Recent Newspaper Article in The Daily Courier, Prescott, AZ, 12-24-13

Thought you, the readers of my blog, would enjoy seeing this article on me published in our local newspaper of record here in Prescott, AZ: The Daily Courier.

Fred
_________________________________________________

12/24/2013 6:02:00 AM
Career move
Local man transitions from creating television shows to sci-fi, children's books

Tamara Sone
The Daily Courier

PRESCOTT VALLEY - While working an 8-hour day may seem like an eternity for some people, working 12 to 14-hours at a time is normal for author Frederick Fichman.

"Sometimes it's just not enough time. Time disappears when you're sitting there banging away at the computer," Fichman said. "All of a sudden you're into a story. It's like you go into an altered state because you are so into what you are doing."

Fichman's most popular work is "Seti", which was published by Penguin Books in 1990. The novel originally began as a screenplay, according to Fichman.

"I was working with David Putnam, head of Columbia Pictures, to make 'Seti' into a movie. It was very close to the time when 'Close Encounters' came out," Fichman said. "They paid me some money for it, had me do a couple of rewrites, and it was put on the fast track. But then Columbia got sold, so David Putnam was out and all the line of films he had slated to do were out."

Not wanting to give up on "Seti", Fichman pitched the book to Penguin Books. The company agreed to publish the novel. The book sold more than 12,000 copies in the U.S. and was picked up by publishers in England, Canada, and Australia. He is currently working on a third book to complete the trilogy.

In addition to writing science fiction and mystery novels, Fichman has penned a variety of non-fiction works.

His "Visit the Zoo" 12-book series educates children, teens and adults on 120 animals often seen in zoos across the country. The books include information such as the population status of each animal, if they are endangered or not, and descriptions of their natural habitat, diet and longevity. Fichman took all of the photographs contained in the series.

"The books are like a docent walking right with you" Fichman said.

Fichman's zoo series recently caught the attention of Prince William of England. Fichman proudly shows off a letter he received from The Duke of Cambridge's private secretary, Miguel Head, on Sept. 30, singing the book's praises.

"His Royal Highness is certainly supportive of all and any efforts to encourage young people to appreciate the world around them," the letter read.

Fichman credits much of his success to the development of new technology and e-books. He has published e-books through Nook, Kindle and Kobo. However, with that success comes a lot of work.

"You have to be constantly marketing and promoting your book until it takes off. There may be a million books up on Kindle, so you are competing with all those books," Fichman said. "But you know what, even though it takes time and it takes work, there's something satisfying about doing it yourself."

While Fichman studied journalism and English at the University of Kansas, writing wasn't his first career path.

Fichman worked as a television executive for ABC for nearly 30 years. He began his stint in the industry when he was just 21 years old, working for cartoon giants Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. The company produced a variety of popular cartoons such as The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, and The Smurfs.

Fichman's job at Hanna-Barbera was to check all of the background cells that would be photographed to create the cartoons.

"It was all hand-done back then, there was no animation like there is today," Fichman said.

Fichman was promoted to a variety of jobs throughout his career in the television industry. From running ABC's music department, juggling a $50 million budget, to writing scripts for shows like "The Odd Couple", Fichman steadily climbed the corporate ladder in Hollywood.

Working in the television industry, offered Fichman the unique opportunity to mix and mingle with Hollywood A-listers and power brokers.

"I had so many experiences I could sit here all day and tell you stories about the people I met. It runs from presidents to celebrities," Fichman said, laughing. "I could write a book."

For more information about Fichman's books, visit www.FrederickFichman.com.

New "Visit the Zoo" Videos Just Released

My 12-volume Book Series, "Visit the Zoo" written under my pen name Tom Smith, is crammed full of several hundred still pictures. There are just over 120 animals featured in the books with anywhere from 2-4 pictures for each animal.

