I have a new post up on Cemetery Dance Online celebrating a GREAT short story that was originally published in The Dark Magazine. Check it out here! The article also includes a fun little writing […]

Steven Graham Jones’ Ethereal Slasher
I’ve been dying to write about Stephen Graham Jones’ book, The Only Good Indians. The problem is, every time I start writing about something specific, someone else gets to it first! That’s the downside with such […]

The Terror Feels REal!
In this week’s column on Suspense Magazine, I write about Alma Katsu’s The Deep and delve into the benefits of research when writing fiction. Katsu is a fantastic writer, and the details she puts into […]

Writing the Dinner Scene
I have a new blog post up on Suspense Magazine featuring Rachel Harrison’s awesome book, The Return. I also have a writing activity that teaches you how to create a “dinner scene” in your stories! […]

The Overstory and trees
So I finished The Overstory, by Richard Powers. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s the official description: The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism […]
Picking Locks
I’ve been trying desperately to experience new things during this pandemic (or as I now call it: the summer of Hell). I have no idea why lockpicking seemed like a fun thing to learn, but […]

Death on the Farm
I didn’t expect to spend the evening helping birth a cow. Hell, it seemed like a pretty fast turnaround. In the morning, my wife says she’s pretty sure one of her belted galloways is ready […]

Galapagos, Day 1
We arrived exhausted. As the plane made its final descent onto the old military landing strip on the tiny island of Baltra, we were treated to a comical video about the do’s and don’ts of […]

Great Presidents
So I’m watching the Masterclass by Doris Kearns Goodwin on Presidential Leadership, and I’m struck by a couple things that stand out …