tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78478322949570704022024-03-12T23:39:40.765-07:00Jack Owen's Dogwatch YarnsJack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-30859965665428451652015-09-18T18:38:00.003-07:002015-09-18T18:38:35.013-07:00All you rogues at heart - THIS is your day...AarrgghhIts be a while; launching one book, writing another and preparing for the next, but I couldn't let the annual 'Talk Like a Pirate Day' slip by without my contribution.<br />
If you happen to be in a seaport town, or America's oldest seafarers city which just celebrated its 450th birthday, you'd know it.<br />
Enjoy!<br />
~~~ <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Talk Like a Pirate
Day</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
by Jack M D Owen</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek Flynt had a perfect description
of the assailant.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But the Ancient City Police Department
dispatcher just laughed at him.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek described the perp as somewhere
between five to six foot tall, depending whether he was stooped under
his tricorn hat or standing upright on his peg-leg with the pink
Rubber-Maid non-slip tip. There was a tendency, between witness
statements, for the black eye-patch to switch from left to right,
but the brown orb against a black-blue and purple blood-shot
background, was consistent.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Unfortunately for the St. Augustine
Glamor Mall Security Guard, males of all ages and shades had chosen
that date, September 19, to partake in the 'Talk Like a Pirate Day”
as part of the long-weekend celebration of the Ancient City's 450<sup>th</sup>
Birthday. Derek was getting reports from Hymie the Jeweler, the
SmartFone Depot and even the Tittilating Truffles & Tidbits
confectioner, of being robbed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Its no joke.” He complained to
a laughing dispatcher.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek waddled as fast as his stretched
gray-polyester pants, with broad brown-stripe down the outer seam,
would allow, glowering at mini-pirates waving plastic bendy-blade
swords tethered to mothers juggling shopping bags, mobile-phones and
car-keys in the Friday shopping frenzy.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Every door of every store revealed its
Jack Sparrow or Long John Silver replicate. Some flashed glittering
medallions on gold chains framed in an open-neck blousy-shirt, one
hand on a cutlass handle while the other juggled a flickering
cell-phone being sprayed with cookie-crumbs. Several folks swayed
like seasoned sailors stepping on-shore from a six-month cruise,
augmented by an aura of rum-fumes ranging from Pinacolada to Pusser's
Navy. Eyes, left, right or dual – with obligatory patch perched on
foreheads – were inevitably cross-hatched pink</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The rent-a-cop fan of NCIC forced
himself past the 52-Variety Donut Store toward the PetsStore and its
'Treasure of the Week', a doleful-eyed, floppy-eared, saggy-dugged
blood-hound. Clutching a sliver of chartreuse
material, reportedly ripped from the pirate's breeches on the
jeweler's security-door screen, Derek pushed through the
'Adopt-a-Pet' crowd to the manager.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I need to borrow your sniffer dog.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
He pushed through shoppers to the head
of the line. His plea was ignored in the litany of items being rung up:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“...and two bags of gourmet
rat-feed, the deluxe water trough with Avian-attachment, together
with vitamin pills, sleeping pills, urinary infection and band-aids,
$213.53 plus tax...” Each verbal note accompanied, with electronic
pinging sound-effect, flowed uninterrupted.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Slide here, sign-three, put your
PIN in.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Whirring sounds produced a foot-long
listed of items thrust into the bag with purchases.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Next”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek stood in an unbroken sea of
swashbuckling weekend sailors, “Aaaarrring” and “M'Hearty'ing
in a plethora a pronunciations.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ignored.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Can I get some attention, here?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Take a ticket, sir. We'll get to
you.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek's pale skin gained a tint which
bloomed through shades of pink to red to scarlet bordering purple at
the unwelcome attention many mono-eyed faces focused upon him, while
the cash-register pinged on uninterrupted.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
He flourish his badge.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nothing.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
His hand moved to his gun</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Aaaarrrgggh.” The crowd cooed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The blood-lust was almost palpable.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The blood-hound bayed, sensing the
game was afoot.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But Derek gulped hard, removed his
hand from hip and bid a farewell to the store clerk; in a gesture
hard to discern on later re-runs of the security-camera, shook his
head and left.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Where's Rin-Tin-Tin when you need
him?” He muttered.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek waded through waves of shoppers
of all shapes and sizes clad in some semblance of a piratical nature.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Overhead the sound of speakers
hollowly called for parents to gather lost or dumped children. Some
parents routinely diverted recalcitrant replicates toward the Lost &
Found kiosk for the holding-pen staffed by retirees and liberal-art
students. The kids would be retrieved in a couple of hours, well-fed
with finger-paint globs on clothes and play-dough blobs in hair;
baby-sat at no cost but a scrub in the tub and another load of
washing – later.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sounds of the distinctive city-cop
cruiser sirens bounced off the walls through the automatic sliding
doors.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Derek gained his minuscule security
office which housed a wall of monitors following the ebb and flow of
shoppers, fire and security alarm systems together with ingress and
egress controls.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
He smacked a large red-button, flicked
a couple of direction switches and hefted the clump of pass-keys on
its retractable chain clipped to hi broad belt before setting off to
meet the ancient city's finest. Jaunty was not a term normally applied
to Derek's progress through the mall but, there was a certain light
fillip to his step.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The multitude was congregating at the
triple-door main entrance while new customers pushed through the
one-way entry. Several,who tried to exit against the flow, were
brushed aside and back into the mall.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Stocky Officer Darlene Lacey and horny
K-9 Monty, on full-exposure as usual, stood waiting.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“What...”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Robbery, three places. Threatened
assault, with a cutlass, by an assailant decked out like a pirate.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Her eyes rolled backward.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Y'gotta be...”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Nope. No joke. This SoB blooded the
jeweler when he nicked him after he loaded the sword-blade with
chains and medallions. He's gotta look like Mr T if he's wearing all
that bling.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Dekek ignored the jeers and jaunts
from the swelling crowd.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“So?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I've got this,”Derek held the
scrap of icky-looking material between thumb and forefinger. His eyes
switched to Monty who was treating himself to a slobbering full
toiletry, much to the entertainment of children and chagrin of
parents.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Monty's no bloodhound.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“But the perp doesn't know. How many
pirates do you see in this color bloomers.” He shielded the sliver
to display before Darlene.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“And...” she prompted. “There's
more?” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Yeah.” Derek smirked.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“What?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Once we've matched the patch –
we've got him cold.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“How?” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Pirates don't have no receipts for
booty, matey.” Derek declared. “Har-har.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ends... </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-34335157886501890002015-02-27T07:30:00.000-08:002015-02-27T07:30:22.657-08:00Pssst... Don't tell anyone yet, but the KINDLE version of <i>'David
Porter, Philadelphia & the Barbary Pirates' </i>broke free and launched
itself. Something to do wi<span class="text_exposed_show">th the wrong
button getting pressed. Anyhoo...she's out there now, undergoing
self-imposed sea-trials...prior to a few tweaks to the rigging; relaunch
and the paperback version soon after. Check it out - a cock-up on the
chapter-heads layout on smaller screens - otherwise text looks good.
How's it read?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUncgc8V5oJ1RDltxC5ACl8sSeIw0T5ndOML8NuPTXMv7EeXT8BGG7sN05mV85aa0Ti_8KnlDgajzYAL2GpRvCLGL5bilBgpbt1IW6SfXGQNc7j51YRZLDxB5lXcjZZtRWKqq-AsXXudhM/s1600/Kindle+Kover+for++Porter+II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUncgc8V5oJ1RDltxC5ACl8sSeIw0T5ndOML8NuPTXMv7EeXT8BGG7sN05mV85aa0Ti_8KnlDgajzYAL2GpRvCLGL5bilBgpbt1IW6SfXGQNc7j51YRZLDxB5lXcjZZtRWKqq-AsXXudhM/s1600/Kindle+Kover+for++Porter+II.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-45373555621895642842015-02-04T14:21:00.001-08:002015-02-04T14:21:55.863-08:00Visual Up-Date on Progress of Next BookThe Beta Readers are sending their zingers back to be mulled over, before the line-reading edit by a pro.<br />
<br />
The current session is to ensure the cast of characters (you don't want to know) doesn't have a eye-color shift, a hair-change and new name somewhere with the 2-300 page saga.<br />
For those who have not been paying attention, this is book Two of a planned Seven based on the epic nautical struggles of David Porter from Midshipman in America's War of Revolution against George III's henchmen, to the cusp of the break-up of the Ottoman Empire and his role as Ambassador in Constantinople.<br />
<br />
Porter, along with 305 other American sailors, were captured, held hostage and enslaved at Tripoli in1803. Sound's familiar, eh?. All will be revealed in '<i>David Porter, Philadelphia & the Barbary Pirates</i>'. If you'ver ever wondered where that line "...to the shores of Tripoli" came from, in the USMC Hymn...read the book. Out soon in Kindle and paperback.<br />
<br />
Here's a preview of the unadorned cover as a copy of the 1803 etching - and one I goosed with with some color tinting.<br />
<br />
Guess which one I'm going with ...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_raN2QYZNn3zLdcSsJGgXf_cXkZYM-h8LfQ9i4evSpCiWnFAobYVgw9UXC39hSUImSCf7MwUYQgtplx9vudbtYPRNH1aTQ2ZSif9LMiRB6fEz_lTIvxfFPGf0d3CQ5z61XE18VnXI_BUM/s1600/USS_Philly_1799-250px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_raN2QYZNn3zLdcSsJGgXf_cXkZYM-h8LfQ9i4evSpCiWnFAobYVgw9UXC39hSUImSCf7MwUYQgtplx9vudbtYPRNH1aTQ2ZSif9LMiRB6fEz_lTIvxfFPGf0d3CQ5z61XE18VnXI_BUM/s1600/USS_Philly_1799-250px.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKWbaJY6aHLZVanU_jlX1uDLrJPHIyVRSuTbz2dZMoADHVB4skZSKRez9DD-cgYAI6TLu90OvTGV2RVweZhESCt9JKGhRWATdXyJO-qVV-K_q5aZOAzyZo9zm8Wqlw6dZuktaISwRqVsD/s1600/PhillyColorPlateBasic2736x3648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKWbaJY6aHLZVanU_jlX1uDLrJPHIyVRSuTbz2dZMoADHVB4skZSKRez9DD-cgYAI6TLu90OvTGV2RVweZhESCt9JKGhRWATdXyJO-qVV-K_q5aZOAzyZo9zm8Wqlw6dZuktaISwRqVsD/s1600/PhillyColorPlateBasic2736x3648.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Pssst...the next book is based on events surrounding the involvement of the yacht America in the Civil War. Hope to launch her in time for the America's Cup Race in Bermuda, 2017.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-90240705233116662312014-11-16T20:45:00.000-08:002014-11-16T20:45:31.180-08:00A Memorable Date For Me Marks A Remarkable Review for Midshipman David Porter
<br />
<div id="wl-corner-peel-ad">
<div class="wl-block block-block" id="block-block-126">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-corners-top">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
<div class="wl-content">
<div class="wl-inside">
<div class="adslot" id="div-gpt-ad-514228821436635671-oop" width="1">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
Was most happy to receive this '<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" />gift' on my birthday, Nov. 16, in the form of a book review written by Marie Vernon, which appeared in the Living section of the St. Augustine Record, daily newspaper.</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
Although Midshipman Porter did not call into St. Augustine, the oldest city in the new world was on the front lines of every conflict in its centuries old history. It has known the footsteps of conquerors, conquistadors, pirates, privateers, buccaneers in the era of sail - and is still in the combat zone for cyber hackers, smugglers of dope, contraband and illegal immigrates of many nationalities - friend and foe.</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
These are early days in the young adventurer's career, but the dastardly practices performed by evil scoundrels were ancient before man set out to explore the seas and conquer the world. Book two in the saga in on the slips, fitting out and eager to be launched. It bears many similarities to current events, despite the passage of time.</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
<br /></div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
Cruelty and greed have no expiration date. But hopefully bravery and heroism will keep it in check.</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="wl-wrapper-container">
<div id="wl-wrapper-header">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-block block-block" id="block-block-174">
<div class="weather-header">
<ul class="weather_list display_font"> </ul>
<ul class="weather_list display_font"> </ul>
<h2>
[Reprinted]
</h2>
</div>
<div class="wl-logoarea">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" title="StAugustine.com"><img alt="StAugustine.com" class="wl-logo" height="114" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/default/files/fourteen_logo.png" title="StAugustine.com" width="318" /></a> </div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="wl-wrapper-leaderboard">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-content">
<div class="weather-ad">
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span> </div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="wl-wrapper-tier-1">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-corners-top">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span> </div>
<div class="wl-story-commands">
<div class="wl-breadcrumb">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Living</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Sunday Life</a></div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
<div id="wl-col-1">
<div class="wl-content node-editorial">
<div class="wl-story-header">
<div class="wl-header-commands">
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span><div class="wl-title-block">
<div class="wl-title">
<h1>
Book review "Midshipman Porter: In Harm's Way"</h1>
</div>
<div class="wl-subheadline">
<h2 class="wl-subheadline">
Q&A with Jack Owen </h2>
</div>
<div class="wl-dates">
<span class="wl-startdate"><strong>Posted:</strong> November 16, 2014 - 12:08am</span></div>
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span></div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
<div id="wl-legal">
<div class="p402_hide">
<div class="wl-midcolumn">
<div class="mid-column">
<div class="squeeze">
<div id="photo_video_column">
<div class="photo-slideshow show">
<div class="photo-box selected" id="photo-box-0" style="display: block;">
<div class="photo-buttons">
<span class="previous"><img alt="" class="back-arrow" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/whitelabel/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> </span><span class="next"></span></div>
<a href="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/13884140.jpg" rel="lightbox[]" title="-Jack Owen author of 'Midshipman Porter: In Harms Way'"><img alt="Jack Owen author of 'Midshipman Porter: In Harms Way' " class="slideshow_image" height="184" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13884140.jpg" title="Jack Owen author of 'Midshipman Porter: In Harms Way' " width="280" /></a><div class="caption">
Jack Owen author of 'Midshipman Porter: In Harms Way'</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
<div class="wl-content-include">
</div>
<div class="wl-instory-ad">
<div class="wl-block block-block" id="block-block-131">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-corners-top">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
<div class="wl-content">
<div class="wl-inside">
<div align="center" class="adslot" id="300x250_2">
</div>
<br /> </div>
</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
<div class="wl-block block-block" id="block-block-163">
<div class="wl-container">
<div class="wl-corners-top">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
<div class="wl-content">
<div class="wl-inside">
</div>
</div>
<div class="wl-corners-bottom">
<img alt="" class="wl-corner-right" height="1" src="http://sar-cdn.com/sites/all/themes/fourteen/images/blank.gif" title="" width="1" /> <span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="wl-body">
<div class="wl-byline">
</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
<div class="hnews hentry item">
<div class="entry-content">
From page one, “Midshipman Porter: In Harms Way” immerses readers in
the era when tall ships and the men who sailed in them played an
integral role during our nation’s infancy. The British have imposed
unreasonable taxes on the American colonies and have blockaded vital
ports up and down the east coast to prevent tax-free smuggling. In a
time when roads were marginal at best and transportation slow, this
presents a severe hardship to the colonists who rely heavily on merchant
vessels, both for transporting goods and as a source of communication.
