Long time no update. I meant to write prior to Bouchercon 2024 in Nashville, but things conspired against me. And by “things” I mean my own laziness, mostly. But I’ve had a pretty eventful late summer and early fall, so I’m here to tell you about it.

First of all: MAGIC CITY BLUES was nominated for an Anthony Award for best paperback original. This is a huge deal, because the Anthonys are one of the most respected awards for crime and mystery fiction, and if I have my information right, it was the first novel ever nominated from Shotgun Honey. The book was up against a murderer’s row of fantastic competition. Tracy Clark’s phenomenally well-constructed Hide won, and I can’t be mad about it. It’s a terrific book, and Tracy is an absolute gem of a person. It was overall a pretty good time — I was on six panels if I recall correctly, author speed-dating, and a nominee-focused Noir at the Bar organized by Wes Browne — but I definitely overworked myself and won’t do that again.

My current work-in-progress is a nasty piece of Southern noir that’s like a cross between Stephen King’s Needful Things and S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed. I was lucky enough to land an agent with this book, and I’m in the middle of rewriting it. Zach Honey at Fineprint Literary took me on as a client, and he’s been fantastic to work with so far. We’ll hopefully go out on sub with it sometime in January, if I can keep to my rewrite schedule.

Speaking of S.A. Cosby, one of my stories made it into the 2024 edition of Best American Mystery & Suspense, co-edited by Steph Cha and Cosby, who’s the reigning and defending king of noir. My story is called “The Funeral Suit,” and it’s a crime tale disguised as a Western. I got to do a little riff on the Western genre and turn some of the conventions and tropes of the genre sideways a little. Special thanks to Frontier Tales for publishing it first. I am incredibly honored to be in this collection, as it features stories from two of my favorite writers. Scarlet Ribbons by Megan Abbott kicks the collection off, and it’s a hell of a story. Jordan Harper‘s phenomenal “My Savage Year” — first published in the noir edition of The Southwest Review — is the best story I’ve read in a long, long time, and I’ve re-read it several times. In each instance, I find something new to marvel over. Go read it. You’re gonna love it.

I also signed a two-book deal with Shotgun Honey to finish out Kincaid’s story. If you loved Magic City Blues, you’re going to need to hang on for dear life when Magic City Mayhem and Magic City Monster come out … Kincaid, it probably ought to be said, is a force of nature, and he’s going up against people who are themselves pretty damned formidable.

Oh, one last thing: On Dec. 10, Colin Conway drops another 509 anthology. Colin and I met in person in Seattle (well, technically in Bellevue) at Left Coast Crime, and James DF Hannah and I held his feet to the fire until he promised to do another antho, because we wanted in. Colin produces great anthologies, with stories like Hector Acosta’s “La Chingona” and Paul J. Garth’s “The Hope of Lost Mares” both being recognized by the 2022 edition of BAMS. You can read those stories in The Eviction of Hope. But about this new anthology … LOST & LOADED: A Gun’s Tale follows one nasty little firearm around Spokane, Washington. I’m pleased as hell to be a part of it, along with a lot of great authors. You’ll like this one, and if you don’t … well, tough. That link allows you to pre-order, and it’ll be a perfect Christmas gift for the crime fiction lover in your life.

That’s it for now. I’ll try to update more regularly in 2025.