THE HAVES AND HAVE NOTS by Robert Lopresti A long time ago someone in Seattle organized a big mystery fan appreciation night. A whole gang of writers from the area were going to do readings, shake some hands, sign a lot of books and show the fans how much we appreciated their money. Support. Appreciated […]

THE ODD SOCKS DEPARTMENT by Robert Lopresti Welcome to our fall clearance! I am sweeping out my notebook, shaking out a few ideas that are too thin to be a post of their own, but too interesting (I hope) to shred. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. Cue the cackle. Imagine that you are […]

A MASTER BEGINS by Robert Lopresti A few days ago something one of my blogmates wrote got me thinking and I went looking for the story I wanted to use by way of reply. I knew it was a story by Jack Ritchie, but when I flipped through a book of his stuff I got […]

UNLIKELY STORY by Robert Lopresti Early this morning at the library I checked the Straight Dope to see what wisdom Cecil Adams had uncovered. You’d be surprised how often the questions readers throw at him can help with questions that pop up at the reference desk. I admit, that today’s question was an unlikely candidate […]

THE WORLD IS FLAT by Robert Lopresti No short stories today. I want to talk about my current favorite police procedural novels. They star Sam Vimes, the head of his city’s police force, although he considers himself a typical street copper. While he is married to one of the city’s wealthiest aristocrats (he married her […]

THE EDGE OF NIGHT When I was a wee laddie I would come home after school most days, grab a snack (usually a slice or two of bread guaranteed to build my strong body twelve ways), and mosey over to my grandmother’s room. She was well into her eighties and arthritis had landed her in […]

LOVE LETTERS IN THE NET by Robert Lopresti One of the gazillion ways that the Internet has changed my life is fan mail. You no longer need a stamp, an address, and a half hour of time to tell somebody you like their stuff. A few years ago I decided that whenever I read a […]