Jan Notzon's Blog, page 13
February 14, 2025
Flashback Review
5 Stars Magnificent read!!!
What a powerful and realistic story in Only The Dead (Know the End of War) by Jan Notzon. This is the second book of this author that I have read, and I have just become a fan. I want to read more from Notzon. The characters were historically correct, and very real, and full of depth.
This is a time and place that many might not really know about, and this book, though it was a story, it taught me a lot. I love it when I can read something I am enjoying and also learn from it. It's a two for one for me.
Anyway, this story brings the reader back to the early 19th century, when Texas and Mexico both had republics, and seems to be fighting for a separation, as well as survival. Not just of their lives, but their own culture, and against a system that could make or break the expansion of the United States, such that it was.
It was both a heart breaking, and emotion-ally charged story, with perspectives on all sides of the power, and the entrance of a brutal war.
This book deserves a second read! (and maybe more). It is a very well-written plot, and I enjoyed it. It’s one of those embraceable stories. It’s definitely un-put-downable! I read the book as slow as I could, and then I went back to my notes, and the page I marked, spoke to me, so here is something that I feel shows one of the layers of the story.
"Of course, we did it in our own self-interests, but in doing so, we've created wealth that has been invested and spawned other concerns that likewise have provided employment and hope to so many - even those who are perennially excluded from such opportunities. And now, because of the accident of our birth, and simple envy, the country will destroy such promise ..."
Masterfully written! Only The Dead (Know the End of War) is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more books by this author.
What a powerful and realistic story in Only The Dead (Know the End of War) by Jan Notzon. This is the second book of this author that I have read, and I have just become a fan. I want to read more from Notzon. The characters were historically correct, and very real, and full of depth.
This is a time and place that many might not really know about, and this book, though it was a story, it taught me a lot. I love it when I can read something I am enjoying and also learn from it. It's a two for one for me.
Anyway, this story brings the reader back to the early 19th century, when Texas and Mexico both had republics, and seems to be fighting for a separation, as well as survival. Not just of their lives, but their own culture, and against a system that could make or break the expansion of the United States, such that it was.
It was both a heart breaking, and emotion-ally charged story, with perspectives on all sides of the power, and the entrance of a brutal war.
This book deserves a second read! (and maybe more). It is a very well-written plot, and I enjoyed it. It’s one of those embraceable stories. It’s definitely un-put-downable! I read the book as slow as I could, and then I went back to my notes, and the page I marked, spoke to me, so here is something that I feel shows one of the layers of the story.
"Of course, we did it in our own self-interests, but in doing so, we've created wealth that has been invested and spawned other concerns that likewise have provided employment and hope to so many - even those who are perennially excluded from such opportunities. And now, because of the accident of our birth, and simple envy, the country will destroy such promise ..."
Masterfully written! Only The Dead (Know the End of War) is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more books by this author.
February 12, 2025
Looking Legitimate
Though this is looking legitimate, the first time they ask me for money I will hang up.
Dear Jan,
I hope this email finds you well. Kindly see below for the presentation agenda.
Board Meeting Agenda: Book-to-Film Presentation
Date: 14th of February 2025
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Agenda:
Welcome and Introduction (10 minutes)
Opening remarks by the meeting chair or production head.
Introduction of attendees and brief overview of the purpose of the meeting.
Approval of Previous Minutes (5 minutes)
Review and approval of the minutes from the previous board meeting.
Presentation of Book-to-Film Adaptation Proposal (30 minutes)
Cinematic Trailer presentation by the project team.
Overview of the book's synopsis, key themes, and target audience.
Explanation of the potential market opportunities and expected returns.
Discussion of the screenplay development process and key creative decisions.
Financial Analysis and Investment Plan (20 minutes)
Presentation of the financial analysis for the project, including budget projections, expected revenue streams, and potential risks.
Discussion of the investment plan, funding sources, and ROI expectations.
