My favorite crime/mystery author died this morning.

Elmore Leonard made me a decent writer. I read his catalog extensively, and still own 12 of his novels and one great little tome titled "ELMORE LEONARD'S 10 RULES OF WRITING."

Stephen King called Leonard the "...Best writer in America."

He wrote many best sellers, including "Get Shorty." He had many of his novels used as the basis for screenplays, TV shows and motion pictures.

His characters were real. They lived and breathed and the dialogue was to the point.

My favorite quote of his was "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

He said that the rules of English often get in the way of writing.

I loved "Dutch" and his attitude about the art.

"Never open a book with weather."
"Avoid prologues."
"Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue."
"Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said.'"
"Keep your exclamation points under control."
"Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose."
"Use regional dialogue, patois, sparingly."
"Avoid detailed descriptions of characters."
"Don't go into great detail describing places and things."
"Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip."

Those are his 10 RULES.

R.I.P. Dutch.