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Mark Wirtz

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Latest Activity

Aidana WillowRaven left a comment for Mark Wirtz Sep 24
Mark Wirtz and Matt Goldberg are now friendsJun 25
Mark Wirtz Matt Goldberg
Mark Wirtz added the blog post 'MUSE ON THE ROCKS'Apr 10
Mark Wirtz added the blog post 'MULTITASKING" - update'Feb 5
Shelagh Watkins left a comment for Mark Wirtz Dec. 31, 2007
Mark Wirtz added the blog post 'New Year Message'Dec. 29, 2007
Mark Wirtz added the blog post 'Yayyy! Back on stage to spread his madness!'Dec. 27, 2007
Mark Wirtz added the blog post 'ODE TO FLOOZIE'Dec. 24, 2007

Profile Information

My hometown:
Planet Earth
My books:

SISYPHUS ROCKS (five stars)
Connect Magazine
Reviewer: Jim Morekis (Editor-in-chief)


In a city of eccentrics, Savannah based writer Mark Wirtz manages to stand out, both for his loquacious personality and his inexhaustible store of funny stories from the good ol' days of the music business.

Mark Wirtz, the charming European produced music during the heyday of "Swinging London's" late '60s/'70s, before transplanting to Los Angeles, where he continued his music career as a Capitol recording artist, as well as producer for many best selling artists.

These days, Mark is, no doubt, more known for his tongue-in-cheek freelance writing. His first novel, SISYPHUS ROCKS, continues in the same vein.

The novel is ostensibly a story of a nasty record company plot to engineer the death of a female pop singer to boost her sagging record sales. Set in the recording business recession of 1979, after disco's peak but before new wave's rise, SISYPHUS ROCKS depicts a self-absorbed L.A. culture that revels in a decadence so pervasive it becomes almost pedestrian.

The story, amusingly told though it is, takes a back seat to the thinly veiled slice-of life depiction of Wirtz's own experiences in Hollywood's showbiz underworld. I doubt Wirtz actually stumbled across any murder plots during his music career, but there's no doubt that he knows firsthand the characters he trots out, like nasty alpha male Übermensch Arny Goldman and the gold-chain wearing Italian music publisher.
Wirtz - his humor so ready and his asides wickedly funny - nails the overriding ethos of the showbiz industry, where hypocrisy and backstabbing are merely coins of the realm, even among "friends." What I enjoy most about SISYPHUS ROCKS is precisely this portrait of a world so desperate to be hip, yet in fact so desperately unhip. The Hollywood "artistes" are deep down about as white bread as you can get, with their obsessions with embezzling money, screwing people over with bad contracts, one-upping the competition and schtupping the innocent and fresh-faced.
Oh, my, did I just write "schtupping?" Well, that's the kind of book SISYPHUS ROCKS is. It takes you there in a certain nostalgic style, to a time before crack cocaine and gangsta rap, before grunge and techno, before CDs and Napster, before Justin and Brittany. To a time when music was music and business was business, and the devil take the hindmost.



In surprising contrast to his first book (Sisysphus Rocks) and adult, roman a clef suspense novel, Mark Wirtz (aka, MIchael Sinclair) has chosen this light-hearted study of love, sex and relationships for all ages as his follow-up publication.

Enhanced by his own illustrations, and assisted by the counsel of distinguished psychiatrist and specialist in additional medicine, George Bifano D.O., Mark Wirtz, in original quotes, prose, essays and poems, follows today's typical relationship cycles from being alone, searchng, finding, bonding, struggling and finally breaking up, to ultimately conclude with a faith confirming obsertavions about happy as lasting romantic unions.




If you could be granted the honor of entering a chat room with God, Mother Nature and Satan, what would you ask them? As the potential questions
fill your brain to overflowing, consider Mark Wirtz's book CyberGod, in which
this rare opportunity is granted.

CyberGod isn't a nook that one picks up for a night of lighthearted escapism.
CyberGod pulls you in at the first sentence as the author opens up a chat room
dialog with God, Mother Nature and Satan. While the topics discussed detail the
very core of our essence and existence on this plane of expression, the dialog is
filled with plenty of reason to have you falling out of your chair with laughter.


The three Supreme Beings' drollness underscore their appreciation and awareness for one another as they clarify the motives behind their many decisions when creating Man. CyberGod gives many 'ah ha' moments, inviting the reader to stop and think about the very genesis of spirituality and the foundations of true love.


