I just sat down to do some editing, and hit a brick wall. I came to a part I had completely forgotten about and now don't know what to do with. I need to discuss with my Editor. My knee-jerk reaction is to cut the entire section (about 6 pages worth of story), but I'm not sure.
Sigh.
Well, I guess I'll go read something instead.
August 31, 2010
August 30, 2010
Clash of the Titans
It's been a while since I reviewed a movie here. So, here goes:
Last week... I don't remember what day... Derek and I watched the new "Clash of the Titans." Now, I went into this movie expecting it to be singularly ridiculous, somewhat amusing, fairly lacking in content, and pretty much laughable. I believed it would be entertaining, but what I did not expect, was that I was going to love it.
Very rarely do I watch a movie (especially a movie that I didn't expect anything from) and wish that I had seen it in the theater. Possibly this is because I am pretty picky about the movies I go see (and am getting pickier as theater prices sky-rocket to ludicrous heights), or possibly it is because we watched the movie on my laptop, but either way, as we watched "Clash of the Titans" I found myself wishing that I had gone to see this movie when it was in theaters.
The visuals and special effects are fantastic. The monsters are realistic and frightening (but not horrifying to look at). The action is well-choreographed and intense, but not gory. The characters are likeable and heroic (as it should be in the retelling of a Greek myth), and they are none of them cowards.
The plot is pretty simplistic, which Derek listed as a con, but I list as a pro. You see, I am a student of mythology... being an English major and all... and the movie is pretty true to the story of Perseus. If you read Bullfinch's Mythology, which is one of the best compilations of Greek and Roman myths that is out there, you will see the problem with turning any of them into a full-length movie: the longest story in the book is probably about 6 pages long and some of them are as short as a paragraph or two. Also, most of the stories are interconnected, so as to make it difficult to pick one out to tell without leaving your modern audience completely confused. Thus, the fact that the movie stuck closely to the storyline of the myth without becoming too tangled and confusing was, to me, a major bonus. The story was told with artful simplicity and although it strayed in a few places from the original myth which you can read if you click on that link... it did not do so by too many extraordinary leaps, and the leaps it did make gave the movie a focus and direction that is lacking in many of the myths and would make them hard to turn into movies (they tend to meander around a bit).
A few things I noticed while watching that did sort of bother me. In the movie, Queen Cassiopeia says that her daughter, Andromeda, is more beautiful than the gods. However, in the myth, Cassiopeia compares her own beauty to that of the gods, which is the vanity she is punished for and the reason that the gods demand her daughter as a sacrifice to the sea monster. Also, the movie has a Kraken threaten the city of Argos, instead of the sea monster Cetus. Now, I understand that, "Release the Kraken." is much cooler to say than, "Release Cetus," and it was probably one of those points that Liam Neeson's agent negotiated for... however... the Kraken is from Norse mythology, while Cetus was from Greek mythology and is the creature that actually attacks Argos in the Perseus myth... so that kind of annoyed me. The other points where the plot strayed from the original myth were fairly minor and didn't impact the overall story too much.
However, those two points were pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. There were no scantily clad people running around, I noticed one swear... mostly because it was so obviously out of place in the language of the time/place... and no sex scenes, for which I was thankful and quite impressed.
Overall, if you're looking for something fun to watch on a Friday night, go ahead and rent this one. There's action, adventure, great special effects, a rather fantastic soundtrack, good characters, and even a little bit of a plot, and nothing offensive to jar your senses as you watch the movie. It's not a "thinking" movie, it's not one that I'll probably own. But it is one I'd be willing to watch again, because it was fun.
Last week... I don't remember what day... Derek and I watched the new "Clash of the Titans." Now, I went into this movie expecting it to be singularly ridiculous, somewhat amusing, fairly lacking in content, and pretty much laughable. I believed it would be entertaining, but what I did not expect, was that I was going to love it.
