Lynn L. Clark's Blog: Writing in Retirement, page 5

Summer Arts Events

It's now the season for various arts festivals and fairs across the country.

After a long winter indoors, these annual events provide an opportunity for communities to come together and support their local economy. They also allow the arts community to interact with the public, and to share stories and learn from fellow authors and artists.

Such activities range from art on the waterfront, puppetry, local winery and art tours, garden and jazz events, and dairy, turkey, bluegrass, and other festivities, as well as events linked to Canada's 150th anniversary on July 1.

Please check your local newspapers for events near you. You'll probably be surprised at the number of budding artists in your midst!

A Thought-Provoking Essay

I came across a thought-provoking essay, recommended by a fellow author, on the merits of librarians remaining neutral in the 21st century. It is written by Stacie Williams, a black librarian who points out that according to a 2013 study by the American Library Association, 88.2 per cent of librarians are white.

The author details the various slights she has faced over the years: the fact that if she and a white librarian were at a reference desk at the same time, the majority of patrons would automatically choose the latter to request information. (This made me think of my not-so-distant past when, as a government employee working an information counter, I watched the public automatically gravitate to my male counterparts, assuming they were more knowledgeable.)

The author questions whether neutrality can remain a defensible position:

The problem with neutrality in libraries, which purports to have a mission of giving accurate, relevant information, is that it assumes a false equivalency of viewpoints. If, as a patron or peer, you assume that I’m unable to help you—that I’m not smart enough or friendly enough—simply based on the color of my skin, neutrality suggests that I should not challenge that, and forces me to agree that my personhood is something up for debate. It makes me invisible in a space where I should be very visible and where I have authority. . . .

For the full text of the article, please see http://lithub.com/librarians-in-the-2....

Mystery Week on Goodreads

It's Mystery Week on Goodreads so I'll take this opportunity to mention that Burn Country, the second novel in the March and Walker series by Michael J. McCann, is now available in e-book and paperback format. The first novel in this series was one of the finalists for the 2015 Hammett Prize for best North American crime novel.

Early reviews of Burn Country are now beginning to appear. A "Vine Voice" reviewer posted on Amazon: "Kevin Walker and Ellie March each go their own way in this case, as part of a larger investigative team. The interplay between the various characters feels genuine, with dialogue and exchanges that give us a good sense of each of them as well as their relationships with each other. Michael McCann's immense research shows in the realism of the police work."

A reader in Florida posted on Amazon as well that "[a]fter reading this book, I am going to go back and find the first book in this series [Sorrow Lake], as I found the characters and story refreshing, true-to-life and interesting."

You can read both of these five-star reviews at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XQPLB45/.

As well, a reviewer posted on Kobo: "Another thoroughly enjoyable police procedural mystery by Michael McCann. What can I say? I'm completely hooked with these books."

Read the complete review here: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/burn...

More reviews will be coming soon, including those that will be part of an upcoming Tribute Books blog tour in June.

Also there's a Goodreads giveaway of Burn Country currently running for free paperback copies of the novel.

A reminder: if you read Burn Country and enjoy it, please feel free to post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing, or any other such site. It's greatly appreciated!

A Fast Response to a Potential Tragedy

CNN reports that Ryan Ciampoli, an off-duty volunteer firefighter rescued a four-year-old girl who fell from the back door of a bus. Here's a partial excerpt from Ciampoli's interview with CNN:

It was just unbelievable. . . . One minute I’m just driving down the road, and the next minute I see a little girl swing over the door on this church bus and fall to the highway. It was heartbreaking, but instantly I used my EMS training and firefighter training and assessed the scene as best I could. I realized that it wasn’t a good place for her laying there. Typically, in EMS, we’re not supposed to move the patient unless they’re in a pretty dangerous situation. And because she was on the state highway there in Harrison, Arkansas, it was grounds to get her out of there. . . . [A]s soon as I ran over to her and approached her, she was unconscious at first. But then she started to move her arm and kind of look up at me, and so I picked her up as carefully as I could and held her in my arms and . . . assessed her little body to see what kind of damages had been done by her fall. . . .

Amazingly, the little girl suffered only a broken jaw for which she will have surgery.

Ciampoli hopes this incident will inspire people to take first aid and CPR training so they can help out in such an emergency.

To view a video of the interview, please see http://www.nbc12.com/story/35222278/r....

Is There Any Sanity Left in America?

At the time I am writing this, Trump and his minions are threatening war on North Korea; a "mother of all bombs" has been dropped on Afghanistan and an Ohio sheriff has suggested that the US drop one on Mexico next to eliminate drug cartels; Jeff Sessions is arguing that the separation of church and state is unconstitutional; an opponent of paid leave and equal pay has just been put in charge of women's issues; and Jeffrey Lord, a Trump mouthpiece on CNN, is claiming that Trump is the new Martin Luther King Jr. for threatening to withhold payments to insurance companies to kill Obamacare (and probably most of its patients). Meanwhile, anyone who opposes Trump is a paid agitator, and Trump supporters are talking about arming themselves to shoot Liberals. The mainstream news is "fake news" while alt-right outlets provide the only form of "truth" for Trump.

