Kenneth Atchity's Blog, page 21
March 6, 2024
Guest Post: Packing, ownership and the magic of memories by Dave Davis
My mother used to joke that my wife and I moved whenever the ashtrays were full.
I could. It was like a scene out of Poe’s "The Telltale Heart." The ringing seemed to come from a pile of boxes stashed at the front door of our place in Washington, D.C. Sure enough, we’d packed our phone, a cordless job we’d bought for one of our temporary, home-away-from-home places.
It wasn’t the first time I messed up while packing. Last month, closing our place in Florida for the very last time, I almost packed my wife.
We have, you see, moved a lot.
My mother used to joke that my wife and I moved whenever the ashtrays were full, though we never really smoked. I counted the number of places we’ve lived in once: near as I can remember, there were 20, a very big number for one couple (though an old couple, I grant you that).
There were eight apartments and houses here in southern Ontario, and another dozen places we’ve rented or owned, all the way from summer cottages in Muskoka to apartments in Washington, Melbourne, Dubai and — the last one — Florida. I apologize if you hear the sound of jet-setting as you read this. We’re far from jet-setters: none of them were million-dollar deals. In fact, we’re more like camel-less nomads. Driving back home from Florida for example, we looked like the Clampetts, those Beverly Hillbillies who travelled from the Ozarks (I think) to Hollywood.
The joke about smoking may have been made up, but the packing and moving has certainly been true. So were the vacations, the jobs and the experiences of living in different places; we are one lucky couple.
Leaving those homes, even temporary ones, have made the packing-up phenomenon a well-practised activity. Crossing the border in Detroit, I worried that the agent would impound our car: “What the heck do you have in there?” she might say. I even rehearsed a story to cover the zillion little boxes, clothes and souvenirs from the Sunshine State. Instead, she took one look, smiled at us pityingly like we were her elderly grandparents, and waved us through.
That last packing-up was in early December, after deciding it was about time we sold the winter property and keep all our socks and stuff in one place. The decision, tough as it was, was made a little easier by COVID-19 and its closed border/no travel thing, and a hurricane named Ian (such a pleasant name; what a terrible storm). In a word, Ian wrecked our island, though not, thankfully, our apartment. We were sad to leave it; the packing was the essence of bittersweet.
There’s a lot more to a place than what you can pack in boxes, though.
Along with all the other places, the Florida apartment held memories of our life, our kids and grandkids. Here’s a sample: the first time one of our grandsons discovered he could read by himself; the day I showed the other one how to put a worm on a hook (my last remaining clinical skill); the time dolphins chased our boat all the way down Estero Bay.
Thinking of vacation places brought memories of our own kids, too. The cottage that let little people like ours write on the kitchen cupboards (great in someone else’s cottage, a hard habit to break at home). The skinny-dipping night when our two were very young (us too!). The seven-year-old taking her brother’s hand and walking across four lanes of traffic to get an ice cream cone. The eighteen-month-old who decided she’d take a swim — on her own, thanks very much — across Wellfleet Harbor.
As we packed up our winter apartment for the last time, it dawned on me that we never really own places. Or, if we do, the ownership is temporary and far less important than the memories they hold. In that sense then, the Florida apartment (and all the others) are still ours, maybe in reminiscence and boxes, but, believe me, still ours. Just maybe, you know, lets not tell the new owners.
Dave Davis is a retired family doctor and writer. His novels have won international awards. Visit Amazon or drdavedavis.com.
There’s a lot more to a place than what you can pack in boxes. Along with all the other places, the Florida apartment held memories of our life, our kids and grandkids, Dave Davis writes.
Kurhan Dreamstime photoTwitterLinkedInEmailPrintCopy article linkSave“Listen. Can you hear it?” she asked.I could. It was like a scene out of Poe’s "The Telltale Heart." The ringing seemed to come from a pile of boxes stashed at the front door of our place in Washington, D.C. Sure enough, we’d packed our phone, a cordless job we’d bought for one of our temporary, home-away-from-home places.
It wasn’t the first time I messed up while packing. Last month, closing our place in Florida for the very last time, I almost packed my wife.
We have, you see, moved a lot.
My mother used to joke that my wife and I moved whenever the ashtrays were full, though we never really smoked. I counted the number of places we’ve lived in once: near as I can remember, there were 20, a very big number for one couple (though an old couple, I grant you that).