As further insult, British captains are authorized to seize merchant
vessels and to impress captured sailors into service for the Royal Navy.
<br />
When the blockade makes life difficult for his family in Boston,
Captain David Porter, commander of a merchant ship, relocates his family
to Baltimore, where the port remains open. It is there that David
Porter, Jr. spends his childhood, immersed in the city’s rich culture of
seamanship. By the time young Davy is grown and ready to put to sea,
the War for Independence has ended, but an uneasy peace prevails. Ships
plying their trade between Baltimore and the Caribbean Islands are in
danger from ships of the Royal Navy as well as French and Spanish
privateers.<br />
While historic events form the spine of Owens’ story, it is the
details of daily living in that crucial period, both at sea and on land,
that create an indelible picture. For instance, the importation of salt
from Bermuda, a British colony, is critical to the American colonists
and can only be accomplished at great danger to American merchant ships.
Battles at sea are described with attention to infinite detail such as
the fact that the sailors loading the cannons below decks wore felt
slippers and worked behind wetted canvas to prevent stray sparks from
igniting the gunpowder. Likewise, readers will experience what it felt
like to cling to rigging far above the ship’s heaving deck during a
tropical storm. <br />
Owen’s prose is both precise and colorful, as in this description of
the procedure when Porter’s ship docks in a Santo Domingo harbor: The
bum-boats bearing bananas, plantains and citrus fruits surrounded Eliza
before the anchor-scope settled on the sea bed. Naked ebony boys flashed
white teeth...holding up fruit in one hand and the appropriate amount
of fingers up with the other. <br />
As Midshipman Porter makes his way upward through the ranks, he
experiences disasters and moments of jubilation, capture and escape. He
serves under captains who are harsh to their crews and others from whom
he learns much about the craft of seamanship. In a Philadelphia brothel,
he has his first — but not his last — sexual encounter. The vessels on
which he sails vary from small coasting merchant ships to sleek
privateers to the pride of the newly formed Continental Navy, the
Baltimore-built Constellation, launched in 1797.<br />
This novel captures the imagination with its distinctive characters
and uniquely intimate access to events and personages that helped to
determine our nation’s destiny. It will appeal to those who love a good
sea-going tale and to historians who appreciate meticulous research. <br />
Q&A with Jack Owen <br />
<strong>Where did you obtain your extensive knowledge of seamanship?</strong><br />
Observation and osmosis of things nautical. I grew up in a seaside
resort on the English side of the Channel with an active fishing fleet
competing for the same patch of water as weekend sailors. I learned
about lines, lies and salty language at an early age. Five years
voluntary service in the Royal Navy, starting as a boy at age 16,
probably helped, too. As a journalist, investigative crime reporter and
boating columnist in south Florida for half a century, plus contributor
to National Fisherman, Boating, and Good Old Boat, some of that
information stuck.<br />
<strong>What resources did you find helpful in researching the history of America’s post-colonial period?</strong><br />
Books and Broadsheets from that period and about the period were
invaluable sources of confirmation. Its made much easier, but with less
thrill of discovery, with the advent of Google, etc. As a former
maritime journalist and antiquarian bookseller, both my Old Book Shop
stock in Palm Beach and my own library of Porter specific tomes, helped.
Personal visits to some locations, in and out of the service, plus
associations with naval families, also worked. <br />
<strong>Is the Porter family based on actual persons? </strong><br />
Very much so. Dig into any naval or military action from the
Revolution to today, and somewhere a Porter will crop up. I test-read an
early chapter to a pod of writers in Gainesville, several years ago.
One of the group, an esoteric experimental author, turned out to be a
Porter descendant. She had no idea great-great-great-great grandfather
was such a sporty lad. Quite took the wind out of her sails.<br />
<strong>Are the encounters Midshipman Porter and his family have with
various historic figures such as Captain Horatio Nelson, Patrick Henry
and the Poe family of Baltimore based on fact?</strong><br />
Some are so, some are near-misses. Back in the day, populations of
major cities were pretty cozy. Baltimore was home to 13,503 homeowners
in 1790; St. Augustine’s population this year is 13,113 people according
to Internet sources. Like-thinking folks are liable to move in the same
circles. Merchants, shipowners and politicians socialized within the
society they created. Many Porters, historians and biographers have
recorded “the facts,” according to them. My excursion into “Faction”
adds flesh to the bones and a light in the eyes of historical figures,
dates and events.<br />
<strong>What is next for Midshipman—now Lieutenant—Porter? </strong><br />
A smashing yarn of tragedy, horror and honor, which began with the
capture of USS Philadelphia by Barbary Pirates on the night of
Halloween, 1803. Villains and heroes of that era outmatch anything
Hollywood screenwriters could invent. The legendary incident, which
created the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the U.S. Marine Corps
hymn, has sunk into dry history texts. But the capture and enslavement
of 307 American sailors, their 18-month captivity, the germ of a naval
academy, the first regime-change warlike overseas action of the
fledgling county and the raising of the American flag on foreign soil
involved David Porter.<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span class="wl-clear"></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="wl-wrapper-footer">
</div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-3485211562195724722014-10-12T10:06:00.000-07:002014-10-12T10:06:35.499-07:00Sea Spectres Live On in 'The Jekyll Island Enigma'
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Please accept this gift - can be read during the hall-time show - as a teaser to tempt you to read the full, expurgated story...later. </span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Except
from 'The Jekyll Island Enigma' by Jack Owen</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">(gift-read between plays)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Bremen
Departs</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
wrinkled his nose at the acrid smell of burning oil and cordite
filtering into the grimy, camouflaged car as it approached Lorient.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">This
is worse than my cigar, eh ?” he rubbed sleep from his eyes,
peering at shipyards smoldering from another English bombing raid.
Dockyard workers ignored the car bumpily edging through their midst.
German uniforms and military vehicles were a common sight to battered
and bewildered Frenchmen following the country’s defeat in June,
1940.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
glanced back toward the other passenger, Gerhardt Muni, perched on
the back seat with him. He braced himself when the car swayed to
skirt bomb craters which had turned the road into a perilous
patchwork of holes.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni
merely nodded and shrugged, following an established pattern to
Konig’s friendly conversational attempts. Muni only voluntarily
spoke once during the long drive, to protest when Konig lit up a
cigar.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Is
that necessary ?” Muni asked petulantly, winding down his window.
The draft disturbed his carefully coifed flaxen hair, depositing dust
motes, which he fastidiously flicked off the surface of an
immaculately pressed new navy uniform.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Yes.”
Konig said curtly. “When you have spent most of the war under
water, breathing in the stench of hot machinery and unwashed bodies,
you seize every opportunity to enjoy the little comforts life has to
offer.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni
coughed delicately into a fresh linen handkerchief extracted, like a
magician, from the sleeve of his uniform jacket. “That may be, but
put it out,” he ordered.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig’s
eyes narrowed briefly and a slight tremor flecked his cheek. He drew
a deep breath, slowly shaking his head before he exhaled and tapped
the single gold stripe on Muni’s arm before glancing down at the
two gold rings of command on his own sleeve.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">I
suggest you read up on Naval insignia, and rank, if you’re going to
wear the uniform,” Konig said softly.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni’s
mouth opened to reply before he saw Konig’s lopsided smile was not
reflected in his dark eyes. Muni clamped his mouth shut and shifted
to the far end of the seat. Konig took advantage of the hours of
chilled silence to doze, not waking until they reached Lorient.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In
the distance Konig saw the mouth of a tunnel leading to the protected
submarine pens, beyond the gauntlet of civilian road laborers and
dockyard workers.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One
of the French workers casually glanced up from his mundane task of
sizing cobblestones at the curb-edge, closely observing the car’s
occupants when it swept past. He noted their uniforms and rank,
turning his head slowly to follow the direction of Konig’s pointed
finger.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
submariner was oblivious to the workman’s curiosity.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">His
attention was riveted by the sight of three sea-going tugs
maneuvering a badly shelled half-submerged U-boat, into a fortified
basin containing several other battered Boots.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Mein
Gott, look at that!” Konig cried.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">You
won’t find what you’re looking for there Captain.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni
spoke up from his corner, carefully straightening his double-breasted
jacket to fasten the buttons.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">I
think I can recognize my own boot, Leutnant, even in that scrapheap.
I can’t imagine what dumpkoff left those boots out in the open like
sitting ducks for air-attack.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
spun around to face Muni who was busy adjusting his high-peaked cap
at a jaunty angle. “You can forget your mission now, I think.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">I
think not Captain. What you are looking for is not there.” Muni
responded haughtily, adding smugly, “Admiral Canaris will no doubt
be amused at your description of him. He ordered the pens emptied for
my mission.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">That
wreck is my boat!” Konig, ignoring the comment, thrust a
leather-gloved finger at the submarine being supported, pushed and
towed by the tugs.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Your
command is in the bunker, safe beneath 15-feet of reinforced concrete
and steel.” Muni curled back his lip in a smiling sneer at the
puzzled look on Konig’s face. “You’ll see.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles threatened to burst out of
his gloves. Muni represented the power and authority of a man held in
high esteem by Der Fuhrer, and Konig obeyed orders. But that did not
mean he liked it.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
French workman’s eyes followed the car’s progress until it
reached the tunnel entrance, while his hands automatically maintained
their mechanical task. Beneath the shabbily dressed, unshaven man, a
mind schooled in the minutia of espionage logged the non-incident to
memory for his next intelligence report to England, along with the
damage caused by the air-raid, and number of trucks entering
Lorient’s marine arsenal.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Artificial
light emphasized the strained lines etched on Konig’s face when the
car entered the tunnel. If the wreckage of U-122 was not his to
command, he wondered which of the Type IXD Class boats he had been
assigned to.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">While
his brain engaged in matching captains to supply boats, his eyes
narrowed at the sight of the submarine which filled his view. It
looked like a steel anachronism from his youth: a dull-gray fat
cigar-shaped hull with a plumb bow, canoe-stern, and an open catwalk
raised along the length of its upper deck.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hyphenhyphenKfDEmuN724yWW8qDaBNFbdrtBMqh6PLg8DLfCsTL9Ancc0AgiHM5KXAoy06KzYUFXAkRq8goam-JZv9Whex3-0fvo4Ix_y92ul1FdgT0UDBmXhFsoObVz9m6jUgxNCcjpXpRJcGQKb/s1600/Merchant_Submarine_Deutschland_at_New_London_port.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hyphenhyphenKfDEmuN724yWW8qDaBNFbdrtBMqh6PLg8DLfCsTL9Ancc0AgiHM5KXAoy06KzYUFXAkRq8goam-JZv9Whex3-0fvo4Ix_y92ul1FdgT0UDBmXhFsoObVz9m6jUgxNCcjpXpRJcGQKb/s1600/Merchant_Submarine_Deutschland_at_New_London_port.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<i> <u>Deutschlander,</u></i><u> sister-ship to lost<i> Bremen,</i> unloading in New London, Connecticut,1916</u></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Wh-what
in God’s name...?” He muttered.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Your
new command, the late Great War blockade runner Bremen.” Muni
indicated with a disdainful hand gesture.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
stared, mouth compressed into a thin tight line, at the ghost of the
legendary merchant submarine Bremen. He vaguely recalled her reported
disappearance with all hands shortly after sailing from Germany in
the summer of 1916.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When
Konig stepped out of the car the spectral ancient hull solidly
blocked his horizon.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He
turned to face Muni, dozens of questions poised to pour out in a
torrent.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Not
now Captain, please. Your crew and command await.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni
waved his hand imperially.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
squinted against the lights illuminating the cavernous submarine pens
so they were brighter than a sunlit day. The uniformed men assembled
along the dock were his own crew. He swallowed hard, bracing his
shoulders and stepped forward to greet his First-Lieutenant,
Oberleutnant zur See Walter Cremer.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Several
hours later, after the formalities and inspection of crew and boat
were completed, Konig sat in the small wardroom with his second in
command, and Muni. A bottle of schnapps miraculously appeared on the
small table, with three squat stainless-steel thumb-sized tumblers.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
poured with a steady hand while he directed questions at Muni. “Why
was I not warned about this tub? Didn’t think I’d take it, eh ?”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">You
would have been shot if you had refused. You knew too much. Danke!”
