The reason we’re going is her son, Henry, who will be starting school at the University of Maine. He’ll fly out separately with his dad for move-in day and Jess and I will meet them out there, if all goes according to schedule. Henry going away to college (and myself already an empty-nester) gave us a pretty good excuse to do something we’ve talked about for a while.

Disappear for a month.

Not disappear in any meaningful sense. We’ll still be working. I’ll still be writing. There will be emails and Zoom calls and podcasts and deadlines and all the other things that follow you wherever there’s Wi-Fi. But instead of flying to Maine for a few days and coming home, we’re driving. We’re taking the dogs. And after Henry is settled, we’re going to spend the better part of a month bouncing around New England, mostly staying in Airbnbs in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

We’ve intentionally picked places that are a little more remote. Houses with land. Trees. Space for the dogs to run around and collect ticks. Places where we can work during the day, explore when we want to, and get some sense of what it might feel like if this weren’t a vacation.

Jess and I have kicked around the idea that someday we might build a house somewhere in New England. Maybe move there permanently, or maybe have another place to call home. This trip is our first chance to test the fantasy against reality.

And I’m excited. And a little scared.

Because, well, for one thing, we’re taking these fucking dogs. And fantasies don’t require a car-roof box or pet medications or training collars or figuring out where everyone is going to sleep soundly in a hotel room after nine hours in the car. They don’t require packing everything you need to work for a month, wondering what you’ve forgotten, or discovering somewhere in Iowa that one of the dogs has decided she’s done with road trips.

The romantic version is Jess and me drinking coffee on the porch of a house in the Maine woods while the dogs wander around the property. The other version is rain, mosquitoes, shitty Wi-Fi and two dogs barking at something neither of us can see. Do you know how creepy New England is? What if there are bats that swoop into our hair, or small-town serial killers looking for out-of-state license plates?

No matter what, it’ll be an adventure. Follow our travels on Instagram at @carterwilsonauthor.By the time you’re reading this, Jess and I will have embarked on an epic month-long road trip from Colorado to Maine (and back). As of today, we should be leaving South Bend, IN and headed to Mayville, NY. Oh, and we’re taking the fucking dogs.

The reason we’re going is her son, Henry, who will be starting school at the University of Maine. He’ll fly out separately with his dad for move-in day and Jess and I will meet them out there, if all goes according to schedule. Henry going away to college (and myself already an empty-nester) gave us a pretty good excuse to do something we’ve talked about for a while.

Disappear for a month.

Not disappear in any meaningful sense. We’ll still be working. I’ll still be writing. There will be emails and Zoom calls and podcasts and deadlines and all the other things that follow you wherever there’s Wi-Fi. But instead of flying to Maine for a few days and coming home, we’re driving. We’re taking the dogs. And after Henry is settled, we’re going to spend the better part of a month bouncing around New England, mostly staying in Airbnbs in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

We’ve intentionally picked places that are a little more remote. Houses with land. Trees. Space for the dogs to run around and collect ticks. Places where we can work during the day, explore when we want to, and get some sense of what it might feel like if this weren’t a vacation.

Jess and I have kicked around the idea that someday we might build a house somewhere in New England. Maybe move there permanently, or maybe have another place to call home. This trip is our first chance to test the fantasy against reality.

And I’m excited. And a little scared.

Because, well, for one thing, we’re taking these fucking dogs. And fantasies don’t require a car-roof box or pet medications or training collars or figuring out where everyone is going to sleep soundly in a hotel room after nine hours in the car. They don’t require packing everything you need to work for a month, wondering what you’ve forgotten, or discovering somewhere in Iowa that one of the dogs has decided she’s done with road trips.

The romantic version is Jess and me drinking coffee on the porch of a house in the Maine woods while the dogs wander around the property. The other version is rain, mosquitoes, shitty Wi-Fi and two dogs barking at something neither of us can see. Do you know how creepy New England is? What if there are bats that swoop into our hair, or small-town serial killers looking for out-of-state license plates?

No matter what, it’ll be an adventure. Follow our travels on Instagram at @carterwilsonauthor.

Can we stop for pup cups?

We’re officially less than three months from the November 10 release of When They Find Me, and I’m getting ridiculously excited. The early buzz and reviews have been fantastic, and I love seeing people call this one a “locked cabin thriller.” The entire story unfolds over five hours in a remote Colorado mountain cabin during a debilitating blizzard, and things go very, very wrong.

I’ve been waiting a long time to unleash this book on the world. We’re almost there.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 245: Steve Cavanagh
Multi-million bestselling author Steve Cavanagh joined me to talk about the unpredictability of publishing, the power of word-of-mouth press, and how book covers contribute to an author’s brand. We wrapped up by making up a suspenseful story inspired by Harlan Coben’s The Woods.

Episode 244: Eriq La Salle
Award-winning actor, director, producer, and author Eriq La Salle joined me to discuss entering the writing world after an already successful career in Hollywood, feeling like a “real” writer when you self-publish, and the common thread of storytelling across everything he does. We finished by making up a fascinating story inspired by Lisa Gardner’s Kiss Her Goodbye.

Episode 243: Andromeda Romano-Lax
Award-winning author Andromeda Romano-Lax joined me to talk about the importance of stamina in a writing career, how thinking about the audience can sometimes hinder your writing, and experimenting with different genres. We wrapped up by making up a twisted story inspired by Stephen King’s Just After Sunset.

Episode 242: Corinne Sullivan
Author and Cosmopolitan senior news editor Corinne Sullivan joined me to discuss what working in entertainment journalism has taught her about writing, learning to trust your readers, and how too much description can slow down a story. We finished by making up a suspenseful story inspired by BJ Magnani’s We’ll Always Have Poison.

Episode 241: Rachael Ramas
Author Rachael Ramas joined me to talk about writing from different points of view, preparing for her first book tour, and the challenge of promoting yourself when self-promotion doesn’t come naturally. We wrapped up by making up an intense story inspired by Matthew Sullivan’s Midnight in Soap Lake.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

I had a fantastic time celebrating 100 days to Halloween in Dallas at a huge event put on by the Half Price Books flagship store. I was joined by fellow thriller/horror authors Mallory Arnold, Brian McAuley, Chelsea Conradt, and Chelsea Iversen, and our panel was moderated by the amazing Abby Dunn of Crime by the Book.

REVIEWS 

On the Page

The Butcher Legacy, Alaina Urquhart (2026)

If you’re a true-crime podcast fan, you probably already know Alaina Urquhart as one of the co-hosts of Morbid. She’s also an autopsy technician by trade, which gives her Dr. Wren Muller thriller series some pretty natural bona fides. I got a sneak peek at the third book, The Butcher Legacy, which comes out this month, and it dives right back into Wren’s world of morgues, serial killers, and some seriously messed-up people. This one gets dark and gruesome, with a story that moves between New Orleans and Massachusetts and keeps expanding the mythology Urquhart has built over the first two books. If you like your thrillers bloody and firmly planted on the darker end of the spectrum, this series is worth checking out.

On the Screen

Counterpart (Starz/Apple, 2017-2019)

I’m late to this one, but I’m watching Counterpart on Apple TV, and I’ll pretty much watch anything with J.K. Simmons. This is a sci-fi espionage thriller in which Simmons plays Howard Silk, a low-level employee at a secretive Berlin agency who discovers his organization is guarding a passage to a parallel world, one populated by alternate versions of everyone, including himself.

I love it, but fair warning: give it time. It took me four or five episodes before I felt like I had fully wrapped my head around what the hell was happening. Once it clicks, though, it’s smart, strange, and completely absorbing. And getting two versions of J.K. Simmons certainly doesn’t hurt. Man, that dude is an incredible actor.

Photo of the Month

There’s going to be an upcoming promotion for my book Tell Me What You Did, and it involved me signing 300 copies of the title. Was it tedious? Yes. Am I grateful to be in the

Update from my Kids
They were home! Each kiddo came home for a week this summer, overlapping by about five days. And it marked the first time in two years we went to a movie in an actual theater (The Odyssey). We all got to hang out and my kids got a chance to see Henry before he goes off to school himself.

Farewell to a Friend

We had to say goodbye to Guff in early August. He was nearly 13 and had chronic stomach issues that ultimately proved impossible to overcome. Saying farewell to him was incredibly hard, and I have a huge hole in my heart where he was.

I got Guff as an eight-week-old kitten as a Christmas gift for my kids, but make no mistake, this was my cat. He overlapped with my last dog, Poe, for a couple of years, then ruled the house as the only pet until Scully came along four years ago.

Guff was a beautiful Bengal with a natural thirst for blood. If you ran from him, that was your mistake. He was loud, feisty, occasionally loving, and never boring. He could fetch, would come when called, and chased toys with a ferocity unlike any cat I’ve ever had. Yes, he could be incredibly annoying, but I’ve never cried harder saying goodbye to a cat.

I’m gonna miss that little fucker.

Humor of the Month

This is NOT Guff but as long as we’re on the subject of cats…

One-on-One Coaching

Sometimes you don’t need another class or another craft book. You need someone to look at your writing career, your manuscript, or whatever is keeping you stuck and help you figure out what comes next.

Through Unbound Writer, I offer one-on-one coaching for writers at any stage of the process. We can talk craft, publishing, career strategy, motivation, marketing, or the particular problem you can’t seem to solve on your own. Every session is built around where you are and what you need.

If you’re looking for some direction, accountability, or simply another writer in your corner who will give you an honest opinion, I’d love to work with you.

