Kinsey Millhone See S is for Silence Signed/Autographed (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) Details
List Price : Price :
as of 2012-09-27 11:13 AM
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Kinsey Millhone S Is For Silence Signed/Autographed (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) On Amazon
List Price : Price :
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
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
List Price : Price : $126.02
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.
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.
Kinsey Millhone What Is The Best Price For K Is For Killer (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery, Book 11) [Hardcover]
![K is for Killer (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery, Book 11) [Hardcover]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vfU0jwU1dFdSBvmJo6ZC9VIJcgVm6S4xU3JCN4kc9W4Emrf5amsci98erPFNoxOv4WVtXVr-ChgKVfkB_nOwKxmMCCwa1nbjV6gcl--k1-jBrrD3llsrZW=s0-d)
Kinsey Millhone See K is for Killer (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery, Book 11) [Hardcover] Details
List Price : Price : $114.48
as of 2012-09-26 11:12 AM
Book Review-The Well-Heeled Murders
The Well-Heeled Murders.By Cherry Hartman.Category. Fiction / Mystery.ISBN. 1883523109.Morgan McRain is not a detective, but certainly she has seen enough episodes of Murder, She Wrote to know the basic routines of searching for clues and deducing the guilty party from a list of suspects.So when the office mate of a colleague is found dead and barefoot on her psychiatric couch--the victim of a very resilient pair of pantyhose--Morgan quickly shifts her therapy practice to the back burner, puts on her imaginary hounds tooth cap and joins the hunt for the murderer, revealing in the process the seamier side of a few licensed professionals.The Well-Heeled Murders could pass for a treatment of a politically-correct MSW script--had Jessica Fletcher been a lesbian with a life partner, daughter, and homosexual "brother-in-law"/nanny.However, the addition of a green detective, Sam Reynolds, with the hots for the male nanny (how convenient!) and a subplot involving the murderer's apparent shoe fetish and a tight-knit groups of swingers, and the story is given a twist of which would incite the envious natures of Aaron Spelling.Morgan, having maintained some degree of civility with members of the exclusive swingers group (so exclusive it doesn't have a name) of which the victim was a member, agrees to assist Sam in tracking the killer, and eventually outshines the detective in both the brawn and brain departments.Hartman makes it clear that this is Morgan's case from the beginning--certain chapters even lend the possibility that Morgan is a bit more determined than the entire Portland, Oregon police force to catch the killer, and that Sam is just around to bounce off dialog and flirt with the brother-in-law.Hartman has the potential of creating an interesting mystery series with the Morgan McRain character--Morgan is witty, sensible, and has the same scrappy, down-to-earth charm that has endeared readers to the likes of Kinsey Millhone and V.I.Warshawski.Supporting characters--Morgan's partner and extended "family"--lend the warmth of a cozy home to which Morgan can regroup and bind any wounds earned from dangerous detecting.Whatever the person's sexual preference, the characters are portrayed as earnest people in a plot that holds up well.Well-Heeled is well-honed.
Classic Mystery Writer, Ross Macdonald, Author Biographies
Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym for Kenneth Millar.He was born on December 13, 1915 in Los Gatos California.His father, John Macdonald Millar, was a sometimes newspaper editor, poet and athlete, and his mother, Anne (Moyer) Millar, was a nurse.Sometime after moving the family to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, when Ross was about four years old, his father abandoned the family.While he was growing up, Ross and his mother lived off and on with various relatives.Ross, even though academically inclined, was a troubled youth.He drank and smoked too much, fought with classmates, was a petty thief and enjoyed the pool hall and gambling.Ross's father left an insurance policy that was enough to see him through four years at the University of Western Ontario where he obtained a teaching certificate.He also attended the University of Toronto for a year.He received an assistant teaching post at the University of Michigan where he also finished his schooling.He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a PHD in Literature.Ross Macdonald met Margaret Sturm, another aspiring author, while in high school.They reconnected and married in 1938.Their only daughter, Linda, died in 1970.Ross joined the U.S Navy during WWII and was stationed in the Pacific off the coast of southern California.When Margaret came to visit him, she fell in love with the area and made the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara their home.Ross Macdonald places his protagonist, the philosophic rough edged private detective, Lew Archer, in Santa Barbara, but changed the name to Santa Theresa.Many years later another mystery writer, Sue Grafton, did the same thing with her character, female private detective Kinsey Millhone.Sue Grafton wrote an introduction for the book, "Ross Macdonald, a Biography," by Tom Nolan.Ross started his writing career under his given name.His wife was to become prominent as a suspense writer under the name Margaret Millar, so he started