Posted By timothy on August 9, 2010

Some Things That Matter To Author, Kenneth Weene

S1) Why should I read your book?

Since your children or grandchildren will undoubtedly be reading Memoirs From the Asylum in school in years to come, don’t you want to be ahead of the curve? How can you pass on the chance to read a book that has repeatedly been called one of the best books of the year – and not just by the author and his relatives?

2) Are you a cat or a dog person?

Although we had many dogs when we were younger, I have never thought of myself as a dog person. My totem animal has always been the moose, but my friends and family usually refer to me as a friendly bear – except when around salmon, when I can get quite greedy.

3) Do you listen to music while you write, or do you require total and utter silence?

It truly varies. When I listen to music, I like classical, country-western, and some cross-cultural music – interestingly much of it from India and Pakistan. Sometimes I like to have the TV in the background; it’s the equivalent of white noise – totally meaningless.

4) How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?

Memoirs From the Asylum is at one level about mental health, which has been my life’s work. At another level it is about fear, freedom and existential choice: that is some of the basic substance of my life. My previous novel, Widow’s Walk, is about faith and the conflict between religion and spirituality and between love and responsibility: again basic strata of my and most readers’ lives.

5) What do you think most characterizes your writing?

I am passionate about my characters. I want to understand them, to listen to them, and to recreate their voices with fidelity. Most of them I like, and I become quite upset when bad things happen to them. Of course there are others whom I dislike and wish had never come into the lovely worlds of my books.

6) What was the hardest part of writing this book?

I had a difficult time getting the denouement of Memoirs From the Asylum underway. I knew how the book ended, but I needed an event to make things change., a tipping point. Then a friend of mine, playwright Jon Tuttle, mentioned an event about which he wanted to write a play. A circus elephant had gone berserk and killed somebody. The town in which this happened tried and executed the elephant. The image of the berserk elephant was what I needed.

7) What projects are you working on at the present?

I have one book ready to go – written and first edit done. It is a conspiracy novel that takes place in New York just before 9/11. It is also a book about life goals.

Currently I’m writing a novel that is very different. It is primarily a simple story written in a poetic voice; however it is also partly a work of science fiction. At the bigger level that book is about sex, procreation, and the worth of life.

List the three questions you’d ask your favorite author over lunch.

I’d ask Kurt Vonnegut: What does writing mean to you? Do you care if people read your books? Who’s paying for lunch?

My answers if I were asked those questions:

I write to make people think and feel; therefore I need them to read what I have written. Let’s split the bill.

9) What’s your most memorable (not necessarily your favorite) childhood memory?

Read Memoirs From the Asylum and you will find some of my childhood projected onto the narrator. His mother is modeled on mine. I would particularly direct the reader to the dance classes; they are right out of my childhood.

10) Here is a really weird, but fun one…what trash item did you see that inspired you to write a story. In one of my stories I found a whole character when I saw a manikin head on a dumpster.

Did you create this question just for me? Memoirs From the Asylum is about life in a dumpster. What is a psychiatric hospital, especially a state hospital, but a giant human trash heap? One goal of this novel is to get readers to see the flotsam and jetsam of society as human and meaningful instead of seeing them as some kind of subhuman creatures or even worse as caricatures.

You can learn more about me and my work at

http://www.authorkenweene.com/

I have trailers for both Widow’s Walk and for Memoirs From the Asylum.

The Memoirs trailer is:

http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=nqm74a8k

The Widow’s Walk trailer is:

http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=wbgzb2yk

Category: on writing | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on August 7, 2010

Response to 10 Interview Questions

Timothy N. Stelly Sr

1. Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?  If you write more than one, how do you balance them?

TS: Actually, it chose me. My usual genre is social and political satire, and crime or family dramas. However, HUMAN TRIAL was inspired by a dream: An optical one and my desire to write a book about good v. evil and the group dynamics involved. The next two parts of the trilogy were inspired by T.C. Matthews who informed me that today’s better-known sci-fi works are trilogies. Also most of the people who read the initial draft were not sci-fi readers, but critiqued the manuscript anyway. Since then, I have banged out another sci-fi tome (A Junkie’s Paradise) and an anthology of Stephen King-esque stories (Strange Pictures.)

2. What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

TS: I wanted to present two enemies: The earth’s assailants (and I kept them unseen as long as possible), and then the proverbial “enemy within,” portrayed as mankind’s tribal instinct and personal prejudices. I tried to juxtapose the two to let the reader determine in his mind what is the biggest threat to man’s survival. I also wanted to have an impact on how the reader looks at the things around him or her: and I get e-mails all the time from readers who state that every time it gets hot for any length of time, they think of HUMAN TRIAL.

Second, many of the people who read HT are reading the sequel, HUMAN TRIAL II: ADAM’S WAR, and have told me that the sequel is even better than its predecessor.

3. What do you think most characterizes your writing?

TS: Brutal honesty interwoven with humor. My work allows the reader to think, because it raises the question, “What would I (the reader) do in this situation?”

4.  What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that they need to know?

TS: That science fiction doesn’t have to place the emphasis on “science,” but rather, ever-so-slight exaggeration of reality or what is possible. From there you add human beings to the mix, which creates all sorts of variable in how a dilemma is settled. Luke Rhinehart’s Long Voyage Home is an excellent example of this.

5. Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?  What impact have they had on your writing?

TS: My literary influences are an eclectic lot: Rene Guy De Maupassant, Richard Wright, Donald Goines and Stephen King. The latter is big oin character development, which I think drives a story; Goines was not afraid to “tell it like it is,” nor was Wright, who wrote about many intriguing but flawed characters; and Maupassant’s short stories (The piece of String; the Cake; Old Toine, et al) showed us the “complex simplicity” of life,

6. Are you a full-time or part-time writer?  How does that affect your writing?

TS: I write 26 hours a day, eight days a week 400 days a year. When I’m not answering e-mails or doing editing work for others, I’m writing. I don’t read as much as I’d like (I use to be a book every other day kinda guy), and am limited to maybe 10 books a year, because so much of my time is spent writing, rewriting and transforming novels to screenplays, short stories to teleplays and vice versa. I edit the work of others in the various writing groups I belong to, and even dabble in poetry, which has helped sharpen my narrative skills.

