NON-FICTION

 

“When The Pittance Of A Paycheck Is Spent, What’s Left For Leisure?” Scene Magazine, May 13, 1977

 

“Budget (buj' it),” Scene Magazine, May 13, 1977

 

“More Than A Footnote,” Knights, March 1979

 

“Charles L. Grant: In The Shadows,” Night Voyages, Fall, 1979

 

“The Monteleone Connection,” Night Voyages, Spring, 1981

 

“Grant Carrington: More Than Amazing,” Night Voyages, Fall, 1981

 

“When Dark Descends,” The Newsletter, September 1982

 

“In Short,” The Newsletter, March 1983

 

“Learning Through Experience,” Mothering, Winter, 1986; The Wet-Set Gazette, October 1987; The Messenger, March 1991; Fathering, November 1999

 

“Making Homework Pay,” Flicks of the Tale, June 1986

 

“Writers And Readers,” Flicks of the Tale, September 1986

 

“Changes,” Flicks of the Tale, June 1987

 

“We’ve Been Typecast,” Flicks of the Tale, March 1988

 

“Collecting Memories,” Parent To Parent, January 1989

 

“The Vegetable War,” Parent To Parent, April 1989

 

“One Way To Self-Motivate,” Clues, October 1990; Gotta Write, Winter, 1991

 

“Patience,” Clues, March 1991; The Third Degree, June 1991; Gotta Write, Winter, 1991

 

“Why Don’t You Ask Us To Dance?” Columbus Single Scene, July/August 1991

 

“Mother’s Warning,” Columbus Single Scene, November/December 1991

 

“Blind Alleys: Too Many Genres,” SFWA Bulletin, Winter, 1992

 

“Writing And Selling Confessions,” Gila Queen’s Guide To Markets, October 1993; Word Museum, 1999; From The Heart, January & February 2000; Absolute Write, February 2001; SFWA Website, 2001

 

“Long-Distance Daddy,” Fathering, July 1998

 

“We Have Ways Of Making You Talk,” Atlanta Parent, July 1998

 

“The Soothing Garden,” Texas Gardener, July/August 1999

 

“Writer’s Block: A Definition By Example,” Absolute Write, April 2001; SFWA Website, 2001

 

“When Bylines Collide,” The Official Newsletter Of The Horror Writers Association, April 2001

 

“Dan Fox And Deadly Campaign,” Mystery Scene 71, 2001

 

“Waco Reads,” The Official Newsletter Of The Horror Writers Association, June 2001

 

“Introduction,” Fedora: Private Eyes and Tough Guys (Wildside Press), 2001

 

“Searching For All White Girls,” Mystery Scene 73, 2001

 

“Surfing The Mean Streets,” Mystery Scene 73, 2001

 

“Things Yet To Do,” Phoenix, 2001

 

“Corpus Christi Author Knocks ’Em Dead,” Senior News, June 2003

 

“Markets About Which We Only Whisper,” Reflections In A Private Eye, Summer, 2003; Gila Queen’s Guide To Markets, January 2004; Sleuth Sayer, February 2004

 

“That’s Not The Way My Mother Did It,” Senior News, August 2003 (as Pat Myers)

 

“Surviving Submissions Beginning To End,” Sleuth Sayer, September 2003

 

“Writing For Mystery Anthologies,” Gila Queen’s Guide To Markets, November 2003; Sleuth Sayer, May 2004

 

“It’s Not Just What You Say,” MAMM, November/December 2003

 

“Writing Erotic Mysteries,” Writing-World.com, April 2004

 

“Bullet-Proof Your Short Mysteries: Editors Tell You How!” Writing-World.com, April 2004; The Purloined Newsletter, March 2006

 

“Travel Fun In The Big Easy,” written with Sharon J. Bracken, Senior News, September 2004

 

“Cost-Effective Market Research,” Funds For Writers, January 30, 2005

 

“Fashionable Gardeners Say Pink Is The New Green,” Texas Gardener, March/April 2005; Seeds, August 2, 2006

 

“Job Application,” Inside Higher Ed, May 2, 2005

 

“By The Seat Of My Pants,” Senior News, May 2005

 

“College In The 40s,” Inside Higher Ed, June 13, 2005

 

“We’re Not Who You Think We Are,” Gila Queen’s Guide To Markets, June 2005

 

