Tripping the Light Fantastic - a screenplay

“Tripping the Light Fantastic,” is a screenplay for a full-length, feature film of entertaining fiction in the fantasy/romance genre which tells the story of Seek, who suffers severe head injuries while rescuing Maryanne from some toughs accosting her on a tube late one night. While in the hospital, Seek undergoes a Near-Death Experience from which astral travels ensue: taking him to Los Angeles in May of 1972 – where he relives some events from his wild hippie past and a failed love affair – to an English garden outside of time and space – where he pursues enlightenment as he meets two whimsically humorous and scathingly insightful spirit guides – and to London three days in the future – where he pursues new love with Maryanne.

A Match Made at the Oscars - a screen treatment

“A Match Made at the Oscars” is a treatment for a full length feature film of entertaining fiction in the comedy genre in which a young man, Carl Worthington, fresh out of film school, woos Amy Ambrosia, the lead actress in the movie for which he has been hired as a PA on his first job. Without prior approval, Carl writes lines for her character which help her win an Oscar as he wins both an Oscar for himself and Amy’s heart.

The Lucky Chip - a screen treatment

“The Lucky Chip” is a screen treatment for a comedy about two garbage men who skip work on the morning of Christmas Eve and take the garbage truck to Las Vegas where they find a chip marked for a lobbyist to win at gaming tables when lobbying politicians, meet two famous and beautiful celebutantes, win a fortune and gain the politician’s support for funding their idea to convert the trash at garbage dumps into energy while thwarting the lobbyist’s efforts to get the chip back and influence the politician to fund “Big Oil.”

Under Peril's Moon - original screenplay

“Under Peril’s Moon” is edgy, entertaining fiction in the action/thriller genre which tells a story set in 2057 of a mother (Silk), her two teenage children (Fair and Raven) and a pelt trapper (Dusty) traveling in search of better lives. All four are taken hostage, abused, terrorized and enslaved by a frightening group of territorial predators. After the captives engineer their escape, the victims fight for their lives against incredible odds and their sick, vile captors. 

"Love-ism" books available through Amazon (US and UK) and Barnes and Noble

Hi friends, I wanted to let everyone know that all four books (of all three volumes) of my "Love-ism" series are now available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and through the Barnes and Noble online store. 

"Love-ism Volume I: A Critical Mass and Other Poems" can be purchased as a quality paperback at $26.96 and as a Kindle eBook for $9.95 through Amazon at the following url - http://www.amazon.com/Love-ism-Critical-Mass-Other-Poems/dp/1630005274/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379457375&sr=1-7&keywords=love-ism or in the UK for 25.38 pounds (or for 6.78 pounds as a Kindle eBook) at the following url - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-ism-Volume-Critical-Other-Poems/dp/1630005274/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1379458275&sr=8-14&keywords=love-ism

"Love-ism Volume II, Book 1: Essays on a Philosophy of Compassionate, Common-Sensed Evolution" can be purchased as a quality paperback at $26.96 through Amazon at the following url - http://www.amazon.com/Love-Ism-Book-Compassionate-Common-Sensed-Environmentalism/dp/163000524X/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379457375&sr=1-11&keywords=love-ism or in the UK for 25.34 pounds at the following url - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-ism-Volume-Book-Compassionate-Environmentalism/dp/163000524X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1379458275&sr=8-9&keywords=love-ism

"Love-ism Volume II, Book 2: Essays on a Philosophy of Compassionate, Common-Sensed Evolution" can be purchased as a quality paperback at $26.96 through Amazon at the following url - http://www.amazon.com/Love-Ism-Book-Compassionate-Common-Sensed-Consciousness/dp/1630005290/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379457375&sr=1-9&keywords=love-ism or in the UK for 25.63 pounds at the following url - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-ism-Volume-Book-Compassionate-Common-Sensed/dp/1630005290/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1379458275&sr=8-7&keywords=love-ism

"Love-ism Volume III: Sitting in an English Garden - a novel" can be purchased as a quality paperback at $17.96 through Amazon at the following url - http://www.amazon.com/Love-Ism-III-Sitting-English-Garden-/dp/1630005282/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379457375&sr=1-8&keywords=love-ism or in the UK for 12.43 pounds at the following url - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Ism-Volume-III-Sitting-Garden-A/dp/1630005282/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1379458275&sr=8-5&keywords=love-ism

All four titles can also be purchased through Barnes and Noble online ( Volume III for $18.19 and the other three books at $29.95) at the following url - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/don-coorough?store=allproducts&keyword=don+coorough

I am excited about the availability of my books from these retailers. I hope you will make your purchase today!

