Monthly Archives: April 2011

Surprisingly productive

Despite have a cold this week that has taken a lot of wind from my sail leaving me mostly becalmed in terms of energy, my week has been surprisingly productive.

I have gotten two and a half chapters edits on Love and Loyalty, and nearly a thousand words written on one of the new scenes for that novel. A character who was a minor, but important character, in the first version is really starting to come into her own and I find I am really enjoying writing her scenes. Man I do love competent villains and strong women, and I love them even more combined.

 

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Symapthetic Villians

I think one area where I seem to out of step with a lot of fandom is on the subject of Gollum, and just how much sympathy did that character deserve in The Lord Of The Rings. I have heard from numerous people that they view Gollum as a sympathetic character, and like Frodo, they view him with pity. Color me unconvinced.  I’m with Sam on this, he is Slinker and Stinker and neither of those aspects generates much in the way of pity for me.

Those who argue that Gollum deserves pity usually take the tack that fate dealt him a cruel hand by putting the ring in his path, and that the ring perverted him, turning him into the miserable, evil creature that we meet in both the revised The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

Bullocks!

Let’s take a look at the characters and their interactions with The One Ring. Continue reading →

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Sunday Night Movie: Frankenstein (1931)

I have been feeling unwell all weekend. IT started with a sore throat on on friday that felt really bad on Saturday and by Sunday left me congested and coughing. Given all of that I knew I would not have the endurance for a full two hours or more picture, so I opted for an older and shorter film to watch, Frankenstein.

The 1931 production of Frankenstein is  a very short film, just 70 minuets from start to end and while it deviates wildly from the original text, what can you expect when they can’t get the original author’s credit correct,  it is still one of the best productions based upon that classic novel.

Of course you would have had to lived your life in a very deep and dark cultural hole to not know the basics of the story of Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein, in this production named Henry instead of Victor, obsessed with life and death, pursues dangerous and forbidden experiments seeking to create life in a body that has never known life. Robbing execution yards, universities, and graveyards for his materials Frankenstein allows no law and no morality to sway or hinder his experimentation. Aided by his hunchbacked lab assistant Fritz, nope not Igor, Ygor as it is spelled in Son of Frankenstein, doesn’t show up for a couple of films yet,  Henry’s fiance Elizabeth, concerned by the strange and incomprehensible letters she has received from her groom-to-be enlisted the assistance of their best friend, Victor, who in the novel was named Henry, and together the Dr, Frankenstein’s former college mentor, they barge in just as Henry is ready to revivify — or should we vivify — the target body. Continue reading →

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A project idea

There has been an idea rolling around my head for sometime now that seems to suddenly be gaining traction and momentum. The idea is to take the four short stories of mine that have earned Honorable Mention at the Writers Of The Future Contest and publish them as a small ebook.

I would also add in a copy of my first short story sale, What Everybody Wanted, bringing the word count of the entire collection to about 50,000 words. Equal to the small SF novels of the 50’s and 40s. I have found the means to publish it as an ebook that would be available to all the major ebook readers such as the Nook, the Kindle, and the iPhone/iPad. I was thinking about a price of 99 cents for the collection.

A couple of issue need to be resolved before I move forward on this project.

First, do I want to re-edit the stories? I have changed, particularly in my sentence construction, since these shorts were written. On one hand if I edit them they will be stronger for it, yet then they will not represent the stories that almost placed in the contest so in someways it feels dishonest.

Second, if I re-edit them then the project I think should be shelved until I finish the re-write of Love and Loyalty. Do I have the time for such a project?

Third, What about cover art? I have looked at royalty-free images and I can license an image quite reasonably for my purposes. (well under $50, so the investment would be minimal.) However would that look good enough? That sort of talent seems to escape me.

 

Opinions? What do you people think?

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Under The Weather

And that phrase makes me wonder does anyone every say that they are feeling over the weather?

Anyway I was going to blog about a 19th century book I finished, Wagner the Wehr-Wolf, but I am feeling poorly due to a sore throat. I will save my observations for another day.

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Friday Funnies

This week’s funny is a book trailer for a book I am currently reading, Packing For Mars.

This trailer does indeed capture the spirit of the book perfectly.

 

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