Digital tunage, CDs, and about time I entered the 21st century…

No, I’m not selling another book… just yet. I know that what this place has been for a while but I’m taking a break… for now. (I would still appreciate if you bought one of my books, of course.)

So, I was out driving the other day, listening to some music when the cd ended. CDs are what I keep my music on. It’s a small, disk-like storage medium, which after the demise of records and tapes, lasted all of a quarter century or so. When I went to eject the disk, my cd player decided it had suffered enough embarrassment at me actually still listening to cds… and promptly died.

Aw.

Recently, I found out that Vicky is giving me an iPod for whatever the hell I celebrate as an atheist – for her, it’s Xmas or some shit – basically, it’s a day we shower each other with gifts. How’s that for an American holiday?

Knowing I was getting an iPod, I realized all my cds were going to become pointless. More than that, I realized I’d have to take each disk, one by one, and load them onto my pc so I could later load their contents onto my iPod… pain in the ass!

So, one by one, I went about it. I loaded music and audiobooks and comedy and spoken word and on and on and everything else until… actually, I’m not even done, yet. But it’s looking like I’m going to end up with 25 days worth of content for my iPod.

Twenty-five days!

Crap.

If you consider that my commute – yes, I got another job in the last few weeks. It’s a part-time tech writing gig but it pays the bills while allowing me to keep working on my writing career. Anyway, if you consider that my commute is 45 minutes long, it’s gonna take a shitload of commute for me to listen to all that shit!

Sounds like fun to me!

Holiday Shopping: A Hex Returns To Rynia...

With the holidays coming, all the Rynia books are available in digital format!


The series concludes (for now) with the final book of the Sons of Rynia trilogy: A Hex Returns to Rynia

In the first two volumes of the Sons of Rynia trilogy (A Hex To Save Rynia and A Hex Beyond Rynia), Tsurtor attacked the realm of Rynia with weapons of magic and technology, scattering its defendants to the winds. How can Tsurtor be defeated when A Hex Returns to Rynia?


You can find A Hex Returns To Rynia for all e-readers:

For the Kindle (and Kindle-app): http://www.amazon.com/Hex-Returns-Rynia-Sons-ebook/dp/B005O0QHX0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_8

For all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/90200

Holiday Shopping: A Hex Beyond Rynia...

With the holidays coming, all the Rynia books are available in digital format!


The series begins with the stand-alone: A Hex Upon Rynia
This is followed by the Sons of Rynia trilogy: A Hex to Save Rynia, A Hex Beyond Rynia, A Hex Returns To Rynia

A Hex To Save Rynia witnessed the first battles in the war between Rynia and its old enemy, Tsurtor. Tsurtor launches that war with devastating effect in the second book of the Sons of Rynia trilogy: A Hex Beyond Rynia.

You can find A Hex Beyond Rynia for all e-readers:
For the Kindle (and Kindle-app): http://www.amazon.com/Hex-Beyond-Rynia-Sons-ebook/dp/B005MGFL0Q/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3
For all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/88008

Holiday Shopping: A Hex To Save Rynia...

With the holidays coming, all the Rynia books are available in digital format!

The series begins with the stand-alone: A Hex Upon Rynia
This is followed by the Sons of Rynia trilogy: A Hex to Save Rynia, A Hex Beyond Rynia, A Hex Returns To Rynia

A Hex Upon Rynia was just the beginning. The Sons of Rynia trilogy kicks off with Tsurtor’s return, dragons, a conspiracy against the king, and a war-ravaged planet. When Hex is imprisoned back on Earth, will there be A Hex To Save Rynia?


You can find A Hex To Save Rynia for all e-readers:
For the Kindle (and Kindle-app): http://www.amazon.com/Hex-Save-Rynia-Sons-ebook/dp/B005I571HM/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_4
For all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82603

Holiday Shopping: A Hex Upon Rynia...

The book that began the Rynia series, A Hex Upon Rynia, is now available as an e-book!


Hex is a wizard unlike any you’ve seen before. He creates living toys from twigs and brings his skates to life! When he mistakenly brings himself and a boy named Vincent to the world of Rynia, however, he’ll need to win a war to get them home again!

You can find A Hex Upon Rynia
For your Kindle (and Kindle-App): http://www.amazon.com/A-Hex-Upon-Rynia-ebook/dp/B004ZZMS24/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2
And for all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/58564

Holiday Shopping: The Incarnations of Death...

Death! Just in time for the holidays!

When Robert Erwon Mitchel finds a way to kill Death, he sets off a chain of events that gives birth to a new breed of superheroes. Now it is up to these heroes - Night Stalker, Fade, and Force - to find a way to stop the insane replacement for Death, one who can wipe out entire cities at a whim and who is hunting down the scientist who killed his predecessor!


Pick up The Incarnations of Death this holiday season
For your Kindle (and Kindle-App): http://www.amazon.com/The-Incarnations-of-Death-ebook/dp/B004XJ4MNU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_9
Or for all E-Readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54829

Timely Holiday Shopping: The Rohan Scripts...

Here's a blatant ploy in time for the holidays:


The Prophesies of Nicoli Rohano, The Rohan Scripts, were the stuff of legend and were all but lost to history… until now! The Rohan Scripts, the latest sci-fi adventure from Ken La Salle, brings you psychics and scientists, assassination plots and time paradox, with a single man flung through time and recording everything into a book of prognostication called: The Rohan Scripts!

You can find The Rohan Scripts
For your Kindle (and Kindle-app device): http://www.amazon.com/The-Rohan-Scripts-ebook/dp/B004Y752MG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_10
And for all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/56224

Do Something Impossible...

This month on Recovering the Self: Do Something Impossible! (Just click the link to check it out!)

(Yes, I know this was a short entry but - never fear - there's plenty more over at Recovering the Self!)

Holiday Shopping (now with IRONY): Vampire Society...

Who can spot the irony in my suggesting you purchase Vampire Society as a gift this season?


"Vampire Society is a guided tour through the social and political evolution that opened our century. It is a love story and an indictment against our culture of consumption, answering the most important question about love: Is real love possible in the Vampire Society?"

You can find Vampire Society
For Your Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Society-ebook/dp/B0016NACSK/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_11
For All E-Readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52031

Holiday Shopping: A Grand Canyon...

Subtitled, "“How to Meet the Love of Your Life in Five Short Years… and mean it this time!”


This is for anyone curious what life was like before Vicky...

Find it for your Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Canyon-Journey-Depression-ebook/dp/B004TGSRGA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
Or for any e-reader: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52601

Enjoy with my many thanks!

Dear Muppets: We Like You...

So, Vicky and I went out to see The Muppets last night... it wasn't a terrible movie...

But to see the Muppets (or, for that matter, The Muppets) and come out with "It wasn't terrible," is, well, terrible. It's the Muppets, for crying out loud! It should have been great!

It could have been great!

The problem, however, was that the Muppets were so damned insecure - as were the writers, director, and just about everybody. They kept trying to impress on the audience how downright good they are, how wholesome, how much a reminder of a by-gone era. Yes, I get it! The 70's were a simpler time but that doesn't mean you have to suck up so much! We already like you! Just perform!