But, during the time of my research and photography for those animals I also shot a lot of video, most of it in HD 1080p. And I decided I was going to put that video to use and let you see some video for free. I wanted those beautiful animals to come to life for you. So, I have put together 5 short videos featuring some of the animals in the "Visit the Zoo" series. They are titled:

 

Introduction

Meerkat

Bonobo

Giraffe

Panda

 

I have uploaded these videos to You Tube. Here is the url:

 

http://www.youtube.com/fjfichman

 

All of my videos are posted on that You Tube Channel. Give them a look and comment or share. Tell me what you think. Your Feedback is so important to me. It lets me know what you think, what you like, what you don't like and what you would like to see in the future in both video and in my books. And please try to visit my websites as well:

 

http://www.frederickfichman.com

http://visit-the-zoo.com

 



 

 

Please also know that I sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. All the best from my family to yours.

 

 

Fred F







Strange and Possible

First, the Strange. Following, is a short press release caption for the above picture from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA: 

This nighttime view of Saturn's north pole shows a bizarre six-sided hexagon feature encircling the entire north pole. The red color indicates the amount of 5-micron wavelength radiation, or heat, generated in the warm interior of Saturn that escapes the planet. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

More Info for all of you space geeks out there, like me:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2007-034

 

 

And Now, The Possible. From Space.com:

 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected water in the atmospheres of five planets beyond our solar system. The five exoplanets with hints of water are all scorching-hot, Jupiter-size worlds that are unlikely to host life as we know it. But finding water in their atmospheres still marks a step forward in the search for distant planets that may be capable of supporting live, researchers said.

 

The Hubble Space Telescope

 

As an author of science fiction,  I love to consider the strangeness and the possibilities of both of these just released pieces of information. First, what is a hexagon shape object doing at the north pole of the planet Saturn? What would cause a seemingly designed structure to be formed naturally on that planet? The researchers and scientists believed it is a naturally caused phenomenon generated by the fierce wind patterns that circle the planet. What I want to know, as a science fiction author, what causes winds to form such a perfectly symmetrical structure on such a grand scale?

 

Secondly, let's extrapolate from what researchers have discovered on five planets beyond our own solar system, on alien planets. It would not be to great of a leap for me, as a science fiction author, to assume that if large massive scalding hot worlds contain water vapor in their planetary atmosphere then it is possible that the smaller cooler rocky planets in those alien solar systems might contain water as well. The smaller rocky planets, not unlike Earth, may contain even higher concentrations of water on those Earth-like planets. Those planets might contain microbial life. Those planets might contain intelligent sentient life, like us, like human beings.

 

All of this new data is the wonderful part about being a science fiction author. I can dream, I can imagine, I can speculate, I can propose "What If" scenarios and I can write about that speculation. It is, admittedly, an escape from the daily grind of bad news, from past history of bad events. It is the possibility of hope and possibility while we consider the beauty of life itself and the vastness and mystery of the universe we live in.

 

And yet here again, in this blog, I will shameless promote my work. Please take time to visit my website at www.frederickfichman.com or go directly to Amazon Kindle or BarnesandNoble Nook or KOBO Books or the Apple iBookstore and look over my work and consider buying a book or two. Just type in my author name is those bookseller home page search boxes; Frederick Fichman. I have two exciting manuscripts I am working on right now, "SETI, Conception", book III in the SETI Trilogy and "The Feather" a fantasy about the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804.

 

Tomorrow, who knows what exciting and fascinating news may surprise us. It is always something to anticipate.

Something Different

And now for something different...

I thought I would share with the world through my writing blog some of the more pithy posts I put up on Facebook today, in reverse chronological order:

Okay, one more item for today and I will leave you all alone and stop posting on FB.
So, people have come up to me, sometimes perfect strangers, and they say..."Hey You...I respond by saying...Yes...you seem to know about things...and I say, yes, that's true, I do know about things...well then, can you tell me what is Yoiking?" Here are two perfect examples of the lost SAMI art of Yoiking, popular with Laplanders.

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

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

I've been hearing a great deal lately about Body Mass Index. I saw this in our local rag newspaper this a.m. and thought I would pass it along to you as part of my continuing Public Service program to my Friends, Followers and certain n'er-do-wells who are sneaking a peek at my Facebook page.

"So I says to the doctor, so I says...Hey Doc...it hurts when I go like this...and he says, and he says...well, don't go like that!!..."

