You're doing it wrong

Case of life imitating art: In my novel Bank Job, which came out in 2005, a loser tries to rob a liquor store near Redding, CA, only to have the clerks chase him away by breaking bottles over his head. This week, a robber at a Redding liquor store was tackled by four citizens and arrested, even though he used a broken bottle to try to fend off the Good Samaritans.

The perp was identified by police as Otto Smalley, and if that's not a name from a Steve Brewer novel, I don't know what the heck is. Officers said the 45-year-old tried to use a knife to rob the liquor store/minimart where he was a familiar customer. Three guys suffered minor injuries from the broken bottle. Full story here. Be sure to check out the cool neck tattoo in the mug shot.

Oh, police say meth use apparently was involved. Surprise!

Bubba book bargains

All the Bubba Mabry mysteries -- seven novels and a novella -- are now on sale as e-books for only 99 cents each.

Bubba is my franchise player. Nearly half my crime stories have featured the bumbling Albuquerque private eye and his love interest, reporter Felicia Quattlebaum. Lonely Street was my first published novel and was later made into a Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna. The seventh in the series, Monkey Man, was a finalist for the Lefty Award for funniest mystery of the year.

Three different houses published the Bubba series during its 12-year run, so it's been difficult at times to get the complete set in paper. But e-books make it a snap, and the price will never be cheaper.

Click here for the link to my Amazon page, where you can see all my Kindle stuff, including the Bubba books. For all other e-readers, link here for Smashwords. And remember: You don't need an e-reader to enjoy e-books. You can download the Kindle app for free and read books on your computer or smartphone.

Please tell all your friends about this limited-time offer. Thanks!

You're doing it wrong

Police in Albuquerque, NM, say two copper thieves got a big surprise when they cut into a live electric wire with a pair of garden shears.

The shears were scorched by the surge, police said, and whoever was holding them was almost certainly injured. The criminal masterminds were also captured on surveillance video while on the property.

Full story here.

Huge humor collection debuts

My latest e-book -- "1000 Rules for Successful Living" -- debuts today on Kindle and Smashwords. Only $2.99.

A thousand sounds like a lot, and it is (about 66 pages' worth of one-liners and twisted adages), but they accumulated so gradually, I'm as surprised as the rest of you. I didn't set out to write a huge number of Rules for Successful Living. It was something I started on Facebook to entertain my friends, a few little rules that were so obvious ("Don't fall on your mouth") that they were funny.

People responded to the deadpan tone, so I wrote some more. Each morning, over coffee, I'd come up with another one and post it on Facebook. Sometimes, other Rules would come to me during the day and I'd post those, too. Pretty soon, I had hundreds of Rules and no place to put them, so I started publishing collections on Kindle. And the rest, as they say, is hysteria.

A few of my favorites:

A watched pot never boils, and a boiled watch isn't much good, either.

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.

It takes two to tango, but you can pirouette all by yourself.

Treat yourself to some laughs. Get "1000 Rules for Successful Living" today. And please tell all your friends.

The doctor is in

I sometimes work as a writing coach/book doctor, helping new authors polish their manuscripts.

I'm nearly finished with the revisions on my new novel, so I'll have time for new students over the next few months. For more information about how it works and how much it costs, e-mail me at abqbrewer@gmail.com.

Pass the word. Thanks!