I kept expecting a commercial for the line of toys, because it kept feeling like the setup for a line of toys.

I'm not saying it was bad. It wasn't. It just wasn't all that good. Next time, maybe the Muppets will have a bit more confidence in themselves. Or maybe they'll just recapture that spirit of going on an adventure without having to constantly comment that they're going on an adventure and doesn't that make this a great opportunity to learn a lesson...

Just go in with your expectations low. They need your support. And maybe a hug.

Holiday Shopping: Evertime and Evermore...

Buy some poetry for Christmas


It's real sweet but not with HFCS (pronounced "Hif-cas")



In Evertime and Evermore, playwright and author Ken La Salle collects some of his favorite poems for the first time. Some were taken from the darkest places from his life, like The Slaughterhouse (It is industry that has a reason in a world of others who wish to slaughter, themselves). Others are far more whimsical (Even organ donors have to face a little rejection. Might as well enjoy yourself a little pickle-type confection).



Pick up Evertime and Evermore

For the Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Evertime-Evermore-collection-poetry-ebook/dp/B004TGV64A/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_5

Or for all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52257

Death Misses this Christes... mas...

Looking for goofy tales of death this Christmas? Who isn't?!

"These works by Ken La Salle range from the bizarre to the morbid and even further beyond still. In Death Misses and other tales of death, Ken La Salle treats you to a dozen deadly tales to keep you up at night."

Be sure not to miss Death here:
For the Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Misses-other-tales-ebook/dp/B004URUWN4/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6
And for all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53208

Holiday Shopping: Blue Food...

If you're looking for the perfect holiday gift, why not try a little Blue Food?

"The works of Ken La Salle range from the bizarre to the whimsical and even further beyond still. In Blue Food and other menu items, Ken La Salle treats you to a dozen tales, hilarious and deeply strange."


You can find Blue Food in digital formats:
For the Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Food-other-items-ebook/dp/B004TYYX1A/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_7
And all e-readers: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51617

Why Demi and Ashton matter to me

Today Demi Moore announced that she would be filing for divorce from Ashton Kutcher. Tonight Ken asked if I cared about this and I told him yes I do. The news of Demi and Ashton’s split matters to me. It should really come as no surprise and here’s why…

It all started on September 24, 2005. You see, this is the day Ken and I were married and this is also the day that Demi and Ashton were married. Over the past six plus years of marriage Ken and I have been the best of friends, we love spending time together and we are each other’s favorite person. Demi and Ashton seemed happy and in love too. They are two people who want for nothing…they are rich and life seems easy for them. Ken and I are far from rich. We’re doing okay, but we’ve had more than our share of challenges. Life has not been easy for us. Yet, we are still together…our marriage is strong. It may not seem like much of a comparison given that most Hollywood marriages don’t last a decade let alone a lifetime, but this is one that we have a connection to, whether or not we want it. Even though they have the “easy life”, Ken and I have something better…our love.

Podcasting…

I’m just going to say this: I want to do a podcast. I really do.

In the last half year or so, I’ve started listening to podcasts and they are a lot of fun. I get more from them than I think I get from TV, mostly because I listen to people who interest me talking about things that interest me.

This past weekend, I recorded my first guest spot on a podcast – and I’ll be sure to post that link once it’s up – and it was tons of fun. It was on Douglas Lain’s terrific Diet Soap podcast. We discussed Climbing Maya and some things about writing and philosophy in general. My next goal is to get on Jackie Kashian’s wonderful Dork Forest podcast – ONE DAY!

And I realize that won’t be enough. I’m a talker and I know I’m going to want to talk on my own podcast one of these days.

I’m just saying… it may happen…

Loving the Dream in this month's Recovering The Self...

My monthly blog post for Recovering the Self is up and ready to share and read. This month is about loving yourself and loving the dream you've chosen for yourself.

You can find it at this link.

I hope you enjoy it.

Keep Wall Street Occupied

Occupying a bit at a time…

With the Occupy Movement so much in the news, I figured this might be a good time to weigh in again.

As you might know, I was at Occupy OC and marched with them last weekend. It came at a brutal time in my own life, so I thought it might be good to get outside my life a bit and help out where I could – and I did – unfortunately, though, I was too troubled by my own shit to really get into it, so I ended up just going through the motions. In the end, I’m glad I was part of it but wish I had done more.

Since then, of course, several things have happened with the Occupy Movement – many arrests, police brutality, the shooting of Scott Olsen – all in response to peaceful protests, to people simple exercising their first amendment rights.

And in my own life, I’ve had to deal with people who oppose the Occupy Movement – not because they can find anything about it they disagree with but because they have been told, through some mass media or peer pressure, that it would be cool to do so. And this just blows me away. Here is a movement that is peacefully assembling (despite the over-reaction of the police...) to affect political change in an environment where neither major political party will do the right thing for the 99% of citizens with the least economic and political influence. And, yet, they can’t be bothered. This is a movement that is speaking out against responsible people losing their homes. And, yet, they can’t empathize. This is a movement that is speaking against an economic system that refuses to do anything for the millions who have lost their jobs. And, yet, they refuse to care. This is a movement that is asking those in power to stop lying about global climate change and do something about it. And, yet, they don’t seem to think it affects them personally. This is a movement speaking out against the greatest wealth disparity in our country in over a century. And, yet, they don’t see what this has to do with them. This is a movement that is asking for banking regulation, which kept the economy steady until repealed a piece at a time since the 1980s, to be reinstated. And they refuse to understand what this means. This is a movement that is asking that the wealthiest 1% - multi-millionaires - be asked to once again pay their fair share of taxes, something they haven't had to do for decades. And, yet, they side with those who aren’t paying their share. The fact is the Occupy Movement is standing up for a lot more to help those who need it most. Standing against the Occupy Movement is like cheering for the boot pressing down on your own head.

These people say that it’s not as though they don’t understand the reason for protest but they don’t agree exactly 100% with the protesters. As if you must agree exactly 100%. As if you would ever agree with anything 100%. As if nothing is valid unless you agree exactly 100% with it. As if it’s better to side with those against your own self-interests, than to side with anything you agree with 99%.

Then, too, are the folk who parrot back to me the idiotic reasons they’ve been told they should dismiss the protests. “Those people have money,” they say, as if you can’t have a cent and still retain empathy for your fellow man. “Those people own things,” they say, and I wonder what they would say if the protesters were bare-ass naked. The thing is, it’s a false equivalency. And I’ve heard this from other morons as well, this insistence that you can’t challenge the status quo unless you are somehow removed from it – no property, no wealth, no trappings of any kind connected with modern society – or else you’re just as bad as the worse perpetrators. This is clearly nonsense, because the last protesters who went out without any connections were tarred as dirty hippies.

Simply, these people find it easier to fear change and fear what it will take to create change – and here’s hoping Scott Olsen and other victims of police brutality pull through – than to stand up for change. And that’s not right. Listen, I’m no saint and I certainly wasn’t the best protester at Occupy OC. I could have done better. But I’m not going to sit by and listen to you talk crap about something you refuse to understand or that you understand but refuse to stand up for. I’m doing what I can and you should, too.

