Wastin' Away Press

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"To entertain, inspire, frighten, teach, and entice as many readers as possible." - Keith Helinski

Wastin' Away Press features Keith Helinski's writings, ranging from short stories online to movie reviews over the years. Also features an assortment of Keith's interests. If you like what you see, check out Wastin' Away Press's official Facebook.

Ask me anything Ponder

June 19, 2013

"If Norm ever gets caught, he will top them both. He will be the most infamous out there. Movie titles like: Hellplex, Movie Theater with 1000 Corpses, or The Michigan Movie Theater Massacre will emerge. His legacy will be well known. People, who have visited this family/joyful movie theater over the years, will be shocked. Many will need therapy until the day they croak. Interviews from family and friends with the stereotypical, “I would have never guessed, not him. He always seemed normal,” will flood the local (and perhaps, national) news for weeks/months/and years on end. Police will search the theater disgusted by the quantities of remains they will find. The commute will never be the same. The EYS jingle will be infamous, like that cute Lizzie Borden rhyme you can jump rope to!"

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Now Seating…

***

I’ve started to drop little hints of what happens to the joyful EYS theater, and to Norm, in \m/. I already got ideas of possible references in future stories in the coming years ahead, which will lead to the follow-up of ‘Now Seating…’

I am not ready to write that story just yet…

1:50am | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnhKIkf

June 17, 2013

"…and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live."

— Frank McCourt

10:48pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnbmSRE

(Notes: 1)

Filed under: quotes frank mccourt angela's ashes

June 17, 2013

"Remember that band we formed when we were teens? Bodine Vengeance!!! That’s how we first met! I remember you were the leader of the group! You were looking for a singer! I brought my guitar, auditioned, and you said I sucked! But ended up hiring me anyhow! Then, of course, you decided to be the singer instead, douche!"

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Emotions

***

‘Bodine Vengeance’ plays a BIG role in \m/. There are a few other references I make from ‘Emotions’ in \m/.

10:40pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnbk2oh

Filed under: quotes emotions smashwords \m/ rock on

June 17, 2013

"I know that big people don’t like questions from children. They can ask all the questions they like, How’s school? Are you a good boy? Did you say your prayers? but if you ask them did they say their prayers you might be hit on the head."

— Frank McCourt

12:10pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnZ4CeV

(Notes: 1)

Filed under: quotes angela's ashes frank mccourt

June 17, 2013

"Bed, bed, bed. What’s the use of going to bed? If I go to bed I’ll only have to get up again…"

— Frank McCourt

12:07pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnZ3ftP

Filed under: quotes frank mccourt angela's ashes

June 16, 2013

I had toyed with the idea of reediting this story based on some of the criticisms this story attracted, but in truth, and perhaps this might sound lazy, but I really can’t think of anything else I could do with it to expand or to fix. I like it the way it is. It’s not a perfect story. But I am proud of it nonetheless, and I’d like to preserve what I thought/felt/and wrote two years ago. You compare this story to Now Seating…, Emotions, and even the story I am currently working on, you will notice how much I’ve improved. That’s the real reason why I don’t wish to fix or change anything from this story.

When I first published this piece on Amazon, I had paired Wastin’ Away with Journeyman (a story you could read in the Livin’ the Dream…short story collection on Amazon). I thought it would be a good pairing. I guess some double-features don’t blend well together. So I decided to take that story out, and add a very short story called Tranquility, which is meant to be a prequel to Wastin’ Away. I was fascinated with how Jimmy Buffett created Margaritaville. Eventually, I intend to write a third Wastin’ Away story.

I also added a preview here of my current writing project I am working on called \m/, which I hope to be done with by the end of this summer.

—

Wastin’ Away

10:23pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnWk68W

Filed under: quotes livin' the dream Wastin' Away Amazon Journeyman Margaritaville jimmy buffett tranquility Now Seating... emotions \m/ rock on

June 15, 2013

So while many may critique Wastin’ Away for their own self-righteous reasons, just know, this piece was a stepping-stone for me. It was a self-taught lesson in writing. There are things I like about it. There are things I don’t like. Hey, at least I am not being pretentious about it! I know it’s not the best story ever conceived (in fact, I would rate it 3.0 if I read it for the first time).

Let’s be honest, though, does any of Jimmy Buffett’s songs have real depth or substance? When you go to Margaritaville, do you ever go there to ponder about life? It’s an escape, plain and simple. I wanted to blend the escapism Buffett had harnessed so perfectly well with his Margaritaville empire, and the realities of working at a restaurant, all day - every day, and create a mix drink of some kind. That may not make a very compelling story on your way to Key West while reading on your Kindle during your flight, but that’s the difference between the tales of fiction-land a lot of authors pull out of their asses when they write Buffett rehashes, and the reality of everyday going on’s at Margaritaville.

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Wastin’ Away

4:45am | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnNoXSu

Filed under: quotes Wastin' Away Amazon jimmy buffett Margaritaville

June 14, 2013

"I didn’t know what a soul was but I didn’t ask him because I didn’t care."

— Frank McCourt

4:10am | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnJ9lUk

(Notes: 2)

Filed under: quotes frank mccourt angela's ashes

June 14, 2013

For me personally, I can’t say it is my favorite piece, or even my best. I wrote it after writing Hellplex. I wanted to write something ambitious (at the time), that was completely different from Hellplex. I also wanted to escape to a warm place. Took me two sleepless nights to write the (at the time) 8,000+ word story. Friends/family seemed to really dig Wastin’ Away when I posted it on my Facebook. So I then got the cocky idea of publishing it online. It went through quite a few revisions (and trimmings) between the time I wrote it (February) to the time I published it on Amazon (July) in 2011. It did very well for a while. Was the first story I’ve ever written that I profited from. A big thank you to everyone who bought a copy, and to Amazon for giving little pesky amateur writers like me, an opportunity to get published! Because of how well the story was selling at the time, I based my Tumblr/Facebook page(s), showcasing all my writings, around the Wastin’ Away name.

Since then, I’ve tackled an assortment of various writing projects. I like to jump around (same applies to my reading). Some stories I’ve written are horror related. Other stories align with that ‘livin’ the dream’ mentality I went for with Wastin’ Away. That’s ultimately what I want to be known for: a versatile writer.

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Wastin’ Away

4:05am | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZiaSOxnJ93Cz

Filed under: quotes Wastin' Away Amazon writing livin' the dream hellplex

June 13, 2013

"If there is one thing I will be known for, I think the byline, ‘the mediocre writer of Wastin’ Away,’ will sum it up! For the record, I wasn’t expecting this piece to be a hot-seller, anyhow. There are too many Jimmy Buffett knock off’s out there, usually of the same topic. That bores me. I was interested in what it would be like to work at the original Margaritaville in Key West, Fl. And that’s how Wastin’ Away started."

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