Don

Shoreline Driftwood – The Five-Year Anniversary

On September 21, 2008, I typed in my first post for my blog, Shoreline Driftwood. So, I am approaching the fifth anniversary for this blog, though I know I am about 6 weeks early in putting this up. I felt this would be a good time.

In its first 49 months, Shoreline Driftwood received 18,856 page views on its 221 posts. Since then, the total number of page views has climbed to 28,108 viewings on 226 blog posts (including this one). Visits to my blog come from readers all over the world.  

I am extremely grateful to all the readers who have stopped by my blog, either to give it an occasional read or to become regular readers. I wanted to take this anniversary and use it as an opportunity to share with readers not only my gratitude (which is deeper and more heartfelt than I can state), but also some of the highlights as culled from the stats on page viewings which reflect your interests in my writing.

Readers of my blog emanate from nations all over the world. As of October 15, 2012, the top 10 nations in terms of numbers of page views was as follows: 
1) United States – 8839 
2) Germany – 1206 
3) Russia –1156 
4) United Kingdom – 781 
5) Slovenia – 592 
6) Netherlands – 348 
7) France – 308 
8) South Korea – 265 
9) Canada – 244
10) Ukraine – 198 

In addition to these nations, I know the blog had readers from Indonesia, Philippines, Lebanon, Iraq, and India, in addition to many other nations. As I write this today, the current top ten of nations is as follows: 
1) United States – 12,930 
2) Russia – 1856 
3) Germany 1653 
4) United Kingdom – 1191 
5) France – 709 
6) Slovenia – 592 
7) Canada – 428 
8) Latvia – 407 
9) Netherlands – 360 
10) Poland – 274 

As you can see, recent interest from Latvia and Poland has moved them ahead of South Korea and Ukraine. The blog has also gained interest in China, Taiwan, Sweden and Australia.

For my writing to reach such a broad and diverse readership is very humbling at the same time as it is extremely gratifying. I am amazed and surprised by the reach of the blog given it was such a small venture 5 years ago. I had no idea I could, or even any ambition to, generate the large and diverse readership which I have garnered over the past 5 years. As I say, I feel humbled by the response.

Indeed, at some point in 2010, I realized my readership had grown to a point that I could reach more people per month from my blog than I could from many, if not most, of the online literary journals in operation. Consequently at that time, I ceased submitting my writing to other sources for possible publication. For the entire 5 year period, I have averaged 469 viewings per month. However, over the past 16 to 18 months, I have been averaging more than 1000 viewings per month. Since I liked how I was able to garner so many viewings without contributing to advertising or feeling constrained by publishers and editors, I focused on publishing my writing here, solely since the time in 2010 when I ceased submitting my writing to publishers. I have experienced a great deal of freedom by not being limited by subject matter, style, voice, or genre (poetry, non-fiction, or fiction). As a consequence, I have grown as a writer, as a thinker, and as a person. I have to thank all of you as readers of Shoreline Driftwood for making this possible.

Next, I’d like to share with you a list of my top most viewed blog posts with a minimum of at least 50 viewings. I’ll provide the title, a brief description of the blog entry, the date it was posted (month/day/year), and the number of viewings. If readers find they missed something and want to go back to view it, you can find the link clicking on the title below which will take you to the post.

    1)   Ekphrasis Exercise – three poems I wrote which interpret four pieces of art (one by Kandinsky, one by Picasso, and two by Chagall), 2/7/10, 2012 viewings

    2)   An Interpretation and Discussion of Charles Olson’s Poem “Maximus to himself” – an analysis of the poem, 1/21/10, 1823 viewings

    3)   A Critical Mass – my epic creation tale poem and poetic magnum opus, 12/15/08, 1014 viewings

    4)   Metternich, Bismarck and Franco Reveal Reactionary - Conservatism’s Political Struggle with the Rise of Populist, Liberal-Republican Equality – an historical overview with critical commentary, 5/26/10, 660 viewings

    5)   On the Rise and Fall of America’s Counterculture (1967-1972) – an historical overview with commentary, 12/10/08, 638 viewings

    6)   On Reliving the 60s: The Conflict between the Old Entrenched Power Structure and the Youth Movement – an historical overview with commentary and analysis, 4/1/09, 517 viewings

