THE EXCITING FAQ PAGE!!!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT JIM WINTER

What's up with that photo? You look like Chuck Manson on a three-day bender.

Despite repeated warnings from my wife, I whizzed on the electric fence. I am no longer allowed to take barroom bets.

You sometimes go by "J Winter" and "Jim Winter" and "James R. Winter." What gives?

I originally went by James R. Winter to sound all literary and pretentious, despite being famously impatient with literary and pretentious types. (This did not stop me from buying a copy of The Corrections.) After a long period of time where I didn't publish much, I got into standup comedy. The name "J Winter" sounded better for standup, and I started changing all my bylines to that. Now I just go by "Jim."

What does the "R" stand for in James R. Winter?

Ross. Just like Ken Millar's pen name. Go look it up.

Do you still do standup comedy?

I think I've gotten over that peculiar malady.

What about the blog? Why do it?

The only answer to that is "Why not?" Most of the rebuttals I've had to that have warranted a counter-rebuttal of "Well, don't read it." I hope you do, but if it isn't your cuppa, remember, it's a big Internet. There's lots of other stuff out there. I even link to some of it.

Do you have any books out?

Working on it. You can read my novel Road Rules here or listen to it as a podcast. I'm working on some other projects right now, but feel free to check out Road Rules.

If Road Rules is so good, why post it online for free?

I would normally tell an author not to do that, but Road Rules is a strange novel. It's short, quirky, and funny, all the things that make it hard to publish. Most of all, my agent and I had fun with it, but only got two publishers to take a serious look at it. (One was laid off in the Great Publishing Crash of 2008. Ouch.) Personally, I think it would be hard to sell without a backlist to convince readers to take a chance. At the same time, I think it's good enough to share. So I compromised. I'm giving this one away. The ones that come afterward you'll have to pay for.

How about reviews?

Currently, I review for January Magazine and Mystery Scene. I also do articles for The Rap Sheet and Crimespree. If you have something you'd like reviewed, please check the review policy.

Will you continue the Nick Kepler series?

Yes. In what form remains to be seen. I won't post work for free other than in pubs that I think are a good platform for it, but I doubt we'll see him in a novel anytime soon. Nick's around. He's just being very, very quiet right now.