Will you be in New York on 10/24?...

I won't be. I'll still be in California. But if you are, you might want to check out my comedy Murielle's Big Date, which is getting a staged reading at the HorseTrade Theater in New York City, off-Broadway.

... and let me know how it goes! (Really wish I could be there....)

And so I reach 46…

It’s been a hell of a year. I sold a book and had the publisher go belly-up… I found an agent… I had plays produced and read throughout California… and, of course, couldn’t find a job to save my life…

Now, here I am at 46. If I were to live to be 90, I would officially be in the second half of my life. (Actually, I would have been a year ago…) So, as far as my body goes, it’s all downhill from here.

I’m hoping this year works out a little better. I’m knee deep in research for my book on ethics right now and hoping I finish it before 2012. I’d like to hammer out another novel and a couple more plays. Mostly, I’d like things to be a bit more clear and a bit less desperate. I hate living in the fear that we could lose our house any day and I hate not being able to make any damned money.

I’ll keep working, though, and keep trusting in the abilities that got me here, for good or ill. I’ve had too much success to consider myself completely incompetent and not enough to think I’m that great.

Mostly, I guess I’m just hoping for a bit of luck.

… we’ll see…

Occupy Wall Street - statements from and about...

Hey folks,

I mentioned Occupy Wall Street a while back and I think it's important to follow up. The fact of the matter is if you are not one of the richest 1% in this country, they are on your side, fighting for your rights, and therefore you should support the Occupy movements wherever they are.

I have been trying to find a way to make it to Occupy LA but, logistically, it just won't work. Reality dictates that I keep looking for work over here. But Vicky and I have talked about this and, if things change, I will go and I'll keep you posted on that.

In the meantime, Occupy Wall Street has released its first statement and I think it's important that it gets out. It verbalizes the hopes and endeavours of these good people as they stand up before the heartless corruption of a very small minority. Here, then, is their statement (taken from Daily Kos):

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City



As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.


As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.


They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.


They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.


They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.


They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.


They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.


They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.


They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.


They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.


They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.


They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.


They have sold our privacy as a commodity.


They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.


They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.


They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.


They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.


They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.


They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.


They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.


They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.


They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.


They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.


They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.


They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*


To the people of the world,


We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.


Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.


To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

If Atheism is a Religion, I have a banana in my ear…

There’s a new meme going around that, somehow, Atheism is a religion.

I’d like to refute this claim with a simple analogy. Religion is like compulsively shoving a banana in your ear. Atheists recognize this and point out the fact that there’s no need to shove a banana in your ear. Claiming that atheism is a religion is comparable to replying, “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re shoving a banana in your ear, too,” even though atheists are, in fact, not.

Here is a simpler analogy. Religion is wishing/praying to a non-existent being for stuff you want. Atheists recognize this and point out the fact that there’s no need to wish/pray. It’s silly. And it’s ludicrous on the face of it to say, “Oh, yeah? Well, you pray, too,” because, no, we don’t.

To claim that atheism is a religion is to expose a central weakness in religion: that everyone else must be just as stupid as you.

And we’re not.

Ken meets… the baby…

All my life, people have said to me that I’d make a good father one day. This was usually said by parents. They’d hold their kids far out of my reach and say, “Don’t worry, Ken. You’ll make a great father one day.” Okay, maybe they wouldn’t hold the kids out of reach but I did notice their sentiment always twinged with a hint of “Of course, I’m only telling you this because of how pathetic you look. How much longer are you going to wait, anyway?”

Kids have never really been a priority for me and, until Vicky came along, weren’t something I ever really thought would happen. But Vicky did come along and we got very serious about the whole thing, which is to say lots of fucking.

… But, no baby.

Recently, Vicky became an aunt and has been really enjoying aunt-li-hood-ed-ness…

We watched the little rugrat this past weekend for a couple of hours. Now, let me preface this by saying “Cutest Kid Ever”. Seriously, Vicky’s niece is just lovely. Okay?

We got in. The parents took off. And… wailing. Hours of wailing. The kid decided to hit us right upside the head with separation anxiety. “Where’s my momma? Where’s my god-damned mooma? WHERE THE FUCK IS MY FUCKING MOTHER,” the child seemed to want to know.

And I realized in the midst of all this that I missed my window for being a great father. I realized this because
And for Vicky, who was still holding out some hope of us having a child, this wasn’t exactly the best card I could have played. I did worse than just informing her that her husband wasn’t quite suited for parenthood; I also reminded her that things just don’t look good.

At this point, I did a little wailing of my own. On the inside. I hate disappointing Vicky more than anything else and really felt like I’d just crushed her dream. That night, she was reminded of what kind of guy she married: not the right one. This is not to say that we’ll split up but, rather, that relationships are often cast in sharp relief and we are sometimes a bit too harshly of the bad that comes with the good. It may not all be my fault but even if just one night was enough to make Vicky sad, well, that sucked.

Sometimes we don’t win. We don’t get what we want. Our dreams don’t come true. But I love you, Vic. And I’m sorry things haven't worked out the way we wanted them to. But I do love you.

Occupy Everything - Together...

If you haven't heard about Occupy Wall Street, you should because it's spreading.

Now, Occupy Together seeks to bring this grass-roots movement to your neighborhood and more power to 'em, I say.

I don't know if I'll make it to the LA events but I am surely looking into it.

A Hex Returns To Rynia, Sons of Rynia Book Three, is NOW AVAILABLE…

Tsurtor has invaded Rynia and scattered its protectors to other kingdoms and other worlds. From the first volume (A Hex to Save Rynia) to the second (A Hex Beyond Rynia), the Sons of Rynia trilogy has begun. And now, the final chapter in the epic Sons of Rynia trilogy is available!

You can find it for your Kindle and Kindle-app equipped reader on Amazon.

You can find it for all e-readers on Smashwords.



I hope you enjoy all the Rynia books and look for more e-books from Ken La Salle coming soon!

OCPA Studios delivers “A Pound of Flesh” to Hunger Artists Theatre...

Just a taste of some PR I've been floating about...

OCPA Studios continues at Hunger Artists Theatre with the reading of an epic comedy by Ken La Salle, “A Pound of Flesh & The Devil”. “A Pound of Flesh & The Devil” will appear at Hunger Artists Theatre on October 15th at 4pm. Admission is free. For complete directions on how to get to the theater, check the Hunger Artists website at http://www.hungerartists.com/.


