Join me at Austin’s Vintage Bookstore and Wine Bar

What happens when a bunch of crime writers get together to talk about the 1980s? I’m not 100 percent sure to be honest, but we’re going to find out later today.

I’ll be at Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar in Austin this Saturday, July 19 (1–3pm), joining editor Michael Bracken and contributors James A. Hearn, Laura Oles, and Mark Thielman for a panel on the new anthology Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun: Private Eyes in the Materialistic Eighties.

We’ll be in conversation with Scott Montgomery of The Hard Word; expect tales of private eyes, creative writing, and, possibly, the many joys of the Atari 2600.

Totally free. Totally public. Totally tubular.

The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025!

I’m thrilled to announce that my story “Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting,” which originally appeared in the anthology of 1970s PI stories Private Dicks and Disco Balls, has been selected for The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025.

The 1970s gave us gumshoe classics like Chinatown and authors like Ross Macdonald and Robert B. Parker—but it also gave us a golden age of kung fu cinema, thanks to studios like Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers. I wanted to bring those two gritty, stylish worlds together—and drop them right into urban Texas.

Private Dicks and Disco Balls, created and edited by Michael Bracken and published by Down & Out Books, features a shag-carpeted lineup of writers tapping into the fondue-soaked culture of the 1970s. As always, my favorite part of making it into a collection like this is reading all of the incredible stories by the other writers who also made the cut so I can’t wait to read The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025 when it hits!

I don’t think I ever missed an episode of this. Nothing to see here, just a boy in small town Texas completely rearranging his weekends to watch Gordon Liu become a Shaolin Master Killer.

I Could’ve Swore I Parked Right @&*#! Here

The Chop Shop series has broken the steering wheel lock, ripped off the column and hot-wired the criminal literary scene for two years now. Created and edited by Michael Bracken, this serialized anthology tells the seedy, speedy tales of a Dallas chop shop and its cast of characters through the novellas of a dozen different authors.

My humble contribution, The Hellcat, dropped in June. In The Hellcat, a down-on-his-luck former golf caddy helps steal a Dodge Challenger Hellcat—hoping for money to move out of his parents’ house. That sweet ride, however, featured more than just a supercharged HEMI, leather seats and flared fenders. It also contained Lady Mousehole, the meanest house cat in all of Texas. Meaner, almost, than her owner, Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Braun “The Beast” Keller. Sure, he got the car. But can he get out with his life? 

P.S. Glad you asked why there’s a Trans Am on the cover of a story about a Hellcat. Thing is, this is a whole volume of stories and each one has a distinctive ride on the cover. In fact, if you really want a summer joyride challenge yourself to fire up each episode:

The Cadillac Job by Stacy Woodson
A Hunka Hunka Burning Rubber by Hugh Lessig
Run and Gun by Joseph S. Walker
Baraccuda Backfire by Tom Milani
Devil in the Rearview by Stephen D. Rogers
Here Comes the Judge by James A. Hearn
Billy Dinkin’s Lincoln by John M. Floyd
Slow Ride by Mark Thielman
Coyote Run by Michael Bracken
Fast Cars and Dirty Diapers by Adam Meyer
Loose Change from a Mini Cooper by Frank Zafiro
Faster Than a Speeding Bullitt Mustang by Chuck Brownman

Cryin' Shame: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Lyle Lovett

I was honored to contribute to this Texastastic short fiction anthology honoring Harris County native Lyle Lovett! Created and edited by accomplished author Josh Pachter and published by the troublemakers at Down & Out Books, each crime story in the collection will be inspired by a different Lovett song. My story is inspired by the fun and flirty “Here I am.” On track for publication this year so watch this space.

Private Dicks and Disco Balls: Private Eyes in the Dyn-O-Mite Seventies Drops from Down & Out Books

This is the leisure suit-wearing, sideburn-having, gas-line-waiting anthology of ‘70s private detective stories you’ve been waiting for. Edited by the esteemed Michael Bracken, Private Dicks features '70s-centric PI stories from Ann Aptaker, N.M. Cedeño, Bill Fitzhugh, James A. Hearn, Laura Oles, Alan Orloff, Gary Phillips, Neil S. Plakcy, Stephen D. Rogers, Mark Thielman, Bev Vincent, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, and yours truly. Pick up a copy today, or you’re a jive turkey.

Noir at the Bar, Noir AF Edition

Gonna be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Sunday, November 20th? Join me and a bunch of other sketchy writer types who are at their best when showing humans at their worst. You’re not going to want to miss these live readings, cold drinks, good stories and interesting—if not terribly well behaved—characters. It’s gonna be Noir AF. And since this Noir at the Bar event will be held at The Wild Detectives, you’ll be able to pick up some sweet fall reads and maybe even knock out a little holiday shopping. See ya there, pal.