Laurence Shames Updates

Well, it all started with a random piece of Beatles trivia…   Turned out the Fab Four made an unplanned visit to Key West in 1964. Turned out they stayed … Read More

Thanks to all of you who clicked through from the mailing. For those who just happened to come across this post while perusing the website—thanks for that!—a recap is in … Read More

Soon To Be a Major Motion Picture! Those were the bold and thrilling words emblazoned across the top of the very first paperback edition of Florida Straits in 1993. The … Read More

  By coincidence, or so it seemed, the rooster set up shop on the far side of the compound fence just around the time old Bert had his fall. The … Read More

The world was new and life was simple then. The year, I think, was 1999. Facebook hadn’t yet been founded. The iPhone was a far-off gleam in Apple’s eye. People … Read More

Does anyone out there remember the 1941 Preston Sturges classic, Sullivan’s Travels? The protagonist of that wonderful film is a highly successful director of unabashedly escapist Hollywood comedies who wakes … Read More

Some books—the writing of them, I mean—just seem to start themselves. A first sentence pops into your head. You hear a scrap of dialogue—either out in the world or between … Read More

Some writers seem to know what they’re doing when they start a novel. Some—or so I’ve been told—even have a complete outline or a stack of index cards with planned … Read More

It’s a question that all novelists dread, generally because they don’t know the answer, and it’s a little embarrassing to be utterly baffled by a perfectly legitimate question regarding one’s … Read More

Consider this an invitation to a very quiet, long-distance sort of party. I’m inviting you to celebrate with me the completion of a project that’s been obsessing me for the … Read More