The Writer's Life 1/9 - Serious Men

Every now and then a person comes along whose accomplishments are so positive and staggering it makes the rest of us look tiny. An article at Yahoo Sports profiles Nate Boyer, who in 2004, inspired by a piece in a magazine, paid his own way to Africa, where he talked his way onto a U.N. flight headed for the Darfur region of Sudan, where mayhem was underway. There he went to work for Catholic Relief Services. Upon his return home he joined Special Forces, earning a Green Beret, one of eleven in the class of 150 to do so. He then served in Iraq. After his tour, 27, he enrolled at the University of Texas and tried out for its legendary football team, although he didn't even play high school football. He taught himself to be a long-snapper on punts and extra points, earning a scholarship. During the summer those years, he served in Afghanistan in the Special forces branch of the National Guard. He has graduated with a Bachelor's in Kinesiology and a Master's in Advertising. He now wants to try out for the NFL in the same role he played for the Longhorns, despite the fact that he is small by pro standards, 5'11, 198 pounds. If I were a GM I'd certainly give him a look. Here's a picture of this remarkable young man:

In a similar vein, Sean Hannity just introduced a radio guest, running down his impressive resume`. "Is there anything you haven't done?" said Hannity. Without missing a beat, the guy said: "I've never been a liberal." The guy should have his own show.

 In his op-ed piece in today's NY Post, George Will tackles the subject of climate change, as he does occasionally. He cites two new books: The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century by William Rosen, and Global Crisis: War, Climate Change & Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century by Geoffrey Parker. It's the type of stuff serious men read, unlike a certain writer who reads fiction almost exclusively. The most interesting aspect of the article is that, in the past, periods of warming have been a boon to mankind, chiefly in their friendliness to agriculture, while periods of cooling have led to disaster. Of course, these things may not hold true in the modern world. Will, a conservative, refers to changes in climate, as I've come to, as "weather." There have been times when I've almost been convinced by the alarmists. I regret having once used the phrase "the argument has been settled." The weather is constantly changing. Are severe events caused by man's use of fossil fuels? I doubt it. I became skeptical when many climatologists substituted "climate change" for "global warming" when evidence of warming dried up. And, in the hands of ruthless politicians, climate alarmism is cover for policies designed to redistribute wealth.

While modern books are printed in a more friendly style to the reader, I am often aghast at the wasted space in them. This hit home the past two days as I've completed the latest proofing of my rock n roll epic, Rising Star. Using the Create Space custom template, the file came to a whopping 950 pages in twelve point font, 750 in ten point. I sent an email asking if eliminating the double spacing between paragraphs would disrupt the entire template. I'm awaiting a response before proceeding. It will be a pain in the butt to do, but I wouldn't be surprised if the size would decrease almost by half.  

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/