I was born in Alpine, Texas, which means the desert is in my blood whether I want it there or not. I live in Marfa — and if you know Marfa, you already know something about me.

I write things. Dark fiction. True crime. Kitchen dispatches from the back of the house. Sometimes all three in the same week, which is either a gift or a problem depending on who you ask.

My books live in the shadows of West Texas — gothic short fiction set right here where I eat breakfast, a domestic thriller that will make you look twice at the person you love, and a true crime series that refuses to let victims get swallowed by their killers. I care deeply about getting things right and getting things real.

When I'm not writing, I'm in a kitchen. I take food seriously — where it comes from, what it does to people, what it means to feed someone well. The Caliche Kitchen is where I write about all of that.

I'm not here to be another author with a perfectly curated brand and a photo on a beach somewhere. I'm a West Texas woman who writes about what lives in the dark, what's true, and what tastes good. I think that's worth following.

Pull up a chair.

— Leslie