Kinsey Millhone I Is For Innocent (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries (Books On Tape)) Compare Prices

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as of 2012-11-05 11:25 AM

Kinsey Millhone S Is For Silence Signed/Autographed (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) On Amazon

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as of 2012-09-27 11:13 AM

The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series Author, Sue Grafton, Author Biographies

Sue Grafton was born on April 24, 1940 in Louisville, Kentucky where she and her sister were also raised.Her parents were Attorney C.W.Grafton and Vivian Harnsberger Grafton.Her father also wrote in his spare time had four mysteries published.After graduating with a BA in English Literature from the University of Louisville in 1961, Sue worked in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, California, cashier, medical secretary and hospital admissions clerk.Although she started writing when she was 18 years old, she wasnít published until 1967.She started writing screenplays, Television movies, and television pilots.Sue is married to Steven F.Humphries and has three children from previous marriages.She was in the middle of a divorce in the 1980ís when she started writing her Kinsey Millhone books.She joking says, "Your homicidal urges can be turned to good in this world.Donít let that ex-husband get you down! Just start a new job.".Sue Grafton lives in Santa Barbara where her Kinsey Millhone Protagonist lives, but she has renamed it Santa Theresa in the books.Many years ago another author, Ross Madonald, also set his protagonist, Lew Archer, in Santa Theresa.Sue says that when she first did book signings, most of the people in line were women, but now there are at least as many men if not more.She is not a gender neutral writer.Sue was writing one book a year but decided that was too much, so now she publishes a book about every eighteen months.She says that when she dies, she will leave all of her papers to Boston University.She absolutely refuses to let Hollywood get hold of Kinsey Millhone.Books by Sue Grafton. Kinsey Millhone Series. A is for Alibi (1982) B is for Burglar (1985) C is for Corpse (1986) D is for Deadbeat (1987) E is for Evidence (1988) F is for Fugitive (1989) G is for Gumshoe (1990) H is for Homicide (1991) I is for Innocent (1992) J is for Judgement (1993) K is for Killer (1994) L is for Lawless (1995) M is for Malice (1996) N is for Noose (1998) O is for Outlaw (1999) P is for Peril (2000) Q is for Quarry (2002) R is for Ricochet (2004) S is for Silence (2005) T is for Trespass (2007) U is for Undertow (2009).Kinsey Millhone Omnibus. Three Complete Novels 1. A, B and C (1990) Three Complete Novels 2. D, E and F (2001) Three Complete Novels 3. G, H and I (2002) Three Complete Novels 4. J, K and L (2007) Three Complete Novels 5. M, N and O (2008).Stand Alone Novels. Keziah Dane (1967) The Lolly-Madonna War (1998).Anthologies Edited. The Best American Mystery Stories. 1998 (1998) with Otto Penzler.Nonfiction. Writing Mysteries. A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (2002).Sue Grafton is well known for the meticulous and painstaking research she does for each book.Her entire series takes place in the 1980's, so she has to make sure she doesn't get ahead of herself (hmm.No cell phones.).Of course, that means Kinsey Millhone stays in her 30's, too.

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Book Review-O is For Outlaw

O is For Outlaw.By Sue Grafton.Category. Fiction / Mystery.318 pages; ISBN. 0805059555.I once read the first eight installments of Grafton's alphabet series in three days.That's a fact, too, as I had discovered Grafton with the publication of I is for Innocent and heard so many good things about that book.Naturally I wanted to familiarize myself with the series so, since I don't like to read books out of order, picked up A through H at a used bookstore and zip! This, of course, happened in the days when I was living at home, before I was forced to find gainful employment.I'll say right now that I enjoyed the first half of Grafton's alphabet immensely.Her private detective -- twice-divorced, wisecracking Kinsey Millhone of Santa Teresa, California -- is truly a legend in the hardboiled mystery genre.Kinsey's narrative is concise and acerbic, though at times annoying considering she presents the reader with every detail of her activities on and off the job.This, however, should be typical of a private detective whose bread and meat is earned through minute accuracy.That said, it is also known among fellow Kinsey fans that her personal life is rarely presented in such a manner -- mentions of her failed marriages were dismissed in brief aside in earlier novels, and Kinsey's long-lost family didn't emerge until somewhere around K.We eventually meet hubby number two (I forget which book), but number one was, until O, a mystery.Technically, in O, he still is, as Kinsey discovers in this installment that he is missing; a phone call from a storage bin scavenger wanting to sell back elementary school mementos sparks a private investigation with no payoff -- at least not a monetary one.Bitter memories of her split with her first ex emerge as Kinsey delves deeper into a case for which there is no true client and the only payoff stands to be the redemption of past sins committed by Number One, as well as Kinsey herself.O is for Outlaw is a definite improvement from predecessor N, which disappointed me with a plodding storyline and unsympathetic characters.Grafton herself appears to be on the track to redemption with her readers by recreating the eclectic atmosphere that made the earlier stories so endearing (the elderly apartment managers, for one, were a hoot).I think Kinsey fans will want to stick around for P.

