The Writer's Life 5/17

Here's the latest review of Killing at Amazon, posted by a friend: "Lead character Dante's lot in life during the course of this novel leads him (and the reader) to experience a gamut of emotions: anguish, uncertainty, suspicion, despair, indifference - and rage, to cite a few. These are triggered by family dynamics, which include a son off to fight for his country and the stench of suspected spousal infidelity. Once again, author Vic Fortezza's character depiction is so in-depth that the reader is fairly forced to deal in his own mind with the thought-provoking issues with which the protagonist is faced. We've found this to be the case in several of the author's works, and here we found once again that from literary experience we can discern much regarding our own outlook, hopes and fears - if we are so adeptly led to confront them."

Thanks, Bags.

RIP Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, 63, winner of five Grammys. My favorite track of hers was the hard pop She Works Hard for the Money, which was accompanied by a wonderful video that was refreshingly free of lip-synching, if I recall correctly. I remember arguing with a friend at work who was convinced the ugly, vicious rumor that Summer was transgender was true, despite the fact that she was the mother of three. He also believed the one about the late Teddy Pendergrass, which was so base I will not repeat it here. Some people....

Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, took a lot of heat when it was reported that he was moving to Singapore to avoid U.S. taxes. I just read he is saving 67 million by doing so. I don't blame him. I wonder how many people will be leaving California now that the state is even further in the billions in debt, and taxes are going to be raised. The biggest criminals are in politics. The Facebook IPO looks like it will come in at $38 per share. To buy or not to buy, that is the question, to paraphrase the bard. I've missed out on the stocks of several companies whose products I love (Google, Snapple, Netflix). Dare I let this opportunity pass? Would it really hurt to risk $3800 of the money in my retirement account on 100 shares? Should I wait for the price to come off a bit? Suppose it doesn't? Decisions, decisions....

I thank whoever purchased A Hitch in Twilight at B&N, my first Nook sale, and also to the kind folks who bought books today at the floating book shop.

Read Vic's stories, free: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/