| (no subject) |
[Nov. 23rd, 2009|10:31 am] |
Yesterday in the bookstore I noticed Stephen King's "The Dome", and I took a cursory glance at it. The thing that stood out to me: no text on the back cover. No text on either jacket flaps. The only text at all was "Stephen King" and "The Dome". It was almost as if the dustjacket was saying, "Fuck you, we don't need to tell you anything about this book other than it's Stephen motherfucking King and therefore you've already decided whether or not you're buying it so shut the fuck up and go get in the check in line."
Or, maybe I'm just reading into things. |
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| Geek Parenting |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|01:35 pm] |
Conversation in our household:
Me: What are you doing?
Nicholas: Drawing.
Me: What are you-- you're drawing like Rob Liefeld!
Nicholas: Well--
Me: NO SON OF MINE WILL DRAW LIKE ROB LIEFELD! |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|09:21 pm] |
I'm always on the lookout for interesting web-series-- especially in terms of sci-fi/fantasy-- and on the whole, I go unsatisfied.
A big part of the problem is its a medium where most people doing it don't quite understand the medium, at least in terms of pacing. I mean, your typical web-series episode clocks in around 8-10 minutes. And many that I've seen do NOTHING with those 8-10 minutes.
Take, for example, "Venus Rises". Its eight minute first episode has a two-minute credit sequence (which does, at least, do some world-building work, but nothing that wasn't done more effectively by the 30-second voiceover at the beginning), and over a minute of end credits. That's, like nearly 40% of your running time, spent on credits! In the episode itself, two guys work on a space station, and they get a blip of something, and one guy has to go check it out. No real hook, sorry. It's a shame, because the digital effects work is some really nice stuff, reminiscent of B5 (though actually better quality). But no storytelling.
Some of these webseries seem to be platforms for writer/actors... and again, there isn't really storytelling. Take Chick over at Koldcast. The first episode has nothing other than identifying the girl wants to be a superhero. There's a bunch of stuff in the description that... I don't see in the episode. That tends to be a recurring problem with webseries. The description tells you the WHOLE story, which you don't get until you see the whole run of the series, but watching the first episode, you don't get that at all.
That said, I want to heap some praise on Riese, a moody Steampunkish show. I'm not sure what all is happening, but stuff HAPPENS and I'm engaged and interested. It looks neat, it's dynamic, and lead actress Christine Chatelain is actually a professional who evokes a certain poor-man's Summer Glau vibe, and her look in the show is tough without being cheesecake. Check it out. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|09:23 pm] |
Jackie Chan will make a man out of you!
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| It's that time again.... |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:05 pm] |
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Not only am I working on adding more to Thorn of Dentonhill, but this weekend is the annual Austin ScriptWorks Weekend Fling. Three rules, 42 hours, ten minute play. Here I go. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 18th, 2009|12:37 pm] |
Hulu has the first two seasons of Quantum Leap now, but apparently the music rights, like with the DVDs, were an issue. So I went and watched the end of MIA, which is supposed to have Ray Charles's "Georgia". And it just has a jazzy instrumental.
So very, very wrong. It's just awful.
I hesitate to see what happened to "Good Morning, Peoria", an episode that is about rock and roll and playing it on the radio. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 13th, 2009|11:09 pm] |
I just made a story sale!
It's a short story. A very short story. I'm pretty sure this post is longer than said story. But it's paid at a dollar per word, so that's pretty impressive. Well, not THAT impressive. I can pretty much buy a steak dinner with it.
But it's an ACTUAL PRO SALE.
Woo! |
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| On my blog... |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|03:41 pm] |
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Over at my blog, I talk about my current projects, progress reports, and the writing tools I use. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 30th, 2009|07:21 pm] |
Over at my blog, I announce my next Big Crazy plan.
To give you a hint: it's called 3No6Mo. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 23rd, 2009|10:15 pm] |
Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I'm up in Long Island for the funeral now.
And, in some silver-lining news... I finished the rough draft of Holver Alley Crew on the plane. That deserves some woo, yes? Or have I now finished enough books that that alone is no longer that impressive? |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|11:32 pm] |
Anne Ryan
born July 25th 1920
died September 20th 2009
Mother of five.
Grandmother of nine.
Great-grandmother of thirteen.
A woman of incredible energy. Of infinite words. Astounding humor and joy. A teacher, a storyteller, and the center of so many hearts. |
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| Conversations in our house |
[Sep. 18th, 2009|12:00 am] |
"Is this a surreal movie?"
"It has Kenneth Brannagh driving through the Old West in a giant mechanical spider."
"So, yes." |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 16th, 2009|10:56 pm] |
Rarely in life do you get to say the following in casual conversation and not sound like a total stalker:
"Oh, yeah, I saw that because I was searching YouTube for you." |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|09:00 pm] |
A bit of nostalgia for any of you who kicked back a pitcher or two of Yuengling at Zeno's.
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|05:21 pm] |
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So this past week on my writing blog, I talk about magic, worldbuilding, query letters, theatre reviews and fucking elves. Come see. |
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