ABOUT RAR: For those of
you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher
of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites.
Use this link to visit the
RAR music page, which features original music
compositions and other.
ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance"-AVAILABLE
NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM
AMAZON.COM.Use
this link.
CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects
the building of America in a trilogy of novels
collectively calledATWOOD. Book One explores
the development of the American West through the
lens of public policy, land planning, municipal
development, and governance as it played out in one
of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of
the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious
and cultural traditions that imbued the American
Midwest with a special character that continues to
have a profound effect on American politics to this
day. Book One creates an understanding about
America's cultural foundations that is further
explored in books two and three that further trace
the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one
isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as
an icon in the development of a certain brand of
American character. That's the serious stuff viewed
from high altitude. The story itself gets down and
dirty with the supernatural, which inATWOOD
- A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliveranceis the
outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the
monumental to the sublime.The
book features the epic poem"The
Toiler"as
well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard
Padilla.
Elmore Leonard
Meets Larry McMurtry
Western Crime
Novel
I am offering another
novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its
sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado,
1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm
equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of
individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and
distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.
It is a ripping good yarn, filled
with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to
pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950,
when the story is set. Richard Padilla
has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of
a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The
whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on
Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little
of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns.
Use this link.
EXPLORE THE KINDLE
BOOK LIBRARY
If you have not explored the books
available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing
division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You
will find classic literature there, as well as tons
of privately published books of every kind. A lot of
it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published
books are awful, but some are truly classics. You
can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works
for two bucks.
Amazon is the largest,
but far from the only digital publisher. You can
find similar treasure troves atNOOK
Press(the
Barnes & Noble site),Lulu,
and others.
JOSEPH SEIF
This edition we spotlight San Francisco cinematographer and fashion photographer
JOSEPH SEIF, whose credentials include a independent film, video art
direction, fashion photography and more.
Lebanese
born, Seif got an early musical education on the piano and occasionally fronts a
shoe-gazing rock trio (Sky
Camp), who have played top line San Francisco venues (e.g., Slim's) and
feature Seif's original material.
Joseph Seif came to our attention by way of
reputation and endorsement as we asked around regarding who might be a
knowledgeable and creative asset we could tap into regarding our ongoing rock
musical project (working title The RAR Movie Project), which explores the
process of producing an independent film. This is something Seif knows a great
deal about, and he was willing to share his creative approach and his insights
into creating work of distinction and artistic integrity, while pushing the
boundaries of what cinematic narrative can achieve. - RAR
USING LIGHT:
In this section of our interview, Joseph Seif discusses his
approach to lighting scenes,
including various techniques he uses to carve shapes and forms in images
he creates through the use
of light and depth of field photography. The recorded interview is
played over Joseph's 2011 film reel, which
serves to illustrate the concepts he discusses.
NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT:
In this part of our interview,
Joseph discusses how story boards help to
develop narrative flow, as well as the specifics of art direction, often
from a single master image. This
part of the interview features a wide variety of Joseph Seif's
photography in music and fashion, as well
as an example of his video direction work (for the band Tiger Cat).
Additional examples of his work are
available from his Websites (see the links below).
For more information on Joseph Seif, visit the
following sites:
Part of what Joseph Seif brings to his
photography and cinematography is direct connections with the artists
with whom he works, and the creative processes they attempt to master.
Seif is a musician and songwriter whose band Skycamp is shown in this
video performing at the popular Slim's club in San Francisco a couple
years ago. That's Joseph, backstage with the cooler, at the start of the
video.