Mr. Wirtz's writing is brave, insightful, touching, humorous and poignant. It manages to scratch a great many itches in this short read, and will leave you wanting to sit down and read it again.
Website:
http://www.markwirtz.com
MAD MARK - SIDE SPLITTERS, TAMPA, FL, SEPT 'O7

Mark Wirtz's Photos

Mark Wirtz's Blog

Mark Wirtz

MUSE ON THE ROCKS

MUSE ON THE ROCKS
(COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH)
The runner was in a hurry as a prayer believed in itself as the beginning set sails for infinity and the book put itself on the shelf Its mysterious plot had been raped by a missing page that its author had torn to shreds in a devastating fit of the blues when his bi-polar wife left the nest to bed his agent on Valentine's Day in a haze of perfume and pretense while the scribe's raging fury began to broil the flesh of his vain…
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Posted on April 10th, 2008 at 6:44am —

Mark Wirtz

MULTITASKING" - update

"Here is something that makes me want to shove a cannon up my ass and light the fuse... MULTITASKING.. You read right -- multitasking! You know -- even MORE work, for the SAME pay, getting even less shit done right!

Personally, I'm so maxed out on multitasking, the only thing I'm getting done these days is absolutely nothing! And I can't even get THAT right!!

I think I'm gonna get me an INTERN! You know, somebody I can m

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Posted on February 5th, 2008 at 7:11pm —

Mark Wirtz

New Year Message

Posted on December 29th, 2007 at 9:50am —

Mark Wirtz

Yayyy! Back on stage to spread his madness!

On Saturday, Jan 5th, 2008 at 8:00 P.M., Mad Markie will be premiering his brand-new act,

"Body Language" (from the "Cooking For Cannibals" show)

at the Comedy Corner -- Clarion Hotel, Jacksonville, Int'l Airport, FL

Bring a nurse!

Further gig schedule to be announced shortly.

www,markwirtz.com

madmarkie.wordpress.com

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Posted on December 27th, 2007 at 6:20am —

Mark Wirtz

ODE TO FLOOZIE

Got me a GPS for Christmas. About time, because I do a lot of driving to strange places, and if there is a way to get lost, I will find it!


Google maps are sorta kinda OK, but they're worth shit in the dark, and they don't talk to me. Not like my GPS, which I have named Floozie. And Google maps don't put me back on the right track like Floozie does when I miss a turn, or exit, or on-ramp.

Floozie certainly knows a lot. She's a mobile unit, so I tested her in my home to find…

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Posted on December 24th, 2007 at 3:43pm —

Comment Wall (29 comments)

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At 4:49am on September 24th, 2008, Aidana WillowRaven said…
Hello,

Just wanted to stop in and get your opinion on my latest cover design posted to my blog...


I would love your input.

Aidana WillowRaven
www.WillowRavenIllustration.com
901-325-1402
At 9:31pm on December 31st, 2007, Shelagh Watkins said…
Happy New Year!
Myspace Glitter Graphics


I hope 2008 is a good year for you!
At 11:51am on December 5th, 2007, Alex Beecroft said…
Thanks for adding me as a friend! I like the look of CyberGod a lot. I definitely must try that one.
At 10:42pm on November 21st, 2007, Shelagh Watkins said…

MySpace Comments
At 2:42pm on November 6th, 2007, Inez Laurie-Douglas said…
Hi Mark....thank you for the invite....And many congratulations on being the featured author of the week. I hope this will be an added source of encouragement as you continue the precious art of writing. Lovely day to you!
At 8:54pm on November 5th, 2007, Mark Wirtz said…
Hey, Y'all,

I'm touched and flattered by your response. Author of the week? Damn... hold on while I get into make-up to take a bow! This is a very cool group, made up of some really cool and dedicate writers, of which I am proud to be a member (especially since Sheilagh Watkins is is one of the principals, that lovely duhling..!). Let's face it, no matter what happens in life and history, first, someone's got to "write" it. Even the Ten Commandments wouldn't mean fiddle-diddle, if Moses, even if by divine guidance, hadn't written them down. (See? Even the Bible needed a Top Ten to "make it"!). And remember -- if we can write it, we can do it!

So, happy writing and dreaming!

Loves ya!

Mark :)
At 8:25pm on November 5th, 2007, A. J. Dawn said…
Hello Mark,
Thank you for inviting me to be your friend. I love your page, please keep in touch.
At 12:54pm on November 5th, 2007, Russ Heitz said…
Hi Mark!
Welcome and congratulations on CyberGod! I've always been interested in "religion" and its many foibles and forms. I'll be curious to see your viewpoint.
Russ
At 12:12pm on November 5th, 2007, Tory Lynn said…
Hi Mark, those are great paintings. Thanks for inviting me to be your friend. Very nice to see you here.
At 4:32am on November 5th, 2007, Barbara said…
So nice to see you here Mark! Your site is wonderful by the way.
 
 

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