Hi there. I’m Harvey Stanbrough.

This website is specifically for my readers. If you enjoy great thrillers or period westerns or science fiction or action-adventure or crime or mystery or or detective-PI stories and novels (whew!), you’re in the right place.

To go straight to the free story of the week, click the Stanbrough Writes substack. You can subcribe free at the end of any story.

As I open this website for readers, I’m writing my 76th novel. I’ve also written 9 novellas and around 250 short stories across several genres.

You’ll be seeing some of those in the Story of the Week.

I’ve also compiled around 30 short story collections and several lauded, major-prize-nominated poetry collections and several nonfiction books on the craft of writing. That is in addition to hundreds of articles, essays and blog posts.

Please understand, I’m neither bragging nor complaining. I’m a writer. Writers write. Like mechanics fix engines, plumbers fix plumbing, and doctors fix people. Engineers build bridges and rockets and robots. Me, I’m a writer.

Some Quick Details and Navigation Notes

I don’t see many sites like this one around, and frankly, that’s a shame. You pay my salary. The least I could do is toss you a bonus now and then. On this website, I will do exactly that.

I plan to post a new (to you) short story every week. That will be on Substack. You may subscribe free. But if you want to make a donation, please don’t “pledge” on Substack. Instead, please click the Donations tab either here or in the menu. That will take you to my PayPal donation page. You can make a one-time donation or a monthly recurring donation via your PayPal account or with a debit or credit card.

Also, I’ve started a YouTube channel where I’ll talk about the characters and settings and locations and storylines now and then. Join the fun at https://www.youtube.com/@HarveyStanbrough.

Some of the settings and locations include

  • the Chihuahuan or Sonoran Deserts
  • the tiny real town of Palominas, Arizona
  • the small (fictional, sigh) fishing village of Agua Perlado in Guerrero, Mexico
  • a dugout cave in the side of an arroyo in the desert of north Texas
  • a restaurant or bar in Amarillo
  • the dining venue or captain’s office on the generation space ship The Ark
  • a far-flung point in the galaxy

The location might also be a little cantina in a town in central Mexico that’s so small it doesn’t even have a name. Why? Because if they put up a sign you couldn’t see the village behind it. (grin) I’ll be talking about all of those topics live as well. There might well be an occasional tall tale just for kicks.

If you’re interested in hearing about a specific character or setting or storyline, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and let me know. I will honor all serious requests.

By the way, I’ve personally bushwhacked my way through the bend in the San Pedro River where former Texas Ranger Mac McFadden’s ranch headquarters stood in the short story “Adobe Walls.”

Oddly, there were signs a house once stood there in real life. Plus, bits of a china service and so forth were scattered about. I kept expecting to find Mac’s old Ranger star among the rubble.

In the menu you’ll also see tabs marked

  • Reading Order for Novels (just what it sounds like)
  • My Bio, and
  • Pics (old promo pics)

You might also be interested in my Author Website or Publisher Website. There are some GREAT deals on the latter. And finally, if you’re a writer or an aspiring writer, feel free to check out the Journal. But don’t expect to see a lot of nonsense about outlining and rewriting and getting other people’s opinions about stories. I don’t teach the silly myths about fiction writing.

You can find information on the myths elsewhere. In fact, it’s like Kudzu vines in Louisiana or Buffel grass in Arizona: you can’t really evade it. But you won’t see it on any of my sites. I don’t do that. I’m a writer. Writers write.

Enjoy your time here at the site, folks. It’s all yours. And if you need anything, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.

Harvey