RIP Elmore Leonard

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23765850

US crime writer Elmore Leonard, author of such books as Get Shorty, Maximum Bob and Out of Sight, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.

A statement on his official website said he had died on Tuesday morning "surrounded by his loving family".

The author of 45 novels, Leonard had been in the process of writing his 46th.

Author Patricia Cornwall paid tribute, saying he was "one of the true icons of crime literature and entertainment".

A true legend, massive influence on me during college in my writing style

Elmore Leonard started out writing westerns, then turned his talents to crime fiction. One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, he’s written about two dozen novels, most of them bestsellers, such as Glitz, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, and Rum Punch. Unlike most genre writers, however, Leonard is taken seriously by the literary crowd.

What’s Leonard’s secret to being both popular and respectable? Perhaps you’ll find some clues in his 10 tricks for good writing: *

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

EDIT - I've moved this to Production as honestly, along with Paul Heyman and Roger Corman, Leonard is one of the big three influences on my style of production from outside of the world of music entirely. Minimal, stripped back approach...nothing more than needs to be there.

[SunkLo]

RIP

My production style is more like Tolkien I guess

[alphacat]

PKD here.

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PKD here.

Fuck yes, epic! Me too : ) Spent 4 hours in a waiting room reading Ubik and listening to Ariel by 2562, spawned a new EP : )


But seriously didn't know Get Shorty was a book. Gonna pick that up from the library : ) Defo going to check this guy out. I always feel like a failed lit nerd when I only hear about an author when they've died : (



We need to start an authors who influence your music thread.

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I also recommend Freaky Deaky as a great Leonard book. Film adapt,was poor though

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I also recommend Freaky Deaky as a great Leonard book. Film adapt,was poor though

Noted wub, thanks. Maybe I'll pick that one up first since I don't know the plot : )

Dunno if you read much Sci Fi...but two people in this thread, it would seem highly recommend Philip K. Dick it's really less science fiction and more speculative fiction...his novels have been turned into some great movies (Bladerunner, A Scanner Darkly).

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Dunno if you read much Sci Fi...but two people in this thread, it would seem highly recommend Philip K. Dick

Yeah, I'm aware

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^Well goddamn. That's one I've not heard of. :military salute smiley guy:

Now you've given me two reading assignments in 48 hours.