7.  How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books and alternative vs. conventional publishing? What do you think is the future of reading/writing?

TS: The printed book might not be dead yet, but it is comatose and has undergone an amputation. I like the print model because it is something tangible, while e-books seem kinda abstract to me. A printed book is something you can keep on the shelf at home and literally pass down; whereas printed has the impersonal quality of being downloaded. However, ebooks are the future, and the first hint of that truth was when the hyphen between e and book was eliminated.

As for self-publishing, I don’t really think that’s for me. I was elated to be published the “traditional” way—success after more than 20 rejection slips from agents and publishing houses (Not all for the same book, mind you.) I thought of self-publishing a book of poetry, then decided against it, as I just can’t see seeking out my limited funds for what amounts to vanity. Woes arise when the author can’t get shelf space in a book store unless its local (and you grew up washing the owner’s car, or dating his daughter), nor can he generate the sort of publicity a traditional publication receives.

8.  What makes your book stand out from the crowd?

TS: I don’t intend to sound boastful, but simply put, there is no other book like it. HUMAN TRIAL pits people from diverse social strata and presents the many facets of their in their thinking as to how they will survive. It examines their fears and values. The story dares to ask the question, “Is the biggest threat to mankind… man?”

9. What do your plans for future projects include?

TS: I have my two “babies”: A semi-autobiographical coming of age novel, People Darker Than Blue, which interweaves the stories of two cliques—one black and one white—at a desegregated high school in the 1970’s. The second is a crime-drama titled Under Color Of Authority, about a desperate small-town police chief who hires soldiers of fortune to clean up the streets, where two competing gangs have not only endangered the citizenry, but have bought off some of the towns law enforcement officers.

As for sci-fi, I am getting ready to shop A Junkie’s Paradise, the story of a viral pandemic that wipes out half the earth’s population until it is discovered that those with immunity are the dregs of society. Also I have my sci-fi anthology, a compilation of 18 stories that address everything from a man who wakens to find himself as the lone remaining human being to a septuagenarian serial killer to drunken women who conduct a lynching. I just recently finished a “zombies in the hood” tale titled, The Undead.

I have a number of screenplays, and have developed two ideas for television shows: Of the latter, one a comedy centered around movie critics and the other, a family comedy that I call a cross between “What’s Happening!” and “Married…With Children.”

10. What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.

Q: “When will we see your work on the big screen?” The answer is simple: When the public no longer accepts Hollywood’s regurgitation—sequels and passing off TV shows from the past as “new blockbusters.” Today there is a dearth of creativity in Hollywood. The scripts are formulaic and pigeon-holed and too damn expensive to make. For example, Judd Apatow is doing is what Adam Sandler was doing ten years ago, and Sandler is doing what John Hughes and John Waters did–although with more crudity.

Black cinema is deemed “unsaleable” unless it starts a rapper, or brothers posing as ne’er-do-wells who live by the gun. (The exception being Tyler Perry., but his work is geared toward black women, a demographic all its own.)  Occasionally we’ll see a reworking of the blaxploitation genre, but few real meat and potatoes dramas; another Shaft rather than Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored.

I’d match my story, The Undead against Twilight or Zombieland and let moviegoers decided which is the fresher tale. I’d pit Human Trial I or II against Independence Day any day; or either of my TV shows against the schlock that today passes as “comedy.” The art of joke writing has been replaced by crudity and men being portrayed as buffoons. Okay, let me jump off my soap box….I have some rewriting to do.

Mr. Stelly can be reached by e-mail at stellbread@yahoo.com, or you can check out his blog: www.stellyhumantrial.com or you can go to amazon.com, click on BOOKS and type in “stelly human trial” and read the reviews.My essays can be found at www.ezinearticles.com.

Category: on writing | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on August 5, 2010

by Mike Krumboltz

There’s no doubt that Winston Churchill had his share of secrets. When you’re leading a world power during wartime, classified information come with the territory. But did one of his closely held secrets have to do with “little green men”? A new report contends that the English Bulldog may have played a part in a UFO cover-up.

It’s a conspiracy theory worthy of the “X-Files,” and it goes like this: Churchill, then the prime minister, apparently ordered a cover-up of an encounter between a Royal Air Force bomber and an unidentified flying object during World War II. The reason: Churchill feared that news of the incident would create public panic and a loss of faith in religion.

The Daily Telegraph explains that Churchill is reported to “have made the orders during a secret war meeting with U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower, the then commander of the Allied Forces, at an undisclosed location in America during the latter part of the conflict.” He ordered that the information remain secret for a period of 50 years.

Video rewind: UFO sighted over Chinese airport

So, who is claiming that Churchill ordered the cover-up? The U.K.’s National Archives, which hosts the newly released documents, works through how the news came to light.

Apparently, Churchill’s order was overheard by one of his bodyguards. The man, also a member of the Royal Air Force, kept the secret to himself for years, but told his daughter at some point, and told his wife on his deathbed in 1973. The man’s daughter later told her son (the bodyguard’s grandson, for those of you keeping score), and he inquired about the incident with the Ministry of Defense in 1999. That inquiry made it into the files that were made public on Thursday.

According to the report, the crew of the plane did manage to take photographs of the UFO, which “hovered noiselessly” near their plane before zooming away. Alas, the photos, if they do indeed exist, were not released.

Decades later, it’s still not known if the UFO was actually a UFO or something more earthbound. Initially, some theorized that the object was a missile. However, a weapons expert, who was present at the infamous meeting, was reported to have remarked that no missile could stop and hover. Such a thing was “totally beyond any imagined capabilities of the time.”