Muni matter of factly answered. He grasped his tumbler, raising it in
silent salute and downed its contents in one gulp.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
others followed his lead.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
refilled the glasses before firing off his next round of questions.
“Where in the world did she come from ?”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">He
looked about the cramped cabin with its stark furnishings. Pipes and
valves jammed overhead and along the inner hull.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Her
maiden voyage through the British blockade was almost her last trip,
“Muni said. “When she approached New York harbor on the surface
she was spotted by a squadron of American frigates. They refused to
accept her as a legitimate Merchant vessel. Bremen’s commander
submerged to escape capture, but was depth-charged. He managed to
escape by leaving a decoy of oil and personal items - including a
lifering with Bremen’s name on it - to fool the Americans.”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Muni
spun his tale in a bored, monosyllabic tone to the two submariners
straining forward to listen.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">Once
Bremen was far enough out in the North Atlantic, off the convoy
routes and away from enemy patrols, she re- surfaced and made a run
for Spain, a less aggressive ‘neutral’ country. Bremen was
presumed lost at sea, and Naval Intelligence used her loss to enlist
the sympathy of pro- German factions in America. Protests against the
brutal and ‘cowardly’ sinking of the unarmed Merchant submarine
proved to be a better propaganda weapon than her survival.” Muni
shrugged, holding his tumbler out again.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
hesitated before pouring again. “Her survival could have been
embarrassing to the High Command, I suppose. So Bremen remained
hidden from sight in Spain for two decades and no one said anything
?”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">It
took a bit of persuasion, and a lot of palm-oil to keep it quiet.”
Muni stroked one hand across the palm of the other.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">And
the crew ?” Cremer, the pudgy, older First Officer, asked.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
“<span style="font-size: small;">They
had a long holiday in German East Africa patrolling Lake Victoria on
an armed steamer. Until a maniac Englishman sunk them with a
home-made bomb mounted on the bow of his piddling little boat, the
‘African Queen’. He, and the English slut with him, perished in
the explosion.” Muni smiled with satisfaction. His death’s-head
insignia signet ring rattled against his tumbler impatiently.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Konig
glanced briefly at Cremer, involuntarily shuddering at the fate of
the Bremen’s crew, before pouring another round of schnapps.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">During
the next 48-hours Konig absorbed every facet of the ancient submarine
he could. It was a weird experience to tour a boat presumed ‘dead’
for 25 years. He felt as though he had suddenly been given command of
a salvaged ‘Titanic’.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Teaser
Ends..</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Available in paperback or Kindle - you know where...</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">http://www.amazon.com/Jekyll-Island-Enigma-Jack-Owen-ebook/dp/B005AV9PT6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413133286&sr=1-1&keywords=the+jekyll+island+enigma</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
</h2>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-31759475112422387462014-10-02T05:39:00.002-07:002014-10-02T05:39:40.147-07:00First Time Television Apparance - A Classic Event with Joan Rivers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6j40f0nJidyodzS-M8DfWedMYd1Gai8-7DiPHvckJFn_eej9L98Oq8f5O7tbSATtF2pAWBOpeBvF08VzLi8VBTkyq9Ztm6FJkvOnh8Gg9wYHp3TUGE0szlsB4ETVb4Cgcb0o0krlY__pf/s1600/Joan+panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6j40f0nJidyodzS-M8DfWedMYd1Gai8-7DiPHvckJFn_eej9L98Oq8f5O7tbSATtF2pAWBOpeBvF08VzLi8VBTkyq9Ztm6FJkvOnh8Gg9wYHp3TUGE0szlsB4ETVb4Cgcb0o0krlY__pf/s1600/Joan+panel.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Sad to hear about the passing of Joan Rivers, a pro who still performed, beyond her prime. <br />
The clips below are TV-stills taken from 'The Joan Rivers Show',
recorded in New York, November 16 (my birthday), 1992, which launched my
book "Palm Beach Scandals - The First 100 Years". I was flown up there
along with Count Jean De La Moussaye, ex-boyfriend of Roxanne Pulitzer,
for a show focused on SCANDAL. <br /> It was a classic.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wIheoHxN7PrYzo9miGAsYeXjAO-K6VicC05d-2CUWCdXBep-OSlafhm8JYe_CULLqtKlIJx76IWwNMWX00UGipk7GWRzsy3Mq_d0c5wxJCk2I25LMU7mnlJgYRXdF3nKvpVxN2pl4vQW/s1600/Joan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wIheoHxN7PrYzo9miGAsYeXjAO-K6VicC05d-2CUWCdXBep-OSlafhm8JYe_CULLqtKlIJx76IWwNMWX00UGipk7GWRzsy3Mq_d0c5wxJCk2I25LMU7mnlJgYRXdF3nKvpVxN2pl4vQW/s1600/Joan.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /> During it, Joan got into a hissy-fit with Jessica Hahn [G<span class="text_exposed_show">oogle
it] - off-set via satellite in California(?), which ended with Joan's
riposte: "Well, at least I don't have to wear knee-pads to get invited
to parties."<br /> Fade-out, panic behind the scenes, hilarity amongst the
audience and tears in California, according to eye-witness and next
guest; Zsa Zsa Gabor.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDd7C7yIplMwImCD9kZg_IxfaeVBBCTqcdXSd4vsYk7kwjNZ_U86CSjXPeixVuz7cqv_RZhU8rcAnwDXjbrh67rJ_p6tpxZ7pbVcx3oX4BI_P0oZaZ5OM0nAZfKFsBljENwui-XpnWynBw/s1600/Jack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDd7C7yIplMwImCD9kZg_IxfaeVBBCTqcdXSd4vsYk7kwjNZ_U86CSjXPeixVuz7cqv_RZhU8rcAnwDXjbrh67rJ_p6tpxZ7pbVcx3oX4BI_P0oZaZ5OM0nAZfKFsBljENwui-XpnWynBw/s1600/Jack.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> A launch I'll never forget!<br /> RIP Joan, a true showbiz trooper.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">[pics clipped from tape of Joan River's Show - forwarded to me later] </span>Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-61682092410438781012014-05-09T13:13:00.000-07:002014-05-09T13:13:04.404-07:00<h3>
<i>A stone in the pond</i> </h3>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Far Flung Consequences </span></h2>
<br />
<br />
Just heard about the death of Canadian writer Farley Mowat, at 95.<br />
RIP/ <br />
I'm amazed he lasted so long at the rate he expended energy and intensity, from conservation of the environment to resuscitating boats beyond their sell-by date.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbht8kTX74AAuWlsD5WQq1TORKazkfHz-US2qlV5JCXAr3-86LpvszynOuj3FB1DauehGayos8ylZvBiTkEHLiNw_WCgUKduBmm5WSD3L9kU2W6AA6lVS-kAKOws0h3n6CQuoJdCVQV8u/s1600/Farley+Mowat+QMC+Agency+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbht8kTX74AAuWlsD5WQq1TORKazkfHz-US2qlV5JCXAr3-86LpvszynOuj3FB1DauehGayos8ylZvBiTkEHLiNw_WCgUKduBmm5WSD3L9kU2W6AA6lVS-kAKOws0h3n6CQuoJdCVQV8u/s1600/Farley+Mowat+QMC+Agency+pic.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></div>
<br />
Back in the mid-70's during that Watergate summer, I was on the
west-coast weekending in Seattle while working on a <i>Post-Intelligencer</i>
Sunday magazine story [<i>African Queen in Oregon</i> - I think] and was
weathered in a a girl's parents house (don't ask). That is one rainy city. Found a book with the
intriguing title <i>'The Boat Who Wouldn't Float'</i>, inhaled it and wrote Mowat's
publisher pal Jack Stewart of McClellend & Stewart - THE Cana<span class="text_exposed_show">dian Publishers - querying a coffee-table art book based on Canadian maritime artist Jack L. Gray.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">Lot of Jacks here, eh.<br />
I'd met Jack Gray living aboard '<i>Gypsy Queen'</i> in Palm Beach Marina one season when he was gargling
Liebfraumilch by the crate, between trying to finish oil paintings of an
East Ironbound dory-man sculling and hauling cod, to be viewed by the
caviar-set at The Worth Avenue Gallery .<br /> One sure way to determine if a painting at a gallery-opening was a genuine Jack Gray - just touch it.<br />
That led to my first book-contract, a drive across Canada via
the TransCan Highway from Seattle to Lunenburg, months of work,
followed by midnight-oil writing/assembling, followed by second wifey's
demand for bigger slice of royalty, followed by deep-six of project by
publisher.<br /> So, yes, Farley Mowat had more of an impact on me than the average author !<br /> RIP, indeed.</span>Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-8950881656006813542014-05-08T19:31:00.000-07:002014-05-08T19:31:29.739-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldyXj72Z-zVoqDHDTJfpcHjmsBlAN1l2ubxcViTK64V9-4Y_1VYS-_ntAlvHyZkzyuT0WEz2eIhSKkGp6WXSnym-t2-169hyjWVxlMv0QMCYtUgtiT7dcDx2ilQ4EZjGwsuc5MgaPSWgo/s1600/Amber+Adams%27+first+book+(wink-wink).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</a></div>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Combined Talents:</i></h3>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> When One + One
= ONE</span></b></span></h2>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The pen-name of writers Judy Habeck
<b><i><span style="font-size: small;">W</span></i></b>eber and Marie <b><i>V</i></b>ernon who combined forces to produce a whodunnit
written by <b><i>A</i></b>mber<i><b> </b></i><b><i>A</i></b>dams, was a pragmatic inspiration.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It stemmed from the reality of the
alphabetical fiction listings by-author in all genres at most
book-shops. Their target readership, “women of a certain age”
will not, and some cannot, get down on hands and knees to scour for
books on the bottom shelf.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldyXj72Z-zVoqDHDTJfpcHjmsBlAN1l2ubxcViTK64V9-4Y_1VYS-_ntAlvHyZkzyuT0WEz2eIhSKkGp6WXSnym-t2-169hyjWVxlMv0QMCYtUgtiT7dcDx2ilQ4EZjGwsuc5MgaPSWgo/s1600/Amber+Adams%27+first+book+(wink-wink).jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldyXj72Z-zVoqDHDTJfpcHjmsBlAN1l2ubxcViTK64V9-4Y_1VYS-_ntAlvHyZkzyuT0WEz2eIhSKkGp6WXSnym-t2-169hyjWVxlMv0QMCYtUgtiT7dcDx2ilQ4EZjGwsuc5MgaPSWgo/s1600/Amber+Adams'+first+book+(wink-wink).jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVo58A2ZCHDn468VA1N6u-7n21NfVmcgY0OvsjcxtIBb4xok2Fra_TC9aKR1U2Y5GbwgNbQIe68qKsIliRgBgMqqLFaNcfqeMbt4QaBGaDEHpf7bVaEoTnJcDmQ3VOJ9gkCSA718mYWXe/s1600/Dishing+the+Dirt...+Judy+Weber+and+Marie+Vernon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVo58A2ZCHDn468VA1N6u-7n21NfVmcgY0OvsjcxtIBb4xok2Fra_TC9aKR1U2Y5GbwgNbQIe68qKsIliRgBgMqqLFaNcfqeMbt4QaBGaDEHpf7bVaEoTnJcDmQ3VOJ9gkCSA718mYWXe/s1600/Dishing+the+Dirt...+Judy+Weber+and+Marie+Vernon.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b>Judy Weber explains how she and
co-author Marie Vernon keep from killing each other – </b></i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b>to a roomful of 'Sisters in
Crime' Florida'</b></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A little background. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Judy had a New
York career in Ad-space-sales during the era of liquid lunches and
reality 'Mad Men' in Manhattan's Madison Avenue heyday. She later
edited and wrote for a building trades magazine, based in the
fast-growing South Florida real-estate boom, before retiring onto a
boat at a marina with her hubby. That's when she considered testing
the fictional waters, joined FWA (Florida Writer's Association), won
writing awards, became a judge then Queen of England...(sorry...got
carried away). </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marie's writing career began as a
freelancer with feature-stories in national newspapers Her
non-fiction books included colonial history of Maryland; then
hard-crime tomes co-authored with her late husband forensic
psychologist McCay (Mac) Vernon, about serial killers. Her
fascinating with an extreme fan of Elvis Presley, and that ilk, lead
to the fictional book <i>Graceland</i>. It is currently being adapted
as a stage play. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, not novices, but neophytes in the
roles they have grown into.And this is how they did it –
without becoming <i>victims</i> in a murder mystery </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Amber Adams' creation Day McKelvey, a
lady of a certain age, is a newspaper reporter investigation the
death of a university president who's body is found at the foot of
the 'World's Tallest Cross' (208 feet high) at the Shrine of Our Lady
of La Leche, St. Augustine. The prime suspect is a student she
mentored.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marie's strength is her
''stick-to-intuitiveness' attitude, which has carried her through six
published books; but she is liable to fall in love with words. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Judy helps keep the storyline on
track.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
An example from the Book Two in the
series they are working on; one of the subject/suspects Day McKelvey
interviews, has a parrot. Marie was totally taken with the pretty
polly on a perch who didn't just speak but, was bi-lingual.
