I'm the Director of the Creative Writing Program at Southwest Minnesota State University. I'm the author of six crime novels, over forty short stories, a few essays, and two poems. My first four novels were published by some great small presses (Pointblank, Two Dollar Radio, and Bleak House Books), and then I turned indie for my fifth, CHOKE ON YOUR LIES. My most recent thriller, ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS, was published as an e-exclusive by new digital publisher Blasted Heath. Once I discovered the Hardy Boys, then later the Three Investigators series, I knew I wanted to write books. Of course, I had a bunch of detours along the way (wanted to be a rock star, a comic book writer, a lawyer) but ended up back on track after reading James Ellroy's WHITE JAZZ and seeing PULP FICTION pretty close to one another. That nailed it for me. I love crime fiction, but I also studied literary fiction in graduate school. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi (2002), and that led me to jobs as a Creative Writing Professor. I believe that solid literary technique can help lift all genre writing above mere mass entertainment.