The Roadhouse Report – December 2025

Again, another teeny excerpt…

She said demurely, “No real lady will tell the naked truth in the presence of a gentlemen.” 

He gave a crack of laughter, quickly muffled when people turned shocked looks on him. “What kind of Harvey Girl is this, that she may quote my own words back to me?” 

“The usual kind, Mr. Clemens.” 

Launching from the Poisoned Pen Bookstore on February 28, 2026.

A Harvey Girl sticker sheet!

The lovely and talented Emily Briggs, she of all things HoZ marketing, somehow telepathically divined that stickers are hot right now and came up with a sheetful for The Harvey Girl. There will be one sheet per signed copy of the first edition sold by the Poisoned Pen up to I-don’t-know-how-many copies yet, so if you’re a sticker aficionado reserve your copy now.

An excerpt…

I understand that Wharton is vilifying a society she despises (at least I think she is, otherwise what’s the point of all this downright meanness), outing a silly, pretentious bunch of rich people who care for nothing but having money and marrying more. It just feels so heavy-handed. Talk about using a sledgehammer. She should have read more Austen to learn how to use a scalpel.

–from my review of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth

You heard about the Storyknife merch earlier this year, including my enthusiastic endorsement of the hoodie which I’m wearing as I type this.

Now, Storyknife has joined forces with Bookshop to build a page featuring works by Storyknife writers. Take a scroll, click some links, turn yourselves on to some good writing.

Both sites send a little money Storyknife’s way when you shop them, so have at it!