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That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

It all boils down to curiosity. You can’t be a writer without being curious. Writers don’t spend their days asking why? They’re too busy asking what if?

Take my upcoming novel, When They Find Me, for example. I don’t remember the exact day I got the idea or what I was doing at the time. I just remember finding myself thinking about home invasions for absolutely no reason. Which, now that I think about it, might actually be the difference between thriller writers and everyone else. We’re not just curious. We’re curious about dark shit.

So there I was, mentally breaking into a stranger’s house.

Then I started asking questions.

What if this wasn’t a random home invasion? What if someone had specifically targeted the people inside?

Okay, that’s interesting.

Then the better question showed up.

What if they had the wrong house?

Now I’m paying attention.

But the question that finally made me open a new document wasn’t about the people outside. It was about the person inside. Who lives in that house? What are they hiding? Why have they disappeared from whatever life they used to have? And what happens when the people kicking in the front door are the last people they expected to see?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t care nearly as much about the people breaking into the house as I did about the woman living inside it.

She wasn’t hiding because she was paranoid. She was hiding because she had a good fucking reason to hide.

She’d disappeared years earlier, changed her name, moved to a tiny mountain town in Colorado, homeschooled her daughter, kept to herself, and built an entire life around one assumption: someday the people from her past would find her. Until then, she’d do everything in her power to keep herself and her daughter safe.

She’d accepted that day was coming. She just didn’t know when.

So I trapped everyone with a blizzard two days before Christmas, because I loved the idea of holiday songs playing in the background as the horror set in.

The home invasion was never the story. The woman was. Everything else, the snowstorm, the strangers, the violence, the lies, all grew out of that one realization.

Looking back, that’s how almost every novel begins for me. Always with a question that’s interesting enough to keep asking. If I’m lucky, the questions eventually lead somewhere worth spending a year of my life.

If I’m really lucky, they turn into a book that readers can’t put down.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 240: Ellery Adams
USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams joined me to talk about the fluidity of the horror genre, storytelling as a child, and setting a story in the 1980s. We wrapped up by making up a descriptive story inspired by Stolen Things.

Episode 239: Angie Kim
Edgar Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Angie Kim joined me to discuss immigrating from Korea as a preteen, using writing as a form of therapy, and how fictionalizing her personal experiences helped launch her writing career. We finished by making up an intriguing story inspired by The Year of Magical Thinking.

Episode 238: Lauren Nossett
Award-winning author Lauren Nossett joined me to talk about writing conferences like ThrillerFest, maintaining a fast pace in a thriller, and why she completely rewrote her most recent novel. We wrapped up by making up a dark story inspired by Dangerous Play.

Episode 237: Katrina Denza
Author Katrina Denza joined me to discuss New England, learning to fall in love with the writing process, and why some of the best creative breakthroughs happen while you’re doing something else entirely. We ended by making up a gripping story inspired by The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Episode 236: Tracy Clark
Award-winning author Tracy Clark joined me to talk about why writing is as much a business as it is an art, killing off characters at the right time, and developing the resilience to manage rejection. We finished by making up a suspenseful story inspired by You Have Gone Too Far.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

REVIEWS 

On the Page

The Anniversary, Alex Finlay (2026)

Full disclosure: Alex Finlay is a friend (you can see his blurb of my book above), and next spring we’ll be teaching together, along with Clémence Michallon, at the Unbound Writer Paris Retreat. Thankfully, I don’t have to fake my enthusiasm here because I absolutely loved this book.

What hooked me wasn’t just the mystery. It was the structure.

The novel unfolds over ten years, but we only spend one day each year with the characters: May 1. Then Alex jumps ahead another year and trusts the reader to figure out everything that happened in between. As a writer, I found that fascinating. It’s such a gutsy way to tell a story, and by the second or third time jump I realized I was completely sold. Instead of feeling like I was missing pieces, it felt like I was flipping through a photo album, catching these characters at the moments that defined them.

And somehow, despite all those leaps through time, Quinn and Jules become incredibly rich, fully realized characters. Alex somehow makes every jump feel effortless. Whether Quinn’s in the military, Jules is building a career in fashion, or years have gone by, it never feels like you’ve missed anything. There wasn’t a single point where I thought, “Wait…I wish I’d seen what happened during that year.” That’s a testament to how well the book is put together.

As a fellow thriller writer, I have a ton of respect for authors who take big creative swings instead of playing it safe. Alex absolutely nails it here. The Anniversary is ambitious, emotional, brilliantly structured, and one of my favorite thrillers I’ve read this year. I can’t recommend it enough.

On the Screen

Legends (Netflix, 2026)

If you’re looking for a smart, grounded thriller, put Legends on your list.

Based on a true story, the series follows a group of ordinary British customs officers who are recruited to go undercover and infiltrate dangerous drug organizations. On paper, it sounds like a premise that could get ridiculous in a hurry. It never does.

What I appreciated most is that the show never treats these recruits like they’re suddenly Jason Bourne. They’re talented people with potential, but they’re also painfully aware of how far in over their heads they are. The training speeds up their development, but they’re constantly improvising, making mistakes, and wondering if they’re about to get themselves killed. That’s what makes the suspense work.

Steve Coogan is terrific, and the entire series feels authentic from beginning to end. As a thriller writer, I love stories that earn their tension instead of manufacturing it, and Legends does exactly that. It’s one of the better thriller series I’ve watched this year.

Photo of the Month

It was a bittersweet month. We traveled back east for my sister’s celebration of life, and while the reason for the trip was heartbreaking, it turned into a beautiful reminder of how many lives she touched. More than a hundred people came to celebrate her, I reconnected with family I hadn’t seen in years, and we spent the day sharing stories that somehow managed to make us laugh as often as we cried.

Of all the photos I took, this is one of my favorites.

Meet Penny, my sister’s delightfully plump corgi. I got to spend a little time with her over the weekend, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was missing my sister as much as the rest of us. Thankfully, she’s being incredibly well cared for, and she seemed genuinely happy to greet the steady stream of family and friends who came by to celebrate my sister’s life. I think my sister would’ve liked knowing Penny was surrounded by so much love, too.

Update from my Kids
One of those little parenting milestones happened this past month. Ili and Sawyer decided they needed some sibling time, so they coordinated their schedules, booked their own flights, and met up in Savannah for a few days (Ili flew from Detroit and Sawyer from Baton Rouge). 

It was one of those moments that makes you realize your kids aren’t really kids anymore. They had an idea, made a plan, and pulled it off without asking their parents for travel-planning help (not gonna lie: they did ask for money). As strange as that felt, it also made me proud.

I’m glad they still enjoy spending time together. And if they happen to make this a tradition, I certainly won’t complain.

Update from my Pets

And now, your moment of zen.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

A quick Paris retreat update…

We’re still about 10 months away, and somehow we’re already down to 5 spots remaining.

When we started planning this retreat, the goal wasn’t to put on another conference. We wanted to create the kind of experience we’d actually want to attend. Small enough that everyone gets to know each other. Plenty of time to write, ask questions, talk publishing, and discuss what it means to have a career in writing.

I’ll be there along with Alex Finlay and Clémence Michallon, and we’ll also be joined by Riley Sager for a special conversation and Abby Dunn (Crime by the Book) to talk about reaching readers and building a career in today’s publishing world.

If Paris has been on your radar, now’s a good time to take a look. I’m not trying to create artificial urgency. I just know I’d be disappointed if someone waited too long and found out we’d filled the retreat.

May 3-6, 2027.
Paris.

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That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

And as I write, I eventually get to the point where I want to see what things look like. For real.

The first time I really indulged this tendency was with Mister Tender’s Girl. A big part of the story involves a creepy online message board dedicated to stalking the protagonist, Alice. There were photos of her. Messages about her every movement. A whole community obsessed with her.

So I had an actual message board built. Password protected. Fully functional. Readers could log in and experience the same unsettling rabbit hole Alice discovered in the novel.

Was it necessary? Absolutely not. Was it fun? Fuck yeah, it was.

A few years later, I wrote The Dead Girl in 2A, which included a fictional and disturbing children’s book called The Responsibility of Death. The book played an important role in the story, and after a while I wanted to see what it actually looked like. So I hired an artist to create pages from it. I asked my publisher if we could put the images in the book, and she said, “Why not?”

Sweet.

Then came Tell Me What You Did. That novel follows true-confession podcaster Poe Webb, and throughout the story she’s secretly recording herself on her phone while interviewing the man stalking her. While writing the book, I kept thinking how cool it would be if readers could actually watch those videos.

So I hired an actor to film them.

The novel includes QR codes that readers can scan to see Poe freaking out as she speaks to her stalker. Those QR codes are still getting scanned more than 10,000 times a month, and I get messages every day from the villain’s phone number printed in the book.

Which brings us to When They Find Me.

This time I somehow convinced myself that what the book needed was a series of illustrated storyboards depicting scenes from the novel. I became ridiculously invested in details that most people would never notice, and I couldn’t have been happier.

The finished illustrations are gorgeous, but what excites me most is that they’re more than decoration. They mean something. They’re part of the story. Some readers will glance at them and keep going. Others will stare at them and start putting pieces together.

I don’t add multimedia because I think books need help. I add it because I’m curious. Writing a novel is already an exercise in creating things that don’t exist. Every now and then I get the urge to drag one of those things into the real world.

And so far, I’ve never been very good at resisting that urge.

