Most of what I write on here has to do with my professional life as a writer, but this one’s a little different–more autobiographical. Historical, even, since it goes way back into the early 1960s, before many of my readers were even born. The first record I ever bought with my own money–my first “grown-up” […]
Silverado Press–the imprint that Howard Weinstein and I have launched through writers’ collective Crazy 8 Press–is getting all kinds of…well, press, lately. Here’s an interview with me that ran in the current issue of True West magazine (in which I also review a book–my first review for TW). And below is a piece that just […]
Half of the short stories in my new collection Byrd’s Luck & Other Stories are “weird westerns”–that is, western stories blended with elements of horror fiction (weird westerns can encompass horror, science fiction, fantasy, and various subgenres thereof, but I tend toward horror). Now a new anthology is up on Kickstarter, in which I have […]
I’ve been chomping at the bit (and yes, the original phrase was “champing at the bit,” but who remembers what the verb “to champ” means anymore) waiting to announce this deal, and now I can! Here’s the quick backstory: Western fiction publishers are few and far between, and getting fewer all the time. One of […]
Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I haven’t done a lot of events for the past few years, thanks mostly to Covid. Even fewer of those have been in the Phoenix, Arizona area (where we live). But on Saturday, February 25, we’ll be guests at the brand-spankin’-new Arizona Comicbook Arts Festival! This one-day show is focused on […]
On September 6, 1995, StormWatch #28, written by me with art by Ron Lim and Robert Jones, hit the racks at comic shops across the country. The regular creative team on the StormWatch title was running late, and they needed a couple of months to catch up, so I was asked to write two fill-in […]
Although Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I live in the greater Phoenix metro area, most of our recent-ish personal appearances have been in Tucson. Next month, that changes, when we’re both guests at the brand-new Arizona Comics Arts Festival. It’s a one-day event, held Saturday, February 25th, and the Phoenix Shrine Auditorium. The guest list is […]
My first professional fiction sale was in 1988–a short story sold to a prestigious science fiction anthology called Full Spectrum. My first novel–Gen13: Netherwar, written with Christopher Golden, came out in 1999. Since then I’ve written dozens of books, sometimes at a pace of 4 a year and maybe hitting 5 in some years. But […]
During 2022, I had a lot of books released–the three book Cody Cavanaugh Western series, Tarzan and the Forest of Stone, and then the three book Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix procedural thriller series. The Castle, the third of these, is out on Tuesday, November 8. That’ll be the last new book release for a while, […]
This week, I got copies of my forthcoming police-procedural mystery The Squad, the first in the three-book (so far) Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix series. It’s available for preorder now, wherever books are sold, and it officially launches on September 27. The second book, The Storm, follows on October 18, and The Castle arrives in November. […]
There’s lots of news in this one, so I’ll get right to it! The first two books in my Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix police-procedural mystery series are up on Amazon for pre-order. As of this moment, only the Kindle ebooks are there, but the paperback versions should follow soon. The two are The Squad and […]
It’s been a tough few years for most of us. We’ve endured and mostly survived an ongoing pandemic, though many are still reeling from the loss of family and friends to the disease. Here in our household, we’ve all had Covid, with varying degrees of severity, but we’re all still here, thankfully. But like many […]
Several years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of writing a novel about one of my all-time favorite superheroes, Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man. The novel–a blend of super-hero action and horror–was Spider-Man: Requiem, and it boasted a terrific cover painting by my pal J.H. Williams III. Last year, the novel was adapted into an audiobook, narrated […]
Over on Facebook, I mentioned that I had finished the third book in my Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix series (out of three contracted novels), and pal Rodney Hom asked how I researched such topics. I decided that the response was longer than a FB message could accommodate, so decided to post here instead. Some background: […]
There have been a lot of firsts associated with my historical western/crime epic Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta. It’s the first time I’ve written a novel about a real person. First time I’ve written one so long. First one I’ve written in collaboration with an Emmy Award-winning TV writer/producer (Peter Murrieta, who […]
I read a lot of books, but review very few because I’d usually rather just start the next one. But sometimes I’m privileged to read a book before its release, and on those occasions, I want to let potential buyers know what I think. (Of course, if I don’t think much of one, I likely […]
