brad kuhn & associates

New Orleans novelist Victor Hess has been a lot of things, but he only came to writing recently. His first novel, Jesse Sings, was a finalist in the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing competition in 2015. It was also recognized as a finalist in the Fiction: Inspirational category of the 2018 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest. His short stories received Honorable Mention in a recent Glimmer Train competition and one made the shortlist for the 2017 Faulkner competition. He is currently working on a third novel featuring Jesse Hall, the main character of his first two books. A successful business executive, he has been an Army bomb disposal Instructor, and, for decades, has taught Bible study for children and adults.  He lives in Slidell, Louisiana with his wife and dog. Vic stopped by Scribbler's Corner at River of Grass on his way home from a book signing in South Carolina to talk about the day he was bitten by the writing bug and how he has managed to lead an almost normal life despite this incurable, and devastating affliction. Victor's books are available here: https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Hess/e/B076VQHK3G%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Filmmaker, director, writer, actor—Fred Zara lives in Orlando, but stopped by Scribbler's Corner at River of Grass while he was in Jacksonville for the Southeast Regional Film Festival, where his latest film, The Suicide of James Rider, was being screened.

Fred grew up in New Jersey, where, at 15, he got kicked out of the 9th grade for fighting with a teacher. He played drums in a Trenton-based punk band under the name of Fred Fatal – a wild ride he documented twenty years later in his award-winning documentary, Average Community. 

So how does a 15-year-old high school dropout with anger issues go from riding around with friends to meet their crack dealer in New Jersey to an award-winning filmmaker in Florida?

Learn more about Fred and his work at https://fredzara.wordpress.com/