Here are the links below. ( I've included Fox News because Trump doesn't normally consider it to be fake):

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/polit...

http://thehill.com/latino/328919-ohio...

http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/1...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/s...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2...

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/cnn-commenta...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tax-da...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/...

INNER GHOSTS

This is a reprint of my blog post on Behind the Walls of Nightmare:

Behind the Walls of Nightmare is pleased to announce the Kickstarter campaign for the film INNER GHOSTS, which was selected to the Work in Progress section of the 2016 Frontieres Co-Production Market at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Here's the synopsis, production details, and information on why a Kickstarter campaign was chosen.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

HELEN is a brain researcher trying to develop a revolutionary therapy to treat degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. To prove her theories, she needs to run cognitive tests on ghosts: beings who apparently can act and remember without the need of a physical brain suggesting that unresponsive patients whose brains are too damaged to function can be accessed, somehow through their living souls. After the death of her mentor, Helen finds an apartment inhabited by benign ghosts who agree to be tested. The problem is Helen renounced her gift 15 years ago after the loss of her daughter when she made a vow never to contact the other side again. Things change when an artist called ELSA begs Helen for some spiritual training hoping to get rid of a demon who has been haunting her for many years. Helen reluctantly accepts it unaware of the demon's true goal: finding her. Helen’s tests with the ghosts are a success. The entities offer her the design of a device that can communicate with the dead (and possibly living patients), triggering a set of events that will bring Helen face to face with the demon she has known all along. After so many years, two enemies are about to meet for the last time, showing us that revenge is a dish that’s still boiling hot.

Oh, but there’s so much more happening!

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Title: INNER GHOSTS
Producing Countries: PORTUGAL / BRAZIL
Genre: SUPERNATURAL HORROR / DRAMA
Length: 90 MINUTES
Language: ENGLISH
Locations: LISBON / CASCAIS
Cast: CELIA WILLIAMS, ELIZABETH BOCHMANN
IRIS CAYATTE, NORMAN MACCALLUM, AMANDA BOOTH
ANA SOFIA LEITE, PATRÍCIA GODINHO, JOÃO BLÜMEL
Director of Photography: MIGUEL SALES LOPES A.I.P.
Digital VFX: ANIBRAIN (INDIA)
Written by PAULO LEITE
Produced by PAULO LEITE and GABRIEL AUGUSTO
Directed by JOÃO ALVES

PICTURE SPECS
Shot with: RED DRAGON 5K RAW
Lenses: ARRI / ZEISS
ULTRA PRIME
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

© 2017 BAD BEHAVIOR ONE LDA

WHY A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN?

We wrote, developed and produced INNER GHOSTS because we love horror and we love the people who love horror films. Film is an expensive medium. It is much less expensive than it was 20 years ago, but still quite expensive if you really want to do it right. We are now in sound post and from the development until now, we were able to make every euro count. We took the project as far as we could go with what we had. Now we are thrilled to bring the project to the best community in the world: horror fans! You are the reason why we are doing all this, and Kickstarter has some of the best horror fans in the world! That’s why we are asking for your support. That’s why we are opening our film and ourselves to you.

Sound matters! The film turned out too good. We need a sound post that will do it justice. We will need real music. Real ADR. Real foley. Real sound mix. Real deliverables. So you will get not just the best horror story, you will experience the best film. We want you to experience INNER GHOSTS as true horror fans should!

Our Kickstarter campaign starts in April. Please check out the amazing rewards you can receive by supporting us. http://innerghosts.launchrock.com/.

In next week's post, Behind the Walls of Nightmare will look at the production crew, cast, and intended audience of INNER GHOSTS.

Burn Country by Michael J. McCann

I normally use my Goodreads blog post to talk about my own writing in retirement or topics of general interest relating to books. Today, I'd like to put on my other hat as publicist and editor for The Plaid Raccoon Press to announce the publication of Burn Country by Michael J. McCann. This is the second novel in the new March and Walker series featuring Ellie March and Kevin Walker of the Ontario Provincial Police. It is the sequel to Sorrow Lake, which was a finalist for the 2015 Hammett Prize for best North American crime novel.

You can read an excerpt from the book at https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Country-M....

Please stay tuned for a Goodreads giveaway of print copies. In the meantime, if you'd like to request an electronic copy (pdf, mobi or e-pub) for review purposes, please send an e-mail to theplaidraccoonpress@mjmccann.com with "Review Copy Requested" in the subject line and indicate the format you would prefer.

