Category: Writing

Fickle Finger of Fame

Posted on by thefensk

I’ve always secretly wished someone would name a sandwich after me.
That has long been my theoretical high-water mark of fame. I’ve just about given up on that one, but I’ve always subscribed to the notion that if the wind is just right, sometimes a wisp of fame might blow across one’s brow.
I feel a bit like that today because something exciting has happened: The popular YouTube cooking show, Hilah Cooking just released a new video featuring a dish inspired by my novel, The Fever. IMG_4221

I am very humbled by her effort. In the novel, the dish Huevos Rancheros Especial, was a specialty of a café that is not only mentioned, becomes a major locale in the book (as well as the upcoming sequel).
Okay, I confess, I’ve known Hilah for a quite a while and, since she is a friend, she read my novel.  I am gratified that she said she really liked it. We kind of joked about her doing a video early on, but then I realized something … she was serious: she really wanted to recreate the dish.

Ah, but first I had actually make the dish I had described. Think “Proof of Concept” here.  image
I did, and I have to admit that it was delicious and although I had completely made it up for the book, it tasted exactly like I had imagined it would.

 

imageLike any great cook, Hilah took what I did and tweaked it to fit her style. And of course, she knew what to do to make it look great on screen too. She did an awesome job!  Did I say I was humbled? I am downright gobsmacked!

So I urge you to go watch the video, and while you’re there check out some of Hilah’s other awesome videos. You will be there a while because there are a LOT.
Picture me blushing right now – I may not be famous but I am surely honored.

Hilah on YouTube

Interested in the book?  Please buy it >>>> details on THE FEVER here!
    (links to buy and more info on the novel itself)

 

 

Confession Time

Posted on by thefensk

IMG_4814-1It’s April Fool’s Day and I’m fessing up … I did play a little joke on my readers and now, finally, the truth will come out.

This is about character names. Names are always tough for a writer. My old creative writing professor at the University of Houston, Mr. Karchmer, always chastised us for worrying too much about names. Everybody did it, and looking around at a lot of the current deluge of writers, everybody still does it.
His point: they are just names, concentrate on the story.  I know writers who get baby books for ideas, and there are online guides for “most popular names” for given years. All good stuff. I have an unpublished completed draft where the main character is Tucker Bailey … those are the names of two of my cats.
For my novel, The Fever, I decided to have a little fun. I spent way too much time on this too because it was a lot harder than I imagined it would be. When I started planning the novel, although I had already worked out most of the major plot elements in my head, I needed a number of good character names. I got an idea. What about … anagrams? So I experimented with a few choice phrases that had some bearing on the plot. A few of them were zero … I don’t remember exactly what I tried at first … but then I tried lostgoldmine. I used an online anagram generator for this and got a wide range of what looked like usable words. I had to ignore the words lost, mine and gold along with combinations that included those words because they was too obvious (for example, golden and mein). 

 I poured over the lengthy list pulling out what I hoped were suitable names worthy of the characters I imagined. Sometimes I found I could combine items on the list into viable names that didn’t appear directly in the list.
Through quite a number of revisions, all the names remained intact but down the line, as I solicited input from test readers, about ¾ of them hated my main character’s name … his first name was Milt. It was too bad, too, because I kinda liked old Milt. Another character had a name that was really just too similar to another character … that was Midge. 

So in later revisions I changed them both to more accessible names. But a majority of the other character names survived intact: Smidgeon Toll, Loot Meldings, Godson Millet, Ted “Slim” Longo, Gillet Osmond .. even a place name made the cut, Dolings Motel. All should be anagrams of lost gold mine (barring a typo in this hasty blog entry).

I also added another small similar touch … Loot Meldings lived at 4653 Tesoro Rd … using a phone numberpad anagram, 4653=GOLD and of course Tesoro is Spanish for treasure.

I also have a confession … on two stray pages, I messed up and called Milt Mitch. Of course when I did a global search and replace to change Milt to Sam, those references to “Mitch” were missed. Although I corrected it in the publisher galleys, somehow that change did not make it into the Amazon kindle edition … and after MONTHS, I am still trying to get them to upload the fix. Nook, iBook, print editions are all good but the Amazon problem persists. The question, “Who the hell is Mitch” has been directed to me a number of times.

Anyway, please forgive me my bit of fun.  I think it worked out okay. 

