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He has an alter ego, Mike the janitor, custodian of a virtual pub on the Internet called the Serendip. It’s a place where characters hang out to discuss and gossip about their authors.

In particular I try to correct the common misconception that the 18th-century writer Horace Walpole coined the word in a book written by him called The Three Princes of Serendip. In fact, this book, a ...