writing under the name John Ross Macdonald.Later he shortened it to Ross Macdonald because of possible confusion with another author, John D.Macdonald.Although Ross earned good reviews throughout his writing career, it wasn't until the publishing of "The Goodbye Look" in 1969 that he became a best selling author in the United States as well as in Europe.In 1973 The Mystery Writers of America named him Grand Master.In 1981, Ross Macdonald was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.He died in Santa Barbara on July 11, 1983.Books by Ross Macdonald..Series. Chet Gordon (as Kenneth Millar) The Dark Tunnel (1944) Trouble Follows Me (1946).Lew Archer The Moving Target (1949) The Drowning Pool (1950) The Way Some People Die (1951) The Ivory Grin (1952) Find a Victim (1954) The Barbarous Coast (1956) The Doomsters (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1958) The Galton Case (1959) The Wycherly Woman (1961) The Zebra-Striped Hearse (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1962) The Chill (1964) The Far Side of the Dollar (1965) Black Money (1966) The Instant Enemy (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1968) The Goodbye Look (1969) (The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1971) Sleeping Beauty (1973) The Blue Hammer (1976) The Name is Archer (1955) Archer in Hollywood (omnibus) (1967) Lew Archer, Private Investigator 1977).Omnibus. Archer at Large (1970) The Lew Archer Volume One (1993) The Lew Archer Volume Two (1994) The Lew Archer Volume Three (1997).Stand Alone Novels. Blue City (1947) (As Kenneth Millar) The Three Roads (1948) Meet Me at the Morgue (1954) The Ferguson Affair (1960) Archer in Jeopardy (1979).Collections. Strangers in Town. Three Newly Discovered Mysteries (2001).
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Kinsey Millhone Price Comparisons For K Is For Killer (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery)
Kinsey Millhone See K Is For Killer (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery) Details
List Price : Price :
as of 2012-09-25 11:11 PM
Product Description
1st U.S. Hardcover Edition
Classic Suspense Writer - Margaret Millar - Author Biographies
Santa Barbara shows up consistently in Margaret Millar's books, but is often named San Felicia or San Felice.Many years later another prominent mystery writer, Sue Grafton, did the same thing with her character, female private detective Kinsey Millhone, naming the town Santa Theresa.Margaret Millar was born Margaret Ellis Sturm on February 5, 1915, in Kitchner, Ontario.She was educated there and in Toronto where she studied the classics.Margaret met Kenneth Millar, another aspiring writer, while in high school.They reconnected In college and married in 1938.Their only daughter, Linda, died in 1970.Margaret said she began publishing under her married name, Margaret Millar, because of the title of her first book (Worm, Sturm).While she was to become a prominent suspense writer, her books were never big sellers.She was a very private person and abhorred interviews.After Margaret's husband published a couple of books under his own name, he changed to the pseudonym, John Ross Macdonald then to Ross Macdonald.Margaret's husband joined the U.S Navy during WWII and was stationed in the Pacific off the coast of southern California.When Margaret came to visit him, she fell in love with the area and they made the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara their home.Between 1945 and 1946, Margaret worked at Warner Brothers as a screenwriter.It was during this time that Warner Brothers bought the option on her book, 'The Iron Gate,' but it never was produced.During the 1960s, two of Margaret's novels were adapted for the television series, 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents.'.It's been said of Margaret's work, "Her novels are prized for their psychological penetration of the hearts and minds of murderers." Margaret also wrote a non fiction book about the birds and animals she observed.Along with her husband, she founded a chapter of the Audubon Society.Margaret was presented the prestigious Edgar Award by the Mystery writers of America in1955 for Best Novel, for 'A Beast in View.' In 1965, she was named Woman of the Year by 'Los Angeles Times.' She was also awarded the Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1982 and the Derrick Murdoch Award in 1986.Margaret died of a heart attack on March 26, 1994, at her home in Santa Barbara.One of her favorite quotes was, "Life is something that happens to you while you are making other plans." Unfortunately, very few of her books are still in print.Books by Margaret Millar..Novels..The Invisible Worm (1941) The Devil Loves Me (1942) The Weak-Eyed Bat (1942) Wall of Eyes (1943) Fire Will Freeze (1944) Taste of Fears (1945) The Iron Gate (1945) Experiment in Springtime (1947) It's All in the Family (1948) The Cannibal Heart (1949) Do Evil in Return (1950) Rose's Last Summer (1952) Vanish in an Instant (1952) Wives and Lovers (1954) Beast in View (1955) The Soft Talkers (1957) The Listening Walls (1959) A Stranger in My Grave (1969) How Like an Angel (1962) The Friend (1964) Beyond This Point Are Monsters (1970) The Friend (1974) Ask For Me Tomorrow (1976) The Murder of Miranda (1979) Mermaid (1981) Banshee (1983) Spider Webs (1986).Omnibus. An Air That Kills/Do Evil in Return (2006).Non Fiction. The Birds and the Beasts Were There (1968).Short Stories. The Couple Next Door (1954) Radiant Flower of the Divine Heavens (1998) The Couple Next Door. Collected Short Mysteries (2004).