Addressing any questions or concerns from the board members regarding financial aspects.
Marketing and Distribution Strategy (15 minutes)
Presentation of the marketing and distribution strategy for the film.
Overview of the target audience, promotional activities, and potential partnerships.
Discussion on how to leverage the existing book's fanbase to generate awareness and maximize audience reach.
Legal and Rights Considerations (10 minutes)
Brief overview of the legal aspects involved in the book-to-film adaptation.
Discussion of the rights acquisition process and any potential challenges or agreements in place.
Q&A and Discussion (30 minutes)
Open floor for board members to ask questions, seek clarification, and discuss any concerns related to the book-to-film project.
Facilitate a constructive dialogue among the board members and project team.
Next Steps and Decision Making (10 minutes)
Summary of the key points discussed during the meeting.
Decision-making process, including any required voting or approval procedures.
Setting expectations for follow-up actions and timelines.
Closing Remarks (5 minutes)
Final remarks by the meeting chair or production head.
Express gratitude to the attendees for their participation.
Dear Jan,
I hope this email finds you well. Kindly see below for the presentation agenda.
Board Meeting Agenda: Book-to-Film Presentation
Date: 14th of February 2025
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Agenda:
Welcome and Introduction (10 minutes)
Opening remarks by the meeting chair or production head.
Introduction of attendees and brief overview of the purpose of the meeting.
Approval of Previous Minutes (5 minutes)
Review and approval of the minutes from the previous board meeting.
Presentation of Book-to-Film Adaptation Proposal (30 minutes)
Cinematic Trailer presentation by the project team.
Overview of the book's synopsis, key themes, and target audience.
Explanation of the potential market opportunities and expected returns.
Discussion of the screenplay development process and key creative decisions.
Financial Analysis and Investment Plan (20 minutes)
Presentation of the financial analysis for the project, including budget projections, expected revenue streams, and potential risks.
Discussion of the investment plan, funding sources, and ROI expectations.
Addressing any questions or concerns from the board members regarding financial aspects.
Marketing and Distribution Strategy (15 minutes)
Presentation of the marketing and distribution strategy for the film.
Overview of the target audience, promotional activities, and potential partnerships.
Discussion on how to leverage the existing book's fanbase to generate awareness and maximize audience reach.
Legal and Rights Considerations (10 minutes)
Brief overview of the legal aspects involved in the book-to-film adaptation.
Discussion of the rights acquisition process and any potential challenges or agreements in place.
Q&A and Discussion (30 minutes)
Open floor for board members to ask questions, seek clarification, and discuss any concerns related to the book-to-film project.
Facilitate a constructive dialogue among the board members and project team.
Next Steps and Decision Making (10 minutes)
Summary of the key points discussed during the meeting.
Decision-making process, including any required voting or approval procedures.
Setting expectations for follow-up actions and timelines.
Closing Remarks (5 minutes)
Final remarks by the meeting chair or production head.
Express gratitude to the attendees for their participation.
January 13, 2025
"Knock on Any Door"
I saw another "It's Society's Fault" movie out of Hollywood. It's from the '50s and stars Humphrey Bogart (as a good guy!).
It is about a young juvenile delinquent who is turned into a killer by the utterly corrupt and evil American system of justice and society.
It strikes me that this is around the time (the '50s) that "evil America" began in movies (and literature). The odd (and really all-to-predictable) thing is that Hollywood keeps putting them out like a broken record. To wit:
American Beauty: "To be truly happy, what we all need to do is quit our jobs and smoke dope."
Avatar: "How those nasty people who want to make money destroy an ideal pacifist society."
The Last Samurai: "How the corrupt west destroys the ideal Samurai society."
Robot and Frank: "How an art thief is a noble character and 'the insurance companies are the REAL thieves'"
Hell or High Water: "Since all executives are thieves, robbing them is actually a blessed endeavor."
