Tag: action adventure

Bookmans

Tucson has the most wonderful used bookstore. It’s called Bookmans, and this privately owned company is amazing. It’s a used book superstore. 

In fact Bookmans is an Arizona treasure, with 3 locations in Tucson, 2 in Flagstaff, and 1 each in Phoenix and Mesa. The company’s been in business since 1976. Check them out at bookmans.com!

The other week I was visiting my dad who lives in Tucson, and set aside one morning to go to Bookmans. Of course I came away with some exciting new gems to add to the library.

The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs

I like Burroughs. He knew how to write a rousing adventure yarn. In fact, he was the model many editors pointed to when advising new writers on how to write.

The Mad King is new to me and I’m looking forward to the read.

Prisoner’s Base and The Black Mountain by Rex Stout

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout. In fact, the books are among the very few I re-read. Once upon a time I had the entire series. Today I’m in the process of rebuilding my collection. These two are very welcome. Very welcome indeed!

The Lost Wagon Train by Zane Grey

When a kid, I used to watch Westerns on TV. Shows such as Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, Have Gun — Will Travel, and many others. But I didn’t read Westerns until recently.

Zane Grey is still considered one of the kings among Western writers. So I added this one to my growing Western collection.

The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes by Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is an incredibly amazing and versatile writer. I very much like his fiction, and his books for writers are nonpareil. Block can entertain you like few others, and teach you everything you need to know about the writing game. Block delivers, so this one I added to my collection and have already started reading it.

Those were my Bookmans “purchases”. I put that in quotes because that day was my very lucky day. I was one of two winners to get my books for free! How can you not love a bookstore that gives away books?

Reading is the best entertainment. Books are portable storytellers who are always with you. I have many hundreds of physical books and over a thousand on my iPad. Plenty of stories to take me to places and times I could never visit in person.

To me, the person who does not read fiction can only experience the here and now. And as wonderful as that can be, it’s a life devoid of imagination — and that’s only half a life.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time — happy reading!

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Pierce Mostyn Investigates Again

Pierce Mostyn fighting inter-dimensional beings. Photo from a secret OUP file.

 

Pierce Mostyn came into being, as with most if not all of my fiction, out of thin air. Like Athena springing fully formed from the forehead of Zeus.

Technically creatio ex nihilo is reserved for gods; and since I’m not one, there were embryonic thoughts and influences swirling around in my mind which eventually coalesced into Pierce Mostyn. I mentioned a few last week.

Mostyn is a professional paranormal investigator, employed by the Office of Unidentified Phenomena; which is a dark and shadowy and mysterious federal agency. The office’s director, Dr Rafe Bardon, is an equally mysterious and shadowy character.

The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things were undoubtedly the immediate stimuli for Mostyn. Before those shows there was, of course, HP Lovecraft. The federal government’s interest in suppressing what was going on in that ancient seaside town of Innsmouth is a key factor in lending the story an air of authenticity.

Many of Lovecraft’s stories are written as an exposé of suppressed truth. A device The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things all made use of. And since I grew up in the 50s and 60s, I’m very familiar with accounts of government suppression of information some bureaucrat thought was too dangerous for us to know. That theme even found its way into Indiana Jones.

Of course, Mr Snowdon helped us realize that the government is in fact actively suppressing the truth, lying to us, and spying on us. In spite of what the socialists, and big government liberals and conservatives say — government is not our friend. A theme I allude to in Van Dyne’s Vampires.

Next week, if all goes well, Van Dyne’s Vampires, the fourth Pierce Mostyn paranormal investigation, will be available for your reading pleasure. Mostyn and company will encounter some new enemies. There is also plenty of action, and a healthy dollop of humor, along with that good old-fashioned paranormal horror.

If you haven’t yet discovered Pierce Mostyn, take a look at the series page. Some good reading awaits you!

Comments are always welcome; and, until next time, happy reading!

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