Book Review-The Well-Heeled Murders
The Well-Heeled Murders.By Cherry Hartman.Category. Fiction / Mystery.ISBN. 1883523109.Morgan McRain is not a detective, but certainly she has seen enough episodes of Murder, She Wrote to know the basic routines of searching for clues and deducing the guilty party from a list of suspects.So when the office mate of a colleague is found dead and barefoot on her psychiatric couch--the victim of a very resilient pair of pantyhose--Morgan quickly shifts her therapy practice to the back burner, puts on her imaginary hounds tooth cap and joins the hunt for the murderer, revealing in the process the seamier side of a few licensed professionals.The Well-Heeled Murders could pass for a treatment of a politically-correct MSW script--had Jessica Fletcher been a lesbian with a life partner, daughter, and homosexual "brother-in-law"/nanny.However, the addition of a green detective, Sam Reynolds, with the hots for the male nanny (how convenient!) and a subplot involving the murderer's apparent shoe fetish and a tight-knit groups of swingers, and the story is given a twist of which would incite the envious natures of Aaron Spelling.Morgan, having maintained some degree of civility with members of the exclusive swingers group (so exclusive it doesn't have a name) of which the victim was a member, agrees to assist Sam in tracking the killer, and eventually outshines the detective in both the brawn and brain departments.Hartman makes it clear that this is Morgan's case from the beginning--certain chapters even lend the possibility that Morgan is a bit more determined than the entire Portland, Oregon police force to catch the killer, and that Sam is just around to bounce off dialog and flirt with the brother-in-law.Hartman has the potential of creating an interesting mystery series with the Morgan McRain character--Morgan is witty, sensible, and has the same scrappy, down-to-earth charm that has endeared readers to the likes of Kinsey Millhone and V.I.Warshawski.Supporting characters--Morgan's partner and extended "family"--lend the warmth of a cozy home to which Morgan can regroup and bind any wounds earned from dangerous detecting.Whatever the person's sexual preference, the characters are portrayed as earnest people in a plot that holds up well.Well-Heeled is well-honed.
Kinsey Millhone Buy U Is For Undertow (Kinsey Millhone) [Audio CD] Online
![U Is For Undertow (Kinsey Millhone) [Audio CD]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uZAbAlRtKS-IjKGYA105HwUpTeenDb3tmRCNywXdRYxyafyi5lAc2VbOmACZefe1m9d7w3vibxsecA-yv9mY-R7FxlfGG-oDJTlUs7oiiUi9HoS75-_NMO=s0-d)
Kinsey Millhone See U Is For Undertow (Kinsey Millhone) [Audio CD] Details
List Price : Price : $138.32
as of 2012-09-25 11:10 AM
Classic Mystery Writer, Ross Macdonald, Author Biographies
Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym for Kenneth Millar.He was born on December 13, 1915 in Los Gatos California.His father, John Macdonald Millar, was a sometimes newspaper editor, poet and athlete, and his mother, Anne (Moyer) Millar, was a nurse.Sometime after moving the family to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, when Ross was about four years old, his father abandoned the family.While he was growing up, Ross and his mother lived off and on with various relatives.Ross, even though academically inclined, was a troubled youth.He drank and smoked too much, fought with classmates, was a petty thief and enjoyed the pool hall and gambling.Ross's father left an insurance policy that was enough to see him through four years at the University of Western Ontario where he obtained a teaching certificate.He also attended the University of Toronto for a year.He received an assistant teaching post at the University of Michigan where he also finished his schooling.He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a PHD in Literature.Ross Macdonald met Margaret Sturm, another aspiring author, while in high school.They reconnected and married in 1938.Their only daughter, Linda, died in 1970.Ross joined the U.S Navy during WWII and was stationed in the Pacific off the coast of southern California.When Margaret came to visit him, she fell in love with the area and made the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara their home.Ross Macdonald places his protagonist, the philosophic rough edged private detective, Lew Archer, in Santa Barbara, but changed the name to Santa Theresa.Many years later another mystery writer, Sue Grafton, did the same thing with her character, female private detective Kinsey Millhone.Sue Grafton wrote an introduction for the book, "Ross Macdonald, a Biography," by Tom Nolan.Ross started his writing career under his given name.His wife was to become prominent as a suspense writer under the name Margaret Millar, so he started writing under the name John Ross Macdonald.Later he shortened it to Ross Macdonald because of possible confusion with another author, John D.Macdonald.Although Ross earned good reviews throughout his writing career, it wasn't until the