“A Pound of Flesh & The Devil” is an epic, historic comedy that was directly inspired by the hit film “Flesh & The Devil” with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. “A Pound of Flesh & The Devil” skewers the historic melodrama with a 21st century twist, an abundance of inappropriate sexuality… and zombies.
Ken La Salle’s work generally tilts towards the bizarre and twisted, and “A Pound of Flesh & The Devil” fits very well in those categories. You may have seen his comedy, “The Myth of the Cubicle” recently at the OC-Centric New Play Festival at Chapman University. Other plays recently produced included “The Spunk Taste of Hell” at Sacred Fools Theater and “Persecution Complex” at Theatre of NOTE. You can find an extensive interview with Ken, along with a copy of his play “Murielle’s Big Date” on the online magazine Connotation Press: http://connotationpress.com/drama/964-ken-la-salle-drama. His books can be found in ebook format on Amazon.com (for the Kindle) and Smashwords.com (for all e-reader formats). He is represented by Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency.

“A Pound of Flesh & The Devil” will appear at Hunger Artists Theatre on September 10th at 4pm. Admission is free. OCPA Studio’s second season of informal readings has included some of the best plays by local writers. Both organizations are enthusiastic about bringing new and exciting theater to Orange County.


The Orange County Playwrights Alliance (OCPA) began on April 1, 1995 with an informal meeting in an oncologist's office in Anaheim. Since then, OCPA has become the fundamental group for playwrights in O.C., presenting staged readings and productions of plays at venues such as the Hunger Artists Theatre, the Vanguard Theatre, Rude Guerrilla Theatre Company, STAGESTheatre, Chapman University, the Curtis Theatre, and Newport Theatre Arts Center. OCPA playwrights have been produced across the United States, and have won national and regional playwrighting awards. You can find the OCPA website at http://www.ocplaywrights.org/.


Hunger Artists Theatre Company was founded in 1996 and is the first Orange County based alternative theater. Located on the east end of Fullerton's vibrant Theatre Community, Hunger Artists has transformed an industrial warehouse into an unexpected art-house gem. This intimate storefront theatre seats 50 and stages an array of alternative theatrical entertainment. The Hunger Artists have a long tradition of premiering local playwrights from Fengar Gael's "The Cantor's Tale" to Johnna Adams's "Cockfighters" and "Sans Merci". Focusing on innovative storytelling and producing thought-provoking art, The Hunger Artists pride themselves on hosting an annual playwriting festival, "Beyond Convention" to push the boundaries of traditional theater.

A Hex Beyond Rynia, Book Two of the Sons of Rynia Trilogy, now available…

I’m happy to announce that the second book of the Sons of Rynia trilogy, A Hex Beyond Rynia, is now available for Kindle and all e-readers.

A Hex To Save Rynia, the first book of the series, witnessed the first battles in the war between Rynia and its old enemy, Tsurtor. Tsurtor launches that war with devastating effect in the second book of the Sons of Rynia trilogy: A Hex Beyond Rynia.

The third, and final, installment of the trilogy, A Hex Returns to Rynia, will be released in Fall 2011.

You can find A Hex Beyond Rynia at the following locations:

For your Kindle or Kindle-app, click this link to go to Amazon.

For all other e-readers, clink this link to go to Smashwords.

I thank everyone who has supported me and enjoyed the Rynia books so far and I hope you post your positive review at your point of purchase soon!

Reviews coming in for A Grand Canyon...

After seeing a couple of reviews for my memoir on depression, A Grand Canyon, I thought I'd give you an update.

The first two were hot and cold, one very positive and the other - well, the guy basically wanted me dead for some reason. But I thought the third one was very special and I'm posting that here now:

This book was an easy read. Felt like reading someones diary but well written. This author is a entertaining writer and his talent can't be dismissed. It was interesting to read about his struggles through his life beginning with his childhood. The topics are sometimes tough to read through, but I did. His writing style makes it so easy to read.

It is difficult to judge someones life's experience. (I think I was glad that wasn't my life) When finishing this book, it made me reflect on all my blessings in life and thank God for his protections in it.


Worth reading!

My favorite quote: "I think I was glad that wasn't my life." Duly noted!

A Grand Canyon: One Man's Journey Through Depression is on sale for all e-readers for only $4.95.
You can pick it up for your Kindle and Kindle-app here.
Or for all other e-readers here.

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I am very happy this book is being enjoyed.

I’m selling my body for medical experiments…

This actually happened today. I actually signed up to be a guinea pig in a medical experiment.

They promised to pay me a certain amount of money if I allowed them to test drugs on me. I used to manage people and now I’m so poor and so desperate for money thanks to this fucked up economy that I literally took a job from a lab rat.

I had a career in marketing that spanned over a decade. I rose from copywriting to marketing management and now I am holding out a sign that reads, “Will let you dissect me for food.” All this because there are no jobs out there.

I’ve applied to marketing jobs and to office jobs, to full and part time jobs, to every retail job you can imagine. Hell, I apply to anything I can find. I even apply to be a lab animal.

So the question then is this… Can it get worse?

I believe it can.

I could be rejected.

A quick note on the Bible…

There are plenty of pearls of wisdom trapped in the Bible, like bugs in fossilized shit.

The idea that there’s a magic man in the clouds who drops magic babies down for “virgins” to “give birth to” and then be killed by Jews employed by Mel Gibson, wrapping it all up anticlimactically with Kirk Cameron, is certainly far from one of them…

Bordering on insanity…

Vicky and I stopped by the local Borders, which is closing down and has marked all its stock down by 60-80%. I could help notice the stacks of books about or “written by” (which is to say not in any way written by) Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck.

Should I be thankful for a discerning public who won’t even buy these books when marked down 80%? Or should I feel ashamed to be part of a society that would encourage such refuse? (After all, that’s what political donations go to these days.)

I’m not sure. Either way, I was glad to be out of the vast graveyard that used to be Borders. Looks like I hardly knew ye…

New Recovering The Self...

My Recovering The Self piece is up for September. I hope you enjoy it.

This month it's about running your own race and you can find it by clicking this link.

24-Hour Bite Me…

Here’s a secret: I hate 24-Hour Fitness Center. Wait… that’s not a secret. I really HATE 24-Hour Fitness Center.

The locations near me always smell. The bathrooms are never clean – sometimes, they’re not even functioning. The machines are always crowded or broken. It’s a fucking dump. They always have Faux News on the TV screens, no matter how nicely you ask them to change the channel!

That’s why I stopped going a couple of years back, because they were just ludicrous. The idea that I would drive far away to exercise at a place I hated going to – it led me to jogging and cycling in the real world. And, you know what? I love that! I have never once looked back!

But Vicky has insisted that I keep my membership. “You never know,” she says, as year after year passes and month of dues after month of dues gets thrown away.

Today, I just got sick of it and decided to cancel my membership. Turns out, you can’t cancel online. You have to call a special number… then, you have to hold… forever… And you have to listen to this insipid hold message about how you’re being provided excellent service – even though you’re obviously not – repeated over and over and over again! I held for 15 minutes before someone picked up…

… and hung up on me!

Mother fuck!

So, I called back. Then, I held for 30 minutes before someone picked up and asked, “Why are you cancelling today?” To which I replied, “If I didn’t have a reason before the nightmare of being on hold, I have one now.”

I don’t want to sound bitter but I hate those fucking cocksuckers….

A Hex To Save Rynia - Book One of the Sons of Rynia Trilogy - available now for all e-readers!...

