Jacob Devlin's Blog, page 12

Binge Culture

Guys. I have a problem.

Once upon a time, when I was either 19 or 20, LOST entered its sixth and final season, and I was not yet a fan. Around that same time, I got my first solo apartment and decided that cable was expensive and silence was terrifying, so I invested in this holy grail called Netflix. And it was good.

All was right in the world, my friends. If I wanted to see Adam Sandler put on a dress, scream at himself, and act like a goofball, I could do that on my phone. Between classes, even. If I wanted to watch the Heroes save the cheerleader even though I’d had the DVD’s for years, guess what? I could watch that in HD now! And then, determined to make the most of my investment, I started watching LOST.

Suddenly, I’m falling down a rabbit hole. I’m hooked. I NEED LOST. When I’m doing my homework, when I’m about to go to sleep, when I’m cooking dinner, I have to watch LOST. At one point, I got ridiculously sick for about a week, and guess what I did? I watched LOST season five, and when it was over, I got on ABC’s website and watched season six, and I watched it ALL. I finished the second to last episode five minutes before the finale was scheduled to air on ABC. So I watched that finale. All of this took place over the course of about three weeks. And at the end, so many people died. With that, a giant chunk of my soul did, too.

My name is Jacob Devlin, and I am a binger. (BIN-jer, not BEAN-ger). Latest binge: Daredevil, Season 2.

I sometimes practice mindfulness meditation. When I was learning this in college, I was told not to meditate for more than 10 minutes at a time until I got used to it because longer sessions can sometimes lead to psychosis. People lose track of reality. I obeyed, but when I think about it, bingeing a book, movie series, or TV show for long, uninterrupted chunks of time . . . that can be called a sort of meditation, can’t it?

I LOVE doing this, by the way! I watch the Dark Knight trilogy at least once a year. I do the Harry Potter marathons, I have my Arrow sessions, and when I get really into a book, I can read it in two days or less. The thing is that every time I do this, I am a mess when it’s all over. I relate to Severus Snape and over and over again, I get attached to Rue or Professor X or the LOST-ees on the island, and I finish the day in a glass case of emotion.

So why do we do this? Why do we immerse ourselves in art for days on end whether we’re reading, writing, or viewing? I think we do it for the same reason that we meditate, or even sleep for that matter. We often do this to take breaks from reality, but the irony is that we often come out hyper-aware of ourselves. How many times have you walked out of an actin movie and thought, “Well, my life is boring now…” or “What would we do if that actually happened to us?” How many times have you wept over a book and thought, “Wow, that reminds me so much of somebody I know”? As I sit here feeling empty because I’m already done with Daredevil, I would think it happens pretty often.

Just a random Sunday thought for you all. I have a problem, but it’s my favorite kind of problem. I’m addicted to art forms, and high doses make me dreadfully self aware :)

Tucson Festival of Books!

What a fantastic weekend to be a book-lover, an author, a Tucsonan, or even a bug enthusiast. (I am only three of these things.)

Yesterday, I was excited to peruse the eighth annual Tucson Festival of Books at the University of Arizona. There are roughly 130K attendees each year, which makes this around the 3rd largest book fair in the nation! You can also find over 500 tents housing a few hundred authors, and you might have some fun exploring “Science City” with the little ones.

Here are some highlights of my weekend:

I found some very old yet pristine copies of Peter Pan and The Adventures of Pinocchio. Dante’s Comedy and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were nestled in this same pile. As a lover of the classics and a weaver of fairy tales, what a geek-out moment! But get this: the rarity of these leather-bound editions puts their prices well beyond the $4.50 paperback of Peter and the Shadow-Thieves I picked up from the Bookman’s tent. Wanna guess? Did you guess that Peter Pan was valued around $50? Great guess, but it’s actually valued at $72.00… whew! (It’s okay, dear wallet. You needn’t be afraid.)
Food! First off, books and coffee always belong in the same sentence. They go together like spring weather and gelato. Like mozzarella and spinach. Like popcorn and tutti frutti flavoring. (Yes, all of these things happened.) By the way, has it ever been mentioned what a foodie I am? Seriously, if you ever wanna talk Sonoran hot dogs, Italian cuisine, desserts, burgers, cheeses, or tell me anything about this Taco Cleanse I keep hearing about, you should email me…
Fear. Actual quote from a friend: “I had no idea you were so squeamish, Jacob!” I’ll let you guess which of these four things prompted that comment. I’ll score you at the end of the post. Was it:

A) The giant Ronald McDonald balloon overlooking the tents?
B) The interactive brain exhibit?
C) The tarantulas, scorpions, and vinageroons on display?
D) The rattlesnake handler?