From JPL:

This nighttime view of Saturn's north pole shows a bizarre six-sided hexagon feature encircling the entire north pole. The red color indicates the amount of 5-micron wavelength radiation, or heat, generated in the warm interior of Saturn that escapes the planet. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

More Info for all of you space geeks out there, like me:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2007-034

Please visit my websites, buy some of my books on Amazon Kindle, Barnesand Noble Nook or Apple ibooks.

www.frederickfichman.com
www.visit-the-zoo.com
www.roadies.us

Billions

First, let me apologize for getting this blog out so late. We were in the middle of a move that took us from the desert to the mountains here in Arizona. Two reasons for the move, at elevation it is cooler and the air is cleaner. I'll do better and quicker next time.

Now what you are looking at above is the Hubble Extreme Deep Field image taken several years ago. You are looking back in time billions of years into the heart of the universe. The splotches you see in this compilation photograph are galaxies and stars. The Milky Way galaxy, where we live on Planet Earth, is a common spiral galaxy not unlike some of the galaxies you see in this image. There are hundreds of millions of stars in the Milky Way, some scientists think 400 million stars, some think more.

I wanted you to see this image so you can get some idea of how big the universe really is, incomprehensible in human terms and breath taking in scope for what I am about to tell you. It is the latest estimate from astronomers as to how many earth like planets may exist in the universe. And finally, as years go by this number will probably increase dramatically.

But try and get your head around this number. Astronomers now estimate there may be earthlike planets around 9 billion stars (suns like our own) in the known universe. In other words, there may be 9 billion "earths," or more, in our universe. That's 9 billion opportunities for life to exist. And that life is in various stages of development. Some life is less advanced than what we have here on earth, some life is so far advanced that intelligent creatures could have the same advancement and capabilities like we have over the world of ants on our earth.

That is why I love to write science fiction because it is so much fun to speculate on what could be out there. What might be visiting our planet or at least observing our planet. And all I ask is that you pull away every once in awhile from the grindstone, from the television monitor, from the day to day grind of living and use  your imagination and explore in  your mind those possibilities for life beyond earth, advanced life.

To help in that endeavor the third book in my "SETI" series is currently "IN WORK." Give me a few months and it will be finished and the SETI Trilogy will be complete. But until then, let's see what Comet Ison does in the coming weeks. Will it light up the sky or not? Maybe you can check out  books I and II, "SETI" and "SETI, The Journey" on Kindle...links on my website www.frederickfichman.com. And of course, let's all have a wonderful holiday season, here on earth or on an earth 100 light years from our earth.

The Grasshopper

 
Sometimes there are You Tube  videos that are just "Cool to the Max" like this one from the California-based rocket launch company,
Space X. This video was shot from a remote helicopter with an HD camera strapped to its belly. The video looks like animation, but it is not...it's live video. The under 2-minute video records the test launch of the vertical launch and landing of the Grasshopper space launch vehicle. The test launch occurred at the test flight facility in McGregor, Texas on a clear bright day, flat horizon southwest of Waco.

Is this the future of space launch capability? Time will tell but from looking at this video it does seem possible.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkItO-0a4

btw...the picture above...I shot this on a window screen in Texas, not far from Waco...

VISIT THE ZOO

I've recently selected my book, "VISIT The ZOO, vol. VI" to be listed in the Amazon Kindle Owners' Library known as part of their Amazon Prime program. This is how Amazon describes the Lending Library:

What is the Kindle Owners' Lending Library?
With an Amazon Prime membership, Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free once a month, with no due dates.

So, for those of you who are members of this Kindle Library, please check out this book for free. It is part of my 12-book series "Visit The Zoo" presenting over 120 animals you can encounter in zoos around the world. There are great descriptions with fascinating and little known facts about these animals. Great photography gets you up close and personal.

And if you like vol. VI in this series you will love the other books as well. It is like having your own personal docent on your Kindle, tablet or laptop as you wander through your local zoo. For more information on this book series go to my website at www.visit-the-zoo.com.

THE INTERNET

Picture above is a photo of my cable modem. Download speed of approximately 20 Mbps, depending on usage. This modem connects me to the Internet. The Internet Is The Greatest Marketing Tool Invented By Mankind. It far surpasses print, television, radio, motion pictures, and all other media delivery systems in its ability to reach billions of people at once across the globe. Harnessed properly and consistently it can far outsell  any product or service compared to all other advertising and marketing tools.