Hey folks,

It's e-book release time again! Today sees the release of A Hex To Save Rynia, which is the first book of the forthcoming Sons of Rynia trilogy.

A Hex Upon Rynia was just the beginning. The Sons of Rynia trilogy kicks off with Tsurtor’s return, dragons, a conspiracy against the king, and a war-ravaged planet. When Hex is imprisoned back on Earth, will there be A Hex To Save Rynia?


You can find A Hex To Save Rynia for the Kindle on Amazon.com right here!
You can also find A Hex To Save Rynia for all e-readers through Smashwords right here!

I hope you enjoy it and hope you honor me with your kind reviews.

My place has always been in the theater…

I’ve been waiting weeks to make this big announcement, as strings were pulled and tied and cut and strung behind the scenes: I have been offered and have accepted the position of Literary Manager at Hunger Artists Theatre in Fullerton.

This is a great opportunity. Not only will it result in more of my work being produced but it also brings me back to my home: the theater.

As many of you know, I started acting in theater over thirty years ago and have flirted with it back and forth since then. Now, I’m back to act to work and, most of all, to write.

You’ll be hearing much more about Hunger Artists on this blog moving forward as this will be my new home. And hope it will remain so for a very long time.

So goes the microwave…

Our microwave oven died this weekend.

Actually, it may have begun its slow descent prior to that. Its death way a slow one and, I like to think, painless. The first signs were when it took me 10 minutes to nuke a burrito. After Vicky tried three bags of microwave popcorn until she realized it might not have been the popcorn that was the problem, we knew our microwave oven was doomed.

That’s when reality set in.

Before, we’d say, “Let’s go get a new microwave oven. They’re only like a hundred bucks. Let’s go get one.”

But with me being unemployed again, that changed into, “Wait a minute. What are we going to do? We can’t just go get another microwave oven. Those things are like a hundred bucks. We can’t afford that!”

The next day, I got a flat on my bike and used my last inner tube to fix it. Now, I can’t go cycling until I get a new tube – unless I really want to risk getting a flat. This morning, I found out the muffler on my car is shot.

Meanwhile – and, please, let me remind you again – I’m unemployed. I can’t so much as get an interview at Costco! (But, you know, here’s hoping…) I know Vicky deserves better than this but I there’s not a whole lot I can do. I already apply to every job I can find. On top of that, I’m scrambling to get more books online for sale, to get a play produced, to get publishers to notice me – I can’t do anything more.

I’m what you might call a victim of this shitty economy. And it sucks.

I have no real point to this, by the way. In case you’re wondering for the great reveal that gives the surprise ending – like “ta da”, I got a job – I don’t have one. I’m just feeling pretty shitty and I thought I’d share…

Once Upon a Fart...

Have you ever considered that at any given moment you're probably breathing in someone else's fart?

Think about it. If you're in an elevator with someone who farts, you're bound to do it.

If you're in a room with several people and one of them farts, you're going to do it.

If you're in a building with a hundred people and ten of them fart, it's inevitable.

In a world full of billions of people, each of them farting in an enclosed atmosphere... well, you're pretty much stuck doing it.

How's it feel? Does it feel good?

... pervert...

OC-Centric opens soon!...

In less than two weeks, OC-Centric (Orange County’s newest new play festival) opens at Chapman University. OC-Centric will feature my play, Myth of the Cubicle, along with several other fine works.
Be sure to buy your tickets soon! OC-Centric runs from 8/19 - 8/28!
The Myth of the Cubicle by Ken La Salle – In an absurd office of drones and burnouts, a young employee sees beyond the veil of illusion and tries to awaken his fellow wage slaves.

Greatest hits of Summer 2011…

Here I am, back from my month-long siesta!

I suppose I should start at the beginning with the biggest hits of the last month, those being when my car was hit and the subsequent hit to my head.

It’s not a long story. I was heading to the store one afternoon when I had to make a left-hand turn at an intersection, heading northbound to eastbound. I stopped at the red light and, when the light turned green, pulled into the intersection to start my turn. There was a UPS driver on the other side of the intersection and I was waiting to see if he was driving straight through or if he would turn left as well. Just then, out of the corner of my left eye, I saw a car blaze through the intersection coming westbound, past the other cars stopped at the light. I only had time to think, “He’s going to hit,” when the car slammed into the front of my Honda Civic at no less than 45 mph, taking off the front of my car before it slid to a stop with a broken front axle.

The impact slammed my head against the door frame and, for a second, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. A bystander named Cameron helped me out of my car and walked me to the curb. I wasn’t bleeding or broken but I was shaking badly. I could barely lie on the concrete before the shaking became uncontrollable. Still, I had the presence of mind to call Vicky and tell her, “I’ve been in an accident and I don’t think I’ll be driving away from it. Can you come get me?”

This is where things got funny, though not funny “ha ha”. The ambulance arrived after witnesses called 911 and checked the passengers of the other car, two old people in a Mercedes. After determining the old people were okay, the ambulance left. As the drivers boarded their car, I was so shocked they didn’t bother to ask if I was okay, I joked, “Thanks for stopping by!”

The police arrived to take statements and, again, rather than ask if I was okay – I was beginning to feel very nauseated at this point – one asked if I could move my car, which now lay in pieces in the middle of the intersection. Surprisingly, it was drivable, if barely. I moved it to the curb. The female cop taking the statements got statements from the two witnesses to the effect that the Mercedes ran the red light. I said the Mercedes ran the red light. With it being three to one against the other driver, you’d think…

Nope, the female cop came back and asked me, “Why were you running the red light?”

“I wasn’t,” I told her, giving my statement again.

She went back to the old people in the Mercedes and, when she returned to me, insisted, “Well, it’s clear you ran the red light.” And I insisted again that I hadn’t, reminding her that the two witnesses supported my side of the story. At this point, she gave up and just sneered at me.

The Mercedes and my Honda were both towed away and Vicky took me home, insisting that I should have gone to the hospital. At this point, I was hurting quite a bit and nauseated so I agreed that Vicky could ask my doctor what was best at this point. My doctor said I should go to the hospital.

Off we went. At St. Joseph, I was feeling increasingly disoriented to the point where they had to put me into a wheelchair and (according to Vicky’s account) I pretty much lost it. I became completely disoriented, which prompted the hospital to check me in pretty fast. Back to the ER, I was wheeled and over the course of several hours was given CT scans and X-Rays and lots and lots of meds. I left there with prescriptions for more meds and the knowledge that I had suffered a concussion and soft tissue damage. (My doctor would later refer to this as “thousands of microscopic tears in your muscles”.)

The long and the short of it was that I wasn’t going to be getting up for a few days and, when I did, it was a couple of weeks before I was moving at anything approaching normal. After a bit, Vicky and I went to get the police report because, dammit, I wanted to sue the bastards who had hit me. I’m not usually prone to lawsuits; I’ve only done it once in my life. But when I found out how obviously the passengers in the Mercedes had lied, saying it was my fault, all I could think was that I wanted to see them punished.

