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!