Merkin

I know, I know. Gardner wrote over 80 Perry Mason titles, and also cranked out titles under five other pen names, including A.A. Fair. Who can keep up with output like that? A dozen or so titles were published in the thirties, so I guess he qualifies as a classic mystery writer. John D. MacDonald is harder to categorize, though he is in fact my favorite writer in the mystery genre; his character Travis McGee was who I wanted to be when I grew up. (Boy, has that train left the station.) Yet MacDonald crosses the line from mystery to thriller to suspense and back to mystery, with side trips into Florida expose that is very journalistic: often all of these tropes exist within the same title. It’s hard to herd him into the group of “classic” mystery writers we’ve been resurrecting here. I still view him as fresh and contemporary. If we include MacDonald, what about Carl Hiaasen, or Dean Koontz, or even Lee Child? Where does it end? Best to stick to detectives who wear vests and grow orchids.

I'd truly like to volunteer, Nigel, because I love the story so far and respect your talent as a writer. But at my age I'm very much day-to-day and cannot make long term commitments like dating or editing.

Thank you for that great suggestion. I gave it a look, and I must say this blogger's book reviews are so detailed you don't have to go on to read the book. (Point taken. Jack Vance was no hack. I still remember the thrill from my first reading "Big Planet".)

I’m surprise there’s been no mention so far of John Dickson Carr, generally regarded (according to Wiki) as one of the greatest of the “Golden Age” mystery writers. An American living in England, Carr’s mysteries have mostly English settings, and his two best-known fictional detectives are Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale. He is also known for his biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Another mystery writer from the 1930s worth noting is Ellery Queen. Himself a fake, Queen poses both as the writer and as the central amateur detective character in over thirty books. These were actually written by two men, cousins, whose names turn out to be pen names as well. The titles set in the 1930s wear well, and remind one of Rex Stout's New York. To further cloud the trail of attribution, "Ellery Queen" became so popular that the 1950s, 60s, and 70s saw all sorts of spin-offs, including television shows, even children's books, written by all sorts of hacks.

OK, its a big pool. So where is the pool boy? Eh? Eh?

What's amazing to me is that small hands do not accommodate easily to full-size instruments, and that raises the bar even further.

Gladdens the heart. That's a remarkable mother.

Outstanding. The Boy is dancer Cody Bingham. He was 14 when he made this video.

My hands prefer paper, but my eyes demand adjustable screen typefaces.

Like Cole said, perfect ending. Loved the kitchen.

Whoa, a truly awesome list.

Absolutely! Nothing cozy about those mysteries. When I was a kid I wanted to be a detective like Nero Wolfe until I discovered how hard it was to grow orchids.

Who knew, Emu? Be wary of the emu vicious beyond belief, exceeded only by his cousin the cass for causing grief. If you’re bent to hang about with some such flightless fury be sure to wear protective gear and serve him lots of curry, for curry soothes the brutal bird by purging all his pipes and core and leaving, for the mo at least, a friendly chum with a heart that’s pure-- tho he soon reverts to savage beast plugged anew, about to burst his pants from eating all those goddam ants.

If you've ever been "beaked" by a goose or a duck, you won't be quite so casual about baring parts of your body to an emu...

Thanks for the link to the free library, James K. They have some non-terrifying gay novels too but you have to search them out. The trick is to find one such possibility, click on it, then others are suggested. I'm currently reading one, "Red, White, and Royal Blue", a bizarro novel about a budding romance between a U.S. President's son and a royal British prince.

As we all know, "Cole Parker" is actually a pseudonym for a ten-man writing team, and one of them is Robbie Rogers.

‘A new short story, "Another World," will be posted on Wednesday. Since it's somewhat different from what I have attempted before, I'll be interested in reactions. Alan’ I've been sitting out here in the woodlot since the weekend, Alan, and so far nothing.

Chapter 12. Wow. Just wow.

I think reexamining and perhaps rewriting early work is good for the soul. Cleans up those nasty unseen errors and hastily-sought expressions. However, changing the outcome of a story is perhaps a job for a sequel, rather than a ‘do over’. After all, once a writer has put a story out there, it truly has a life of its own. No small thing.

R.J.-- This is all too believable. I often take my personal frustrations out on my TV. Good thing I don't ever throw that remote!

Cue the zither, Orson! Shades of The Third Man! I’ve been hooked onto waiting impatiently for each episode of this adventure to post. Every chapter reveals more and more of a postwar Europe where the true battle for freedom has barely begun. But Cold War aside, Chapter 8 is a lovely remembrance of the J3 Piper Cub aircraft. I grew up not too many miles from the Piper production facility at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and driving by the fields adjacent to the factory you could see hundreds of parked Cubs lined up and glowing in their familiar bright canary yellow livery, awaiting delivery. I am not a pilot, but I have experienced this iconic aircraft’s sedate behavior in flight a number of times as a passenger and it was just exactly as genteel as Douglas has captured for us. It was the trainer of choice for hundreds of highschool flight clubs throughout my home state.

Kismet is up to chapter 7. The author, Lambodara, posts regularly, presents rounded and believable characters, and takes the tale in an unexpected direction that is quite satisfying. Although it slips now and then into Nifty style stroke material, Kismet is well-written around what appears to be a thoroughly planned-out unfolding that gets better and better.

Just you wait.

Loving the 'angst-o-meter'. I've already sent off to Amazon for one, and I plan to try it out over on Gay Authors...

‘This is something that just can’t be understood…’ Right on.