The Writer's Life 1/14 - Orange

Here's an image any writer would love to capture in his work. According to the Weird But True column in today's NY Post, a Philadelphia Buddhist was robbed as he was trying to buy a lottery ticket. The thief ran off with a wallet and the guy, dressed in traditional orange garb, gave chase. Unfortunately, the slimeball got away. It would have been a great opening for the original Law & Order, where the discovery of a dead body was almost always preceded by a brief theater-like exchange unrelated to the plot by the eventual witnesses. Speaking of which -- one of the episodes running on Ion-TV last night involved the murder of a conman who ran seances. That must have been the reason I, for the first time, noticed certain ads in the Post. There were three on the same page. Pandit Swamy claims to be an expert in "Bringing Back Loved Ones." Guru Laxman and Siddharth Shastry claim expertise in Psychic Astrology, Spiritual Healing, the Removal of Spells and more. It's interesting how the last name of the first and the first names of the others echo positive images with which even Westerners are familiar. There are profiles at Facebook and LinkedIn under each name.

I don't know how I would react if I were a soldier captured by foreign forces. I fear I'd beg to be spared. It must be a harrowing situation. Fortunately, the sailors briefly held captive by Iranians were released unharmed. It is disappointing, however, to hear an American apologize to his captors, although I suspect the young man had been schooled to do so should such a situation arise. It is a different world. Gone are the days when General Anthony McAuliffe, surrounded by Germans and asked to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge, sent this typed reply to the Nazis: "Nuts!" Does this mean our forces have become to soft to win wars? Our enemies would be making a big mistake to presume that. Recall how well those wearing wearing the uniform of the U.S. did during the surge in Iraq.

I didn't have any sunshine to work with until an hour-and-a-half had passed. By then I was feeling the cold and had to close the floating book shop early. My thanks to Herbie, who donated a handful of books, including a paperback by the ever-popular R.L. Stine.

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/l84h63j

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

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

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

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/