:00 pm) as part of their Writers LIVE! series! Come on by! Should be a fun time talking about her books and her secrets! FREE, but please register!

Some authors work on their manuscripts while they’re at a convention. The only writing I do is signing someone else’s name and room number to a hotel restaurant check. (Thanks for the fancy dinner, @arttaylorwriter.bsky.social!)

I was in my driveway applying sunscreen before swimming when one of those road-mapping cars with the cameras drove by. So, for the next five (ten?) years, when you’re using a navigation app in my neighborhood, that pasty guy in swim trunks in his driveway is me!

Heading to Malice Domestic tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!

In three weeks, the wonderful Oline Cogdill will be interviewing me at Pompano Beach Branch Library (Sat. May 9, 1:00 pm). We'll discuss THE FAMILY BIZ and HOLLYWOOD KILLS and all things writing-wise! FREE, but please register if you think you might attend. We would love to see you there!

Spouse: OMG, are you okay? Me: Yeah. Why? Spouse: Your clothes match.

Alan is a creature of habit. Alan likes his routine. If people call Alan boring, Alan considers it a compliment!

Two weeks from today, I’ll be interviewing author Courtney Psak at the Wellington (FL) Branch Library, 6 – 7 pm as part of the Writers LIVE! interview series! We’ll be talking about her book, THE HOSTESS, in addition to a whole bunch of other writerly things! FREE, but plz click thru to register.

Another baby pineapple! I can now look forward to having a delicious three-bite treat in six or seven months!

It's April 13 and I'm still eating sardines.

I didn't know the Vlasic stork played pickleball!

Friday neighborhood bird pic.

I don’t usually put a timeline in my manuscripts until a second or third draft. This is when I find out that my characters eat three dinners in one day or don’t sleep for two days or talk to someone at a bank on a Sunday.

HOT SHOTS: CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS OF THE SHORT MYSTERY FICTION SOCIETY. Includes 28 Derringer Award-winning stories, from each year of the awards. I'm honored to represent 2019 with my story, "Dying in Dokesville." Edited by short story ace @joshpachter.bsky.social! From Level Best Books.

Thanks for reposting! @suzjay11.bsky.social @curtisippolito.bsky.social @hoganwrites.bsky.social @rodmannix.bsky.social

RELEASE DAY for THE FAMILY BIZ! Conning people is in their genes! Click through for all the details! From Level Best Books.

(Easter) Monday bird vid. A cardinal, of course!

I go to the gym, but I’ll never be “muscular.” Probably won’t attain “wiry.” Will settle for “not decrepit.”

It's GREAT that this TERRIFIC book by my GOOD buddy @arttaylorwriter.bsky.social is available again. If you haven't read it, give yourself a WONDERFUL treat and pick it up!! From Level Best Books!

The canvas wrap, on the wall!

Thanks to Dru Ann Love for hosting A Day in the Life featuring Chance Winston, the protagonist in my upcoming caper novel, THE FAMILY BIZ! From Level Best Books! Click thru to read on!

I think talking in your sleep is both cute and creepy. What are some other things you find both cute and creepy?

Evidently, tomorrow is going to be a big day!

When it comes to wine, I’m completely ignorant. If you blindfolded me, I couldn’t tell the difference between red, white, and pink (which is just red and white mixed, right?).

There was an article in the New York Times decrying Americans’ shrinking attention span/lack of concentration and how it was negatively affecting cognition. At least I think that’s what the article was about; I just skimmed part of it.

Thanks to Dru Ann for the wonderful review/musing about THE FAMILY BIZ!

What’s the worst piece of “general life” advice you’ve gotten?

Are you like me? Does one box of toothpicks last for five years?

How may I help you today?

Congrats to @Joseph S. Walker, one of the best short crime fiction writers around, on the release of his collection, CRIME SCENES. Absolutely chock full of award-winning stories, this is one NOT TO MISS! Trust me, peeps! From Level Best Books!

Just found out that the guy who created the Chicken Slapper is the son of a friend from B-school. The best video I’ve seen in a long time! The engineer in me loves it! The cook in me loves it! (I’m not alone—this video has 16 million views.) Read the comments—priceless!

What’s your favorite shape of pasta?

Some content creators go through periods: Blue Period, Sunflower Period, Abstraction Period, whatever. I always seem to be in my Procrastination Period.

Bookmarks!

Congrats to @robphillipswrites.bsky.social on his terrific debut mystery, STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS! Here's my verdict: “A sparkling debut... Humorous, heartwarming, highly entertaining. Send this one straight to the top of your to-be-read pile!”

OMG! You had me at KOLCH-

Dear <author name redacted> I am really getting a lot from your latest book. I read it before bed; it knocks me right out and I sleep like a baby. Keep up the boring work! An avid (and rested) fan

We had an election this past week for mayor. 19,000 votes were cast, and it was so close that a machine recount was mandated, resulting in one candidate with a single vote lead. A manual recount was triggered, and the same candidate prevailed with a five-vote margin. Your vote really does matter!

Tonight’s neighborhood party has been cancelled. Now what am I going to do with the four pineapples I was going to bring? Learn how to juggle?

New birds hanging around our feeder: painted buntings!

Thanks to the sublime, effervescent, and inimitable @catrionamcp.bsky.social for the very perspicacious blurb!