There were eight apartments and houses here in southern Ontario, and another dozen places we’ve rented or owned, all the way from summer cottages in Muskoka to apartments in Washington, Melbourne, Dubai and — the last one — Florida. I apologize if you hear the sound of jet-setting as you read this. We’re far from jet-setters: none of them were million-dollar deals. In fact, we’re more like camel-less nomads. Driving back home from Florida for example, we looked like the Clampetts, those Beverly Hillbillies who travelled from the Ozarks (I think) to Hollywood.
The joke about smoking may have been made up, but the packing and moving has certainly been true. So were the vacations, the jobs and the experiences of living in different places; we are one lucky couple.
Leaving those homes, even temporary ones, have made the packing-up phenomenon a well-practised activity. Crossing the border in Detroit, I worried that the agent would impound our car: “What the heck do you have in there?” she might say. I even rehearsed a story to cover the zillion little boxes, clothes and souvenirs from the Sunshine State. Instead, she took one look, smiled at us pityingly like we were her elderly grandparents, and waved us through.
That last packing-up was in early December, after deciding it was about time we sold the winter property and keep all our socks and stuff in one place. The decision, tough as it was, was made a little easier by COVID-19 and its closed border/no travel thing, and a hurricane named Ian (such a pleasant name; what a terrible storm). In a word, Ian wrecked our island, though not, thankfully, our apartment. We were sad to leave it; the packing was the essence of bittersweet.
There’s a lot more to a place than what you can pack in boxes, though.
Along with all the other places, the Florida apartment held memories of our life, our kids and grandkids. Here’s a sample: the first time one of our grandsons discovered he could read by himself; the day I showed the other one how to put a worm on a hook (my last remaining clinical skill); the time dolphins chased our boat all the way down Estero Bay.
Thinking of vacation places brought memories of our own kids, too. The cottage that let little people like ours write on the kitchen cupboards (great in someone else’s cottage, a hard habit to break at home). The skinny-dipping night when our two were very young (us too!). The seven-year-old taking her brother’s hand and walking across four lanes of traffic to get an ice cream cone. The eighteen-month-old who decided she’d take a swim — on her own, thanks very much — across Wellfleet Harbor.
As we packed up our winter apartment for the last time, it dawned on me that we never really own places. Or, if we do, the ownership is temporary and far less important than the memories they hold. In that sense then, the Florida apartment (and all the others) are still ours, maybe in reminiscence and boxes, but, believe me, still ours. Just maybe, you know, lets not tell the new owners.
Dave Davis is a retired family doctor and writer. His novels have won international awards. Visit Amazon or drdavedavis.com.
February 28, 2024
How To Be Productive: Understanding Time, Work and Creativity by Dr. Ken Atchity
Film Courage: One of your many books Ken is WRITE TIME? And in the forward you say that the world can be divided into two people, productive people and non-productive people. And you say that productive people have a love affair with time. I’ve love to know what makes someone on the right side of time and what make someone where time is their enemy?
Dr. Ken Atchity, Author/Producer: Well that’s a very good question put in a very intelligent way that makes it hard to get a handle on it because time is…time doesn’t really exist. Time is a human construct, we created time. Squirrels and chipmunks don’t have much idea of time. They know that the sun rises and the sun goes down and they know that it rains but they don’t think the way that we do and they don’t keep track of their birthdays for example, only humans do that. And it’s unfortunate because you’re only as old as you think you are. And that’s the way a squirrel looks at it and nobody is arguing with the squirrel about it but humans know better.
Some people look at time as the enemy and some people look at it as a friend. There is an old Spanish saying that is “There is more time than life,” which I always thought was a wonderful way of looking at it because that is what a productive person would say “there is more time than life.” And another Spanish or Italian saying says that “Life is short, but wide.” And that’s another way of productively looking at it. Like people say “How can you do as much stuff as you do?” Well that’s because that’s what I do. I don’t do anything else. And I used to give classes on time management and do a lot of studies on it, in fact WRITE TIME is filled with time management theories. And one of the things I noticed about people was they had no idea where their time went. And they go “I don’t know where you find all the time.” And I would say “I don’t know where you lose it.”
I mean we all have the same amount of time and they go “How much time do we have by the way? How much time is in a week?” And 2 out of 10 people can ask the question right off the top of their heads because they’ve never really multiplied 25 by 7 and realized exactly how many hours there are in a week.