And why I am so amped up about this subject to take it up on my blog? I will tell you why. I just finished watching the movie about Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, "Social Network." The movie was released almost 3 years ago. On the end credits a slide was projected that as of the release of the film Facebook has over 500 million users. As of this blog post there are now over 1.15 billion users, more than double the number of 3 years ago.

It is that type of reach that makes Facebook, YouTube and Google and other sites absolute necessities in marketing your product, service, or brand. And it makes no difference what it is you do or want to say to the world. You must get on the internet to become successful.

I first saw the internet on Netscape in 1994 when I worked at a radio station on the campus of California State University, Northridge...only days before the massive Northridge Earthquake in 1994 that flattened the building I was working in at the time. If the EQ were 24 hours and a few later I wouldn't be writing this blog, I would have been crushed and under tons of rubble. But I wasn't so here I am. I could see within a few minutes of seeing the internet at that time that I was witnessing an invention was as important as the Guttenberg Bible.

What I am saying to you is that if you want to succeed in whatever endeavor you pursue, whether personally or professionally, you must use the internet. I know this not new news, but so many people do not use the internet or understand the internet and or how it can change lives.

There is currently a move afoot by some countries to build their own internet backbone and eschew what they perceive as a U.S. dominated internet system. But any fool will see that the internet as now constructed has no country of origin. It is global. Internet server barns scatter the globe. And those countries who disconnect from this international backbone will surely fail. If you do not use the internet to promote your product or service you will surely fail.

I know you already know this, that is why you are on the internet now and why you are reading a blog, my blog, on the internet...it's because you know. I just hope you teach yourself how to navigate around the internet and reach into that toolbox to pull out the great resources available. This is all more important to you than just consuming email, downloading video, ordering gadgets and widgets and listening to music. It's about you creating for yourself a future of fun and profit.

The old saying..."...every journey begins with the first step..." I urge you to take that first step. Good luck and never give up.

MOMENTOUS & ASTOUNDING

The Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched September 5, 1977. It has now travelled more than 11 billion miles from Planet Earth moving at a distance of 1 million miles per day at 38,000mph. NASA officially announced yesterday that it has now crossed from the Heliosphere and influence of our Sun into Interstellar Space. It is further out from the surface of our planet than any other man made object. With its nuclear power plant and heaters it is expected to be able to transmit plasma data for another 13 years and work beyond that transmitting engineering data back to earth for another 10 years. The transmitter power is about 22 watts or just about as powerful as your refrigerator light bulb.

As someone who authors science fiction books this is truly an amazing human accomplishment. For over 40 years NASA JPL in Pasadena have run the Voyager program. With Voyager 2 heading out in a separate direction this is truly a momentous feat of  Earth engineering.

I know that everyday life really has no room for comprehension of what has been done here. But I hope you've taken the time to read this blog and have thought about what is possible for humans like you to create such a machine as Voyager 1. Congrats to the NASA team. I have a feeling that in the coming years there will be even more fascinating news to report.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this momentous occaision. Please also check out my two science fiction novels as well, "SETI" and "SETI, The Journey" with book three in the SETI trilogy "SETI, Conception" now in-work. Go to http://www.frederickfichman.com for more information.

WWW.FREDERICKFICHMAN.COM

Hallelujah and Finally. It took some time but 8 of my books have been uploaded and are now available for purchase and download from the Apple iBook store. With the iBooks App you can download these books onto your Apple computer, iPhone or iPad. The books I have uploaded, SO FAR, include the following titles:


"SETI"
"SETI, The Journey"
"Butcher Boat"
"Road Kill"
"Texas-Southeast Coast"
"Texas-Hill Country"
"Nevada-California Border"
"Colorado-Garden of the Gods"

In the coming weeks I plan to upload "Grand Canyon-Guide to the South Rim Trail." That book will include video segments.

And after that, the complete 12-volume set, "Visit the Zoo" will be uploaded to Apple iBooks. That set will include numerous video and audio insertions as well.

