It occurred to me a few days ago that I hadn’t posted anything here in a while, but not until I logged in today did I realize that I haven’t posted anything this year. Sorry for the long absence. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, it’s more that I’ve had too much […]
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 […]
There are a few things to talk about, so consider this kind of a potpourri post (but without the dried flowers and other fragrances). First, I have not been posting here much, in part because social media seems to have largely taken the place of blogs, and in part because there’s been a technical issue […]
Nicholas Diak, an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and scholar of peplum cinema (don’t know what that is? Visit his site and find out!) has posted a wide-ranging interview with me. Included in it are some relatively obscure fact about my background and interests, along with news about my next book project (I’m about halfway through […]
Be sure to visit the Press, Accolades, and Awards page of this website every once in a while. After the blog page, that’s the one that changes most frequently, as more stories, reviews, etc. pop up. New books and new blog posts are generally highlighted on the site’s landing page, but changes to that page […]
In 2023, bestselling novelist Howard Weinstein and I founded Silverado Press, a micro-press that would publish western/historical fiction. The first two books we released were my short-story collection Byrd’s Luck & Other Western Stories and Howard’s Galloway’s Gamble 2: Lucifer & The Great Baltimore Brawl. Now we’re releasing our first book that wasn’t entirely written […]
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 […]
Author Pearl Zane Grey (who dropped the Pearl early on) was the first superstar of Western fiction. He grew up reading dime novels, but the first time he wrote a story of his own, his father tore it to pieces and beat Zane for wasting his time on trivialities. Zane persisted, and although he went […]
It’s a busy time in the Old West! There are a few things going on, and they’re all related. First, I have a short story in a brand-spankin’-new anthology, in which I share a table of contents with multiple friends and literary heroes. The book–Lawless: New Stories of the American West, focuses on outlaws. My […]
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 […]
It’s almost Christmas again. This year, I’m playing Santa Claus and giving readers some goodies! I have all kinds of bargains for you! First, a special note–in this year’s Best of the West section, the kind folks at True West Magazine once again wrote up new imprint Silverado Press, which launched with my Western short-story […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
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 […]