Category: Charlie Chan
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My Writing Life: 8
In my previous blog I mentioned that researching Women at Play was an intense, four-year affair, and that it forever colored my attitude toward writing nonfiction. The nonfiction subjects I chose after Women at Play were individuals: Jack Graney on the one hand, Earl Derr Biggers on the other. Everything about Women at Play was…
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Long Time Coming: Earl Derr Biggers Book
The things from my life that I turn into books are sometimes predictable, sometimes not. I always wanted to be a baseball player, so it makes sense to me that I turned that desire into a novel, She’s on First. And I worked in the typesetting department of a major newspaper, so it makes sense…
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The Stolen Horse and Me
Sometimes there’s a thread running through your life and it takes you decades to notice it. That’s the case with idioms and me. We’ve had a life-long relationship, but I came to notice this only a few years ago. Well, fifteen or so years ago, but that’s a short time compared to how long idioms…
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Earl Derr Biggers: Free Sections
For the past several years I’ve posted a free chapter from one of my books as part of my New Year’s blog. This year I’ll offer two subhead sections from my 2018 title, Charlie Chan’s Poppa: Earl Derr Biggers. The cover design is by Robin Koontz, the photo of Biggers courtesy of the Lilly Library…
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The Threads of Destiny
When I was sixteen years old and had just received my driver’s license, I drove my brother and myself to the Warren Public Library, where we browsed the Local Authors shelf and discovered Earl Derr Biggers, creator of Charlie Chan. Never did I think — as we stood in that dark corner and pulled…
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Keeper of the Keys: A Delightful Conceit
A conceit can be an artistic effect or an imaginative notion. In novel-writing a conceit can be thought of as a concept or setup. In Earl Derr Biggers’ last novel, Keeper of the Keys, the conceit works to control the structure of the plot and also to entertain the reader. The conceit (which must have…
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Book Review: Charlie Chan Carries On
When I was sixteen years old and first read Earl Derr Biggers’ six Charlie Chan novels, I loved each and every one, but my favorite was the fifth book, Charlie Chan Carries On. However, I couldn’t really say why. What was it about this book that made it my favorite? Was it the fact…
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Series Yes, Series No: Part I
I started first grade when I was five years old, and it was in first grade that I learned to read and that I was first introduced to the concept of a series of books. Up until that time, the only books I was familiar with were picture books that my mother or grandfather read…
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Biggers’ The Black Camel: Clues True and False
I have been reading the Charlie Chan mysteries of Earl Derr Biggers’ for the fourth time (having read them the first time when I was sixteen), and I’ve been blogging about them, concentrating on my reactions during the fourth reading. (See Behind That Curtain: Richness and Texture.) The Black Camel, Biggers’ fourth Chan novel, is one…
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Outline: The Black Camel
I’ve been teaching a lot of writing classes lately, and when I teach fiction I recommend to students that they choose a novel they like and outline it, in order to determine its bare-bones construction. Then I confess to them that I have never done so. Today I’m remedying that situation by posting my outline…
Barbara Gregorich 