Though it may be July, we're still excited about everything our students, alumni, and faculty got up to in February! We've got award nominations. We've got crime writing conferences. We've got films and plays and publications you won't want to miss! So check out what our team got up to in February and maybe add a few things to your reading and viewing lists!
TREY BURNETTE - Photography and Writing Published
As Palm Springs Modernism Week 2026 launches, we tour the city at night
Photographer Trey Burnette captured Palm Springs at night - we explore the city through his eyes, just as Palm Springs Modernism Week 2026 is about to launch
As Palm Springs Modernism Week 2026 approaches and the city prepares to throw itself into the West Coast's biggest celebration of midcentury architecture, tickets are being booked, and programmes are being browsed in an effort to secure a spot at many of the festival's coveted annual events. At the same time, the desert city's modernist architecture marvels are there year-round – albeit many might not be available to visit outside the Modernism Week's activities.
Enter, local photographer Trey Burnette, whose admiration for all things 20th century – and all things Palm Springs – led him to capture his home city in a unique way; photographing its midcentury offerings at night. Ahead of the Palm Springs Modernism Week 2026 launch, we caught up with him and let him take us on a journey through the city, after dusk.
Wallpaper* Article | Author Website
DANIELA RYAN - Play Read
IndieSpace with Caborca Theatre in New York put on a reading of Daniela Ryan’s play, “Only Available White Guy,” to help Equity actors qualify for health insurance.
The bilingual downtown theatre company Caborca will join forces with IndieSpace, an organization established to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to create a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community, to create the One More Equity Health Week Players, a play-reading series designed to fulfill the dual purposes of exploring new plays and securing health insurance coverage for actors and stage managers who are represented by Actors’ Equity Association.
IndieSpace and Caborca Collaboration
TOD GOLDBERG - Award Nomination
Tod Goldberg’s newest novel, “Only Way Out,” was nominated for the LA Times Book Prize in Fiction.
A luckless thief’s wrong turn becomes a crooked cop’s fortune in a wild ride of a thriller by a New York Times bestselling author.
Failed lawyer Robert Green has such a good plan: Crack three hundred safe-deposit boxes and sail off to South America with his brilliant, morally flexible sister, Penny. If it weren’t for the damned freezing rain.
In the dying resort town of Granite Shores, cop Jack Biddle is self-appointed king―mostly of bad decisions. Between his family’s crumbling legacy, a wife who just joined the city council, and life-threatening gambling debts, Jack’s looking for a way out. Then he spots a van spinning off a mountain road into the valley below. In the wreckage, Jack finds a very dead Robert, millions in heisted loot…and opportunity.
All Jack has to do is clean up the mess, disappear Robert’s body, make off with the fortune, and not get caught. One hitch is Penny. Another is Mitch Diamond, a wild card ex-con who knows more about the missing fortune than he lets on. Jack, Penny, and Mitch each have an endgame. But there’s only one way out, and they’re crashing headlong toward it.
Nomination Announcement | “Only Way Out” | Author Website
KATHRYN E. MCGEE - Notable Work Mention
Kathryn McGee’s poem “The Flavor of Decay” from "HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XI" was mentioned as a notable work in Ellen Datlow’s “The Best Horror of the Year Volume Seventeen.”
From Ellen Datlow—“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” per the New York Times—comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Mira Grant, the best horror stories available.
For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the seventeenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Tananarive Due, Carmen Maria Machado, Joe Hill, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.
With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.
"The Best Horror of the Year Vol. 17" | Author Website
JAY PAUL DERATANY - New Film
Jay Paul Deratany began work on “21 Down: The Caden Cox Story” as writer and producer.
The story of Caden Cox is about determination and hope, aiming to inspire people of all kinds, who face difficulties in their lives, so they can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and can succeed in achieving their dreams.
Emmy Award-nominated actress and producer Ashley Judd has signed on to star in "21 Down," playing Caden Cox's mother, Mari Caden. Judd will also serve as an executive producer on the film.
BRIAN ASMAN - Novel Sold to Publisher
Brian Asman’s novel “#VanDeath” was bought by Blackstone Publishing.
“Author of MAN, F*CK THIS HOUSE Brian Asman’s #VANDEATH, the story of a viral #VanLife couple who are making their latest live-streamed journey, despite the cracks in their relationship, but when another van starts following them, they find themselves facing an insidious off-the-grid threat, to Brendan Deneen at Blackstone Publishing, by Jennie Dunham at Dunham Literary (world.)” -Publishers Marketplace Deal Report
JAIME PARKER STICKLE - Moderated Panel
Jaime Parker Stickle moderated the “Thoughts on Podcasting” panel at Left Coast Crime 2026.
Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Our purpose is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.
Left Coast Crime | Author Website
LAURIE ROCKENBECK - Moderator and Panelist
Laurie Rockenbeck moderated “Following the Rules: Law Enforcement” and was a panelist on “The Private Detective” panel at Left Coast Crime 2026.
Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Our purpose is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.
Left Coast Crime | Author Website
Are you a student or alum with amazing news we should be shouting about? Email heather.scheeler@ucr.edu with all of your new awards, publications, articles, and anything else incredible that deserves a shout out!