Rami Ungar The Writer

A Novel Idea Part 2

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Living and Life, Writing
Tags: college life, novel, short story, writing

It’s unusual for me to publish two posts in a single day, so three might be a sign of the apocalypse, but I’m going to write this one anyway, so if you would kindly not hide in your basement for fear of meteors and aliens and earthquakes, I would be grateful.

If you remember a few months ago, I attended an event funded by the English Undergraduate Organization (EUGO) called “A Novel Idea”, which was for studnets who wanted to publish novels to sit down and hear from professors with publishing experience. The event was so successful that tonight they held a “Part 2”, which I was just at. We heard from a professor who worked on reference books for librarians trying to find the best of certain genres, and we discussed the pros and cons of self-publishing, the revolution of e-books (there’s a post two back that also covers this topic), and other topics. One of the things I learned was that with the emergence of e-books, publishers are now more willing to tlak to authors who aren’t represented by literary agents. Since I don’t have an agent (yet, anyway), that definitely got my interest, so maybe tonight I’ll see if there are any publishers that don’t mind a writer without an agent.

We also discussed the use of publishing short stories before publishing a novel (still relevant, especially with e-mags) and books that have defied the usual statisitcs associated with breaking away from the usual publishing process (50 Shades of Grey being the most talked about).

So, now that I’m back in the dorms, I’ll finish what homework I have, and then do a little work on getting Reborn City into book (or e-book) form. Wish me luck, and if you have any suggestions or helpful ideas, let me know.

Predictions: Once Upon A Time

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Predictions
Tags: Once Upon A Time, predictions

I was a little hesitant to do another prediciton post, but the last one got a lot of views (over 20 in just two days) that I felt compelled to do another one:

(the following post contains spoilers, so if you have not seen the Once Upon A Time season finale, please skip this post or wait to read it until you have seen the finale)

So, I’m watching the season finale on Hulu this morning, and can I just say I did not see that coming? After slaying Maleficient underground in order to get the love potion Rumplestilstskin/Mr. Gold created, Emma barely manages to save Henry and restore everyone’s memories with the power of her love for her son. Afterwards though, Mr. Gold, reunited with Belle, throws the potion into a well and brings magic back to Storybrooke (whether for his own power or to find Baelfire is not made clear, but it’s probably a bit of both).

So here’s my predicitons:

First, now that magic is back, it won’t spread beyond Storybrooke, which will remain in the strange isolation it’s always been in; however, the magic will allow Regina to return to power and become an evil overlord hiding in the forest. Rumplestiltskin (his name is so hard to spell), will also return to power, but his evil ways will put some strain on his relationship with Belle, which may cause him to start to doubt himself and his goals. The fairies will regian their abilities, and Red/Ruby will be able to turn into a wolf again (that’s going to be a problem; where’s her cloak?), and others will tap into the magic that’s now returned (I’m pegging Henry to be a magical prodigy).

Second, we’ll still have flashbacks, like how Snow White and Charming/James took back the kingdom(s)–I have no idea whether King George’s or Regina’s kingdoms will be conquered or both, all I know is Regina lived in the same castle as always, and Snow White and Charming live in a different one. Also, I think we’ll find out how Regina gained her mother’s magic (I don’t think it was through her mother kindly teaching her), and how Maleficient and Regina became friends. Oh, and how about how Regina gains the dark curse and the sleeping curse? That could work.

Third, relationships: Pinnochio/August, restored thanks to the return of magic, may become a romantic interest to Emma, while Emma, Henry, Snow White, and Charming will adjust to being a family and living together (tough to do, especially when your daughter is around the same age as you). Regina will try to reach out to the few people she has left, and maybe learn a little bit about herself; Jefferson may become an ally to Emma once he has his daughter back (and maybe a 2nd love interest); Astrid/Nova and Leroy/Grumpy will try to resume their relationship (or whatever they had together); Henry’s father, falsely reported dead, may make an appearance (I don’t know why, but I think Henry’s dad might actually be Baelfire, turned bitter by his father’s betrayal. Talk about a plot twist, huh?), and rock the whole family; and in additon to the Rumplestiltskin/Belle thing I mentioned above, we may find out what happened to Baelfire and resolve the conflict between him and his father.

Fourth, interlopers and outsiders: remember when I said that magic would probably not extend beyond Storybrooke? I never said anything about new people coming in, did I? I bet we haven’t seen the last of Wonderland, and how long before somebody like the government noticing the strangeness of Storybrooke and sending in the troops to investigate and harness the force of magic for national security purposes? I can so see Regina and Rumplestiltskin wanting to get in on that for their own purposes.