A Face in the Crowd: "Anyone who recommends self-reliance and individual initiative is a liar a fraud and a hypocrite."
The irony is that the people making these movies are some of the richest people in the United States today. And they did it through individual initiative.
It is about a young juvenile delinquent who is turned into a killer by the utterly corrupt and evil American system of justice and society.
It strikes me that this is around the time (the '50s) that "evil America" began in movies (and literature). The odd (and really all-to-predictable) thing is that Hollywood keeps putting them out like a broken record. To wit:
American Beauty: "To be truly happy, what we all need to do is quit our jobs and smoke dope."
Avatar: "How those nasty people who want to make money destroy an ideal pacifist society."
The Last Samurai: "How the corrupt west destroys the ideal Samurai society."
Robot and Frank: "How an art thief is a noble character and 'the insurance companies are the REAL thieves'"
Hell or High Water: "Since all executives are thieves, robbing them is actually a blessed endeavor."
A Face in the Crowd: "Anyone who recommends self-reliance and individual initiative is a liar a fraud and a hypocrite."
The irony is that the people making these movies are some of the richest people in the United States today. And they did it through individual initiative.
January 12, 2025
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
My new novel is now available on Amazon and on IngramSpark. It is entitled "To Sing Like a Mockingbird. The theme is the destructive power not only of cynicism but of idealism as well. It takes place in and around a school/reformatory in south Texas and involves both sides of the drug trade.
Here is a snippet of the advanced review by Amy Shannon:
In Sing Like a Mockingbird, the reader is introduced to various characters, with different lives and lifestyles, but something causes them to share a unique intertwined life, that no one expects.
This author has a grand imagination, and talent for showing the story. There are a lot of mixed themes and mashups of genres, but that's what makes this an enduring and intriguing story.
With loyalty and trust, there comes a price, and sometimes, idealism and dissolutions are what make it interesting. The characters are strong, flawed, and perfectly real. Talk about realism.
This story is amazing! Both thrilling and intriguing, all the way to the end. As quoted in the book, “What is it that we ultimately seek? What drives some to bloody conquest, others to the insatiable pursuit of wealth and still others to a voracious quest for fame or simple notoriety?
Here is a snippet of the advanced review by Amy Shannon:
In Sing Like a Mockingbird, the reader is introduced to various characters, with different lives and lifestyles, but something causes them to share a unique intertwined life, that no one expects.
This author has a grand imagination, and talent for showing the story. There are a lot of mixed themes and mashups of genres, but that's what makes this an enduring and intriguing story.
With loyalty and trust, there comes a price, and sometimes, idealism and dissolutions are what make it interesting. The characters are strong, flawed, and perfectly real. Talk about realism.
This story is amazing! Both thrilling and intriguing, all the way to the end. As quoted in the book, “What is it that we ultimately seek? What drives some to bloody conquest, others to the insatiable pursuit of wealth and still others to a voracious quest for fame or simple notoriety?
January 9, 2025
Financial Fiasco - Johann Norberg
Jan Notzon's review Jan 09, 2025 · edit
it was amazing
If you are at all curious about the cause and results of the bursting of the Housing Bubble and the resultant "Great Recession, I can think of no better source that this book.
My non-economic brain really needs to read it a second time and probably sooner rather than later. I think I comprehend the securitization of mortgages, the perils of "easy money" provided by the federal reserve, the government's obsession with getting people into their own homes (even when they were an execrable credit risk). I understand the privatizing of gain and the socialization of loss by having "Government Sponsored Enterprises" by them up by the trillions with us taxpayers as the fall guys.
I understand how loan originators took inordinate risks. My question would be, would they have done so without various departments of various administrations egging them on with promises of those GSE's buying them up as securities and threats if they don't?
I looked up the definition of "credit default swaps" and could not for the life of me understand the definition itself.
Ah well, more to learn.
it was amazing
If you are at all curious about the cause and results of the bursting of the Housing Bubble and the resultant "Great Recession, I can think of no better source that this book.