A sampling of images from When They Find Me

Last month I told you about Death at the Rialto, the murder mystery dinner I wrote for a charity auction in Albuquerque. If you missed that story, you can read about it here. The short version is that I had never written a murder mystery dinner before, said yes anyway, and then spent months figuring out how the hell to pull it off.

Jessica and I made the trip to Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago, and I can happily report that it exceeded every expectation I had. It was honestly kinda surreal.

For months, this thing existed only in my head and on my laptop. Then suddenly I was sitting at a dinner table watching actors bring the story to life in front of a room full of people dressed in 1930s attire.

The sets were gorgeous. The costumes were incredible. The murder “worked” exactly the way I hoped it would. Best of all, two of the actors sat among the guests throughout dinner, fully in character the entire evening. They were interrogated relentlessly by suspicious audience members and never once broke.

As a novelist, I’m used to readers experiencing my stories privately. A person sits on a couch, opens a book, and enters the world alone. This was different. This was a room full of people experiencing the story together, in real time, and I had the unusual privilege of sitting there and watching it happen.

It was one of the most rewarding creative experiences I’ve ever had.

Big news for When They Find Me.

My November 2026 book has officially been selected for Buzz Books Official from Publishers Marketplace, which is a huge honor and something I’m incredibly grateful for. Buzz Books highlights a small group of upcoming titles that the publishing industry is especially excited about, and to see this story included among them means a lot.

When They Find Me is one of the most intense books I’ve ever written. A blizzard. A house in the remote mountains. Two days before Christmas. A knock at the door. Five hours to survive.

I spent months living inside this story and its twists, and knowing it’s already finding early enthusiasm before publication is both surreal and deeply encouraging.

Thank you to my publisher, the Buzz Books team, booksellers, librarians, early readers, and everyone who continues to support these dark little stories I somehow get to write for a living.

I’d love for you to pre-order, as pre-orders are SO important. You can do so at the button below.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 235: Lee Goldberg
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg joined me to talk about growing up around parents who worked in media, positioning yourself for opportunity, and the differences between writing for television and writing novels. We wrapped up by making up a cinematic thriller inspired by Tod Goldberg’s Only Way Out.

Episode 234: Kate White
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kate White joined me to discuss her transition from editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan to full-time novelist, staying aware of market trends, and the research she conducted on grief for her latest work. We ended by making up a dark story inspired by Emily Littlejohn’s Lost Lake.

Episode 233: Emily Carpenter
Bestselling author Emily Carpenter joined me to talk about Southern Gothic fiction, researching witchcraft and psychics, and how a distinctive voice can elevate even the simplest premise. We finished by making up an intriguing story inspired by B.J. Magnani’s We’ll Always Have Poison.

Episode 232: Jeffrey James Higgins
Retired supervisory special agent and bestselling author Jeffrey James Higgins joined me to discuss interviewing styles, overly descriptive writing, and the challenge of balancing reader expectations while experimenting with different genres. We wrapped up by making up a surprisingly funny story inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

REVIEWS 

On the Page

A Spy Among Friends, Ben Macintyre (2014)

I’ve found myself back in a nonfiction phase lately, which means I’ve also found myself revisiting Ben Macintyre. If you’ve never read him, he writes some of the best Cold War espionage nonfiction I’ve ever come across. His books somehow manage to be deeply researched while still feeling like thrillers.

Right now I’m about halfway through A Spy Among Friends, which tells the story of Kim Philby, one of the most infamous double agents in history. Philby was a high-ranking British intelligence officer who spent decades secretly working for the Soviet Union, betraying colleagues, friends, and countless operations before finally defecting to Moscow. What makes the story so compelling isn’t just the espionage. It’s the friendships at the center of it, and the staggering level of trust Philby managed to exploit for so long. If you’re interested in Cold War history, espionage, betrayal, or simply want to read a non-fiction writer at the top of his game, this one’s worth a look.

On the Screen

Widow’s Bay (Apple, 2026)

Jessica and I are nearly finished with Widow’s Bay, and it’s the best new show I’ve watched this year.

The premise: a skeptical mayor tries to modernize a small New England island town that may or may not be cursed. But what makes the show work is the way it blends horror, mystery, and comedy without being gimmicky.

Matthew Rhys is fantastic. He’s a master of facial expressions, and some of the funniest moments come from the camera simply lingering on his reactions. The humor is real, the scares are genuinely creepy, and the whole thing has a nostalgic vibe that reminds me of Stephen King adaptations from the 1980s. Even the title font feels like it belongs on an old paperback.

It would be easy to write this off as a fun multi-genre show, but the characters are surprisingly rich and the performances are excellent. The laughs make the horror hit harder, and somehow the whole strange thing just works.

Photo of the Month

Driving back back from Albuquerque, Jessica and I stopped for coffee in Pueblo and saw someone walking an ostrich. I asked to take a picture and then shared it with our kids. Everyone’s repsonse was pitch-perfect to their character.

Update from my Kids
Sawyer is studying meteorology at LSU and is interning for a National Weather Service substation in Louisiana this summer. Last week he got to launch his very first weather balloon!

Update from my Pets

Scully was “gifted” a bag of chicken heads and isn’t sure what to think about them.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

One of the things I love most, outside of writing novels, is helping other writers with all the ups and downs of the journey. Through Unbound Writer, I offer one-on-one coaching for writers at every stage, whether you’re trying to finish a manuscript, improve your craft, develop your author platform, or simply figure out what comes next. We also host retreats, workshops, and seminars designed to help writers grow both creatively and professionally.

If you’ve ever wondered whether coaching might be helpful, I offer a complimentary 20-minute phone call so we can get to know each other, talk about your goals, and see if we’re a good fit. You can learn more about everything we offer at Unbound Writer, and I’d love to hear what you’re working on.

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

A month ago, I lost my sister to a sudden and unexpected medical crisis. Her name was Kristin, and she was my only sibling. 

Two years older. Way smarter than me. And the person I looked up to long before I ever admitted it. She was the valedictorian. I was the goofball. 

We hadn’t lived near each other since high school. She built her life in upstate New York, and I eventually landed in Colorado. She was a doctor and a scientist. I make up stories. We were different in the best ways, and we saw each other when we could and stayed connected in the way siblings do. We didn’t have to talk often to pick right back up.

She leaves behind two amazing kids and a loving husband who are now figuring out how to move forward without her. There’s a space where Kristin should be, and we all feel it.

Kristin spent her career studying the biology of cancer and working to better understand disease at the cellular level. She was also directly impacted by cancer herself. If you’d like to honor her, we’ve set up this fundraising page with the American Cancer Society. 

We love her. We miss her. We always will.

So now I’m going to talk about murder.

About a year ago, a college friend reached out with an idea. He helps run a charity wine auction in Albuquerque that benefits the Keshet Dance Company and Center for the Arts, and he asked if I’d be willing to donate something a little different. Not just signed books or a talk, but a full evening. A private dinner for up to sixteen people, paired with a live, fully staged murder mystery written by me.

Me? Write a murder mystery dinner?

I said yes almost immediately, which is usually how I get myself into trouble. And have the most fun.

The auction happened. Someone raised their hand and committed to the experience. It ended up being the second-highest grossing lot of the night. Which meant I now had to actually deliver on the thing I had casually agreed to create.

At the time, I had no idea how to write a murder mystery dinner.

I’ve spent my career writing novels where I control every perspective, every reveal, every beat. This was different. This had to be built for actors, for a live audience, for people who might be drinking wine and talking over key lines. It had to be clear, contained, and still feel like a story worth following.

I had to figure out everything from scratch. How many characters could the production realistically support. Whether the audience would participate or just observe. How clues would be delivered without slowing the night down. What props were essential versus what would just get in the way. Even the format of the script itself had to change so it could actually be used in a live setting.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, Death at the Rialto took shape. A murder set backstage at a grand but failing theater in 1937 Chicago. A charity auction to save the Rialto Theater. Big personalities. Old grudges. A theater haunted by an on-stage killing a few years earlier. A room full of people waiting for the next body.

The entire thing has lived in my head and on the page ever since.

And now it becomes real.

The event is happening the weekend of May 15. Jessica and I will be driving down to Albuquerque in full 1930s attire to be part of the evening. There will be actors, a live audience, and a story that finally has to work outside of my control.

And if it doesn’t, well, that might make for an even better story.

This is my monthly reminder to please pre-order my next thriller, When They Find Me, releasing November 10, 2026. Pre-orders are SO important, and you want me happy, right?

PRE-ORDER BOOK

ALSO! This happened. 

What this actually means is a production company now has the exclusive right to develop the book for film or TV. It’s exciting and very real, but it’s also the beginning of the process, not the end. Plenty of projects get optioned. Fewer make it all the way to the screen. But I think Tell Me What You Did would make a helluva film. Who do you think should play the main roles?

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 231: Daniel G. Miller
USA Today bestselling author of The Orphanage By The Lake mystery-thriller series, Daniel and I talked about the realities of self-publishing, writing effective violence, and why readers are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. We closed by making up a suspenseful story inspired by Lisa Matlin’s The Only One Who Knows.

Episode 230: Marlee Bush
Author of When She Was Me and Whispers of Dead Girls, Marlee and I talked about how getting published shifts your identity, how she started writing while working in a call center, and why making money shouldn’t define whether you’re a professional writer. We wrapped by making up a creepy story inspired by Elise Hart Kipness’s Dangerous Play.

