Comedy is not magic, not inspiration, not a “gift.” Mostly, it’s simple rules and structures—the logic of the illogical—tools that anyone can use.The Comic Toolbox is a straightforward, often humorous, workbook approach to comedy writing as creative problem solving. In it, veteran Hollywood comedy writer John Vorhaus offers his tools of the trade to writers, comics, and anyone else who wants to be funny. Among these indispensable tools are Clash of Context, Tension and Release, The...

The prequel -- of sorts -- to Vorhaus's Radar Hoverlander novels, World Series of Murder introduces us to Radar's lovable, hapless, flaky sidekick Vic Mirplo, as he joins forces with poker goddess Megan Moore and obsessive collector Jim Rafferty to unravel a secret conspiracy to control the wealth of Las Vegas. Poker, murder, Mirplo...what's not to love?Included as an added bonus is the novella Surf Las Vegas, which recounts Meg and Jim's first encounter, as they team up to defeat ...

Giving Voice to Profound Disability is devoted to exploring the lives of people with profound and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities, and brings together the voices of those best placed to speak about the rewards and challenges of living with, supporting and teaching this group of vulnerable and dependent people – including parents, carers and teachers. Along with their personal insights the book offers philosophical reflections on the status, role and treatment of pr...

Growing numbers of human beings live with profound and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities. Exploring the moral, social and political implications of this trend, Valuing Profoundly Disabled People addresses questions that are high on policy and practice agendas in numerous regions around the world, including the UK and the EU, the USA, and Australasia.In this important work Vorhaus examines fundamental moral and social questions about profound disability, and e...

What do the Merlin Game, the Penny Skim, the Doolally Snadoodle, and the Afterparty Snuke have in common? They're all the work of world-class con artist and master bafflegabber Radar Hoverlander. Radar's been "on the snuke" since childhood, but he's still looking for his California Roll, the one big scam that'll set him up in sushi for life.Trouble arrives in the stunning, sassy package of Allie Quinn—either the last true innocent or a con artist so slick she makes Radar look like ...

A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world's largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating expert Tony Valentine together with his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerously desperate characters who will go to extremes—even cold-blooded murder—to ensure that the obnoxious DeMarco wins big. On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of con men and hit men.

Drummond Clark was once a spy of legendary proportions. Now Alzheimer’s disease has taken its toll and he’s just a confused old man who’s wandered away from home, waiting for his son to fetch him.When Charlie Clark takes a break from his latest losing streak at the track to bring Drummond back to his Brooklyn home, they find it blown sky high—and then bullets start flying in every direction. At first, Charlie thinks his Russian “creditors” are employing aggressive collection tactic...

Why is everyone rushing to flee Tampa on a cruise ship to hell?Serge is back with a bullet, torn between homicide and souvenirs. So is Coleman, torn between getting hammered and getting more hammered. Then there's good ol' Jim Davenport, the E-Team, the Diaz Brothers, and Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin, cranking up the fevered action as the pot boils over on a street called Lobster Lane.It's reunion time in the Sunshine State, and we're not j...

There's a different schemer or slimeball behind every door: cocaine duckpins who have survived only by the dumbest fortune, hard-luck gigolos desperate to score, undercover cops busting undercover cops who are running sting operations on undercover cops. And just down the row, local historian and spree killer Serge A. Storms-who has stopped keeping up with his meds-is still looking for a briefcase stuffed with five million dollars . and is now capable of wreaking more havoc than hurricane ...

Sunshine State trivia buff Serge A. Storms loves eliminating jerks and pests. His drug-addled partner Coleman loves cartoons. Hot stripper Sharon Rhodes loves cocaine, especially when purchased with rich dead men's money. On the other hand, there's Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals -- and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million in stolen insurance money. Serge wants the suitcase. Sharon wants the suitcase. Coleman wants more drugs . . . an...

“Steve Martini is an expert at good old-fashioned, gimmick-free storytelling.”—Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta“Take it from a prosecutor—Steve Martini has created one of the most charismatic defense attorneys in thriller fiction.”—Linda Fairstein, author of Lethal LegacyIn The Rule of Nine, New York Times bestseller Steve Martini sets his popular protagonist, defense attorney Paul Madriani, on the trail of a danger...

When unsolved crimes resurface, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace faces a possible copycat killing in Dead Like You, by award winning crime author Peter James, read by actor William Gaminara.The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year's Eve ball, a woman is attacked as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is attacked. Both victims' shoes are taken by the offender . . .Roy Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear rema...