Very rarely do I watch a movie (especially a movie that I didn't expect anything from) and wish that I had seen it in the theater. Possibly this is because I am pretty picky about the movies I go see (and am getting pickier as theater prices sky-rocket to ludicrous heights), or possibly it is because we watched the movie on my laptop, but either way, as we watched "Clash of the Titans" I found myself wishing that I had gone to see this movie when it was in theaters.
The visuals and special effects are fantastic. The monsters are realistic and frightening (but not horrifying to look at). The action is well-choreographed and intense, but not gory. The characters are likeable and heroic (as it should be in the retelling of a Greek myth), and they are none of them cowards.
The plot is pretty simplistic, which Derek listed as a con, but I list as a pro. You see, I am a student of mythology... being an English major and all... and the movie is pretty true to the story of Perseus. If you read Bullfinch's Mythology, which is one of the best compilations of Greek and Roman myths that is out there, you will see the problem with turning any of them into a full-length movie: the longest story in the book is probably about 6 pages long and some of them are as short as a paragraph or two. Also, most of the stories are interconnected, so as to make it difficult to pick one out to tell without leaving your modern audience completely confused. Thus, the fact that the movie stuck closely to the storyline of the myth without becoming too tangled and confusing was, to me, a major bonus. The story was told with artful simplicity and although it strayed in a few places from the original myth which you can read if you click on that link... it did not do so by too many extraordinary leaps, and the leaps it did make gave the movie a focus and direction that is lacking in many of the myths and would make them hard to turn into movies (they tend to meander around a bit).
A few things I noticed while watching that did sort of bother me. In the movie, Queen Cassiopeia says that her daughter, Andromeda, is more beautiful than the gods. However, in the myth, Cassiopeia compares her own beauty to that of the gods, which is the vanity she is punished for and the reason that the gods demand her daughter as a sacrifice to the sea monster. Also, the movie has a Kraken threaten the city of Argos, instead of the sea monster Cetus. Now, I understand that, "Release the Kraken." is much cooler to say than, "Release Cetus," and it was probably one of those points that Liam Neeson's agent negotiated for... however... the Kraken is from Norse mythology, while Cetus was from Greek mythology and is the creature that actually attacks Argos in the Perseus myth... so that kind of annoyed me. The other points where the plot strayed from the original myth were fairly minor and didn't impact the overall story too much.
However, those two points were pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. There were no scantily clad people running around, I noticed one swear... mostly because it was so obviously out of place in the language of the time/place... and no sex scenes, for which I was thankful and quite impressed.
Overall, if you're looking for something fun to watch on a Friday night, go ahead and rent this one. There's action, adventure, great special effects, a rather fantastic soundtrack, good characters, and even a little bit of a plot, and nothing offensive to jar your senses as you watch the movie. It's not a "thinking" movie, it's not one that I'll probably own. But it is one I'd be willing to watch again, because it was fun.
August 26, 2010
August 17, 2010
A Dream Realized
One of my dreams as a writer has always been to see my book(s) on a library shelf. I love libraries. The books, the smell, the quietness, the peace, did I mention the books?
Today, a dear friend sent me this picture. He and his family were at the Evansville Library, one of the oldest libraries in Indiana, and he was perusing the young adult fiction section, when this caught his eye. He took a picture and sent it to me... and it made my day... for obvious reasons :)
Today, a dear friend sent me this picture. He and his family were at the Evansville Library, one of the oldest libraries in Indiana, and he was perusing the young adult fiction section, when this caught his eye. He took a picture and sent it to me... and it made my day... for obvious reasons :)
August 10, 2010
Upcoming
Hey all, sorry it's been a while since my last post. Summertime is crazy and busy for me, and to top it all off everyone in my family has gotten sick in the past week, and now the cold has hit me as well. Yech.
Anyway, just wanted to apologize for my lack of posting. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like blogger or if I want to do something else with my writing blog: what do you think?
Be on the lookout for an upcoming book giveaway - details to come soon!
Also, be on the lookout for updates on "The Dragon's Eye" I am down to about 90 pages left in my re-writing process!
