The Writer's Life 12/3 - Proofs

There's a lot of doom and gloom in the news these days. Here's a positive story: Crime in NYC has fallen to historic lows, murders down almost 7%, robberies 14%, burglaries 4%, grand larceny 3.4%, rape almost 3%. The only uptick was in auto thefts, +4.4%. Kudos to law enforcement. I'm surprised. So far, no one can claim the de Blasio administration has had a negative effect on law and order. (Stats from the NY Post)

There are moments in Martin Scorsese's films when the viewer doesn't know whether to laugh at the human race or tear one's hair out in despair. I was reminded of this by an item in Michael Goodwin's column in today's Post. I took the liberty of whittling it a bit: "Two members of the New Black Panther party have been charged with plotting to blow up the St. Louis Gateway Arch. The suspects bought what was believed to be a pipe bomb and tried to acquire two more — but couldn’t until the welfare-benefits card of one of their girlfriends was replenished, sources said.”

RIP Jean Beliveau, 83, legendary center for the Montreal Canadiens. He played 18 seasons in the NHL, scored 507 goals, won ten Stanley Cups, and served as team captain for ten years. He was the epitome of class. In demeanor and appearance he seemed more a CEO or museum curator than a hockey player, although his face bore the scars that come with the trade. Well done, sir.

Today's session of the floating book shop was curtailed by rain. My thanks to Alan, who purchased Joel Rosenberg's The Last Jihad. I'm now half way through the proofing of my rock n roll epic, Rising Star, which I intend to self-publish in early winter. So far I've found 19 errors, such as a missing quotation mark or using "where" instead of "we're." I'm happy to find them but worry that I'm missing others. I want the final product to be as professional as possible, indistinguishable from a work issued by the biggest publishing houses. I suppose I should hire an editor, but pride and the expense won't let me. 

Vic'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://tiny.cc/rP7o9

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/