Advance praise for Burning Down The House:

“From Mojave Dust to inner city grit, BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE spins twelve tales of drifters, grifters, gamblers, and assorted desperados living on the far edges that will forever change the way you hear the Talking Heads. This is a collection not to be missed, featuring stories by some of the best crime writers working today.”
— Bill Baber, Derringer Award nominee

“If there’s a theme running through this ragtag collection of stories inspired by the Talking Heads, it’s a subtle but elegant one, wrapped between the mundane and melancholy and universally applied: how are we gonna make it through another goddam day.”
— Joe Clifford, Pushcart Prize and Anthony Award-nominated author of "Junkie Love" and "A Moth to Flame"

“BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE approaches with an easy grin, offering the promise of a good time while nimble fingers pick your pocket, knowing you won't mind. A dizzying array of crime stories, equal parts gritty and poetic, that will surprise even veteran fans of the genre.”
—John C. Foster, author of "Rooster" and "Mister White"

Edited by Michel Lee Garrett & T. Fox Dunham
A charity anthology to help fight climate change, featuring stories from…

  • World Fantasy Award-winner and Bram Stoker Award-winner P.D. Cacek

  • Best American Mystery and Suspense-selected author James D.F. Hannah

  • Shamus Award-winner Libby Cudmore

  • Derringer Award-winner Bobby Mathews

  • Alex Award-winner and author of “Just Thieves” Gregory Galloway

Burning Down The House
Crime Fiction Incited by the Songs of the Talking Heads

Author Michel Lee Garrett in front of a mural depicting the "Comedy and Tragedy" masks

Small-town noir author,
queer Pennsyltucky poet

Michel Lee Garrett is an author, poet, and recovering journalist. She has investigated courthouse corruption as a small-town reporter, directed communications for a U.S. Senate campaign, and played in a handful of shitty punk bands. A queer and transgender author, her work seeks to examine how inequitable systems manufacture injustice, and how the human condition is ultimately one of rebellion against an absurd world. Her work has been published by Flame Tree Press, Down & Out Books, Mystery Tribune, Cowboy Jamboree, and others. By day, she works as a professional speechwriter and is a member of the Professional Speechwriters Association. She lives in Central Pennsylvania with her wife and two children.

“Were my choices worth it, if they brought me here?”

Cover art for the "Red Headed Writing" anthology, featuring work in homage to Willie Nelson, published by Cowboy Jamboree Press

The new anthology “Red Headed Writing” features my story “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” As part of this literary homage to Willie Nelson, my recurring hero Ray finds himself working on a dude ranch and investigating a ring of modern-day rustlers — culminating in a dangerous confrontation and an unexpected meeting.