Episode 229: Lisa Unger
New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-three novels, Lisa and I talked about stepping outside your comfort zone, increasing your visibility as a writer, and learning to let go on the page. We ended by making up an interesting story inspired by Chris Pavone’s The Doorman.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

REVIEWS 

On the Page

The Perfect Accident, Tess Stimson (2026)

I met Tess Stimson for the first time last year at Bouchercon, and what I remember most is that we sat down to chat and didn’t get up for nearly three hours. She’s thoughtful, sharp, and just a genuinely good person. So I was especially glad to get an early look at her new novel, The Perfect Accident.

What a story!

Twenty-one teenagers dead. That’s the line that pulled me in, and the story doesn’t let up from there. Tess builds something layered and emotionally grounded, full of fractured families, shifting loyalties, and the kind of grief and guilt that doesn’t go away just because the worst is over. It’s dark, intimate, and more interested in what people carry forward than what happened in a single moment.

On the Screen

DTF St. Louis  (HBO, 2026)

Jessica and I are watching DTF St. Louis and it’s a tough one to wrap my head around. On the surface, it’s a murder mystery tied to a hookup app for married people. In reality, it’s stranger and far more character-driven than that setup suggests.

What pulled me in was learning it comes from Steven Conrad, the creator behind Patriot, one of my all-time favorites shows (especially season one). You can see his fingerprints all over this. It’s unconventional, off-putting at times, dark, and genuinely funny. It takes risks, and I’ll always respect that. You know it’s a different show when a female cop identifies as “porn positive.”

The performances are excellent across the board, especially from Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour. And Richard Jenkins is one of those actors I’m always glad to see show up.

At times, the strangeness creates a bit of distance. Patriot kept one foot more firmly grounded. This one leans further into the bizarre. Still, I’d take something this original over something safe any day.

Photo of the Month

When I was in NYC with my sister’s family after she passed, I took almost zero photos. But this mural of Einstein next to my hotel made me think of her. Brilliant, joyful, and full of love.

Update from my Kids
When your daughter starts to file her own tax return. I received this text on April 15, by the way.

Update from my Pets

Scully vs. Guff. Who will win?

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

I wanna go here.

I’ll be teaching The Visible Writer as a live online workshop on May 30th! 

For a long time, writers were told the work should speak for itself. That idea doesn’t hold up anymore. Readers follow voices they connect with, and in a crowded, content-heavy world, what stands out is the person behind the work. The way you show up matters!

This class is about figuring out how to do that in a way that feels natural to you. We’ll talk through practical ways to build visibility without forcing it, including how to use newsletters and your website to create real connection, how to lean into conversation and curiosity to open doors, and how to get more comfortable speaking in public without sounding scripted. If you’re trying to build something long-term as a writer, this will give you a clear direction for how to show up and be seen. 

May 30, 12–2pm MT. $75.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

Including Annie Wolfe and her twelve-year-old daughter, Coral.

Years ago in Miami, Annie did something she can’t outrun. Since then, she’s been waiting. New names. No friends. No social life. Homeschooling for Coral. A safe room with a steel hatch.

Two days before Christmas, her past finally catches up.

Only it’s not what she expected.

The people who show up during a blizzard aren’t there for her. A father and his two adult children. All of them on the run. They don’t think they’re fugitives. They believe they’re on a migration. Devoted to something primal. Dangerous. And they’ve come to Expanse hunting the man they believe ruined their lives.

They’ve got the wrong house.

Over the next five hours, inside a remote mountain cabin cut off by snow, only one story is going to survive.

I’m beyond thrilled to introduce you to my 11th thriller, When They Find Me. It’s out everywhere on November 10th. You’ll be hearing a lot more from me about this book, but go ahead and pre-order now! Every time you pre-order a book, an angel gets its wings (and a demon gets punched in the nuts).

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 227: Michael Kardos
Award-winning author of multiple novels and a Pushcart Prize–winning short story writer, Michael and I talked about his path from music to writing, craft books, and why writing a novel often means sitting with discomfort. We closed by making up a strange story inspired by Kristen Perrin’s How To Solve Your Own Murder.

Episode 226: Amy Meyerson
Internationally bestselling author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays, Amy and I talked about using audiobooks to sharpen your writing, being intentional with language, and her move into psychological suspense. We wrapped by making up a story inspired by Stephen Graham Jones’s Mongrels.

Episode 225: Ryan Steck & Simon Gervais
Ryan, founder of The Real Book Spy, and Simon, a former federal agent and bestselling thriller author, joined me to talk about outlining, co-writing with different voices, and writing in a second language. We ended by making up a dark story inspired by Matt Goldman’s The Murder Show.

Episode 224: Jen J. Danna
Author of multiple thriller series and a former infectious diseases researcher, Jen and I talked about the long road to writing full-time, managing a high-output schedule, and revisiting earlier work. We closed by making up a story inspired by John Jakes’s Love and War.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Here’s where you can find me in the next couple of months! Check my website calendar for all my events and latest updates. All listed times are local.

April 24-25, 2026
Bookapalooza
Speaker/Panelist
Mooresville, North Carolina

May 5-9, 2026
Thrillerfest
Speaker/Panelist
Craftfest Instructor
New York, New York

May 26, 2026 5:30PM
In Conversation with Joshua Moehling
Tattered Cover Aspen Grove

Littleton, Colorado

June 5-7, 2026
Big Ohio Book Con
Headlining Author
Medina, Ohio

June 17, 2026 4PM-6PM
Lighthouse Lit Fest
Instructor: “Writing Thrillers”
Denver, Colorado

REVIEWS 

On the Screen

I’m watching SO MUCH SHIT right now. Of course I’m reading as well, but wanted to do a rapid-fire review session of all the goodness on my screen.

Task (HBO)

I’m really enjoying this one. It’s a limited series that on paper feels familiar, but Mark Ruffalo is so good, and the cast around him elevates everything. The story leans more into emotion than action, which gives it weight and makes it a surprisingly strong watch.

Survivor Season 50 (CBS/Paramount Plus)
Have I ever told you how obsessed I am with Survivor? It’s my go-to when I want to shut my brain off, and I’ll even throw on old seasons just to relax. I thought season 50 would be total camp, and it is at times, but it’s also the most I’ve seen a cast and host genuinely enjoying themselves. Worth a watch.

Paradise (Season 2) (Hulu)
I mostly enjoyed season one of Paradise, even if a couple characters made me want to bite through sheet metal. I wasn’t sure I’d stick with season two, but it’s been a pleasant surprise, especially with some of the side stories and performances. That said, every time they cut back to certain characters, my blood still boils. If you watched season one, it’s worth continuing so far. (update since I wrote this: just watched the episode titled “Jane” and I’m back to hating this show.)

Jury Duty: Company Retreat (Prime)
This is a gem. I loved Jury Duty so much I’ve watched it twice, and this keeps that same setup where one person has no idea the whole thing is staged. This time it all plays out at a company retreat, which somehow makes it even more uncomfortable. If you love awkward, this is a must-see.

Untold: Chess Mates (Netflix)
I just watched this and loved it. It’s a tight, hour-and-fifteen-minute look at a cheating scandal that rocked the chess world, which doesn’t sound that exciting, but it really is. In the end, it reminds you that every story still comes down to people, and every story has a hero and a villain. And, in this story, anal beads.

Roof Man (Netflix)
Based on the true story of a fugitive who hid out in a Toys “R” Us, this sounds like a fun, ridiculous premise, but it goes deeper than you’d expect. Channing Tatum is fantastic, and the film ends up being more emotional than the title suggests. Not quite the light watch you might expect, but still worth it.

Photo of the Month

I was in NYC and stopped to take a photo of this ginormous stuffed cat. Then when I looked later I saw an ICE agent in the photo. Then a friend pointed out it’s just an electrical worker from an unfortunately named company. Weird picture all around.

Update from my Kids
This is a self-serving post, but my daughter was also in NYC (an unrelated trip from mine) and texted me to say she spotted my book in Strand Book Store. So prestigious!

Update from my Pets

Look. Just look at that seething rage.

Programming Note
I’ve just refreshed my website ahead of the new book, thanks to the brilliant web-development team at Xuni.com. I tend to update the look and feel with each release, and they absolutely nailed this one.

I’ve also added a new section focused on my work as a speaker, interviewer, and teacher. If you’re looking for someone for an event, workshop, or conversation, I’m now booking across all three.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

I’ll be teaching The Visible Writer in person at CraftFest during ThrillerFest in New York City, and I’m also offering it as a live online workshop on May 30th if you’re not able to make it out there.

For a long time, writers were told the work should speak for itself. That idea doesn’t hold up anymore. Readers follow voices they connect with, and in a crowded, content-heavy world, what stands out is the person behind the work. The way you show up matters!

This class is about figuring out how to do that in a way that feels natural to you. We’ll talk through practical ways to build visibility without forcing it, including how to use newsletters and your website to create real connection, how to lean into conversation and curiosity to open doors, and how to get more comfortable speaking in public without sounding scripted. If you’re trying to build something long-term as a writer, this will give you a clear direction for how to show up and be seen. 

May 30, 12–2pm MT. $75.

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

Who are you reading right now?

Or sometimes: Which writers influenced you the most?

It’s a perfectly reasonable question. And every time someone asks it, I feel a tiny flash of stress. Maybe more than a tiny flash.

Because the honest answer is that I wasn’t a very good reader when I was young. In fact, I sucked at it.

I read what I had to read. High school assigned things like The Crucible. Or, god help me, Anna Karenina. Reading was homework. Reading was… work.

