Writing is Stupid: Rimbaud Edition

I watched the Dylan/Scorsese Rolling Thunder flick the other day and got a little uncomfortable during the clip of Patti Smith at the start. I mean, she’s in full bloom and it’s a great document of Patti in her prime, … Continued

The Burden of Blurbs

I had this idea for a blog where I’d lay out my humble approach for getting blurbs as a way of steering some attention toward my new release. After a couple of tries, it was getting pretentious. All that “aw-shucks” … Continued

I’m gonna miss you, John Prine

Back ’round Christmas 2011, I was asked by a tech blog about The Song That Changed My Life. This is what I told ’em:   In 1992, I was 25 and stuck in rehab. Well, not really a rehab, but … Continued

Piggyback is back!

It’s back. The little novella that could does it again. The book that pulled me into this goofy game is being re-released by Down & Out Books today. Back in 2012, the idea was to write the most lean and … Continued

Announcement: American Static

I’ve been lying low lately. Only tiptoeing through the minefield that is social media during election season. But I’m coming out of the bunker because I’ve got some news.  Good news. My new novel, American Static, the second in my … Continued

Unloaded.

Next Tuesday, Down & Out Books is releasing Unloaded: Crime Writers Without Guns, an anthology with a stellar line-up from all reaches of the crime writing community. Seriously, from way up the food chain with names like Joe R. Lansdale … Continued

The Little Cesar Syndrome

Okay, so the last time I sat down to blog, I was halfway through Don Winslow’s Power of the Dog. Great fuckin’ book, by the way. As corny as it sounds, a major achievement is the best way to describe … Continued

Selective Memories …

Last week I went and saw The Replacements at the Masonic in San Francisco. While I was out there, alone in the crowd, being shoved and jostled by five thousand other Mats fans trying to recapture a bit of their … Continued

Throwing Knuckleballs

Okay. I’ll be honest. It’s been tougher than hell to crank out a blog during these past few weeks. Mostly because I didn’t want to weep onto the page. Life has been throwing me its own series of Knuckleballs as … Continued