Here's a marvelous chance to get a signed copy of my next Ed Earl Burch hard-boiled Texas crime thriller, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE. Just click the link below and sign up for my newsletter. Two lucky contestants will be the prize -- their very own copy of the finest in cowboy noir. Signed by your ol' pal, Honest Jim.

People ask me all this time -- well, not all the time, but often enough to cause me to wince: Is Ed Earl Burch you? Or, are you Ed Earl Burch? I suppose it's my own damn fault because when I conjured him up more than a few decades ago, I gave him some of my physical features -- he's bald, bearded, has bad knees and wears specs -- and a lot of my character flaws and endearing quirks and qualities.

Happy Tryptophan Overdose Day , friends and neighbors. Are you dreading the holiday gift-buying sprint dead ahead because you're slap out of fresh notions about what to buy Cuzin' Clyde, Aunt Maybelle, Brother Charlie, Sister Wanda Sue and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed? Does the notion of braving the Black Friday hordes cause you to break out in night sweats in broad daylight? Do you flinch and shake like a heroin addict every time you see a Christmas come-on from Best Buy, Macy's, WalMart or Kay's Jewelers?

After much wrangling, blue language, threats and brute force, ace editor and formatter Ashley Hagan finally got Jeff Bezos' bots to get the right release date on the paperback version of my upcoming Ed Earl Burch hard-boiled Texas crime thriller, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE. Mark it down, pendejos. It's December 15. Get your copy at:

I’m a Chandler junkie. As in Raymond Chandler. Always have been, always will be. One of the founding fathers of the hard-boiled school of crime fiction, Chandler’s at the head of a semi-long list of writers who taught me a lot about the trade before I ever tried my hand at it. Most of them are dead. Which means they won’t be calling me out for hanging their names on what I’m about to say about character and dialogue.

From now through December, you can win an autographed copy of one of my award-winning Ed Earl Burch hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers, THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT. Click on this link and enter to win:

Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.

A California bill that restricts local and state law enforcement officials from covering their faces is a necessary, if symbolic, rebuke of the encroaching police state.

Currently the vaccine is recommended for all people over 6 months of age.

The health secretary said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet are in bed with pharma.

Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled he hopes Canada will be able to sign on to a major European defence rearmament plan by July 1, a step toward reducing the country's dependency on the United States...