It Is A Bad Idea To Live

From My Childhood, I Remember A Tiny Old Woman Named Mary, Made Pale And Almost Translucent By Time. Mary's Childhood Memories Extended Back To The Confusing And Violent Finale Of The Civil War, And She Told Stories Of Brutal Murders In Those Days And Refused To Name Some Of The Killers, As If Dead Men Might Still Be Prosecuted In The Late 1950s.

He Had Been Alone In The World And Empty For So Long. But She Filled Him Full, And So He Believed Everything That Had Been Taken Out Of Him Might Have Been For A Purpose. To Clear Space For Something Better.

Claim Your Space. Draw A Circle Of Light Around It. Push Back Against The Dark. Don't Just Survive. Celebrate.

[no] Matter What A Waste One Has Made Of One's Life, It Is Ever Possible To Find Some Path To Redemption, However Partial.

Hardboiled Crime Fiction Came Of Age In Black Mask Magazine During The Twenties And Thirties. Writers Like Dashiell Hammett And Raymond Chandler Learnt Their Craft And Developed A Distinct Literary Style And Attitude Toward The Modern World.