CHARACTER and PLOT by Leigh Lundin For the first Sunday column of the new year, we turn to our erudite friend, Louis Willis, who took time before the holidays to write for us. Louis is a scholar, writer, and critic with a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. You […]

WHEN a STORY BOMBS by Leigh Lundin Tampa, Florida. A Hillsborough County court convicted a University of South Florida student of creating a twelve minute YouTube video showing how to turn a Wal-Mart toy truck into a bomb detonator. When I first heard this radio news report, I wondered two things: Are we still over-reacting […]

It was reported yesterday that a primary reason given by the Sheriff’s department for not following up the meter reader’s tip was that psychics had directed them away from that area.

THE BLACK HOLE by Leigh Lundin A crime story … You may enlarge the image to full screen by clicking the icon that looks like a rectangle within a rectangle, the second icon in at the lower right of the video.

TAIRY FAILS by Leigh Lundin Spoonerisms The Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a don at Oxford, was a homely, misshapen man, but he was held in great esteem and affection by both faculty and students. He was notoriously absent-minded and noted for mixing up concepts and words. He is particularly known for the eponymous spoonerisms, […]

LAST RITUALS by Leigh Lundin Tomorrow is Independence Day in the Republic of Iceland. The entire nation of Iceland (or Ísland) has a population 1/60 that of New York City, and they like it fine that way, thank you very much. It’s the westernmost of European countries, on the Arctic Circle between Greenland and the […]

The AFTER DARK RULE by Leigh Lundin This week I was distressed by a horrifying story out of Chicago. Intrigue writer Laura Caldwell (author of The Rome Affair and The Good Liar) had her teeth shattered in an attack and robbery while she was jogging. I know readers and writers wish her well in recovery. […]