Michael Downing

I Stand At The Door | Literary Garage

We're back with a story that hits the high end of gritty American realism from @mikemchone.bsky.social

Love the fatalism, the stripped down moral compass & cinematic flow in a distinct, hardboiled neo-noir voice
Check it out for yourself:
literarygarage.com/i-stand-at-t...
🎸📚
#flash #fiction #noir

The Walton family (owners of Wal-Mart) & Jeff Bezos (Amazon) are worth around 400 billion each. They'd be worth less if they paid their employees good wages or, at the very least, a living wage plus benefits; but they'd still have billions.

There would be far fewer people on SNAP & Medicaid.

It was one of those small South Jersey towns where everyone knew everybody….compassion and understanding were too often in short supply.

Trying to calculate costs like she was Einstein while the mothers of my friends looked at us like we were trash from the wrong side of the tracks.

All we could afford were processed foods & sugary soft drinks…no surprise our society is filled with ppl struggling with diabetes & food insecurities.

Every word of this is point on…filet mignon? Shit, lucky to get spaghetti-o’s. Oreos? Generic store brands. Cans of Carnation evaporated milk. Yeah, Coke and Pepsi cause carbs were cheap. I’m old enough that we didn’t have an EBT card-had actual food stamps…remember my mom at the checkout doing math

Congratulations!!!! It’s an excellent book!!! Deserves all the accolades!

The First Two Pages, featuring two On Fire and Under Water contributors.

Need to catch up? Do so! Great essays by @kendallbrunson.bsky.social and @kmwriter01.bsky.social about how they approached their stories for On Fire and Under Water.

arttaylorwriter.com/the-first-tw...

Pop that bottle of champagne. I’ll be waiting for the release of this one!!!

Fantastic news from @caseystegman.com !!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!

In my quest to dominate social media this week (kidding…kind of…maybe), I’m over at @literarygarage.bsky.social today with my story “The God of War” - part of their Gods and Heroes feature.

If you have a moment, please check it out.

literarygarage.com/the-god-of-war

Man. This story by @kmwriter01.bsky.social grabs you by the throat from the start and doesn’t let go. An emotional, excellent read.

Always take sentences using “the Cloud” or “the Internet” and try replacing those phrases with “A shed in Virginia” to see how they hold up. “Our service is fully based in a shed in Virginia”; “All my files are in a shed in Virginia”; “A shed in Virginia was designed to survive a nuclear war”, etc.

AVAILABLE NOW: Some say the world will end in fire or flood. 15 short stories from some of the best crime fiction writers today, including @kmwriter01.bsky.social. Guest-edited by Anthony winning author @curtisippolito.bsky.social. Order your copy today: bit.ly/4nOVXoK

AVAILABLE NOW: Some say the world will end in fire or flood. 15 short stories from some of the best crime fiction writers today, including @kmwriter01.bsky.social.
Guest-edited by Anthony winning author
@curtisippolito.bsky.social
. Order your copy today: bit.ly/4nOVXoK

A fantastic review of On Fire and Under Water in King River Life Magazine by Sharon Marchisello. Check it out! There’s also a giveaway for a free copy.

www.krlnews.com/2025/10/on-f...

Pretty damn cool!!!!

Tough call between Bug and Ike but I’m going with Bug

On fire and under water crime anthology book

Some say the world will end in fire. Some say flood. 15 excellent short stories about climate change (including one by me), guest-edited by Curtis Ippolito.
Crime fiction that matters.
Don't take my word for it- listen to Jordan harper and order your copy

Love this!!! Congratulations!!!!

The Black Lung Gospel | Literary Garage

Today we're featuring @raymondbrunell.bsky.social's story "The Black Lung Gospel" in our Short Fiction section.

The story has a strong, distinctive voice that combines Appalachian Gothic, Southern noir, & gritty American realism.

Check it out below:
literarygarage.com/the-black-lu...

AVAILABLE NOW: When the dog makes the heist.
When life gives you a chance to make a connection after all these years.
One swing of the machete solves all your problems . . .
Best eaten cold? Small-town revenge stays hot for years. Order your copy of RHP #15 today: amzn.to/4peTqW6

Congrats!!!!

What starts as a simple convenience-store robbery morphs into so much more in @kmwriter01.bsky.social’s “The Way It Works.” If you’re not reading Michael’s work, you’re truly missing out. His broken characters and gritty settings make for some of my favorite noir stories in recent memory.

-Crescent City Brewhouse
-The hotel Fitness Center
-Channeling my inner Bourdain in search of the best beignet, muffulettas, and jambalaya....
-wandering around with the love of my life, with no destination, just taking in the sights and sounds of NOLA

Other places you might find me in NOLA(in no order of relevance or importance):
-Interesting panels (there's a wide variety of cool topics and panelists to choose from EVERY DAY)
-The hotel bar
-Bourbon Street
-Cool dive bars (Maple Leaf- Snake & Jake's- Le Bon Temps Roule)
-Willie's Chicken Shack

Bouchercon 2025

Saints of the Asphalt book- best seller

This week in #NOLA. If you're going to #Bouchercon, stick around until Sunday AM & check out our panel on "Short Stories- Creating Memorable Characters".

Grab your coffee & a few beignets, then settle in for a fun panel

#Bouchercon #crescentcity

What a lineup of great authors including friends @libbycudmore.bsky.social @magonzales.bsky.social @kmwriter01.bsky.social @mikemchone.bsky.social and more greats in the new @rhppress.bsky.social

Might have to keep hitting the “like” button to get TRUE ROMANCE added to your list!

Great list btw

An American Romance | Literary Garage

This week’s new short story has a Jim Thompson meets Jordan Harper feel. Gritty, sparse noir with the cold logic of violence from @mikemchone.bsky.social

Check it out - we think you'll love it:

literarygarage.com/an-american-...

#Fiction #IndieLit #NoSafeStories #shortstory

Cover art for WHATEVER KILLS THE PAIN—a collection of crime fiction stories by C.W. Blackwell—with an illustration of a young man’s profile and a large burning match in the foreground. There is a blurb from author Meagan Lucas that reads: “Whatever Kills the Pain is a reckoning. Blackwell starts fires. He walks the line between literary fiction and noir, but never fails to deliver the hurt, or the truth.”

Today’s the day!!

It’s release day for WHATEVER KILLS THE PAIN, 12 crime stories of heartbreak, violence, and revenge. Now available in ebook and paperback! #releaseday #crimefiction