Jan Notzon's Blog, page 17
October 22, 2023
Astounded and Repulsed
I find it truly repugnant and incomprehensible that there are people actually celebrating the torture, rape and slaughter of women and children, babies and even the unborn.
I can only surmise that to be different, the urge to be "unique", some will say and do any outrageous thing, even the celebration of barbarism.
For the love of God, even if you sympathize with the Palestinians, to support such barbarity is simply unconscionable. To celebrate it is pure evil.
I can only surmise that to be different, the urge to be "unique", some will say and do any outrageous thing, even the celebration of barbarism.
For the love of God, even if you sympathize with the Palestinians, to support such barbarity is simply unconscionable. To celebrate it is pure evil.
October 12, 2023
Audio Book 3
Oh, to have a voice and to be as articulate and authoritative as most of the voice-over talent I hear. I suppose I'm my biggest critic. The engineer laying down my recording thinks I'm doing great. I, of course, hear every hesitation and lack of authority.
Well, I can only hope the engineer is right and I am overly critical. Since people have asked if my books are on audio, I do hope having them so will increase readership.
If not, it's at least been a learning experience.
Well, I can only hope the engineer is right and I am overly critical. Since people have asked if my books are on audio, I do hope having them so will increase readership.
If not, it's at least been a learning experience.
October 6, 2023
Lucky to be too busy?
I was offered a 15 minute radio program discussing writing and publishing, with an emphasis on self-publishing. It could be lucrative but at my advanced age I just don't think I have the energy or time.
I'm presently putting down my sophomore novel And Ye Shall Be As Gods on audio--quite a project requiring energy up the wazoo. I have a literary agent from California who seems legitimate (he hasn't asked me for money up front: a good sign). If anyone knows anything about New Age Literary Agency and Damian Rodriguez, I would sure appreciate a shoutout.
Per his request I wrote a query letter for the novel, which I'll share with you all and invite feedback and thank you in advance for it.
Month/Day/Year
Person
Address
Dear (Name):
I am writing to you because on your website you note that you are particularly interested in stories that deal in family dynamics and are written with passion and insight.
I believe my novel of 85,979 words And Ye Shall Be As Gods is just what you’re looking for. It is the story of Jake Kazmareck, a disillusioned Public Defender obsessed with finding the origin of his beloved sister’s descent into despair and his lost love’s retreat into madness.
Seeking escape, he takes a job as a high-school teacher in the wilds of the South Bronx where he is put in the hospital by his students. There, courtesy of the Holocaust survivor who shares his room, he is exposed to the depths of human depravity.
On his way back to his baby sister and the border town of his youth, he visits his lost love in the insane asylum where she is housed. There he finds a curious connection between the ghouls that haunt his sister and the demons that sent his love into the prison of catatonia.
He finally finds the answer to both mysteries in a most unexpected and harrowing place.
Written with plots and subplots intertwined in compelling intricacy, And Ye Shall Be As Gods has all the passion of Pat Conroy’s Beach Music and the insight of Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful.
Thank you so much for your consideration. I am certain that And Ye Shall Be As Gods will resonate with a wide audience and in its insight and passion is destined to win copious awards. It is a work that I truly believe would make a great contribution to your list.
Sincerely,
Jan Aloysius Notzon
I'm presently putting down my sophomore novel And Ye Shall Be As Gods on audio--quite a project requiring energy up the wazoo. I have a literary agent from California who seems legitimate (he hasn't asked me for money up front: a good sign). If anyone knows anything about New Age Literary Agency and Damian Rodriguez, I would sure appreciate a shoutout.
Per his request I wrote a query letter for the novel, which I'll share with you all and invite feedback and thank you in advance for it.
Month/Day/Year
Person
Address
Dear (Name):
I am writing to you because on your website you note that you are particularly interested in stories that deal in family dynamics and are written with passion and insight.
I believe my novel of 85,979 words And Ye Shall Be As Gods is just what you’re looking for. It is the story of Jake Kazmareck, a disillusioned Public Defender obsessed with finding the origin of his beloved sister’s descent into despair and his lost love’s retreat into madness.
Seeking escape, he takes a job as a high-school teacher in the wilds of the South Bronx where he is put in the hospital by his students. There, courtesy of the Holocaust survivor who shares his room, he is exposed to the depths of human depravity.
On his way back to his baby sister and the border town of his youth, he visits his lost love in the insane asylum where she is housed. There he finds a curious connection between the ghouls that haunt his sister and the demons that sent his love into the prison of catatonia.
He finally finds the answer to both mysteries in a most unexpected and harrowing place.
Written with plots and subplots intertwined in compelling intricacy, And Ye Shall Be As Gods has all the passion of Pat Conroy’s Beach Music and the insight of Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful.
Thank you so much for your consideration. I am certain that And Ye Shall Be As Gods will resonate with a wide audience and in its insight and passion is destined to win copious awards. It is a work that I truly believe would make a great contribution to your list.
Sincerely,
Jan Aloysius Notzon
October 1, 2023
Good People
Ah, the age-old question: why do bad things happen to good people?
I ask your prayers for a dear friend, Sue Ellen Bromberg. She has been a glorious friend from my time in The Big Apple in the '70s and '80s and is now suffering with ALS. It is a truly vicious disease that slowly attacks and destroys the muscles in your body, finally attacking your diaphragm so that you suffocate.
Of course, eventually a bad thing will happen to all of us. None of us is getting out of this world alive.
So, my message to my friends is to give thanks for your lives and your health however compromised it might be.
Love to all.
I ask your prayers for a dear friend, Sue Ellen Bromberg. She has been a glorious friend from my time in The Big Apple in the '70s and '80s and is now suffering with ALS. It is a truly vicious disease that slowly attacks and destroys the muscles in your body, finally attacking your diaphragm so that you suffocate.
Of course, eventually a bad thing will happen to all of us. None of us is getting out of this world alive.
So, my message to my friends is to give thanks for your lives and your health however compromised it might be.
Love to all.
September 24, 2023
Audio Book 2
Well, I did my first session putting down And Ye Shall Be As Gods on audio, and I don't think it went half-bad. I managed to get all the prologue down--about 24 pages--in an hour. Not much compared to guys who do it for a living, but I'm hoping I'll get better as I go along.
WHAT A WORKOUT! I've never been so tired after any of my workouts as I was after that hour. Was part of the exhaustion the result of nervousness? It's been years since I've done any voice-over work and I was never all that good at it. Of course, most of that was in Spanish, but the engineers used to tease me about the number of pickups I needed on an audio-visual.
Well, this time the engineer, Lisa, was VERY complimentary. She said other readers she's worked with had more pickups than I did. The fact that I practiced like a fool probably helped.
Keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on every piece of wood (including that inside my cranium) I can find.
WHAT A WORKOUT! I've never been so tired after any of my workouts as I was after that hour. Was part of the exhaustion the result of nervousness? It's been years since I've done any voice-over work and I was never all that good at it. Of course, most of that was in Spanish, but the engineers used to tease me about the number of pickups I needed on an audio-visual.
Well, this time the engineer, Lisa, was VERY complimentary. She said other readers she's worked with had more pickups than I did. The fact that I practiced like a fool probably helped.
Keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on every piece of wood (including that inside my cranium) I can find.
September 13, 2023
Audiobook
Just made an appointment to put down an hour of my novel And Ye Shall Be As Gods on audio. I have to say, though I have no doubts concerning my acting ability (knock on wood), having done voiceovers in the past, I do tend to flub an annoying number of times. Since I wrote the darn thing I'm somewhat familiar with it. Hopefully, that'll help.
I hired a studio and an engineer, not trusting myself in the least with editing. At my age, I'm going to limit myself to an hour at a time.
I've been reading out loud, trying to get back into shape. Maybe I've learned to be a little patient with myself in the time away from vo's. I certainly hope so. And I hope the practice will pay off.
Stay tuned.
I hired a studio and an engineer, not trusting myself in the least with editing. At my age, I'm going to limit myself to an hour at a time.
I've been reading out loud, trying to get back into shape. Maybe I've learned to be a little patient with myself in the time away from vo's. I certainly hope so. And I hope the practice will pay off.
Stay tuned.
September 11, 2023
Editorial
I hope my followers won't mind a bit of editorializing on my part. It concerns the weakening of resolve in Congress to support the Ukrainians.
It is my opinion that--and I rarely quote LBJ--"aggression unchallenged is aggression unleashed". I believe that anytime we allow a bully to succeed, we encourage that malefactor. It was our ignoring the takeover of the Crimea, Georgia and eastern Ukraine that allowed the invasion to take place..
In the 1930s if we had stood up to Hitler and the Nazis at the Rhineland, or the Sudetenland or the Anschluss, WWII would have involved much less carnage and many Jews, Gypsies and gay people would have been saved.
Many Americans wanted us to stay out of it, calling it a European problem. But if Hitler had been able to conquer the Soviet Union and western Europe, he would have come after us next. We would have been fighting the Germans on our east coast and the Japanese on our west coast.
An ignored depredation threatens us all eventually, I believe.
It is my opinion that--and I rarely quote LBJ--"aggression unchallenged is aggression unleashed". I believe that anytime we allow a bully to succeed, we encourage that malefactor. It was our ignoring the takeover of the Crimea, Georgia and eastern Ukraine that allowed the invasion to take place..
In the 1930s if we had stood up to Hitler and the Nazis at the Rhineland, or the Sudetenland or the Anschluss, WWII would have involved much less carnage and many Jews, Gypsies and gay people would have been saved.
Many Americans wanted us to stay out of it, calling it a European problem. But if Hitler had been able to conquer the Soviet Union and western Europe, he would have come after us next. We would have been fighting the Germans on our east coast and the Japanese on our west coast.
An ignored depredation threatens us all eventually, I believe.
September 7, 2023
Giveaway
Hi Folks, please consider entering:
And Ye Shall Be As Gods by Jan Notzon: Goodeads Author)
Release date: May 10, 2023
For lovers of passionate literary fiction, family dynamics and a delicately intertwined love story
Who is responsible?
In his desperate quest to find the author of his beloved little-sister’s descent into despair and his lost-love’s retreat into madness, Jake Kazmareck finds the answer in an unexpected and harrowing place.
Opens for entries on September 09, 2023
Format:
Kindle book
Availability:
100 copies available, 0 people requesting
Giveaway dates:
Sep 09 - Sep 21, 2023
Countries available:
U.S.
And Ye Shall Be As Gods by Jan Notzon: Goodeads Author)
Release date: May 10, 2023
For lovers of passionate literary fiction, family dynamics and a delicately intertwined love story
Who is responsible?
In his desperate quest to find the author of his beloved little-sister’s descent into despair and his lost-love’s retreat into madness, Jake Kazmareck finds the answer in an unexpected and harrowing place.
Opens for entries on September 09, 2023
Format:
Kindle book
Availability:
100 copies available, 0 people requesting
Giveaway dates:
Sep 09 - Sep 21, 2023
Countries available:
U.S.
September 3, 2023
My First
The Dogs...Barking is the coming-of-age story of Jason Kelly. It begins with his childhood in a sleepy Mexican border town in Texas. It chronicles the psychological trauma inflicted upon him by his elder siblings and two elementary school teachers. From there, we follow Jason through life as he struggles to find relief from the demons those depredations have instilled in him.
His only true solace is the friendship offered by his erstwhile neighbor, Kathryn. While she longs to be much more than a friend, Jason's internalized demons block his ability to accept her love.
Late adolescence finds him assaulted with the stupefying dislocations of university life during the rebellious, wild-eyed 1960s. At first, it offers him relief from those phantasms of youth with the pursuit of the ideal society. As noisome reality rears its ugly head, however, he finds himself once again at the mercy of those dogs of self-condemnation.
Desperation chases him to the raw power of New York City as he pursues an acting career and celebrity he is certain will finally placate those fiends. When the false god of fame proves elusive, he returns home, bruised and bleeding, to that backwater town of his youth, now convinced that only Kathryn's love will offer true fulfillment.
To his astonishment, however, he finds genuine consolation in a most unexpected place.
His only true solace is the friendship offered by his erstwhile neighbor, Kathryn. While she longs to be much more than a friend, Jason's internalized demons block his ability to accept her love.
Late adolescence finds him assaulted with the stupefying dislocations of university life during the rebellious, wild-eyed 1960s. At first, it offers him relief from those phantasms of youth with the pursuit of the ideal society. As noisome reality rears its ugly head, however, he finds himself once again at the mercy of those dogs of self-condemnation.
Desperation chases him to the raw power of New York City as he pursues an acting career and celebrity he is certain will finally placate those fiends. When the false god of fame proves elusive, he returns home, bruised and bleeding, to that backwater town of his youth, now convinced that only Kathryn's love will offer true fulfillment.
To his astonishment, however, he finds genuine consolation in a most unexpected place.
August 25, 2023
Amy's Bookshelf Review
Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A depth of prose
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2017
This is one of those stories, filled with metaphors as it examines (or the character examines) good and evil, and light and dark. The story weaves a great tale of trauma, drama and character depth. Jacob is one of those characters that has made choices in his life, and learns how other's lives affect his and are affected by evil and darkness. It's very well put together and story shows the life of Jacob, rather than telling us about him.
4.0 out of 5 stars A depth of prose
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2017
This is one of those stories, filled with metaphors as it examines (or the character examines) good and evil, and light and dark. The story weaves a great tale of trauma, drama and character depth. Jacob is one of those characters that has made choices in his life, and learns how other's lives affect his and are affected by evil and darkness. It's very well put together and story shows the life of Jacob, rather than telling us about him.