Everybody has the same amount of time. So what I would do in a time management class at UCLA or elsewhere is I would say let’s chart your time this week. I just want you to make a chart of what you do with your time and let’s come in and talk about it next week when we come back together. And they would come back in and that was before I asked them how many hours there were in a week I would wait for the third week to ask that question.
And some people would come in with 98-hour weeks and some people would come in with 62-hour weeks and nobody seem to agree in general how many hours there were in a week because the hours they gave me didn’t add up, they didn’t make sense. They’d say “I sleep six hours a day.” But it turned out in the third week of analysis that instead of 6 hours a day they were actually sleeping 10 hours. They just were telling themselves they were sleeping 6 hours a day.
How much time do you spend talking on the telephone? Most people thought they maybe spent 15 minutes a day, when in fact it might be an hour a day. And watching television (of course). Some people said they were only watching an hour a day when they were actually watching three hours a day.
But a productive person knows exactly how long it takes to do something. Like when I write a screenplay or a book, I can tell you how many hours it takes to do it and so I know that I can get it done in a certain amount of time. Agatha Christie apparently wrote as many as 10 books a year. She had to use four or five pen names because she just kept writing. When you think about it writing is a function of how fast you type. Because I always say (in my writing book including that one) if you’re making a rule not to sit down to write if you don’t know what you’re going to write then you’ll never waste any time and you’ll never have writer’s block. So simply don’t sit down until you know what you’re going to write. It’s just a matter of how fast can you type. So it’s better to be walking along the beach thinking about the structure of your story then it is to be wasting a lot of time sitting in front of the computer typing stuff and throwing it away and all that stuff. Just figure it all out in your head. “Well what if I forget it?” Well guess what? If you forget it that’s probably good. You are forgetting forgettable things? You won’t forget it when it starts getting really good. Because then it will do what Faulkner said, it will start haunting you and you won’t be able to forget it and then you’ll just write it down.
William Saroyan was asked once how long it took him to write the Human Comedy because somebody had told the journalist it had took him three days and he said “No, it took me all my life to write it. It just took me a few days to type it out.”…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
February 22, 2024
Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia has vowed to continue his work to fight for a "free Russia"
Her voice sometimes shaking with grief and anger, Ms Navalnaya asked viewers to stand alongside her and "share the fury and hate for those who dared to kill our future".
She also accused the authorities of hiding her husband's body.
Navalny's death in prison was announced on 16 February.
The prison authorities at the Siberian penal colony he was being held in said he collapsed following a walk and never regained consciousness.
Navalny's body has not yet been released to his family, despite his mother and lawyer travelling to the remote penal colony where he was being held as soon as news of his death broke.
Attempts to locate the body have repeatedly been shut down by the prison mortuary and local authorities.
On Monday, the Kremlin said an investigation into Navalny's death was ongoing and that there were "no results" as of yet.
Later, Navalny's spokewoman Kira Yarmysh said that investigators told Navalny's mother they would not hand over the body for two weeks while they conduct a "chemical analysis".
In her video message, Ms Navalnaya said she believed the authorities were waiting for traces of the deadly nerve agent Novichok to disappear from Navalny's body.
Navalny, who was the Russian opposition's most significant leader for the last decade, had been serving a 19-year sentence on charges many viewed as politically motivated.
Now, Ms Navalnaya - who previously mostly shied away from the spotlight - indicated she might be ready to continue her husband's political fight for change in Russia.
"Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children. Putin took away the most important thing I had. The person who was closest to me and whom I loved most," she said in her video message.
She promised to "continue to fight for our country" and added: "We need to use every opportunity - to fight against the war, against corruption, against injustice. To fight for fair elections and freedom of speech. To fight to take our country back. Russia - free, peaceful, happy - the beautiful Russia of the future, of which my husband dreamed so much."
In the video, Ms Navalnaya also said she knew "exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago" and promised to release the information "soon".
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERSImage caption,Makeshift memorials to Alexei Navalny have appeared across Europe
Western leaders have put the blame for Navalny's death squarely on President Putin.
Responding to questions from reporters on Monday, President Joe Biden said: "The fact of the matter is: Putin is responsible, whether he ordered it or he is responsible for the circumstances he put that man in. And... it's a reflection of who he is. And it just cannot be tolerated."
During a press conference on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he believed her husband "was slowly murdered in a Russian jail by Putin's regime".
