L’OULIPO by Leigh Lundin Thursday at 6p, or as the French write it, 18h, on a small stage within sight of the pond of the Villette in Paris’ 19e arrondissement, the poet and novelist Jacques Jouet put on his glasses and settled down in front of his computer. He’s chosen to participate in France’s literary […]

CROSSFIRE of the VANITIES by Leigh Lundin War wages in the publishing industry. On the one hand, you have evil authors, agents, publishers, and reviewers locked in a conspiracy to prevent really good novels from being published and on the other side you find the ‘Indy’ self-publishers who right injustices in a battle for truth, […]

PROFESSIONAL TIPS – George Orwell by Leigh Lundin In recent weeks, Criminal Brief shared tips from three authors, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Jack Kerouac, and Elmore Leonard. This week we feature tips from another noted author and essayist, Eric Arthur Blair, literature’s George Orwell. Orwell’s novels are straightforward and readily understood by middle schoolers, although a […]

KILL for the MEMORIES by Leigh Lundin Checklist for Movie Rental Belgian subtitled with protagonist who is aging rapidly is becoming senile kills people If you plan to rent a suspense thriller one weekend, this checklist might appear something you’d avoid, but that would be a mistake. Variously known as The Alzheimer Case, The Memory […]

PROFESSIONAL TIPS – Elmore Leonard by Leigh Lundin Today I’m going to save you fifteen bucks, or ten bucks, or fifty. That’s the price of the great Elmore Leonard‘s 10 Rules of Writing, hardcover, Kindle, and hardcover deluxe, respectively. What you won’t get in today’s column are Joe Ciardiello‘s illustrations that come with the signed, numbered, […]

TRUTH is NOT ALWAYS a DEFENSE by Leigh Lundin Readers have heard me gripe about central Florida’s genteel corruption. I didn’t blame Jeb Bush when he couldn’t contain his glee as he suspended Orlando’s gladhand-washes-the-other mayor Buddy Dyer on election fraud charges. However, when it was learned the grand jury heard testimony that also accused […]

PROFESSIONAL TIPS — JACK KEROUAC by Leigh Lundin Hey man, those of you who dig the Beat Generation and especially, like Jack Kerouac, man, this column is for you. I live a few minutes from the Kerouac house in College Park, a nice but not too pretentious suburb that Orlando swallowed, but still manages to […]