Way back in 2010 (maybe even earlier -- who remembers?), I had this idea about a pair of grifters -- Sam and Rachel -- who loved each other and the game and everything else could go to hell. I envisioned a series of novellas featuring this pair, maybe four per year. I called the series A Grifter's Song.

I got busy with life and other writing projects and so this series never got its turn up to bat. I tried to get to it. I even had Eric Beetner work on some concept covers for the first episode, The Concrete Smile. 

Finally, a few years later, I was ready to get started. Around that same time, Gary Phillips invited me to be part of a novella anthology series that was intended to be released monthly, with different authors penning each episode. This project never reached publication but the idea excited me. When I pitched the series to Down and Out Books, I suggested we use the Phillips model. They accepted and A Grifter's Song was launched.

(Two quick notes:  one, I  gave Gary full credit for the formatting idea, had his blessing and also invited to write an episode in the first season... two, his model has since been used for multiple serial novella anthologies at D&O: Guns+Tacos and Chop Shop being two examples).

A Grifter's Song ran five seasons and thirty-five episodes and featured a genuine who's who of gritty crime fiction from 2018 to 2023.

In 2025, Down and Out Books shuttered its doors. I purchased the contracts and all of the material, signed the authors, and am proud to be reissuing this series in January 2026! A Grifter's Song will be published under the Code 4 Press banner.

Episodes will appear as ebooks on Amazon (and Kindle Unlimited) starting January 1st at a pace of one episode per day (with a few exceptions).

This is a great opportunity to read this series or rediscover it. Some of your favorite authors may be on this roster. I can almost guarantee that some of your new favorite authors will be.