My non-economic brain really needs to read it a second time and probably sooner rather than later. I think I comprehend the securitization of mortgages, the perils of "easy money" provided by the federal reserve, the government's obsession with getting people into their own homes (even when they were an execrable credit risk). I understand the privatizing of gain and the socialization of loss by having "Government Sponsored Enterprises" by them up by the trillions with us taxpayers as the fall guys.
I understand how loan originators took inordinate risks. My question would be, would they have done so without various departments of various administrations egging them on with promises of those GSE's buying them up as securities and threats if they don't?
I looked up the definition of "credit default swaps" and could not for the life of me understand the definition itself.
Ah well, more to learn.
January 5, 2025
Writer Beware
I urge all of my fellow writers to consult the website "Writer Beware". It is a general reference concerning the multitude of scum out there (I get two or three offers a week) that are looking to steal your money.
They will impersonate executives from film companies, publishers, et. al., offer all kinds of services and even send you contracts with the official logo of the company. Two of those even looked legitimate to a friend WHO IS A CONTRACT LAWYER!
I would say that if someone contacts you unsolicited that it is perhaps 98% certain that it is a scam.
These people have no ethics and are utterly devoid of any vestige of human decency. Please, be wary. I assume anyone who contacts me without my having made the first gesture IS A SCAM ARTIST!
Even (or maybe especially) those who offer myriad reviews. It has happened to me that the reviews were posted on Amazon and goodreads only to disappear after a week.
Please, be careful.
They will impersonate executives from film companies, publishers, et. al., offer all kinds of services and even send you contracts with the official logo of the company. Two of those even looked legitimate to a friend WHO IS A CONTRACT LAWYER!
I would say that if someone contacts you unsolicited that it is perhaps 98% certain that it is a scam.
These people have no ethics and are utterly devoid of any vestige of human decency. Please, be wary. I assume anyone who contacts me without my having made the first gesture IS A SCAM ARTIST!
Even (or maybe especially) those who offer myriad reviews. It has happened to me that the reviews were posted on Amazon and goodreads only to disappear after a week.
Please, be careful.
December 23, 2024
Babbitt
12121037
Jan Notzon's reviewDec 23, 2024 · edit
liked it
I have to admit to being rather surprised by this novel. After having read "Main Street" by the same author I expected the same supercilious dismissal of the average American that drips with disdain from that novel in "Babbit".
That might have been Lewis's intention, and I have heard people use "Babbit" as an epithet to refer to a greedy, heartless neo-Nazi (i.e. any person who doesn't classify him or herself as a liberal democrat). But (perhaps because those of the latter persuasion might consider me a member of the former), I found George F. Babbit to be, if not the exemplar of human decency, a fairly regular guy: flawed but basically decent.
I wonder if that makes me one of those avaricious unclean Republicans(?).
Jan Notzon's reviewDec 23, 2024 · edit
liked it
I have to admit to being rather surprised by this novel. After having read "Main Street" by the same author I expected the same supercilious dismissal of the average American that drips with disdain from that novel in "Babbit".
That might have been Lewis's intention, and I have heard people use "Babbit" as an epithet to refer to a greedy, heartless neo-Nazi (i.e. any person who doesn't classify him or herself as a liberal democrat). But (perhaps because those of the latter persuasion might consider me a member of the former), I found George F. Babbit to be, if not the exemplar of human decency, a fairly regular guy: flawed but basically decent.
I wonder if that makes me one of those avaricious unclean Republicans(?).
December 19, 2024
Repost
To add to my previous rant on the movie "Hell and High Water", I must also say that these types of movies encourage and foment crime. This is because the point they make is that banks, insurance companies, corporations, businesses of all stipes are all thieves so why shouldn't I steal from them?
This is a repost of a previous blog concerning the dangers of media encouraging hatred of any segment of society and bigoted assumptions about their essential evilness.