When I did read for fun, it tended to be things like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Or Bloom County cartoon books. Humor from Monty Python and Dave Barry. Nothing serious.

I did discover Stephen King pretty early, which in hindsight probably explains a lot about where my writing eventually went. I remember reading Pet Sematary when I was maybe thirteen and staying a week at my grandparents’ house. It scared the shit out of me. The book, not the visit.

But compared to many writers I meet today, I wasn’t the kid with my nose buried in books. I wasn’t the English major devouring novels in college. I was a hospitality major. Reading for pleasure during those years was pretty much nonexistent.

And yet somewhere along the way, something shifted.

In my twenties I moved to San Francisco. I was living alone and didn’t have much money, which meant entertainment options were limited. There was a used bookstore near my apartment, and I developed a very simple purchasing strategy: buy the fattest books I could find.

More pages meant more hours of entertainment for the same price.

That’s when I discovered books like the unabridged version of The Stand. I got into the massive James Clavell novels. Shōgun absolutely wrecked me in the best possible way. I devoured series by John Jakes and Robert Ludlum. I read every short story written by Poe, and then each of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. I learned from Cormac McCarthy that sentences don’t even have to make sense to gut you, and The Road remains my favorite piece of fiction.

I started to realize that books could do something I hadn’t fully appreciated before. They could completely take over your life for a while.

I read consistently until I turned thirty-three, which is when I began writing. And a funny thing happened in the years after that: my tastes turned to nonfiction.

I love narrative history. Anything by Erik Larson or Ben Macintyre will get my attention immediately. I also gravitate toward books about corporate disasters, political intrigue, espionage, and the occasional brutally honest memoir. Give me a Douglas Brunt, a Michael Lewis, a Karen Abbott.

So when I’m in a room with other writers and the conversation turns to which thrillers everyone’s reading or which new novel just came out in the genre, I sometimes feel a little out of step.

A lot of writers are incredible readers of contemporary fiction. They’re deeply immersed in the current landscape of their genre. Many of them studied literature in college. They can trace clear lines between the writers who influenced them and the books they write today.

Yeah. Not me.

Of course I read fiction nearly every day. Mostly thrillers I’m blurbing that haven’t been released yet, or whatever happens to catch my interest. But I also spend a lot of time reading about history, psychology, scandals, espionage operations, and people making catastrophic decisions while convinced they’re the smartest person in the room.

And honestly, those books probably influence my writing more than fiction does.

Because stories are everywhere. They aren’t limited to novels. Some of the most unbelievable narratives you’ll ever encounter are buried in nonfiction accounts of real events.

The other thing I’ve learned over time is that there isn’t a correct reading background for becoming a writer.

Some writers grow up devouring books from the moment they can read. Others discover them later in life. Some stay almost entirely within their genre. Others bounce all over the place.

The common thread isn’t what you read. It’s that at some point you fall in love with storytelling.

For me, it happened slowly:

A used bookstore in San Francisco.
A massive Stephen King novel.
A thirteen-volume set of Edgar Allan Poe.

A growing realization that stories could create entire worlds inside your head.

Everything else came after that.

And I’m still reading.

Just maybe not the way people expect.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 224: Clémence Michallon

Clémence Michallon is the author of the international bestselling thriller The Quiet Tenant and the follow-up novel Our Last Resort. She’s also an accomplished journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Time Magazine, and Cosmopolitan UK. We talked about forcing yourself to be bored to spark creativity, how journalism training shapes the way you approach storytelling, and why neither of us ever writes the words “The End.” We closed by making up a creepy story inspired by a line from Tana French’s The Searcher.

Episode 223: Joseph Finder

Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of seventeen suspense novels and a true master of the modern thriller. His books have won the Strand Critics Award, the Barry Award, and the ITW Thriller Award, and two have been adapted into major motion pictures, including High Crimes and Paranoia. We talked about writing about what you want to learn, how the publishing landscape has become more difficult for debut authors, and what it’s like getting blurbed by Stephen King. We wrapped by making up a tense story inspired by a line from King’s Just After Sunset.

Episode 222: Gregg Hurwitz

Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty-seven thrillers, including the hugely popular Orphan X series. In addition to novels, Gregg has written screenplays, television scripts, comics for DC and Marvel, and even helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup. We talked about writing as a compulsion, Gregg’s experience getting published while still in college, and learning which feedback to trust when working on a manuscript. We ended by making up a suspenseful story inspired by a line from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.

Episode 221: Wendy Walker

Wendy Walker is the bestselling author of psychological thrillers including Don’t Look for Me, The Night Before, and All Is Not Forgotten. Her newest book, Blade, draws on her past as a competitive figure skater and marks a major creative shift in her career. We talked about finally writing the story that’s been living in your head for years, how immersive storytelling is changing the audiobook world, and why hiring help as an author isn’t a luxury but a strategy. We closed by making up a very strange story about furries using a sentence from a Karin Slaughter novel.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Here’s a snapshot where you can find me! Check my website calendar for the links and latest updates. All listed times are local.

This was a fun one.

Part one of a two-part event had me leading a panel with some of Colorado’s best writers: Mark Stevens, Kristin Koval, Mario Acevedo, Jon Bassoff, and Cynthia Swanson. Smart, generous, funny. Some a bit deranged.

Then I had the chance to sit down with #1 New York Times bestselling suspense author and my friend, Lisa Gardner. We talked craft, career, and how she stays at the top of her game after 30 years and 30 books.

Huge thanks to Sean Eads and the Jefferson County Library system for putting together such thoughtful programming and for reminding everyone books matter. And they made wonderful detective badges for all of us! And thanks to Rebecca Rowley and Jessica Bonosoro for the great pics.

REVIEWS 

On the Page

Close Call, Elise Hart Kipness (2025)

Have I not talked about this book here yet? Shame on me. Elise is a good friend and one of those writers who really understands how to build tension and keep a mystery intensifying page by page.

Close Call is the third entry in her Kate Green mystery/suspense series following Lights Out and Dangerous Play. Elise spent years covering professional sports as a journalist, and that experience gives the story a really authentic backdrop in the world of sports media and professional tennis. It’s always fun seeing how another thriller writer builds suspense, and Elise keeps tightening the screws as the mystery unfolds. By the time Kate realizes how dangerous the story really is, she’s already too deep to walk away.

On the Screen

Steal (Prime Video)

I’ve said this before, but one of the reasons I love British series is that they respect your time. Six episodes and they’re done. No wandering second seasons where nothing happens, just a tight story that gets in, does its thing, and gets out.

Steal is a slick little crime thriller that starts with a robbery at a London pension investment firm that turns out to be far more complicated than it first appears. Sophie Turner plays Zara Dunne, a seemingly ordinary trade processor who may or may not be involved in the £4 billion heist at the center of the story, and she’s terrific. She manages to make Zara feel both vulnerable and calculating at the same time, which keeps you guessing about her motivations almost the entire series.

The show does a great job building tension as the investigation unfolds and layers of the conspiracy start to reveal themselves, especially with Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as the increasingly desperate detective chasing the truth. Toward the end, though, things take a pretty sharp turn toward the improbable as the scale of the plot balloons in ways that stretch credibility. Still, it’s a gripping six-episode ride and exactly the kind of tight British thriller I wish more American shows would emulate.

Photo of the Month

In the green room at the Lisa Gardner book event. Left to right: Kristin Koval, Cynthia Swanson, Mark Stevens, Mario Acevedo, Lisa Gardner, me, Jon Bassoff. 

Photo credit: Rebecca Rowley

Update from my Kids
Last summer my son bought his first car, a 2015 Hyundai Tucson with about 110,000 miles on it. It was reasonably priced from a dealer, and before he bought it we had it independently inspected by a mechanic who said it was in great shape. He drove it from Colorado to Louisiana for school, then back home for Christmas, and then all the way back to Louisiana again without a single issue.

Which, apparently, was the car’s final act of loyalty.

The moment he arrived back on campus the second time, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Warning lights everywhere. Icons he’d never seen before. Then the car started shaking anytime it went over about 25 miles per hour. Which is generally not what you want your car doing.

Early indications suggest some kind of catastrophic engine problem. The car has now been towed to a mechanic and we’re waiting to hear what the damage might be. The tough part is that whatever the number ends up being, it’s money he definitely doesn’t have.

So if anyone has a spare functioning engine for a Hyundai Tucson lying around, please let us know. Otherwise we may be entering the exciting new phase of the story where my son learns the true meaning of the phrase “shit happens.”

In better times.

Update from my Pets

I, on the other hand, got a brand spanking new car (2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid) and all Scully wants to do is go for a ride.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

We are getting closer and closer to scheduling an amazing Unbound Writer retreat in Paris! We were hoping for this fall, but due to scheduling conflicts we’re now looking at next spring. 

Unbound Writer Paris will be a boutique, high-level retreat for mystery and suspense writers, led by myself alongside bestselling authors Alex Finlay and Clémence Michallon (and likely one additional bestselling suspense author). Over four immersive days in the heart of Paris, you’ll write, workshop your pages, and sharpen tension, pacing, and character psychology. The experience also includes curated literary outings in Paris, blending serious craft work with the city’s rich storytelling history.

This will be limited to about 20 participants so be sure to join our interest form to be the first to know when registration opens!

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

Last month I shared a Day in the Life of a Writer, and more than one of you followed up with questions about writing an hour a day and whether that’s actually enough to finish a book.

It is. And it works. Just do the math. 

