Favorite Authors - Continued

The thing I love about Rex Stout is that he is a writer whose work has stood the test of time.  His stories are just as entertaining and exciting now as they were when they were written in the 1930s all the way up to the 1970s.  His main character Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin are two of the most well written and interesting people you will ever have the pleasure to meet. 

Stout was born in 1886 and died in 1975.  I can only imagine how wonderful it was to experience life over the course of the changing of the century and millennium when there was so much technological and social changes.  When we baby boomers witnessed our own century/millennium change it was without quite the same impact as the horses to jet planes that the 19^th to 20^th had.

The Nero Wolfe novels have everything you could want.  A good mystery wrapped around wonderful characters and interesting circumstances.  Gourmet food, orchid growing, clever, snappy dialogue and interplay that rivals Aaron Sorkin, and language that plays to the fact that readers are smart and ”get it.”  Stout mixed social commentary into his stories too, but he did not beat the reader over the head with it.  His political opinions landed him on the FBI watch list during the McCarthy era, but he continued to make his points none the less and stirred them into the mix so that the reader could take it or leave it and not miss a beat in the story.  His views were not the main focus of the stories, more like asides that added to his characters more than preached to the reader.

I discovered the Stout books in college at the end of his life and was thrilled to go on a treasure hunt to find all that I could.  I had a great appetite for them and cobbled them up as fast as I could find them and then re-read them again, enjoying every savory bite.

If you have not read a Stout novel, or only seen the TV shows of Nero Wolfe stories (Timothy Hutton was a great Archie Goodwin by the way) do yourself a favor and read the books, they are a treat.

I READ IT FOR THE ARTICLES

I have had a subscription to PLAYBOY magazine for as long as I have had the resources to pay for it.  In fact I can’t remember a time when I purchased it in a store.  My entire adult life I have had it delivered to my door and looked forward to it arriving every month.  In these times of unlimited access to any form of image imaginable (thanks to the Internet) I can say with a straight face and total truthfulness that I get PLAYBOY magazine so that I can read the articles. 

That used to be a joke of course.  Why would any person of the male gender pay good money to “read” a magazine like PLAYBOY?  The answer is quite complex.  At the root is the fact that the magazine is well written.  Even the stories that go along with the pictures of women in various states of undress are well written.  Now don’t get me wrong; I DO look at the pictures, but usually with an eye for the photographic skill or curiosity at the latest celebrity who decides that it would be a good career move to pose for the magazine sans clothes.  But the point is that the pictures are not my main motivation in obtaining the magazine.  It takes me on the average about an hour to read everything in PLAYBOY I wish to read.  Of that time I spend maybe 2 minutes looking at the pictures, maybe. 

The other factor, in the magazine being more satisfying to read than look at the pictures, is because, quite frankly, the pictures are boring.  Airbrushed (Photoshopped) to perfection they do not represent the girl next door, but rather the “fantasy” of the girl next door.  Now these images might be exciting to teenage boys or even young adult males looking to make their way in the world, but I believe a well grounded “Adult” male knows what the reality is and even bachelor “players” know that the a real woman does not look like that.  It’s like looking at a picture taken by the Hubble telescope.  It might be pretty to look at, but I’m never going to be able to get there, really.

So, “What kind of man reads PLAYBOY?”  I think…..All kinds; and some women too.  The articles are insightful, informative, educational, entertaining, and sometimes sexy and titillating.  (A lot more than the pictures.)  Exactly what a good magazine should be.  They take contributions from some of the best writers in the world.  They cover a variety of subjects including current events and past history, politics, fashion, sports, humor, celebrity, sexuality and media entertainment.  And if you agree with Mr. Hefner’s politics and philosophies or not, his editorials do provide some food for thought, and invite debate, if nothing else.  That’s why I read the articles.  They are a Good Read, and worth the 40 bucks a year.  The pictures are just an added bonus.

Favorite Authors 3

One of my favorite authors is a relatively lesser known guy named James Swain.  He writes a series of Detective mysteries.  He actually writes a couple but I really like his "Tony Valentine" series.  Tony is an ex-cop, private investigator in Atlantic City who specializes in "cheaters" who rip off casinos and other navarious, dastardly deeds. 

Mr. Swain's obvious expertise in the subject of gambling, and the crimes and characters that go with it, makes this series entertaining and believable and exciting.   His hero characters are well defined and human; with flaws to go with their heroics.  His bad guys are really bad and his plots are not so technical as to be confusing but rather have just enough insight into the methods used by cheaters to be interesting.

I like the glitz and glamour of the casino locales mixed with the seedy underbelly of the criminal goings on.

I just wish there were more of them.  I really enjoy Tony's adventures.  I wish Mr. Swain a lot of luck in the future, and I am sure he is happy to be on my humble Favorites list.

DEATH is EASY, COMEDY IS HARD !

George Carlin once said that he believed that his comedy was successful because he spoke of things that were Universal.  When you can relate, it's funny.  When you can think, "Been there, done that," the story is humorous.  That's why bodily functions always get a laugh, everyone does it!  When it comes to writing a humorous scene I try to keep that in mind.  I try to sprinkle humor into all of my writing.  I am not looking for the laugh out loud, I just like it when there is a smile once in a while to go with the drama/action/ or whatever else I am offering up.