On December 4th this year we had a stunning example of what the foment of this kind of bigotry produces: the savage gunning down of Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare, a husband and father of two boys. His brutal assassination was for doing his job in order to support his wife and children. How dare he?
This is a repost of a previous blog concerning the dangers of media encouraging hatred of any segment of society and bigoted assumptions about their essential evilness.
On December 4th this year we had a stunning example of what the foment of this kind of bigotry produces: the savage gunning down of Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare, a husband and father of two boys. His brutal assassination was for doing his job in order to support his wife and children. How dare he?
December 16, 2024
Book Review
Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion
by P.T. Bauer
12121037
Jan Notzon's reviewDec 16, 2024 · edit
really liked it
One of the selling points of this book is that the average reader would be able to comprehend it. While I would say I was able to grasp 80-85% of it, I guess I'll have to accept that I have a distance to go to be an "average" reader.
I'd actually give it 3.5 stars, having found it full of interesting information, but the information presented in a rather dry, academic form. Perhaps the fact that PT Bauer is an English academic goes some distance toward explaining why I found it a bit ponderous.
However, if you have a background in economics, I think you would find this work quite fascinating. I do get his point that foreign aid doesn't actually foster but in fact impedes the development of underdeveloped nations.
I'd never be able to convince my brother of that as he government bureaucrat of the highest order. He is therefore certain that government does all good and private enterprise all evil.
by P.T. Bauer
12121037
Jan Notzon's reviewDec 16, 2024 · edit
really liked it
One of the selling points of this book is that the average reader would be able to comprehend it. While I would say I was able to grasp 80-85% of it, I guess I'll have to accept that I have a distance to go to be an "average" reader.
I'd actually give it 3.5 stars, having found it full of interesting information, but the information presented in a rather dry, academic form. Perhaps the fact that PT Bauer is an English academic goes some distance toward explaining why I found it a bit ponderous.
However, if you have a background in economics, I think you would find this work quite fascinating. I do get his point that foreign aid doesn't actually foster but in fact impedes the development of underdeveloped nations.
I'd never be able to convince my brother of that as he government bureaucrat of the highest order. He is therefore certain that government does all good and private enterprise all evil.
December 8, 2024
Scammed Again?
About two months ago, I signed a contract with someone purporting to be Thomas Rathnow of Penguin/Random House Publishers.
This time, I ran the contract by a lawyer friend whose specialty is contract law. He said the contract was (or appeared to be) legitimate.
I also looked up Thomas Rathnow on the internet. It stated that he was the CEO of Penguin/Random House. (I later found out that he had moved to be head of the foreign language division of the company).
The first contract was for the Spanish version of my novel "The Id Paradox". The contract stated that I had to provide the translation. It ran me thousands of dollars, although the translation was first rate.
Now, the contract states that I would be paid $600K by November 11th.
So far, I have been paid nothing and while Thomas Rathnow was answering my texts promptly and offered another contract for audiobooks of all my novels.
Since November 11th, however, he has ignored my texts. It seems texts are the only means of communication these bigwigs will answer.
My question for any of my friends and followers is: Have I been scammed again?
This time, I ran the contract by a lawyer friend whose specialty is contract law. He said the contract was (or appeared to be) legitimate.
I also looked up Thomas Rathnow on the internet. It stated that he was the CEO of Penguin/Random House. (I later found out that he had moved to be head of the foreign language division of the company).
The first contract was for the Spanish version of my novel "The Id Paradox". The contract stated that I had to provide the translation. It ran me thousands of dollars, although the translation was first rate.
Now, the contract states that I would be paid $600K by November 11th.
So far, I have been paid nothing and while Thomas Rathnow was answering my texts promptly and offered another contract for audiobooks of all my novels.
Since November 11th, however, he has ignored my texts. It seems texts are the only means of communication these bigwigs will answer.
My question for any of my friends and followers is: Have I been scammed again?