If you write for an hour and average around 500 words, you’re putting down about 15,000 words a month. Keep that going and you’re looking at a full manuscript in roughly six months. This assumes you know what you’re writing, which is rarely my case. This also assumes you write every day, which almost no one does, including me.  

You miss days. You get pulled into other writing projects. You hit stretches where life takes over. In the middle of a book, edits on something else can derail you for weeks or months. 

You have to bake those realities into your planning.

So I track things. Not daily word counts, but notes about when I started a project, when I had to step away for other work, and how long those interruptions lasted. For the manuscript I’m working on now, it’ll be about eight months of actual writing to complete the first draft, but closer to a year in real time because of other commitments. And out of that stretch, I’ve probably taken a total of about a week off from writing altogether.

The important thing isn’t speed, unless you’re on a crazy-ass deadline. It’s that the work keeps moving.

The hour-a-day practice started 22 years ago because I had a corporate job and that was the only time available. But even now, I stick with it for a different reason. After about an hour, I stop being sharp. I start pushing. I convince myself sentences are better than they are. I’m working harder, but the work itself isn’t improving. The law of diminishing returns kicks in.

So I stop.

Do I sometimes feel like I should be writing more? Of course I do. That voice never really goes away. But I also know what happens when my writing muscle begins to fatigue. The joy drains. The curiosity deadens. And the writing suffers because of it.

I’m not interested in that.

I want to write enough to stay engaged. Enough that I look forward to sitting down again tomorrow. Enough that this still feels like something I choose, not something that’s grinding me down (and the truth is, there are still plenty of times where even in the hour it can grind me down). 

That number is different for everyone. Some writers can go much longer and stay fresh the whole time. I can’t. I’d rather leave the page feeling clear than squeeze out more words that don’t help the book and make me resent the work.

Consistency matters more than volume.

So, for you writers out there, if you’re waiting for life to calm down before you commit to writing, you should know something: that moment isn’t coming. Writing has to fit inside the life you actually have, not the one you’re hoping for later.

Write regularly. Set your own deadline if no one else has done it for you. Protect the part of the process that keeps you engaged, where you actually feel that small dopamine hit as your fingers move across the keyboard.

That’s how books get finished on a consistent basis without burning out along the way.

At my daily writing spot: Starbucks

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 219: Matthew Sullivan
Matthew Sullivan is the author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, GoodReads Choice Award finalist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. We talked about alcohol and writing, writing strange and unconventional novels, and how the unpredictability of success can actually make you a better writer. We closed by making up a menacing story inspired by a line from Where You End.

Episode 218: Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg is a New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including the Gangsterland quartet. We talked about growing up in a family of writers, what he’s learned from running an MFA program, and writing from a place of absurdity rather than darkness. We wrapped with a hilarious story inspired by a line from Everything’s Eventual.

Episode 217: Jennifer Fawcett
Jennifer Fawcett is an author, actor, and playwright whose work includes Beneath the Stairs and Keep This for Me. We talked about building professional relationships with other authors, maintaining a healthy relationship with your editor, and advocating for yourself within your publishing team. We ended with a descriptive story inspired by a line from The Mechanics of Memory.

Episode 216: Danielle Girard
Danielle Girard is a USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her upcoming thriller Pinky Swear. We talked about writing in first-person present tense, going back to get an MFA after already being published, and the challenges of writing characters who are demographically different from you. We closed with a mysterious story inspired by a line from Blade.

Episode 215: Courtney Psak
Courtney Psak is the author of two novels, with her third, The Hostess, forthcoming in April 2026. We talked about her detailed outlining process, working with a UK publisher, and why mother-in-laws make excellent unreliable narrators. We finished with a gripping story inspired by a line from The Doorman.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

REVIEWS – “RICH ASSHOLES” EDITION

On the Page

When McKinsey Comes to Town, Michael Forsythe and Walt Bogdanich (2022)

Last month I read Empire of Pain about the OxyContin crisis and, after soaking in the evil of the Sackler family, I decided I wanted to expose myself to more stories about stupid rich assholes who think rules don’t apply to them. So I watched the news. Hey-o!   

I picked up When McKinsey Comes to Town, which is basically a long, well-documented record of how one consulting firm managed to leave damage all over the world while insisting it was just “offering advice.” I’ve worked in consulting. I know the language. I know how easy it is to hide behind decks, frameworks, and the phrase “we don’t make the decisions.” Even so, I wasn’t prepared for how often McKinsey showed up right before something went spectacularly wrong, then quietly disappeared once the fallout started. Opioids. Authoritarian governments. Massive corporate layoffs. The pattern is hard to ignore.

The book is careful and patient, which somehow makes it more infuriating. It just keeps laying out case after case until the picture is unavoidable. You see how much harm can be done by people who never technically pull the trigger but are always happy to show someone else how to do it. By the end, I wasn’t just annoyed. I was genuinely pissed off, both at McKinsey and at the system that keeps rewarding this kind of behavior. Read it if you want to understand how power actually works. Maybe give yourself a minute afterward before talking to anyone who works in consulting.

On the Screen

Succession (HBO series, 2018-2023)

I reviewed this once before before and I’m doing it again because I recently rewatched the entire series.

Now, I don’t rewatch many shows. The list is short: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Lost, and now Succession. Somehow it’s even better the second time. What you notice more clearly is how much of it is just a modern Shakespearean tragedy dressed up in billionaires, private jets, and boardrooms. It’s greed, insecurity, anti-wokeness posturing, and raw hunger for power, all wrapped in the thinnest possible layer of civility. Everyone wants control. Everyone thinks they deserve it. Almost everyone is wrong.

This time I watched with the subtitles on, which I highly recommend. You catch every muttered insult, every under-the-breath comment, every line that probably wasn’t meant to be fully heard. The writing is unbelievably sharp. Even the background dialogue is brutal. There are lines buried in the noise that are funnier and nastier than most shows’ big speeches. What really hits on a rewatch is how committed the show is to letting these people stay exactly who they are. No sudden epiphanies. No heartfelt apologies. Just rich assholes doing what rich assholes do, over and over, convinced this time it’ll work out for them. It’s dark, it’s hilarious, and it feels uncomfortably close to real life. Turn the subtitles on. You’ll catch more jokes. You’ll also probably dislike everyone even more.

Photo of the Month

Book tease! Here’s a clue to my next thriller, launching November 10, 2026. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this one.

Update from my Kids
My daughter is in law school and applying for summer internships. I love that she asks for advice from her dad.

Update from my Pets

This is my day at home. All day, every day. And why I do my writing at a coffee shop.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

A glimpse inside a Signal group chat with some old high-school friends. 

Did you know that through my company, Unbound Writer, I work directly with writers at every stage of their journey? I offer one-on-one coaching, live seminars, retreats, and online courses, all focused on helping people tell the stories that matter to them. If you’re interested in exploring what I offer, you can visit my site (linked above) and set up a free consultation call to see if we’re a good fit. Working with writers has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career, so each month I’ll be sharing a testimonial from someone I’ve had the privilege of coaching.

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

None of that is true.

Let me clear up any remaining romantic notions. My life is very routine. Not sexy, but efficient.

I wake up around 5:30 a.m. and immediately reach for coffee. (If your coffee maker is not within arm’s reach of your bed, you are already behind). This is cup one.

I stay in bed for about an hour. Waking up slowly. Sipping coffee. Scrolling my phone. Thinking. I do not read the news in the morning. Not ever.

I feed the dog and the cat. Treats happen. Everyone is still half asleep.

I work out, either at home or at the rec center. My annual goal is 261 workouts (5 days/week), which sounds impressive until real life intervenes.

I shower. Usually.

Around 8 a.m., I write. This is the actual writing part of the job and it rarely lasts more than an hour. Most days I go to Starbucks, where I’ve written most of my last four books and accumulated a fucking alarming number of Starbucks stars. More coffee. This is cup two.

Then I go to the grocery store to figure out dinner. I love to cook and shop almost daily, which is either very European of me or highly inefficient.

By 9:30, I’m home and it’s park time for the dog. Off-leash. Technically illegal. Fifteen minutes of ball throwing and she’s done.

Back home, I give the cat his steroid pill and refresh his food tray. He is already yelling. He is not starving. He is just a dick.

At 10 a.m., I sit down at my desk with coffee number three. I never schedule calls before 11 and one weekday with no calls at all. In theory, this is focus time.

The cat disagrees. He jumps on my desk. The dog hovers. I am surrounded by fur for the next several hours.

I work for about an hour. Not writing. That already happened. This is podcasts, editing for Unbound Writer, consulting with my other company, emails, videos, newsletters, social media production, interviews. The unglamorous parts that make the rest possible.

At 11, I break for lunch. I make the same smoothie every day. I sit for fifteen minutes. The dog sits on me and slowly crushes my organs.

At 11:30, the cat gets his second meal and might finally shut the fuck up. I return to my desk and live inside my Outlook calendar. If it vanished, I would either crumble or feel free. I dig into more work.

At 2 p.m., coffee number four. Final. More work. This is when get around to the stuff I’ve been avoiding, like working on taxes or calling GEICO.

At 3, it’s back to the park with the dog. Fresh air. Perspective. Then back to work.

At 4, I read. Reading for blurbs or more student work. This is when I read the most fiction that is not my own. This is work-related reading, but it’s also fun (usually).

At 4:30, I feed the animals again. Yes, the cat eats three meals a day. I google yet another time how long do cats live.

