Lawrence Block

Gaslight (Excerpt from Alive in Shape and Color)

The Following is an excerpt from Alive in Shape and Color   GASLIGHT by Jonathan Santlofer She saw it again, not a picture this time, just the hard cold truth: a handsome young man who had married her for money. What else could he possibly see in her? She did nothing, wasn’t beautiful nor brilliant, just unsuccessful Paula, dull and drab. Except for one thing: She was rich. When they’d met, Gregory had practically nothing: the Lower East Side tenement and a part time job painting walls in an art gallery; no family money, no prospects other than an art career that might or might not eventually take off, but when would that be, and how many art careers ever did? Still, she fought the idea. She had been reading too many crime novels, that was all. Gregory cared about her. He needed her, adored her. But the thought soured fast. He needed her all … Read more

Night Windows (Excerpt from In Sunlight or In Shadow)

(The following is an excerpt from the anthology In Sunlight or In Shadow) Night Windows by Jonathan Santlofer There she is again, pink bra, pink slip, in one window then the next, appearing then disappearing, a picture in a zoetrope, flickering, evanescent, maddening. Yes, that’s the word: maddening. Then he thinks of another: delicious. And another: torture. He hadn’t expected a replacement so soon. The last one, Laura or Lauren, her name hardly matters, gone now four or five months, not like he’s not counting. They’re all replaceable, one as good as the next. Though he liked the last one, her innocence—and taking it away. He tries to picture her but her features are already blurred, like she was a watercolor and he’d run a moist finger across her face, smearing her features, erasing her, creating her then destroying her. Exactly what he did. What he always does. The woman in pink bends over, her … Read more

In Sunlight or In Shadow

Edward Hopper, that most American of artists: girlie shows, movie theaters, gas stations at night, that famous diner, strangers glimpsed in windows, the lonely streets, landscapes filled with yearning. Despite the isolation, or because of it, Hopper strikes a chord, touches us, draws us in. His subjects inhabit a world constructed entirely by the artist: lost in thought, still yet searching, his couples sit, stand, recline, sometimes side by side but never quite connected, the artist a master of isolation. I felt compelled to make drawings, this one of the artist and a few of his paintings. At first they were going to be two-minute sketches, but Hopper took hold of me and my pencil just kept going. I even added a touch of color. Of course Hopper is always about light and shadow, which brings me to the book, “In Sunlight or In Shadow, Stories Inspired By the Paintings of Edward Hopper,” brainchild of the legendary crime fiction writer, Lawrence Block, … Read more

Me and Lawrence Block on Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC

Lawrence Block and I were interviewed on the Leonard Lopate show about writing crime fiction. “Jonathan Santlofer, Director at the Crime Fiction Academy, and Lawrence Block, author and Crime Fiction Academy Master Class Instructor, talk about the academy, a program at the Center for Fiction that’s dedicated to crime writing in all its forms. Jonathan Santlofer is the author of five bestselling novels, including Anatomy of Fear and The Killing Art. Lawrence Block has been writing award-winning mystery and suspense fiction for half a century, and his most recent novel is A Drop of the Hard Stuff.” Listen here: [audio:http://bak.jonathansantlofer.com/wp-content/uploads/lopate082312cpod.mp3]