And after that, "SETI, Conception" book three in the SETI Trilogy.

And after that, "The Feather", a Lewis and Clark Expedition fantasy novel.

And after that, "MEGAPTERA", sentient whales on a planet surrounding the nearby star system, Alpha Centauri...only 4.5 light years from Earth.

And after that, more and more and more.

Wow, do I have a full plate or what? But, I have to work hard for you my readers. You demand it of me and I demand it of myself. I want to keep feeding you compelling stories. It's just what I want to do as an author.

So, in the coming months more from author, Frederick Fichman, that's me. Stay tuned to this channel as they used to say in the old and beginning days on TV.

Frederick Fichman

Coming Soon to an iBooks Store Near You

Like the Nike "Swoosh" or the Coca Cola script, around the world everyone knows what company this logo represents. Apple has been making software and hardware products since the mid-70's. And I was a First Adopter. Way back in about 1976 I bought one of the first Apple computers to come off the assembly line...still think I have it up in my attic.

In the 90's and 00's I drifted away to the PC, but now I am back. I still have and work on a PC, but I am spending more time on my Apple. And recently I have a very specific reason. Here it is:

I have uploaded over 25 books I've written to Kindle, Nook and KOBO. I always knew that one day I wanted to offer my work to the Apple world through there iBooks Store. So recently, I bit the bullet...I bought a MacMini, learned iAuthor, learned iProducer and I am beginning to upload books to Apple iBooks. Problem is, after a week, my books are still not up for sale. Eventually they will be, it just seems to take longer with Apple to post books up to their store. And today I hear a news story about someone hacking their Developer site. Great now even more delay as they straighten that mess out.

I announced on my Facebook Page under by Frederick Fichman page that Apple versions of my books would be up soon on the iBooks Store. That was more than a week ago. And so I still wait. I hope it will be soon.

For those of you who want to read my books on your iPad through purchase at the iBooks Store, be patient. They are coming. Right Mr. Apple type person, they're coming?

Hot Book Review for "Visit the Zoo" 12-book Series

Check out this great book review above for my 12-book series, "Visit the Zoo" or go to my website at http://www.visit-the-zoo.com It appeared in the May 2013 issue of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums News.

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is located in Gland, Switzerland and represents over 1,300 zoos and aquariums and over 700 million annual zoo visitors from around the world. A very important aspect of their work is the preservation of endangered species. Their work is so important for the future biological heritage of this planet and I totally support their efforts. You can review that work by going to their web site at http://www.waza.org.

Have a great week and I'll communicate again soon.

Frederick Fichman

A Mission to Mars-Primary Hazard

For today’s blog I am going to put on my Science Fiction writer hat. I am in the middle of writing the third book in my "SETI Anthology", so maybe it’s appropriate.

I just listened to a News Telecon from NASA, audio only with graphics, about the Mars Curiosity Rover radiation findings on its transit from Earth to Mars. The MSL was launched on November 26, 2011. Findings from the Radiation Assessment Detector located on top of the spacecraft but underneath the protective shroud as it journeyed to the Red Planet, were a bit unsettling.

The Radiation Assessment Detector for the Mars Science Laboratory monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun.

 

The three scientific investigators on heard in todays audio Teleconference spoke in somewhat arcane and scientific terms about the findings with an occasional break into understandable language that came up with the following conclusions: Radiation  bombarding the astronauts inside a space vehicle on its way to Mars would be dangerous, high and could cause cancer and death. Well, there goes the manned mission to Mars. However, new spacecraft design, not yet complete, with a surrounding jacket of water included around the outer layers of protection for the space vehicle, could mitigate that danger. Theory being, water, which contains large amounts of hydrogen, is a wonderful insulator against radiation. Layers of other shielding beneath that plus food storage, also containing water, could then make the trip to the fourth planet from the Sun, feasible.

The transit radiation danger to astronauts on their way to Mars is not a new revelation. Scientists have known about it for some time. What the RAD device has done is provide additional in-transit and hard data that this danger does exist.  Once on Mars, the radiation is less because the planet blocks radiation to a certain percentage. But there is no Van Allen Radiation belt that protects the red planet like we have here on Earth.

