Sometime in the mid-nineties, I ran out of space to store my books. I was living in a small apartment and the only shelf unit I had was crammed into my tiny bedroom. It was packed solid with books. I had gone slightly crazy in the previous few years buying books by new-to-me mystery writers. I’d read them all. Some I’d liked, others I didn’t. I kept them all because, in many cases, they had been signed by the authors.

In the past, when I’d run out of space, I had simply packed the books I didn’t want in paper grocery bags or cardboard boxes, and donated them to public libraries or Goodwill.

This time around, I thought I’d try something different.

I am often asked to give people advice on publishing their own books. I thought it might be a good idea to share the most obvious information right here on the blog so I can easily share the info in the future. I will update the links if anything changes. The content in this post is state-of-the-art for indie publishing in 2026. Bear in mind that these are simply my go-tos. Specifically, I’m sharing a) sites and software I use to publish my books, and b) sites and software I don’t necessarily use but which I know to be reputable…

For my Halloween-adjacent article on SleuthSayers.org this week, I am sharing a true story drawn from my childhood. It’s a story I’ve never shared before, but it perfectly sums up my state of mind as a kid. And, in keeping with the Halloween theme, it also features a desperate criminal on the loose! What more could you ask for? You can check it out…

I have lived in Western North Carolina for more than 21 years. At first, I never saw any black bears. Then they were everywhere I looked, including my back yard. If you’re local, you have accepted that this land we call home is not really ours. It belongs instead to every bit of Nature that traipses through it. Wild turkeys, deer, opossums, foxes…but mostly bears. I’m talking about them this week in a sizable article at SleuthSayers, the group mystery blog that I write for. I’ve wanted to write something about them for a while now. The fact that the weather is starting to cool, and the bears are packing on weight for their presumed hibernation is…

Since Halloween is creeping up the calendar, I thought it would be a good idea to list my spookiest work in one spot so people can find them easily. (I can’t believe I’ve never done this!) But just what is Halloween fare? Is it all horror? Demons? Ghosts? Domestic suspense that turns creepy? Turns out, I’ve written quite a bit that fits all those vibes.

Understand: I’m a multi-genre writer who mostly writes crime fiction. But when I sit down to write, I don’t really know what’s going to come out on the other end. More often than not, I end up mashing

Twenty-five years ago this morning, I was standing on the roof of my apartment building in Hoboken, watching as the second of the twin towers fell across the river in Manhattan. Though I’ve recalled the day many times over the years, and even written a short story about those events, I have come to accept how much I don’t recall, how much, in fact, I did not bother to record. That’s fine for civilians, but when you’re a reporter and writer, you’re supposed to…

I tend not to show my anger. It’s a blessing and a curse. When I do blow my top, it’s usually at something in the publishing industry, ensuring that the only people who ever witness it are my poor wife or fellow writers. This has earned me the nickname Angry Joe in some circles. Angry Joe reared his ugly head earlier this week when something in the local community set me off, and I felt compelled to write an email that I’ll never send. As I explain in my SleuthSayers article this week, this is in a grand tradition that includes such writers as Abraham Lincoln and Ben Franklin…

Dean Wesley Smith is an incredibly prolific writer. He writes with his cats. I write with my pooch. Dean is adept at writing into the dark at speed. In other words, he does not outline his work before writing and sets for himself some remarkable word—count challenges. In a book of his I recently read, Writing With the Waltese Falcon, he shows us how he wrote three books—one in ten days, one in seven, and one in five while traveling on vacation. That’s incredible. In a column I share on SleuthSayers, the mystery blog, this week, I do a quick overview of the book and then share the story of my one and only experiment writing at speed. I’ve shared that story on this blog a few years ago.

I’ve been on the road with my wife Denise Kiernan as she visits bookstores and promotes her new book, Obstinate Daughters, about the women behind the American Revolution. The experience of being on the road together to sell copies of a RevWar book brought back a ton of memories—going as far back as childhood. “I have been here before, and before, and before,” is all I keep thinking. Why? In 1976…

We are two weeks into the launch of my wife’s new book, OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution (Penguin Random House, 2026). It has been a wild ride to watch the book come together over eight years, and now it is out in the world. That means every day there is a new review or some media tidbit that comes our way. This post is my attempt to create a collection point for everything I find. This post will grow over time, so check back if you’re curious…