I live in the United States of America and I am proud to be an American. Now at age 65 I realize that this is no longer the country I was born and raised in. We are now a country without a government. Sure we have people that sit in Congress, work about a third of the year, and lie out their teeth.
I remember when Congress, Democrats and Republicans would work together in the best interests of the American people. There used to be few lobbyists in Washington. That has changed. Now instead of listening to the American people, members of Congress are wined, dined, and paid to vote in the best interests of large corporations. We are in an era of major environmental disasters because safety regulations are being relaxed or abandoned in the interests of large corporations.
We have basically a two party system. The Democrats that want to give everyone everything. I believe that when people need help they should be given it. I believe in mandatory drug tests for anyone receiving unemployment, welfare, and food stamps. I don't believe in giving something to freeloaders.
Then we have the Republicans. A party that is no longer the Republican party of old. They have been overtaken by the Tea Party. A bunch of radicals, that wants to end Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare. Why doesn't this party want to help the American people? Pure and simple, they want to cater to the millionaires and billionaires of this country. They are now a party of no and hate.
However, I will not blame it all on Republicans or Democrats. I think equal blame can be taken. One of the worst things I have ever seen to destroy America and the middle class was when President Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was at that time when millions of manufacturing jobs left America for cheap labor countries. Since then other trade agreements have been signed to allow more American jobs to go overseas.
We now live in a country where Republicans are trying to suppress people from voting. What they are really trying to do is limit the poor people from voting. Why, because many of the poorer people vote Democrat. Politicians in America are elected by who spends the most money. The candidate that spends the most money wins the election over 90% of the time. Politicians are bought by millionaires and billionaires who spend millions of dollars to get their candidate elected. What this turns out to be is that Democrats won't work with Republicans and Republicans won't work with Democrats.
That leaves us with what we have in the United States of America today. A COUNTRY WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT!!
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
I WANT TO ENCOURAGE
I have had many people ask me in the last few months different things about writing. I will try to answer most of those questions as well as I can. It is my desire to help anyone that wants to write. I have had very young people and very old people ask me questions.
WHY DIDN'T I WRITE AT AN EARLIER AGE:
Funny as it may seem I have often asked myself that same question. However, when I was young I was married and had two small children. I often worked two jobs and put in as many as seventy hours a week. To put it bluntly, I was often dead tired. Also for some reason at that time writing didn't seem as the most important thing in my life, my family was the most important.
WHAT WOULD I SAY TO A YOUNG PERSON WANTING TO WRITE:
I would say put your heart and soul into it. If you want to write go for it. Don't worry about what other people think. It is your life and if writing makes you happy then shoot for the stars. There will be rejections along the way. When I first started to write I submitted to magazines. I was rejected fourteen times before Our USA Magazine accepted one of my stories. I have now had numerous short stories published in that magazine. I am now trying to get an agent to represent me to publishers for a novel I have written. I have received so many rejections, but I continue to keep searching. Many writers were rejected many times before being published. Stephen King was rejected thirty times before, Carrie was published. The most important thing is to stay positive.
I WAS TOLD I CAN WRITE A SHORT STORY BUT NOT A NOVEL:
I had the same feeling when I first started to write. I thought I couldn't do anything else. Cher Valentino, the founder and editor of Our USA Magazine gave me so much encouragement. She gave me the inspiration to expand my horizons. I wrote a novel, Golden Haze, and had it self published. There is nothing like the feeling to a writer when they first hold that book in their hand. When someone says they can write a short story but not a novel I will tell them this. A novel is just a collection of short stories. Think of each chapter as a short story and continue the next chapter as a continuation of that story. Soon you will see that you have ten, twenty, thirty, or more short stories put together to make your novel.
SHOULD I SELF PUBLISH OR GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE:
I self published my first novel and it has received good reviews. The problem is that you have to promote that novel yourself which can be time consuming and expensive. The advantage is that it will be published the way you want it and you retain the rights to the novel. For my second novel I am going the traditional route and am searching for an agent to represent me to publishers. Trying to get an agent is harder than writing the book. It is frustrating when you receive rejection after rejection. However, never give up. I have read stories of people taking years before they got published. I read that there are about 750,000 manuscripts submitted each year and less than 3% get published. I know that is a frustrating number. So it is a tossup between self publishing or going the traditional route. You as a writer have to make that decision.
HOW CAN I GET BETTER AS A WRITER:
Another question that is often asked of me. What I did was start on a writing website to get my stories out there to see what other people thought. I wrote on Triond for quite a long time. I saw what people thought of my stories and I met many amazing fellow writers that gave me encouragement. Many of those writers I am still in contact with and consider them my friends.
WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE SUBMITTING A STORY OR NOVEL:
I learned this after I had my first novel published. Always use spell check. You are going to make mistakes in spelling but at least spell check will limit those mistakes. Another thing is have someone else read your work to proofread it before you submit. They will find mistakes and point out errors you have made in grammar and punctuation. An agent or editor wants to see the best work possible. If they see many errors you surely will be rejected. Do your best work and submit something that you will be proud of.
I hope I have been able to answer some questions that have been asked of me and I hope anyone reading this will continue to write and do their best work. Thanks to everyone that has given me encouragement and advice through the years. It has been greatly appreciated.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
WHY DIDN'T I WRITE AT AN EARLIER AGE:
Funny as it may seem I have often asked myself that same question. However, when I was young I was married and had two small children. I often worked two jobs and put in as many as seventy hours a week. To put it bluntly, I was often dead tired. Also for some reason at that time writing didn't seem as the most important thing in my life, my family was the most important.
WHAT WOULD I SAY TO A YOUNG PERSON WANTING TO WRITE:
I would say put your heart and soul into it. If you want to write go for it. Don't worry about what other people think. It is your life and if writing makes you happy then shoot for the stars. There will be rejections along the way. When I first started to write I submitted to magazines. I was rejected fourteen times before Our USA Magazine accepted one of my stories. I have now had numerous short stories published in that magazine. I am now trying to get an agent to represent me to publishers for a novel I have written. I have received so many rejections, but I continue to keep searching. Many writers were rejected many times before being published. Stephen King was rejected thirty times before, Carrie was published. The most important thing is to stay positive.
I WAS TOLD I CAN WRITE A SHORT STORY BUT NOT A NOVEL:
I had the same feeling when I first started to write. I thought I couldn't do anything else. Cher Valentino, the founder and editor of Our USA Magazine gave me so much encouragement. She gave me the inspiration to expand my horizons. I wrote a novel, Golden Haze, and had it self published. There is nothing like the feeling to a writer when they first hold that book in their hand. When someone says they can write a short story but not a novel I will tell them this. A novel is just a collection of short stories. Think of each chapter as a short story and continue the next chapter as a continuation of that story. Soon you will see that you have ten, twenty, thirty, or more short stories put together to make your novel.
SHOULD I SELF PUBLISH OR GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE:
I self published my first novel and it has received good reviews. The problem is that you have to promote that novel yourself which can be time consuming and expensive. The advantage is that it will be published the way you want it and you retain the rights to the novel. For my second novel I am going the traditional route and am searching for an agent to represent me to publishers. Trying to get an agent is harder than writing the book. It is frustrating when you receive rejection after rejection. However, never give up. I have read stories of people taking years before they got published. I read that there are about 750,000 manuscripts submitted each year and less than 3% get published. I know that is a frustrating number. So it is a tossup between self publishing or going the traditional route. You as a writer have to make that decision.
HOW CAN I GET BETTER AS A WRITER:
Another question that is often asked of me. What I did was start on a writing website to get my stories out there to see what other people thought. I wrote on Triond for quite a long time. I saw what people thought of my stories and I met many amazing fellow writers that gave me encouragement. Many of those writers I am still in contact with and consider them my friends.
WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE SUBMITTING A STORY OR NOVEL:
I learned this after I had my first novel published. Always use spell check. You are going to make mistakes in spelling but at least spell check will limit those mistakes. Another thing is have someone else read your work to proofread it before you submit. They will find mistakes and point out errors you have made in grammar and punctuation. An agent or editor wants to see the best work possible. If they see many errors you surely will be rejected. Do your best work and submit something that you will be proud of.
I hope I have been able to answer some questions that have been asked of me and I hope anyone reading this will continue to write and do their best work. Thanks to everyone that has given me encouragement and advice through the years. It has been greatly appreciated.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
GOLDEN HAZE
The dog pictured on the front cover was my actual dog, Izzy, that passed away many years ago. In a way, this book although fiction, is a tribute to her.
Golden Haze can be ordered from amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and many independent bookstores across the USA.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
FOLLOW ME
I have created this blog so that people can follow my thoughts, my writing, and comment on what write.
I know that many people will have different opinions on what my thoughts are and I would like to hear them. However, do it in a respectful manner.
Writing is a passion with me, from writing magazine articles to writing novels that I will talk about more later.
I like to write about times when I was a little boy growing up in the country up until my present time in my golden years. Getting old is nothing to worry about, it is just a different chapter in people's lives. I didn't start to write until I was almost 60. Remember that life doesn't stop when you retire.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
I know that many people will have different opinions on what my thoughts are and I would like to hear them. However, do it in a respectful manner.
Writing is a passion with me, from writing magazine articles to writing novels that I will talk about more later.
I like to write about times when I was a little boy growing up in the country up until my present time in my golden years. Getting old is nothing to worry about, it is just a different chapter in people's lives. I didn't start to write until I was almost 60. Remember that life doesn't stop when you retire.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
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