Sample Clues
In the last paragraph, this James Thurber guy goes from smoking by a drugstore to bravely facing a firing squad
Walter Mitty
Encountering one that snarls at him in an 1819 work, this title character exclaims, "My very dog... has forgotten me!"
Rip Van Winkle
While in prison for embezzlement, he published his 1st short story, "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking"
O. Henry
Montresor seeks revenge on wine connoisseur Fortunato in his 1846 tale "The Cask of Amontillado"
(Edgar Allan) Poe
He wrote about a "Red Badge" & switched colors for the story "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"
Stephen Crane