Finally, minor points: new characters and backstories will be introduced; Jiminy Cricket will resume his grasshopper form; the blind witch from the Hansel and Gretel episode will return to wreak havoc; the residents of Storybrooke won’t return to the Enchanted Forest till near the end of 2nd season, at least; Prince Thomas/Sean may disappear again, right before his (re)marriage to Ashley/Cinderella; and maybe we’ll see how magic is possible, and perhaps primal forces, neither good nor bad, that are magic in and of themselves and may interfere with the events of the stories. Oh, let’s not forget, we’ll see more magical creatures out there! Count on it.

Thanks for the rant, I’m done till another season finale leaves me wanting to guess at what happens next.

The E-Book Age: How It’s Affecting The Already Published

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Reflections, Writing
Tags: writing

Alright, so I’m talking to my dad on the phone yesterday, and he says there’s this article in the Columbus Dispatch about writers and e-books that I should check out. I go online and I find the article (the link for which I include below). The article, titled “Not 2 Be Missed; So you want to write for a living?”, talks about how most authors, particularly mystery, thriller and romance writers, used to publish one book a year.

According to the article, not anymore.

With e-books, and our youth becoming so fixated on having the latest stuff now, authors are pressed by their publishers to put out more novels, and even short stories and novellas, in order to keep interest in them and to keep sales up (the biggest concern for any company or manufacturer). It’s a sound strategy, as a teen with an iPad or Nook might be more interested in buying a 99 cent short story first rather than a $14 dollar e-book or a $26 hardcover. And heck, a short story is a good way to get people excited for the novel, right?

In an age where we’re used to getting what we want in an instant at the tip of our fingers, it’s made things harder for writers to say the least. Getting the novel just right (or just “done”, as my English teacher in high school would’ve said), has taken a backseat to meeting demand and keeping attention on yourself.

I’m trying to enter the industry at an interesting time.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/05/13/so-you-want-to-write-for-a-living.html

President Obama Clarifies His Views (FINALLY!)

Posted: May 9, 2012 in Politics and Leadership
Tags: government, human rights, LGBT rights, politics and leadership, proper decisions

President Obama’s campaign logo with a rainbow added in. If that doesn’t signify support of gay rights, I don’t know what does.

Well, it’s official folks: President Barack Obama has fully endorsed gay marriage (correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure he’s the first US president in history to do so). Can I just say, Hallelujah! As someone who has gay family members and who believes all people should be treated fairly and not discriminated against just because of something in their genetics, I think this has been long overdue, but hey, better late than never. Who knew that all it would take to get him to say “yes” to gay marriage and gay rights was Joe Biden saying he felt “comfortable” with people of the same sex getting married?

We’ve come a long way in the past two decades, longer than I’ve been around actually, on the subject of gay rights. In just a few short years, most Americans are supportive of the LGBT community, and as time goes on I think this support is only going to increase, while voices who oppose LGBTers will be marginalized in society. So to President Obama, thanks for finally giving the LGBT community your support. And to anyone reading this post who is LGBT or knows someone who is, let’s continue to fight for the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders everywhere until their rights can no longer be denied across the nation.

Oh, speaking of gay marriage, I just remembered something: tonight, there’s a new episode of Law & Order: SVU involving attacks on gays, and somehow Detective Fin Tutuola’s son, who is openly gay and supposed to be getting married, ties into it. Talk about great timing, huh?

Review: Castle Season Finale (Plus Some Predictions)

Posted: May 8, 2012 in Predictions, Review
Tags: entertainment, predictions, review, shippers

(The following post contains some spoilers)

Okay, so last night I’m watching the final episode of Season 4 of Caslte and–finally!–Castle and Beckett hook up! It was what every fan of the show has been waiting for over the course of four years! Along with that, Beckett has resigned from the police force after another near-brush with death and identifying the man who shot her (who I’m pretty sure played Paul in Dollhouse). The tension was unbearable, the confession scene was heartbreaking, and when they finally hooked up, ABC couldn’t show us that much because the FCC would fine them. Other than that last part, a great episode. 4.7 out of 5, with 0.3 taken off for leaving us on a cliffhanger ending!

Alright, now onto my predictions for the inevitable season 5 that will occur(I do so love to rant about what I think will happen in a show, I just rarely get to do it):

Now first, Beckett off the force. I know I should cover the relationship of Castle and Beckett, but I have to cover this because Beckett and Castle’s relationship was founded on solving crimes. Well, Beckett will probably go rogue for maybe 3 episodes at the most, but she’ll be allowed back on the force by Captain Gates, with a few conditions. How it’ll happen, I’ll leave that up to speculation.