Wonderful. But editor-writer Judy gave that colorful distraction, the
bird. He was terminated. The story-line moved forward toward its
objective, bringing a killer to justice. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Judy says she appreciates the
eloquence of Shakespearean verse and soliloquys such as Hamlet's “To
be, or not to be”. But prefers to stick with the 'nuts and bolts'
of constructing stories which will stand up to scrutiny.Her point of
view is, flowery decoration is the icing on the cake. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marie confessed: “If the house was
on fire, the first thing I'd save would be the thesaurus.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
They barely knew each other when, by
some alchemy following a meeting at FWA they began discussing a joint
venture. They don't live close enough for garden-fence gossip, but
the convenience of social media via email,eliminates a lot of travel.
And bloodshed. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“We've learned to read between the
lines of our messages. If either one of us uses extremely diplomatic
wordage to accept a version the other has written, its pretty sure
they think its terrible,” Judy said.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Separation when either reads a new
draft, eliminates spontaneous outbursts like: “Oh no,” and “I
hate that idea. That's really dumb.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
They agreed on the timeline and
storyline, the foundation of the book during initial kneecap to
kneecap sessions, then submitted progressions for consideration,
work-over, rewrite,inclusion. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Next. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“You have to lose your ego, to
co-operate,” Judy said. Their different personalities, work habits,
strengths, weaknesses, had to adjust to compliment each other without
losing sight of their final target, the reader. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When Judy first attended writer groups
and submitted manuscripts for feedback and criticism, it was an
uncomfortable period of adjustment. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Every word was my baby. I had to
realize there were alternatives, some of which improved the writing
and story. We will respond, <i>respectably,</i>” she glanced at a smiling
Marie, “to each others suggestions.” </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Then added. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Of course. That was Vol. 1. Who
knows who's going to say 'idiot' first, in Vol. 2 ?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ends...</div>
<br />
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-63369101719858974172014-04-09T16:30:00.002-07:002014-04-09T16:30:39.321-07:00
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> The Would-be Life of a Touring Blogger. Another Opportunity - Lost ?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">I do admire the outpouring of writers who also blog, on a regular basis. And the promise of eager new readers just itching to snatch up the latest morsels before flipping over to the 'Buy <i>NOW</i>' button on whatever this week's social networking device is, to purchase my book.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Those were the starry-eyed promises I momentarily considered before I accepted the kind invitation of an anonymous ex-Pat, ex-Navy, ex-Editor to join him aboard the Bloggers Express to fame and fortune.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">NOT!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately the scheme ran out of steam before it could include us aboard to reach our destination.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Like - that's never happened before!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes we live and learn - and sometimes we should be satisfied to just keep on living.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The premise was a selected group of writers would be asked to respond to the same four questions; following a brief biography.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As dear old Winnie was wont to say: "Sorry, I did not have time to write a short letter."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Time taken from writing is begrudged.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">However, the work was done and no writer likes to waste words so, this may serve a purpose in bringing you up to date on my past and current activities. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">[<i>Only the names have been XXX'd out to protect the identity of the innocent.</i>]</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Thumbnail
bio & Pic:</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">British
Journalist Jack Owen's UK news beat included Broadmoor Institute for
the Criminally Insane, and Sandhurst Military Academy. Those extremes
provided many </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stop Press</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
stories for Fleet Street newspapers. Later, as a crime reporter in
the USA, his years spent upstairs and downstairs in the Palm Beaches,
Florida, led to publication of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Palm
Beach Scandals - An Intimate Guide. </i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">It</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> debuted on
the Joan Rivers Show and was featured at the ABA (American
Booksellers Association) Miami convention.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Owen
has also dealt in antiquarian book sales, piddled around in boats and
partnered in a catering company for the social set.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> Thanks
to XXX XXXXXX's savvy as a social network maven who urged me
aboard...rather like being Press-ganged ;^}</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What
am I working on? </i></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Currently
roughing out the first draft of Book II in the David Porter saga -
only five more to go.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> America's
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Porter,
a child of the 1776 Revolution, hero of the War of 1812, a pirate
killer who rid the Caribbean of their ilk from his newly-created Key
West base, He adopted the boy David Glasgow Farragut of “Damn the
torpedoes – Full Steam Ahead!” fame. Porter has been my pet
project for decades.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> As
a born-again procrastinator, it recently became apparent my library
of Porter'iana and related characters, fascinating as it is, will not
transform itself into the seven books I envisaged. Every few years a
new, Non-Fiction, version of Porter will emerge. C.S. Forester even
based one of his books on some of Porter's exploits, which I
thoroughly enjoyed.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> But
Porter has more hutzpah than Hornblower and is quite a bit hornier.
Porter did not got the good press of John Paul Jones. He's certainly
colorful enough for today's tabloids. He was impressed as a youth by
the Royal Navy, and escaped. He was charged with murder in Baltimore
and acquitted, He was imprisoned by Barbary pirates and freed (during
the USMC's </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">
first covert wartime overseas operation, on the shores of</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
Tripoli. He was fired following a courts martial, reinstated, quit,
then was pursued by assassins hired by Mexicans upset at the way he
handled </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>their</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
war. As US Consul in Constantinople, Porter anticipated the political
tsunami which lead to the Crimea War.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Quite
a lad! </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>How
does my work differ from others of its genre? </i></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Its
less formulaic and predictable, just like life which </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>is</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
stranger than fiction, than most market-driven books.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I
inhaled the entertainments of Forester, Reeman, and Stockwin.
Montserrat and Shute, Christie and Fleming, Wodehouse and Wylie. But
eventually I overdosed on those favorite authors. A voyage too far,
a clue too cute and a quip too slick.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> It
seems forever-ago now, but Truman Capote's </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>In
Cold Blood </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">upended
the true-crime genre of magazines and books, once consumed by cops
and reporters alike. His fictionalization of the facts which
everybody knew, was spellbinding. A darn good read. (I'd love to read
the villains impressions of him.)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Millions
of words have been printed about Porter. Monuments, streets, towns
bear his name. His wide-spread family tree could create a
cottage-industry based on his name and namesakes. (One member of a
writer's feedback group I'm in, is a great-great-etc granddaughter of
Porter. She tends to refers to his fighting frigates as, 'the family
yachts'.)</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Because
he was a hot-head and un-PC, long before that term was in vogue.
Because he was unpredictable, both a hero and a villain in the same
breath, and because of his contrary traits, he will continue to be a
source of many stories to come. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Why
do I write what I do? </i></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
write what I want to read. If what I write for pleasure finds
fellow-travelers – </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Bingo</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The
difference between being a staff-writer for a newspaper, or
subject-specific freelance-writer, means following a format dictated
by a general-interest readership or focus on one subject. The
combination of having a short attention-span and an inquiring mind
served me well in both fields. Empty pages between the advertisements,
require interesting and entertaining prose to draw readers eyes
through the gamut of peripheral temptations.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> If
there were no news stories or titillating features, whatever could
one do to prevent all those advertisements bumping into each other?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Being
rewarded for sustaining a book-length story, with no guarantees of sales in
sight, is an act of faith in ones own abilities to achieve a goal.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> The
standard answer mountaineers give to people who ask </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>why
</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">is.
“Because its there.” Apply that reply to writer's, too.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Completing
a book is satisfying and perhaps, a challenge to others to try as well</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>How
does my writing process work?</i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Living
beyond my means is a great motivator. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> I
spent a lifetime working against deadlines 24/7. Breaking news does
not respect a time-clock And editors do not forget missed deadlines.
My mantra to all wannabes is:</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>You
can't Edit an Empty Page</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">.
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> One
of these days I'll turn it into a Tee-Shirt!</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I
tend to overload on information, absorbing every morsel into all
pores. Time and space will determine story size. But, while mindfully pruning material to fit, that spiked copy emerges by some sort of
osmosis, onto the page. A reader will instinctively know when a story
is padded with extra prose.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> One
day, just for giggles, line up the same story snipped a daily
broadsheet (if there are any left), a weekly newspaper, and the
supermarket tabloid rack. The basics are there – and so are those
phantom facts slashed by the editorial red pen.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I
know, <i>you </i>know, what I know ;^) </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-81275040978472000712014-04-07T08:48:00.001-07:002014-04-07T08:48:06.117-07:00How To Turn Readers into Writers - A Talk for Wannabes
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> All you accomplished authors can ignore this listing. It just outlines a few tips picked up during the past half-century - or so - from being in the business of writing for a living.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On the other hand, if you've ever thought YOU could do a better job than the author of the latest book you read, or movie you saw, this blog couldn't hurt - much.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Too often those half or hour-long addresses to groups blow off with the wind, unrecorded. Its a pity because not <i>all</i> the life experiences of someone can possibly be committed to paper. That burning question you've always wanted to ask may not have been included in the books you've read. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A living source could provide an answer.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That was my premise. Prime the pump, stimulate a Q & A session for readers who wanted to become writers, but did not know how.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the gist.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How To Turn Readers into
Writers [</span><span style="font-size: medium;">1,800 words ]</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Talk for Hawthorne
Public Library Readers, March 22, at Two</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> by JACK OWEN</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">HOW
TO GET STARTED</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> It is said it takes
10,000 hours of practicing something before one becomes proficient at
it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Lucy you!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> By the end of this
session you will only have 9,999 to go!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> By some calculations
that's about eight years. BUT...and there's always a BUT – is that
a lineal, uninterrupted, 10-thou' where you did not take time to
sleep, eat and take care of other bodily functions. Or, is it the
actual time spent practicing, learning, honing, improving the task
you have undertaken?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Like so many sayings, and
cliches, it needs to be taken... with a pinch of salt!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">FIRST
HURDLE – READING – TAKEN!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most
articles and books about writing – written by name-authors –
advise READING as a path to Writing.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">Most
of you ARE readers already. The difference between reading for
Pleasure – and reading to Learn – will hopefully become apparent,
soon.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TURN
YOUR SKILLS INTO WORDS</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> There are people in this
room who can throw together a dinner party for eight at eight in a
flash. And others who have no difficulty describing the toppings, on
a take-out pizza ordered by phone, to comfort all participants in the
feast. These are acquired skills, And, with the right spin, could be
passed on to others through communicating by an article – or
several articles – which in turn, could become: a BOOK!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> You are within reach of
becoming an author. Just by utilizing those untapped skills acquired
while you accumulated YOUR 10,000 hours of credibility.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Wow... I bet you didn't
know, when you arrived, you were just a heart-beat away
from...CELEBRITY !</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> And now, for a dash of
reality.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> We all know how to ride a
bike. But we don't possess the desire and devious dedication of Neil
Armstrong to become a World Champion of the Tour de France.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The good news is
– we also don't share in his downfall from grace.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">IS
THERE A PULITZER IN YOUR FUTURE? </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Not all writers have
Pulitzer Prize potential. When was the last time you heard of the
author of a famous cook-book, such as Julia Childs, winning that
award? The actors who played her, and writers who claimed her in
biographies, did. They were the ones who re-created a personality
the viewing public, and cooking audience, was not prepared to say
good-bye to, with her passing in 2004.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> There are also audiences
for John Paul Jones, Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston and –
coincidentally – an American hero of history I have recently
written about: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Midshipman David Porter – In
Harms Way.</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> The world may not know about him
yet...but they will by the time Book SEVEN is in print!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Porter may not be </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>my</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
path to a Pulitzer Prize. BUT, I already consider myself singularly
successful amongst writers. I am the only one to have been awarded
the exclusive “</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Pulitizer Tummy-Rub</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">”...
from Roxanne. Of course, that was BEFORE she read the contents of
my book, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Palm Beach Scandals – An Intimate
Guide.</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">WRITE
ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> It is NOT necessary to
become a murderer to become one. Court records are filled with
chapter and verse of horrific homicides to chose from. The task of
the writer is to present the facts in a way which will make readers
want more.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Many readers become
writers when their favorite character(s) die off or become so
formulaic they have shifted from 'comfort' reading to a predicable
irritant. At that stage, in order to sustain the pleasure of their
company, the Reader creates a replacement protagonist. It may not
match Hercule Poirot or Miss Marples – but </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">s
a start.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> By the way – anyone
know Miss Marple's first name? </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Its Jane!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">BREAD
& BUTTER WRITING</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> But (there we go again)
as you walked through the library into this room you passed the
stock-in-trade of most publishing houses, which are the Non-Fiction
bread-and-butter books of realism. NOT not literary escapism.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> The comfort of cozy
mysteries, romantic Renaissance historical heroines, mysteries,
vampires, wolverines and horror stories only provide 30-per-cent of
all books published. Though their mega-copy sales by top writers like
Harry Potter's magical creator R.K. Rawlings...the first to nett One
BILLION Dollars, the supporting cast of characters like thee and me
would probably have a tough time making the mortgage payments.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> As Dirty Harry posed in
that classic shoot'em-up cop-flick, “You gotta ask yourself, are
you feelin' lucky?”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> That is part of the
equation but practice, Practice, PRACTICE is needed [did someone say
10,000 hours? ] as well.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> 3</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">WHAT
TURNS YOU ON ABOUT WRITING?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> And – WHY do you want
to write? To see your name in print? Make money? Teach the world?
