The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 4/16

A few days after speaking by telephone to a representative who said all was well, I received a letter from Bank of America asking me to contact them about my credit card account. Recently, two online transactions were refused, although the automatic payments I have signed up for have gone through without incident. I immediately suspected the evil forces that have infected my computer. The first rep assured me there were no red flags. The second asked about one of the charges that was denied. It had indeed been attempted by me. She said the bank offers, for security purposes, a faux credit card number that somehow attaches to the actual one. Unfortunately, BOA's site didn’t recognize my numbers, so I couldn't get in to sign up. Is that because of the evil forces? I will ask my regular bank, HSBC, if they offer that unique security option. Except for the recurring charges at Netflix and EZPass, I rarely use the card, but it comes in handy when it's my only option to buy copies of my own books. I tested the card this morning, using it to pay for groceries at Stop n Shop, and it was fine. The problem with it may be only on my PC. The digital world has been a boon to mankind, and to criminals.

I approved the proof copy of Close to the Edge last night, despite the fact that the size of the text on page 48 is one-third smaller than that of the rest of the book. When scanning the online proof, a message warned that one line might be cropped, being too long. The word “argumentiveness” , in the middle of the sentence, was the root of the problem. Even now Spell-check has underlined it in red. It is not in its dictionary. While I was working on Rising Star, many pages were cited for the same problem of spillage, and all came out fine in the proof. I assumed it would be the same again. Since I haven’t a clue as to how to fix it and I’m also worried that the process will stall and remain in limbo, especially addressing it with this infected PC, I’ve decided to ignore it for the foreseeable future. The product is beautiful otherwise. The option to make changes remains throughout the life of the book. After working on two novels back to back, I don’t have the patience required to make Edge 100% right, or at least as close to perfect as possible. When I build up my Amazon gift certificate account to a certain level, I will buy nine or ten copies. I will show the flaw to potential customers so that none will feel they'd been ambushed.
Judith bought Killing several weeks ago. She said she liked it, and had the guts to say what she didn't like about it. She think there's too much dialogue, and she was disappointed that it wasn't more descriptive of the area in which it takes place, Bensonhurst, with which she is familiar. That didn't stop her from buying the last Authorhouse version of Close to the Edge. My thanks, and to the other kind folks who bought books, and to Marie, who donated a blend of literature, music and film. I made a new friend, Alex, a young man who may have mental or drug problem. He has bought a few sci-fi novels the past two days, and dropped some of his controversial views on me, one being that the CIA kidnaps babies. He helped me carry the crates to my car, which was nearby. He made a point to tell me he doesn't steal, which had me wondering if my car would be broken into tonight. I was tempted to move it when he was out of sight, but it's in prime position for tomorrow's session of the floating book shop, although the forecast calls for rain. I gave him a sci-fi hardcover as thanks, hoping he would be appeased.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/pdxwsnt

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/