Both the EU and the US have said they are considering new sanctions on Russia following Navalny's death.
Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway and France said they were summoning the Russian ambassadors in their capitals.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said comments by Western politicians in regards to Navalny's death were "arrogant" and "unacceptable".
Russian prison authorities said at the weekend that Navalny had suffered "sudden death syndrome".
Hundreds of people in more than 30 cities across Russia were detained at the weekend for attending makeshift memorials to Navalny.
In Moscow, 20 people were sentenced to various amounts of prison time - ranging from one day to nine days - and two people were fined 10,000 rubles (£85). n.
via BBC
February 19, 2024
Story Merchant Books -E-Deal! $.99 Today on Amazon!
A Write Time: Guide to the Creative Process, from Vision through Revision—and Beyond
In this foundational guide to the writer’s mind and productivity used by thousands of writers worldwide since its original publication...called by the New York Times "the best...book on writing," Dr. Atchity shows how the detailed steps of the creative process interface with the writer’s greatest asset, time, to provide both creative success and peace of mind.
February 16, 2024
Film Courage : Character Development Is About These 3 Things
Professional coaching tips to help you figure out point of view, structure, and master all the elements of story. Learn more www.thewriterslifeline.com
February 14, 2024
A Very Special Interview: Shades of Love and Ken Atchity with Amanda Reyes! Happy Valentine's Day
LISTEN HERE
Made for TV Mayhem Show » podcast
Unearthing great television... one program at a time
This podcast is dedicated to made for television movies and other forms of classic TV! Brought to you by Amanda Reyes (Made for TV Mayhem), Daniel R. Budnik (Bleeding Skull: A 1980s Trash Horror Odyssey), and Nathan Johnson (The Hysteria Continues), plus a few special guests who appear from time to time. With reviews, retrospectives and more, this podcast is your best source for classic television love!
February 12, 2024
Dr. Mother Love chats with Dr. Ken Atchity
Listen to "Dr.Mother Love chats with Dr. Ken Atchity, Author, Professor, Talent Manager" on Spreaker.
Dr. Ken has developed and produced over 30 films, including The Meg (Jason Statham--$560M worldwide; sequel appears August 23, 2023), Life or Something Like It (Angelina Jolie), The Kennedy Detail (Emmy-nominated), The Lost Valentine (Betty White--best CBS movie of the week), and Hysteria (Maggie Gyllenhaal). His interviews on writing, publishing, and Hollywood are collected on his Story Merchant YouTube channel.
Born in Cajun Louisiana, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Rockhurst High School’s Honor Program with an Ignatian Scholarship to study at Georgetown University. While in high school, he published his first book reviews for The Kansas City Star. At Georgetown, Atchity majored in Classics and English and rose to Editor-in-Chief of The Hoya.
He spent his junior summer at Cambridge University in England, studying literature and social institutions, then won the prestigious Vergilian Academy Silver Medal. His correspondence, literary artifacts, and entertainment memorabilia are institutionalized at Georgetown’s Atchity Aguillard Collectionhttps://snaccooperative.org/vocab_adm...
Dr. Atchity’s company, Writer’s Lifeline, Inc., offers several personal 1-on-1 coaching services that cover topics like Dealing with your Creative Mind and Getting Your Story Straight. Respectively, the two services delve into artistic self-improvement and the comprehensive development of a writer’s written project with an eye for a strong structure, characters, and marketability.
“Write Your Own Obituary” was recently added to the offerings.
Dr.Mother Love chats with Dr. Ken Atchity
Listen to "Dr.Mother Love chats with Dr. Ken Atchity, Author, Professor, Talent Manager" on Spreaker.
Dr. Ken has developed and produced over 30 films, including The Meg (Jason Statham--$560M worldwide; sequel appears August 23, 2023), Life or Something Like It (Angelina Jolie), The Kennedy Detail (Emmy-nominated), The Lost Valentine (Betty White--best CBS movie of the week), and Hysteria (Maggie Gyllenhaal). His interviews on writing, publishing, and Hollywood are collected on his Story Merchant YouTube channel.
Born in Cajun Louisiana, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Rockhurst High School’s Honor Program with an Ignatian Scholarship to study at Georgetown University. While in high school, he published his first book reviews for The Kansas City Star. At Georgetown, Atchity majored in Classics and English and rose to Editor-in-Chief of The Hoya.