Leave a legacy? Show THEM!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Motivation –
inspiration and PERSPIRATION are all called for if you want to become
a writer; whether its for personal satisfaction or to answer a
</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>calling</b></i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. Like
the insurance-company agent's cell-phone reminder of an overdue
payment date [or the librarian's notice; it is time to return that
book you've been using to prop up the leg of the wobbly table.]</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> My motivation was a way
to explore the world that interested me – and get paid to do it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> It was an era devoid of
journalism schools. There were classes for typing. There were classes
for shorthand. The only class available to teach How-To find a story
was through observation and a curiosity about everything. The theory
was...if it interested YOU then, properly packaged, it could capture
the interest of READERS!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">JOURNALISM
AS A PATH TO WRITING</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Journalism, in the days
when every community in every country in the world relied primarily
on newspapers for a news-fix, seemed like a good idea at the time. It
enabled me to get first-hand exposure to everything from
Mushroom-Farming to Murder. Those experiences, translated into pithy
prose, became the “stop-press' call for street-corner
newspaper-boys, wire-service feeds and sometimes, a front-page
headline for Fleet Street.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Inspiration can come from
anything, anywhere, BUT – the writer has to be AWARE...of potential
for a story. Plus WHERE and for WHOM it will appeal.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Of all the writer guides
available in glossy magazines, costing upward of $10.00 each, only a
tiny amount of space can be devoted to potential sources of sales for
freelance writers. However, a professional Writer can get all the
information needed, quickly and cheaply by merely searching the
magazine he/she has in mind, and finding the </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>'Writers
Guideline'</b></i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> field. Usually buried way down
on the editorial page, it states who the publisher, editor,
art-director, copy-boy, coffee-girl are.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> There's even an online
web-page available, now, which indexes submissions by category, at:
</span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://www.freelancewriting.com/guidelines/pages/</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">KEEPING
CURRENT – AND POLITICALLY CORRECT</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> However, the editorial
guidelines are only an educated guess to the mind-set of the current
editor. Keep in mind, the staff of magazines are as ephemeral as the
products themselves. Today's cutting-edge crusading crew may be
dispersed on the next tidal-wave of conglomerations seeking to '</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Rule
the Publishing</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">' world.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> I once worked for a
newspaper who encouraged me to dig deep into the workings of a local
Sheriff. When my multiple-chapter series was turned in for editors
and lawyers to scrutinize before publication – they killed it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> 4</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> The new owners – from a
far off land – AGREED with the politics of 'their man' on the
ground.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Another job-change for
me, though!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">KNOW
YOUR FRIENDS AND FOES – AND WHICH WAY TO ROW</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Few who have ever visited
a doctor, dentist or vets office can be unaware of dog-eared copies
of </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Reader's Digest</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. It
is published in 49 editions, 21 languages and reaches a readership
greater than 40-million.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Guess how many </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>original</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
stories this DIGEST prints? </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> But every year enough
people buy stamps to mail off their newly-birthed </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Vampire
Mom and the Wall-Mart Wolverine</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> manuscripts
to support the GNP of a small country!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> They spent their money on
postage...instead of an ice-cream...BECAUSE ?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> They did NOT read the
'Writers Guidelines' section of the </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Reader's
Digest</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> editorial requirements which
states: </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Please
note that Reader’s Digest</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>does
not print poetry or fiction.</b></i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
will print original items from freelancers in its various department
sections: Making it Matter; My View; My Story, but its a very limited
market.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> BUT...you
knew that was coming – what they don't say is the person writing
the story has to </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>be</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
the person IN the story.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">GHOST
WRITERS</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For
every brilliant singer, scientist, golf-pro and soldier there is an
opportunity for a writer. Not all professional or skilled people have
the ability, or time, to write the book the public yearns to read.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> A
writer who can strings words together, in the right sequence, combine
facts with entertainment and titillation, CAN vicariously live in
someone elses shoes – for a little while. Beware, though. The
glamor aspect wears through QUICKLY. The grunge and grunt reality
of getting the facts, then assembling them in an entertaining and
informative sequence – which also meets with the approval of 'X”
( and handlers) - can be INTERESTING!!!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">HOW
TO GET STARTED</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
scariest thing for most writers, beginners and pros, is the blank
page or screen.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> The longer one looks at
it the harder it is to start.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> One writer I know employs
the “Letter to my brother” ploy. He begins to type a catch-up
letter, outlining familiar family situations, then tells about his
latest commission and begins to outline the story idea he has, then
CHOPS everything out - not relevant to his story. Then... he </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Writes
ON</i></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Remember
– You Can't Edit a BLANK PAGE</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> Ends...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>HANDY
HINTS & SUPPORT SYSTEMS</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> When you leave here
95% of what you heard will float off and next time you sit down to
write that blank page will still be staring back at you.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> Writing is a lonely
business. Here are some “CRISIS” Links to get you started.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Florida Writers
Association</b></i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://floridawriters.net/About_Us.html"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>http://floridawriters.net/About_Us.html</b></span></a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>It has branches
throughout the state. The 'Ancient City Writers', based in St.
Augustine, is the most active one locally. It regularly meets the
THIRD Saturday of the month at the Main Library. There's also a group
in Ocala and one based at Palm Coast. Check it out.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>FWA also runs seminars,
a state conference, competitions, publications and creates awards
following writing competititions.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Closer to home, an
active group of wordsmiths based in Gainesville called WAG –
Writers Alliance of Gainesville – holds regular meetings at
Millhopper Library. They also feature PODS; groups of like-thinking
genre-specific writers who informally gather to discuss, critique and
give help and feedback to new material. Check it out at:
</b></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://writersalliance.org/"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>http://writersalliance.org/</b></span></a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Be sure to leave your
name and Email – LEGIBLE – before you leave. My Email is
owenobs@gate.net. And remember – the Library is your Lifeline to
the writing life!</b></span></div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-63904017061976516202014-03-01T06:31:00.000-08:002014-03-01T06:31:02.165-08:00Will be book-signing today with a plethora of authors, as part of the annual Azalea Festival in Palatka, Florida. Its a town sitting on the banks of the up-side-down St. Johns River; it flows NORTH from central Florida's wetlands to the city of Jacksonville at its mouth to the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9K0FzU_6hEeU3gfJ3UY9QyYyziu4z_WERzmcAEl0ZQENkYK82yUPXfYGic0nnaaDwWLmbiJ51GLHXnMRt-E6mrF2zmzIARWiBAoDeZeJQ9rXZcj8ejjK395SMDrOimkZiSWaTridMTsm/s1600/Book+Signing+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9K0FzU_6hEeU3gfJ3UY9QyYyziu4z_WERzmcAEl0ZQENkYK82yUPXfYGic0nnaaDwWLmbiJ51GLHXnMRt-E6mrF2zmzIARWiBAoDeZeJQ9rXZcj8ejjK395SMDrOimkZiSWaTridMTsm/s1600/Book+Signing+Poster.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
During its lifetime the city has known boom and bust, its fortunes changing as transportation from sail to steam on the many waterways of the state, gave way to freight-hauling railroads and the interlocking interstate highways. <br />
Currently its a blow-through community with commuters from the student and academic housing University of Florida (The 'Gators) and Shands medical facilities at Gainesville, en route to the oldest, continuously occupied city (1565) in the USA, St. Augustine. It is filled with trippers and fripperies, art stores and eateries to cater for many tastes. Backwater shrimp-boats and replica Spanish galleons near the Bridge of Lions, are amongst the wide ranging fleet of working vessels and attractions dotting the waterfronts.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lvCcBzoe5xZJu0Wdi5iYfrJVNp2q3lHKW53Xody2FsDlkoUNOjM1sM5DvOrrHfA8Fiwlg0EnH8fajwKyC-a45EPdeZfKeu3ySQ7p9qWtuy5hgiZKoeq_0tTKDgHEo80JYD6KmwZ3YGry/s1600/Shrimpers+in++backwater+-+St.+Augustine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lvCcBzoe5xZJu0Wdi5iYfrJVNp2q3lHKW53Xody2FsDlkoUNOjM1sM5DvOrrHfA8Fiwlg0EnH8fajwKyC-a45EPdeZfKeu3ySQ7p9qWtuy5hgiZKoeq_0tTKDgHEo80JYD6KmwZ3YGry/s1600/Shrimpers+in++backwater+-+St.+Augustine.jpg" height="118" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKAN0D3AoLzYJKkF9J1eFyjJCBmAh694-wyJmQAH0lr0psmWOT_lN8tBd6H4tf9PkOuX4BOoYDOoPzomZUiqJ7dlTB4qaJtHGQsIzanVvS0yYohcgSaEHYnAuYN-QRiUb_iQcuvHHal3V/s1600/Bridge+of+Lions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKAN0D3AoLzYJKkF9J1eFyjJCBmAh694-wyJmQAH0lr0psmWOT_lN8tBd6H4tf9PkOuX4BOoYDOoPzomZUiqJ7dlTB4qaJtHGQsIzanVvS0yYohcgSaEHYnAuYN-QRiUb_iQcuvHHal3V/s1600/Bridge+of+Lions.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Palatka is continually trying to establish itself as a 'destination location'. The Azalea Festival and later, the Bluecrab Festival - critturs trapped locally - are a couple of events. But 'organizers' still seek the right combination to return to those glory days when Presidents, Poets and Power-brokers stayed in Palatka.<br />
Hope to see YOU, today...<br />
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-4736459005412797952014-02-26T08:43:00.002-08:002014-02-26T08:43:24.969-08:00
Sadly the updates of my blog took a nose dive when the bright
young things from Google decided - without consultation, of course -
to re-invent the blog-site I'd <i>finally</i> got comfortable with.<br />
The following contents may be clunky, during this test-run, but it
may prime the pump to get the motor running again.<br />
<br />
Since last I posted, two more books have been added to the Old
Book Shop Publication imprint. As a subtle way to link the 'nautical'
theme of similar books planned for the future, my author-name has
gathered a couple of extra letters: M.D. No, the initials do not
stand for 'Mad Dog' as some Anglophobe have suggested; nor Medical
Doctor as spam solicitors have discovered to their chagrin. Just my
middle-names which I was encumbered with, following family practice
of incorporating our forefathers names into the (then) present, at
the christening.<br />
<br />
When you have the Welsh-equivalent of Smith as a surname, every
little difference helps searchers find the writer they're looking
for.<br />
<br />
I once mistakenly latched onto what I thought, at a quick
glance, was a new Forester book. I guessed it would be a further saga
in the nautical Horatio Hornblower series. I only discovered my error
when a few pages into <i>Passage to India</i> the actions of E.M.
Forster's characters rudely awakened a prurient awareness of the adult
world, in the mind of an impressionable schoolboy. I didn't make that
mistake again, and double-checked the author was, indeed, C.S.