Not surprisingly, the report inspired an avalanche of Web searches. Online lookups for “churchill ufo” and “churchill ufo coverup” both shot skyward, posting breakout gains in the Search box. If Churchill did indeed intend for this to be kept quiet, he did a good job for a long time. But now, the UFO is out of the bag… big time.

Category: on writing | 3 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on June 4, 2010

I’ve kjnown Michelle Malsbury for more than five years. We were colleagues at the e-zine Useless-Knowledge.com, and I knew she was a wonderful essayist. Below you will find  the details of her first novel, “The Swindler.” (All Things That Matter Press)

*****

“The Swindler” by Michelle Kaye Malsbury

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press

ISBN 978-0-9844219-4-7

Genre: suspense, thriller, mystery, fiction

Description

How easy is it for an investment broker to deceive clients? Very, particularly if his personal hero is Bernie Madoff. Skip Horowitz, along with his old pal A.J., has created what they believe is a foolproof scheme using commodities trading, bookmaking, and various other businesses as covers. Their plan has served them well for decades, surviving the scrutiny of government agencies lacking solid proof to support any allegations of wrongdoing. But luck can’t hold forever…or can it? Catherine O’Reilley, newly sponsored in the high-risk world of investment strategy by Skip Horowitz, is about to find out.

About the Author

Michelle Malsbury was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. Currently she resides in Florida. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Management and a Masters Degree in Business Management. She has just completed her first year of doctoral studies in the discipline of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies with high hopes of helping to build nations and sustain peaceful interactions around the globe.

Here’s What Others Are Saying About “The Swindler”:

1. 1. Judy Ramsook from the Austin News Service, Austin, TX 4/9/10 Review for “The Swindler”:

In The Swindler, by Michelle Malsbury, you will find yourself being pulled in to a fictional  tale of romance and a lot  commodities  swindling through the eyes of a third person narrator.

So come along and  meet true to life and memorable characters such as: Catherine, The Realtor/Commodities Broker,   Connie, Catherine’s best friend,  Shamus,  Real Estate Broker and the man who thinks he is the right man for Catherine and last but not least, Skip Horowitz,  a ruthless  Ponzi Schemer who is being   investigated by the Feds.

It’s a gripping tale   that will  make you want to keep turning those pages to see what happens next.

Set in Key West, Florida, the author displays her vast love for and knowledge of the area so well, that if you have not been there and know nothing about Key West, perusing The  Swindler  by Michelle Malsbury will indeed give you a rich education into that paradise.

So come on and enjoy this well written and detailed tale and see if Catherine really thinks Shamus is the right man for her,  and if  the elusive Skip Horowitz  gets  the justice he so deserves.

I enjoyed it and I think you will too.

1. 2. Mike Fentem, longtime friend of Michelle Kaye Malsbury, review for The Swindler on 5/21/10:

I’ve known Michelle since she was fifteen or sixteen years old. We grew up in the same small town in Illinois and went to the same schools, pools, and parks. She was always fun and had a good imagination. I’ll be the first to admit that back then who would have thunk that she would become a author? However, I have had the pleasure of reading both of her books and have found them to be well written and fun reading! The characters are inventive and interesting. The stories take places in fun and exotic locales. The plot builds from chapter to chapter keeping the reader engaged in what may occur next and how it will all end. The main character, Skip, is a enigma himself with a ego larger than life. His thirst for money and fast women was second to none, but I liked getting to know him while reading this book. Besides having little, to no, scruples, he does manage to keep his ponzi scheme and other illigitimate business endeavors pretty secret for a number of years while he rakes in oodles of cash and stashes it all around the globe. However, can he outlast the SEC and other regulatory agencies, who is hot on his tail or is his time up? I truly enjoyed The Swindler and I believe you will too!

1. 3. Thomas Keyes Review for The Swindler by Michelle Kaye Malsbury,  5/14/2010:

The Swindler is a fast-moving, hard-hitting account of a swindler who, with his batch of subalterns, ran a Ponzi scheme in Key West and elsewhere. The tale is so realistic and convincing that you can hardly believe that it didn’t really happen and that the authoress is not in there somewhere, perhaps as Catherine, the honest realtor who gets embroiled in the mess.

The racket consisted of selling counterfeit commodities futures mostly to fairly well-heeled middle class types, and following up by generating bogus statements showing earnings. It may be difficult to feel overly compassionate for someone worth several hundred thousand dollars who gets stung for fifty, but there are a lot of smaller victims too.

The most touching was a young girl in Central America whom Skip, the swindler, got pregnant.  She was hoping this pregnancy would bind them together and enable them to live a beautiful life.  Then the blow fell.  Skip was arrested and prosecuted, and the girl’s dreams flowed away in tears.

The pages are full of unsavory characters, and the action moves from Florida to the Bahamas to Costa Rica to Las Vegas.

The language is earthy. Read it, you’ll like it.

1. 4. Billy O’Toole Pre-review for The Swindler  by Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM

All Things That Matter’s Press, ISBN 978-0-9844219-4-7: 2/22/10

Hi Michelle,

During a long and successful career in the trucking business, I always carried a stack of books to entertain myself and hopefully learn a little something also.  One of my favorites was Steven Frey because he always had some insights into the dark side of finance along with great characters.  Move over Frey and make room for Michelle Malsbury!

The Swindler has great characters, some lovable, and some not, but all believable.  Indeed, I felt like I already knew many and were acquainted with several others.  There were the obvious evil ones but the mindset of good ones being led along and seduced by money and the good life was particularly poignant.

When my business blew up because I had no customers anymore, I began to study finance moved to being a Senior Financial Consultant.  In the process of interviews and study I felt like I met many of her characters, things just didn’t feel right, but oh so seductive!

All this set in quirky and sultry southern Florida, I could feel the humidity, see the pastels, and revel in the ambience.  What more could anyone want in book?

Bill O’Toole
Senior Financial Consultant

Southern Commercial Corp
Columbia, Mo.