Second, Castle and Beckett’s relationship: obviously fans might get bored since the romantic tension isn’t there anymore, but I say that it’s fun to see a fledgeling couple who work together figure things out. Caslte and Beckett will have to get used to each other in a whole new way, and they’ll have to learn to work together as lovers and not just partners. Also, expect at least one or two fights along the way.

Third, the cliffhanger: either that Mr. Smith we finally met for the first time at the end of the episode is going to live and find some way to hold the men who want to kill Beckett at bay, or he’ll die, but his information will still be hidden, so we won’t find out who’s trying to kill Beckett till the end of the season at least. Annoying, I know, but they have to hold the best stuff for last or people will lose interest.

Fourth, new episode ideas (I had such fun coming up with these ideas for new cases):

1. A writer friend of Castle’s turns to his help when murders from his book start happening in the real world (Castle could be annoyed that Beckett’s paying so much attention to this writer).

2. A hard-core anime fan gets murdered, leaving a trail of questions, especially since some stuff in his collection gets stolen (so many jokes, so many anime fans to potentially offend, but it’d be worth it).

3. A powerful lawyer gets killed right before a big case, setting off a political maelstrom that impedes the investigation.

4. A new law prevents Castle and Beckett from investigating someone’s murder, which could be racially motivated (I’d love to see the characters’ views on a case like Trayvon’s).

5. A murder brings up an old case for Captain Gates, putting Beckett, Castle, and Gates in close proximity for this case (bullets will metaphorically fly).

6. A series of seemingly unrelated murders are apparently related, as all the victims seem to have connections to Castle’s mother, including her ex-husband and a former rival actress. Could this also mean Castle’s life in danger?

7. A murder leads back to the government, and Castle’s supposed father.

8. A murder brings up an old case of Captain Gates, and puts Castle and Gates in closer proximity than the latter would like.

9. The final showdown with 3XK.

And for minor plot points: Alexis will be around less and have college problems; Castle’s mother will be around more; Gates may actually come to like Castle, especially if he saves her life; Esposito gets a new girlfriend (and gets razzed for it); and old flames for Beckett and Castle keep showing up.

Those are my predictions. Thanks for reading my rant, Castle shippers everywhere. Have a good one.

Politicians Comparing the Holocaust: CUT IT OUT!

Posted: May 2, 2012 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections
Tags: government, politics and leadership, proper decisions, WWII/Holocaust

Today I check the news on AOL, and what do I find? Two stories where politicians and ministers have been comparing legislation to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. My plea to all politicians, on both sides of the political spectrum: please stop! For the love of my family and my people, please stop making those comparisons! It’s trivializing the Holocaust and the memories of those who were victims of Hitler, turning a tragedy into a political cudgel akin to what socialism has become.

I know there are people out there who are passionate about the issues, but to compare the issues to what Hitler did is upsetting to a lot of people, and I think it’s an overreaction. You can’t take an issue, even one like laws regulating child labor on farms, and turn it into the Nuremburg laws. It’s taking both the former and the latter completely out of context and turning them into something they are not. Nor can you compare laws trying to protect the health of women to people getting loaded into cattle cars and sent to Auschwitz or Dachau, because it’s taking these two different things out of context. You wouldn’t want me comparing an issue or a piece of legislation to the terror attacks of 9/11, right? I didn’t think so.

So, to all those elected officials and to all those who try to guide people through faith, I ask you to stop with the Holocaust references. It’s offensive, it’s taking a very dark event in our past and marginalizing it, and it’s counterproductive, especially if you want to stay in office and a large part of your constituency is Jewish. Besides, people prefer leaders who unite other leaders and help their people, not politicians who divide other politicians and who offend their people, so not using the Holocaust is actually a pretty sound strategy.

On an unrelated topic, yesterday I reached one-thousand views on Rami Ungar the Writer. Thank you all who have been reading my blog and staying with me all this time. I hope we’re still together a thousand views later.

Spring Quarter 2012: Half-Time Report

Posted: April 27, 2012 in Journalism, Living and Life, Writing
Tags: college life, journalism, Ohio State University, writing

It’s spring quarter, the last quarter of the school year, and since Ohio State is switching to semesters in the fall, the last quarter ever. So I have one thing to say to all those listening: somebody slow the quarter down! I’m not kidding, it’s going by waaay too fast. I mean, I’m enjoying my classes, and I’m doing well in them, so why are we already halfway through? I feel like we should still be in week 3, not at the end of week 5! This is why I hate the saying, “time flies when you’re having fun”.

