An MWA Grand Master tells it straight: Raymond Chandler: "You have to wonder how he got it so right. He spent a lot of time in the house-working, reading, writing letters. He saw to his wife, who required a lot of attention in her later years. And when he did get out, you wouldn't find him walking the mean streets. La Jolla, it must be noted, was never much for mean streets." Evan Hunter: "In his mid-seventies, after a couple of heart attacks, an aneurysm, and a siege of cancer that had led to the removal of his larynx, Evan wrote Alice in Jeopardy. And went to work right away on Becca in Jeopardy, with every intention of working his way through the alphabet. Don't you love it? Here's a man with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, and he's perfectly comfortable launching a twenty-six book series." Donald E. Westlake's Memory: "Here's the point: Don's manuscript arrived, and we had dinner and put the kid to bed, and I started reading. And my wife went to bed, and I stayed up reading, and after a while I forgot I was having a heart attack, and just kept reading until I finished the book around dawn. And somewhere along the way I became aware that my friend Don, who'd written a couple of mysteries and some science fiction and his fair share of soft-core erotica, had just produced a great novel." An MWA Grand Master and a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards, Lawrence Block's reflections and observations come from over a half century as a writer of bestselling crime fiction. Several of his novels have been filmed, most recently A Walk Among the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson. THE CRIME OF OUR LIVES collects his observations and personal reminiscences of the crime fiction field and some of its leading practitioners. He has a lot to say, and he says it here in convincing and entertaining fashion.

The Crime of Our Lives (Thorndike Nonfiction)

Literature & Fiction

Block,Lawrence

History & Criticism

LB Productions

A Time to Scatter Stones: A Matthew Scudder Novella (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)

Matt Scudder returns. More than 40 years after his debut and nearly a decade since his last appearance, one of the most renowned characters in all of crime fiction is back on the case.

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Write for Your Life (Thorndike Nonfiction)

In the 1980s, Lawrence Block developed an interactional seminar that adapted elements of the human potential movement specifically for writers. Write For Your Life is about making the best out of what you are and who you are.

Reference

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

More than 40 years after his debut and nearly a decade since his last appearance, one of the most renowned characters in all of crime fiction is back on the case.\nWell past retirement age and feeling his years-but still staying sober one day at a time-Matthew Scudder learns that alcoholics aren't the only ones who count the days since their last slip. Matt's longtime partner, Elaine, tells him of a group of former sex workers who do something similar, helping each other stay out of the life. But when one young woman describes an abusive client who's refusing to let her quit, Elaine encourages her to get help of a different sort. The sort only Scudder can deliver.\nA Time to Scatter Stones offers not just a gripping crime story but also a richly drawn portrait of Block's most famous character as he grapples with his own mortality while proving to the younger generation that he's still got what it takes. For Scudder's millions of fans around the world (including the many who met the character through Liam Neeson's portrayal in the film version of A Walk Among the Tombstones), A Time to Scatter Stones is an unexpected gift-a valedictory appearance that will remind readers why Scudder is simply the best there is.

Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel: Expanded and Updated (Thorndike Nonfiction)

Lawrence Block's WRITING THE NOVEL remained continuously in print since 1978. But the world of publishing has changed, and Block has expanded and updated his original text, bringing each chapter up to date and adding new material on ebooks, self-publishing, and what perils and opportunities await the new novelist--and the veteran as well.Unlike many advice-givers, Block doesn't tell you what book to write, or the one and only way to write it. He holds that every novel is different, and so is every novelist; his aim is to give you the tools to enable you to find your own way. Here are some chapters: #1--Why Write a Novel? #2--Deciding Which Novel to Write. #3--Read...Study...Analyze. #4--Developing Plot Ideas. #5--Developing Characters. #6--Outlining. #7--Using What You Know...and What You Don't Know. #8--Getting Started. #9--Getting It Written. #10--Snag, Dead Ends, and False Trails. #11--Matters of Style. #12--Length. #13--Rewriting. #14--Getting Published. #15--The Case for Self-Publishing. #16--The Case Against Self-publishing. #17--How to Be Your Own Publisher. #18--Doing It Again. #19--Now It's Up to You WRITING THE NOVEL FROM PLOT TO PRINT TO PIXEL is half again as long as the original version, and Lawrence Block has managed to retain all the 1978 text while bringing it up to date. As he would be the first to tell you, you don't need this book--or any other--to succeed as a novelist. But thousands of writers have found it helpful. And most of us feel we can use all the help we can get.

The Specialists (Classic Crime Library)

"If you're not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem." You heard that a lot in the early 1970s, when the country seemed to be teetering on the brink of revolutionary upheaval. Miles Dorn, living quietly in retirement in the U.S., had come a long way from his roots in Central Europe, leaving his past as an assassin and agent provocateur behind him. But as soon as he walks into his house and smells the smoke from a Turkish cigarette, he knows nobody can walk away from the past. It's always there, and it can reach out at any moment and get hold of you. He's recruited for a series of assassinations designed to render his adopted country vulnerable to a political coup. Instead of the elaborate web that's the staple of conspiracy theorists, he's one man, working alone. He's also a man falling in love, and with a woman a generation too young for him. "We're the same age, Miles," she insists. "I've known you for exactly as long as you've known me." Of course he likes the sound of that, but he knows better than to believe it. Just as he knows better than to believe that their love affair--or anything else in his life--has a real chance of working out. But what can he do? Is Dorn part of the solution--or a principal part of the problem? The Triumph of Evil is a powerful evocation of perilous time in America's recent past. It's a thriller on a human scale, and you'll be stunned by its plausibility and gripped by its suspense.

The Triumph of Evil (Classic Crime Library)

In 1961, Lawrence Block was living in New York and earning a living writing Midcentury Erotica and crime fiction. He'd just sold his first book under his own name, Grifter's Game, to Gold Medal Books. (They insisted on calling it Mona, but the original title's been restored by Hard Case Crime.) His agent got him an assignment to write a tie-in paperback novel for Belmont Books, linked to the TV series Markham, starring Ray Milland. The book turned out well, and the young writer's agent felt it was too good to be a Belmont tie-in. Knox Burger agreed, and Block changed the name of the hero from Roy Markham to Ed London, and Gold Medal published the book as Death Pulls a Doublecross. (Another unfortunate title; you'll find the book in the Classic Crime Library with the author's original title, Coward's Kiss.) But that left Block owing Belmont a book. You Could Call It Murder is what he wrote for them, and it turned out fairly nicely as well, but his agent sent it to Belmont all the same, where they published it as Markham: The Case of the Pornographic Photos. (By the time it came out--surprise surprise--the TV series was canceled.)

You Could Call It Murder (Classic Crime Library)

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the LB Productions publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by LB Productions

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the LB Productions publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Crime of Our Lives (Thorndike Nonfiction)

A Time to Scatter Stones: A Matthew Scudder Novella (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)

Write for Your Life (Thorndike Nonfiction)

A Time to Scatter Stones: A Matthew Scudder Novella (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)

The Crime of Our Lives (Thorndike Nonfiction)

Write for Your Life (Thorndike Nonfiction)

Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel: Expanded and Updated (Thorndike Nonfiction)

The Specialists (Classic Crime Library)

The Triumph of Evil (Classic Crime Library)

You Could Call It Murder (Classic Crime Library)