The 7th installment in the Geier and Lark Mystery Series… Snow drifted past the tall windows of Geier’s office, flakes spiraling like bits of ash in the gray light. He sat behind his desk, coat still on, sipping bitter coffee that had been reheated twice. The radiator clanked in protest. He didn’t light his pipe.…

The rain struck the windows of Dr. Saul Geier’s office in intermittent slashes, as if the sky couldn’t quite make up its mind about the swirling chaos. Inside, Geier grunted, adjusting the flame of his desk lighter before leaning into his armchair. The scent of Captain Black pipe tobacco curled into the wood-paneled stillness. Susan…

Dr. Saul Geier had a grudging respect for wordplay, though he rarely admitted it. While others sipped morning coffee and scrolled headlines, he attacked the crossword in the back of the Times like a general planning a siege. Words were puzzles, and puzzles were a way to keep entropy at bay. Susan Lark, on the…

A prequel to the Amazon #1 Bestseller—The Last Appointment Dr. Saul Geier adjusted the angle of his leather armchair to catch the morning light streaming through his tenth-floor office.  The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Central Park South. The city sprawled below, chaotic yet oddly comforting in its rhythm. At seventy-two, Geier had seen it all: the…

One of the best pieces of advice the bestselling writer Walter Mosley gave me was to “arrive late and leave early.” What did he mean? Well, we both write psychological mystery thrillers. And to keep a story interesting, you don’t need a lot of extraneous detail in the beginning or at the end. So, no…

[Note: Taken from a chapter in my soon-to-be-released thriller, Book 4 of the Sam Sunborn Series. Posting this as I just flew home to New Jersey from California like Monica in the following story/excerpt.] LGA At 9:45 PM, Monica struts through LaGuardia Terminal, roller bag in tow. LaGuardia Airport is as dingy and worn as…

A True Story – My sister stumbled upon a fifty-five-year-old set of documents. Buried beneath the legalese, the text evokes a flood of personal memories as it reveals the story of a family in the 1950s. The sales agreement, mortgage releases, and title insurance papers on their face codify the sale of the Palace Theater,…

Story by Marlene Claire Steele, Oralee O’Byrne, and Charles Levin Written by Charles Levin [Reader’s Note: Last month, I asked readers to suggest the second half of the plotline in a story I started Thanks to all those who contributed their very creative and fun ideas. I chose two from readers, Marlene and Lee, whose…

[Note: the characters Renata and Inspector V, as well as the crime of bodyjacking, play a major role in my upcoming sequel to NOT SO GONE and NOT SO DEAD.] Possessed “How does it end?” “I don’t know. I never do. I just write and it comes to me along the way.” “I don’t understand.…

What’s a Micro Story? What’s a Micro Story? I have been a fan of Short Stories since I was a kid. Maybe it’s because I’m a slow reader and like the satisfaction of being able to enjoy a full story from beginning to end in one sitting. As an adult, I got hooked on what…