[2][3] Rowe's first professionally published short story was "Kin to Crows" (Realms of Fantasy, 1998).

[4] His best-known story is "The Voluntary State" (Sci Fiction, 2004),[1] which was nominated for multiple major awards.

[3] That story was followed by two sequels: "The Border State" (2017) and These Prisoning Hills (2022).

[5] His 2017 short-story collection Telling the Map received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly ("wild creativity, haunting imagery, and lyricism"), Kirkus Reviews (a "clutch of complex, persuasive visions of an alternate South"),[6] and Tor.com ("a stellar set of stories that mesh well together").

He was married to fellow author Gwenda Bond, with whom he co-authored The Supernormal Sleuthing Service book series,[8] from 2004 to 2023.