“My life holds three simple pleasures…”

That’s right, folks: Somewhere in Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1935, at fictional Lester College, a private dick and occasional college professor sits in his office, planning moves for his play-by-mail chess games. Pulp Novel BETA 0.1 is underway, under the working title The Hardest Lesson. And that means that I’ve got excerpts for you.