This is the time of year when folks look back to what they’ve accomplished over the last twelve months, and for writers that typically means listing the works they published during the year. From that perspective, 2025 was a pretty slow year. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t busy. Let’s look back, first, then we’ll […]
This was announced today: The book Crystal Lake Publishing announced today is Flesh of All Sorrows, a dark police-procedural thriller. When Crystal Lake asked me to write a little something about it, here’s what I gave them: “Flesh of All Sorrows began with a question: What would happen to a child who was raised by a […]
Back in 2008, I wrote a horror graphic novel called Zombie Cop. It was fully painted by the Polish artist Szymon Kudranski, who killed it (in the positive way), and published by Image Comics/Shadowline (Jim Valentino’s imprint at Image). It didn’t make any bestseller lists that I’m aware of, but I don’t think most mainstream […]
Today is Memorial Day. I wrote a considerable amount on my Substack page about death, life, and honoring those who are gone from our lives, and I’m not going to repeat all that here. Please drop in and give it a read over there, and I wish you a peaceful heart on this “holiday” that’s […]
Through most of the 1990s, I worked for comics legend Jim Lee–then, as now, one of the most popular and creative artists in the business–at what was alternately called Homage Studios, Aegis Entertainment, and WildStorm Productions. I was initially brought in to write the backs of some trading cards featuring Jim’s series WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action […]
After 30 straight years of attending the San Diego Comic-Con–the grandaddy of them all–I stopped going. That show is amazing…but it’s huge, and so so so crowded. I was there the year an exhibitor put out free shopping bags, and the crowd surged toward it so suddenly that a woman caught up in the swarm […]
Although I’ve participated in Kickstarters and other crowdfunding efforts as an author, I’ve never been the focus of one before. I’m not entirely the focus now, but I am editing–and helping run–a Kickstarter for a new Western anthology. Silverado Press Presents: Western Stories by Today’s Top Writers is, I believe, a multiple first in western […]
So, I haven’t written a ton of comics lately, but that’s changing fast. The first thing to launch is a short World War II story called “Dawn’s Early Light,” featuring the superheroes Magni and Warhawk, in a tale partly inspired by my father’s experiences in WWII Europe. Magni and Warhawk are characters from Pilot Studios, […]
Well, it’s been a year. Some parts were good, some bad, as with most years. Outwardly, it doesn’t seem like my most productive year ever because I only released one book–Byrd’s Luck & Other Western Stories (details at the link). That said, the book launched a whole new western fiction imprint, Silverado Press (and was […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]