PROLOGUE
My relationship with Lamont Cranston, known to many in our city only as the Shadow, is something that may fill many volumes. When I first met him at a cocktail party that I attended with a society friend, he seemed unremarkable. Lamont was about twenty feet away, in a crowded room with his back to me. When I looked at him, he stiffened and slowly turned to look back at me.
It was his eyes that you noticed first.
But more of that later. In the weeks and months that followed I became first his assistant, then his friend, and then his confident. I was younger than he, and pretty by the standards of the time. This beauty served him and me well on many of our adventures, as many people will open up to a pretty girl faster than a brooding aristocrat or a disembodied voice. I also had worked for a while as a reporter, which gave me a good ability to interview witnesses. He always worried that he was placing me in too much danger, but I would not have traded my experiences with him for anything.
Who else gets to be a superhero’s sidekick?
My daughter has suggested that I write some of these experiences down so that others can share them. I do so not for this reason, but so that the thousands, if not millions, of lives that Lamont saved in secret can finally know the truth.
So, this is my first effort. I choose to write in the third person so that I can incorporate the remembrances of others like Schrevy or Lamont himself into this story without interruption. My own recollections will be directly included where they may shed additional light onto the tale.
Our story occurs in that time after I had gained Lamont’s confidence but was still learning more and more about his mysterious past and the demons that drove him. It also begins with the all-important question and its answer -
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
The Shadow knows!
Margot Lane
Cranston Manor
It was his eyes that you noticed first.
But more of that later. In the weeks and months that followed I became first his assistant, then his friend, and then his confident. I was younger than he, and pretty by the standards of the time. This beauty served him and me well on many of our adventures, as many people will open up to a pretty girl faster than a brooding aristocrat or a disembodied voice. I also had worked for a while as a reporter, which gave me a good ability to interview witnesses. He always worried that he was placing me in too much danger, but I would not have traded my experiences with him for anything.
Who else gets to be a superhero’s sidekick?
My daughter has suggested that I write some of these experiences down so that others can share them. I do so not for this reason, but so that the thousands, if not millions, of lives that Lamont saved in secret can finally know the truth.
So, this is my first effort. I choose to write in the third person so that I can incorporate the remembrances of others like Schrevy or Lamont himself into this story without interruption. My own recollections will be directly included where they may shed additional light onto the tale.
Our story occurs in that time after I had gained Lamont’s confidence but was still learning more and more about his mysterious past and the demons that drove him. It also begins with the all-important question and its answer -
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
The Shadow knows!
Margot Lane
Cranston Manor
2 Comments:
Ravi,
I have noticed a couple of mistakes myself! I will gladly accept spelling corrections, and grammar within reason. By within reason I mean that some of the text is written to reflect the syntax and style of the forties radio show, which is not always collegiate grammar (it's what I would call "pulp grammar"). You will note some speech rhythm choices that will reflect this, for example.
As for the story itself...I'm not really interested in criticism unless it's of a continuity/character believability variety. "This story is boring and uninteresting" would not be appreciated.
I can't believe I got a comment at all, to be honest. This was just a convenient place to organize the thing - I'm writing it as a part of the Novel in a Month deal.
Jon
A few comments about the story as a whole -
1 - this is a story of the "radio" Shadow, meaning that this Shadow is really Lamont Cranston, not the aviator of the pulp novels pretending to be Cranston.
2 - I own many of the available recordings of the Shadow radio show but know little about the pulp novels. I also am even somewhat familiar with the history of the writers and actors of the show. If you are a pulp novel person, don't rail on about how I'm not in line with novel #231 or whatever. I just don't care that much.
3 - I spell Margot with a "t", and I have seen it spelled differently other places, but I like the t, so there.
4 - As far as the radio performer I am modelling the character in the story after, it's pretty much Orson Wells all the way, with some Bret Morrison included. Bill Johnstone and John Archer (remember him?) are not really represented. Picture my guy as a young Orson Wells and you pretty much have his look.
More to come. I will try to post a chapter a day with commentary included in the (drum roll)...comments section.
Jon
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