 Interested? get more info and links to buy the book at
http://www.thefensk.com

The Story So Far …

Posted on by thefensk
img_5454I am often asked: what is The Fever about?
It’s about Sam. All you really need to know about Sam is that his life revolves around a cryptic riddle and the mystery of a lost gold mine.
Here’s a tidbit one of my readers recently shared.  Women love Sam.  Readers, I mean.  Men enjoy the story but women seem to get involved with it.
I have to admit, never expected that when I cobbled this idea together into a novel.
Back to the story:  As Sam struggles to solve the riddle, he knows deep in his heart that the clues will eventually lead him to his treasure, but his obsession has always resulted in frustrating dead ends and the danger increases every time he heads out into the unknown.
Still, he continues to trespasses over difficult terrain in all weather conditions, always seeking an elusive truth he knows is out there … somewhere.
His fruitless obsession has alienated family and friends and he even lost the woman he loved.   For what?  Something that is always just out of reach, somewhere beyond the next ridge or up the next gully.
As he manages to piece together the clues, his simmering gold fever begins to burns hot, unleashing a passion that drives him to make yet another hazardous trip into the rugged and remote West Texas wilderness.
The Fever drives him on … but how far will his lust for gold take him?
Go for the gold:  http://www.thefensk.com

Missing Texas …

Posted on by thefensk

imageI saw this photo today on Facebook. Okay, I blatantly borrowed it from a page called Texas Pride.  There, I cited it.  Great page, I am happy I found it.  This is a springtime picture from near Ennis, TX.

It just reminds me how much I miss Texas.  I have a saying: Life Intervenes.  That is pretty much the story so far … my life has intervened to the point where I sit across the country and look at pictures of springtime bluebonnets and, well … you have to sometimes say, aw, shucks.

Don’t get me wrong, where I live is okay.  It’ll do.  Locals would likely feel the same way I do now if they uprooted themselves and put themselves someplace else, even Texas.  I’ve lived in a number of different places and, really, I’ve found that life is about 90% similar just about everywhere.

When you get someplace new, you have to figure out where to get good hamburgers and which stores have the best deals.   It might rain too much or not rain enough.  Then you have to figure out the seasons …  winter …  Is there one?  Or is it too much?  Same with summer.

But no matter where I live … Texas is home.  It always will be for me.  That’s probably why I write about Texas …  I mean, in my novels.   The story in The Fever stretches from Austin and Houston to West Texas  and back again, and I tried to weave the plot around a real piece of Texas lore that added some mystery and suspense.  People seem to like it.  Most of the reviews reflect on the general “Texas” feeling I tried to impart so I guess it was successful in that regard.  Give it a try … experience some Texas Fever, like I’m feeling today …

http://www.thefensk.com

Transplants … Fascinating

Posted on by thefensk

Albert Jefferies (Al-J) and Ashley Larimore continue to recover from last week’s back-to-back heart transplants. Both of these brave young people have endured a lifetime of health problems and now have a chance to change that. They both still have a ways to go … it is major surgery and like any major surgery they have some serious recovery time. I continue to remember them both in my prayers and wish them the best.

This weekend I found myself contemplating why I was so fascinated with these two stories. It was pure happenstance that I even found out about Al-J, and Ashley came to my attention because she responded to Al-J’s story like a lot of people did … but in her case it was to tell him that he was not alone, she was in the same situation.

Anyway, I am surprised I hadn’t thought about this before, but I have several coincidences in my past that serve to link me to things involving transplants. I just didn’t consciously put them all together until this weekend.

Well, I actually had thought about the most recent coincidence. This was my on-line friendship with Susan Steinsapir. Hers was likely one of the first heart disease/transplant stories that was chronicled in depth on-line. The world-wide internet community rallied around her, there were even articles written about the power of the internet bringing people together for this one common purpose. A bunch of us knew her from postings on internet interest groups called newsgroups. She kept us informed of her status via emails, and eventually web pages popped up. Compared to today, it was quite primitive, but we keep up with her case in almost real-time. But her case also had a sad ending … it turned out she was simply too ill to survive the operation. That was twenty years ago this past January. You can read about her on this tribute page a mutual friend has kept since that time: http://www.mimimart.com/susan/obit.htm (given the age .. some links may no longer be valid).

But there were three other coincidences in my life I hadn’t considered in this context. For some reason these all popped into my mind this weekend.

Two of the most famous pioneers in the realm of heart surgery worked in my hometown, Houston, Texas: Doctors Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey. When the first heart transplant was announced in 1967, by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, I was fascinated by it. I read everything I could and local news stories concentrated on the two famous local surgeons.

The first coincidence … I went to grade school with Dr. Cooley’s daughter for a while. It’s true. Okay, I hardly knew her but we were in the same class! I didn’t realize that until after his first transplant, but I still remember her. Okay, it is pretty lame, but it IS a coincidence, right?

After Barnaard’s transplant, there were several transplants in the US, but Dr. Cooley completed what is regarded as the first successful heart transplant in May of 1968, when he operated on a gentleman by the name of Everett Thomas. Mr. Thomas lived for about seven months with that heart. Without the transplant he would have been dead in days. The reason I remember this was for one simple reason. Like I said, I was fascinated with the subject … so I had kept up with the news and read everything I could about his progress. Shortly after I read that Mr. Thomas had been released from the hospital and was living in Houston to be close to Dr. Cooley, I went to Catholic Mass one morning. I liked to get up and walk to the early service. This one Sunday morning, a family filed into a pew two rows ahead of me. It was Everett Thomas. I recognized him because of my fascination with the story and had seen his picture dozens of times. I respected their privacy and after Mass they quietly filed out of the church with their secret intact. I never saw them again at that service. In reality I was too shy to have ever even thought about approaching him, but I was amazed that here was this famous guy, with somebody else’s heart, sitting almost within arm’s reach. It had quite an impact on my fifteen year old brain.
Okay, third coincidence … years later I worked closely with a woman … we shared an office for seven or eight years. Years earlier she had been a secretary for Dr. DeBakey. I mean, she worked for him for years. She knew him. He called her by her first name. Sure, for me it was an association removed by a couple of degrees, but how strange is that … two associations with two famous heart surgeons?