There is a crop of reality video clip shows on TV right now that are extremely funny.  They are Sophomoric at best, but they are always good for a laugh.  (Who can keep from laughing when someone takes a pratfall?)  It is a lot easier to watch something funny than it is to read somethin funny.  Seeing a pie in the face always gets a laugh, but try incorporating a scene in a story describing a pie in the face: reading about it is not so funny.  The reader might smile at it (I doubt it) but seeing it makes it so much funnier.



Smart banter and dialogue is a writer's “pie in the face.”  Reading sharp conversations, with humorous interaction between characters makes the reader smile.  Aaron Sorkin is a master at this.  His dialogue is wonderfully quick and witty.  How great it would be to think of those great things to say in everyday conversation.  Of course he is lucky, he writes so actors can say his words and audiences get to see and hear the funny.  It makes it easier to get the laugh but not easier to write.  Sorkin is one of my favorite writers and he deserves every accolade he has ever received, in my opinion.



I don’t wish to write like Aaron Sorkin, I strive to write in my own style, but I try to add humor to my story, the way he does, without being trite, crass or silly.  Comedy is hard, comedy dialogue is harder still. 

RIP George, thanks for the funny.

A short primer on electronic reading

What wonderful times we live in! We can communicate from almost anywhere, access information that used to take forever to find, and be entertained by a variety of devices that were science fiction a few short decades ago. 

Convenience is the watchword of the day and one of the biggest advances in the digital age is the “e-Reader.” Powerful devices that connect to traditional booksellers through the Internet and allows potential readers to access countless books, magazines, newspaper and other print media with the push of a button. These devices are sometimes scorned by some purists who lament the lack of the feel and the smell of paper but the bottom line is the e-Reader is here to stay and it has changed the way we read and purchase the printed word. 

Amazon has a Kindle. Barnes & Noble has a Nook. Sony has a Reader and there are other companies who have their own versions. But you don’t need one of these gadgets to read e-books. If you all ready have an iPod/iPad or any desktop/laptop computer, tablet or smart phone, you can access e-books. There’s an App for that! 

What used to be delivered on some sort of media, like a CD or a floppy disc (remember those?) can now be streamed to any device that has access to the Internet. No waiting, instant gratification—all at a reduced price, because there is no box or CD to drive the cost of production up.

So, if you have one of these magical devices, you can be reading almost any book your heart desires in a matter of minutes, and in some instances seconds. They can be purchased in most cases at less than an actual book costs, and sometimes for free. Just download the App from Amazon or Apple and have a great read.

Favorite Authors Part 2

Long before there was John Grisham and Tom Clancy there was Alistair Stuart MacLean.  He was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 21, 1922 and he was the son of a Scottish Minister.  He died in Munich, Germany in February 2, 1987 and was buried Celigny, Switzerland. In his final years he was destroyed by alcoholism.  He once said that he wrote fast, taking only thirty-five days to complete a novel, because he disliked writing and didn't want to spend much time at it. He also claimed never to re-read his work once it was finished and to never read reviews of his books. According to the New York Post, MacLean once explained: "I'm not a novelist, I'm a storyteller. There's no art in what I do, no mystique." Despite his disclaimers, MacLean's many adventure novels sold over 30 million copies and were translated into a score of languages.

His adventure novels thrilled me as a teenager and young adult and I read and re read them, enjoying them to the fullest.  Many people would recognize his titles because they were often adapted for the movies.  (Some were successful, others not so much.)  All of his stories were character driven thrillers that were a joy on the page.

He also crossed many a genre line.  Even though all of his novels were action adventure he mixed the western of Breakheart Pass, with the war dramas Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone and its sequel Force Ten From Navarone.  Ice Station Zebra was in the frozen north as was my favorite, Night Without End. 

In Night Without End, MacLean takes the reader on a journey through the darkness that would bring murder and betrayal and cowardice.  A tale of secret identities; that is a constant puzzle to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  MacLean’s novels have stood the test of time and are just as exciting today as they were when they were first published.  They are truly excellent writing, and a joy to read.

In the 70s I was in Community College in Pasadena California, studying drama, planning to be a movie star.  (Yea…that didn’t happen.)  I was part of a small group of like minded individuals, male and female, who were seeking to make “acting” their future livelihood.  Our Drama teacher, Bruce Gill, turned our group onto a collection of short stories called Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.  It was copyright 1914……1914!  It was (and is) basically a collection of epitaphs of the people who lived and died in the town of Spoon River.  Eight of us adapted the book into a presentation that was classified as an “Oral Interpretation” of the work and took it on the road, performing in various collegiate speech tournaments.  We won a few of these contests with our combination of dramatizing Master’s free form poems, guitar music and song.  This was very edgy in the 70s, kind of a carryover from the beatnick 60s.  We were also disqualified from a few tournaments because some judges believed our presentation was more performance than pure oral interpretation of the written words.  We didn’t care, we truly were in love with the material and we reveled in the joy of performing it.  The epitaphs were emotionally moving, humorous and meaningful.  Impressionable college students ate it up with…well….with a spoon.  The thing is that the work has transcended the passage of time.  The short stories are just as relevant today as they were in 1914 when they were written, in 1972 when they were adapted by talented teenagers and today when the world is moving at a speed Masters, who passed away himself in 1950, could never have imagined. 

I pulled the book off the shelf the other day.  The 40 year old pages are yellow and brittle.  The $1.50 price tag, a badge of its age.  I think back on those times and am filled with satisfaction for the creative endeavors we undertook, proud of what we achieved in our efforts, and a strong affection for the group of boys and girls I was privileged enough to collaborate with.