Fightcard sale!

Since it is Boxing Day, we're discounted all the Fightcard titles to only .99 until Jan 1. Now is your chance to get Split Decision, A Mouth Full of Blood and the rest of the Fightcard action for cheap.

A Time For Giving

I'll get to the main course, but first an appetizer. My new story, A Job For Two, is live now at All Due Respect so go check that out if you want a short read. The ADR guys have an anthology coming out early next year that I just did the cover for, so be on the lookout for that one. Sure to be some great stories in there.

Now then, on to the spirit of the season. I'm in a giving mood. Not sure why since I just bought a car load of stuff for my kids, but I have a few more stockings to stuff if you want to take me up on it. Here's my offer: for anyone who buys a copy of The Devil Doesn't Want Me between now and Christmas, I'll give you a digital copy of Dig Two Graves or my story collection A Bouquet Of Bullets for free. Just message me proof of purchase and your email address and I'll send one your way right away. 

Before you think I'm just too generous for words, keep in mind both books are only .99 for the rest of December. So, I like you, but only so much.

What's that? You just bought one but missed out on the deal? Fine, you can hit me up retroactively. Yep, I really am that generous. I also know I don't get a ton of hits over here so I doubt you all will break my bank account. And remember, you can give The Devil Doesn't Want Me as a gift too and I'll give you one of the other books or I'll gift it right along with Devil to the special person you apparently want to send a veiled threat of bodily harm to. Hey, I'm not judging.

So go for it. Two books for one. And Devil is still only 3.99, so, y'know. Quite a bargain there. And Happy Holidays everyone!

Dead End Winner

I was thrilled to learn today my novella Dig Two Graves was voted Best Novella for 2012 over at Dead End Follies, the online home of Benoit Lelievre, writer and blogger extraordinaire. 

So happy my gritty little book is still going. And remember, it's only .99 for the rest of the month along with all other Snubnose releases!

The Next Big Thing

I was recently tagged by Holly West for this Next Big Thing that has been going around. I've read some really interesting answers to these simple questions. Here are mine. I fear it may die out with me, but even if they haven't done up one of these questionnaires, here are a few writers you should know. They are truly the Next Big Things!
Frank Zafiro, Jake Hinkson, Tom Pitts, Greg Bardsley, Stephen Blackmoore. And yeah, about a hundred others. We are truly in a crime writing Renaissance. 

1) What is the working title of your next book?

I never know what will be out next. That’s up to the publishers to see what they want to put out. The most recently completed novel of mine is called The Year I Died Seven Times.

2) Where did the idea come from?

Somewhere I came up with that title and I wrote a book around it. Not really the “right” way to do it, but it worked out well.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Crime, probably on the hardboiled end of the spectrum. It’s about a missing girl, but it’s not a detective or a who-done-it. More mayhem and really sad attempts to find the girl. If you’re like me, parts of it will be kinda funny too. 

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

The girl who goes missing could be played by that girl from Gilmore Girls who played Rory’s best friend. Though on the show she was Korean and the girl in my book is Japanese. So maybe find a big star in Japan who people here don’t know.

The lead is a late 20’s male. Kind of a slacker. I can’t think of anyone A list, but I’d love to cast Jack Huston, the guy who plays Robert on Boardwalk Empire. That guy can be in any adaptation of any of my books, any time.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Ridley snaps out of his slacker-ish ways when he meets Miho, a beautiful Japanese girl, but when she vanishes one night he sets out to find what happened to her not knowing he’ll be dealing with vicious gangsters, drug dealers, former FBI agents, angry roommates, gang bangers and surly doormen and not realizing that by the end of his search he’ll have ended up clinically dead seven times. 

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have no plans to self publish at the moment. It is out to a publisher right now who is considering it. 

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?

A short amount of time spaced out over a longer period. I started it early in 2012, then set it aside to get to some other, more pressing projects. When I came back to it, it finished up quickly. So about six weeks total with a nine month break in between. The actual writing time was fast, even for me, and I'm pretty quick. I was motivated. 

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Hopefully nothing, but I’m always trying in my own way to rip off guys like Duane Swierczynski and Victor Gischler.  

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

There is rarely any real inspiration for my books. I just think of something and if it sticks with me I write it. I tend not to write ideas down and that way if they are still rattling around in my head weeks after I haven’t made an effort to retain the idea, I know it’s a good one because it stuck with me.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Um, did I mention the guy dies seven times? It was an interesting experiment to see if I could keep up the tension when the reader basically knows how each chapter/section is going to end. I think I pulled it off, but this story had a long gestation while I figured out how to do it.