The other driver was not cited for anything. Apparently, cops can only cite if they witness the infraction – no matter how many witnesses support the claim. When did this start? Sounds pretty fucked up to me. So, basically, you can kill a guy and never get arrested if a cop doesn’t see it??? I’m calling bullshit! But that’s what the cops said to us. So, fine. But I wanted to take these bastards to court and get some satisfaction!

And this is where things got funnier… and no, no “ha ha”… I couldn’t find a single lawyer who would pursue taking the driver to court because he was a liar or for pain and suffering, which I had plenty of! No, the best I could find was a lawyer who would sue for medical expenses, a few thousand dollars. So, basically, these guys have lied and are going to get away with it. It really pisses me off!

Anyway, fortunately for me, I had no permanent injuries that I know about. I’m jogging again and, once enough time passes for me to be sure I… no, wait… for Vicky to be sure I’m over the concussion, I can cycle again. So, at least, there’s that.

I can promise you, though, that if I had gone through a red light or if I had lied – two things I do not do – I would have had my license taken away. I would have been put in jail. I would have had my sorry ass sued.

There really is no justice sometimes.

Stopping to breathe…

August’s entry for Recovering the Self is early and here it is.

I’ll be back for new updates in these parts next week now that I’ve taken a little time to stop and breathe. Hope you’re still breathing, too.

One day you're on top...

We're halfway through the month and I've been bumped off the front page for a senior in high school - ah, humility! But you can still read the interview I did over at Connotation Press and my play, Murielle's Big Date, on this page...

July Recovering the Self is up...

This month, I talk about an important factor for anyone chasing their dreams: having a support system!

On the job front and…

I was going to say “All’s Quiet on The Jobstern Front” but even I know that makes me sound Malthusian!
So, the big news is that I am now a copywriter for an ad agency. Shocked? Me too! After applying for just about every job under the sun, the one I get is the job I’ve wanted for years, to finally work at an ad agency!
So, there you have it. Things are good and let’s hope I stay employed for a long while…
Oh, and there’s something else. I recently hit a writing wall (as explored over on the Ken La Salle blog) and I won’t be writing much for a brief while. That means I’ll be taking a break from the blog for just a bit. Feel free to check back, though. I shall return. In the meantime, just play nicely amongst yourselves…

Murielle’s Big Date in Connotation Press…

For those of you who have never read one of my plays, Connotation Press is now giving you the opportunity. This month, Connotation Press is running my farce, Murielle’s Big Date, for you to enjoy.

They’ve also included at interview with me, wherein I discuss writing, theater, and many deep, philosophical things to be sure…

Hope you enjoy it!

Job Interviews: A Side By Side Comparison…

Last Friday, I ended my week with a phone interview with a woman from a placement agency I’ve worked with in the past. Though I hadn’t worked with the woman, I figured from my experience with the placement agency that it would go well.

Boy, was I wrong.

The call began with questions about my experience, which is typical, but when I told her what I’d done, she refused to believe me. I said I’d written for the web and she said, “That’s just writing things that went on the web that’s not writing FOR the web.” I said I’d written advertisements and she said, “You just wrote text that was used in advertisements. That’s not the same thing.”

Seriously.

I couldn’t get her to understand that they were both the same and, after a torturous half hour, she called me a liar and said she refused to work with me.

… nice. Welcome to the world of the unemployed.

Now, cut to yesterday. Someone at an ad agency had seen my profile on Linkedin and, through a circuitous and confusing path, contacted me through another placement agency I use. This agency needed a writer who understood tech and wanted to bring me on. When I spoke with the contact, he didn’t wait a minute and asked me to meet with him right away.

“I’m not exactly ready,” I tapped danced. “I just need time to shave and –”

“Don’t worry about shaving. I know it’s last minute. I just want to meet to get the ball rolling.”

So, I met him. I think he was trying to see how I handled change and stress because, when we met, he said, “It means a lot to me that you were able to meet with me on such short notice.”

Working for an ad agency is a big step for any marketing copywriter. It’s really where you want to be. But to do it, you often already need experience – one of those wonderful Catch 22s… But he was fine with my lack of agency experience because, he said, I had so much good experience and talent that could be put to use.

When I told him about my background, he didn’t call me a liar or just assume I was trying to trick him.

I don’t know if I’ll get the job but you put those two interviews side by side and you see two very different styles. I really hope I get this ad agency job; it could mean a big step for me. If not, I hope I never get another interview where the person I meet with assumes I’m a liar.

A Hex Upon Rynia (the e-book) is now available for all e-readers...

Hex may be one of the smartest men on earth, certainly one of its few real magicians, but that hasn’t stopped him from being alone. He can bring toys to life but his only real friend is a boy named Vincent. When Vincent sneaks into one of Hex’s magical experiments, they are both spirited away to the world of Rynia – of undead wars and stone giant usurpers, of terrifying sand creatures and a kingdom fighting for its life.


Hex is forced to take his magic to war while Vincent is rescued by a guerilla force of wizards and fighters, a talking walrus and a stick-man named Robert. Meanwhile, back on Earth, something of this magic has followed Hex and Vincent’s path back, ready to conquer a new world.

Witness a fantasy world unlike any other with topless helicopters and ice giants, violent battles and passionate love, a people on the edge of extinction with a story that must be experienced to be believed. Witness a Hex Upon Rynia!

A Hex Upon Rynia, the prequel to the entire Rynia Trilogy, is now available for all e-readers from Amazon.com, Smashwords, and wherever e-books are sold.

June's Recovering the Self...

This month's Recovering the Self blog has been posted, in which I tackle the painful reality of what pursuing your dreams really means.
I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.recoveringself.com/self-esteem/down-to-earth

Is 45 years too late to review a movie? My review of The Great Race…

When I was just a kid, my brother I used to sit down every weekend and watch The Family Film Festival with Tom Hatten on Channel 5. I think it was on Sunday mornings. On that show, about four or five times each year, they would play Popeye cartoons and old movies that the channel had secured the rights to very cheaply. You could tell they got the rights cheap because they’d play the same movies over and over. One of the movies they showed over and over, about four or five times each year, was The Great Race.

The Great Race is a Blake Edwards comedy from 1965, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and so many others. It was one of those movies I saw so much that I could, and often did – to death, quote line by line.

I didn’t realize the profound affect it had on me until I watched it recently. I had dvr’ed the film off TCM (which I just LUV), having only seen it uncut once before many years ago. As I watched it, I realized that so many of the rapid-fire interchanges could have come out of something I wrote. Among the many influences I’ve had, this one is very clear.

And the movie still holds up today. So many things I loved as a child simply do not but The Great Race still had me laughing. Jack Lemmon’s energy is contagious. Tony Curtis’ meta-suavity is spot on. Natalie Wood is – well, this was when she looked amazing (when didn’t she?) – but her timing is wicked. Peter Falk is Peter Falk so you know he’s got it in spades. And there are so many others that just nail it.

The bad part? The music. As I’ve mentioned to others, this simply stops the show because it’s so god-awful. You end up in a pit stop, waiting for the music to end so you can get on with the enjoyment. I'm not talking about the soundtrack, which is wonderful; it's those damn showtunes. Stop it!