I guess my point here is that there is a long way to go before these challenges to a Mars Mission are overcome. You have, of course, everything else that could happen…illness or injury to astronauts in transit, micrometeorites, equipment malfunction (toilet stops up?), sudden emotional stress or insanity, love triangles and on and on.  These guys and gals will be locked up in a bus-sized space vehicle for six months. Lotsa research and testing going on now to accomplish the task, but we are still not there.

Now if someone could crack the propulsion limitations so we could travel faster and get there sooner, then many of these issues go away. You travel there in 30-60 days, let’s say. You land and there is a treasure trove of pre-positioned supplies sent earlier in the mission and waiting for you. It is possible; it’s just a matter of figuring it out.

But there’s not much you can say when an astronaut suddenly looks up from his freeze dried tuna fish casserole and says…”Are we there yet?” Not quite. We have a ways to go.

Write Your Own Book, Make Some Cash

 

In the Introduction to my new book I wrote the following:

“I saw a YouTube video not too long ago that featured a video clip from the Dick Cavett Show. Incidentally, this talk-interview show was taped at an adjunct ABC Studio at 1313 Vine Street where I used to work for a while during my long career at ABC-TV.

Dick was interviewing Truman Capote. He asked Capote if good writing could be taught. Capote did not hesitate. “No,” he replied. “It can’t be taught, either you can write or you can’t.”

Not so, I say. Yeah, if you are writing like Truman Capote you can’t teach that gift from God. It is born skill that some people have. Many have that skill and don’t work to develop it. Some, like Capote, recognize they have that skill and work and work and work at it. They hone their craft. They increase their vocabulary. They create a style. But there is no reason why you can’t rise to some level of competence and skill.”

And I believe that. I also believe that you can write a 25 or 35 or 50 page book about your passion, hobby or knowledge in some specific area. Whether it is baking a cake, knitting, photography, raising a newborn baby or painting a picture, you can write about it. Remember the old 50’s TV series, “Learn How to Draw with Jon Nagy.” Uh oh, I just dated myself. That’s what I’m talking about, except it’s about writing an eBook and not painting.

There are others out there in the world who are trying to develop that skill of cooking, want to know how to make tons of money, or whatever skill they want to develop that could be your potential audience. People want to know what you know and how you do what you do. The easiest way to teach them is to write an eBook. Write an eBook on a subject that many many many people are clamoring to learn about. It could be fun and you could make some money. Now I have your attention.

I wrote “Write & Publish Your Ebook-10 Steps to Success” to help you develop some simple skills that could lead you to a completed eBook posted on Kindle, Nook, KOBO, iBooks and to success.

I just published this “How To” book on Amazon Kindle, Barnes&Noble Nook, and KOBO Books…coming soon to the Apple iBooks store. The easiest way to get direct links, to read the book description, and download the book, selling for $2.99, is to go to my website, http://www.frederickfichman.com. Check it out…tnx, till next time.

 

 

FF

DEWEY, CHEETUM and HOWE

Dewey, Cheetum and Howe…the famous law firm that Johnny Carson used to joke about. Johnny who? Okay, for the younger crowd…he was the host of the Tonight Show, on the almost now defunct NBC Network.  He was host before Jay Leno, who was host after Conan O’Brien, who was host after Jay Leno, who was host after Johnny Carson. Ya with me? I don’t know if I’m with me….anyway.

The fictional law firm of Dewey, Cheetum and Howe tried to live up to its firm name. That reminds me of…how’s that for a segue…the plethora, the horde, the extreme number of marketing-type-people on YouTube and on the blogosphere and with dozens of websites who are making money by telling you how to make money…on the internet or YouTube or with your website or Pinterest or Facebook news feed, you get the idea. Besides all of the backlink, SEO and other promotional tricks, I have noticed that they keep preaching…”…write exciting content that people want to read…” Yeah, and that is what? What content? And that’s the question they never answer specifically.  That and how to write that content

Okay, well, I will answer that for you. Write what you know, write what you love. Simple. It’s a basic tenant taught by every script doctor, English professor, and successful writer, writing big 100,000 word novels or columnist writing columns distributed through the web or syndicated to 500 newspapers.

