News & Muse (November 2021) : A Story in Ellery Queen, Twisted Robots, and Lots of Writing on Rainy Days

That’s a shot of Rosie on the beach a couple weeks ago, when we spent four fun days on a family retreat just south of Waldport on the Oregon coast. After her first couple forays to the beach, where our intrepid Irish Setter seemed reluctant to even get her paws wet, she was much more ambitious this time, splashing about with abandon. It was also a quiet enough beach that we were able to let her off to run free, and boy, does she run. It’s such a joy to watch her. 

My Garrison Gage fans will be happy to know I’m making good progress on Gage’s latest adventure. There has been a lot of rainy days here in the Willamette Valley lately, which makes it easier to rack up some big word counts. Hopefully won’t be too long before the book is out in the world.

I’ve got a story in the latest issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, “Ask Hagan,” a real twisted suspense tale that packs a punch. What if a writer similar to Hunter S. Thompson, the author of books like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, wrote a very popular online Dear Abby-type column, full of cranky, irreverent advice and even insults? What if this writer hid behind an anonymous facade, pretending to be this larger than life persona when he was actually someone much more ordinary? And what if someone started impersonating this author and managed to fool the world? Read the story to find out what happens. You can subscribe to Ellery Queen, of course, or buy this single issue electronically on Amazon right now.

Also, WMG Publishing has reprinted my story, “Exchange Policy,” which recently appeared in Pulphouse Magazine, in the anthology Twisted Robots. My story is about a man who wants to return his android wife, modeled on his real wife who recently passed away, for a very unusual reason. What’s the reason? Read the story to find out. Lots of great tales in this volume, so be sure to check it out. It’s available in both ebook and print. Yes, I will be putting out another collection of my stories, but probably not until next year.

One last thing: My latest book, The Dragon Lottery, is now also available in hardcover (in addition to ebook and paperback), a handsome case laminate edition . . . which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a glossy hardcover without a dust jacket. This one is available exclusively from Amazon.