And much enjoyment is to be had. The thing about The Great Race is that it has so many moments of fucking brilliance that it can coast for a while and you don’t mind. Well, I didn’t. I just love this movie and feel so grateful knowing how it has inspired me.

Jogging with a stranger…

Once upon a time, I used to take the edge off in the morning with a few cigarettes. Now, I take the edge off in the morning with a few miles – jogging them! What has happened to me? When did I grow up? And, crap, I think I lost my EDGE!

Okay, actually I’m not that worried. I like the way jogging makes me feel and it goes well with cycling. It’s rather surprising I’m still such a fat-ass, but I’m working on that.

This morning, I jogged five miles along the Santa Ana River Trail. The SART is a great place to jog; I’ve come to consider it my outdoor gym because I cycle there, too. Now that the sun has started coming out and spring has sprung, I don’t have to bundle up or wait until the day gets warm enough to go out. The only problem with spring springing is that the bugs of spring have sprung as well – into the air! Everywhere!

Most of my jog this morning seemed to be through a cloud of flying bugs, so many that you don’t dare open your mouth even to exhale. Eventually, most of the bugs will die off or move on as the weather turns drier and hotter… but not yet.

So, I jogged as best I could, keeping my mouth shut through a huge cloud of bugs. Sounds like fun, huh?

As I entered the last portion of my jog, a very attractive woman jogged past – which I’ll tell you up front is not that hard to do. I’m old, fat, and slow. Dig? She immediately caught my eye because she was, as previously state, very attractive. And I do not mind jogging around attractive women, even if it does make me unnaturally obsessed with my gut.

When I jog, I tend to jog in intervals. This is how they’re determined: when a fast song comes on my iPod, I jog, and when a slower song comes on my iPod, I walk. Sometimes, I get lucky and the iPod’s random setting gives me nothing but slow songs, but normally it’s 50/50 as it was today. When this woman passed me, I was slowing down. Then, I sped up and passed her. Then, I slowed down and she passed. She was doing intervals, too, as it turned out.

After a while, I realized we were both going down the same street. This was the street I always took to get back home but I couldn’t help wondering what she thought. Did she think I was following her? Stalking her?

I tried to just go about my business and not stare too much, as difficult as that was.

Every time I slowed down, she passed. When she slowed down, I passed. We did this for a couple of miles.

Then, when we reached my corner, she continued straight and I turned. I caught her head turn out of the corner of my eye, almost like, “Where are you going?” Ah, but I’m sorry. That was where I lives met and split once again.

I might jog with her again. You never know. Then, perhaps, we will be just a little less like strangers.

I honestly did not see this coming…

I went to the optometrist this week for my yearly paranoia. Optometrists give me just the opposite feeling as dentists. When I see a dentist, I experience great pain to find out everything’s okay. At the optometrist’s office, I experience no pain and hear the worst news.

This time, after he checked my eyes out, he gave an irresolute shake of his head and said, “I’m not sure what we can do.”

Those aren’t words you want to hear from any doctor.

Turns out my eyes have started the downward slide I’d always feared and felt I had always been slightly putting off. The thing is my eyes suck. They always have. If you have an eye condition in mind, chances are I have it or have had it.

Oh, they’re healthy. He always tells me that, “Your eyes are healthy…” And then he adds, “But…”

It turns out my eyes are a bit schizophrenic. The vision in my right eye is diminishing as my left eye dominates. I’m going blind in my right eye. When the doctor tries to make me able to see through that eye, with glasses, the vision in my left eye actually gets worse. “It’s as if your left eye doesn’t want your right eye to see.”

Now, I’ve never had any Oedipal issues that I know about but I personally like seeing out of my right eye. It makes 3D so much more enjoyable.

Jokes aside, it kind of shook me, knowing that my best days of vision are long past.

The supreme joke here is what’s killing my vision the most is what I do. As my doctor put it, “If we could get you to not look at computer screens or read, your vision would probably improve.” Irony, you’re a bitch.

The Incarnations of Death - now available for all e-readers...

Death can never be defeated and when Robert Erwon Mitchel does just that he sets off a chain of events that give birth to a new breed of superheroes. Now it is up to these heroes - Night Stalker, Fade, and Force - to find a way to stop the insane replacement for Death, one who can wipe out entire cities at a whim and who is hunting down the scientist who killed his predecessor!

Find out what happens in The Incarnations of Death! Now available for all e-readers through:
Amazon for your Kindle
Smashwords for all e-readers
and wherever fine e-books are sold!

New job, Odd Job…

With the week ended, it’s time for me to catch up on goings on and other goings otherwise.

As you may know, I have found a new job that proves to be as fulfilling as it is not likely to make me rich. Here’s the scoop: I’m working part time with hours varying around the 20 hour mark writing educational material and marketing it as well. The material specializes in the education and treatment of special needs children. That’s where the fulfillment part comes in. The lack of riches, well, you can see that in the amount of hours I’m working.

The nice thing about this job is my new employer knows about my writing career. (I use the term “career” very loosely.) She knows I’m a writer and supports me in that endeavor. There’s no hiding it and nobody’s suggesting that I can’t do a proper job if I’m also pursuing a writing career. If anything, the only way being a writer has become a liability is that every time she thinks of something that needs writing she says, “Oh, you’re a writer, aren’t you?” But I can’t complain because that could turn into more hours and more money.

There is one more odd thing I want to share. After applying at just about every grocery store, department store, and other entry level job I could think of – you know, anything for an income – none of them have called. None of them. I don’t know if this is because they see me as too qualified or if they see me as too old. Is it an insult or a compliment? I know it’s like asking why the ugly girl didn’t ask me to the dance – I should be grateful – but I still wonder why I wasn’t asked.

Hopefully, this job will last a while. The plan is to give it six months. If everything works out as planned, it could keep up far longer than that. With all the things in the works for my writing career (again, very loosely defined)(and you’ll have to check out the Ken La Salle blog for that), I may stop much sooner and for very good reasons. Let’s hope so.

The Rohan Scripts e-book now available…

The Rohan Scripts, Ken La Salle’s new novella about time travel and thrills, psychics and scientists, is now available for Kindle, iBook, Nook, and all e-readers for the very low price of just $2.99!

Get yours now! You can find it on Amazon.com. You can also find it at Smashwords. And you can find it wherever find e-books are sold. (If it's not solf there, the other books are not fine!)

The Prophesies of Nicoli Rohano, THE ROHAN SCRIPTS, were the stuff of legend for their uncanny accuracy and were all but lost to history… until now!

THE ROHAN SCRIPTS, the latest sci-fi adventure from Ken La Salle, brings you psychics and scientists, assassination plots and time paradox, with a single man flung through time and recording everything into a book of prognostication called: THE ROHAN SCRIPTS!