Do you have a skill, a hobby, a love of something, an interest, a curiosity? You must be good at something. You must have been trained to do something. Perhaps you have a vivid imagination. Can you sit at the dinner table and weave a good yarn?

That is the overriding foundation for being able to tell a good non-fiction story, explain clearly a skill or give decent advice on “How To” fix or accomplish some goal in life. If you can do that then you can write it down into a blog, or better yet into a book. It doesn’t have to be a long book but it has to be something someone can learn from or find enjoyment with as they read. Therefore, you can sell an ebook on Amazon Kindle, Barnes&Noble Nook, KOBO Books or iBooks. You can do this.

That is what I am doing, both non-fiction and fiction. My non-fiction books are my interests, my fiction books spring from my vivid and sometimes wild imagination.

Now for the Net-Net as I used to say in my creepy corporate management past. I can tell you how I have come to post up and sell over 20 books on those ebook sellers. I have been writing for a long time and I have learned a great deal about how to write. The question is how I should pass this information along to you. What I am considering is to drop a few pearls of wisdom here on this blog, then package the rest into an ebook and post it up on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Nook.

My question to you is…DO YOU WANT ME TOO? If you say no, you won’t hurt my feelings. If you say yes, well then I will deliver for you both here in my blog and in an ebook.

Tell me what you think about all of this. Comment below or go to www.frederickfichman.com and fill out the Contact box.

 

 

THREE ITEMS

Three items in this weeks' blog. First, the picture above, a mother duck and her babies, newborn babies.

This is the time of year when we see the baby ducks entering the world in one of the many ponds that surround the home division we live in near Phoenix. Most of the other fowl have fled North by this time to avoid the heat. This coming week our forecast calls for 99 degrees as a high for the next seven days. Yikes! It's only late April early May and near 100 already? We are not snowbirds, we are full-timers here in Arizona at the edge of the Sonora Desert that stretches south well into Mexico. So summertime temperatures stay consistently over 100 every day and even into the night hours from now on until about September.

But this morning, just seeing new life, fresh and happy life, bobbing up and down in the cool pond, made me appreciate just the every day pleasures of life and being alive. All you have to do is turn on CNN and you will be instantly depressed; Poison gas in Syria, death and destruction in Boston, unnecessary delays at airports, price of gas into the stratosphere...and on and on. That is why, I think, it is important to connect with life and nature and wildlife around you, wherever you live as much as you can. If you live in the city, or the country or in another country other than the U.S. where we live...enjoy the world around you. We are all above ground on this planet Earth only so many days, enjoy each one and be thankful just for being alive.

Item #2: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/livenow?id=7602707  This is the url link provided by KABC-TV, the owned and operated local affiliated ABC-TV network station in Los Angeles (where I spent many years during my network broadcasting career.) This is a great view, with audio, of Laguna Beach, CA, just south of the megalopolis known as Los Angeles. The area is a beautiful seaside cove where the water is clean, relatively speaking compared to Santa Monica Bay, the homes are beautiful and the living is quiet. Laguna Beach is a beautiful peaceful beach community and if you are ever in L.A., check it out. Until then, you can enjoy this peek at what is happening now on the beach with this live streaming video.

Finally, I posted previously that I was "fixin" (that's a Texas slang term, sorry) to start up a podcast, maybe 15 minutes in length, once per week or so, as a companion to my writing websites at www.frederickfichman.com and www.visit-the-zoo.com. I have all the components about ready: a fancy studio MXL microphone, a Mackie 4-channel mixer, a PCM-D50 Sony digital field recorder and Sound Forge Audio Studio mixing software. I want to do this right so you can hear my scratchy voice clearly and it doesn't sound like I am using my bathroom for a studio with a $5 Radio Shack mic, sorry RS. I am also thinking about shooting video simultaneously and uploading to my new video channels on You Tube and Vimeo. I asked for response awhile back as to whether you wanted me to press forward with this plan for a new podcast. I am still looking forward to feedback. So, give me a few comments below.

Well, that's all from the desert. Take care everyone and check out my new video channels. Have a great weekend and a productive week ahead. bfn.

https://vimeo.com/channels/frederickfichman  Vimeo Video Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/fjfichman/feed   You Tube Video Channel

Frederick Fichman
www.frederickfichman.com
www.visit-the-zoo.com

Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time….