573 808 2122

1. 5. Marilou Trask-Curtin Review for TheSwindler:

Michelle:  First of all, congrats on an absolutely incredible book!!! Have you also written this as a screenplay????!!!! Would be amazing to watch and the timing seems right as well.

I only found a couple of blips but after I wrote them down lost the note where I had written the page numbers. The  main one: There was mention of the basketball team the KNICKS…you had it written as the NICKS…that would need to be corrected as we New Yorker’s who are KNICKS fans would probably retaliate by throwing soggy basketballs your way–LOL…otherwise, an incredible story…!!!

The Review:  “The Swindler”  – an incredibly fast-paced roller-coaster ride through the world of illegal commodities trading with enough sun and sin to heat up every reader’s day (and night.)  Michelle Malsbury at her finest!  A definite must read!

Marilou Trask-Curtin, Author of “In My Grandfather’s House:

A Catskill Journal”

Thanks again for the opportunity to read “The Swindler” and I wish you all the best with it.  Also, sorry it took so long….

Take care,

Marilou

PS: I love the way you got MJ into the story with the crotch grabbing episode  :-]

Purchase Information:

http://www.amazon.com/Swindler-Michalle-Kaye-Malsbury/dp/0984421947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272463500&sr=1-1

www.amazon.com link for The Swindler and Kindle Reader orders (see above)

Author Links:

www.americanchronicle.com

www.en.wordpress.com

www.redroom.com

www.useless-knowledge.com

www.bookpleasures.com

www.michellemalsbury.com

www.blogger.com

www.authorexcerpts.spruz.com

www.jacketflap.com

www.authorsden.com

www.unheardwords.com

www.twitter.com/ponzischemegirl

www.facebook.com/michellekayemalsbury

PUT THESE IN THE TAG BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG-NOT IN THE ACTUAL POST!

Tags: investment fraud, ponzi schemes, investment schemes, investment scams, commodities trading, SEC, NFA, CFTC, mail fraud, crime and punishment, Wall Street, Main Street, money and finance, Bernie Madoff, Florida, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Costa Rica, gambling, trading, book making, financial sector reform, NYSE, CBOT, ALL THINGS THAT MATTER PRESS, THE SWINDLER, MICHELLE MALSBURY

Category: on writing | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 30, 2010

Quantum Earth

By Julie Achterhoff

A team of metaphysical scientists is dedicated to finding out why the Earth is in crisis. The rate, size, and destructive power of hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions is out of control. All of these acts of nature have become more devastating to human life than ever before in history, but why? Is the Earth cleansing itself of humanity? Or could it be that human thought is the true cause? This is what the team is asking; the hardest question of all: Do we create our own reality?

Review by Danni Milliken:

It’s not an easy thing to offer to review the work of an author you don’t know very well. If it’s a good friend that’s one thing, because you can say something honestly if you find that you don’t like it. But, if it is someone who you don’t know very well, it is a scary thing to offer to do, because the thought screams loudly in your mind, “What if I don’t like it?” But, one day I know that it will be me out there pimping my work. So, with that knowledge in mind I found I had to put my hand up. Because, one day I hope someone will put their hand up for me.

Still, it was with trepidation that I opened the ebook and began reading the prologue. By the end of the first two paragraphs I made a very happy discovery. This is a good book. From two paragraphs I could tell that Julie Achterhoff is a quality author. Her writing style is extremely easy to read and the scenes are painted so that you can envision their detail easily without the over the top page wasting some lesser quality authors are prone to spend setting the scene. I could have written a review based only on the first few chapters, but this book was so good that I wanted to finish all of it for the sake of my own enjoyment. An exceptional achievement on the part of Julie Achterhoff there, as I rarely read novels to the end anymore.

Quantum Earth is a unique story where a group of scientists use new age beliefs to examine whether or not humanity creates its own tragedies. As natural disasters escalate, this team of researchers use a number of methods to collate data including trance, hypnosis, and dreams prior to the event.

This is a fantastically unique story and it is incredibly well written. At the current price of $15.99, you are getting a real bargain. I have no doubt at all that Julie is a future bestseller, and you won’t regret the short time it takes to enjoy either Quantum Earth, or her new book “Deadly Lucidity” which has just recently been released to amazon.com

Available from:

amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/y87mahs

All Things That Matter Press https://www.createspace.com/3376306

http://earthwalkr.wordpress.com

tags: earthquakes, disasters, 2012, metaphysics, UFOs

Deadly Lucidity

By Julie Achterhoff

Caught in a tangled web of dreams and nightmares,
Marie Reilly is being hunted by a psychopath in the
dream world she can’t escape. Her single ally, a
Ranger named Murphy, may be her only hope. He
must help her reach the great Fortress, where
they’ve been told there is a way back to her reality.
Together, they fight their way through the twists
and turns of Marie’s mind so she can have her life
back. But what of their burgeoning passion for each
other? How can she leave the man she has come to
love behind in this nightmarish world he has called
home as far back as he can remember?

Review:

Official Apex Reviews Rating:

Caught in a dream world from which she can’t escape, Marie finds herself

hunted by a dangerous psychopath. Her situation is far from hopeless, though, as

a handsome Ranger named Murphy vows both to protect her and help her find a

way back to the real world. Over the course of their shared adventures, Marie

looks very much forward to getting her life back to normal – but her growing

passion for Murphy makes the prospect of leaving him behind an increasingly

difficult choice to make…

Skillfully crafted by author Julie Achterhoff, Deadly Lucidity is an engaging

suspense thriller. In it, Achterhoff has crafted a compelling alternate nether world

straight out of the darkest regions of any imagination. In addition, as Marie wends

her way through a series of increasingly perilous events, you find yourself rooting

not-so-silently on her behalf, turning each fresh page in rapt anticipation of

precisely what fate awaits her as the story progresses. Furthermore, the genuine

affection that she and Murphy feel for one another adds a layer of palpable

tension to the overall tale, drawing the reader in even more as this modern twist

on the age-old tale of good vs. evil plays itself out in fantastical fashion.