Authors everywhere! How awesome was it listening to Danielle Paige talk about her NYT Best-Selling series, Dorothy Must Die, and to exchange Twitter follows after her panel? How exciting was it to meet fellow YA Fantasy writers like Aaron Galvin and talk books, cover releases, and just as importantly, Batman? And it was so cool getting to sit in a room full of authors, both aspiring and published, and to think Wow. Here I am at 25, and the journey is just beginning. Seriously, that will never stop being amazing to me. I will never take these opportunities for granted. My heart thunders with gratitude.

Let’s see how you did on my quiz. If you guessed:

A) The giant Ronald McDonald balloon: you were almost right. This thing is terrifying. I’m pretty sure it would make Freddy Krueger thrash in his sleep.
B) The interactive brain exhibit: you are so wrong! Brains warm my heart, and I love them so much. Maybe I’m part zombie?
C) The tarantulas, scorpions, and vinageroons? Ding ding ding! You win! I hate every one of these things, each of which I’m convinced was burped up from Hell’s ninth circle.
D) The snake handler? I’m so sad you answered this way. I love snakes! They’re scaly and fun and I like that they eat other creepy crawlies.

Fun fact as St. Patrick’s Day is this week: if anybody says “Top of the mornin’ to ya!” the proper response is, “And the rest of the day to yourself!” If you think about it, isn’t it kind of rude to wish somebody “the top of the morning” then, knowing you’re going to get a significantly greater wedge of the clock in return? I’ll let you mull that over…

Happy week!

Pino

Before I dive into this, let me first acknowledge: LEO, YOU DA MAN!

Is anyone else completely psyched for Mr. DiCaprio’s first Oscar win?

Today while various Hollywood folk addressed the nation with their thank you speeches, I got to write my first acknowledgments page ever! I had to work really hard to make sure the phrases “I wanna thank the Academy” and “Go to bed, kids!” didn’t appear in this page.

Anyway, here’s something fun, brought to you by the magic of Fiverr! I can’t show you the cover of The Carver yet, but a talented illustrator created this image:

What do you think? Did Pinocchio age well? What’s he working so hard on and who’s the girl in the red hood? I can’t stop looking at this drawing and the level of detail the artist put in, because I have to say, he was pretty spot on…

Have a great week, everyone!

Asleep

Have you ever had a dream or a nightmare that felt so real, it jangled your nerves and it was all you could think about for days? I myself have had a few of those, and Krystal Wade captures the very essence of that feeling in her new book, Asleep. Asleep was released this week, and I was so pumped to receive my signed copy in the mail yesterday. I tore through it in a few sittings between yesterday and today, and like those terrible dreams I’ve had before, I’m still thinking about the book. I say this because it’s quite the opposite of terrible. It’s one of those stories that lingers in the mind, and it makes me even prouder to have signed with the author’s brainchild: Blaze Publishing!

Anyway, I’m not going to be that guy who spoils the book for you, so here’s the gist: it’s a fantastic blend of emotion and action, and it actively engages you as you question the truth and the reality of what’s going on within these pages. If I were to sum it all up in music, I would choose these songs to capture how it made me feel (a few of which are also on my Carver playlist!):

Zombie – The Cranberries:

Strange and Beautiful – Aqualung:

Moonlight – The Piano Guys:

Strange – Tokio Hotel:

Fairytale – Milky Chance (I’ve decided this is the book’s theme song):

 

Love According to Pietro Volo

A lesson on love from Mr. Peter Pan himself:

“If there’s one thing family understands, it’s love, Kid. I know how much your dad loves you, and I know how much you love your dad. You know why? Because I love Zack to pieces, and I know he feels the same about his mom and me. He didn’t have to say it every day. He didn’t have to really say it ever. In fact, there were days when ‘I hate you’ was the kid’s favorite thing to say. But I always knew the truth . . . Because you see, love between family members, or friends, or lifelong sweethearts? It’s more than words. If there’s one thing I can tell you for damn sure”—Pietro pounded the table to drive his point—“your father knows you love him, too.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends! (And of course, if you want to hear more of Pietro’s wisdom, plan on reading his whole life story later, starting with The Carver. Pietro may be the wisest man I know, despite being about 12-years old at heart.)

Permission to freak out yet?

The official release of The Carver may still be five months away (but who’s counting?), but I want to freak out NOW. Because this.

This is a little sliver of what you’re going to see on the cover of The Carver! I may or may not have seen the whole thing already, and I may or may not have reacted like this:

In the middle of my work day and everything.

I can’t share any more about it until April 20th, but just know that this author is ecstatic right now. I’ve dreamed of seeing my name on a book cover since the “Jake the Snake” era, and my head was filled with visions about what that cover might look like. This one did not let me down in any way (unless it matters that my jaw fell down to the ground).

So for now, I’ll leave you to wonder for a bit longer about what awaits you in the world of The Carver. The cover sums it up quite nicely, and I can’t wait for you to see it! It’s going to be the adventure of a lifetime!

I made a Butterbeer Latte…

… and it was fantastic.

