Leslie's comments (member since Apr 07, 2008)

Leslie's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.

I saw it yesterday with my sister, and we both agree that this installment is better than Order of the Phoenix. Considering how much of the book had to be left out, I think the screenwriter(s) did a decent job of it.

I do wish there'd been time to do the scenes with Tom Riddle's mother and grandfather. I found those especially harrowing in the book. Also, I agree with a previous post about the cave scene being far less traumatic in the movie. I disagree with that decision, as pulling that punch took a lot of the emotional impact out of the scene and did not serve the movie well.

All in all, a good effort.

Hello all,

I'm very pleased to announce the entire Griffin's Daughter Trilogy has a new home at Ridan Publishing. This is the same publisher that is doing Michael Sullivan's Riyria Revelations (Avempartha, Nyphron Rising, etc). As well as being a fine author, Michael is a wonderful artist. You'll be happy to hear that he is doing the new covers for the entire trilogy and they look fantastic!


Ridan is working very hard to get the books back in print. I've been emailing back and forth with them over the holiday weekend and Griffin's Daughter is already at the printer and we are hoping for a proof sometime next week. Griffin's Shadow is still in layout but hopefully it will be going to the printer on Monday so I'll update you when the books are available for purchase again. For those that use Kindle the electronic versions are already available for $5.30 at the following links: Griffin's Daughter | Griffin's Shadow
For those that are waiting for Griffin's Destiny I'm working on the final edit right now, and should have it done very shortly. At least now I know I don't have to worry about it being released! I'll keep you updated with the release schedule.

Regards,

Leslie

Thanks again, everyone, for your sympathy. Since I first posted my difficult news, some new and positive developments have taken place. There will be an official announcement about it very soon, so keep watching this space!

Thank you both for your kind words.

I just received some difficult news today and I wanted to get it out to all my Goodreads friends who've read my books, and to any of you who have yet to read them, but are thinking of doing so.

As of today, 6/14/09, Avari Press, publisher ofGriffin's Daughter and Griffin's Shadow has ceased all operations and has gone out of business, a victim of these hard economic times. The small, valiant group at Avari tried to hold on, but, unfortunately, they could not. This means that from this day forward, unless or until I am able to find another publisher, both my books are officially out of print.

I do have a small supply of both novels that I will gladly sell directly to anyone who wants to buy them, at a price comparable to or better than Amazon. Please contact me at leslieann@leslieannmoore.com if you are interested.

I am very sad this happened, but not surprized. There is a silver lining, however. I am now free to search for a new home for GD, GS and eventually, the third and final installment, Griffin's Destiny. A literary agent at one of the best agencies in the U.S. that specialize in fantasy and sci-fi has read both books and very much likes my work; now that I control all the rights to both my books, there is a very good chance she will be willing to take me on as a client. My hope is that the GD Trilogy will someday make it to a major publisher.

In the meantime, I plan on finishing my sci-fi project and I also plan on podcasting both Griffin's Shadow and the third and last book, Griffin's Destiny. When I begin those projects, I will provide links to them on Podiobooks.com. I also plan on remaining an active member of this online community.

I will be forever grateful to Anthony Verrechia and his colleagues at Avari Press for giving me a chance when no one else would. We did something truly wonderful and garnered an award and many great reviews, which shows we put out a quality product. I just hope that those of you who supported me here in the past will continue to do so in the future.

Regards,

Leslie Ann Moore
author of Griffin's Daughter and Griffin's Shadow

LOL!! Robin, my sister, my ex, his business partner and myself found every single one of the plot holes you cited and we discussed them all quite gleefully, but from the perspective of lifelong fans who loved the movie and were satisfied with the series 'reboot'. We are all dedicated Trek nitpickers, but we do it out of love. Our eyes are wide open to the many flaws of our favorite sci-fi media franchise, but we love it nonetheless.

I also enjoyed Spock, Messiah, Kevin. I also really loved Sarek by A.C. Crispin, which came out at least 15 years ago.

I don't hold out much hope that we'll figure it out, simply because there's too many pressing issues coming up that threaten to wipe us out as a species long before we get that advanced.

I'd love to visit the court of Elizabeth I. She's one of the most fascinating women in history and I've read just about everything written about her, both factual and historical fiction.

Like Susie and many other authors, I also like my publisher. They've been wonderful to me so here's a big shout-out to Anthony Verrechia et al. at Avari Press.

My Griffin's Daughter trilogy is an example of the cross-genre dilemma.
The books definitely contain familiar fantasy tropes--magic, good vs.evil, etc.--but they are also classic romances, especially the first one of the series. Where to put them? The publisher classifies them as fantasy/romance, which is how I think of them and how I promote them, but when I do a search on Amazon, they are classified as fantasy. If my series ever gets purchased by any of the major chains--which may not happen given the fact that big stores virtually ignore anything put out by small, indie presses, but that's a subject for another thread--then they will almost certainly be placed in the Fantasy catagory, despite their strong romantic elements.

