In case you missed it, PISTOL JIM just wrapped its second call! About 30 stories, 500 words max. The theme is NAILS IN THE COFFIN. Check 'em out and vote for your favorite excerpts! pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/thats-a-wr...

The last sentence of this flash story is wonderfully noir. Great work, @keithroysdon.bsky.social. Published by @witchingmetal66.bsky.social.

Did this sigil lately as a chapter header for author @witchingmetal66.bsky.social

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...

New bullshit coming soon to a PC, laptop, tablet, phone, whateverthehell near you. @mrbullbull.bsky.social @literarygarage.bsky.social @witchingmetal66.bsky.social

The new Pistol Jim theme is open to submissions until October 17! Write about NAILS IN THE COFFIN in 500 words or fewer and send it to [email protected] pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/submission...

The new Pistol Jim theme is open to submissions until October 17! Write about NAILS IN THE COFFIN in 500 words or fewer and send it to [email protected] pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/submission...

ICYMI: My entry in the "Escalating Chaos" premiere issue of Pistol Jim Press. Big thanks to @witchingmetal66.bsky.social for pubbing. bit.ly/47wQXjG

That's a wrap! Come on and vote for your favorite excerpts from the Escalating Chaos call. pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/thats-a-wr...

That's a wrap! Come on and vote for your favorite excerpts from the Escalating Chaos call. pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/thats-a-wr...

A huge thanks to everybody who's submitted, commented, and shared pieces for the Escalating Chaos call. I couldn't have done it without you awesome folks! This was a blast and I'll definitely be opening another call soon. Stay tuned! My piece: pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/pranks-of-...

New horror short story on my personal stack. COLD is about a hunter and his son discovering a strange cave in the frozen wastes. badmen.substack.com/p/cold

pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/yusomnia-b... Hey y'all I wrote a short story for @witchingmetal66.bsky.social 's Pistol Jim Press! Check it out!

Quick new historical noir piece is up on my personal stack. THE BOATSWAIN'S HONOR is a 1200-word short story about a pair of prisoners awaiting justice in the brig of a steam ship. badmen.substack.com/p/the-boatsw...

New blurb for THE SPLATTERSHOT KILLER

COVER REVEAL! 🎉🎉 THE SPLATTERSHOT KILLER is my upcoming slasher horror novel about a shotgun-wielding maniac, a teenage acid dealer, and a police chief with a sketchy past. Amazon page is up and preorders are available. Tentative release date is March 2026. www.amazon.com/dp/B0FM7BP2K8

COVER REVEAL! 🎉🎉 THE SPLATTERSHOT KILLER is my upcoming slasher horror novel about a shotgun-wielding maniac, a teenage acid dealer, and a police chief with a sketchy past. Amazon page is up and preorders are available. Tentative release date is March 2026. www.amazon.com/dp/B0FM7BP2K8

A little tease of what's coming...

A little tease of what's coming...

I'm not a Flash fiction writer by trade, but if you ever thought you wanted a mini-dose of Frenzi (like a caffeine shot!) Pistol Jim Press has you covered! Big thanks to @witchingmetal66.bsky.social for accepting my entry in his Escalation series! pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/out-of-han...

OUT OF HAND by R. J. Calder pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/out-of-han...

From my upcoming slasher... The man in the ghoul mask raised the shotgun barrel at Scottie’s knee, and pulled the trigger. The blast was so loud that it deafened Scottie for the rest of his life. He tumbled to the ground screaming while his leg came apart, severed in half.

Story number two is up!

So excited to be part of the inaugural theme at Pistol Jim Press with “Mushroom Kingdom,” a short-short that brings the escalating chaos. Thanks to @witchingmetal66.bsky.social for having me! pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/mushroom-k...

A little tease of what's coming!

My shotgun slasher WIP is quickly turning into a depressing meditation on grief interspersed with extreme violence. Am I doing it right?

The first story of the Escalating Chaos call is out! TEN BEATS SEVEN by Scott MacLeod pistoljimpress.substack.com/p/ten-beats-...

