Stephen Shaiken

I was born and raised in New York City. I began my legal career as a criminal defense lawyer with the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn and spent over three decades in private practice in San Francisco. Since retiring in 2015 I split my time between Tampa, Florida and Bangkok, Thailand. Before law school, I earned an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. I write short stories in many genres: literary, thriller, mystery, humor, science fiction. Several have been published; many are on my blog. Bangkok Shadows was my first novel. introducing American criminal lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen and his strange and eclectic friends from the mysterious NJA Club. The second book in the series, Bangkok Whispers, was released in 2020. The third, Bangkok Blues, was released in February, 2022. All are published by Crosswinds Press and are available on Amazon Kindle as e books or print editions. and is available on Amazon as an e book or in print. I am preparing for the release of a totally different type of novel, about rock and roll in New York City's outer borough of Queens in the late sixties and early seventies. It will be released later this year by Crosswinds Press. My reading tastes are eclectic. I love literary fiction. Among my favorites are Paul Auster, Mary Gordon, Ward Just, Alice Walker, Paul Theroux, Ismail Kadare, Joan Didion, E.L. Doctorow, Jennifer Egan, A.B. Yehoshua, Philip Roth. I read (and reread) past masters; Shakespeare, Melville, Crane, Poe, Fitzgerald and Shaw are among my downloads. For mystery/suspense/thriller, J.A .Vance, James Lee Burke, Loren Estleman, Walter Mosley, the late Sara Paretsky immediately come to mind. For Bangkok-based fiction, my go-to authors are Christopher Moore, Tim Hallinan, Jake Needham, and John Burdett. I continually check out new authors, traditional and self-published. Every day, some of the best new writers around are free on Amazon. I am a huge fan of post-apocalyptic and dystopian science fiction. I was hooked decades ago when I read The Stand, by Stephen King. Finally, I love poetry, especially when I can understand it. My tastes are thoroughly eclectic, with a special fondness for Beat poetry. For almost a quarter century, my law office in San Francisco was across the street from City Lights Bookstore & Publishers, owned by the great poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I was a frequent visitor. When I'm not writing (or reading), I enjoy making a fool of myself on guitar, studying Thai language, practicing yoga and communing with nature. Oh yeah, I also think, talk and write about politics and have been known to work on a campaign or two. I recently acquired an e bike and now it's a passion.