Forester before opening the covers of future books borrowed from the
library.<br /><br />
<br />
My new books <i>Midshipman David Porter – In Harms Way (The
Porter Saga) </i><span style="font-style: normal;">and </span><i>Up &
Down the Ditch: Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway – with Murphy's
Law</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> are nautical in nature. </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span>
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">Many years ago, when the Palm
Beach Old Book Shop was a meeting spot for readers and writers
sunning the winter season away in South Florida, I discovered the
real-life American sailor David Porter. I devoured stories of his
exploits on the other side of the coin from his fictional equivelant,
during the transitional period from the great seafaring age of
square-rig sailing ships, to steamboats.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-hACNBnAGrlkV64XqDnBhOz69kG8mgOPNsVhH2OgFyKkNx9DnGuSgaWHPUW0hH_XRRSZOM6NT-IG4nDDMqlisJolk2zwu864sxLXyJJGrMTFq9SuMTcWb4i8TrRkHgkPBOtJn9UnDHUS/s1600/Porter+Saga+Cover+-+Harms+Way.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_-hACNBnAGrlkV64XqDnBhOz69kG8mgOPNsVhH2OgFyKkNx9DnGuSgaWHPUW0hH_XRRSZOM6NT-IG4nDDMqlisJolk2zwu864sxLXyJJGrMTFq9SuMTcWb4i8TrRkHgkPBOtJn9UnDHUS/s1600/Porter+Saga+Cover+-+Harms+Way.jpg" height="320" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">How could such a valient hero
disappear from the pages of history? I set about 'factionalizing'
him, his family – which included adopted son David Glasgow Farragut
– and literary contemporaries such as Washington Irving and Edgar
Allen Poe. Finally Book One in the series – only SIX more to go –
has appeared in Tree and Eeee versions.</span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">Also, my introduction to trips up
and down the Intracoastal Waterway; which began as an inexpensive
summer holiday helping a skipper friend out, generated a series of
cartoon-filled sketch-books which I felt many other boaty types could
relate to. As a 'bonus' the book contains a “me 'n Joe” type
yarn of my maiden voyage on a small boat up the Atlantic Seaboard –
hove-to in a nor'easter off Cape Fear – delivering a duplicate
sloop to the former boss of Xerox!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI32FpnmJBNgidD_JeGMdpLlSfycUvtmtVws7Da-uYf71Lc_-h5ttzGFLyTdLeNYObBuQ1_cQdtXWSLDb32etdbzpvaH6hkdmO9bEp7Aojht-Ly-0aBrpYXqxF_K-gF7k0KqRX-jgH-6QE/s1600/U&D+Bonus+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI32FpnmJBNgidD_JeGMdpLlSfycUvtmtVws7Da-uYf71Lc_-h5ttzGFLyTdLeNYObBuQ1_cQdtXWSLDb32etdbzpvaH6hkdmO9bEp7Aojht-Ly-0aBrpYXqxF_K-gF7k0KqRX-jgH-6QE/s1600/U&D+Bonus+Cover.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
<span style="font-style: normal;"></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">Oddly enough, both men and women
reacted positively to the Beta versions circulated pre-publication,
and hopefully will fill a needed niche on the nautical shelves of
active - and armchair sailors, or all flavors.</span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">Feedback would be welcome – and
a posted review on Amazon.com would be splendid: pro and con!</span><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: normal;">~~~~~~~ooooOoooo~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-3119703843492196472013-03-17T07:48:00.001-07:002013-03-17T07:58:33.344-07:00Mike & Jeff Show - Manuscript to BOOK - a Tell All<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The New Age writer/publisher team of
Michael Ray King (brand name) and Jeff “Swesky“ (1st keyword in
his meta-tag list) revealed much of what they've learned in recent
years since digital books became a reality.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzKm6s0ydujMfaszxc0OiUjP3CKPf5lpaxkjEAp8fnNeJ8mnC2tSztd4VicRdXqEd9jvMFvsAjZkdGzOy4-RHVnTD6j5DyZ-0ZZe-mwLCpm4THh8a_UaMCKrOApiO6Fn8w6ZNAAqEOiuS/s1600/2013_0316BookFair20130022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzKm6s0ydujMfaszxc0OiUjP3CKPf5lpaxkjEAp8fnNeJ8mnC2tSztd4VicRdXqEd9jvMFvsAjZkdGzOy4-RHVnTD6j5DyZ-0ZZe-mwLCpm4THh8a_UaMCKrOApiO6Fn8w6ZNAAqEOiuS/s320/2013_0316BookFair20130022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Jeff Swesky and
Michael Ray King together with books they've written and published</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">They
appeared before a full house of writers in the St. Augustine Main
Library, in all stage of the process, eager to learn or refresh, how
to get from manuscript to published book. It was staged by the FWA
(Florida Writers Association) Ancient City chapter, yesterday.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Mike
</span><i>aka</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> professionally as
Michael Ray King, emphasized the brand-name marketing facet which
lodges the author's name, appearance, genre, into the buying-mode of
readers. His full name; only heard aloud when he was in trouble with
mom - “Michael RAY King...who did this?” has become an asset
amongt many pages of Michael Kings' found by search engines. And the
conservative jacket atop open-shirt, jeans and sneakers is his
“casual but serious publisher” upgrade uniform.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqDs3XEEg5BM02EIgRc3hGJTgr7y4_1jlcR1rBer3YqWyvo1KCMRGQmV0HO2cRKsip3L17BeIv_67U0sd-uXwo8ePnvTe42TrGP70YQJ0QAqYD4TOjuvbsGN9ku7VKoiUAn8_JEgSpiQm/s1600/2013_0316BookFair20130011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqDs3XEEg5BM02EIgRc3hGJTgr7y4_1jlcR1rBer3YqWyvo1KCMRGQmV0HO2cRKsip3L17BeIv_67U0sd-uXwo8ePnvTe42TrGP70YQJ0QAqYD4TOjuvbsGN9ku7VKoiUAn8_JEgSpiQm/s320/2013_0316BookFair20130011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Jeff Swesky guided writers through the Kindle maze</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Jeff
Swesky, who broke into big-time print as a “ghost writer”
relating a Holocaust memoir of a local Rabbi, emphasized a frequently
overlooked tip for writers anxious to tease readers to the stories
they have to tell. Often, the author's NAME is the only constant
readers remember about a book they liked. So, the author's name is
the first clue registered in the keyword field of ALL those little
boxes which need to be filled in before a manuscript file can morph
into a down-loadable Kindle book.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"> Sixty!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"> The number of people – not the aggregate age – sat through two
hours of the Mike & Jeff Show. And the doors were NOT barred!</span></div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-14042180357880518162013-03-15T20:56:00.000-07:002013-03-15T20:56:45.978-07:00If you write it - might be best to Go to THEM! In the constatnly shifting world of publishing and marketing the Book Store and Sunday Supplement Book Page are not the only venues to explore in getting the right book to the right reader ( an old antiquarian bookseller motto).<br />
Parking was at a premium Friday, March 15, when former Florida Game Warden Lt. Bob Lee launched his hardbound book <i>Backcountry Lawman</i> in the warehouse of the Putnam Feed and Seed Store on SR20. No limos or valet service ala Palm Beach - but plenty of pick-up belonging to hunters and lawmen (not always on the saw side of the law) - and fans or foes of Lee and his "guest" co-signer, Putnam's notorious poacher, Roger "Kat" Gunter.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4bmUs_429Ri9pUr7-tDEyuzwlLU5R1aFECbO-HUfVmJgzTLS2zrVjXFjp5GDnxTqnEYkQQhLXKEB5d6GnV391PrDhtpYFaPiOJHd_4kLp50zS2EXlpaiULAiufjWKsluRAQ6O9lAPrwI/s1600/Where+the+readers+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4bmUs_429Ri9pUr7-tDEyuzwlLU5R1aFECbO-HUfVmJgzTLS2zrVjXFjp5GDnxTqnEYkQQhLXKEB5d6GnV391PrDhtpYFaPiOJHd_4kLp50zS2EXlpaiULAiufjWKsluRAQ6O9lAPrwI/s320/Where+the+readers+shop.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KRmFxtqp454CJB4iE28bet6g9Z4UviPvtk0GmAk6bhn-Z8ybJmQyDU-WpoFBitfcbfPYcfnnuVeoi-yB1zQtTLpsXw1T6Gl_WH_iuG6uD3JGuhr1vPxD-21CTzZXYyQVMylfEBdk2spX/s1600/Part+One+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KRmFxtqp454CJB4iE28bet6g9Z4UviPvtk0GmAk6bhn-Z8ybJmQyDU-WpoFBitfcbfPYcfnnuVeoi-yB1zQtTLpsXw1T6Gl_WH_iuG6uD3JGuhr1vPxD-21CTzZXYyQVMylfEBdk2spX/s320/Part+One+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX-h-zxoMLWjgdIaiWmEpSk2bdTAXpXZjNA25B5aGfcrbFKhtuTzRbmwjHrtApCB1Gr8JRIFUVBiqlpdAP5FRsPH66O187RBtKHuDUyAZvqwDMTrJG8TTujpsQX0ZlgNvt8KlvactWGXK/s1600/2013_0314BobatFeedStoreSignin0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX-h-zxoMLWjgdIaiWmEpSk2bdTAXpXZjNA25B5aGfcrbFKhtuTzRbmwjHrtApCB1Gr8JRIFUVBiqlpdAP5FRsPH66O187RBtKHuDUyAZvqwDMTrJG8TTujpsQX0ZlgNvt8KlvactWGXK/s320/2013_0314BobatFeedStoreSignin0007.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi429jHF4QeWWDWHZ8cHRur51bUNxtEImEzVD32HxfRKHl4sczd2PZz1kR0O1rE-RbIpsowEPc0ESY32K4tSQpll87GW2ab5_X0LoC86IMENmJpfuk23sKUb8CUPTmhUcM-3KFaVhIkPD4V/s1600/A+laugh+a+minute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi429jHF4QeWWDWHZ8cHRur51bUNxtEImEzVD32HxfRKHl4sczd2PZz1kR0O1rE-RbIpsowEPc0ESY32K4tSQpll87GW2ab5_X0LoC86IMENmJpfuk23sKUb8CUPTmhUcM-3KFaVhIkPD4V/s320/A+laugh+a+minute.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
One of these days, when I'm not chasing deadlines and racing the clock, I'll reconfigure this snippet, but I do want to illustrate it IS possible to have a successful book-signing outside the norm.<br />
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-12368081789051397072013-02-25T04:54:00.005-08:002013-02-25T04:58:23.507-08:00Way to Start the Day - BLOGGED!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Most happy to start the week by being
included in Lee Kirk's blog on Tomfolio, the independent cooperative
book-dealers site, with a thumbnail biography of my Old Book Shop and
a preview of my story “Books Before NOOKs – And Beyond”.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As a fellow bookseller and freelance
writer Lee noted, she recognized a piece of “blatant
self-promotion” when she saw it!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In (one) of my other lives beyond
bibliopole, journalism has (mostly) paid the bills for the past
half-century or so. Both fields have undergone major changes in
recent decades but both have retained the allure of a certain degree
of independence which partially compensates for the poor pay.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For sure a doctor, plumber or
garbage-collector are higher up the income ladder, but would they
have uncovered the dormant tale of a miracle book from the Vatican
which survived the sinking at sea of the <i>SS Andrea Doria</i>?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFFAOflXeLf3lgJLkMoegsxJb2LDdHzKytV94xXUNfLMT5XSWtv7Na2byXzONOrqCKECQU__NwSIMD701iYD2yCL8U3PKFo2TwtZqX07EGh1s9VIwAaoD201kyHStJ-6WOqYc5KkYsr49/s1600/Vatican+Stamp+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFFAOflXeLf3lgJLkMoegsxJb2LDdHzKytV94xXUNfLMT5XSWtv7Na2byXzONOrqCKECQU__NwSIMD701iYD2yCL8U3PKFo2TwtZqX07EGh1s9VIwAaoD201kyHStJ-6WOqYc5KkYsr49/s320/Vatican+Stamp+cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please, pick it up here:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.tomfolioblog.com/AWorldOfBooksAndEphemera/2013/02/24/a-little-tale-about-bookseller-fortunes-and-misfortunes/">http://www.tomfolioblog.com/AWorldOfBooksAndEphemera/2013/02/24/a-little-tale-about-bookseller-fortunes-and-misfortunes/</a></u></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Enjoy!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-9373197402758791472013-02-24T08:20:00.000-08:002013-02-24T08:20:31.973-08:00A busy time ahead - TG! In the "feast or famine" course of events, the next couple of weeks could be a Rolaid period:<br />
<br />
* Three Book Signings - for three books<br />
* One Book Fair - looking, listening ...selling<br />
* Compile and Launch ANOTHER book.<br />
<br />
Plus - with a little bit of luck - the timely publication of a short story about the miracle of an antiquarian Vatican book which survived the tragedy and sinking of the <i>S.S. Andrea Doria</i>.<br />
The book signings will be::<br />
* Wednesday, Feb. 27, <i>Black Horse Winery</i> 6:30 - 8:30:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5VF6UrgtQUV9ovl0Tx-KnSH_PtvoDysoTvNEkBb9OQFDdoUQYh7IQdTiQ5zTHUH9GcbO7nH0EFG2ICuvLfze8ReKNmMfriSEHdkjgcVRyYcI4mh8nOX0go_viH4agOUz67QMMLm9AMcN/s1600/Signing+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5VF6UrgtQUV9ovl0Tx-KnSH_PtvoDysoTvNEkBb9OQFDdoUQYh7IQdTiQ5zTHUH9GcbO7nH0EFG2ICuvLfze8ReKNmMfriSEHdkjgcVRyYcI4mh8nOX0go_viH4agOUz67QMMLm9AMcN/s320/Signing+Poster.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
* Friday, March 1, <i>Gallery 26</i>, Melrose Art Walk, 301 State Roard 26, 6 - 9 pm.<br />
* Sat. March 2, <i>Read (Think) Books</i>, corner of St. Johns Ave. & 7th St., Palatka, 1-2 pm<br />
BEWARE: Impromptu sales and signings can occure whenever <i>Juanita</i>, my Mazda pickup, and I are spotted stopped somewhere!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-6943083133880644472011-11-07T10:37:00.000-08:002011-11-07T11:28:14.571-08:00Guy Fawkes Day in the USA --- Had A Few Spectaculer Moments Too<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUGLXsBK2GMMx3XVkXgwa3Odh_v3peFJcX9WN-PP1NJpInXxFiz4UhMYdMZ3IcdK242TcGdoyz-GvwFxBhv4kPzIB0LhDZfWNGNIPTvGlBRxsBe8_sWbvjDtHGUbjrJO6q9Ie_xMFdgop/s1600/A+funny+thing+happened+on+the+way+to+a+writer%2527s+workshop..."><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUGLXsBK2GMMx3XVkXgwa3Odh_v3peFJcX9WN-PP1NJpInXxFiz4UhMYdMZ3IcdK242TcGdoyz-GvwFxBhv4kPzIB0LhDZfWNGNIPTvGlBRxsBe8_sWbvjDtHGUbjrJO6q9Ie_xMFdgop/s400/A+funny+thing+happened+on+the+way+to+a+writer%2527s+workshop..." border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672325173131850498" /></a><br />Saturday was a grotty miserable overcast 50's temperatures day in North-East Florida - until I ran into a pukka wedding complete with decorated elephant staged at the Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention. <br /><br /> Drums, chanting, and traditionally draped guests clapped and danced in the short "parade route" in the pick-up/drop-off zone for limos and cabs at the main entrance.<br /><br /> I'd guess neither the valet nor the porter anticipated their job description would include: parking a pachyderm or the "Care and Handling" of that particular type of trunk!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIawwoyhCrx73Pq6Knebim1EzCPuJ2zoE6FTNK3bjpStp3cfSyZJudk0HfWUgxNzEYLR0WIPZv0jl29Gyk1hLkB_Iun5FWfKvrkcLJD0gT7xqiiBqa_veaeTPf4mvSRK7xyOkeHxyjZZD/s1600/Dr.+Rick+Wilber.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIawwoyhCrx73Pq6Knebim1EzCPuJ2zoE6FTNK3bjpStp3cfSyZJudk0HfWUgxNzEYLR0WIPZv0jl29Gyk1hLkB_Iun5FWfKvrkcLJD0gT7xqiiBqa_veaeTPf4mvSRK7xyOkeHxyjZZD/s400/Dr.+Rick+Wilber.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672330272011930914" /></a><br /><br /> Happy to say the scheduled gig with Dr. Rick Wilber, newspaper editor turned SciFi author and journalism Prof. conducting a a workshop on "Turning Articles into Award-winning Novels" prior to the annual Florida Press Club awards banquet, was not totally upstaged by the reception outside.<br /><br /> With an audience made up of professional newsroom colleagues, Wilber comfortably cut to the chase and spelled out the reality of writing for a living.There are many more Non-Fiction books on bookshop shelves than Fiction. The glamour of top-seller and top-dollar writers hit the headlines -- as most in the room knew. But they represent only a tiny tip of the publishing industry iceberg.<br /> <br /> The former newsman, baseball fan (his dad was a pro), SciFi writer and mass media communicator is a hands-on practical, practising, performer of a craft he teaches to students at USF (University of South Florida). <br /><br />Creatively his head may be in the clouds -- but pragmatically his feet are firmly planted on the ground.<br /><br /> Catch him, if you can!Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-80811211656359696812011-08-29T19:52:00.000-07:002011-08-29T20:19:59.396-07:00The Kid & Stetson Kennedy - KKK Killer
<br /><em>Sadly we have to record the passing of investigative journalist Stetson Kennedy recently,at 94. Over the years we'd run into him at various writing and book related gatherings around Florida and three years ago helped celebrate a birthday at Anastasia Books, St. Augustine.