At 5, I’m done. Sauna time. I recently bought a sauna and it might be the best decision I’ve ever made. Most likely shower after sauna.

At 6, wind-down time. Jessica might be over and/or maybe the kids are in town. Some nights are solo. I cook dinner with music or a podcast on. Tonight it’s slow-cooked ribs. Cooking is relaxing, and I am, objectively, good at it. Most of the time.

At 7, dinner and TV. This is where I absorb more fiction through movies and shows. If I don’t feel like thinking, I might watch an old season of Survivor. 

At 9, I’m in bed reading. This time it’s reading for myself, for the pure love of it. Almost always nonfiction.

At 10 (at the latest), lights out.

No vodka. No typewriter. No tortured genius in a snowy cabin. Just a very ordinary day built around one quiet hour where the writing actually happens. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself, it’s that structure is the only way I get shit done. Turns out discipline is the real muse, and she does not care about how routine my life looks from the outside. And I’m totally okay with that.

Scully really wants to go in the sauna.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 215: Chris Pavone
Chris Pavone is the Edgar and Anthony Award-winning author of The Expats, Two Nights in Lisbon, and The Doorman. We talked about his years working in New York publishing, why the first page of a novel matters more than almost anything else, and how a move to Luxembourg sparked his debut. We closed by making up an emotional story inspired by a line from The Circus of Satan.

Episode 214: I.S. Berry
I.S. Berry spent six years as an operations officer for the CIA, serving in wartime Baghdad and across the Middle East and Europe. We talked about her path into intelligence work, writing memoir as a way to process lived experience, and how real-world operations shape pacing and action on the page. We wrapped with a tense, suspenseful story built from a line in Blade.

Episode 213: Kika Dorsey
Kika Dorsey is an author, poet, and English lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder with multiple poetry collections and a Colorado Authors’ League Award to her name. We talked about the financial realities of being a working writer, crafting unreliable narrators, and why finding an agent feels harder than ever right now. We ended with a quiet, beautiful story inspired by a line from Happiness Falls.

Episode 212: Casey Sherman
Casey Sherman is the New York Times bestselling author of thirteen books, including The Finest Hours and Boston Strong. We talked about the deeply personal origins of his decades-long Boston Strangler investigation, his approach to investigative nonfiction, and working with film and documentary teams. We closed with a fascinating story sparked by a line from Operation Mincemeat.

Episode 211: Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu is a New York Times bestselling author and former intelligence professional with over thirty years at the CIA and NSA. We talked about the internal review process at the CIA, writing across genres, and navigating film and TV options. We finished with a fast-paced story inspired by a line from You Have Gone Too Far.

Episode 210: Andrew Bourelle
Andrew Bourelle is the author of Shot Clock and a coauthor with James Patterson on the Rory Yates series. We talked about using film and television as teaching tools, why writers should always be working on the next project, and collaborating with Patterson. We closed with a suspenseful story built from a line in Battle Mountain.

Episode 209: Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt
Christina Baker Kline and Anne Burt are the coauthors of Please Don’t Lie. We talked about how their friendship turned into a writing partnership, the challenges of maintaining a unified voice, and balancing thriller conventions with emotional realism. We ended with a descriptive story inspired by a line from Blade.

Episode 208: Cynthia Swanson
Cynthia Swanson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Bookseller and The Glass Forest, and the editor of Denver Noir. We talked about starting a writing career later in life, her move into self-publishing, and committing fully to a ghost story. We wrapped with a creepy story inspired by a line from The Comfort of Ghosts.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

REVIEWS

On the Page

Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe (March 2021)

I thought I knew this story. The opioid crisis. OxyContin. The Sackler name quietly disappearing from museum walls. Turns out I didn’t know half of it. Empire of Pain keeps pulling the rug out from under you. Just when you think, okay, this is as bad as it gets, it somehow gets worse. And then worse again.

What’s so enraging is how early and how intentional it all was. This wasn’t a mistake or a drug that got out of hand. It was marketing, money, and ego working exactly as designed, with addiction treated as a rounding error. By the end, you’re not reading about a scandal so much as a blueprint for how enormous harm gets normalized when there’s enough money involved. It’s infuriating. It’s exhausting. And if you think you already understand how fucked the opioid crisis was, this book will prove you wrong fast.

On the Screen

Black Phone 2 (2025)

I watched this one with my son, which is kind of our thing. When it’s just the two of us, we almost always end up in horror. We loved The Black Phone, so we were genuinely excited for the sequel. Add in the fact that it’s set in Colorado and we were fully on board. 

The movie itself? Yeah. It’s a lot. Bigger, louder, messier, and way more over the top than the original. Some of it is fun. Some of it is ridiculous. Some of it made us look at each other like, okay, sure, why not. It loses the quiet dread that made the first one hit so hard and replaces it with chaos and mythology and moments that are objectively kind of stupid. But watching a flawed, occasionally dumb horror sequel with my kid, laughing at the bad parts and leaning in for the good scares, is still a win. Not great horror. Not subtle. But a solid father son movie night, and sometimes that’s the whole point.

Photo of the Month

Hell, yes, that’s Beef Wellington. My Christmas-dinner specialty (this time with an assist from my daughter). Four pounds of tenderloin, wrapped in prosciutto, puff pastry, a mustard glaze, and a thin layer of stuffing instead of duxelles. (“but Carter, it CAN’T be Beef Wellington without the duxelles.” Shut up, I do things how I want). This was every bit as pricey and tasty as you can imagine. A once-a-year treat.

Update from my Kids
Winter-break sushi night with everyone home. Left to right: Henry, Jessica, me, Ili, Sawyer. 

Update from my Pets

Scully ripped the head off her new puppy toy, which I then proceeded to try to put on Guff. This is why Guff is a dick.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

Did you know that through my company, Unbound Writer, I work directly with writers at every stage of their journey? I offer one-on-one coaching, live seminars, retreats, and online courses, all focused on helping people tell the stories that matter to them. If you’re interested in exploring what I offer, you can visit my site (linked above) and set up a free consultation call to see if we’re a good fit. Working with writers has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career, so each month I’ll be sharing a testimonial from someone I’ve had the privilege of coaching.

Offerings from my Friends

I’m not the only writer who’s also teaching, of course. My friend, Steven James, has two conferences coming up in 2026 that I wanted to let you know about. Steven is the author of more than 50 books, and he has taught writing around the world for more than 20 years.

The Advanced Fiction Institute will be held in August in Jonesborough, TN. Joining Steven will be acclaimed author and literary agent Donald Maass.

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This is one of the premier writing conferences in the country and is limited to 8 authors.

Then, in November, international bestselling author Robert Dugoni and Steven will be teaching at their annual Novel Writing Intensive in Orlando, FL. 

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Robert and Steven will critique up to 50 pages of your manuscript and teach detailed seminars that will elevate your work in progress.

Both events are intimate (limited to 12 or fewer people), and packed with practical, in-depth advice for improving works in progress. Make sure you mention my name when you request a registration form. 

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

I’ve been writing for nearly twenty-three years while always holding down a primary job. For most of that time I was an executive with various hotel consulting companies. A couple years ago I left the day job and started a consulting firm with my friend and business partner. I also built Unbound Writer with my partner, Jessica. All the while I kept writing books. Most of you know the story. My first three books never sold. The next ten did. And that tenth book, Tell Me What You Did, turned out to be my breakout.

A few weeks ago my agent sent a royalty check for five months of sales for that book. The number floored me. She also sent a royalty check for the German edition of my third book, Revelation. That check was for eighty-five cents. And I thought, well, doesn’t that just sum up the publishing business perfectly?

I also turned fifty-five this year. There’s something liberating about hitting your mid-fifties. You still have dreams and goals, but the old anxiety around them loosens its grip. You still want to make money, but it stops being the whole point. And you absolutely stop caring about what anyone outside your circle thinks. Reviews matter less at fifty; at fifty-five you’re not even reading them.

Mostly, you learn to let go. You start to see with real clarity that all of this is a game, so you might as well enjoy it. I find myself at this strange intersection where the career I’ve been clawing at for years finally pays me like it believes in me and I happen to be at the age where I can finally admit that I believe in me, too. I know book sales go up and down, and there’s no guarantee of another hit, but I’m okay with just controlling what I can, letting the other shit go, and enjoying the ride. It’s a weird kind of peace. A slightly haunted peace, sure, but peace all the same.

I am not suddenly floating above the world. I still worry. I still wake up wondering if I already wrote every good sentence I had in me. But the ground feels steadier now. Maybe because this is who I have always been and it is about time the numbers caught up.

If you’re working on something you love and wondering if it’s too late, it isn’t. Keep going. Get older. Get weirder. Let the world think whatever it wants. Then go make something that proves them all wrong.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 207: Elena Taylor
Elena Taylor is a playwright turned crime novelist whose Eddie Shoes and Sheriff Bet Rivers series blend theatrical instincts with rich atmosphere. We talked about her shift from stage to page, how to build mood in a thriller, and what it takes to stop comparing yourself to every other writer in the room. We wrapped with a vivid, surprising story sparked by a line from Mailan Doquan’s Ceylon Sapphires.

Episode 206: Harry Hunsicker
Harry Hunsicker is the Shamus Award-nominated author of Still River and eight more crime thrillers, along with several acclaimed screenplays. We talked about mining your own bookshelves for ideas, the brutal honesty needed for query letters, and how it feels to land a Thriller Award nomination. We closed with a sharp, gripping story inspired by a line from Jennifer Chase’s Count Their Graves.

