Welcome! Free Monologues

Mystery novel, short stories for sale in pdf

My mystery novel, The Hounding, is available for download for only $5. You can read it on your Kindle, your computer, or you can print it off in hard copy.

In this homage to Sherlock Holmes, tall, thin, androgynous Shirley Combs considers herself the world’s greatest living detective because she uses the methods and casebook of Sherlock Holmes to solve crimes of the gentry of the American city most closely resembling London, England -- in terms of the weather, at least. Sidekick/narrator Dr. Mary Watson both delights in and is frustrated by her partner’s behavioral resemblance to Sherlock. Combs is unemotional, analytical, and given to pacing through the night in the streets of the almost perfectly livable city of Portland, Oregon. Her ability to observe details and understand their relationship to a case is unmatched; her demands on Watson’s time are too.

Shirley Combs bills herself as the world's greatest living detective, and why not? Taunted and teased as a child because her name sounded so much like Sherlock Holmes's, she developed an early obsession with the adventures and methods of Sherlock himself. She considered her fate sealed when she met up with Dr. Mary Watson. Shirley adds the technology of today to Holmes's 100-year-old casebook and solves the mysteries of her much-beloved hometown. Mary assists, and -- of course -- chronicles their exciting exploits.

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The twenty short stories range from 2 to 13 pages, but each one is two bucks. There is a wide range of genres as well. Check them out.

Much of my work is for the theater, with forays into other venues, such as the opera and radio. You’ll find comedies, dramas, musicals, and pieces from one minute to one-act to full length scripts. There are excerpts and complete manuscripts available right here on the web site for you to enjoy.*

Monologues and scenes for actors and directors to use as audition pieces and classroom pieces are readily available, and monologues are free.

NEWS and Coming Attractions

Blue Roses received a Play Lab reading at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in May, 2009. The judges had great things to say about it and would like to see it produced.

I finished the 18-week reading of my memoir on live radio at www.PIVTR.com. The chapters are archived and available for $2.99 each. Speaking of radio, please check out Willamette Radio Workshop (producers of my Christmas at the TNT Truckstop) at: http://radiowork.voiceofsam.com/

I performed a reading of my new solo work "Copperheads and Common Women" as part of Fertile Ground New Works Festival here in Portland, January 2009. I've been invited to present it at the Women Playwrights International Conference in Mumbai, India November 2009. I'm trying to raise funds for that trip.

Summer 2008 , I participated in Artist Reperatory Theatre's Spotlight Program here in Portland. I was one of the 10 playwrights who interviewed 10 middle schoolers and wrote plays for them. Mine was called The Thing Is and starred Alex Valle UC, a 6th grader who played a robot. His British Nanny was played by Mindy Dillard. They did a great job. I went both nights and so enjoyed all the plays and all the kids.

I've added a few sound files from some of my work. Playwright/Actor Sandra Dempsey of Toronto, Canada reads some of my monologues, and ten-minute plays. You'll know which ones because they have a sound file attached.

Some of my plays are now listed with doollee.com, check out the link below:

Plays and Playwrights Link