Gordon McAlpine’s Followers (96)

Gordon McAlpine

Died

November 24, 2021

Website

http://gordonmcalpine.net/

Genre

Children's, Thriller

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Gordon McAlpine (who sometimes writes as “Owen Fitzstephen”) is the author of Mystery Box (2003), Hammett Unwritten (2013), Woman With a Blue Pencil (2015), Holmes Untangled (2018), and After Oz (2024) –- all shape-shifting novels that play fast and loose with the mystery genre, as well as a middle-grade trilogy, The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe. He’s also the co-author of the non-fiction book The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH. He has taught creative writing and literature at U.C. Irvine, U.C.L.A., and Chapman University. He lives with his wife Julie in Southern California. “Owen Fitzstephen,” by the way, is the name of a character, a dissolute, alcoholic writer, in Hammett’s The Dain Curse.

Gordon McAlpine has been de Gordon McAlpine (who sometimes writes as “Owen Fitzstephen”) is the author of Mystery Box (2003), Hammett Unwritten (2013), Woman With a Blue Pencil (2015), Holmes Untangled (2018), and After Oz (2024) –- all shape-shifting novels that play fast and loose with the mystery genre, as well as a middle-grade trilogy, The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe. He’s also the co-author of the non-fiction book The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH. He has taught creative writing and literature at U.C. Irvine, U.C.L.A., and Chapman University. He lives with his wife Julie in Southern California. “Owen Fitzstephen,” by the way, is the name of a character, a dissolute, alcoholic writer, in Hammett’s The Dain Curse.

Gordon McAlpine has been described by Publisher’s Weekly as “a gifted stylist, with clean, clear and muscular prose.” A native Californian, he attended the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at the University of California, Irvine.

Once Upon a Midnight Eerie is Mr. McAlpine’s latest book and is the the second volume in his middle-grade trilogy, “The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe”. Publisher’s Weekly describes the book as a “gumbo of jokes, codes, treasure, history, mystery and assorted literary references.” It was published by Viking in April, 2014.

The Tell-Tale Start, published in 2013, is the first book in “The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe”. Publisher’s Weekly writes in a starred review of the award winning audio version of The Tell-Tale Start: “Entertaining and original….Endlessly fun and ultimately very satisfying on every level.”

In February 2013, Seventh Street Books published Hammett Unwritten, a literary mystery novel that revolves around the life of the great detective novelist Dashiell Hammett. Reviews of the novel have been stellar and the novel has appeared on top ten lists for the year.

The Los Angeles Times called Mr. McAlpine’s first novel, Joy in Mudville, an “imaginative mix of history, humor and fantasy…fanciful and surprising”, and The West Coast Review of Books called it “a minor miracle.” Joy in Mudville was re-released in a new e-book edition in late summer 2012.

The Way of Baseball, Finding Stillness at 95 MPH, is a non fiction book and was published by Simon & Schuster in June 2011 to outstanding reviews. Written in collaboration with Major League All-Star Shawn Green, the book illuminates the spiritual practices that enabled Green to “bring stillness into the flow of life.”

The Persistence of Memory, his second novel, was published by the distinguished British publisher Peter Owen Ltd., and his young adult novel, Mystery Box, was published by Cricket Books to critical praise.

Mr. McAlpine has published short stories and book reviews in journals and anthologies both in the U.S.A and abroad. His short story “The Happiest Place” appears in the Akashic Press anthology, Orange County Noir. He has chaired and taught creative writing in the Master of Fine Arts Program at Chapman University in Orange, California, as well as fiction writing classes at U.C.L.A and U.C. Irvine. In his twenties, he developed video games and wrote scripts for film and television.

He is a member of the Author’s Guild and PEN, and he is president of the board of directors of the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation. He lives with his wife Julie in Southern California. ...more

Combine Editions
Gordon McAlpine’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 6,620 ratings · 1,263 reviews · 31 distinct works • Similar authors

	After Oz 3.55 avg rating — 3,636 ratings — published 2024 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tell-Tale Start by Gordon McAlpine, Sam Zuppardi (Illustrator) 3.76 avg rating — 1,127 ratings — published 2013 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Woman with a Blue Pencil 3.92 avg rating — 461 ratings — published 2015 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Once Upon a Midnight Eerie (The Misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe, #2) by Gordon McAlpine, Sam Zuppardi (Illustrator) 3.96 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 2014 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Holmes Entangled 3.45 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Pet and the Pendulum (The Misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe #3) by Gordon McAlpine, Sam Zuppardi (Illustrator) 4.09 avg rating — 219 ratings — published 2015 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mystery Box: A Novel About the Creators of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys 3.56 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Joy in Mudville 4.38 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1989 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Persistence of Memory 4.25 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 1997 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dorothy G., Kansas 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gordon McAlpine…

Series by Gordon McAlpine

The Misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe (3 books)
by

Gordon McAlpine,

Sam Zuppardi (Illustrator)

3.84 avg rating — 1,670 ratings

Quotes by Gordon McAlpine (?)

“but this was no time to stand on ceremony.”
― Gordon McAlpine, Woman with a Blue Pencil

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“Hak mı, hah!" diye güldü kadın. "Kaderin hakkaniyetle bir ilgisi yoktur.”
― Gordon McAlpine, Woman with a Blue Pencil

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Polls

October Readathon 2022
Please DON’T vote for one of the options.
Recommend spooky books or graphic novels to add to the book list for our newest readathon.

See the comments for the rules on what can be recommended.

Into the Shadows by Cathy MacPhail

3 votes, 21.4%

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1 vote, 7.1%

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1 vote, 7.1%

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1 vote, 7.1%

The Magnus Archives: Season 1 by Jonathan Sims

1 vote, 7.1%

Stay Out of the Basement by R.L. Stine (write-in)

1 vote, 7.1%

The Haunting of the Old Yellow House on Millard Road by D. A. L. (write-in)

1 vote, 7.1%

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1 vote, 7.1%

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

1 vote, 7.1%

The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter (write-in)

1 vote, 7.1%

Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall (write-in)

1 vote, 7.1%

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1 vote, 7.1%

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0 votes, 0.0%

The Tell-Tale Start by Gordon McAlpine

0 votes, 0.0%

The Dark by James Herbert

0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

Carrie by Stephen King

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0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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The Chain by Adrian McKinty

0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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0 votes, 0.0%

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14 total votes

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Gordon McAlpine’s Followers (96)

Gordon McAlpine

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