“Take Dead Aim At Mysteries,” The Writer, August 2005

 

“Sundays With My Grandmother,” Senior News, September 2005

 

“Gardening Rocks,” Senior News, October 2005; Seeds, August 23, 2006

 

“My Wife’s Ghost,” True Romance, March 2006

 

“Manspeak: Cultural Pride,” True Confessions, April 2006

 

“Surviving Disasters,” The Writer (online edition), April 2006

 

“Money For Nothing And Burnt Fingers For Free,” Senior News, June 2006

 

“Man-to-Man On Mother’s Day,” Jive, July 2006

 

“Why My Face Is Red But My Tomatoes Aren’t,” Seeds, September 20, 2006

 

“Making That Time With Your Man Special,” Jive, September 2006

 

“Manspeak: Is That A Book In My Pocket?” True Confessions, October 2006

 

“Manspeak: Where Evil Lurks,” True Confessions, November 2006

 

“Trees For Texas,” Texas Gardener, November/December 2006

 

“Gnome On The Range,” Seeds, November 8, 2006

 

“Manspeak: Giving Thanks,” True Confessions, December 2006

 

“Urban Harvest: Improving Houston From The Ground Up,” Texas Gardener, January/February 2007

 

“Types Of Community Gardens,” Seeds, January 3, 2007

 

“Write What You Know,” Teacher Miracles: Inspirational True Stories From The Classroom (Adams Media; Brian Thornton, editor), 2007

 

“Dandelion Whine,” Seeds, April 11, 2007

 

“Organizing For Anthology Success,” Gila Queen’s Guide to Markets, May 2007

 

“Weatherization Provided At No Cost To Low-Income Homeowners,” Senior News, June 2007

 

“Love Letter,” True Romance, July 2007

 

“Feeding The World One Garden At A Time,” Texas Gardener, July/August 2007

 

“Water Foul,” Seeds, August 15, 2007

 

“From Small Ideas, Big Projects Grow: Victoria Educational Gardens,” Texas Gardener, November/December 2007

 

“Writing Dialog,” Gila Queen’s Guide to Markets, November 2008; The Write Ingredients, February 2009; Writerstalk, January 2016

 

“Anybody Seen My Shorts?” Sleuths’ Ink, September 24, 2009

 

“30 Great Towns To Retire In Texas,” Senior News, December 2009

 

“Hunt Youth Discover Gardening!” Texas Gardener, March/April 2010

 

“Sky Island Gardening,” Texas Gardener, November/December 2010

 

“I Write Short Stories” Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons In Writing Popular Fiction (Headline Books; Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller, editors), 2011; Named #5 in 10 of This Year’s Terrific Writing Books by The Writer Magazine (2011); Finalist Eric Hoffer Awards Best Self-Help; FINALIST Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year–Writing; WINNER Best Non-Fiction London Book Festival; USA Book News Best Book Award Finalist–Business: Writing & Publishing; WINNER Best Educational/Academic Next Generation Indie Book Awards; WINNER International Book Awards Best Business: Writing & Publishing

 

“In Praise Of Technicians,” Criminal Brief, July 13, 2011

 

“Don’t They Come In Pairs?” Wait A Minute, I Have To Take Off My Bra (Inkspotter Publishing; Betty Dobson, editor), 2011

 

“Market First, Write Second,” SleuthSayers.org, October 26, 2013

 

“Eat Fresh,” Texas Gardener, May/June 2014

 

“High on Gardening,” Texas Gardener, March/April 2015

 

“Good Writing, In Short,” First Draft, July 2015

 

“The Unacceptance Letter,” Rejectomancy, March 7, 2016

 

“Tales From The Dark Side,” SleuthSayers.org, November 5, 2016

 

“I Confess,” SleuthSayers.org, November 28, 2016

 

“One More Time, From the Top,” SleuthSayers.org, October 21, 2017

 

“Smooth Criminal,” SleuthSayers.org, November 14, 2017

 

“Ripples,” SleuthSayers.org, December 5, 2017

 

“The First Two Pages: ‘Dixie Quickies’,” ArtTaylorWriter.com, December 19, 2017

 

“Three Typewriters and a Desk,” SleuthSayers.org, December 26, 2017

 

“You Only Live Twice,” SleuthSayers.org, January 16, 2018

 

