Read my shorts!

I'm still working on my new novel, UPSHOT, and I'm beginning to doubt whether I can get it published before Christmas, as hoped. I'm on my fourth draft, and there's still more rewrite to come. Plus, there are beta readers and cover art and proofs. Let's say, sometime this winter, there should be a new novel available.

But you can still get some Steve Brewer reading this holiday season. I've got short stories coming out in three different anthologies later this year.

Two of the collections are scheduled to come out at the end of October. KNUCKLEHEAD NOIR will be published by Coffin Hop Press. And A BEAST WITHOUT A NAME will come out from Down and Out Books.

 A short story I wrote a few years ago, "Cemetery Plot," will be featured in KNUCKLEHEAD NOIR. It's a twisted tale set in an Arkansas cemetery, where a low-level criminal is being forced to dig his own grave.

A BEAST WITHOUT A NAME is the second anthology this year of crime stories inspired by the music of Steely Dan. Both were edited by mystery stalwart Brian Thornton. My contribution is a dark vengeance tale called "Black Friday."

In early December, Down and Out will publish TROUBLE AND STRIFE, a collection of crime stories inspired by British rhyming slang and edited by Simon Wood. My story is called "Babbling Brook" and it's set inside a prison.

I'm still devoting a good chunk of every week to the family bookshop, Organic Books in Albuquerque's Nob Hill neighborhood. My wife and I mostly work on weekends, while our two sons manage the place during the week. I'm in charge of author events, and I try to go to all the booksignings and poetry readings we host.

A key scene in UPSHOT happens on Carlisle Boulevard, less than a block from Organic Books. Easiest research ever.

Hope your autumn is filled with great books!

Summertime news

You're more likely to drive too fast on an exit ramp/frontage road because you've become accustomed to the higher speed of the freeway. Psychologists call this being "velocitized."

I'm feeling velocitized this week because my busy, busy life abruptly slowed down, and my brain hasn't caught up yet.

With the arrival of summer, a few items disappear from my schedule, including the class I teach at the University of New Mexico's Honors College. But the big difference is that I finished the first draft of a new crime novel, which had consumed me for the past nine weeks. I always take a little break between "The End" and the rewrites, during which I try not to think about the new book at all. That way, I have fresh eyes when I start editing it.

Hiking expert David Ryan talks at Organic Books.

The novel, currently called UPSHOT, is about a heist crew that hijacks cannabis couriers. I had a lot of fun writing it.

Our family-owned bookstore in Albuquerque's historic Nob Hill neighborhood, Organic Books, remains busy and growing, and I've been putting in extra hours there because one of our two sons is on vacation. We host events by local authors and poets on weekend afternoons, and I'm usually at the store then. Check out the schedule at our website.

My summer slowdown means more time for reading, and I've recently devoured books by William Gibson, Blake Crouch, Tana French, James Ellroy and Adrian McKinty. Next up is a Jim Harrison novel I somehow overlooked in the past.

One of the best parts of owning a bookstore is that it serves as your personal library. I can take home a different book every night if I want. How cool is that?

Hope you have a summer full of great reading!

Work, work, work, work, work

When you're a novelist, you do lots of things that aren't writing novels. For most of us, writing won't pay the bills, so we find part-time work to fill in the gaps.

Over the past three decades, I've worked as newspaper reporter, humor columnist, freelance editor and college professor, all while busily cranking out novels and short stories. During most of that time, I also was a househusband, doing the lion's share of the housework and yardwork while my wife pursued her careers.

These days, I'm essentially working FIVE part-time jobs:

1) Still a househusband. Doing laundry right now.

2) Looking after things for my Mom, who has Alzheimer's disease. She lives in a nursing home in Hot Springs, AR, and I drive there every three or four months and spend a few days. I'm on the phone a lot.

3) Still teaching my writing seminar at the Honors College at the University of New Mexico. The class meets only once a week, but it produces a lot of papers that must be graded.

4) Still an author, though I took a break from writing for much of 2018. I've started work on a new novel, but even when I'm not writing, I'm busy BEING an author -- email, social media, signing contracts, managing my e-book empire. (All my e-books are currently on sale on Kindle for 99 cents each!)

5) Working as one of the clerks/co-owners of Organic Books, the new used bookstore in Albuquerque's historic Nob Hill neighborhood. Business is good, and we just updated our website. We host events with local authors and poets nearly every weekend.

My pal Cecilia Wessinger stopped by the other day and snapped a photo of me with the prominent display of my books.

Though we've been open less than five months, Organic Books is one of the finalists for Best Bookstore in the Weekly Alibi's "Best of Burque" annual poll. You can see all the nominees (and vote) here. I'm also nominated in the Best Local Author category, which has never happened before. Guess it helps to have your own bookstore.

I'm just starting on the new crime novel (tentative title: HIJACKERS), so publication is probably a year away, but I will have short stories in three different anthologies during 2019. I'll update this blog with more info as we get closer to publication dates.

In June, we'll celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of my first novel LONELY STREET (the Bubba Mabry debut later made into a movie). Assuming I can finish it, HIJACKERS will be my 32nd published book.

Not bad for a part-time job.

Happy reading!