A dynamic, riveting thriller with a host of intriguing twists, Deadly Lucidity

is a recommended read for lovers of well crafted fantasy suspense tales.

Trailer:  http://tinyurl.com/2esq54p

Available from:

amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/ya4ttnt

All Things That Matter Press: https://www.createspace.com/3431365

http://earthwalkr.wordpress.com

tags: lucid dreaming, nightmares, journey, coma

Category: on writing | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 23, 2010

Former British Defense Minister: “Aliens could attack at any time.”

From the UK Daily Mail

November 19, 2006

By Charlotte Gill

(Also see story below on Weather Control)

UFO sightings and alien visitors tend to be solely the reserve of sci-fi movies.

So when a former MoD chief warns that the country could be attacked by extraterrestrials at any time, you may be forgiven for feeling a little alarmed.

During his time as head of the Ministry of Defence UFO project, Nick Pope was persuaded into believing that other lifeforms may visit Earth and, more specifically, Britain.

His concern is that “highly credible” sightings are simply dismissed.

And he complains that the project he once ran is now “virtually closed” down, leaving the country “wide open” to aliens.

Mr Pope decided to speak out about his worries after resigning from his post at the Directorate of Defence Security at the MoD this week.

“The consequences of getting this one wrong could be huge,” he said.  ”If you reported a UFO sighting now, I am absolutely sure that you would just get back a standard letter telling you not to worry. ”Frankly we are wide open – if something does not behave like a conventional aircraft now, it will be ignored.

“The X-Files have been closed down.” If these words had come from a sci-fi fanatic, they could be easily dismissed by cynics.

But Mr Pope’s CV – he was head of the UFO project between 1991 and 1994 – cannot be ignored.  When he began his job, he too was sceptical about UFOs but access to classified files on the subject and investigation of a series of spectacular UFO sightings gradually changed his mind.

And while Mr Pope says that there is no evidence of hostile intent, he insists it cannot be ruled out. “There has got to be the potential for that and one is left with the uneasy feeling that if it turned out to be so, there is very little we could do about it,” he said.

“If you believe these things are extra terrestrial craft then you cannot rule out that what is happening is some kind of covert reconnaissance.”

One incident which persuaded him of the existence of alien lifeforms was in 1993. There were reports of a “vast, triangular-shaped craft” spotted flying over RAF bases in the West Midlands.

“Most of the witnesses were police and military personnel,” he said.

“Hundreds of members of the public also had sightings over a period of several hours.”

In another incident in 1980 at RAF bases in Suffolk, staff investigated a suspected plane crash after bright lights were reported coming from nearby woods.

They found a kind of lunar landing module standing on three legs which then flew off. The indents it left in the ground were found to emit ten times the normal levels of radiation. Mr Pope said: “These sort of incidents are why I got so frustrated.

“In my time I would brief the more interesting sightings up the chain of command to people like the Chief of the Air Staff and would get the answer back that it was very interesting and I had clearly done a good job investigating it and that was it.

“Every one is a piece of a puzzle but no one takes it seriously. There needs to be more resources and people who are prepared to look past the philosophical issues, look at the reports and investigate them properly.

“Whether you believe these things are foreign air forces testing prototype aircraft or whether you believe they are something more exotic, with the speeds and movements they are capable of, it’s technology we would very much like to get hold of.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence insisted that all UFO sightings were investigated for “evidence to suggest that UK airspace has been compromised by hostile or unauthorised air activity.”

She said: “Unless there is such evidence, the MoD doesn’t attempt to positively identify what was seen.”

Can Weather Be Used As A Weapon?

Reprinted from Useless-Knowledge.com

By Timothy N. Stelly, Sr.
Nov. 4, 2005

There is speculation that the recent spate of hurricanes hitting the U.S. was orchestrated by sinister forces hell-bent on punishing “The Great Satan.” I’m not referring to divine retribution, but to cases of suspected weather manipulation being used by foreign governments and terrorist groups. There are several Internet sites dedicated to this specific subject.

Before I dive headlong into conspiracy theories, let me explain that I DO NOT BELIEVE any single government has perfected such techniques, but I DO BELIEVE the U.S. is pouring money into this type of research. Our government has admitted to investing in an Arizona company that believes they can “beam” weapons (teleport them, a la ‘Star Trek’) from the U.S. to any region of the globe. (During the past three years, such experiments have led to the teleporting of light beams across a laboratory bench and to limited success with a trapped calcium ion). SEE http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/050708_teleportation.html

Weather control is the goal of the U.S. military, which dreams of having the ability to degrade enemy forces without using millions of dollars of weaponry or jeopardizing American lives. Imagine if the U.S. had the means to create floods where enemy troops were dug in; or create fog to disguise troop maneuvers; or make lightning strike enemy positions, scramble communications and give the U/S. a strategic and psychological advantage. Wars could be fought with a minimal loss of life and could literally be over in a matter of hours or days, rather than months or years.

In April 1997, at a counterterrorism seminar sponsored by one-time Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen said, “Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations. It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that’s why this is so important.”

Scalar researcher Tom Bearden contends, “In latter March of 2004, Hurricane Catarina–the first-ever recorded hurricane in the South Atlantic—formed and came ashore in Brazil…with 90 mph winds, doing substantial damage. So while the conventional wisdom is that hurricanes cannot form (naturally) in the South Atlantic; this one did…to test whether Western governments and scientists recognize the artificial weather engineering.

Leonard David argues that, “In this regard, nanotechnology could be utilized to create clouds of tiny smart particles. Atmospherically buoyant, these ultra-small computer particles could navigate themselves to block optical sensors. Alternatively, they might be used to provide an atmospheric electrical potential difference—a way to precisely aim and time lightning strikes over the enemy’s head—thereby concoct thunderbolts on demand.”