When the fabled ROHAN SCRIPTS mysteriously appear, they plunge a group of psychics headlong into the vortex of time. Working with physicist, Harris Feller, the psychics use the Rohan Scripts to create a prophesied time machine and when they use it the incredible energies and paradoxes of time travel reach into the past with an icy precision to snatch Nicoli Rohano and send him flinging through time. Now psychics and physicists alike must use the talents and devices at their disposal on an adventure through time itself to save the one man who can tell them how to make it all end with a book he is foretold to write, THE ROHAN SCRIPTS!

My Saturday – and, yes, I got a job…

Saturday morning began with an easy-peasy visit to the OC Food Bank. The idea was to volunteer just a couple of hours helping pack boxes of food before going to a job interview I had scheduled for later in the day.

The food-packing was coordinated just like an assembly line. There were pallets of several kinds of food on each side and box would come down the line to pack the food in. So, one person would pack a jar of peanut butter from a pallet. Then, one person would pack a bag of rice, etc. etc. etc. It was pretty easy. People were even chilly from the morning and wore coats.

The box would go to the end of the line, get taped shut and then one person would take the 10-ish pound box and stack them on a pallet. That one person was me. While everyone else was lifting just a few ounces, I moved 10-ish pound boxes all morning long. I was sweating so hard after a while, it was clear I was the only one working – but, here’s the thing, nobody helped me out. This was mostly because I was the only muscular guy – but they didn’t even slow down! They were going at a furious pace! In the two hours we were there, I moved over 140 of those boxes!

Cut to the end and I’m sweaty and tired and even banged up quite a bit… and I still have a job interview to go to! I was tempted to call it off except that the woman I was meeting with had been kind enough to take time out of her Saturday… so, I went.

As tired as I was, I wasn’t at the top of my game. I didn’t even look particularly good. I figured I would simply apologize and explain what had happened and ride it out – so imagine my surprise when it didn’t seem to affect the direction the interview went in! Woody Allen famously said that 80% of success is showing up – well, I showed up and was offered the job.

The job is about a six-month contract, so far as we know. It may go on longer but that’s the minimum. I’ll be writing as well as using my marketing management skills so, at the very least, this should be very good for my resume. The best parts, though, are two-fold. First, I’ll be working on developing and marketing courses for parents of children with Autism, helping them help their children. I feel really good about that. Second, my new boss knows about and supports my efforts as a writer. Unlike previous jobs, this won’t require me to live a double-life quite so much.

I start Tuesday and I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a while since I made any money and I want to get the ball rolling.

After all this happened, Vicky and Jeff and I went up to Hollyweird to see my new show. You can read more about that on the Ken La Salle blog…

New Writing Gig: Recovering The Self...

I start a new writing gig this week, guest blogging each month for the Recovering The Self site.

Recovering The Self, as you might know, is the magazing that published my piece last year called Little Victories. Now, I'll be appearing over there each month with new words on the journey of making your dreams come true.

This month's piece is on learning to say "YES". I hope you enjoy it.

And the people cheered…

There’s been a lot of cheering today about the death of Osama bin Laden. On Facebook, Twitter, and in the news, a lot of people are very happy.

And that concerns me.

Justice is a very different thing from relishing in the death of a man. No matter if you believe Osama had anything to do with 9/11 or not, he was a criminal wanted by the United States and the United States had a mission to bring him to justice. They did that today. That mission is over.

But should we gloat and cheer over the death of a man? In a supposedly “Christian” nation, is this was Jesus would do? Is it what Buddha would suggest? I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of any single religion that would advise in this activity. As an athiest, I'm used to calling "hypocrite" but it pains me to do so today.

Cheering about the death of a man is worse than base. It is revolting. We should never revel in blood. Rather, we should kill only when necessary and then never cheer about death.

What kind of people are we that murder is so much fun and, as I’m sure will happen, people will take offense at the suggest that it shouldn’t be? We should be ashamed of ourselves.

But I don’t think we will be. Not at all.

We’ll take the religion and hold the science…

I remember some years ago… okay, many years ago, spending time in science classes along with kids who would bitch and moan and carry on about how much they hated science. “When will we use this?” they’d ask, outraged. “We’re never going to use this!”

Meanwhile, many of those kids along with many kids today spend hours in church devoted to religious beliefs. When are you going to use something like transubstantiation? When are you going to use resurrection? Never. It’ll never happen.

It amazes me how much time we invest into religion in this country – hell, in this world – and how little we invest in science. Some of you might remember, during the last presidential election, how Republican nominees couldn’t come out fast enough against global warming (science) but for religion. Science is all around is. People are dying in the middle of the country right now due to storms made more extreme as the result of global warming. Island nations are being wiped out due to rising sea levels brought on by global warming. In Japan, radioactive hell is spreading as the result of a disastrous earthquake. We should be getting smarter so we can fight these problems.

But so many would rather pray.

Way to use that brain that you insist your “god” gave you…

“Well” is theater in excellent shape…

It’s not exactly the norm for me to review theater on this blog but after seeing Panndora Productions’s performance of Lisa Kron’s Well last night at The Empire Theatre in Santa Ana, I feel compelled to do so. I must. This work found its way into my heart with a joy for life and love and inventiveness that I haven’t seen in theater for too long.

As a ersatz member of the theater community in Southern California (I was an actor once and have a bit of a reputation as a playwright), I see a lot of theater. Some of it’s good. Most of it isn’t. Recently, a friend said to me… wait. I have the quote. She said, “Yes, we all go to see shows and experience other theaters, to see our friends and how many times have we said ‘Oh that was soooo good. You were great,’ only to walk away to the local watering hole, criticize the show in our own way and then never think of it again. When was the last time you saw something on stage that moved you to rage? To be a better person? Or again in the very least, to just shout from the rooftops that you are alive.” She said that in regards to a project we’re working on but it applies so well here.

Well made me want to shout from the rooftops that I am alive. Panndora’s production filled me with more than a love for life; it made me grateful for the 90 minutes I was in that theater. Because it was nourishing and fulfilling and important – and GOOD!

I loved Well. My praise for it is complete and unequivocal. If you’re anywhere near Santa Ana between now and May 15th, you need to see Well.

MaryAnne Mosher’s direction is loose and fun, effortless. The show doesn’t look directed; it looks lived in. Sonja Berggren, who am I fortunate to call a friend and who I have worked with in the past and has never let me down, amazed and delighted me with her performance. The supporting case of J.J. Boone, Philip Bushell, Richard De Vicariis, and Pam Paulson are so much more than supporting players. They are amazing.

But most of all, it is Karen Wray with her dry, heart-felt, honest, beautiful performance as Lisa that makes the show. I have met Karen in the past and she was a very nice person and then I went on with my life. Something happened in Well, however, to change that. I fell in love with Karen Wray in Well. I wanted to watch her performance go on for the entire evening. I wanted to spend the night in the theater. The impact between writing and acting and directing, along with the alchemy of the other players, made this Karen Wray’s show. She can proud of this performance for years to come.

Go see Well. Buy your tickets now. You can do it online. Bring your friends and family. You will be so glad you did. You can find Panndora Productions online at http://www.panndoraproductions.com/. If you see it, let me know how much you enjoyed it and spread the word. This is theater worth supporting, not just because it’s art but because it is good.