“Stiffed,” SleuthSayers.org, February 6, 2018

 

“Poster Child,” SomethingIsGoingToHappen.net, February 14, 2018

 

“Rejected!” SleuthSayers.org, February 27, 2018

 

“Dubious Writing Advice,” SleuthSayers.org, March 20, 2018

 

“One Last Job,” Trace-Evidence.net, March 20, 2018

 

“Epiphany of a Blue-Collar Writer,” SleuthSayers.org, April 10, 2018

 

“The Buddy System,” SleuthSayers.org, May 1, 2018

 

“Noir at the Opportunity Bar,” SleuthSayers.org, May 22, 2018

 

“Paneling,” SleuthSayers.org, June 12, 2018

 

“Manuscript Janitor,” SleuthSayers.org, July 3, 2018

 

“Just Like Starting Over,” SleuthSayers.org, July 24, 2018

 

“Not Like Us,” SleuthSayers.org, August 14, 2018

 

“Prolific Slacker,” SleuthSayers.org, September 4, 2018

 

“Not A Dry Eye In The House,” SleuthSayers.org, September 25, 2018

 

“The Obstacle Ahead Is A Mirror,” SleuthSayers.org, October 16, 2018

 

“Everybody Hurts,” SleuthSayers.org, November 6, 2018

 

“Senseless Writing,” SleuthSayers.org, November 27, 2018

 

“Do You Want Cheese With That Whine?,” SleuthSayers.org, December 18, 2018

 

“Looking Backward, Looking Forward,” SleuthSayers.org, January 8, 2019

 

“Two For The Price Of One,” SleuthSayers.org, January 29, 2019; SPAWNews, March 2018

 

“Baby You Can Drive My Car,” SleuthSayers.org, February 18, 2019

 

“It Isn't You,” SleuthSayers.org, March 12, 2019

 

“The Genesis of Gun + Tacos,” SleuthSayers.org, April 2, 2019

 

“Lefty Calls the Shots,” SleuthSayers.org, May 2, 2019

 

“With Malice Aforethought,” SleuthSayers.org, June 4, 2019

 

“If I Should Die Before I Wake,” SleuthSayers.org, June 25, 2019

 

“Community Standards,” SleuthSayers.org, July 16, 2019

 

“The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods,” SleuthSayers.org, August 6, 2019

 

“Expanding Our Universe,” SleuthSayers.org, August 27, 2019

 

“Pithy and Thought-Provoking...or Not,” SleuthSayers.org, September 17, 2019

 

“Open Your Heart and Bleed,” SleuthSayers.org, October 8, 2019

 

“Bouchercon Bound!” SleuthSayers.org, October 29, 2019

 

“Collateral Damage,” SleuthSayers.org, November 19, 2019

 

“Pull on Your Galoshes, We’re Headed into the Slush Pile,” SleuthSayers.org, December 10, 2019

 

“The End is Near,” SleuthSayers.org, December 31, 2019

 

“Lessons Learned as a Freelancer,” SleuthSayers.org, January 21, 2020

 

“Life of Crime Leads to Writing Crime Fiction,” SleuthSayers.org, February 11, 2020

 

“Goodbye, Joe,” SleuthSayers.org, March 3, 2020

 

“The Possibly Last Case of Ray’s Dad’s Cadillac,” SleuthSayers.org, March 24, 2020

 

“Byte Me,” SleuthSayers.org, April 14, 2020

 

“A River Runs Through It,” SleuthSayers.org, May 5, 2020

 

“AloneStarCon,” SleuthSayers.org, May 26, 2020

 

“News from the Dark Side,” SleuthSayers.org, June 16, 2020

 

“Purchase. Read. Vote.,” SleuthSayers.org, July 7, 2020

 

“Writing Squirrels,” SleuthSayers.org, July 28, 2020

 

“The Rocky Writing Process,” SleuthSayers.org, August 18, 2020

 

“Playing the Numbers,” SleuthSayers.org, September 8, 2020

 

“Who Are You?” SleuthSayers.org, September 29, 2020

 

“Countdown to the Anthony Best Anthology Award,” SleuthSayers.org, October 20, 2020

 

“The Best American Mystery Stories,” SleuthSayers.org, November 10, 2020

 