publishing of "The Goodbye Look" in 1969 that he became a best selling author in the United States as well as in Europe.In 1973 The Mystery Writers of America named him Grand Master.In 1981, Ross Macdonald was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.He died in Santa Barbara on July 11, 1983.Books by Ross Macdonald..Series. Chet Gordon (as Kenneth Millar) The Dark Tunnel (1944) Trouble Follows Me (1946).Lew Archer The Moving Target (1949) The Drowning Pool (1950) The Way Some People Die (1951) The Ivory Grin (1952) Find a Victim (1954) The Barbarous Coast (1956) The Doomsters (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1958) The Galton Case (1959) The Wycherly Woman (1961) The Zebra-Striped Hearse (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1962) The Chill (1964) The Far Side of the Dollar (1965) Black Money (1966) The Instant Enemy (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1968) The Goodbye Look (1969) (The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1971) Sleeping Beauty (1973) The Blue Hammer (1976) The Name is Archer (1955) Archer in Hollywood (omnibus) (1967) Lew Archer, Private Investigator 1977).Omnibus. Archer at Large (1970) The Lew Archer Volume One (1993) The Lew Archer Volume Two (1994) The Lew Archer Volume Three (1997).Stand Alone Novels. Blue City (1947) (As Kenneth Millar) The Three Roads (1948) Meet Me at the Morgue (1954) The Ferguson Affair (1960) Archer in Jeopardy (1979).Collections. Strangers in Town. Three Newly Discovered Mysteries (2001).
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.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Kinsey Millhone Bargain E Is For Evidence (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mystery Series)
Kinsey Millhone See E Is for Evidence (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mystery Series) Details
List Price : Price :
as of 2012-09-24 10:01 PM
Use Great Books for Teaching Grammar to TEFL Learners
You begin to speak, "Today's grammar focus lesson will be on ." Your EFL learners groan aloud interrupting you."Oh no, grammar again?", they chant, almost in unison.You're not exactly all that enthused yourself, but what can you do? It's in the program.Grammar teaching is almost always in demand and often difficult to tackle.In the article, "Three Fun Ideas for Teaching Grammar to TEFL Learners" we discussed the use of such aids as games, movie clips, radio and CDs / DVDs to generate fun, interesting grammar-teaching activities.But let's not stop there.Another useful source for creating grammar reinforcement activities learners will love comes from the heat of language itself - Literature."All the world's a stage" if you have access at all to contemporary novels or classic literature.Here are some ideas for using literature to break out of a slump.We'll start with contemporary novels.Contemporary Novels.From Harry Potter to Kinsey Millhone and Jack Ryan, there is a treasure-trove of characters waiting to teach your language learners English grammar.Since these, and many other characters, are so willing, why should you do it? If you're like me - you let Harry, Kinsey or Jack do the job for you.They don't even ask for part of your pay.Now isn't that nice of them?Here's what you do.Pick a page or passage.Work the grammar in it.Make it into dialogues, scenes and skits.Practice it aloud.Change it.Rewrite it.Have fun with it.By the way, use props, realia, costumes, sound effects and sets if you can.They needn't be elaborate to be effective.A cape, a hat, a cane, a telephone, a doll, a flashlight, bag or bottle can do wonders for a simple dialogue.By all means do make a "production" out it.Not only will your learners not object, they'll likely ask, "Can we do this again, teacher?" You answer of course, will be .Classic Literature.Everybody loves Shakespeare."Romeo and Juliet" has been repeated in theme countless times.The question, "Can I have more, Sir?" starts off a series of events that has spawned movies, documentaries, children's versions, plays and idealism that has intrigued millions for centuries.The list of great books is more than lengthy enough to generate scores of ideas and opportunities for productive grammar work with your learners.Let Alice and her friends, characters from Shakespeare and fairy tales give you the hand you need in getting grammar in context across to your learners.You or your learners can create a dialogue between Hansel and Gretel, the three little pigs and the wolf, Cinderella and her Stepmother or the Prince.The list could go on and on.You see? "It's elementary, my dear Watson.".By the way, if you don't know who Harry Potter is, well what planet have you been living on? Kinsey Milhone? She's the fiercely independent lady detective created by Sue Grafton.Author Tom Clancy produced CIA operative Jack Ryan who rambles, sometimes rather recklessly, through several of his novels.Let these and countless other characters provide the fodder for dialogues your learners will relish.Leave that dry course book stuff for the lames.