    7)   An Analytical Introduction to the Poetry of Jim Morrison – a brief introduction to the poetry of Jim Morrison, 5/13/10, 500 viewings

    8)   The French in Indochina and the Beginning of Decolonization and the End of Domination by Western Empires in the Third World – an historical analysis with commentary, 5/24/10, 436 viewings

    9)   R. D. Laing’s Radical Psychology and My Arguments with Contemporary Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment – an overview and analysis with commentary, 8/3/09, 336 viewings

    10) Seductively Satirizing Hollywood’s Seduction: Woody Allen’s Anti-Genre Films – an overview and analysis with commentary, 11/12/09, 231 viewings

    11) On the Organization of an Enlightened and Ecologically Sound Community – a philosophical look at two possible futures depending on humanity’s approach to Climate Change which includes detailed scientific factual findings, 2/14/09, 193 viewings

    12) On the Nature of Consciousness: Consciousness’ Relationship to Living a Life with Meaning – a detailed analysis which includes the latest neuroscientific research and findings and a philosophical interpretation of the information, 12/6/08, 193 viewings

    13) Understanding Classical Greek Mythology and Its Avenues for Enlightenment – an historical overview with interpretive analysis and commentary, 11/10/09, 192 viewings

    14) The Next Beatles’ Movie – A Band on the Run – my presentation of a project proposal and story synopsis for a Beatle movie which could be made and if one had been made in the mid-70s, it’s a farcical romp in the style of “Help!”, 10/13/12, 175 viewings

    15) On Reviewing the Realities of Reagonomics’ Supply Side Strategies and their Effects on the Current American Recession – an historical overview with critical analysis, 3/23/09, 171 viewings

    16) the firestorm of raging opulence – one of my poems (a short one), 6/8/09, 165 viewings

    17) On Death, Dying and Reintegration – The Transition from Life through Death into Reintegration with the All – a philosophical and spiritual view of the after-death experience, 7/28/12, 153 viewings

    18) On the Relativity of Reality: Perception-Analysis, Language, Knowledge, and Time – a philosophical overview of the trends in philosophy from the 1800s on with a critical analysis and author commentary on each of the topics, 12/9/08, 151 viewings

    19) Jung and Mythopoetic Thought – a brief overview with commentary, 12/7/09, 144 viewings

    20) On Choices, Actions and Responsibilities: Freedom, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – a philosophical treatise which includes an historical overview and critical analysis, 12/12/08, 140 viewings

    21) On How George W. Bush Confounded the Wisdom of the Ages – an historical overview with critical analysis of Bush’s leadership and neocon’s ineffective strategies with regard to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 12/7/08, 125 viewings

    22) The Fifth Revolution in Poetics: On a Brief Overview of the History of Poetry withCommentary and Analysis – an historical overview with a contemporary analysis and urging for a 5^th revolution, 3/23/10, 124 viewings

    23) Significant Word Exercise: Peace – a commentary from the personal point of view, 1/28/10, 107 viewings

    24) A Poetry Exercise and Prompt: From “Meeting the Mountains” to Amniotic Steps” – a poetry exercise which reveals the writing of my poem “Amniotic Steps” (a short poem), 9/7/10, 103 viewings

    25) On Taking Responsibility for One’s Emotional States – a psychological and spiritual study of the road to experiencing greater happiness more often, using the principles of Transactional Analysis, 4/8/13, 103 viewings

    26) Solaced Wistless Sighs – one short poem, 12/21/10, 92 viewings

    27) On Rejecting Arguments Supporting the Existence of God – a philosophical investigation into rejecting notions of a thinking creator who created with a plan, 12/20/08, 78 viewings

    28) On Seeking Balance in the Contemporary World – a philosophical and spiritual commentary, 7/10/12, 67 viewings

    29) On Suggestions for Reforming America’s Political System – a critical look at how the Constitution’s Framer’s intentions have been subverted with suggestions for repair utilizing historical references from various past Presidents including Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and many more, 12/12/08, 64 viewings

    30) On Spirituality and Inspiration from the Higher Self – a spiritual discussion leading to an innovative view of our place in the universe and a spiritual value as beings, 12/24/08, 62 viewings

    31) She Sang in the Morning – a short poem, 10/30/10, 56 viewings

    32) By a Stream – a short poem, 7/12/12, 55 viewings

    33) Haiku-Koan Variation Study – short haiku/koans strung together, 7/3/12, 52 viewings

    34) The Approaching Age of Equality – an historical overview with contemporary analysis and commentary, 11/3/11, 50 viewings.