Learning How Not to Be a Victim of Fraud

Just a reminder that fraud activity is very high now that it is tax season. The following is a message from the RCMP Financial Crime Unit:

The RCMP would like to remind the public to be cognizant of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam. Although the RCMP has seen a significant decrease in the amount of losses following a large number of arrests conducted by authorities in India, the fraud continues. In addition to the fraudsters’ threats of arrest, deportation, assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, bombings, and murder, the fraudsters now appear to be reaching out to previous victims with a promise of a “refund" on their original losses. They then follow-up with the victim via email and/or a phone call explaining that if the victim agrees to make an “administrative payment” of 5% of their original loss, they will get their money back.

To counter this fraud, the RCMP has created a new two stage public awareness campaign:

STAGE 1: Starting with this public service announcement, we are requesting that everyone in Canada share this message with their family and friends through word of mouth, email, and all forms of social media. ONLY if we are able to bring this to the attention of all Canadians, will we be successful in stopping this scam. We are challenging every Canadian to share this message. We are challenging Canadians to bring this to the attention of Canadian celebrities and challenge them to use their unique position, to assist us in stopping further victimization. That next victim could be your family member or friend. Please help us to crush this scam.

STAGE 2: A few days after the aforementioned public service announcement is released, we will be emailing thousands of victims and complainants that have been identified by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Every person receiving these emails will be blind carbon copied to ensure that privacy is maintained. We are attempting to strategically engage those who have previously had direct contact with these fraudsters, especially those who have lost money. Through this process we hope to prevent further victimization and expand the reach of our message.

Please join in the discussion and help to crush the CRA scam. #CrushTheCRAscam #CombattezLaFraudeARC.

If you suspect that you may be a target of fraud, or if you have already sent funds, don't be embarrassed -- you're not alone. If you want to report a fraud, or if you need more information, contact the Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre:

Toll Free
1-888-495-8501

Hours of operation
Monday-Friday
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time

Online - Fraud can now be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre through a new, easy to use Fraud Reporting System (FRS). Please see http://www.antifraudcentre-centreanti....

Fraud isn't confined to Canada, of course. If you're reading this from another country, please check your local government listings on how to report fraud.

Time to Check-in Again

Oops! I see it's been a month since my last post so it's time to fill you in on what I've been reading.

I read a lot of books in January and February. Most of them had "girl, "woman," "mother/son/daughter," or "neighbor" in the title--the current path to becoming a bestseller--and were billed as thrillers with plot twists--the other path to becoming a bestseller. (I also think the word "thriller" doesn't have much meaning any more.) Most of them were poorly written and not worth reading, despite being on bestseller lists.

The ones that I started and never finished because of poor character development and/or the slow movement of the plot include Tom Bale's See How They Run and All Fall Down; Kathryn Croft's The Girl with No Past; and Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10. My award for the book with the most ridiculous plot twist goes to Between You and Me by Lisa Hall. (I really wish contemporary authors would end their fixation with Gone Girl.)

Since I'm griping, I'd also like to add that I wish best-selling authors who are already worth millions would not try to make additional $$$ by publishing lame short stories as e-books (Dean Koontz's "The Neighbor" comes to mind).

On the plus side, I read three of Terry Shames's novels with her protagonist Samuel Craddock and really enjoyed them. If you're looking for a new mystery/crime fiction series, I don't think you can go wrong here. These are not thrillers, by the way. Craddock--as past and present sheriff--investigates small-town crimes, but he is an extremely engaging character. If you enjoy the Longmire books by Craig Johnson, you'll enjoy the Samuel Craddock series .Terry Shames

If you're interested in British detective fiction, you might like to look at Angela Marsons's series with DI Kim Stone, a flawed, yet sympathetic character. Be warned, however, that her fiction tends to be dark, and the crimes are not for the squeamish. Angela Marsons

If you have found some interesting crime fiction series, I'd love to hear from you. It's always great to look forward to new books to read.

The Continuing Saga. . .

After Donald Trump "won" the American election, I promised not to put myself through the grief of

(a) following any news of his presidency;
(b) trying to understand how Americans could devise their country's own destruction; and/or
(c) writing/talking about Trump.

In my own defence, I must point out that unless you've joined Cher on Jupiter, it's pretty hard to avoid news of The Donald. As a Canadian, most of the current news is Trump-related, and Canada-wide protests have been organized against his recent moves on blocking refugees/immigrants to the United States.

Before Trump sends the military into Mexico or nukes Australia, there are some promising signs for Americans who are still sane and don't subscribe to a Kellyanne Conway alternative theory of facts. For example, 40 per cent of Americans are ready to impeach Trump after only two weeks of his presidency. (It took Nixon several months after the Watergate scandal broke to reach this level.)

If you'd like to read the relevant article, please see http://shareblue.com/support-for-impe....