That's all I've got for now. Thanks for your patience.
Anyway, just wanted to apologize for my lack of posting. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like blogger or if I want to do something else with my writing blog: what do you think?
Be on the lookout for an upcoming book giveaway - details to come soon!
Also, be on the lookout for updates on "The Dragon's Eye" I am down to about 90 pages left in my re-writing process!
That's all I've got for now. Thanks for your patience.
July 27, 2010
Random Trivia
I would like to announce that my author fanpage now has 126 members!!
Also, I just discovered today that since Oct. 2009 I have sold 49 copies of my books. (The publisher I originally went with from 2005-2009 got merged with CreateSpace and I don't have easy access to the records of how many books I sold before the merger - I know it was upwards of 200 total - 2 books).
I am over half-way through the editing/re-writing process of "The Dragon's Eye."
I am exploring ideas of how to merge this blog and my personal blog into one big, happy family... but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it. Ideas? Thoughts? Anyone?
Also, if I do merge the two blogs, I'd like to port my old posts over to the new blog (my personal blog is xanga-based, and this one is, of course, blogger), anyone know how to do that or which format would support that sort of thing?
I'm also open to running a "Name the New Blog" contest... or just accepting name ideas here. Any ideas?
Also, I just discovered today that since Oct. 2009 I have sold 49 copies of my books. (The publisher I originally went with from 2005-2009 got merged with CreateSpace and I don't have easy access to the records of how many books I sold before the merger - I know it was upwards of 200 total - 2 books).
I am over half-way through the editing/re-writing process of "The Dragon's Eye."
I am exploring ideas of how to merge this blog and my personal blog into one big, happy family... but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it. Ideas? Thoughts? Anyone?
Also, if I do merge the two blogs, I'd like to port my old posts over to the new blog (my personal blog is xanga-based, and this one is, of course, blogger), anyone know how to do that or which format would support that sort of thing?
I'm also open to running a "Name the New Blog" contest... or just accepting name ideas here. Any ideas?
July 22, 2010
Author Questions
Here are the questions they asked me (and every author who is chosen for the book of the week... which eventually will be every author who is a fan):
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1. How long have you been writing?
2. What, if anything, inspired this book?
3. How long did it take you to write this book?
4. Are any of the characters based on people you know in real life?
5. Who is your favorite author, and does he/she inspire you?
6. What is your favorite part of writing? Least favorite?
7. Any exciting news for your book, big or small?
My Answers:
~
2. My dad told me that if I wanted to be a writer, I should be writing. The summer after my freshman year of college he challenged me to write 10 pages a day - a story he could read out loud to the whole family every night. He said he'd pay me $1 per page and a $1000 bonus if I finished the book before school started again.
3. The book took 3 months to write (give or take a week).
4. Some of the characters are based on people I know in real life. For example, Brant is based on a combination of my dad and one of my brothers, aspects of Kiernan's character are based on my other brother, and Kamarie is very much the person I wish I could be. Other characters started out archetypical and sort of expanded, and several are pure imagination.
5. I can't pick a favorite author, but I am inspired by quite a few: Timothy Zahn (I aspire to write the way he does, have more than one "style" and "world" that I write about), Terry Brooks, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Stephen R. Lawhead, and my Grandma - Gwen Walker. She died when I was eight, but she left behind a lot of poetry and one of my favorite novels. I hope that one day I can get it published for her.
6. My favorite part of writing is the actual writing of the story... I love how it sometimes surprises me where the story goes, even if I have a pretty comprehensive outline. Sometimes the characters just decide they want to say or do something other than what I had planned, and that is really fun. My least favorite part of writing ... I don't know if I have a least favorite. Probably writer's block... or having hundreds of ideas and nowhere near enough time to write them all down...
7. Being the book of the week here at Breakout Books is pretty exciting! :) I am in the middle of a major edit/rewrite of this book and have been working on query letters and a synopsis. I am halfway done with my edit and have already received a rejection letter or two... maybe it's weird that that's exciting... ;)