Ed Robins

The reason why playing with a Jack-in-the-Box as a child is important.

A picture of a letter with the text: E 48 NYC 10017 212-688-2682 November 5, 2006 Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Conglusta: I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) In his sunset years. I don't make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana. What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's Inside you, te make your soul grow. Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give It to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you're Count Dracula. Here's an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don't do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don't tell anybody what you're doing. Don't show it or recite It to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK? Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been glorlously rewarded for your poem. You have experlenced becoming, learned a lot more about what's inside you, and you have made your soul grow. God bless you all! Kurt Vonnegut (Charmingly rough profile drawing of Vonnegut in lower right corner)

AltText Version
Kurt Vonnegut letter.

Woke up with an alcohol-free hangover. Splitting headache, stiff back, eyes like mothballs. Took 2 ibuprofen with meds. Eating leftover spaghetti and gulping coffee for breakfast.

Why does getting old feel like the opening of a noir hardboiled-detective novel?

I want to name a cat Detective John McClane so I can yell "McClane" like Alan Rickman whenever he does something bad, which, since it's a cat, will be quite often. My wife won't let me.

Trees in autumn with a blue sky

Gorgeous day for a trail run!

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré

Any recommendations from the BookSky community? Who's reading what for #Noirvember? 🪐📚💙

"The Unusual Clients" by Milo James Fowler - a collection of three novellas featuring P.I. Charlie Madison that are well-written and superbly incorporate science fiction elements into the mysteries.

"Altered Carbon" by @quellist1.bsky.social - a cyberpunk classic, "Altered Carbon" is gritty, dirty and violent. Immorality is available to some by transferring consciousness from one body to another. When one of the oldest dies under mysterious circumstances, mercenary Takeshi Kovacs investigates.

"Ashetown Blues" & "The Ronin of Vine Street" by @authorwhmitchell.bsky.social - Robots, mega-corps, corrupt officials, underworld orgs and Thomas Martel P.I. Through three novellas and a full-length novel, Mitchell leads the reader through webs of conspiracies to unravel the mysteries unexpectedly.

"Titanium Noir" by @nickharkaway.com - Harkaway sends us on a journey from the gutters to the towers looking for the killer of a Titan--someone who has taken an expensive life extension treatment. Cal Sounder must confront his own demons along the way and does it with the requisite noir aplomb.

Hard copies of the books in the "Murder on the Starship Australis" series: Chivalry Will Get You Dead, Murders in the Gray, and A Violent Man.

Paperbacks of my #hardboiled #detective series with the new covers arrived! I couldn't be happier with them. The artist (Driope Project) did a fantastic job on the art.

What are you reading to celebrate #Noirvember? Below are my favorite #scifi cross-genre reads. Add your #noir favorites!

Love that this is coming from a doctor. Guessing not "medical".

I can't even imagine! I write my plot points out on slips of paper so I can rearrange them. Of course, I'm not writing anything remotely as complex. It's worked well for me, especially on my WIP when I ran into that dreaded "writer's block" AKA "I f*cked up and don't know what I did wrong yet".

Would love to see one page of notes from "Gnomon" someday so that we can all be driven insane.

Toasted ravioli with leftover Sunday Sauce, salad... damn, I forgot to make bread.

Enterprise D lego set

What is this? A starship for ANTS?! How can they be expected to boldly go where no one has gone before if they can't even fit inside the ship? #startrek #scifi #lego

One of my favorite scenes in all movie history!

Not "Le Password"?

"Ronin of Vine Street" by @authorwhmitchell.bsky.social

Coherence was fantastic! Exciting news to hear a sequel may be in the works.

You Go to My Head: A Detective Jack Steinway Case Amazon.com: You Go to My Head: A Detective Jack Steinway Case eBook : Psistakis, Manos: Books

🔎🧢🌆The city never sleeps – because the nightmares do not end.

You Go to My Head: A Detective Jack Steinway Case, by Manos Psistakis

Free until November 2nd!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FY3YJR3C

#detectivemystery #HardBoiled #booksky

IYKYK

What an odd thing to do.

Sunbutter is a hardboiled, close to retirement detective, and Jelly is his holistic crystal astrology partner with "crime vibes."

Highly recommend! If you enjoyed my books, I think you'll love this (and the related "Ashetown Blues").

"What were you and mommy doing in there?"

"Fighting cancer, darling. Fighting cancer."

Went to see #BlueMoon tonight... wow! Fantastic performances all around, and Hawke was phenomenal. The script by Robert Kaplow (a high school teacher!) was witty, fun and heartbreaking. This was easily my favorite #movie so far this year!

YouTube video by Billy Faithfull Darth Vader Feels Blue

My final, definitive comment on Return of the Jedi -