Kurt Schlichter and Irina Moises’ Lost Angeles: Noir, Fantasy, and a Big Helping of Humor
Kurt Schlichter, author of the excellent People’s Republic/Kelly Turnbull novels, has just released a new book, Lost Angeles: Silver Bullets On The Sunset Strip, co-written with his wife Irina Moises. This is perfect timing since it is an homage to the pulp noir detectives Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler wrote about in the 1930s and 40s, and I recently read Chandler’s The Lady In The Lake.
Schlichter’s and Moises’ detective is Eddie Loud, and he is obviously modeled on Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. He’s tough and wisecracking, while struggling to live up to his moral code. However, things get really weird, really fast. Set in 1940 Los Angeles, Loud specializes in cases involving “demigods” – people who are part divine and virtually immortal. In the universe of Lost Angeles, the ancient Greek gods exist. However, with the advent and rise of Christianity, these “demigods” have retreated into an uneasy truce with mortals, rarely being seen in public. The male ones, like Apollo, Zeus, and Poseidon, occasionally sleep with a mortal, sometimes creating an immortal. Half-breeds are truly immortal, but quarter-breeds can be killed with a silver bullet or other weapon. With less than 1/64 divine blood, they’re basically mortal humans.
Allen Levi’s Theo of Golden: An Extraordinary Tale
I was given Allen Levi’s novel Theo of Golden for my birthday last month. When I first looked at it, I noticed that it was not published by any “name” publishing house. There was no plot teaser on the dustjacket flap, nor any author biography. As a matter of fact, it seems that this is a self-published novel. And yet, it is one of the most moving and rewarding books I’ve ever read. It is being sold and enjoyed by readers through word of mouth, which I find very encouraging.
Theo of Golden opens with an old, yet active and fit, man who shows up in the small southern city of Golden, which is somewhere in Georgia. This man, the Theo of the title, spends his first morning in Golden taking his time enjoying the picturesque main street of the town – the beautiful tree-lined median, the fountains, the nineteenth-century storefronts, and the river nearby.
In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Helen Baxendale interview noted literary biographer, Dr. Jeffrey Meyers. Dr. Meyers discusses The Great Gatsby on its 100th anniversary. He explores F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic life, his marriage to Zelda, and how their tumultuous relationship shaped his iconic novel. Dr. Meyers delves into the timeless themes of Gatsby’s yearning, the elusive American Dream, and 1920s decadence while analyzing major characters and symbols like Daisy, the green light, and Gatsby’s reinvention of himself. He also reflects on Fitzgerald’s later struggles and enduring literary legacy. In closing, Dr. Meyers reads a passage from his biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Helen Baxendale celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth with Dr. Paula Byrne, Lady Bate, a distinguished biographer and literary critic. Dr. Byrne explores the key influences that shaped Austen’s life, the major themes of her novels, and the enduring relevance of heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood. She also shares insights from her books The Real Jane Austen and The Genius of Jane Austen, shedding light on Austen’s love of theater and the lasting appeal of her works in Hollywood. She offers a deeper appreciation of Austen’s literary brilliance and her impact on literature and culture as we celebrate Women’s History Month. In closing, Dr. Byrne reads a passage from her book, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things.
On Writing Magic
Whenever you’re writing a story you’re going to have some fantastic elements in it. A novel of cops and robbers, for example, will include a mafia with its own customs and hierarchy. You, as an author, will have to introduce your reader to this world, even if your reader is a schoolteacher from Kansas. There’s nothing magical about a mob (or at least most mobs), but it will operate according to rules that need explaining. I’m referring to all that as magic. A wizard’s fireball? Magic. A lightsaber? Magic. James Bond’s car ejection seat? Magic—even though the Mythbusters built a working model. Got it? Let’s dig in.
Using my loose definition, almost every story has a magic system. This system consists of the rules your characters follow when determining what they can and can’t do with magic. (And yes, there are things magic can’t do. Plenty about that as we go.)
