Short Stories

Get Into Winter’s Shorts!

So, have you written anything else while lying about your true identity?

I have.

Most of my short stories were eventually collected into three volumes: The Compleat Kepler, The Compleat Winter, and the short-lived Winter’s Quarterly.

The Nick Kepler Stories (in chronological order and credited by original or reprint publication.)

  • Race Card – originally published in Judas, March, 2002
  • Valentine’s Day – originally published in Nefarious: Tales of Mystery, December, 2001
  • A Walk in the Rain – originally published in Plots With Guns, July, 2001
  • Just Like Suicide – originally published in Plots With Guns, January, 2003
  • Wring That Neck – originally published in Judas, June, 2002
  • Full Moon Boogie – originally published in Shred of Evidence, August, 2003
  • Flight of the Rat – originally published in Judas, February, 2003
  • Demon’s Eye – originally published in Futures Mysterious, April, 2004
  • Cold Cocked – originally published in Shred of Evidence, May, 2003
  • Roofies – originally appeared in Thrilling Detective, Summer, 2004
  • Might Just Take Your Life – originally appeared in Hardluck Stories, Summer, 2003
  • Love Don’t Mean a Thing – originally appeared in Thrilling Detective, Spring, 2009
  • Lady Luck – originally appeared in Thrilling Detective, April, 2008
  • Gypsy’s Kiss – novella published as an ebook, currently unavailable

The Standalones

  • Standoff – originally published in Judas, November, 2001
  • No Exceptions – originally published in Thug Lit, Issue #3, 2005
  • Annie – originally published in Flashing in the Gutters, April, 2006
  • Dr. Ralph – originally published Crime Scene Scotland, October, 2006
  • ...And on the Seventh Day – originally published in Powder Burn Flash, January, 2007
  • Profiled – originally published in Spinetingler, Summer, 2007
  • For the Cause – originally published in Pulp Pusher, Summer, 2007
  • A Score for Little Dale – originally published in Darkest Before the Dawn, August 15, 2008
  • Highway 101 – originally published in A Twist of Noir, July 5, 2009
  • Righteous Kill – originally published in Powder Burn Flash, July 29, 2009
  • Gotham Square Hero – originally published in Darkest Before the Dawn, July 26, 2010
  • We Be Cool – originally published in Crime Factory, September, 2010
  • Bad History – originally published in the anthology West Coast Crime Wave, edited by Brian Thornton, 2010
  • Hazing – originally published in Pulp Pusher, August 20, 2011
  • Whittle You Into Kindlin’ – originally published in Mysterical-E, Fall, 2011
  • Mind Your Manners – originally published in Chillers, Thrillers, and Killers, September, 2011
  • All You Need To Know About Politics (A Carlinesque Rant) – blog post from Edged in Blue, the previous Jim Winter blog, November, 2011
  • Joey Tran – originally published in Pulp Metal Magazine, April 9, 2012
  • Missing Sarah – originally published in Powder Burn Flash, January 29, 2012
  • Frank, Jr. – originally published as part of Patti Abbot’s flash fiction challenge, September, 2012
  • The Heckler – originally published in Needle, Fall/Winter, 2012
  • The Confessor (based on A Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe) – originally in The Compleat Winter, 2013
  • Violet – originally published in Winter’s Quarterly, January, 2015
  • Ault Park – originally published in Winter’s Quarterly, January, 2015
  • Overpass – originally published in Winter’s Quarterly, January, 2015
  • No Static at All – originally published in A Beast without a Name: Crime Fiction Inpired by the Music of Steely Dan, edited by Brian Thornton, 2019
  • Prime Delivery – originally published November, 2021 in A Bag of Dick’s, part of Colin Conway’s 509 series.
  • Cards Against Jake – Audio short on the Mysteries to Die For podcast by TG and Frank Wolf, February, 2024; published in Games People Play – Opening Gambit, March, 2024
  • Bad Whiskey – originally published in Murder, Neat: A Sleuthsayers Anthology, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, February, 2024