A Letter Completed
Oct - 04 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
When I got home I tried my best to gain access to the letter in the usual ways, but despite a flurry of paperwork and formal requests, I was denied access to the university’s archives. So I was forced to take matters into my own hands. I got in touch with some contacts from the old days in the Marine Corps and called in a few favors. Thirty-six hours later, dressed in my best burgling outfit, I rappelled out of a stealth helicopter and...Read the entire post
A New Letter
I suspect he didn’t think much of my particular interests. He repeatedly steered me toward his vast collection of fish hooks and lighthouse replicas. I would not be dissuaded, however, and at last he showed me to a tiny closet at the rear of the museum inside which were stacked a treasure of...Read the entire post
A Hidden Letter
Jul - 26 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
Research and appraisal has revealed that the desk dates to mid-19th century Savannah, Georgia. Though this is nearly a hundred years beyond the prime of Fin Button’s documented career, the letter secreted away within the desk is undoubtedly of her authorship. Why it was kept at all, and kept so secretly, we may never know, but there are clues...Read the entire post
A Letter from the Smithsonian
Jul - 20 - 2009Filed in: Letters to Peter | Story
Short Fiction: The Wander Beyond - Chapter Two
A free copy of Ellis Island and Other Stories goes to the reader that picks out the reference in this chapter to another of Mark Helprin’s short stories. Just email me your guess via the contact page or post it as a comment on the story.
Still have a few bookmarks left and they can be yours for the asking. See the Free Bookmarks link in the sidebar for details.
Another Letter Found
The first book that caught my eye was entitled Naval Knots and Them What Tied ‘Em. I’m always on the lookout for a good old fashioned knot book and saw right off that this was a keeper. It was written by Heathcliff G. Sanderson who most of you will recall was the Knottier-in-Chief of the Department of the Navy in the early 19th century and coined the famous phrase, “Knot without a fight!” during the War of 1812. Naturally, I snatched this little treasure up and added it to my library.
The second find of the day was...Read the entire post
New Short Fiction
It was marginally inspired by a short story called “The Schreuderspitze” written by Mark Helprin that didn’t go quite where I thought it was going.
“The Wander Beyond” still falls well within the bounds of a short and is in no danger of becoming anything resembling a novella, but since it is a bit longer than the other pieces, I thought I’d post it serially. So the first ‘chapter’ is up and the rest will follow in the coming weeks. Hope you enjoy it.
New Letter Transcription
Jun - 22 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
The letter, dated December 19th, 1775, has been precisely transcribed and is presented on the Letters to Peter page.
A New Letter Transcribed
Jun - 15 - 2009Filed in: Letters to Peter | Story
I have meticulously transcribed the letter, dated December 14th, 1775, and placed its tale on the Letters to Peter page.
Short Fiction: The Stonemason's House
Jun - 16 - 2009Filed in: Story
So I sat down to try to write something similar and this was the result. I’ve given it a fresh edit here to tighten a few screws. Hope you enjoy.
What's a Salzburger?
But just because the author knows the history of a person or a place doesn’t mean it belongs in the story. A lot of that kind of information gets cut during editing. That doesn’t mean the research was in vain, though. The individual stories and histories behind the persons and places of The Fiddler’s Gun serve to inform the tale in much more subtle ways long after the raw exposition has been excised.
It does make me sad sometimes, though, and one such example is that of the Salzburgers...Read the entire post
Origin of the Story
The real story, if you choose to believe it, is that some years ago I decided to try something different for Christmas. Simply buying gifts and handing them out wrapped in plaid paper had grown too ordinary. That’s when I thought, “Ah hah! I shall build treasure chests and fill them with gifts and bury them!”...Read the entire post
Short Fiction
Some may have noticed a new webpage link in the sidebar entitled “Short Fiction”. While the pieces I plan to post there will not be direct examples of the style of the novel, I do hope they’ll offer a broader portrait of my writing and will help to earn your trust in the quality of the story yet to come.
The first short presented is one I wrote for The Rabbit Room entitled “The Taming of the Toad.” It is very loosely inspired by my experience as a staff member at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch and is not, as I’ve often been asked, autobiographical. I hope you enjoy it.
A New Letter Found
He told me of a collection of aged documents that he’d found some years ago hidden between the pages of an old Gutenburg Bible. The Bible, he assured me, now rests safely in the hands of the local museum but he held onto the documents having no clear idea of what they might be worth or to whom they might be of interest. He related his elation at the discovery of this website and how, with all haste, he sought me out and then bid me come to inspect his documentary treasure.
I did so at once.
Most of the documents in his care were of little note being either unreadable or unremarkable. Most, not all. One among them, although undated and unsigned, seized my interest at once and I have transcribed it and entered it upon the Letters to Peter page of the site.
Come Join the Conversation
I wanted to write a review of it for The Rabbit Room but was a little too overwhelmed by the experience to do it any justice. I did put down a few thoughts though and invited readers to do the same. Head over to the Rabbit Room and add to the conversation. And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, cancel whatever else you’ve got going on this weekend and get thee to a theater.
A Captain's Log
I hid in a broom closet until they closed and then, under cover of darkness, I snuck into the museum proper to find what I had come for. Having watched Treasure of the Four Crowns last week, I was able to easily avoid the laser alarm system and a rather ingenious nest of booby traps that guarded the logbook. I danced through the laser field like the pasty middle-aged ninja that I am and used a bag of sand to fool the weight-sensitive plate upon which the logbook lay. Then I cut the page in question from the two-hundred-year-old book and left a polite note that I would return it in the near future along with a copy of my library card.
The transcription of this newly acquired log entry can be found on the Letters to Peter page. I hear sirens outside my door.
New Letter Transcription
May - 24 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
I am at liberty, however, to reveal the content of said letter, dated November 23rd, 1775, and have transcribed it for you and placed it for public viewing on the Letters to Peter page of this website.
Back to Basics
In Search of Pierce Pettis
Stop Pillaging My Childhood
Read the post here.
New Letter Transcribed
May - 18 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
The letter does, however, shed new light on the matter of Fin’s snuffled boot. It seems a mystery is afoot.
Letters to Peter
In the narrative of The Fiddler’s Gun, Fin Button has multiple occasions to write letters home to her good friend, Peter LaMee. So in the time leading up to the release of the book, I thought it would be fun to discoverRead the entire post