| Author |
Message |
    
Frank Mazur
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
326
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 05:41 am: |   |
I've given an upgrade to my website and included are 8 of my short stories, 7 of them free. The main intention here is to provide those readers who might be looking for authors they've not heard of with a wide sample of my writing, all without having first to pull out the wallet. So while I hope each of you will read these stories, I hope you'll pass along the site and message to others who look for new writers to read. The URL remains the same...
www.femazur.com
Thanks.
4-dollar gas? Stay home, kick back, and read a great book by F. E. Mazur.
SPINE
THE BUCKSELLER
"A BIGGER CASE" |
Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number:
1270
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 08:02 am: | |
Frank, I've been running for the past few days, but I am going to read your stories tonight even if I have to stay up 'til the wee hours to do it!
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo |
Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number:
1273
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008 - 11:08 am: | |
I read the first two and will get to the others this weekend. BTW, do you want public critiques posted here? I'm sure we'd get lots of good discussion as a result! 
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo |
Frank Mazur
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
330
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008 - 12:19 pm: | |
Be my guest, Joyce. I'm always interested in readers' reactions and whatnot.
4-dollar gas? Stay home, kick back, and read a great book by F. E. Mazur.
SPINE
THE BUCKSELLER
"A BIGGER CASE" |
Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number:
1275
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 09, 2008 - 08:16 pm: | |
I must admit I was a bit confused about why Chance did what he did in "bUSEs". I even went back and reread it to see if I'd overlooked something, but I still didn't get it. And I didn't understand who Louella was at the end. I'd be curious to know if it was clear to everyone else and I'm just afflicted with being dense right now.
I really liked the emotional content in "Crusher Run" and thought you did a great job on details, but the tense changes bothered me a little. I also didn't like where you chose to end it!
I didn't get to read anymore over the weekend because I had to finish WUTHERING HEIGHTS for the Classics group I attend monthly at the library. I'll read some more of yours this week and post comments when I'm done.
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo |
Frank Mazur
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
332
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 05:29 am: | |
Louella, in "bUSEs," is the soldier mentioned earlier who was reported killed in Iraq on the day Bud boards the bus for NY. I take some literary license here by putting her name on the bus full of explosives since Bud is only in the city for a few days.
4-dollar gas? Stay home, kick back, and read a great book by F. E. Mazur.
SPINE
THE BUCKSELLER
"A BIGGER CASE" |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
4522
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 04:09 pm: | |
I don't have much time to sit and read anymore but I took the time to read "bUSEs". I did not find it confusing. The bus was a shill to draw a crowd and blow up people. Somehow, Chance knew that and wanted to make damn sure his first shot prevented the guy from pressing a button or dialing a phone to explode the bus. Louella was among the names of dead soldiers on the bus, along with the American flags. We know Chance prevented a tragedy in the end because he was a hero and therefore got lots of new acting gigs.
What better way to kill Americans than to have a bus full of explosives driving the streets on the fourth of July??
The story had lots of detail, which you know I like. Your writing style has changed a bit, which I also like. I'll try to read more of the stories but can't say when that will be. Enjoy your vacation, Frank.
Laurel Johnson
http://laureljohnsonblogs.blogspot.com
|
Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number:
1276
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 09:14 pm: | |
I knew the bus was a decoy, but I couldn't figure out how Chance knew it, or how Bud immediately knew what Chance was going to do.
And I didn't mention it before, but I did like this story too, even with my confused brain.
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
4523
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 06:48 am: | |
I think it had something to do with the black shiny car and the men getting in and out of it. Bud saw it earlier in the story and they both saw it and the suspicious acting passenger the day of the bus gathering a crowd. To me, this was a story of friendship -- two guys who hadn't seen each other in a long time but still attuned. They knew each other. Each knew how the other's mind worked. If my best friend took a gun and shot someone in a crowd, I would not question her motives. I'd know it was a matter of life and death. I'd know she wasn't crazy or a terrorist. I'd know. It was the same with Bud and Chance.
Laurel Johnson
http://laureljohnsonblogs.blogspot.com
|
Frank Mazur
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
333
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 01:35 pm: | |
Saturday
Got things turned on at the lake and am doing a lot of sleeping, as is normally the case when my wife and I first get here with the hounds. We have five with us this summer, three of them youngsters, which means they have more energy than me. Looking to do a good share of reading, which also is the normal case.
About "bUSEs" ... Did Chance or Bud actually know what the bus contained? Well, they knew it in the same sense that people of faith "know" that God exists, although I make no such comparison in the story. But I do provide the following: 1) both Bud and Chance showed they did not take threats to their person or others (Hometown Pizza) lying down. Instead, they acted. 2) Neither really wants the gun, which sort of points to an aspect of their characters that says they are not initiators of trouble. 3) Arriving in New York, Bud the narrator asserts that it's a new world where if you wait for the proof of something, you might end up injured or dead. And 4) Chance addresses the slogan out of 9/11 by saying it doesn't suggest we know what we're doing. Yet this moment at the same time suggests that he is thinking a whole lot more about the circumstances of terrorism than others. So with this mindset, Chance might have summoned police. But what if the bus blew before police arrived? What would Chance think of himself with such a horrific result?
In developing the story, I entertained several ways to end it. But I wanted to emphasize that a suicide bomber might demand a new rule regarding the actions of an individual wanting to stop a muderous crime before it happens. I wanted some thinking to go on after the reading was done.
About "Crusher Run" ... I think I nailed that ending, Joyce, even though you aren't partial to it. I wrote and revised that ending at least a dozen times, and each time I thought I had it saying what I wanted. But days later I would read it over and realize it still wasn't right. It is now and I don't expect to change a word. There's much intended in its final sentences.
Thank you and Laurel both for taking the time and for your comments too.
4-dollar gas? Stay home, kick back, and read a great book by F. E. Mazur.
SPINE
THE BUCKSELLER
"A BIGGER CASE" |
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