Laurence R. D'Orsay (8 November 1887 – 21 November 1947) was an American writer of several instruction books for writers, a critic and literary agent in Los Angeles, California. Laurence Rex D'Orsay was born Leopold Alexander Thalmayer in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, in 1887, the son of an Austrian father and an English mother. He arrived in the US in 1916, where he changed his name to Laurence Thalmore. Since the mid-1920s he published his fiction and non-fiction in diverse magazines under the pen name Laurence R. D'Orsay, e.g., in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

'', '' The Writer's Monthly'', ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 und ...

''. Laurence D'Orsay was married to Nordica Abbott (1902–1969); they had a son, Kenneth Edward D'Orsay (1923–1972). He died in Los Angeles in 1947. The author

Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy fiction, fantasy and horror fiction, horror. Early life Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and ...

worked for D'Orsay's literary agency in the mid-1930s, before selling his first stories.According to

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime fiction, crime, psychological horror fiction, horror and Fantasy Fiction, fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and ...

in his autobiography ''Once Around The Bloch'' (1995), D'Orsay was Henry Kuttner's uncle. Another well-known author,

Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 24, 1978) was an American author and screenwriter. Nicknamed "the Queen of space opera, Space Opera", she was one of the most prominent female writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. ...

, began her writing career by attending a writing course with Laurence D'Orsay.

Partial bibliography

Non-Fiction: *''Landing the Editors' Checks'': Writing and selling your story. Kansas City, MO: Burton Publishing Co., 1928. *''Writing Novels To Sell''. Cincinnati, OH, 1930. *''The Profit in Writing'': A volume of definite, practical, how-to-do-it advice for the building of salable stories. Los Angeles, CA: Parker, Stone & Baird Co., 1934 (several editions). *''Stories You Can Sell'': A volume of collected stories of various acceptable types, with explanatory analyses by the author, showing how plots may be obtained and stories written and sold by the reader. Los Angeles, Parker, Stone & Baird Co., 1935 (several editions). Short stories: *"Phantoms", in: ''

'', January 1925. *"The Spirit of It", in: ''Short Stories'', 25 January 1925. *"Marble", in: ''Weird Tales'', June, 1925. *"The Stamp of Courtesy", in: ''Clues'', October 1926. *"Jewels for Two" (with F. L. Grant), in: ''Clues'', December, 1926. *"The Price of Empire", in: ''Soldiers of Fortune'', May, 1932. Novel *''Mistress of Spears'': A Tale of Amazulu. Kansas City, MO: Burton, 1930.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Orsay, Laurence American instructional writers American literary critics American short story writers American literary agents 1887 births 1947 deaths