<br />
<br />This blog is a bitter-sweet record of that event, and a tribute to a pathfinder in the profession.</em>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Florida folklorist icon and Ku Klux Klan investigative infiltrator Stetson Kennedy celebrated his 91st birthday last weekend surrounded by family, friends and fans.
<br />
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHzk8YDmd6kJkjwkXJbQTQ7-vfTzDuEcDSQormIZxxHzGPLjwY00PGMrl2jSfpq1-Ir0nZIvugwL-xCJlVXf2n7LRogVUzAOoJL2bAlY85wLIthfILgP_MRYZbB5Lyh5MF6CjFrsh20sN/s1600/Kid+%2526+KKK+Kennedy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHzk8YDmd6kJkjwkXJbQTQ7-vfTzDuEcDSQormIZxxHzGPLjwY00PGMrl2jSfpq1-Ir0nZIvugwL-xCJlVXf2n7LRogVUzAOoJL2bAlY85wLIthfILgP_MRYZbB5Lyh5MF6CjFrsh20sN/s400/Kid+%2526+KKK+Kennedy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646478449672513074" /></a> Jack Owen photo
<br /><strong><em>Riley Fox Hillyer (11) and KKK journalist Stetson Kennedy (91)</em></strong>
<br />
<br />One of his youngest admirers, an eleven-year-old neighborhood child of the celebrated St. Augustine resident, recited an insightful ode to the sprightly old man:
<br />
<br /><em>Stetson Kennedy,
<br />Stetson Kennedy,
<br />The perfect remedy,
<br />For the KKK
<br />* *
<br />Once upon a time,
<br />There was a boy,
<br />He stole fruits from
<br />his neighbors for joy
<br />* *
<br />This boy, now a
<br />young man,
<br />Decided to stop the
<br />Ku Klux Klan
<br />* *
<br />Guess who helped him
<br />rat out those trout?!
<br />It was Superman
<br />who helped Stetson out
<br />* *
<br />Years ago, he was a spy
<br />But at 92, he is still
<br />young and spry
<br /><strong>By Riley Fox Hillyer</strong></em>
<br />
<br />
<br />The assembled politicos, pundits and professionals gathered to sip wine, nibble on cheese and witness the cutting of a birthday cake within the stacked racks at Anastasia Books, owned by Kennedy’s current wife Sandra Parks, enthusiastically applauded the young bard.
<br />
<br />Then, less than harmoniously, they rendered several ragged verses of “Happy Birthday” throughout the evening.
<br />
<br />For Stetson Kennedy it marked yet another milestone along a journalistic path pocked by plaudits and controversy from the WPA (Works Progress Administration) era of anecdotal recordings of Florida’s rural history, to clashes with the Ku Klux Klan and the book publishing cottage industry that sortie gave birth to.
<br />
<br />His young admirer, during an earlier inter-school competitive speech for Fifth Grade, described his initial disappointment when his new neighbors moved in. He had hoped for kids his own age but ”… I discovered it was just another boring old couple, as usual.”
<br />
<br />However, his interest perked up when he discovered the character in a book he was reading (about a young man infiltrating the KKK and exposing its secrets to radio-fans of Superman) was none other than his new neighbor.
<br />
<br />“ He was a spy. I couldn’t believe it. I had a humongous desire to meet Mr. Stetson Kennedy. I felt very nervous, almost faint, when I met him,” Riley wrote.
<br />
<br />Considering Kennedy’s profession, his wife’s occupation and the locale for the reception, Riley’s summary was appropriate.
<br />
<br />The fact “the old guy” had led such an interesting life prompted the young boy to echo an oft-repeated observation,
<br />
<br />“Well, I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
<br />
<br />Ends…
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-41055004436111521302011-08-26T05:35:00.000-07:002011-08-26T05:40:13.221-07:00IRENE -- The Hurricane -- Is No Sweet Thing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeklbk1KElWHd-mc7ijsrRQ-hgkDUmPAEKGHoJ0D9onhq4kBVzbdBRWz-jIXW7ZydF76WKyWg0te-h2rW2jW4lsRlWavTZ9rrZJXjMftu1zibzBGCjuqZaAHskDNMg6u3VRbp0bdgCfgeb/s1600/Could+happen....jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeklbk1KElWHd-mc7ijsrRQ-hgkDUmPAEKGHoJ0D9onhq4kBVzbdBRWz-jIXW7ZydF76WKyWg0te-h2rW2jW4lsRlWavTZ9rrZJXjMftu1zibzBGCjuqZaAHskDNMg6u3VRbp0bdgCfgeb/s400/Could+happen....jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645142915210770178" /></a>
<br />Labor Day Weekend, the last weekend of summer in America, is traditionally the "official" start of political races when all the registered blowhards spout speeches and press the flesh. It also seems to have become something of a tradition of Mother Nature to provide a hurricane to send vacationers scurrying from the shore.
<br />
<br />IRENE, the Cat-3 hurricane currently sweeping north along America's eastern seaboard, has already claimed eight victims. They were thrill-seeking sightseers swept from a stone jetty at south Florida's Boynton Beach inlet by a giant wave -- and the eye of the storm is still hundreds of miles offshore.
<br />
<br />Officials are concerned all the way north into Canada; Charleston, New York, Boston. The entire summer population of Ocean City, Maryland -- roughly the size of Manchester - is under mandatory evacuation.
<br />
<br />It will blow itself out and dissolve in the colder waters of the north Atlantic, eventually. BUT, it is 1,000 miles wide, has sustained winds of 110-mph and is kicking up big-time waves too scary for surfers. Eventually those generated waves will wash up ashore in UK and Europe. So...break out your boards...and board up your stores.
<br />Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-31670030167135066782011-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:002011-05-08T13:09:59.918-07:00There's a Hole in my Bucket (list) Air Balloon No Show A Big Bust<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIopr6BF9_xqaTs3BdJoX9jD5Dwl1TKKNFqoHuZIVW83Lg0q8Ycs983fLcxJ_fZEcK_fJCvxDGAUguvO8-NLYGdYT_CWaRHV4vPAqrDtusqc6_BdanvZG_EcIEpTfO_QgjhTZqFnGUEMt/s1600/Slaw+Down.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIopr6BF9_xqaTs3BdJoX9jD5Dwl1TKKNFqoHuZIVW83Lg0q8Ycs983fLcxJ_fZEcK_fJCvxDGAUguvO8-NLYGdYT_CWaRHV4vPAqrDtusqc6_BdanvZG_EcIEpTfO_QgjhTZqFnGUEMt/s400/Slaw+Down.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604415622048814370" /></a><br />The chance to knock off the "Hot-Air Balloon Flight" from my "bucket list" (stuff I want to do before checking out) was punctured when the operators failed to show at the annual "Cabbage and Potato Festival" in Hastings, Florida, yesterday.<br /><br />Hastings, known as the potato capitol of Florida - alongside the nearby community of Spuds (I'm NOT making this up)- marks its prime crop harvest time with a fund raising fete sponsored by the local Rotary Club. .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIfuN-v17rNj0VubZCbRUUF4j6dbf292-gqvHxTBYbUZ1mRtM0CToaUdE_iESdAiQMQHaLLzumLqrYzFOZtScfeEKqBu3zgzYOOBm3mbROh1YaJlKmMlVd9tz661pBserGb6TRl9MKv8F/s1600/Cabbage+Bowler+Eyes+Target.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 203px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIfuN-v17rNj0VubZCbRUUF4j6dbf292-gqvHxTBYbUZ1mRtM0CToaUdE_iESdAiQMQHaLLzumLqrYzFOZtScfeEKqBu3zgzYOOBm3mbROh1YaJlKmMlVd9tz661pBserGb6TRl9MKv8F/s400/Cabbage+Bowler+Eyes+Target.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604417152704353794" /></a><br />Its very much a down home, low-key, grass-roots festival with pride of place going to gawking at John Deere tractors and mowers. The FREE bowling lane reflects the versatility of the vegetable ( largely untouched or recognized as FOOD at any school I attended ). Instead of regulation bowling balls and skittles, weighted painted plastic soda containers became the targets of hearts of cabbage bounced, bowled, bunged down a synthetic-grass lane.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUouQfGYfWpEjM_bxug2QDloZF137JaEipJTFz5rzMyPMN_Piz1OyHUg22RcF7dTsiRD3KS9o44zrXakVovkWiXFOJnEGq_lENhJVFe3yYfYy0sPWS72s-nSTPDhqw4ptgQvlrEgkGJ3v/s1600/Shade+Oasis.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUouQfGYfWpEjM_bxug2QDloZF137JaEipJTFz5rzMyPMN_Piz1OyHUg22RcF7dTsiRD3KS9o44zrXakVovkWiXFOJnEGq_lENhJVFe3yYfYy0sPWS72s-nSTPDhqw4ptgQvlrEgkGJ3v/s400/Shade+Oasis.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604420503123006274" /></a><br /><br />Wise in the ways of the land, strollers dodged from shade-tree to shade-tree, working the assortment of stalls offering everything from primitive art to potatoes and politics - Left and Right represented by Democrat and Tea Party tents. So, even without the 90-degree scorcher - there was plenty of hot-air to lift a dozen ballons or more, off the ground.<br />The closest thing we saw to Hi-Tech was the wading pool <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7gp-6mzIRUFQWbcYrqFR8Ywnb33RR0n2uRYx4WHvtZp82M0NxXU4vQFFgzkGhJWLNrnsvlJgG_9PCmTzNhIuRXSfNFJ72_41Qd9LUG89Bi1TBmg65ai0SV6VX2Vuuk3r6NvDvQOb3TKS/s1600/Don%2527t+Fry+This+At+Home.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 305px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7gp-6mzIRUFQWbcYrqFR8Ywnb33RR0n2uRYx4WHvtZp82M0NxXU4vQFFgzkGhJWLNrnsvlJgG_9PCmTzNhIuRXSfNFJ72_41Qd9LUG89Bi1TBmg65ai0SV6VX2Vuuk3r6NvDvQOb3TKS/s400/Don%2527t+Fry+This+At+Home.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604424824628388018" /></a> filled with plastic fish which could be caught by youngsters using a rod and line with a magnet - instead of hook - to capture the bobbing prey for a prize; air-filled toys.<br /><br />One of the more innovative food choices offered by vendors was a hot-dog stand where the regulation white-bread pap offered as a bun was replaced with a potato-bread roll and the promise of “all the fixin's” to make the “Tater Dog” tasty.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDoybpoIt9xJHsmb7Iy_OMG11XrL8VMfQgNQ9bcTNo4NnDnTxT4A8Zz1aE_08babFjIzshg8zYHOxkftSGNcjDE82TR8PzOVyIheW-TFFYY9el-NJkGXRssimmN-iAsCL5ZZXbTldTqHD/s1600/2011_0420SpudsNCabbage0003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDoybpoIt9xJHsmb7Iy_OMG11XrL8VMfQgNQ9bcTNo4NnDnTxT4A8Zz1aE_08babFjIzshg8zYHOxkftSGNcjDE82TR8PzOVyIheW-TFFYY9el-NJkGXRssimmN-iAsCL5ZZXbTldTqHD/s400/2011_0420SpudsNCabbage0003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604439053851245378" /></a><br />The operator should have won a prize for most creative hat. It would have wowed them at the Westminster wedding – last week!Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-38608913219560461142011-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:002011-04-26T19:22:30.568-07:00Out-of-Print Palm Beach Scandals (plus) Now IN Pubit!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKdVIy-3F9aeRZHTVJcL-tSKFUQd6Jhr8lQQQMMsIC2nlk-VnB2yRRa6a1DRewNhtiUFkEEL9UI0_H-du7qJZe27AW1aI1CopAvnxzXbha7G9T5LxobSj2J2PF6MgmOmJxPWzjNGK5ifC/s1600/PalmBchScan_600px%255B1%255DJonnie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 251px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKdVIy-3F9aeRZHTVJcL-tSKFUQd6Jhr8lQQQMMsIC2nlk-VnB2yRRa6a1DRewNhtiUFkEEL9UI0_H-du7qJZe27AW1aI1CopAvnxzXbha7G9T5LxobSj2J2PF6MgmOmJxPWzjNGK5ifC/s400/PalmBchScan_600px%255B1%255DJonnie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600077819614344082" /></a><br /><br />All that blathering about Electronic Publishing spurred me to bring back Palm Beach Scandals from its OOP status for the past dozen years and make it available via Barnes & Nobles PUBIT! to NOOK readers. I'm going to test-drive some social-networking marketing ploys to see if they work.<br /><br />And, just to give it an airing outside of crit groups, a newish chapter in the proposed "The Day...The Cat Blew Its Nose Off" collection of recollections, was also put into "e-print". My "Trip Around The Lightship" short-story will probably connect to a few people who've been caught in an awkward situation.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjzBxH0LCyB3DhOlFBZ0-LRgHEaHDu8pHPUlEw1VZjYKdpA_rVGRnl92zI-rFCKtP8Q6JGQrXCdlGL6X5u2q0ETsosC5feT9_7JpkMpGA-8BkAdd4Et2nwl26hnEP79rLQ3lcsu7QlgLl/s1600/Day+Around+the+Lightship.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjzBxH0LCyB3DhOlFBZ0-LRgHEaHDu8pHPUlEw1VZjYKdpA_rVGRnl92zI-rFCKtP8Q6JGQrXCdlGL6X5u2q0ETsosC5feT9_7JpkMpGA-8BkAdd4Et2nwl26hnEP79rLQ3lcsu7QlgLl/s400/Day+Around+the+Lightship.