After watching The Passenger & Smile 2, I can safely say my dream casting for a film adaptation of PUT YOUR LIFE IN THE POT is as follows: Johnny Berchtold as Tristian Kyle Gallner as Joey if I ever win the lottery, I'll make it happen!

Pleased to say my cruel short story “Rousting” has been accepted for this Pistol Jim series. Thanks, @witchingmetal66.bsky.social

Always juggling too many WIP ideas, so I've got a new one... A psychedelic horror story about a spirit manifestation ritual involving LSD and mysterious tablets bought off the dark web. Think THE SUBSTANCE meets TALK TO ME Working title is THIS IS NOT A DRUG

1977: why would the bartender in star wars even care if some robots with artificial intelligence came into his bar 2025: ohhh ok

Pistol Jim is now OPEN for the first submission call! Theme is "ESCALATING CHAOS," word count is 500, no genre limit. Send your work to [email protected] along with a short author blurb!

logging into X, formerly known as Twitter,

Not sure how many people still follow this account for War of a Madman's Making, but I'm cooking up something new and sketched up a shitty map as a visual aid... Working title for this Age of Sail fantasy novel is SAILS AND SEA MONSTERS, set in the world of AWOAMM

This story was a weird one. A surreal and graphically violent experiment in telling a story forward and in reverse at the same time. I still really like this one, and it took a positive comment to remember how much work and craft I'd put into it. 😌

Pistol Jim is now OPEN for the first submission call! Theme is "ESCALATING CHAOS," word count is 500, no genre limit. Send your work to [email protected] along with a short author blurb!

EPISODE SEVEN is out now! Four murders in the nursery. One accomplice still at large. Rowan Thompson has the last lead in her hands. THEY WERE INNOCENT CREATURES is a horror-detective novella about a journalist investigating the most heinous of crimes. badmen.substack.com/p/they-were-...

Pistol Jim Press is an online literary zine that focuses on grimy flash fiction: Crime, noir, westerns, horror, speculative fiction, and sometimes even the non-gritty. Opening for submissions very soon!

Pistol Jim Press is an online literary zine that focuses on grimy flash fiction: Crime, noir, westerns, horror, speculative fiction, and sometimes even the non-gritty. Opening for submissions very soon!

Hey everyone, on a whim I just created an online press on Substack! Check back in the next couple weeks for an open flash fiction call. Focused is on gritty crime stuff, but no hard genre rules. pistoljimpress.substack.com

my latest CK3 AGOT character! It occurred to me I'd never created a wandering badass warrior queen, so here we go.

Hey everyone, on a whim I just created an online press on Substack! Check back in the next couple weeks for an open flash fiction call. Focused is on gritty crime stuff, but no hard genre rules. pistoljimpress.substack.com

I've officially finished the first 25% of my next neo-noir novel, IT'S ONLY DESPAIR! The prologue + Part One clocks in at roughly 20k words.

I've officially finished the first 25% of my next neo-noir novel, IT'S ONLY DESPAIR! The prologue + Part One clocks in at roughly 20k words.

Latest chapter of MONEY, MAN! is available on my stacking place! What started as a simple revenge mission became a bloodbath when a made man from New York got held up by a crew of LA tweakers. badmen.substack.com/p/money-man-...

between my friend escaping a DV situation and Marines getting deployed to deal with riots in a city in SoCal, my planned crime series is now 2 for 3 with events coming true IRL after I outlined them 😐

My review of @witchingmetal66.bsky.social's terrific transgressive crime drama--Put Your Life in the Pot--is up on Goodreads. I was privileged to receive a review copy, and I enjoyed it a TON! This won't be the last Maxwell story I read. goodreads.com/review/show/...

I just posted a WIP excerpt of my submarine horror novel, SUNKEN TOMB OF THE FALSE KING, on the stacking place! A quack scientist backed by a billionaire leads a submarine crew deep into the Monterey Submarine Canyon. badmen.substack.com/p/sunken-tom...