**The acclaimed author of The Last Greatest Magician in the World sleuths out literature's iconic vampire, uncovering the source material—from folklore and history, to personas including Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman—behind Bram Stoker's lord of the undead.Praise for Who Was Dracula?**“A fantastic, well-documented story.” —Library Journal (starred review)“[A] well-researched and entertaining take on Dracula’s origin story.” —Publishers ...

The seminal biography of the twentieth century’s premier chronicler of the paranormal, Charles Fort—a man whose very name gave rise to an adjective, fortean, to describe the unexplained.By the early 1920s, Americans were discovering that the world was a strange place.Charles Fort could demonstrate that it was even stranger than anyone suspected. Frogs fell from the sky. Blood rained from the heavens. Mysterious airships visited the Earth. Dogs talk...

Pull back the curtain on the real history of magic – and discover why magic really mattersIf you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt, with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not...

Here's your ticket to the greatest mystery-writing workshop ever!In this extraordinary compilation, more than three dozen members of the Mystery Writers of America share insights and advice that can help make your writing dreams a reality.You'll learn how to:• Develop unique ideas• Construct an airtight plot packed with intrigue and suspense• Create compelling characters and atmospheric settings• Develop a writing style all your...

The true story of Grace of Monaco, America's transatlantic Princess and one of the most beautiful women who ever lived. This is the real story of Grace Kelly, behind the Nicole Kidman story. A once in a lifetime story of an Oscar winning actress, a royal princess and a great beauty whose life ended far too soon. Based on three years research and over one hundred interviews, including interviews with nine of Grace's lovers and with her nephew, Baron Christian de Massy, the book also reveals...

There are so many fantastic authors and great books out there that sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. Start Here solves that problem; it tells you how to read your way into 25 amazing authors from a wide range of genres--from classics to contemporary fiction to comics. Each chapter presents an author, explains why you might want to try them, and lays out a 3- or 4-book reading sequence designed to help you experience fully what they have to offer. It’s a fun, accessible, and infor...

The official sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula, written by his direct descendent and endorsed by the Stoker familyThe story begins in 1912, twenty-five years after the events described in the original novel. Dr. Jack Seward, now a disgraced morphine addict, hunts vampires across Europe with the help of a mysterious benefactor. Meanwhile, Quincey Harker, the grown son of Jonathan and Mina, leaves law school to pursue a career in stage at London's famous Lyceum Theatre.

Dialogue must contribute to the telling of the story said Victorian-era novelist Anthony Trollope more than one hundred years ago and his words have been a yardstick for writers ever since. A more recent novelist, Stephen King, wrote, "When dialogue is right, we know. When it's wrong we also know—it jags on the ear like a badly tuned musical instrument." In "Shut Up!" He Explained (the title comes from a Ring Lardner poke at the way some people overwrite), William Noble shows you how to write...

Outrageous, outspoken, and uninhibited, Tallulah Bankhead was an actress known as much for her vices -- cocaine, alcohol, hysterical tirades, and scandalous affairs with both men and women -- as she was for her winning performances on stage. In 1917, a fifteen-year-old Bankhead boldly left her established Alabama political family and fled to New York City to sate her relentless need for attention and become a star. Five years later, she crossed the Atlantic, immediately taking her place as...

In All Sincerity... Peter Cushing by Christopher Gullo with a foreword by Peter Sasdy In All SincerityPeter Cushing is a new book examining the career of the gentle man of horror. In a career spanning six decades and many mediums, including film, television, theatre, radio, and writing, Peter Cushing has been hailed as a consummate actor who was loved by both fans and co-workers alike. Whether through his early days touring with Laurence Olivier, becoming Englands first television star, re...

FROM THE ONE-OF-A-KIND IMAGINATION THAT BROUGHT US SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 AND CAT'S CRADLE'Kurt Vonnegut is either the funniest serious writer around or the most serious funny writer' Los Angeles Times Book ReviewAn 'autobiographical collage' of speeches, stories and essays, in Palm Sunday, Kurt Vonnegut writes beguilingly about everything from country music to George Bush, his favourite comedians to his mother...

Iris Origo was one of the twentieth century's most attractive and intriguing women, a brilliantly perceptive historian and biographer whose works remain widely admired. Iris grew up in Italy where she became part of the colourful and privileged Anglo-Florentine set that included Edith Wharton, Harold Acton and the Berensons.When Iris married Antonio Origo, they bought and revived La Foce, a derelict stretch of the beautiful Val d'Orcia valley in Tuscany and created an estate that t...