Books Are Usually Better. Usually.
Books are usually better—at least, that’s the pattern Mark keeps coming back to after years of reading first and watching later. But every now and then, a film breaks the rule…
Espionage
Twenty Raised Beds and the Quiet Joy of Starting Something
This weekend, Mark is trading the keyboard for lumber, screws, and soil as he builds twenty raised beds in the backyard. There’s a quiet satisfaction in work you can see at the end of the day—and a surprising connection between gardening and writing. Both are acts of optimism: you do the work now, trust the process, and hope something good will grow.
What We’ve Been Watching Lately (And Why I Can’t Stop Thinking About It)
Lately, Tracy and I have been watching The Americans, and it has completely hooked us. Not because of the spy story—although that’s excellent—but because everything about it feels real. The relationships are messy, the choices are complicated, and the 1980s setting feels lived in instead of staged. It’s the kind of show that doesn’t just entertain you for an hour. It lingers afterward and leaves you wondering what you would have done in the same situation.
Fall From Grace — Status Update (Heavily Redacted)
This report has been heavily redacted for your protection. What remains suggests rising tension, narrowing margins, and at least one person who isn’t telling the truth.
Sorry About the Lost Sleep
Ever sit down with a book thinking you’ll read just one chapter before bed… and suddenly it’s 2:03 a.m.? Mark Posey confesses why those “just one more chapter” moments are sometimes a little bit deliberate—and why writers secretly love hearing about them.
Binge or Drip? The Serial Reading Argument No One Actually Wins
There are two kinds of readers in the world.
The kind who says, “Just one more chapter,” and resurfaces hours later dehydrated and emotionally compromised.
And the kind who prefers the slow burn—one episode a week, time to speculate, time to argue, time to savor.
The internet insists one of these is correct.
They’re wrong.
This isn’t a format war. It’s a control issue—and Credible Threat is about to give both camps exactly what they want.
A No-Spoiler Update on Fall From Grace
Thomas Billings is back.
Well… almost.
Mark filed a no-spoiler update on Fall From Grace, the second Thomas Billings thriller, and it contains precisely zero useful intel — which is exactly the point. What we do know: the book exists, words are happening, and coffee is disappearing at an alarming rate. Thomas is stubborn, Grace is complicated, and someone (possibly several someones) is making catastrophically poor choices.
In other words: the thriller is doing what thrillers do best.
And Mark will start spilling details only when the finish line is in sight.
Until then… someone, somewhere, is about to regret something deeply.
How to Disappear in Plain Sight (Without a Q Branch Budget)
Disappearing isn’t about vanishing—it’s about confidence. From Angelina Jolie’s cool-headed makeover in Salt to Natasha Romanoff’s mall-date sleight of hand, the best spies don’t run; they blend. In fiction, that kind of composure is thrilling to watch—and in Fall From Grace, Thomas Billings is about to need every trick in the book.
Back in the Trenches: Fall From Grace Begins
Back in the trenches: I’ve started writing Fall From Grace, Book 2 in the Thomas Billings thrillers. Thomas and Grace head to London for an audience with the Queen—then get yanked into Establishment crosshairs. Expect chases, betrayals, and the kind of moral gray that leaves even “good guys” guessing.
So, You’ve Spoken (and I’m Listening… Mostly)
From SRP Author Mark Posey: Well, my friends, the ballots have been counted, the hanging chads examined, and unlike certain