HAARP (High Auroral Arial Research Project) is a program administered by the U.S. Army which insists that it is set up for weather monitoring. Outside sources say that it is a front for meteorological manipulation. Moreover, “Air Force 2025” was a study that concluded that branch of American armed forces needed “to examine the concepts, capabilities, and technologies the United States will require to remain the dominant air and space force in the future. Current technologies that will mature over the next 30 years will offer anyone who has the necessary resources the ability to modify weather patterns and their corresponding effects, at least on the local scale… another motivation to pursue weather-modification is to deter and counter potential adversaries.”

Far-fetched you say? Conspiracy theorists run amok? I believe that the military is seeking any and every advantage it can get and weather control would be the ultimate weapon of self-defense and/or destruction. There is another ancient version of the Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” In this case, the gold is the weather and America would be unwise not to try and control it.

NOTE: Monday, November 7, A&E Networks will air a show titled “Weather..or Not?” It will air from 8-9pm Eastern. For more information on this subject, visit Tom Bearden’s website.

Sources:

Scott Stevens, “Weather Wars”, November 1, 2005.

Leonard David, “U.S. Military Wants To Own the Weather,” October 31, 2005, SPACE.com

William Cohen address, April 28, 1997, at the Conference on Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and U.S. Strategy, Sam Nunn Policy Forum University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Category: on writing | 5 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 23, 2010

In Discovery Documentary, British Astrophysicist Warns Alien Life Could be Hostile

Rep[rinted from http://www.wedg.com/goout.asp?u=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/stephen-hawking-alien-contact-risky/story?id=10478157

Alien encounters may seem like sure-fire winners to Hollywood, but one of the world's most famous scientists thinks they may be "too risky" be be worth seeking.

Steven Hawking discusses the risks he says alien life poses to humans.

In a new Discovery Channel documentary, which premiered Sunday night, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said that communicating with aliens could be a threat to Earth.

Hawking said it is likely that alien life exists, but a visit from extraterrestrials might be similar to Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said. "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."

In the new program, "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking," he speculated that aliens' capabilities "would be only limited by how much power they could harness and control, and that could be far more than we might first imagine."

He said it might even be possible for aliens to harvest the energy from an entire star.

"Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach," Hawking said.

Humans Only Recently 'Tapped Into Our Cosmic Neighborhood'

But don't start worrying quite yet. It's unlikely that those traveling troublemakers will visit us anytime soon, said space watchers.

Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life) Research at the SETI Institute, said that her center uses radio telescopes and optical telescopes to listen for signals of technology from extraterrestrial life. So far, after more than 40 years, there has not been a peep.

She said SETI's technology is advanced enough that it can detect signals from up to 1,000 light-years away. There are about one million stars in that zone. A signal could have been sent 1,000 years ago, before that civilization had any knowledge of Earth.

But she said that as humans have leaked radio and television broadcasts into space over the past 100 years, it's possible that other planets could be monitoring Earth.

"It's quite reasonable that we might be on someone's transmission list," she said.

She emphasized, however, that though it's an effort worth considering, SETI doesn't actively transmit messages to space. So far, it has only listened.

"The question of whether or not we should transmit is a question that deserves a global conversation, and we're trying to figure out how to have that," Tarter said.

Category: on writing | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 17, 2010

The biggest threat to mankind…is MAN.

Human Trial II: Adam’s War picks up where Human Trial (a SORMag Fiction Book of the Year nominee) left off. After facing off with the aliens in the woods of Pleasant Valley, Daron and Regina Turner lead the survivors of an alien-launched thermal war across the continent, hoping to become members of a larger colony of survivors. Along they way, they encounter more battles with marauders and wild animals, and also have to deal with the mental disintegration of one of their members.

Once they reach Big Springs, Nebraska, their hope is to rebuild America as members of a larger colony known as The New Frontier. The colony is led by megalomaniacal J.D. Cooks, who has other plans: to make himself the ruler pf a butgeoning world empire. Over the years, Daron and Cooks engage in an epic clash of wills.

After Daron discovers that his nemesis is collaborating with aliens to destroy human life, the MMD again prepare for war. This time, the army is led by Daron and Regina’s son, Adam, now twenty years old and a military historian and tactician.

Adam leads the coup that results in the destruction of both Big Springs and Cawker City–a second colony in Kansas that has been infiltrated by earth being/alien hybrids. Adam leads his ragtag troops to New Mexico, where Daron and several others lead a dangerous attack on an alien base in Winslow Rock. Adam leads the rest of the contingent across the border into the mountains of Ascncion, Mexico, where they engage in a final battle that will determine if man has a future, or the earth becomes the home of alien invaders

ALL THINGS THAT MATTER PRESS

http://allthingsthatmatterpress.com Timothy N. Stelly, Sr

ISBN 978-098442196-1

9 7 8 0 9 8 4 4 2 1 9 6 1

Category: on writing | 1 Comment »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 14, 2010

Widow’s Walk by Kenneth Weene tells the story of Mary Flanagan and her search for meaning, life, and love. It is also the story of her Irish roots and her immigration to America, her marriage, her husband’s life and death, and the lives of her two children. And it is the story of her relationship with Arnie Berger, a man who is totally different in background, religion, and approach to life. Theirs is a deep and meaningful love that gladdens the heart. If only things could always flow along with such ease. But they do not, and Widow’s Walk becomes a powerful tale of human pain and emotional conflict.

Recently released, Kenneth Weene’s new novel, Memoirs From the Asylum, is a comi-tragic tale of madness and sanity, of desperation and hope, of possibilities and fate. Set in a state hospital, Memoirs From the Asylum focuses on three main characters, a narrator, who has taken refuge from his terror of the world, a catatonic schizophrenic, whose mind lives within a crack in the wall opposite her bed, and a young psychiatrist, who is dealing with his own father’s depression. This is a book that will have you laughing, crying, and discussing.