I’m a little late here, but Tarzan and the Forest of Stone was released on June 21! As a lifelong fan of the ape-man, being asked to write a new adventure–set within the existing canon as established by Edgar Rice Burroughs–was an enormous thrill, and not a little intimidating. Early reaction is overwhelmingly favorable, though. […]
I got my copies of the paperback edition of Tarzan and the Forest of Stone today! Hardcover and limited edition copies will be along soonish. The official publication date is June 21, but if paperbacks are printed, it’s possible that those orders will be filled sooner. The limited edition is only available directly from Edgar […]
There’s been a lot going on this week, professionally and personally. Which is weird, because it was supposed to have been a vacation week, during which Marcy and I would have jetted to New York City, enjoyed a great dinner and a show, visiting bookstores and comic shops, and generally exploring the Big Apple. But […]
I have loved Western fiction since the first comic book I remember reading–a Roy Rogers comic in the office of a Russian barber, inside a building in Paris, France leased to the U.S. Department of Defense. (He definitely wasn’t a spy….) I’d loved Roy and Hopalong Cassidy and other cowboy stars on TV back in […]
I’ve been a Tarzan fan as long as I can remember. It started in my early childhood, watching black-and-white Johnny Weissmuller movies on TV, before my family moved to France for several years. At some point, I started reading the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs–not just Tarzan’s adventures, but those of David Innes in Pellucidar, […]
Here’s the first chapter of PASSAGE TO PEDREGOSA, Book 3 of the Cody Cavanaugh series, on sale March 23. Give it a read! Late Autumn, 1877The air on the morning before the raid, as crisp as the first bite of an apple right off the tree, didn’t strike Cody Cavanaugh as killing weather.Some others seemed […]
The Tucson Festival of Books has become one of the country’s biggest book events. It’s been virtual for the last two years, but this year it’s in-person again, March 12-13, and Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I will be there, in our usual spot (for those of you who’ve attended before), Booth #116. That booth was […]
Although it was announced as a February 23 release, Amazon started selling McKittrick Ransom, book 2 of my Cody Cavanaugh series of classic western novels, on 2/22/22. Perfect timing for book 2. Here’s the description, courtesy of Wolfpack Publishing: “A RANSOM THAT CAN ONLY BE PAID IN BLOOD – BOOK TWO IN JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE’S […]
I got my copies of O’Meara’s Gold in the mail this week. No matter how many books I’ve published, it’s always a thrill to open a big box of them from the publisher. This time it’s especially sweet, because this is my first “traditional” Western novel–a genre that’s long held a special fascination for me, […]
This week O’Meara’s Gold, the first book in my Cody Cavanaugh Western novel trilogy came out from Wolfpack Publishing. I’ve been trying to promote it here and there, along with continuing to promote 2021’s release Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta. They’re both Western novels, but B&G is a historical epic about a […]
O’Meara’s Gold, the first Cody Cavanaugh western novel, lands tomorrow, January 26! If you’ve pre-ordered, thank you, and you should be getting yours right away. But if you didn’t, you can still grab it anywhere books are sold online. So you can get a head start on reading, here’s page 1: And here are some […]
From his vantage point on a gentle rise at the rear of the column, Cody Cavanaugh could see the line of blue coats stretched out for a mile or more between the pines hemming in the road from each side. On this fine autumn day under a bright sun, birds would have been singing if […]
I firmly believe that the 1970s was the most outstanding, most innovative, and most interesting decade for American comic books. The big two were primarily focused on their superhero characters–Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman at DC, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers at Marvel–but they were trying new things with them. Some worked (the […]
Although Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and I were scheduled to appear at TusCon last month, we had to cancel that trip. That means this Saturday’s Local Author Fair at the Red Mountain Library in Mesa, AZ, will be our first public appearance since the COVID lockdown began in 2020. We have tons of new books (or […]
Responses are starting to trickle in to new novel Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta. It’s always tough for small-press books to get traction, but this one is being noticed in some interesting places. There was, for example, this TikTok review that gave the book “10 stars out of 5” and called it […]
Welcome to my brand-spankin’-new snazzy website. Look around and you’ll see all kinds of cool stuff. You can sort the publications by series, by genre, by original vs. tie-in, etc. You can quickly see what’s comics, what’s nonfiction, what’s short fiction, and more. And from now on, my blog will be right here on the […]
First things first, I guess. Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta is out. I got copies the other day and it looks great (and big–it’s a big, big book, a true historical epic). Here’s what a box of ’em looks like: Prolific author and reviewer James Reasoner said this about it: “In BLOOD […]