The Writer's Life 2/7 - Misadventure

Norway, a cinematographer's paradise, is producing good films. Last night I watched Ragnarok (2013), a blend of several genres but essentially a monster movie. The story is simple. An archaeologist, single dad, in search of Viking artifacts takes his two children with on an expedition in a remote corner of that gorgeous country, near a border shared with Russia, called "No Man's Land" during the cold war. It is reminiscent of old horror fare in that there is a leisurely pace for the first half hour and that the monster is not seen until mid way. The most surprising and refreshing aspect is the complete lack of gore. It concentrates on thrills and suspense. I enjoyed it, although it seems unlikely such a loving father would drag kids on such a trip and allow them to roam the woods without supervision, although I realize he would not have any idea of what was out there. Contributors at IMDb were harsh, especially to the actors and the script. Overall, 30 users forged to a consensus of six out of ten. On a scale of five, I say three, and that despite how I irked I was at having to search for subtitles that should have been automatic. I've watched more than a thousand flicks and TV shows on DVD, and that was the first time that ever happened.

Yesterday I downloaded Microsoft Word in order to create a solid Kindle version of my rock n roll epic, Rising Star. Unfortunately, a whole bunch of unwanted stuff came with it. I thought I'd blocked all of it, but when I turned on my PC this morning my usual page had been usurped by diabolical websites. I used an old method I learned years ago at work to find my way to help: Control, Alternate, Delete. I uninstalled about ten items from my control panel. Eventually, I found Microsoft Security Essentials and ran a virus scan, which came up empty. Fortunately, my machine has returned to near normal. I am inundated with ads at certain sites like Amazon and IMDb. This one is secure, as was Facebook this morning. It remains to be seen if this is the beginning of the end for my Dell Inspiron, which I love. It's at least five years old and has gotten plenty of use, accumulated a lot of web debris.

Since my back was aching and there were flurries in the air and the state of my computer was haunting me, I took a quick spin to Bay Parkway, found no favorable parking spots, and headed home. On the way, I decided I'd set up shop at my usual nook, since I've hardly been there lately because of the weather. I just missed out on a great parking spot, and settled on one across Avenue Z, about 100 yards from my nook. I fought off the temptation to go right to the apartment. It wasn't that cold and there wasn't a breath of wind. It was the right move. As I was setting up, Madeline approached. She'd just filled her shopping cart with about 20 Russian books, which I haven't had for a while, that were in a box outside the library. I wound up selling five. And Herbie bought the third proof copy of Rising Star. And another woman brought me a bag filled with books, English and Russian. It was easily my best business day of the month.

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://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/