Where can I buy your books?

Both East of Denver and The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles are available from all sorts of booksellers. If the book is not at your local bookstore, they'll be happy to special order it.

If you're in Denver, I recommend Tattered Cover or The Bookbar or The Broadway Book Mall.

If you're not in Denver, Indie Bound can point you to a store near you (assuming there is a store near you). The book is also available at Barnes & Noble, and, if you care to support their predatory business model, Amazon.

What's your favorite thing about being an author?

Writing.

Are your books autobiographical?

No.

Am I in your books?

No.

How do you feel about being awarded the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award?

Conflicted.

Why don't you have a facebook page? Why don't you tweet? Why don't you own a cell phone?

None of those things are necessary to my survival. If you'd like a longer explanation, I invite you to read one of these terrific books:

The Shallows

The People's Platform

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Alone Together

Are you trying to come across as a curmudgeon?

Sorry. Am I being curmudgeonly? I'm really a fun guy. I just don't like doing interviews, especially when I'm interviewing myself.

What are some of your favorite books/authors?

Here are a few off the top of my head...

I love Jim Thompson, especially Pop 1280.

Anything published by FC2.

Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin.

Dog Stars by Peter Heller.

Dog Christ by Lucian Morgan.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.

A Night of Serious Drinking by Rene Daumal.

Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino.

And I'm a slobbering lunatic for rock and roll writers:

Peter Guralnick, Nick Tosches, Richard Meltzer, Lester Bangs, Chuck Klosterman, Mark Lewisohn, Richie Unterberger and on and on.

Do your works portray rural America as a warm and fuzzy place full of kittens and hard working, temperate salt-of-the-earth types who work together to overcome any obstacle, no matter how difficult?

Not really, no. I write about humans and nature. Humans are insecure and desperate. Nature is violent and opportunistic. Put 'em together and things can get rough. Funny, too, if you're the type of person who thinks that kind of thing is funny.

Which is to say, sorry about the dead animals.

Can I hear some songs by some of these bands you've allegedly played in?

Oh, yeah. Out of my garage, I've played on or produced nearly three-dozen no-budget albums of varying degrees of greatness. You can hear 'em all for free at http://sparkythedog.bandcamp.com/

Video #3, Courtesy of Zack Littlefield and John Grigsby...

Video #2, Courtesy of Brett Duesing...

Video #1, Courtesy of Lucas Richards...

I said I want to hear the music, not watch it, okay?

Manotaur struggles with forbidden robot love:  

The Tigerbeats address tiger-related issues:


A pop hit for the Esperanto crowd:


The Babysitters thank you for dancing.


And a delightful ode to the undead, as performed by Six Months to Live

What are you working on now?

I'm nearly finished with my latest novel, Zebra Skin Shirt. It'll be the the third book in the Strattford Series. The book takes place between 7:23 pm and 7:33 pm on the same day that East of Denver ends. It'll resolve some things for you.

Would it kill you to write a happy ending?

I don't know, but I'm not going to take any chances.