Posts filed under ‘Walt Trizna’
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS: WHAT IS OUR FUTURE?
There was a time when I viewed the news on both Fox and MSNBC. I saw reports on both stations concerning the same incident. And by their reporting, I could not believe they were discussing the same issue. I have come to realize, in this day and age with so many channels available, you can select your source of facts and hear what you what to hear, what fits your view of life.
I’ve stopped listening to the news.
I should be using this blog to tell of my writing success. Unfortunately, if I depended on my career news, this blog would cease to exist. I should be writing articles to help other writers be published. That will come soon, I promise.
Now, back to the purpose of this article.
As I stated at the beginning, in this day and age a vast amount of reporting is slanted. You can hear what you want to hear without facts getting in the way. But with almost everyone able to record what is happening around them and countless cameras observing our lives there is the opportunity to record the raw truth. However, it is easy to alter photos and videos. It comes to a point ‘what do you believe’?
As an aside, I chuckle when someone decides to rob a convenience store and there are enough photos of the event to fill a family album.
To prove my point on video alteration, I saw a video on UTUBE of a propane leak and people were leaving their cars and running down the highway to safety, then the massive explosion came. I also saw the same video again, but this time there was a flying saucer in the sky and the world was under attack. Both presented as fact.
I have seen, granted in a news source known to report the news fitting their agenda, videos of protests occurring in North Carolina which, in all honest, scared the shit out of me. Protests where freedom of speech was denied by the authorities and arrests were made of whom ever made the effort to voice their opinion. I felt as if I was watching a movie in which a foreign government or calculated purpose was taking over our country. I could not believe this was my home. I don’t think these were altered, but once or twice in the last 69 years I’ve been wrong. This is to provide a bit of levity. We all need a bit of laughter these days, and a spoon full of sugar.
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS: VAN GOGH
Van Gogh
Can you imagine
The beauty the world
Would have missed
If Van Gogh
Was on
Antidepressants?
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS: LIFE PERFECT
LIFE PERFECT
The only place
Where life is perfect
Is in the heart
Of a dog.
POEMS AND FLEETING THOUGHTS
EXISTENCE
Look to the sky
To see we are small,
In the vastness of space
What is our importance?
RANTS & RAVES: THIS COUNTRY’S FUTURE
I wrote this piece on November, 8th, but I thought I would bring it to you.
We have gotten to the point that whomever wins, we are in trouble. Both candidates are dishonest, but one is a psychopath which, because of the poor state of our government, is able to run for president.
Let’s get our act together and wrestle government from big money. I know this is a dream, but we must continue to right so many wrongs which control our lives.
This country is in trouble, and no matter your beliefs, we must somehow find a way to create a government which works for everyone, and keeps the interest of our country first.
A HORROR LEGEND IS GONE
I should have posted this piece on Halloween night, but better late than never. I feel this small piece of horror history needs to be shared.
As a writer of horror, I look to the roots of my addition. The source which first opened the world of horror to me has just died at the age of 98. At least they think he died.
He was one of the elements which first opened the world of horror to me. He was Zacherly, the host of a late-night Saturday show centered on classic horror movies. If you didn’t live in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, the New York area, you probably have never heard of him.
Born John Zacherle in 1918, he provided all the original classic horror movies. Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and the Invisible Man among others. If the movie he was showing was not a classic, but a cheesy effort, he would interrupt the film to make comments or insert his image into the film.
During breaks he would camp it up standing in the coffin of his wife, stake pierced. Also, he would talk to Gasport, a potato sack containing who knows what hanging on the wall. Only Zacherly could understand what this sack said, which I found out from Zacherle’s obituary was his son. Go figure.
Another activity, often perused by this ghoulish host, was brain surgery. The brains looking very much like cauliflower. I hesitate to speculate who these brains belonged to, but it is tempting.
I was a teenager when this was all happening. Offered by Zacherly was a passport to Transylvania. Of course I sent away for one. With a bright red cover, it was a cherished possession. It was lost before I had a chance to use it.
A legend is gone. I hope he lives on in reruns, or that murky world where horror meets reality.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: MARKETS AND AGENTS
This piece is a sample of upcoming posts to this blog.
The following is a list of websites to help writers find markets and agents. In the future I will discuss each site in more detail, but I thought I would offer this piece for writers to explore these sites, if they want, on their own.
First, I am sad to say that one of my favorite sites to explore the validity of markets and agents no longer exists. The site is Preditors & Editors, a site I have looked to over the years for their opinion about markets and agents. They will be sorely missed.
Now let’s deal with markets.
To my mind, Duotrope is the go-to site for seeking markets for fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Once free, it now charges 50$ a year to use it. Although there are some that argue about the fee, I think, for the service they provide, it is well worth the cost. This site is a fantastic search-engine to find markets specific to your work.
Here is the site:
https://duotrope.com/index.aspx?bp=search
Here is a site to find markets for science fiction and more. I have yet to become acquainted with it, but I will before I report on it.
http://www.ralan.com/index.htm
Now for agents.
In my opinion, this is the site to first visit when seeking an agent. The site is for the Association of Writers Representative. You can search the site for your specific genre and be connected to the agent’s site. You should never have to pay an agent to read your work. With the agents associated with this site, you never will. They have taken a pledge of honesty.
Here is the site:
Next is a site devoted to the writer to query other writers about their experience with publishers and
agents. Great place to check on honesty.
Here is the site:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/activity.php
Finally, here is a site to use to see an agents background. I will discuss this site in greater detail in a later post.
Here is the site:
http://www.agwentquery.com/default.aspx
I hope this helps my fellow writers on their journey to publication. As promised, a more extensive look at each site will follow. I want to help my fellow writers to be where they want to be.
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