An Excerpt From Widow’s Walk

People like Danny O’Brien don’t just wash their cars – they bathe them with deliberation. First they get ready, which starts with the right clothes. Danny always changes into his cutoff jeans, the last pair he has left from college. He has to suck in his stomach to snap them shut, and they have long ago stopped feeling comfortable, but they represent his youth so he won’t throw them out. He doesn’t tuck his Grateful Dead T-shirt in. He probably wouldn’t have anyway, but with it hanging out no one can see if the snap on his shorts has opened. His old tennis shoes go on his bare feet, and he feels like he is ready to go back in time and play Frisbee in Hollis Quad.

His equipment, too, is laid out carefully. Sponges, clean rags, a plastic pail, the garden hose, Turtle Wash and Wax, a Dust Buster, and finally cleaners for the glass, the vinyl, the leather upholstery, the chrome, and especially the tires – the car will not be to his liking until the tires gleam – not like new, but shining beyond newness. Even the placement of the car is – to his mind – just right. It is carefully parked in a specific spot so that he can get maximum efficiency from the hose.

His neighbor, Harry Brown, is tending flowerbeds. Not particularly a lover of nature, Danny leaves that task to the gardener. “Hey, Harry, how’s it going?” he calls to the neighbor, who is busily weeding around the azaleas.

“Damn weeds just keep growing.” It is a ritual exchange. The two men aren’t close, but they have as many rituals as any fraternity. That is one of Danny’s special qualities; his every relationship has rituals built in: little sayings or a special piece of body language that makes the other person feel that theirs is a special relationship

Danny is aware of a change in the light. He looks up and sees Kathleen watching him. He smiles. “Hi.”

She half smiles in response. Embarrassed by his notice, she starts slightly as if to move away.

“Do you like cars?”  He isn’t sure where, but he knows that he has seen her before. “She’s cute enough,” he thinks. “Might as well chat her up.”

Kathleen, not having really taken a step, feels she has to respond. She smiles shyly – not flirtatious but friendly. “Actually, I don’t know much about them. I’ve never even learned how to drive.”

“Seriously?” Even while he is saying this, Danny is wondering if he shouldn’t perhaps take a more serious tone, one more appropriate to the classy young woman he perceives her to be.

“Why? Is there something wrong?” She can feel herself tensing, pulling back, becoming defensive. “I always wanted to learn, but I never had the chance.”

He takes another look at Kathleen and decides that she might be worth his time. “I tell you what. You help me wash, and I’ll give you a driving lesson.”

“I don’t even know you,” Kathleen responds with hesitancy.

“Harry here will vouch for me. Won’t you Harry?”

“Lady, I’d stay far away from that crazy Irishman. You should never trust a man who doesn’t garden.”

“I don’t really think I should,” her voice conveys doubt and a hidden wish.

“Suit yourself. If you ever change your mind, stop by any weekend. If I’m not home, my mother almost always is. I’ll tell her if a beautiful woman named …” He pauses.

At first Kathleen doesn’t understand why he is waiting. Then she wonders if it’s ok for her to answer.  Finally she stammers, “My name is Kathleen, Kathleen Flanagan.”

“Pleased to meet you, Kathleen Flanagan. Danny O’Brien at your service.” Danny winks at her, and Kathleen feels a rush of confusion – her face flushes. “We Irish folks have to stick together especially around a Brit like Harry.” Danny’s sweeping gesture toward his neighbor sprays her with soapy water from the sponge he’s holding.

The cold tingle of the water makes her laugh lightly.

“Good. A sense of humor is the thing to have, but I am sorry.” He offers her a clean rag.

“That’s all right! I’m sure I’ll dry before I get back.”

“Back where?”

“Subtle, boy,” Harry comments.

“I live at the hospice, the one near the Star Market, in the staff housing.”

Danny smiles broadly. “The freckles on his forehead seem to dance when he smiles,” Kathleen observes to herself.

“Would the nuns be upset if I were to drop by some day?”

“That would depend on your intentions.”

“Better than they were when I went to Saint Edward’s.”

He grins again, and Kathleen is struck by the sparkle in his eyes. She waves as she walks away.

“That’s a nice girl, Danny.” Harry remarks as Kathleen leaves. “Not a bad looker either.”

“That’s for sure.” Danny turns back to the car, but his mind is following Kathleen down the street.

Words of Praise for Widow’s Walk

“Here is a story whose breadth of vision is exceeded only by the depth of its characters.” (Jon Tuttle, author, The Trustus Plays)

“This story includes the passions of everyday life that will touch you in a special way.” (Abe F. March, author, To Beirut and Back, They Plotted Revenge Against America, and Journey Into The Past)

“Written in the present tense, Widow’s Walk achieves the difficult balance of urgency and character-driven action possible with this technique. With deft humor and unexpected turns, universal dilemmas and unique perspectives, I believe Widow’s Walk captures all the elements of great fiction.” (Jen Knox, author, Musical Chairs

An excerpt from Memoirs From the Asylum

Arthur and I are pacing up and down the dayroom. That way the aides don’t notice. As long as we look agitated, they don’t care about our conversations. They figure we must be ourselves:  the simply crazy. If we were to sit down on the bilious green Naugahyde and chrome chairs and couches that have long since deteriorated to junkyard quality and talk like normal people, then they’d get pissed off. They count on us to be psycho, to appear nuts. It’s like the cops and the criminals. The criminals might not want the cops around, but the cops need the crooks so they have jobs. And, if the cops disappeared then everyone could commit the same criminal acts so there’d be no payoff for being a crook. So, bottom line, the staff needs us to keep getting their paychecks, and we need them to keep getting our rubber-rooms, straightjackets, and butts full of Valium.

But, the numbers are changing. The psycho drugs have reduced the size of all the hospitals.  The staffs have shrunk; now they’re resisting every discharge. No normality here! Nobody should get out. That’s the rule.

So we are pacing and discussing the alleged newest member of our very nonselective club. Of course, it is all rumor and conjecture. The rolling TV never plays the news; it’s considered too upsetting.

