Barry's Latest

  • Revelations of the Impossible Piddingtons; Adventures in Second Sight, a historical novel set in 1890-95  just up on the Amazon Kindle Book Store. It is the first of a trilogy presenting the global adventures of Kyame Piddington in second sight. more info
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  • "Nellie Bly on Magnets, Mind Readers and Fakirs! Fakirs! Fakirs!"
    Gibecière,Summer, 2010, Vol. 5, No. 2. The first female reporter who became known for her daring exploits, exposes and duplicates  the tricks of Magnetic Girl, Annie Abbott, the thought reading of Maud Lancaster; spirit medium, "The Prince of Mediums" Jules Patrick Wallace and, finally, the $2 mindreader Abdulla.
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  • "Lycaon: The coming of the Werewolf"
    History Magazine, October/November 2010
  • The history of the werewolf legend in folklore, literature and in Hollywood. The werewolf is much more than Lon Chaney in heavy make-up.
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  • "Dunninger alla Radio"
  • The story of the radio career of mentalist Joseph Dunninger.
  • Magia, Vol. 7, No. 2 , 2011, Italy
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  • "Margery la Strega Bionda di Beacon Hill"
  • The story of the Boston spirit medium, Margery (Mina Crandon), who was the premier psychic in the world from 1923 to about 1935.
  • Query, Vol. 2, No. 6 (2011), Italy

Coming Publications



  • "The Blonde Witch of Boston", scheduled for History Magazine, 2012.
  • The strange story of Mina Crandon, Boston socialite who became world renown as the spirit medium “Margery”. Her home at 10 Lime Street in Boston's Beacon Hill was the center of the psychic world from 1923 to the mid-thirties. Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle battled over her, with Houdini claiming he had exposed all her tricks and Doyle claiming the magician had exposed nothing. I interviewed Dr. Eric J. Dingwall, the last person alive who had sat in a seance with Margery. The Italian version of the article has just appeaed in Query, the Italian magazine of inquiry.
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  • "Stranglers of the Yellow Scarf"  scheduled for History Magazine, 2012.
  • The story of Thuggee , the hereditary organization of garroters that preyed on travelers in India for over three hundred years and which murdered, using a yellow scarf, over two million people, who simply disappeared. The Thugs (pronounced "tugs") were followers of the Hindu goddess, Kali, the black goddess, the daughter of stone, and many other names. Yellow was Kali's favorite color and the killings had to be bloodless. Thuggee was surpressed by the forces of the British East India Company in about 1840, though there were often rumors of its local revival.
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  • "The Sea Wolves: Muslim Corsairs of the Barbary Coast", scheduled for History Magazine, early 2012.
  • Classic predators who relied on the disunity of European kingdoms and sometimes on treaty cooperation with Christian kings, the Muslim corsairs traded in gold, silver and slaves for most of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth. Many of the more successful corsair captains were converted Christians from England and France. In the end, the defeat of the pirates was brought about by superior military force exerted by united kingdoms and the presence of the American Navy.
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  • The Thought Reader Craze, my book on the scientific  search for proof of telepathy as a fact of nature in the late nineteenth century  will be published by McFarland Publishers Spring, 2012. It traces the hunger of scientists for proof ot telepathy as the first step to proving the existence of an afterlife, while at the same time thought readers were exploiting that scientific hunger to create ever larger bank accounts. The methods used by the thought readers are explained.

Welcome to the Official Website of author, Barry Wiley

Welcome to my website!
“Kyame seems a girl ready for her dragon tattoo ...,” according to the Kirkus Media review of my Amazon Kindle novel, Revelations of the Impossible Piddingtons: Adventures in Second Sight. Continuing, Kirkus says, “Wiley deftly renders the period atmosphere, attitudes, action and dialogue, and Kyame could develop a loyal following of readers of all ages and sexes …” And regarding the novel, Kirkus describes it as, “A magical concept and a miraculous heroine keep the pages turning …” And finally, “One looks forward … to whatever Wiley plans to do with the heroine next.” You will find the complete review on the Kirkus website at http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barry-h-wiley/revelations-of-the-impossible-piddingtons/ . It is, naturally, exciting to receive such an enthusiastic review from such a respected source.

