HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sir Paul!

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Even More Fun With Research

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Here's an old one, to remind me that I really do need to get back to painting. Having turned in the manuscript for the next Hollywood murder mystery just before Christmas, I've been putting together outlines for what I hope will be the next Ben January book (# 21!) and the next Hollywood book (which will take place mostly in the film industry in New York, which was just as much a center of motion picture production in the mid-'20s as Hollywood was, and a lot more fun after hours). Writing up an outline is like pre-writing the book. I, at least, have to figure out what happens, and how; who's the villain, who gets killed, and why. Any murder mystery is actually two stories: the story of the crime itself, and then the story of how Mr. Holmes or Lord Peter or Professor Tamar figures out whodunnit. And, in my case at least, to give a picture of the world, the society, in which such events take place, which is a large part of the fun. It's one reason I love historicals. ...
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Sample Post

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     A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for that in his house he had his own names for things.      He said to her, "What will you call me?"    " Master or mister, or whatever you please, sir," says she.      He said, "You must call me master of all masters . And what would you call this?" he said pointing to his bed.      "Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir."     " No, that's my barnacle . And what do you call these?" said he, pointing to his pantaloons.     "Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir."     "You must call them squibs and crackers . And what would you call her?" he said pointing to the cat.     "Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir."     "...
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Entirely Too Much Fun With Research

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  My apologies for the long hiatus, once again. In addition to finishing the usual round of line-edit + copy-edit on the next Hollywood book, Saving Susy Sweetchild, a lot of things to do: minor health fixes, the Gallifrey One convention, and the Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Book Collectors Show (and a couple of truly lovely evenings with friends). The Paperback Show is always entertaining. In addition to a staggering number of old paperbacks - many of which I remember reading in the '60s (there was a bookstore on Holt Blvd in Pomona that I'd bike down to on Saturdays: we referred to it as "Dirty Earl's" because of the goods on offer in the store's back room) - there are dealers specializing in the cover-art of the 1940s-1970s era. And, the show (and especially Tom Lesser - Thank you, Tom!) makes sure it has a day-long rotation of authors to sign those paperbacks. In addition to chats with fan and writer friends, I found such things as English translations of...
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