Alright, now that I’ve told everybody in the blogosphere how I feel this spring is going by way too fast, let’s get into the particulars: grade-wise I seem to be doing well, if my quiz scores are any indication. I’ve scored consistently in the 80’s, 90’s, and 100’s on most of them, so I’m not too worried about struggling. I’ve also learned a lot, including that I actually enjoy very old English literature a lot more than I thought I would, and that literature in any period reflects a lot of what society it was written in and what the author was aiming for with the words they write.

I’ve also been pretty busy, what with writing two articles for the Pulse, and taking part in Holocaust Awareness Week and Cover the Night. Not too mention I’m at work almost everyday, and being the financial aid office, spring is busy season, so I’m rarely without something to do. But hey, I’m learning new stuff on the job and `helping out, and getting paid for it too, so what’s not to love?

As for writing, I’ve got three short stories and a poem I’m waiting to hear back on, and once a friend of mine is done looking at the first chapter of Reborn City, I’ll start looking for an agent or submitting to contests, I haven’t decided which yet (and on that, I’d like everyone’s opinions).

So here’s hoping to a good rest of the quarter, let’s hope it slows down and brings plenty of good stuff, particularly in the realms of grades of written works.

An Evening With Deborah Lipstadt

Posted: April 25, 2012 in Uncategorized
Tags: college life, journalism, online magazine, religious organizations, WWII/Holocaust

Deborah Lipstadt speaking in the auditorium of the Ohio State University Hillel on April 24, 2012

I had a wonderful evening tonight. Why, you ask? I got to hear Deborah Lipstadt speak! For those of you who don’t know, Deborah Lipstadt is the formost expert on Holocaust deniers and how to combat them. I read her book, Denying the Holocaust, and I found it very informative. It was amazing to hear her speak.

During the course of the hour-long talk, Professor Lipstadt talked about some fo the methods of Holocaust deniers and their motivations, how she came to research and write about the topic, and, what I thought was most amazing, how she was sued by a henier from the United Kingdom named David Irving because she’d mentioned him in her book and he was accusing her of libel.

That was pretty amazing in itself: with the help of Princess Diana’s lawyer, she ripped this guy to shreds on the stand, and all without putting the Holocaust and its truth on the stand! Now the guy’s a disgrace, forced to “verdict-deny”.

What I took away from it though, besides the fact that I need to do some more studying of the Holocaust (it’s the focus of my history major, after all), is that, even ten years after the trial wrapped up, Deborah Lipstadt still considers herself very lucky that she won that trial. I find that very beautiful.

Tomorrow, I’ll put this, and all the other events of Holocaust Awareness Week, into an article for the Pulse. I’ll let you guys know when it comes out. Should be an interesting read.

Review: Vanessa Bayer & John Mulaney

Posted: April 20, 2012 in Living and Life, Review
Tags: celebrities, college life, comedians, comedy, entertainment, review, Saturday Night Live

Alright, so last night I went to Ohio State’s Union (yes, I’m naming my university now; since the article came up and my stats went through the roof, people have obviously seen the article and know the Pulse is an OSU publication, so what’s the point in hiding it now?) to see Vanessa Bayer and John Mulaney perform. Now Vanessa Bayer is a cast member of SNL, and you know how I love SNL, right? So I was super excited to see her live. John Mulaney I was less familiar with, but I found myself liking him very much, as you’ll soon see.

So, the show started out with a surprise opening act by (and I hope he’ll forgive me if I spell his name wrong) Shen Wang: a Chinese-American comedian from New York with a deep voice and the funniest drunk idiot stories about himself. He was pretty good, and he really connected to the audience, pointing out that our mascot was a poisonous tree nut. Smooth, man.

Then Vanessa Bayer came on, and boy was she awesome! She made fun of herself, of what she was like in college, she even showed us a video she’d made when she’d tried one of those dating video services. It was just great to see her live and hear her do her Miley impersonation. Huh-lare-eee-ose!

Vanessa Bayer, John Mulaney, and a very blurry Shen Wang. So sorry about the quality of the photo.

And finally, John Mulaney with his stories of black-outs, and his making-fun of whatever was on people’s T-shirts. This uy was great; he even told us about how he was confused for an Asian American woman as a child (strangely) and made fun of Law & Order: SVU, or more specifically, Ice-T’s character. Great job.

All in all, I gave the show–which I assume is playing in some other city right about now–a 5 out of 5. (And for those of you who think I don’t do any bad reviews, I just haven’t seen any bad shows or movies lately. But seriously, do you want me to recommend bad stuff or good stuff to you?)