Even though I 100% approve of Spock and Uhura being a couple, it did occur to me that sucking face in the transporter room, in front of fellow crewmembers just before Spock beams away was most unprofessional. It should not have happened, period, even in the make-believe world of ST, and the producers/writers should have known better.

Having said that, as a red-blooded hetero female, it still gave me a huge case of the vapors!!

These two behave as if they are lovers already. I can't help thinking though about what's going to happen to their relationship now that Vulcans are an endangered species. I feel like Spock will consider it his biological duty to the Vulcan people to help replenish the race. Sadly for Uhura, this will most likely mean marriage to a Vulcan woman so Spock can breed Vulcan(or 3/4 Vulcan) babies. As a writer and lifelong Trekker, I'd give anything to be able to offcially write THAT breakup scene, incredibly painful though it would be. Oooh, I'm tearing up just thinking about it!! Waaaaaaah!

Yeah, Sandi, I loved that episode! OMG!! What if Christine Chapel shows up in the next movie? Will we see a gigantic catfight between Uhura and her for Spock? I can hear Uhura now..."C'mon, Blondie, let's throw down!!!"

BTW--I didn't catch Uhura's first name. Someone please enlighten me?

I just saw the movie, and I loved it, despite all the flaws people have so astutely pointed out. I think the one that bothers me the most is Old Spock on the ice planet. That whole thing was noadequately explained--for instance, was he sitting there for 25 years just waiting for young Kirk? How would he know to sit there and wait? How did he survive? If he knew about the Star Fleet outpost, why not just go there? Also, how long had Scotty been on this very same planet? All just too, too convenient!!

Still, I did like and approve of how the story has been re-booted. We long-time Trekkers can take comfort in the fact that our beloved Trek universe does still exist--it's where Old Spock came from--but now we can enjoy new adventures in this somewhat different, yet still familiar alternate universe.

As for the casting--spot on! I loved every one of them. And Jeffrey Quinto is SMOKIN' HOT as young Spock!! The new Kirk ain't too shabby either! I wen't all weak-kneed when Uhura kissed Spock--WOW!! Wish it was me!!

David wrote: Our intellectual property laws are crazy, and just unnatural.

Without strong intellectual property laws, writers, artists, musicians, and anyone who makes a living by creation, would have no protections for their work and would therfore be unable to earn a fair wage/profit for their work. That's why such laws are neccesary in a world where there are many, many unscrupulous predators out there only too ready to steal and profit from an another person's hard work.

Just my opinion.

I love reading about how you constructed the series, Michael. You and I share an identical process in that regard, and I constructed my Griffin's Daughter Trilogy in just the same way. I'm going through the same process right now with my latest sci-fi project. Because I love weaving multiple plotlines into a grand whole so much, I find it next to impossible to write short stories! I wanted my sci-fi project to be a stand-alone novel, but it's not looking very promising!

I agree that the show has improved quite a bit from the shaky beginning. I now intend to stick with it. I was not at all sure at first.

Thank you for doing that, Michael. It would have really bothered me--A LOT--if you hadn't explained it!

I also instantly thought of Butch and Sundance, and as Henry says, the 'bromance' is a tried and true recipe. These two men are very much equals, and their skills each complement the other's.

Welcome to all the newcomers!

Enid, I'm totally with ya on the romance thing, girlfriend! My first published novel Griffin's Daughter is a romantic fantasy. I'm currently working on a sci-fi project in which I've had to do some research on steam engines, but despite the tech, there most definitely will be a heavy dose of romance in it as well. I just can't help it, I'm a hopeless romantic myself!

P.I., you need to check out the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society. We are the fastest growing and, in my opinion, best writing group in SoCal. The society is open to writers of all levels and genres, and the yearly dues are half what the other large writer's groups in SoCal charge. The website is www.glaws.org. I hope you'll want to come join us.

I'm still very much on the fence concerning this show. I'm a big fan of all Joss Whedon's past work, but the premise of this show--wiping people's personalities, removing their free will, robbing them of the right to control their own lives--is just plain creepy and, yes, evil.

I had a huge problem with the second episode especially, because Echo was sent out to be the plaything of this rich guy, who, oh by the way, turns out to be a psychopath and enjoys hunting women and killing them for sport. It left me queasy for a whole host of reasons. At least in the first episode, Echo was trying to help a man get his child back. If the writers stick to giving Echo missions where she's using her skills to get people out of jams or stop bad things from happening, then I'll watch, but if she's sent out on a regular basis to be used sexually by men and/or women--hey, it's the 21st century--then I can't support it.