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Kinsey Millhone Where Can I Buy "G" Is For Gumshoe (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Kinsey Millhone See "G" is for Gumshoe (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) [Hardcover] Details

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as of 2012-09-26 11:13 PM

Fiction - Using the Same Characters in Different Stories

In the planning stage of a story, most writers do not include the same character and even the same type of a character, even though creating a good quirky character is a job and an already created one can be unproblematic.This is because writers write for the challenge of creating original work, and if they cannot face that challenge properly, their writing does not make sense to them.If so, why do we find the same character in several books or in series of books in the writings of the most noted authors, then?This is because the practice of using the same protagonist, antagonist, or even a secondary character can be very successful with character driven stories.The author, after creating the character, lives with him for a long time, and that character becomes somewhat of a friend who haunts the author, telling him he has so much more to say.In addition, the author may want to show the change in a special character over a longer period of time than one or two stories can allow.Let us take as an example a twenty-first century character, Odd Thomas, who has appeared in successive books of the very popular novelist, Dean Koontz.When the reader is first introduced to him, Odd Thomas is a twenty-one year old short-order cook.What is odd about Odd Thomas is that, being psychic, he sees ghosts.Driven by his sixth sense and disturbed by the atrocity of events, Odd Thomas brings the murders and the mysteries to light and seeks peace at the end of each novel.Because Odd Thomas is a good but quirky person and has something otherworldly about him, he entertains the reader and possibly the writer as well.What's more, since the other characters in Dean Koontz's books are so perfectly drawn, this one familiar character does not bore the reader.Another reason to use the same character in successive stories has to do with the reader's feelings.Especially in mystery stories, when the readers are fond of a detective, they see that detective not only as the solver of the mystery, but also as the witness to their reading and the friend with whom they have shared other exciting mysteries.A few examples for this type of detectives are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Tim Dorsey's Detective Mahoney, and Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar, better known as The Saint.On the negative side, sometimes, the writer finds out that the character he so lovingly created cannot go through major changes after a few stories in a row.Although the character may still show some deep-seated problems, he has everything worked out in the earlier stories already.Therefore, the writer downgrades the character to a steadfast one who needs other troublemaker characters to pep up the story at hand.If the other characters cannot do the job, then the writer and his stories are in trouble.A writer must never forget that the reader's attention is the most important thing to capture and keep.Sometimes, out of sloth or greed, the writer uses the same character with the same psychological traits but with different physical ones.Although the writer may give the character a different name and change a few things about him, the character and the stories can lose their readers easily, since readers are quick to catch on to the writers' shortcomings especially when the writers are not being true to their craft.To avoid the downfall from such a practice, a writer needs to perfect his character drawing skills.Then, even if he decides to keep his favorite character inside several stories in a row, he can surround him with other remarkable characters that can spice up and carry his stories.

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Fiction - Using the Same Characters in Different Stories

In the planning stage of a story, most writers do not include the same character and even the same type of a character, even though creating a good quirky character is a job and an already created one can be unproblematic.This is because writers write for the challenge of creating original work, and if they cannot face that challenge properly, their writing does not make sense to them.If so, why do we find the same character in several books or in series of books in the writings of the most noted authors, then?This is because the practice of using the same protagonist, antagonist, or even a secondary character can be very successful with character driven stories.The author, after creating the character, lives with him for a long time, and that character becomes somewhat of a friend who haunts the author, telling him he has so much more to say.In addition, the author may want to show the change in a special character over a longer period of time than one or two stories can allow.Let us take as an example a twenty-first century character, Odd Thomas, who has appeared in successive books of the very popular novelist, Dean Koontz.When the reader is first introduced to him, Odd Thomas is a twenty-one year old short-order cook.What is odd about Odd Thomas is that, being psychic, he sees ghosts.Driven by his sixth sense and disturbed by the atrocity of events, Odd Thomas brings the murders and the mysteries to light and seeks peace at the end of each novel.Because Odd Thomas is a good but quirky person and has something otherworldly about him, he entertains the reader and possibly the writer as well.What's more, since the other characters in Dean Koontz's books are so perfectly drawn, this one familiar character does not bore the reader.Another reason to use the same character in successive stories has to do with the reader's feelings.Especially in mystery stories, when the readers are fond of a detective, they see that detective not only as the solver of the mystery, but also as the witness to their reading and the friend with whom they have shared other exciting mysteries.A few examples for this type of detectives are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Tim Dorsey's Detective Mahoney, and Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar, better known as The Saint.On the negative side, sometimes, the writer finds out that the character he so lovingly created cannot go through major changes after a few stories in a row.Although the character may still show some deep-seated problems, he has everything worked out in the earlier stories already.Therefore, the writer downgrades the character to a steadfast one who needs other troublemaker characters to pep up the story at hand.If the other characters cannot do the job, then the writer and his stories are in trouble.A writer must never forget that the reader's attention is the most important thing to capture and keep.Sometimes, out of sloth or greed, the writer uses the same character with the same psychological traits but with different physical ones.Although the writer may give the character a different name and change a few things about him, the character and the stories can lose their readers easily, since readers are quick to catch on to the writers' shortcomings especially when the writers are not being true to their craft.To avoid the downfall from such a practice, a writer needs to perfect his character drawing skills.Then, even if he decides to keep his favorite character inside several stories in a row, he can surround him with other remarkable characters that can spice up and carry his stories.

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