So the sore throat that started last Friday has been mainly a chest cold and some sinus issues for most of this week, Looks like I will not miss any work, but boy has it been rough.
Luckily I managed to keep on top of my writing and even do a little more research for the ebook project. I am encouraged by the support I have heard here. It’s really a matter of putting it together.
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.
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
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
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?
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.
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.
My novel that is, not me. Last night was another meeting of the Mysterious Galaxy Writers’ Group and I read the first half of chapter 3 of Love and Loyalty to the group. I think I can fairly state it was well received with an interesting bit of feedback. There seems to be a consensus that this is really my chapter 1.
I really can’t say that they are wrong either. The precipitating event that drives the entire plot of the novel occurred in the section I read and everyone seemed to pick-up on its importance. I myself knew that the story didn’t really roll until chapter 3, but I had no idea how to fix it. I know I need what’s in Chapters 1 & 2 to set up the characters and some of the troubles that lay ahead for them. Luckily the group had some fine ideas there and I think I see a way forward. It will not mean tearing the novel apart as much as shuffling a few scenes and a bit of minor re-writing. (which I was doing anyway.)
I have said before that Westerns, in general, are not my type of film. I know a lot fo people grew up watching endless western movie on televisions, but that was not my childhood film experience. Even from an early age I tended towards science-fiction and horror as my preferred movies.
In my collection of DVDs and Blu-ray I have but three westerns and it is no surprise that they are considered to generally anti-westerns in tone and story.
High Noon is a classic of American Cinema. It is the story of one man, Will Kane, and his dilemma caught between duty, honor, and love. These are timeless themes, expertly handled albeit in a cynical setting and plot.
Five years before the opening of the story the setting, Hadleyville, is a violent dangerous town run by a near psychotic criminal, Frank Miller. As people often says during the film, and ‘You know what kind of man Frank Miller is,” clearly they have read the Dark Knight Returns.
With a small army of experienced gunmen acting as deputies, Marshall Will Kane, Gary Cooper, cleans up the town sending Miller to prison to hang for murder. With the town quite, prosperous and a place with families and children thriving, Kane, ready to give up his violent career and marry his fiancé Amy Fowler, Grace Kelly, a Quaker and a devout pacifist is about to turn storekeeper instead of lawman. Word suddenly arrives that elements of Miller’s old gang are hanging about the train station and are mightily concerned about the arrival of the noon train. Concurrently a telegram arrives, not only had Millers execution been converted to prison time, Miller’s now been pardoned. (Apparently comic book writer make the kind of bucks that can buy pardons.)
Kane feels his duty compels him to stay and deal with Miller wt all, as the new Marshall will not arrive in town until the next day. Nearly everyone in two disagrees. Amy stands by her faith and belief that violence is not an answer and refuses to wait around and find out if she will be wife or widow. Kane’s deputy, Lloyd Bridges, thinks this should be his moment to shine and become marshal, Kane old love, and also an old flame of Millers’ Helen Ramirez, Katy Juardo understands Kane, but burnt as a jilted woman she refuses to render any assistance.
With the clock ticking towards noon, Kane finds fewer and fewer friends at his side. A town cowers as the murderous men approach. High Noon is the story of a man pleading for help and finding no one willing to give any.
High Noon is a very cynical story. At heart people are no damn good and will turn on their friends to save themselves. In part it is an allegory for the Red Scare and witch hunts of the period. The writer had been through the wringer as an unfriendly witness before the HUAC and learned that many of the people whom he had counted on as friends deserted him when times became tough and dangerous. Whether you agree with this assessment of humanity or not the film is near perfect and powerful in the dramatic tension. Filmed with a stark black-and-white palette this is not a lovely western composed of sweeping vistas and awesome nature, but rather this is a setting that is bright, washed out, and dry. Running in nearly real time, the story start 10:30 and ends with the arrival of the noon train, about the same amount of time as it takes to watch, the story piles on tension and reversals with very little action until the final reel.
Even if Westerns are not your cup of teas, or coffee, or vodka, or whatever is in your cup, this is a movie everyone should see at some time.
Yup as you can see form the headache tagged posts it has been a nasty couple of days for yours truly. I hope to get back to regular posting soon.