Category crime fiction
Authors on the Air Podcast and #NotMyCat Strikes Again
I enjoy talking to people about what I write and how I come up with the stories and characters. Pam Stack, of Authors On The Air Global Radio Network, and I had a chance to sit down and chat about BURY THE PAST, my life in prison, and #NotMyCat. As I’m writing this, I hear […]
Do You Suffer From BSF?
BSF is real. BSF isn’t quite a disease, but those who experience the malady experience a manic giddiness accompanied by spurts of panic. It’s life-altering. I have it and there are no Go Fund Me Pages or telethons to find a cure. Because honestly–I don’t want a cure. What is BSF? BSF is Book Signing […]
AT WHAT COST Ebook SALE
To help celebrate the release of BURY THE PAST, the folks at Crooked Lane Books have sponsored an ebook sale for the first book in the series, AT WHAT COST for $1.99 Detective John Penley faces a moral turning point during his search for a serial killer who harvests his victim’s organs. Does the detective […]
BURY THE PAST Release
BURY THE PAST is officially published and out into the wild! It’s only been a year since the first book in the series (AT WHAT COST) landed and I’m feeling a mixture of elation, exhaustion, and caffeinated satisfaction. BURY THE PAST follows the detective team of John Penley and Paula Newberry on a new investigation–one involving […]
Bouchercon Toronto
This week, I’ll be in Toronto, Canada with over 1,600 mystery writers and readers for Bouchercon. This annual event is dubbed as the world mystery convention and draws some of the biggest names in the business. Connelly, Crais, Coben, Child–just to name the writers with last names starting with the letter “C.” There are non-stop […]
Pulled in Different Directions? Just make a damn decision.
We all get that occasional pull to do something different. Stop a project, a job, or a contract, in midstream and toy with something different–something new. I’m never sure if it’s boredom, or the thrill of the hunt for something new. But that urge for something fresh seemed to hit me this week and it […]
Goodreads Giveaway for BURY THE PAST
Crooked Lane Books is sponsoring a book giveaway over on Goodreads. You can enter the giveaway for your chance at an early copy of the second book in the Detective Penley series. https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/254896-bury-the-past Enter to win 1 of 3 galley copies of BURY THE PAST, the second Detective Penley mystery by James L’Etoile. Sacramento Police […]
Betrayed–A Crime Fiction Anthology
On October 1, 2017, the publishing arm of the Authors on the Air, Global Radio Network, releases their very first anthology of short crime fiction. BETRAYED features stories from twenty, critically acclaimed, best selling authors, and I’m thrilled they let me come and play with them. If you’re a crime fiction junkie, like I am, […]
Drafting Small Town Life
The setting of a new novel I’m drafting is a small town. Small town life–sounds quaint and idyllic doesn’t it? In a larger city, the darkness has more places to hide. The unseemly and profane have a place–usually on the other side of the tracks. That negative space seems somewhat isolated and contained among the […]



