The sun is rising over a small Texas town and the dead are rising too. Four generations of the Evans family run a funeral parlor, putting the dead to rest, even when they have to kill them again. It’s 1999 now and the buried are growing restless. Something has come to town, leaving a bloody […]
“A History of Heartache” by Patrick Strickland
June 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
The first story in A History of Heartache, Patrick Strickland’s debut short story collection, gives away the title when we learn an alcoholic mother “has a history of heartache, most of which she drums up all on her own nowadays.” The question that arises again and again in these loosely-interconnected stories is this: Is heartache […]
“The Burning Side” by Sarah Damoff
May 20, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Sarah Damoff’s second novel, The Burning Side, is just as rich in poignant moments and nuanced characters as her first, The Bright Years, which Southern Literary Review selected as its 2025 Book of the Year. The Burning Side explores two very different marriages, revealing both the best and the worst of committed love. One begins […]
“Far From Uncertain: One Woman’s Life of Crime & Other Righteous Deeds” by Teddy Jones
May 19, 2026 by 3 Comments
Selfless nurse, defender of the vulnerable, and murderous addict—can one be all of these? Far From Uncertain: One Woman’s Life of Crime and Other Righteous Deeds jumps right smack dab into the life of Margaret Kenyon and keeps you and cub reporter, Charles Bailey, running through her story at a breathless pace. The tale drags […]
Jennifer Lewis Interviews Cynthia Leal Massey, Author of “Well of Deception”
April 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
A finalist for the 2026 Spur Award for Best Western Contemporary Novel, Well of Deception (Stoney Creek Publishing 2025), by Cynthia Leal Massey, is a historical fiction novel taking place in south central Texas in the late 1950s. Inspired by true events, this story is about the murder of Maggie Schneider at her turkey farm […]
“Well of Deception” by Cynthia Leal Massey
March 30, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Well of Deception (Stoney Creek Publishing 2025), by the multi-award-winning author Cynthia Leal Massey, is a new take on the classic small town murder mystery. A bullet shot in broad daylight seemingly out of nowhere kills turkey-breeder Maggie Schneider, and the prime suspect is missing. Everyone thinks they know who shot Maggie, but they can’t […]