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600080266776601330" /></a><br />Unfortunately my sketch wouldn't stretch deep enough for PUBIT's cover format, so I slipped it in there sideways. Who knows, the misspelled word in a roadside sign gets all the attention: Rumba... or Burma Shave, anyone?Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-39204832527202580232011-04-20T09:55:00.000-07:002011-04-20T10:32:24.379-07:00ZUMBA zapped Speaker Space<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmR7EUevoy6E7OcBsMjyuJtYsT7P2jhVCnFEQtiBh1c7OFIFv6zmpWK9VtsHn8Bu72oyxvJELHUxPFWu4ICuXXvfkKA6Z1JR0z758MZ4cSGX62mhz27CvyXUYDmFvrgS0kz9bvsPdqcux/s1600/Groupies.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 396px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmR7EUevoy6E7OcBsMjyuJtYsT7P2jhVCnFEQtiBh1c7OFIFv6zmpWK9VtsHn8Bu72oyxvJELHUxPFWu4ICuXXvfkKA6Z1JR0z758MZ4cSGX62mhz27CvyXUYDmFvrgS0kz9bvsPdqcux/s400/Groupies.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597711780090100466" /></a><br /><br />I now know about Zumba, a combination exercise with canned Latin-rhythm music conducted by usually lithe, sinuous bodied dames who already look good in leotards. Only because the organizers of the "Electronic Publishing" talk I was booked to give - double-booked the site.<br /><br />Fortunately a cozier location, surrounded by artworks created by <em>ShakeRag</em> exhibitors and supporters turned poet and writer for the night, was found. A baker's dozen of eager embryo e-book contributors peppered the two-hour gab-fest during a lively Q&A session. The last question posed coincided with my vocal chords reaching rasp-tone, and smile into rictus mode; captured on-camera by somewhat mature "groupies".<br /><br />The divvy of donations netted a grand total of $15.00 toward the FOL (Friends of the Library) sponsored: "One Book - One Putnam" annual event. I have been assured it is a "milestone amount" in the fund-raising annals for the area.<br /><br />Take that as you will!Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-84733599962218238002011-04-19T11:19:00.000-07:002011-04-19T11:49:25.491-07:00Electronic Publishing - No Panacea For Authors<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1J0wKyaDEentTyQgPYTehai5ZR9Wb93ER6qdg_GhEQxEo3YyclxB2KTerXlPupW2Y-hfE7qUZEMCivlxbYBHG31f3c0Kvx4UCvmSXikA_XuGefNEkpXiA4gRJjsfW6lBV2T4GnPr1xAK/s1600/2010_0424ShakeRagConcert0011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1J0wKyaDEentTyQgPYTehai5ZR9Wb93ER6qdg_GhEQxEo3YyclxB2KTerXlPupW2Y-hfE7qUZEMCivlxbYBHG31f3c0Kvx4UCvmSXikA_XuGefNEkpXiA4gRJjsfW6lBV2T4GnPr1xAK/s400/2010_0424ShakeRagConcert0011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597368586766534754" /></a><br />Tonight I get to blather on about electronic publishing to mosly artists and movers/shakers in the unincorporated community of Melrose. It has one traffic-light, two gas stations, three art galleries and straddles four North-Central-Florida counties.<br /> <br />The vehicle of choice is a four-wheel-drive pick-up with trailer auxillery to haul the ATV/Jon-Boat/Mud-Bogger or showcase an antique Harley Davidson. Every mother has built into her DNA a family-heirloom recipe on how best to prepare grits, greens, catfish and hush-puppies. Folks wear their clothes snug and seriously train for All-You-Can-Eat BBQ-rib contests.<br /><br />Should be an interesting night!<br /><br />Here's an outline of some pointers for the next crop of creators.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Shake Rag Electronic Publishing Talk by Jack Owen</strong>Blog: <em>http://jackowensdogwatchyarns.blogspot.com/<br />e-mail:owenobs@gate.net FB:http://www.facebook.com/</em><strong><br /><br />Look-up sites</strong>:<br /> PUBIT - http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/<br /> Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/ <br /> Kindle - https://kdp.amazon.com/<br /><br /><br /><em>Pros/Cons:</em> <strong><em>PUBIT</em></strong> - Free. Set price, Large or Small manuscripts, easy upload direct from WORD files, direct deposit to bank account. Cons: - Limited Circulation to B&N<br /><br /> <em><strong>Smashwords</strong></em> - Free, CAN be distributed to ALL reader sites, can pay by direct deposit OR by check, Lengthy FREE Guide to Formatting book online. Cons: Limited mss size/price, difficult to FORMAT to Premium Distribution specifications, Royalty ONLY paid after $75 sales made.<br /><br /><em><strong>KINDLE</strong></em> - international name recognition, affiliated with AMAZON.com, Free upload: Cons: LIMITED to Kindle users, Limited price setting, limited Size of manuscript. Payment – check policy daily!<br /><br /><strong>Hot-Shot E-authors</strong><br /><em>Amanda Hocking</em>:Vampires & Young Adult http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/<br /><br /><br /><em>J.A. Konrath</em>: Hardboild FEMALE Detective http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/<br /><br /><strong>Newbie's Guide to Publishing</strong>http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/03/ebooks-and-self-publishing-dialog.html<br /><br /><br /><strong><strong>Speciality Publishing</strong></strong><br />http://www.mixbook.com/ photo albums into keepsakes<br />http://www.mypublisher.com/ pictures & prose to Book<br />http://www.lulu.com/ text,photos,whatever to BookJack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-9428290008674800122011-04-15T11:05:00.000-07:002011-04-15T11:52:27.068-07:00Fresh Food Doesn't Come Free<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkE-c8Xs5Np_XiUQR53PuL90VO03jhLu6ZTsk73wZKkMxkMuqCohmQjXbx_9hdR0rweIOI6aGOsRIy7rP9BxBvVauvp3a8qAeXaxYR97oB4-gFr53nUn7RdRwmr0GjUWeuFS0wiOYRixX/s1600/Blueberry+Bird+Cannon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkE-c8Xs5Np_XiUQR53PuL90VO03jhLu6ZTsk73wZKkMxkMuqCohmQjXbx_9hdR0rweIOI6aGOsRIy7rP9BxBvVauvp3a8qAeXaxYR97oB4-gFr53nUn7RdRwmr0GjUWeuFS0wiOYRixX/s400/Blueberry+Bird+Cannon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595882649519579874" /></a><br />Irregular booms and blasts, punctuating the crisp April air, heralds the onset of Florida's Blueberry Season and the annual crop-farmer's propane-cannon battle with birds for the berries<br /><br />My two bushes don't kick-in 'till later, when the daily ritual picking precedes breakfast; cereals, waffles, yogurt - and maybe a pie depending on who gets the berries first - me or The BIRDS!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM1Z2M8n2dcsqTn02KjUWjMA0VqS-axCoq_dH7t7gRkNTGM3NLKRYSmxzo9Y16w7RbMB2AZq5K-wDLwVhZv_yKI4JNFFMsCeHiCWBJoH4BHy_5fnBCbO0PlDTYYOlI95qzyDOgoGWH4YY/s1600/above+the+madding+crown.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM1Z2M8n2dcsqTn02KjUWjMA0VqS-axCoq_dH7t7gRkNTGM3NLKRYSmxzo9Y16w7RbMB2AZq5K-wDLwVhZv_yKI4JNFFMsCeHiCWBJoH4BHy_5fnBCbO0PlDTYYOlI95qzyDOgoGWH4YY/s400/above+the+madding+crown.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595884335038855122" /></a><br /><br /><br />This past weekend launched the <em>Tour de Farms</em> created to woo touristers away from coastal fripperies and Disney World fantasy, to the "real" Florida. Few realize its a major food-pantry for the USA; and the second-largest steak-on-the-hoof state in the union.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF5NjfuQYbCv2rCCS5r3EvbqEv0B2izYQbashfMX0vlkXMZ-b0uePr1VsaeBjIW1LiPaEkktUVfEnTtjB9H2CFEB-pUlBYpIqGCl4sUN1sGk6YIpIPnqeiOfiwn5simFc7YExRQYJwvuw/s1600/2011_0410TourDeFarm0033.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF5NjfuQYbCv2rCCS5r3EvbqEv0B2izYQbashfMX0vlkXMZ-b0uePr1VsaeBjIW1LiPaEkktUVfEnTtjB9H2CFEB-pUlBYpIqGCl4sUN1sGk6YIpIPnqeiOfiwn5simFc7YExRQYJwvuw/s400/2011_0410TourDeFarm0033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595883916401714002" /></a><br /><br /><br />My luck, some of my closest friends are vegans - or trying to be - and I end up making covert runs into places like <em>The Outback </em>and <em>Beef O'Brady's </em>with other closeted meat-eaters. Guess those who did not live through "meatless" days, and Fish-on-Friday, rationbook coupon cutting and minuscule portions of canned corned beef and spam, really don't appreciate what they couldn't have.<br /><br />The farmers sub-headed the <em>Tour de Farm </em>"A Slow Food" discovery, in contrast to FAST-Food, high-cholesterol options blasted via TV and Radio Ads 24/7 and the public. Area chefs and cooks from nearby restaurants were featured at some sites, demonstrating "101 Ways to Cook a Potato" - while audiences munched on salt-sprinkled crisps and take-out hamburgers and fries.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqCB-tkgIzhMNDh7CFnQkDJUYmcn1bJ3mJcMv1otae0MeEPaN-hzj2hIIsawijkUdfxsDb0Iqnx_05GB8vxjk2Y-4R0P-197Jr7PAZiGbjAFYNnGXO2xDBDJlJHQHrxw8mASDRlamvooG/s1600/Wine+...just+weeks+away.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqCB-tkgIzhMNDh7CFnQkDJUYmcn1bJ3mJcMv1otae0MeEPaN-hzj2hIIsawijkUdfxsDb0Iqnx_05GB8vxjk2Y-4R0P-197Jr7PAZiGbjAFYNnGXO2xDBDJlJHQHrxw8mASDRlamvooG/s400/Wine+...just+weeks+away.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595884892022125938" /></a><br /><br />Its gonna be a steep learning curve!Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7847832294957070402.post-44002556896576028602011-04-08T19:48:00.000-07:002011-04-08T20:45:12.162-07:00Toppled Tree a Kick in the Pants & Pain in the Pocket!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqX5miVmxuFu1WzQ1Mo7M8KPgXTe6J9BfkSnnefK3kHhc0uboIDSrJZ7IHXnbTT53AowsGwDq_gWxiAKt9L4s9DHL6jE0WA5tw-JToHuq_qFIPr5ZaJsgh3wCV2srVXcNvJkvvmGiWBby/s1600/2011_0407TreeDown20110005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqX5miVmxuFu1WzQ1Mo7M8KPgXTe6J9BfkSnnefK3kHhc0uboIDSrJZ7IHXnbTT53AowsGwDq_gWxiAKt9L4s9DHL6jE0WA5tw-JToHuq_qFIPr5ZaJsgh3wCV2srVXcNvJkvvmGiWBby/s400/2011_0407TreeDown20110005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593414350319542226" /></a> <em>EUREKA! House unveiled from tree canopy</em><br /><br />Tuesday's tornadic tree-toppling squall put a hurting on my travel plans for a while. The senior of the father/son team, who removed the trunk during the next two days, was of similar girth. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERDI5wMKLwFyOPNgJqsNcMgqvnHy92SieExtqCSX8cuFDfXi2H1Ix3W2eYMHJSUaNFcRxY9R76PdkoSQ5wRAeQ-feLG_VDEgSl5a5kByqvhREmPKZo73uqeLdyqDmk_jVnrknDoAtMC2q/s1600/2011_0407TreeDown20110010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERDI5wMKLwFyOPNgJqsNcMgqvnHy92SieExtqCSX8cuFDfXi2H1Ix3W2eYMHJSUaNFcRxY9R76PdkoSQ5wRAeQ-feLG_VDEgSl5a5kByqvhREmPKZo73uqeLdyqDmk_jVnrknDoAtMC2q/s400/2011_0407TreeDown20110010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593417643914020514" /></a><br />Shaking hands with him to seal the deal was like high-fiving into a catcher's mitt. They done good - but if I'd had my 'druthers, I'd rather not have income tax, auto and house insurance -- and WriteLink Membership -- all come due at the same time.<br /><br />Very doubtful if I'll be roaming the shingle beaches of Hastings, UK, anytime soon. I'll be lucky to make it to the Hastings (Florida) First Annual <em>Tour de Farms </em>(true story) midway between here and St. Augustine's Ancient City Tourist Trap, this Sunday, to potato-pick in the hamlet of Spuds.(<em>You couldn't make this stuff up!)</em><br /><br />The DIY tour is billed as an educational and epicurean experience, designed to lure tourists away from the shore to explore unheralded farmland hidden behind the rows of shoreline condominiums, gated communities and aquifer-consuming golf-courses. Everything from fancy ferns for floral arrangements, to hogs - and barbecues - and cultivated wild-flower seeds to fish-farms, spuds in the ground, hydroponically-raised strawberries and lettuce, vineyards and a spot of plonk, to blueberries, pies and cream.<br /><br />Looking forward to a quite day in the country. What could possibly go wrong???Jack Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14959613607858761949noreply@blogger.com0