Okay, so maybe I’m stretching the psychological boundaries of newsworthy fascinations, but who cares? I will continue to check on the progress of my newest heroes, Al-J and Ashley. Their recovery continues … small issues with blood pressure and pain, so everybody keep the prayers up. These kids deserve a long and happy life.
Keep up with Al-J here: http://www.teamalj.com
Ashley’s Heart Journey FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ashleysheartjourney/

Giveaway!

Posted on by thefensk

I’m giving away two kindle copies of my novel , The Fever. 

I think one has already gone so one left.  Go for it. Follow me on Twitter. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=RNOTE2AA1ZDP&K=A1OSXEX6OALPKP&R=362YS4V405095&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fgiveaway.amazon.com%2Fp%2Facdf473238aae0a6%3Fref_%3Dpe_1771210_134854370&A=9ZZZHGFSIGAQAV1JT0KRTAPALFEA&H=5C02ZSNQKYGZCDLKAED6C4TBGH8A&ref_=pe_1771210_134854370

The Sequel

Posted on by thefensk

People keep asking me about the sequel to The Fever. 

Both the initial draft and first revision pass are complete.  I’m about a third of the way through a second pass, firmly in what I call “who the heck wrote this crap?” mode. 

Bear in mind that I have made just enough money on The Fever to definitely NOT quit my day job, so it is slow going.  

But it is coming along, with more than a few surprises.  Stay tuned! 

http://www.thefensk.com

A Domain!

Posted on by thefensk

imageMy cat Cookie is relieved!

I finally decided to go with my own domain.

Sadly, thomasfenske-dot-com was already in use.
No, seriously, it was.  Kudos to you,  thomas fenske, wherever you are.

Then I thought about my long-time handle, thefensk … it is a user name, it is an email handle, it is even my twitter handle … why not  use it as a unique and catchy domain name?

So, thefensk.com was born.  I think Cookie approves.

In case you were wondering, my name is pronounced Fence-key … but going way back some people seemed to call me Fensk … not that I liked it, but I tolerated it.
in the early days of the internet (I’ve been on it since long before Al Gore ever heard of it) I could easily use fenske as a username.  But there are more of us than you might think and it wasn’t long before variations were needed.  It is not a common name but it is not rare either.  Once, on some site, “thefensk” was one of the suggested usernames and I sort of liked the idea of it.  The suggestion came about, I’m sure, due to my first name and middle initial .. THomas E FENSKe … thefensk.  I liked it.

So there it is … same website (for now) but I will be updating it very soon.

thefensk.com … www.thefensk.com … use whatever you want.

 

Trench Warfare

Posted on by thefensk

enemiesI’m doing a rare book review for a writing buddy, Richard Barnes.  We have both published books in the last year from the same publisher.  It’s a good book, about The Great War.  Below is the text I used for several other reviews I’ve posted.
————-
The release of Enemies was well-timed, coinciding with the centennial of the War To End All Wars. What we are presented with is a story within a story — something I can’t say very much about or I would divulge spoilers … but I will say the secondary story reflects events roughly fifty years after the war so in that respect those events are fifty years ago. With this, the author created an ingenious vehicle to combine the past with that present.

Ah, but the war, it’s mostly about the war. It follows two young men, one a young Canadian fighting for God, King, and Country, and a young German, fighting for the glory of the Kaiser and the Fatherland. Despite the obvious differences, i.e. fighting for the opposing forces, they follow very similar tracks in their respective journeys to the front.

Most “war stories” tend to dwell upon the big picture and the generals but Barnes effectively brings us an intimate portrayal of what I like to call the real war. Main characters Brian and Jurgens both suffer through the training and the boredom outside of combat. They both dwell upon questions of “what if” regarding hasty pre-war almost-romances. They both have close friendships and rough relationships while in the service and they both endure loss from the ranks of those associations. And of course, they are both thrust into situations no young person should ever have to endure, never knowing what the big picture of what they are doing is supposed to be, never knowing if the screaming death of constant shelling will find them, never knowing if a they will be called away by an unseen sniper’s bullet, never knowing if the next trench, the next whistle blow, or the next muddy water filled crater will be the last thing they see or hear on this earth.

I have a degree in History and am a student of this war and I have to give Barnes credit, he puts the reader right there in the trenches ON BOTH SIDES. His research was spot on and his military background gave him insight into a front line soldier’s mind. That he can convey that into a work of fiction is remarkable.

I think any reader will enjoy this work … it is not just a war story, it is a story of the human condition, the fears and frailties, the hopes and dreams, and ultimately it is a story of remembrance and resolution.