StanleyWheeler

Regarding Infinity War : I have discovered that the location of the final infinity stone, as well as the manner for obtaining the gem which will create incredible (perhaps infinite) power, is a matter of extreme importance to many. Nevertheless, it holds no interest for me. I've outgrown super hero movies; I don't intend to see this one. I did recently get to see a movie that I enjoyed again: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep . I have to admit that remembering this movie while I was writing Smoke helped me to establish some of the texture for the novel, including the jabs about the main character's height. The other movies and books that were helpful included The Maltese Falcon , This Gun for Hire with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, The Big Heat with Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame, and My Favorite Brunette with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. This scene from The Big Sleep  of Marlowe and Vivian's first meeting differs significantly from the first me...

At least two of the women in my noir novel, and one of the women in Justice in Season suffer from chronic pulchritude. The terrible disease brings a great deal of unwanted attention to the afflicted. However, the malady confers distinct advantages upon the sufferer. The three characters capitalize on those advantages. They just need to remember that chronic conditions can become terminal. Although "pulchritude" sounds like a reference to some swollen, pus-filled wound, its meaning is quite the opposite--by which I do not mean a puckered, but healed hurt. Pulchritude refers to physical comeliness. The word comes from the Latin pulchr , - pulcher meaning, or referring to beauty. The protagonist in the noir novel, Noah Vale, also known as Duncan Kane, ponders the aforementioned affliction when he reads a passage from Charles Dickens'  Great Expectations ; it says,  “Moths, and all sorts of ugly creatures, hover about a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?”...