Steve Brewer Books In Order

Publication Order of Bubba Mabry Books

Publication Order of Drew Gavin Books

Publication Order of Jackie Nolan Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Steve Brewer is a journalist, a teacher, and an author. He writes mystery and crime fiction. His books feature a lot of humor.

+Biography
Steve Brewer was born in 1957 in Arkansas, though he has stronger ties to Albuquerque which is where he spent most of his adult life. Some people think that the author sets so many of his books in Albuquerque and North California because of his strong attachment to those locations.

But Brewer has admitted that his laziness determines his choice of settings. The author doesn’t do much traveling and he likes it that way. And because he knows so much about Albuquerque and Northern California, writing stories set in those locations is simply easier.

He has no interest in doing the research that it would take to set his novels in other towns, states, and regions.

Steve Brewer graduated from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. He spent a little over two decades working as a journalist. And he was still plying his skills in the field when he finally sat down to produce fiction at the age of thirty.

It took Brewer ten years to achieve the level of success in publishing that would permit him to write fiction full-time. The author was already forty when he finally quite journalism, though he never truly stopped dabbling in the arena.

People that went on to read the weekly humor columns he wrote in the years that followed will tell you as much.

The transition to fiction writing wasn’t as simple a process as most people presume. Steve Brewer was working for the Associated Press in San Francisco when he made the decision to write novels.

His work as a reporter definitely gave him advantages that other aspiring authors sorely lacked. Brewer did not doubt that he had the capacity to write full-length novels. The discipline required to accomplish such a task had been beaten into him by the rigors of the journalism field.

But Brewer quickly found that fiction writing was an art with its own complexities and challenges. And the fact that he had written articles and essays for a living for so long meant nothing when it came to figuring out dialogue and pacing and dramatic structure.

So Brewer himself will tell you that his first two novels weren’t the best. The author’s only saving grace was his willingness to write. Revisions were the bread and butter of reporters when Brewer was starting out.

He had been taught to keep hammering away at stories and articles until they took the desired shape. So when Brewer encountered his own failings as a fiction writer, rather than giving in to discouragement, he went back to the drawing board, writing and rewriting his manuscripts until he garnered a masterful grasp of the fiction writing process.

Now Steve Brewer understands the importance of breaking a story down to its most essential elements. He knows how to keep his plots tight and to write with an appealing rhythm that keeps readers engaged.

The author knows that his abilities have improved considerably over the years but he still finds it necessary to do up to half a dozen revisions before he is completely satisfied with his manuscripts.

Brewer writes in scenes. He tries to trim the fat with each revision, to remove all the parts that he knows readers will inevitably skip. The author has never stopped learning. He takes advantage of the fact that he teaches writing at the University of Mexico, this on top of working as a writing coach at the Midwest Writers Workshop and other similar conventions and seminars.

Brewer believes that his students will have a much easier time succeeding than he did because they know so much. The author tripped himself up as an aspiring author by changing agents one too many times.

Brewer initially thought that once he found that one agent who would champion his career with unrivaled fervor, he would be guaranteed success as a published author. It took him years to realize that the only person he could rely on to champion his career was himself.

Most of Brewer’s stories are inspired by real-life news stories. He writes a lot about crooks. Also, a lot of his books are mysteries. At one point, the author introduced the ‘Max Austin’ pen name to help him make the transition to crime fiction.

+Adaptations
Steve Brewer was fortunate enough to see ‘Lonely Street’, his first novel, become a live-action independent movie. Brewer’s experience with the Lonely Street adaptation was an uncomfortable one.

For years, Brewer would get word that a Hollywood producer had expressed interest in his book. And he would get really excited, only for that interest to wane and for Lonely Street to go back on the shelf.

The author could hardly believe it when Peter Ettinger wrote the screenplay for the movie and then proceeded to direct the actual movie. It was a dream come true, one that Brewer had begun to give up on.

+Bubba Mabry
The PI business is slow, or so Bubba Mabry would tell you. He isn’t exactly the most successful PI in the field and it doesn’t help his case that he operates out of a seedy Inn surrounded by prostitutes and drug peddlers.

When Buddy, a man who clearly has money, asks Bubba to protect a visiting celebrity for a handsome free, Bubba cannot afford to refuse. He also thinks that the gig will be a simple enough job.

But then Bubba learns that his celebrity client is Elvis himself. The King just wants to keep a low profile this time around. So he is hardly amused when a crazy fan begins to harass him, a fan that ends up dead.

+Baby face
Sultan is a vicious pimp who takes it personally when someone starts killing his girls. So he hires Bubba Mabry to get to the bottom of the situation. But Sultan isn’t Bubba’s only problem.

The PI also has a councilwoman whose doll collection was just stolen. Both clients expect Bubba to move heaven and earth to resolve their respective issues. And to appease them both, Buna must confront everything from hookers and pimps to Religious extremists.