Writing Update -- 5/22/12

I rarely post updates about where everything stands, writing-wise, so, here's what's going on about mid-way through the year.

It looks to be a decent year for me as far as short stories are concerned.  "The Kill Stand" was released in January, published in the anthology, Indiana Crime 2012.   The web site, POET HOUND, had this to say about the short story: "The ending fills the reader with uncertainty and hope that I cannot spoil here.  All I can say is if you have worked long hours and had to face tragedies in family life that effect your ability to keep a job while slogging away, then this story will shoot you like an arrow through the heart."

February saw the release of my short story, "The Last Master of Aeronautical Winters" in the anthology, Westward Weird (DAW).  This is a western/steampunk/paranormal story that was loads of fun to write.  It was as close to honoring my childhood memory of the TV show, Wild Wild  West, as I could get.

"Shadow of a Crow" was just released in May, in the anthology, Beat to a Pulp, Round 2 (Beat to a Pulp).  This short story features Lyle Wolfe, Josiah Wolfe's son, introduced in the Josiah Wolfe novels, as a Texas Ranger at the end of his career in the Great Depression, chasing after Bonnie and Clyde.

I have two more short stories set for release this year, "The Treasure Box"  published in the anthology, Cactus Country Anthology, Volume II. I'm not sure of the publication date.  This story is retelling of Black Bart's disappearance after he was freed from Alcatraz.

And later this year, I'll have another short story, "The Longest Night" in the anthology, Slay Bells and Six-Guns: A Creepy Cowboy Christmas (Western Fictioneers).  Once I get the publication date, I'll post it here.

That's it for short stories for 2012.  At least for now.

March saw the release of my first mystery novel, The Devil's Bones (Five Star).  This novel has been a labor of love for nearly 15 years, since I first created the character of Jordan McManus in a short story that I couldn't sell.  The novel went through several iterations and bounced around for a long time looking for a home. I was happy to see it published. Of all my novels, I've worked the hardest on this one.

Ken Pelham said this, "If John Steinbeck and John D. MacDonald had collaborated on a novel, this is the novel they might have written.  Well-written, and tightly plotted, The Devil's Bones delivers the goods like a .38 slug to the gut."

In his review at Bookgasm.com, Bruce Grossman said, "Sweazy has created a small town with enough problems and secrets to make Elmore Leonard proud.  The novel illustrates without a doubt that when Sweazy wants to, he can go toe-to-toe with any modern thriller writer."

August will see the release of The Coyote Tracker, Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger #5. 

From the back cover: After a prostitute is murdered at the Easy Nickel saloon, Texas Ranger Josiah Wolfe finds his best friend, Scrap Elliot, in jail and wrongly accused. A strangely familiar horse and a mysterious code are the only clues Josiah has to prove his friend's innocence and save him from execution. Once a Yankee reporter gets involved, Josiah is led to Blanche Dumont's House of Pleasures, where he learns of a thieving, jail-broken accountant with strange ties to both the Easy Nickel and the town's wealthiest banker. With a new railroad line blazing into town, everyone--especially the arrogant young sheriff--is determined to clean up Austin. Faced with the ticking clock of Scrap's impending trial, Josiah Wolfe must find out who it was that went one step too far.

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At this point there will be six Josiah Wolfe novels. The Gila Wars, is scheduled for release in May, 2013. I turned it in a couple of months ago. That may be all of the Josiah Wolfe novels, I'm not sure at this point. As soon as I know something concerning the fate of the Wolfe novels, I'll post it here. With The Devil's Bones, I will have published 7 novels and written 6 in three and a half years--all while working full-time as a freelance indexer. So, at the moment, I'm taking a breather from writing. But rest assured, I will start a new novel, and some short stories, sooner rather than later. I'm just not sure what they will be at the moment.