“Once More, With Feeling,” SleuthSayers.org, December 1, 2020

 

“All We Want for Christmas is a Fair Shot,” SleuthSayers.org, December 22, 2020

 

“Rolling With It: 2020 in Review,” SleuthSayers.org, January 12, 2021

 

“Do You See Me Now?,” SleuthSayers.org, February 2, 2021

 

“Writer’s Block of Ice,” SleuthSayers.org, February 23, 2021

 

“Drafts? I Don’t Keep No Stinking Drafts!,” SleuthSayers.org, March 16, 2021

 

“Killing Dreams One Rejection at a Time,” SleuthSayers.org, April 6, 2021

 

“The Pause that Refreshes,” SleuthSayers.org, April 27, 2021

 

“Who am I This Issue?,” SleuthSayers.org, May 18, 2021

 

“Displays of Love,” SleuthSayers.org, June 8, 2021

 

“Bad Contracts,” SleuthSayers.org, June 29, 2021

 

“Over and Over and Over Again,” SleuthSayers.org, July 20, 2021

 

“Pay It Forward,” SleuthSayers.org, August 10, 2021; WPN, August 31, 2021

 

“Guest Post: Room for Real Life by James A. Hearn,” wrote introduction, SleuthSayers.org, August 31, 2021

 

“Welcome to Texas,” Keynote Speech from the 2019 Shamus Awards Banquet, Dallas, Texas, Mystery Readers Journal, Fall 2021; The New Thrilling Detective, November 2019

 

“Three Best,” with Janice Law and John M. Floyd, SleuthSayers.org, September 21, 2021

 

“Protect Your Inner Life,” SleuthSayers.org, October 12, 2021

 

“Killing Dreams One Rejection at a Time, the Sequel,” SleuthSayers.org, November 2, 2021

 

“For Everything There is a Season,” SleuthSayers.org, November 23, 2021

 

“One Way or Another: Anthology Types,” SleuthSayers.org, December 14, 2021

 

“Still Rolling with It: 2021 in Review,” SleuthSayers.org, January 4, 2022

 

“Building the Perfect Editor,” SleuthSayers.org, January 25, 2022

 

“Continuum of Editors,” SleuthSayers.org, February 15, 2022

 

“Writing Lessons from Top Chef,” SleuthSayers.org, March 8, 2022

 

“You’re Only Famous When You Die,” SleuthSayers.org, March 29, 2022

 

“Schrödinger’s Edgar,” SleuthSayers.org, April 19, 2022

 

“I Went to the Edgars and All I Got Was This Hoodie,” SleuthSayers.org, May 10, 2022

 

“Where I Write,” SleuthSayers.org, May 31, 2022

 

“Miles of Files,” SleuthSayers.org, June 21, 2022

 

“Deadlines, Shmeadlines,” SleuthSayers.org, August 2, 2022

 

“Can I Trust You?” SleuthSayers.org, August 23, 2022

 

“Editing Evolution,” SleuthSayers.org, September 13, 2022

 

“Opportunity Abounds,” SleuthSayers.org, October 4, 2022

 

“Second Chances, Revisted,” SleuthSayers.org, October 25, 2022

 

“Batter Up!” SleuthSayers.org, November 15, 2022

 

“No More Guns, No More Tacos,” SleuthSayers.org, December 6, 2022

 

“Deer in the Headlights: 2022 in Review,” SleuthSayers.org, December 27, 2022

 

“Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes,” SleuthSayers.org, March 14, 2023

 

“Story Mining,” SleuthSayers.org, April 11, 2023

 

“In Search of the Perfect Office,” SleuthSayers.org, May 2, 2023

 

“In Search of the New Normal,” SleuthSayers.org, May 23, 2023

 

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” SleuthSayers.org, June 13, 2023

 

“Writing Dialog,” SleuthSayers.org, July 4, 2023

 

“New Three-Book Series,” SleuthSayers.org, July 25, 2023

 

“Make Time for Meet-Ups,” SleuthSayers.org, September 5, 2023

 

“Be Careful What You Wish For,” SleuthSayers.org, September 26, 2023

 

“Daddy, Where Do Anthologies Come From?” SleuthSayers.org, October 17, 2023

 

“Road Trip!” SleuthSayers.org, November 7, 2023

 

“Got Milk?” Trace Evidence, November 17, 2023