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.
Kinsey Millhone Buy Hardcover:B IS FOR BURGLAR - Alphabet Series - A Kinsey Millhone Mystery
Kinsey Millhone See Hardcover:B IS FOR BURGLAR - Alphabet Series - A Kinsey Millhone Mystery Details
List Price : Price : $248.90
as of 2012-09-24 10:01 AM
Classic Mystery Writer, Ross Macdonald, Author Biographies
Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym for Kenneth Millar.He was born on December 13, 1915 in Los Gatos California.His father, John Macdonald Millar, was a sometimes newspaper editor, poet and athlete, and his mother, Anne (Moyer) Millar, was a nurse.Sometime after moving the family to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, when Ross was about four years old, his father abandoned the family.While he was growing up, Ross and his mother lived off and on with various relatives.Ross, even though academically inclined, was a troubled youth.He drank and smoked too much, fought with classmates, was a petty thief and enjoyed the pool hall and gambling.Ross's father left an insurance policy that was enough to see him through four years at the University of Western Ontario where he obtained a teaching certificate.He also attended the University of Toronto for a year.He received an assistant teaching post at the University of Michigan where he also finished his schooling.He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a PHD in Literature.Ross Macdonald met Margaret Sturm, another aspiring author, while in high school.They reconnected and married in 1938.Their only daughter, Linda, died in 1970.Ross joined the U.S Navy during WWII and was stationed in the Pacific off the coast of southern California.When Margaret came to visit him, she fell in love with the area and made the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara their home.Ross Macdonald places his protagonist, the philosophic rough edged private detective, Lew Archer, in Santa Barbara, but changed the name to Santa Theresa.Many years later another mystery writer, Sue Grafton, did the same thing with her character, female private detective Kinsey Millhone.Sue Grafton wrote an introduction for the book, "Ross Macdonald, a Biography," by Tom Nolan.Ross started his writing career under his given name.His wife was to become prominent as a suspense writer under the name Margaret Millar, so he started writing under the name John Ross Macdonald.Later he shortened it to Ross Macdonald because of possible confusion with another author, John D.Macdonald.Although Ross earned good reviews throughout his writing career, it wasn't until the publishing of "The Goodbye Look" in 1969 that he became a best selling author in the United States as well as in Europe.In 1973 The Mystery Writers of America named him Grand Master.In 1981, Ross Macdonald was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.He died in Santa Barbara on July 11, 1983.Books by Ross Macdonald..Series. Chet Gordon (as Kenneth Millar) The Dark Tunnel (1944) Trouble Follows Me (1946).Lew Archer The Moving Target (1949) The Drowning Pool (1950) The Way Some People Die (1951) The Ivory Grin (1952) Find a Victim (1954) The Barbarous Coast (1956) The Doomsters (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1958) The Galton Case (1959) The Wycherly Woman (1961) The Zebra-Striped Hearse (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1962) The Chill (1964) The Far Side of the Dollar (1965) Black Money (1966) The Instant Enemy (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1968) The Goodbye Look (1969) (The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (1971) Sleeping Beauty (1973) The Blue Hammer (1976) The Name is Archer (1955) Archer in Hollywood (omnibus) (1967) Lew Archer, Private Investigator 1977).Omnibus. Archer at Large (1970) The Lew Archer Volume One (1993) The Lew Archer Volume Two (1994) The Lew Archer Volume Three (1997).Stand Alone Novels. Blue City (1947) (As Kenneth Millar) The Three Roads (1948) Meet Me at the Morgue (1954) The Ferguson Affair (1960) Archer in Jeopardy (1979).Collections. Strangers in Town. Three Newly Discovered Mysteries (2001).
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.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Kinsey Millhone Who Sells The Cheapest P Is For Peril (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) On Line
Kinsey Millhone See P Is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) Details
List Price : Price :
as of 2012-09-23 10:01 PM
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)