    In addition to these blog posts, my advertisements/synopses for my recent book releases have garnered a number of viewings as well: 1) the post (4/18/2013) for the link to purchase my first book of essays has received 504 viewings, 2) the post (1/12/2013) for the link to purchase my collected poetry has received 264 viewings, 3) the post (6/6/2013) for the link to purchase my second book of essays has received 82 viewings, and 4) the post (8/5/2013) for the link to purchase my novel, “Sitting in an English Garden,” has received 12 viewings.

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by for a visit and to all of you who will do the same in the future. I am grateful for all of you. The purpose of my writing is to share my deepest thoughts, my most urgent feelings, my hopes and fears, and my unique perspective on our world. That sharing and communication has been accomplished is reflected by the viewing numbers I have posted. You give my life meaning and value by reading what I have written. I can never overstate how much that means to me.

Finally, if any of my readers enjoy reading books through Goodreads, you can find my first three books all available there at the following link - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6909913.Don_Coorough

My wish for all of you is for peace, happiness, good health, warm relationships, and a fulfilling life for all my readers.

Warmly, Don

"The Unraveling" - an outline for a screenplay

“The Unraveling,” is an outline for a proposed full-length feature film of entertaining fiction in the drama genre which tells the story of Jerry Farnsworth, husband to Marie and father of teenage son, Bobby, and Sally Evans, an exchange student from England. Set between September of 2008 and April of 2009 against the backdrop of the subprime mortgage crisis and several mass murders which actually occurred in the USA and which resulted from gun violence, the story tells how Jerry’s life and psyche unravel as he loses his job, takes a new position, and suffers excessive stress due to sexual dysfunction and mounting financial pressures. 

"Love-ism Volume III: Sitting in an English Garden - a novel" has been published

Dear friends and Readers,

My first novel, "Sitting in an English Garden," has been published and is now available for purchase. It is a 174 page quality paperback.

http://www.publishamerica.net/product53133.html

Love-ism Volume III: Sitting in an English Garden—a novel takes you to multiple worlds during multiple time periods. In this story, we encounter a man’s experiences in Southern California during May of 1972, in Amsterdam, Netherlands during a day in 2005, and in a place outside of time and space in a fictitious English garden. The book’s world combines hippies, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, out-of-body experiences, dream sequences, psychedelic trips on LSD, a visit to an Amsterdam koffieshop, a budding romance between an expatriated American and a native Dutch woman, and timeless encounters with John Lennon and George Harrison. This book will take you on a ride wilder than Billy Pilgrim’s in Slaughterhouse Five and more surreal than Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass. Destined to be a timeless classic, this book is a highly experimental example of storytelling which expands previous notions of the novel.

I hope my friends and readers will consider purchasing a copy. Please click on the link above to get your copy today. Also, please feel free to share the link with your friends.

Warm regards in peace and with love,
Don Coorough

Under the Flowering Jacaranda

Fragrant, lilac colored flowers cluster

Together, like hands from a multitude,

Stretching out five-fingered petals, pinching

At the air, reaching out in a last gasp, to grasp

The idyllic serenity their aura emanates. Worries

And judgments fail to cloud their perceptions –

Blossoms signal a momentarily eternal spring.

Purple carpets the ground, providing a regal

Setting for a picnic tryst. A lingering

Scent of harmony drifts on the laconic

Breeze, calmed by the jacaranda present.

A nearby brook enunciates the whispered

Secrets which the gentle wind whistles

Through the tree’s branches. Along the Paraná

River valley, just like a mother’s love, its

Music never ceases, singing through Brazilian

Guitars made from its wood in the way

A baby coos its contentment after suckling.

The jacaranda nurtures without words,

Caresses without touching, and spreads influence

Throughout its sphere without arguing, teaching,

Scolding or demanding. It simply loves for the

Sake of loving because all-which-is deserves

Every ounce of love it can well up and offer,

And nothing is ever lost when love is shared. 

Somnolent Caterwauling

A dark, summer night melts the icy moon

With undying, undiscovered memories

From within the heart’s furnace.

Tomorrow’s eternal wick

Glows, golden, beyond reach:

Pinching fingers

Try their hand at cheating.

Phantasmal fantasy

Flicks dandruff shrugs

Off stooped shoulders -

Another galaxy rejoices.

The unbinding grasp

Releases somnolent caterwauling

From the screeching scratch

Of a desolate desert.