Episode 205: Aime Austin
Aime Austin writes the Casey Cort and Nicole Long legal thrillers, weaving courtroom tension with smart social commentary. We talked about her early work as a newspaper stringer, the fear of losing momentum when life gets loud, and how to keep reaching new readers as your audience ages. We ended with a dark, fast story built from a line in Tess Gerritson’s The Summer Guests.

Episode 204: Scott Graham
Scott Graham is the author of the long-running National Park Mystery Series and several award-winning nonfiction books. We talked about staying relevant between releases, reading widely to sharpen your own craft, and balancing the grimness of murder with a hopeful tone. We finished with an unpredictable story using a line from Matt Goldman’s The Murder Show.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Had a great time talking with bestselling author Angie Kim during two packed sessions at the Broomfield Library Auditorium. She’s sharp, funny, and the kind of person you can talk with for hours. She’ll be on my podcast next summer, and I can’t wait to keep the conversation going.

Photo credit: Broomfield Library

REVIEWS

On the Page

The Only One Who Knows, Lisa M. Matlin (March 2026)

I love getting sneak peeks at upcoming releases. This beauty is launching early next year, and if you like your books properly dark and noirish, make sure to pre-order. Here’s my blurb for this fine thriller:

“When disgraced TV host Minnow Greenwood returns to her storm-battered hometown, the sea starts giving up its dead. In The Only One Who Knows, Lisa Matlin’s prose is as beautiful as it is brutal, cutting straight to the bone as Minnow unravels the secrets her family and her town have spent decades trying to bury. Minnow is a deeply flawed but fiercely resilient protagonist, so real she feels like she might bleed through the page. A gothic coastal noir about generational violence and the cyclical nature of predation, The Only One Who Knows is visceral, haunting, and impossible to look away from.”

On the Screen

The Beast In Me(Netflix 2025)

Jessica and I are about halfway through The Beast in Me on Netflix. It’s a clean, absorbing thriller about a grieving writer who moves into a new neighborhood and starts to suspect her powerful next-door neighbor might be a murderer. The setup is simple, but the show knows how to sit in tension without overplaying its hand.

Some plot turns are a little wild and a few character decisions make you wonder what anyone is thinking, but the overall pull of the story is strong. The pacing works. The atmosphere works. You stay curious about who is lying and who is just damaged.

Claire Danes is excellent as a fierce but wounded protagonist who refuses to back down. Matthew Rhys brings a steady chill to the screen and never slips into parody. The acting alone is worth the watch, and it gives the story more gravity than it might have had otherwise.

Photo of the Month

Built myself a new desk! I wanted more space, so I grabbed an unfinished barn-door kit, added pine planks to fill the deeper sections, stained and aged everything, then sealed it with an epoxy pour. The epoxy, sanding, and polishing took weeks, but the end result is worth every hour. I even set a small piece of family history inside: my dad’s 1958 high-school charm.

Update from my Kids
The kids came home for Thanksgiving! They were mostly happy to see the dog.

Update from my Pets

Our Thanksgiving turkey was a bit gamier than expected.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

Don’t get it? Have your kids explain it to you. And then you still won’t get it.

Did you know that through my company, Unbound Writer, I work directly with writers at every stage of their journey? I offer one-on-one coaching, live seminars, retreats, and online courses, all focused on helping people tell the stories that matter to them. If you’re interested in exploring what I offer, you can visit my site (linked above) and set up a free consultation call to see if we’re a good fit. Working with writers has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career, so each month I’ll be sharing a testimonial from someone I’ve had the privilege of coaching.

“Many fiction writers are comfortable making up stories about imaginary people’s lives but uneasy about promoting their work in the real world. I know I was. When I met Carter at a writing event I was immediately struck by his seemingly effortless ability to connect with a group of readers he’d never met.

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…

Usually, this November essay is my annual Scream Reel edition, where I show you a highlight video of the best screams from Halloween night. But this year the camera failed. Completely. No sound. Terrible video.

Major disappointment.

So instead of the reel, all I have is the memory of what should have been an Oscar-worthy performance in terror.

It was still a decent night. About 250 brave souls actually crossed the threshold into the garage (a much higher number including parents). But honestly? A little lower than I’d expected. The parents, as always, were generous with their praise. Lots of “Best house ever!” and “We come here every year!” Which I love, because it’s validation that I’m doing something deeply disturbing yet family-friendly.

But I kept thinking, why fewer this year? The answer came as we checked on the driveway camera.

Over the course of the night, at least fifty kids gathered at the base of my driveway, forming little clusters of debate teams. You could see them gesturing, pointing, arguing about whether it was worth it. Some even laid down flat on the driveway to peek under the creepy-clown tapestries I hang in front of the garage door, trying to see what horrors waited inside. A few of them would inch forward, get within arm’s reach of the entrance, and then bolt back to safety like they’d just seen Pennywise in the flesh.

So, yeah, there was a lot of attrition.

And my favorite group? The dozen or so kids who actually entered the garage—like, they were right there, inside, but couldn’t bring themselves to approach the door for candy. They just stood in the fog, looked around, and quietly left, like, Nope. Not today, Satan.

Best line of the night: Little girl, maybe seven, dressed as a princess. Made it all the way to the door, held out her bag of candy for me, and said with a deadpan stare, “I didn’t sign up for this.”

My deepest apologies, no Scream Reel this year. Just the ghosts of screams that should’ve been captured. The ones that got away. And next year, I’ll be running a full AV check before the first kid sets foot in the driveway, because I will not let another October 31 go undocumented.

I live for the screams.

And next Halloween, I’m coming for every single one of them.

New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:

Episode 203: Andrea Bartz – New York Times bestselling author and journalist whose thrillers We Were Never Here and The Last Ferry Out have both earned major acclaim (and a Netflix option). Andrea and I talked about thinking like a businessperson in publishing, separating your emotions from feedback, and the art of staying grateful to readers even when the grind gets tough. We wrapped up with a sharp, surprising story inspired by a line from Victoria Houson’s At the Edge of the Woods.

Episode 202: Scott Graham – Author of the nine-book National Park Mystery Series and five nonfiction titles, including Extreme Kids, winner of the National Outdoor Book Award. Scott and I discussed staying relevant between releases, improving your writing by reading others’, and how to balance the grimness of murder with a hopeful tone. We closed by creating an unpredictable story using a line from Matt Goldman’s The Murder Show.

Episode 201: Lindy Ryan – Award-winning author, anthologist, and film director who founded Black Spot Books to amplify women’s voices in horror. Lindy and I bonded over our shared love of Halloween, the strange joy of writing darkness, and why horror and romance both hinge on hope. We ended with a quick, eerie story using a line from Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects.

Episode 200: Jeffrey Konvitz – Author of the New York Times bestseller The Sentinel and its sequel The Guardian. Jeffrey and I talked about rewriting your life midstream, his years in Hollywood, and how he finally launched his own publishing company to bring his long-shelved project to life. We finished with a supernatural twist inspired by a line from Greg Iles’s True Evil.

All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

This was fun! I got to be the featured subject of the new show The Book Club with Kim, which will air on Rocky Mountain PBS in January.

REVIEWS

On the Page

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, Hampton Sides

First, how do you not love the author name “Hampton Sides”? This sounds like a guy who knows exactly the right type of deck shoes to wear based on yacht size. And he’s a brilliant writer!

I’m back in non-fiction territory, where I spend a lot of my reading time. I’ve always had a soft spot for books about miserable sea voyages, and this book takes you aboard Captain James Cook’s final voyage, from England through the Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii, and back, and it pulls no punches about the misery and the magnificence of it all.

Sides balances the awe-inspiring exploration  with the brutal realities of eighteenth-century sea travel (rats, scurvy, you name it). And he doesn’t let us off easy regarding imperialism and first contact: the narrative shows how Cook and his men weren’t just adventurers, they were agents of a larger system that shook entire cultures.

Sides humanizes Cook but also makes you feel the weight of the catastrophe his voyage helped set in motion. No one is a hero here. If you love history, sea misery, moral ambiguity, and a non-fiction storyteller who knows how to write propulsively, this book’s for you.

On the Screen

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy(Peacock 2025)

(A quick note: Peacock has two shows on this subject with nearly the same name . One is a limited-series documentary, the other is a limited-series based on true events. This refers to the latter).  

I’m halfway in watching Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy and am enjoying it. Yes, I said enjoying a series about one of the most prolific serial killers in history. What’s great is how the show stays true to the historical record and builds real horror without slipping into gratuitous gore. It doesn’t glorify the monster. It reminds you how terrifying the mundane can be.

The actor playing Gacy (Michael Chernus, Severance, Patriot) nails the mix of horror and normalcy. He’s chilling in that quiet, suburban-sharp kind of way. Meanwhile each episode leans into the life of a specific victim and the ripple effect of the crimes, rather than just solely focusing on the killer. That choice alone lifts it above most serial-killer dramas.

If you’re into dark, true-crime storytelling that gives the victims their due and doesn’t rely on shock for shock’s sake, you should check this out.

Photo of the Month

My brand-new little library I built, featuring only mysteries and thrillers (and shout out to @onceuponacrimebooks – the name is a tribute!). Painted to match my house and adorned with metal Lock, Shock, and Barrel characters.

Update from my Kids
When you’ve completely run out of Halloween costume ideas in college, you go as a goddamn carrot.

Update from my Pets

Pumpkin pup.

Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend

That’s it for now!

Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…