The biggest names in commercial fiction started somewhere. They all had debut novels, and not all of them were instant successes. John Grisham and Harlan Coben both famously had their first novels published by small presses (A Time to Kill and Play […]

One of my favorite parts of reading a book is trying to figure out which character did it — whatever “it” happens to be — and which characters I’m supposed to think is the guilty party. It’s also something I strive to […]

I decided yesterday to boldly go where every author but me has gone before. When my advance review copies for Let the Guilty Pay came in, I decided it was time for me to start utilizing two excellent tools to reach new […]

The main character in my new series writes true crime books. Bartholomew Beck, who writes under his middle name, John, does not go through the typical writers’ life, let alone one who writes true crime. But those stories have always fascinated me, […]

Chera Hammons is Amarillo’s poet laureate. Okay, so that’s not an official title. Yet. But if you read her bio — Writer-in-Residence at West Texas A&M University, 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee, 2017 PEN Southwest Poetry Award, just for starters — I’m sure […]

Fiction comes in many lengths. I’ve put a checkmark next to a couple of novels, and I finished a piece of flash fiction (or a short, short, short story, depending on what word count guideline you use) late last year that will […]

Your Monday Procrastination Roundup … a short excerpt from my new novella; An interview with Wendy Heard; The Reading the West Book Award nominees are …