He spent his junior summer at Cambridge University in England, studying literature and social institutions, then won the prestigious Vergilian Academy Silver Medal. His correspondence, literary artifacts, and entertainment memorabilia are institutionalized at Georgetown’s Atchity Aguillard Collectionhttps://snaccooperative.org/vocab_adm...
Dr. Atchity’s company, Writer’s Lifeline, Inc., offers several personal 1-on-1 coaching services that cover topics like Dealing with your Creative Mind and Getting Your Story Straight. Respectively, the two services delve into artistic self-improvement and the comprehensive development of a writer’s written project with an eye for a strong structure, characters, and marketability.
“Write Your Own Obituary” was recently added to the offerings.
February 7, 2024
Will There Be a Meg 3?
In order for The Meg to be Jason Statham's biggest ongoing franchise, Meg 3 has to happen, with many fans wondering if it is coming. While Meg 3 isn't confirmed yet, it seems like the film will happen, as the box office success of the previous two films means that a third movie is likely to continue this trend. Director Ben Wheatley has commented that there is still a lot to explore in the universe of The Meg, meaning that he is eager to continue the franchise. Meg 2: The Trench is still fairly new, but word on a third The Meg film could come in the near future.
February 5, 2024
Story Merchant Books E-Book Deal FREE February 5 - February 9! Gambino: The Rise: A Novel Based on the True Story by James E. Pierre
James Pierre Talks about the Success of his Novel Gambino: The Rise
Having mybook optioned by a major production company is a dream come true. As a writer,you write for yourself, because you can’t help yourself. The characterschatter endlessly in your mind, begging you to bring their stories to life onthe page. So you do, but almost entirely as a means of quieting the voices. Youhope—but never really think—that others will find your characters as intriguingand engaging as you did. So, when in fact others do, it’s a validating feeling.
Available on Amazon Ken Atchitywas the first person to believe in me and in Carlo Gambino, the main characterin my book, Gambino: The Rise. Before Ken, I felt like I was the onlyperson that was interested in crime boss Carlo Gambino and his organization, theGambino Family. Ken opened my eyes to the fact that the general public might bejust as interested in the Gambinos as I was. And he was right. Years afterpublishing the book with Story Merchant, renown Hollywood producer Julius Nassoexpressed interest in the novel, and here we are today. On the precipice of agreat achievement—and what is every writer’s dream—to see their book turnedinto a movie. I cannot thank Ken and Julius enough for this opportunity. It validates the many years of research—and long hours infront of my keyboard—that went into bringing Gambino and his world to life. Ipray that we see this film project all the way through, so that the world willget to meet and fall in love with Carlo Gambino, just as I did. And to all of the aspiring writers out there: never give up on your characters. Listen to them. Then breathe life into them, on the page. And then find a literary agent who believes in them as much as you do, and chances are, at some point, if you remain patient and committed to the process, your characters and their stories will be introduced to the rest of the world, for everyone to enjoy.
Having mybook optioned by a major production company is a dream come true. As a writer,you write for yourself, because you can’t help yourself. The characterschatter endlessly in your mind, begging you to bring their stories to life onthe page. So you do, but almost entirely as a means of quieting the voices. Youhope—but never really think—that others will find your characters as intriguingand engaging as you did. So, when in fact others do, it’s a validating feeling.
Available on Amazon Ken Atchitywas the first person to believe in me and in Carlo Gambino, the main characterin my book, Gambino: The Rise. Before Ken, I felt like I was the onlyperson that was interested in crime boss Carlo Gambino and his organization, theGambino Family. Ken opened my eyes to the fact that the general public might bejust as interested in the Gambinos as I was. And he was right. Years afterpublishing the book with Story Merchant, renown Hollywood producer Julius Nassoexpressed interest in the novel, and here we are today. On the precipice of agreat achievement—and what is every writer’s dream—to see their book turnedinto a movie. I cannot thank Ken and Julius enough for this opportunity. It validates the many years of research—and long hours infront of my keyboard—that went into bringing Gambino and his world to life. Ipray that we see this film project all the way through, so that the world willget to meet and fall in love with Carlo Gambino, just as I did. And to all of the aspiring writers out there: never give up on your characters. Listen to them. Then breathe life into them, on the page. And then find a literary agent who believes in them as much as you do, and chances are, at some point, if you remain patient and committed to the process, your characters and their stories will be introduced to the rest of the world, for everyone to enjoy.
James E.Pierre