Newspapers and magazines only make an appearance when  an infrequent visitor happens to bring them, which is always well after they’re better suited for wrapping fish. Visitors are few and far between. We who have survived the medication boom and still live on the wards have few family members interested in us. The aides and nurses do bring gossipy magazines that they share with each other and then leave around for us. We always know the latest tittle-tattle from three weeks ago. We can always tell that our bleached out castaway clothing isn’t the latest from Paris.

“Maybe. But, then what’s to stop them from frying every nut case,” I pause for effect, “including us?”

“Would you do something like that?”

“No.”

“Well, neither would I.”

“Of course not, but you did attack those people.”

He giggles nervously. “God told me to.”

“I know, but maybe God told him.”

He raises his voice, always a foolish thing to do, but theology is always a hot button in the day room. “God would never tell him that   – not something like that!”

One of the aides looks up at us. I catch her out of the corner of my eye, the one that I always keep directed at the nurses’ station.

“Sshhh,” I hiss at him. But  he is way too far-gone. God’s prophet is on the pulpit, and nothing else matters. It only takes a minute before they drug him, wrap him, and carry him off to restraints.

They might decide I should get it, too, that I have been provoking him, that I might get others started – that I might be the “King of the Crazies” – and they talk about our paranoia. I walk away as fast as I can.

Too late! They have grabbed me and wrestled my ass to the floor. I’m not resisting. There would be no point. They still rough me up. One aide, this big hulk of an idiot, a sadist too afraid to take on anyone who can fight back, smacks me in the face – no reason, just his pleasure. My nose starts to bleed. They hold me down so that I’m coughing and choking on my own damn blood. One of the nurses brings the syringe. The big V to the rescue.

I wake up the next day on the medical ward. There is a hole in my throat where they inserted a tracheotomy tube. The bastard has nearly killed me. God, is my throat sore. I get to suck on ice chips and suffer. The bastard got to go home for his dinner.

A day later I am back on the ward. One of the women patients sidles over to me. “We heard they had to give you shock treatments,” she hisses.

“No,” I croak back pointing at my throat.

“I thought your brains were up here,” she says pointing to her head.

I try to laugh and then think better of it. I pat my ass. “No, down here,” I tell her.

She is still cackling as one of the nurses came out from behind their counter with the medication tray. My pills are different. I look at them and then at her. “Take your meds,” she commands firmly.

“They aren’t right.”

“The doctor changed them.”

“Why?”

“Ask him.”

“Come on, at least tell me why,” I plead, afraid of the side effects.

“We want to make sure that you behave yourself. No more incidents like yesterday.

I want to cry, but I just nod. I try to hold some of the pills in my cheek to spit them out once she has gone, but she checks my mouth and makes me take a second cup of the horrible juice they use.  It tastes like a combination of the bug-juice they serve at summer camp and some powdered fruit drink straight from the army, and filled with saltpeter.

“Be a good boy,” she says as she walks away. I feel like I’m a dog being patted absentmindedly on the head by a totally indifferent and unfeeling clerk in a department store. “You really shouldn’t have your dog in here, mister; but keep him under control and we won’t shoot you full of meds.”

“Yes, ma’am; yes, ma’am, three bags full.”

No matter how fucked your head, you’ve got to hate the drooling and the shuffling. I try to control the tics and that damned unending pill rolling. I try, but I fail – failure is in the chemistry.

To learn more about Widow’s Walk visit the video at:

http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=wbgzb2yk

To order Widow’s Walk go to:

http://tiny.cc/WidowsWalkAmazon

or

http://tiny.cc/BuyWidowsWalk

To learn more about Memoirs From the Asylum watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGyl0JMTEJ4

To order Memoirs From the Asylum go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Asylum-Kenneth-Weene/dp/0984421955/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273347148&sr=1-1

To learn more about the publisher, All Things That Matter Press, go to

http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/

Category: on writing | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By timothy on May 7, 2010

A Hitch in Twilight is a compilation of stories of The Twilight Zone-Alfred Hitchcock variety. Most involve ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Lucifer appears in two. Most are set in New York, particularly Brooklyn. They are designed to make entertain and to foster thought. They are 20 tales of Warped Imagination.

Excerpt

Beneath the Boardwalk, somewhere along the Brighton Beach side, leeward of a dune formed by the bitter winter winds, lay a long, narrow cardboard box around which rats were scurrying. There was a restless, troubled murmuring within it. Suddenly the flaps flew aside and a man inside sprang to a sitting position like a jack-in-the-box, casting pages of a newspaper, his blankets, aside in his wake. He fought to regain his breath, muttering angrily, fearfully.

His attention was snared by a click. His paroxysm had been vanquished. His senses had never seemed so alive. He peered beyond the dune, past the small gap between its peak and the underside of the Boardwalk. A cigarette lighter flickered briefly, illuminating a hard though handsome face that featured a thick, neatly-trimmed black beard.

Review

Vic Fortezza writes about the trials and tribulations of life. Be it fiction or reality he captivates his audience with hard-boiled characterizations that catapult readers through drama and intrigue, at times with a touch of humor. Vic’s words flow with strength – he tells it like it is – through the eyes of a powerful, seasoned writer. By the time you’ve read the last page of A Hitch in Twilight, you’ll feel like you’ve lived each story.

Victoria Valentine, Editor Skyline Review.

To purchase A Hitch in Twilight, go here:  http://www.amazon.com/Hitch-Twilight-Tales-Warped-Imagination/dp/0984098410/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

Learn all about Vic at his website, read his mainstream stories, free: http://vicfortezza.homestead.com/

Follow Vic’s blog: Selling Books on the Streets of Brooklyn: http://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html/ref=ntt_mus_ep_cd_tft_tp?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx19PIWSO2UGA75&cdThread=Tx1J1SVA9V1ZPDV

See a video of Vic in action on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYv9k5Su3wA

Category: on writing | 4 Comments »
Tags: