Mark Rubinstein's Blog, page 28

A Thought About Writing

This is just a thought about what it means to be a writer.

What? Spoilers Enhance Enoyment of Thrillers & Mysteries?

I recently read an article http://tinyurl.com/m8e8f7z claiming that readers who flip to the end of a thriller to check what will happen have more fun than those who endure the suspense to eventually learn the outcome. I found this difficult to believe. The study cited research done by the University of California at San Diego’s Psychology Department, which gave subjects short stories by Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and John Updike.

To quote from the article, “Subjects significantly preferred th...

“I Thought We Had A Good Marriage”

I was making psychiatric rounds at a nursing home where I visited weekly. Occasionally, elderly residents became agitated, as much a result of confinement and lack of stimulation, as from dementia.

One morning, while I was reading charts, an aide approached me saying, “Mrs. Barnes hasn’t come out of her room in three days. I looked in on her and she was crying. I think you ought to check her out.”

Helen Barnes was a 91 year old woman who was admitted to the facility two years earlier. She had t...

My Feelings About Animals

When I look at the faces of my dogs, I see innocence and love. I see loyalty beyond comprehension. I see everything good about living in the world; and seeing them each day enriches my life to a degree that is indescribable. I truly believe the sentiments of Schopenhauer are correct:

Remembrance of Things Past

One spring morning, while entering the nursing home, I held the door open for a middle-aged man who was leaving. As he crossed the door’s threshold, an alarm sounded, and two security guards emerged, then guided him back into the facility. A petite, dark-haired woman approached, thanked the guards, and spoke soothingly to him. I could tell she was his wife.

“He’s new, Doc,” said a guard. “He’s much younger than the other residents and people don’t think he’s a patient. They let him out. So we...

The “Bada Bing” of the Novel

I occasionally read a novel in which there are many references to popular culture in the storyline. This is particularly true in James Hynes’s hauntingly disturbing and must-read novel, Next. Among other popular cultural references, Next reads:

“…so he orders an iced tea.

“With legs?” says the golden blond, absently pressing a key on the register.

“Pardon?” Starbucks is like its own country, you have to know the silly argot.

“To go?” says the fortysomething woman, in a rising Texas singsong. “’Wi...

Let's Help Our Veterans

We all know our veterans are coming back to decreased benefits after doing two or three (or more) tours of duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

"The Foot Soldier" is a 99 cent novella available on Amazon. All monies earned from sales of the book are going to www.DAV.org to help veterans get physical and emotional rehabilitation after returning home.

Please download this novella and help our veterans. And please...spread the word to your Goodreads friends and others.

Here's a direct link.

http://tinyurl.com/nw4dpfk

Our veterans thank you.

Mark

A Simple Thank you

If I’m walking toward a door at let’s say, the post office and someone holds the door open for me, I would never fail to say, “Thank you.”

It dawned on me that I’ve been remiss by not thanking those who’ve written favorable reviews of my novels. Over the last few months, I’ve been thanking people for taking the time to express their pleasure in reading my books.

To all those who wrote positive reviews before this thought came to me, I want to thank you for your kind words. They are very much ap...

A Book and a Chat with Barry Eva

I was on Barry Eva’s podcast, “A Book and a Chat.” Bu clicking on the link below, you can hear the entire interview.

Mark, thank you for being such a great guest on today’s program, the show went really well and we both enjoyed it, which is always a very important thing and makes the time just fly by. It was such fun to chat about so many different subjects, thank you so much.

You can listen to the show (as I am now) at this location where all the archived shows are kept

Best Wishes,

Barry Eva

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A Book and a Chata with Barry Eva

I was on Barry Eva’s podcast, “A Book and a Chat.” Bu clicking on the link below, you can hear the entire interview.

Mark, thank you for being such a great guest on today’s program, the show went really well and we both enjoyed it, which is always a very important thing and makes the time just fly by. It was such fun to chat about so many different subjects, thank you so much.

You can listen to the show (as I am now) at this location where all the archived shows are kept

Best Wishes,

Barry Eva

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