The Writer's Life 1/15 - Running Dog

I am partial to any defense of capitalism, so when the opening passage of Lee Ding Fai's Running Dog describes the final moments of a young man's swim to freedom from mainland China to Hong Kong, 1962, I was immediately enthralled. Since the point of view is that of a male, I assumed it was written by one. Wrong. There is not much information on the author on the web. It appears this is her only book, published in 1980 in HK. If so, it's a source of pride, a solid first novel. The protagonist works hard and eventually becomes head of a clothing company that does business worldwide. Of course, life does not become perfect, but he is free to be the best he can be, to use his talents to pursue happiness. On the mainland, he'd been scheduled to report to a coal mine. His main source of sorrow is his separation from his supportive parents, whom he will never see again. Another is unrequited love. Because he lives in a free society, he is privileged to have problems those in the western world face -- are fortunate to face, the daily travails of life, not poverty or soul crushing conformity. There are several other interesting characters: a former, pre-Mao business partner of the young man's father, and his two sons and daughter. One son, to his father's chagrin, hates school but develops a keen business sense. The other is a leftist who dreams of a unified China and who eventually leaves for the mainland. The daughter attends college in the U.S.. The author acknowledges an anglo educator for reading the original manuscript and offering advice. There is no credit given to a translator, so I assume it was written in English. Although far from perfect, the prose and dialog are eminently readable. On a scale of five, I rate Running Dog 3.25 out of five. The term is a pejorative used by leftists to describe capitalists. Fortunately, there are now a lot of them these days on mainland China as well.

RIP Alan Rickman, 69, who succumbed to cancer. He began his adult life as a graphic designer, owned a business, but his love of theater led him to audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was a master at playing the criminal genius who suffers the lesser intelligence of those around him. He has 68 credits listed at IMDb, which does not include his work on the stage. Here's a quote attributed to him: "I approach every part I'm asked to do and decide to do from exactly the same angle: who is this person, what does he want, how does he attempt to get it, and what happens to him when he doesn't get it, or if he does?" Well done, sir.

In an article on Obamacare in the NY Post, Betsy McCaughey states that 7.5 million Americans in 2015 paid the tax/fine rather than comply with the mandate. Kudos to those men and women, most probably under 35.

I decided I couldn't order copies of my new book without correcting the two errors I noticed in the second proof. I was told in an email that I won't have to order another proof. I just reviewed the online file and everything looks good. I'll just take the risk of ordering 50 copies.

A woman brought me a huge bag full of an eclectic mix of books. I sold four: a bio of Josephine Baker, a pictorial of the resting places of deceased rock stars, a beautiful illustrated work on 500 comic book villains, and a Jack Reacher thriller from Lee Child. I also peddled several other books. My thanks to all the buyers and donors. 50 degrees in mid January - love it!

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/