By Mark Stevens Two random tidbits last week got me fired up. The first was from a story in The New Yorker about new research into the positive effects of psychedelic drugs—psilocybin in particular. The second was a line uttered by Alexandra Fuller during a podcast of her Tattered Cover presentation for her new memoir,…
Author: Mark Stevens
Mark Stevens is the author of the The Fireballer (Lake Union, 2023) and The Allison Coil Mystery Series including Antler Dust, Buried by the Roan, Trapline, Lake of Fire, and The Melancholy Howl. Trapline won The Colorado Book Award for Best Mystery. Stevens has also published short stories in Denver Noir (Akashic Books, 2022), Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Tribune, among others. Stevens is longtime member of Mystery Writers of America. In 2023, Stevens was named Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers for the second time. He lives in southwest Colorado.
Tales from Long Shots in Book Marketing
By Mark Stevens I hopped in the car and flipped on the radio. Scott Simon (rock star reporter and host on National Public Radio) was wrapping up a Weekend Edition interview with a guy reviewing books. I only caught the tail end of the chat, but Simon said something like: “…and that was our London…
Crossing Colfax: A Story by Story Review
By Mark Stevens Short-story anthologies can be tricky affairs. Collecting short stories in one volume from multiple authors can end in a patchwork mess. Not the case with Crossing Colfax, a sweeping collection of writing from the ranks of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. The only rule was that each story had to touch on Colfax…
On Productivity
By Mark Stevens I did the math so you don’t have to. 25 + 38 + 18 + 52 = 133. Left to right—Sue Grafton, Charlaine Harris, Sara Paretsky, J.A. Jance. They are on the panel, dubbed “A Conversation Among Authors.” It should be called “A Conversation Among Crank Monsters.” I mean, holy cow that’s…
A Few Bad Habits
By Mark Stevens You brush your teeth. You comb your hair. You make a pot of coffee. You’re on auto pilot, right? Not much brainpower required. Your head is busy elsewhere, thinking ahead. Or something. You sit down to write. Man oh man, that first sentence of your new bestseller is going to be carved…