Author of the Week, Susan Wittig Albert, Jan. 4

AUTHOR OF THE WEEK  January 4, 2021

 

Susan Wittig Albert

 

“Sharing our stories can also be a means of healing. Grief and loss may isolate us, and anger may alienate us. Shared with others, these emotions can be powerfully uniting, as we see that we are not alone, and realize that others weep with us.”

 

Susan Wittig Albert is an American author of mystery novels. She is author of New York Times best-selling the China Bayles series, Thyme of Death, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the Darling Dahlias series. Also she wrote memoir, Together, Along: A Memoir of Marriage and Place. She and her husband Bill coauthor a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries under the name of Robin Paige. She was born in 1940.

 

Read an interview with the author at this link here at Cozy Mystery:

Susan Wittig Albert Interview

“As a writer, I work in three genres, mystery, historical fiction, and memoir.”

Discover an Author Every Week at Reading Fiction Blog!

Killers, Cool and Slick

The Killers   by Ernest Hemingway (1927)

Tuesday’s Tale of Terror,   January 19, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human evil and violence prevail in this tidy little mystery, which is seedy and suspenseful. Gangsterism! If you are a Hemingway fan, you likely know the Nick Adams Stories. This is one of them. Two men walk into a bar … well, not exactly a bar, a lunchroom/saloon named Henry’s in Summit, near Chicago. We meet two hit men.  Did you ever know hit men to eat with their gloves on? You gotta love Hemingway.

In The Killers, male camaraderie, irony, and death are big themes for this noir. For our young and innocent protagonist Nick (the “effaced” narrator), he is initiated into the dark side of life.

 

 

Hemingway, known for his ‘minimalist’ writing, who was greatly influenced by Gertrude Stein, wrote The Killers first draft in a frenzy of inspiration before he ate his lunch one day in May 1926. If you want to experience brilliant characterization through terse and clean dialogue, this is the story to read. I read it three times; it was that good.

 

 

 

 

 

Want some insight on Hemingway’s thoughts on writing? Here’s one nugget: “The most important thing I’ve learned about writing is never write too much at a time… never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day … When you’re still going and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work.”  [From With Hemingway, A Year in Key West and Cuba by Arnold Samuelson.]

‘Let your subconscious mind do the work.’ I like that a lot. Trusting that other side of your creativity.

 

 

Read The Killers online at Liternet.bg

Listen to the Audio at YouTube.com.

Watch this full feature noir film adapted by Universal, starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassevetes, and Ronald Reagan (1.26 hours):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUSnxAA9qlU

Don’t forget to view the INDEX above of more free Tales of Terror.

This is a compendium of over 170 short stories by over 100 master storytellers of mystery,  supernatural, horror, and ghost stories.

Join me in reading one short story every week!

Comments are welcome.

 

Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

Mysteries In Paradise   Sisters In Crime Blog  Crime Fiction Lover

Books & Such   Bibliophilica    Lovecraft Ezine     HorrorAddicts.net  

Horror Novel Reviews    HorrorSociety.com

Monster Librarian     HorrorNews.net     HorrorTalk.com

 Rob Around Books      The Story Reading Ape Blog

For Authors/Writers:  The Writer Unboxed

Announcement: Greylock No. 3 on Amazon Kindle Best Seller List

This is to say THANK YOU to all here who said yes to ‘journey into the supernatural music’ with Alexei Georg. To those who supported and encouraged me for GREYLOCK and helped with my marketing and book promotions to spread the word out there about GREYLOCK, I am ever grateful. 

No. 3 on Amazon.com Kindle in supernatural/occult genre.  But truly, this is a murder mystery at its core! More ‘supernatural suspense’ than occult. 

This launch promotion has made Alexei Georg very happy; I am enormously humbled.

 

 

$2.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Buy at Barnes&Noble.com

Buy at Smashwords.com

Buy at iBooks/iTunes.com

Buy at Kobo.com

 

Dreaming Dark and Deadly

The Leather Funnel by Arthur Conan Doyle  (1902)

Tuesday’s Tale of Terror   April 1, 2013

Cartoon art from PUNCH of AC Doyle chained to his fictional creation, Holmes.

The Leather Funnel

Picture yourself in Paris, a house guest at the home of Lionel Dacre. The house, walled with grey tiles stained with lichens and mildew, has a library filled with books on magic and psychic matters, and what else …  eccentric items of display, specifically a large leather funnel, brass rimmed, black and discolored with faded letters—likely from the Middle Ages.

In The Leather Funnel, Dacre insists that his house guest sleep with the leather funnel by his head. This is based on the idea that we can receive important information through dreaming. Dacre tells his guest, “You are yourself a psychic subject—with nerves which respond readily to any impression.” Dacre believes this old funnel might enlighten the dreamer of its origin, use, and history.

The science of dreams is new to this house guest; doubts prevail, but he agrees to the experiment. So, after the smoldering firelight goes out, the supernatural dream begins.

I must tell you this dream is so frightening, that I couldn’t read fast enough. The tension and descriptions were so compelling that I had to slow down if I wanted to truly savor the images, the haunting fear, and what is the most grisly revelation.

Do you think dreams create supernatural events?

Read it here at East of the Web:

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LeaFun.shtml

Or listen to a podcast of the story on YouTube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVC4JcnNg0M

Lovecraft’s Dreams in the Witch House is another you’ll find absolutely chilling as nightmares blur into reality (link is on this site in November’s blog).

 Stop by next Tuesday for another Tale of Terror.

Comments, please!

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