  
 
On this site you will find descriptions of my books and CD's -- and how to purchase them -- as well as a list of my latest writings appearing in current magazines and journals. and a listing of the articles scheduled for publication later in 2011 and early 2012. You will find a section on FAQ which covers a few of the more familar questions that I have encountered. You are welcome to add your own questions if the questions listed don't cover your interests.

Remember the name, The Evasons, and if you get the chance to see them perform, do so. Jeff and Tessa Evason invited me to catch their performance at Milton Academy near Boston.  Dynamite! I have never seen a mindreading act shake up an audience as they did, and which they regularly do at all their performances. Check their website at www.evason.com for more information. We then spent about two hours after the show discussing a broad range of psychic and mentalism topics. They make no claims of psychical powers or supernatural happenings, but their audiences walk convinced anyway.


Hollywood calling! My book The Georgia Wonder, is going to be used in the new Jim Carrey film, Burt Wonderstone, to be released in 2013. The picture is a comedy about magicians. I faxed my signed release as the property manager had indicated that "time was of the essence".


Just returned from lecturing on "The Thought Reader Craze" at the 12th Los Angeles Conference on Magic History held every two yeas in North Hollywood. It was my first visit to the LA Conference, and it was a delightful experience. Meeting people whose work I knew but we had never met was great. In addition to the lectures and historical displays, there were two field trip.: To the Skirball Center for their exhibition on Jewish Magicians, which naturally included Houdini, Dunninger, Goldin and many others. Skirball is a beautiful place. And then on Saturday morning, to visit the most legendary address in American magic, Brookledge, where in the 1930's and 40's Floyd Thayer had his workshop and display cases, and then in the 1950's the house passed to the Larson family which has contnued to make the house a center of magic activity. The hottest ticket in LA right now  is to the Brookledge Follies that is staged in Thayer's original theater. The tickets are free and only by invitation. I look forward to the 13th Conference.

Have been receivng congratulations for the national award which  the dust jacket for my Amazon Kindle novel Revelations of the Impossible Piddingtons  won a couple of monghs ago.Continued  congratulations to Studio Schaad Design who so skillfully rendered the story of Kyame Piddington into a single image.

If you look at the home website of the International Thriller Writer Assoc, and scroll down the E-Releases list you will discover Revelations of the Impossible Piddingtons is well represented, leading with the award-winning dustjacket.

  The final manuscript of my latest book, The Thought Reader Craze, is now at the publishers, McFarland & Co.  The book is tentatively scheduled to appear in the second quarter of 2012. I will keep you informed when the date of release is finalized. I am currently developing a brief mindreading routine to go with the book-signings, that will illustrate the Possible vs. Impossible debate that is described in the book.

  Revelations of the Impossible Piddingtons: Adventures in Second Sight  on Amazon Kindle for $1.95 continues to sell steadily. The second book in the trilogy, Shadow of the Tiger, is well underway. After so much time on thought readers and such, it takes some time to get back to Monaco in 1896, the site for much of Tiger, but the flow is there.. Go to the Kindle Store, put my name in the search and the award-winning dust jacket will come up. Kindle allows prospective readers with Kindle software  to sample the books before buying, which in the case of Revelations is the first six chapters. Kindle software is available from Amazon as a free download for PC's and Mac's.

If you are into food, and who isn't, then you will enjoy my daughter Hannah's  new blog Blue Kale Road which has been gaining readers from all ove rthe globe. Her focus is on the enjoyment of people, food and receipes. It is great fun -- particularly to sample the featured dish.

   I need to explain the chop displayed above which was carved for me in Shanghai from Shou-shan stone. It stands 4.75 inches tall and is 1.5 inches square. It is crowned by a carving of a dragon and a tortise in battle. The dragon represents power and the tortise long life. It is taught that one without the other leads to an empty life, and so the conflict between risk and contentment, between assertion and denial must be ongoing.  I use the chop as a colophon or trademark. It means "Creator of Mysterious Stories" which about covers everything, particularly politics.

  So enjoy. Content will be changing on a regular basis -- and thank you for coming,

  Regards,
  Barry