Storytelling began before written history. Tales were told by a fire, in a cave or in a deep dark forest or possibly on the plains of Africa, with wild animals crying in the night. The earliest recorded storytelling was by Gilgamesh, as he told of the accomplishments and triumphs of a Sumerian king. The earliest written record is found in Egypt as the sons of Pharaoh Cheops was told by his sons.

Storytelling at its best today is found in the books written by accomplished authors or by journalists or bloggers. But watching last night a DVD I ordered for the movie “Life of Pi,” prompted me to write this blog in praise of the Story and Storytelling. The story in the original book written by Yann Martel and the movie version adaptation screenplay is superb. To weave a story in a speech, to tell a fascinating tale at the dinner table, or to put a truly intriguing story on paper or in an ebook is the deepest hope of many. It is The Goal for compulsive and driven storytellers whose hearts are bursting with imagination and ideas to spin out some funny, wicked or mysterious collection of words.

I think about you my readers every time I sit in front of my computer as I continue my labors to finish “SETI, Conception,” as I finish my outline for “Megaptera” or as I constantly think about my fantasy manuscript of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 that will be described in my book, “The Feather.” I just wanted you to know that I try to please both myself and you, always thinking about what would set your imagination on fire. And after you read that last sentence before “The End” I consider what is that would put a smile on your face.

Just one more item before I close this weeks’ blog, I have put together a 3 minute video that you can find at YouTube.com and Vimeo.com. You can click on the url addresses below.

Hoping you have a great weekend and a productive coming week. Drop me note, even just to say hello.

https://vimeo.com/64278099

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

 

Frederick Fichman

The Digital Revolution is Here, Like it or Not

Last week the National Association of Broadcasters held its annual conference and exhibit in Las Vegas. Over 80,000 people attended to look at all of the latest and greatest broadcast equipment, software and media production gear. If you read my Bio you will see that I spent most of my television broadcasting career at ABC-TV in Hollywood. I would make the annual trek to NAB and attended during a time that everything was analog, now it all digital. It is digital, smaller, and lighter with picture and sound resolution that is getting close to real life, how we truly see and hear the world around us. Soon, broadcast, download or streamed images and sound will be so lifelike that the line between real and virtual will almost be erased.

More than the resolution it is the global coverage of our digital world that is astonishing. The business models for broadcasters and major media companies have also changed. The large television networks no longer dominate like they once did. It is Facebook, YouTube and Ustream that is stealing attention and eyeballs by the tens of millions. And without social media and other digital “broadcast” platforms hope for your product and service sales is minimal. You must participate in this digital revolution whatever you do for a living, whatever you make or produce or service. Digital components are embedded in our cars, homes and our bodies. There is no escaping the Integrated Circuit and what is to follow.

That is why I post frequently on Pinterest, Facebook, Google+, Twitter and here on my weekly blog. I want you to know what I am doing as an author. I have more than 20 books now published on Kindle, Nook and KOBO. More is on the way and “in-work”, but I want to keep connected with you, my readers, and my audience. That is why I am moving forward, very soon now, putting together an audio podcast with a video YouTube component as well. For fifteen minutes or so I will tell you what I am working on, how I am progressing with my latest new book, and occasionally bringing on a guest or two to turn my podcast into a Master Series of people expert in their field.  I also want you to hear some natural sound that I have recorded on my Sony PCM-D50 stereo digital field recorder. I’ll drop in a clip or two every now and then. I want to keep this Podcast varied and interesting and I would like to request feedback from you as to what you would like to hear or want me to capture for you. I will try to make my Podcast “Sound Rich” for you the listener, not just a talking head, me, all the time.

My question to you is, are you interested in listening to such a podcast? It will be free, of course, and available on iTunes and other Podcast venues. You will be able to listen on your computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet or other digital devices.

I want to know what you think, again…would you listen to a regular podcast, let’s say once per week or several times per month? Let me know, comment below or even send me an email.

                                Tell me what you think.

Frederick Fichman

fred@frederickfichman.com