Jan 26, 2016 | Unsolved Mysteries
I’ve been thinking about Spain a lot lately. Last year I explored the haunted wonders of Transylvania as part of the Horror Writers’ Workshop. It was a phenomenal experience, and I met so many amazing people. This year, Writers & Publishers...
Jan 20, 2016 | Scary True Stories
The stench was overwhelming. The room reeked so much that the Parisian police officers had to retreat and gather their courage to try again. This time, they found what they were looking for. On a rotting straw mattress, cowering under a dirty, tattered blanket in the...
Jan 12, 2016 | The Writing Life
I’ll never forget the first time I met Corporal Tyner Gillies. I was in author Jack Whyte’s masterclass, sweating bullets, waiting for the moment when Whyte would read my work in his wonderful Scottish brogue – and tear it to...
Jan 6, 2016 | The Writing Life
Happy New Year! Sorry I haven’t been making the rounds lately. I didn’t plan on taking time off over the holidays, but as it turned out, I needed to. I completely crashed, but I’m slowly coming back to life. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday...
Dec 16, 2015 | Scary True Stories
I’ve had my fair share of creepy moments in my life. I remember hearing voices and strange sounds at night when I used to visit my great Aunt Susie in Memphis. I remember a time when I seriously thought a feral gray cat with a scratch over its left eye was hunting my...
Dec 15, 2015 | The Writing Life
It’s that time of year – time to share the very best products, hacks, and other cool things I’ve discovered in 2015. (I’m not sponsored by any of these companies – I’m only sharing them with you because I truly love them.) Best...
Dec 8, 2015 | Unsolved Mysteries
By all accounts, Christopher Mittendorf and Kristina Branum were a happy young couple living in Hardin County, Tennessee. On July 27, 2006, twenty-one-year-old Mittendorf went shopping with Branum, his 17-year-old fiancee. Although the couple was living together, they...
Dec 2, 2015 | The Writing Life
Before I was a published author, I came across many posts from writers revealing how much it hurt that their family and friends didn’t support them. These posts invariably received responses like, “Well, just because they’re our friends doesn’t...
Dec 1, 2015 | Scary True Stories
When little Olga Chardymova was just ten years old, she insisted on being able to leave the apartment by herself for the first time. She wanted to show she was a “big girl” by walking to Grandma’s house on her own. She never made it. A drug dealer...
Nov 27, 2015 | The Life Less Ordinary
November 27th and 28th are grim anniversaries for me–on both days, a wonderful person I loved lost his battle with depression. I initially wrote this post for my friend Stan Mak, who passed away on November 27th, 2013, but I’m sharing it again in...