So it’s butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, and a whole lot of yum. I think JK Rowling and the late great Alan Rickman would give their stamps of approval, once they get through the thin film of caramel that congeals on the surface if you let it cool for too long… (I love my Arrow mug, by the way. If I weren’t Jacob Devlin, I would want to be Oliver Queen.)

Also, it’s Super Bowl Sunday! I only really care about this because A) my family goes all out with food and snackage B) it’s Sunday and C) I love the Doritos commercials. Which commercial are you rooting for today? :D

Somehow, when I think of big football games, I think of that song Sandstorm that they always play at raves and stuff. Here is an even cooler version of that song for you, which you can blast in your earbuds as you get work done this week. Because so many things are better with badass violins players.

Happy Sunday!

Wish Locks

I have to say that it’s the strangest thing to me that we’re already transitioning into February. There are so many great things happening in 2016 that I find myself saying, “Is it summer yet? Can it be July already?” when really, January went by in a flash. (Speaking of which, anyone else obsessed with The Flash? I’m getting hooked!)

February has me excited for a couple of things. I’m looking forward to being with my family for Super Bowl Sunday, which I admit to loving for the snackage and for the awesome commercials for M&Ms, Doritos, and Budweiser. I’m looking forward to finishing a round of edits within the next two weeks. I’m looking forward to the coming wave of books that have been on my list for a while, most notably Krystal Wade’s Asleep and Victoria Aveyard’s Glass Sword. And for Valentines Day, I may just order a pizza, throw on my Wolverine blanket, and spend the day watching 500 Days of Summer, featuring my true love, Zooey Deschanel.

On the subject of Valentines Day, has anyone heard of the Locks of Love (I know them better as “i luchetti d’amore”) throughout the world? Google this term and look at the pictures sometime. I’m absolutely mesmerized by the photographs of the bridges on which couples inscribe their initials on a padlock, lock it, and throw away the key. In Paris, so many of these locks accumulated that they collapsed a bridge. Somehow I’m just barely finding out about this. Cooler still, there is a Taiwanese legend that dubs these as “wish locks”. In Fengyuan, these locks are attached to an overpass, and the superstition says that the passing train’s magnetic field will imbue the padlocks with enough energy to fulfill the wishes. I think I’d rather just blow out a birthday candle, but I have to admit, a wish lock is a pretty cool concept…

One of my characters particularly loves this Song of the Week, and I think it’s entirely appropriate to use for the beginning of February. Thank you to my friend Alicia for introducing me to this song!

Happy February to you!

Harry Potter and the Fifth Wave of Hunger Games

Harry Potter. Divergent. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Hunger Games. Twilight. And now, The Fifth Wave! (If we were on “Pyramid” right now, this would be your cue to shout “BOOKS THAT GOT MADE INTO MOVIES!” and we’d win money!)

I think about half of these movie series have actually gone on to be universally deemed worthy of the books from which they came. Me? Maybe I’m a little harsher, but I only really liked two of these adaptations–possibly three… I’m still on the fence about the latest one.

Before I sat down to write this, I went over a question in my head: why do movie adaptations of our most beloved books seem to be so hit-or-miss? I tried to hash this out with myself and attempt to understand why makes a good adaptation, and ultimately, I’m not arriving at anything conclusive. I can only give you my personal opinion on these, and maybe some of it will resonate with you.

Out of all these movie adaptations, the two winners that stand out to me are Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. When I really think about it, these are also the adaptations that had the biggest chance to fail. Harry Potter already had a massive following before the first movie was released, and expectations were through the roof. With every book that was released, the movies had even more to live up to. They had to be true to the books’ tone, messages, settings, pace, characters, themes, props… everything. That’s a lot of pressure, but we all know that there’s an enormous fan base that will agree that the movies successfully accomplished all of this (once we got over the fact that Peeves wasn’t there for the movies), and many other adaptations leave us a little disappointed in one of these aspects. I still wonder what possessed anybody to turn A Series of Unfortunate Events into a full-blown comedy when the books have a much darker tone to them.

It’s almost universally accepted that the book is always better than the movie, but I have to say that The Hunger Games really defied this rule for me. I enjoyed the movies even more, and I think it’s because the movies took us out of Katniss Everdeen’s head and showed us the big picture in a way that the books were only able to tell us. They weren’t perfect movies, but my adrenaline surged every time the first movie cut back to District 12 or the riots in Panem, something that is hard to effectively make room for in a first-person present narrative.

This brings me back to The Fifth Wave. I watched it today while the book was still fresh in my mind, and I went in with low expectations only because I saw pretty low scores on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. I didn’t leave hating the movie as much as Rotten Tomatoes led me to expect, but I do have mixed feelings. The cast was great. The mood was pretty true to how I felt when I read the book, and I was really feeling the movie score. My issues were all in the tiny details (I won’t spoil the plot for you, but you may want to read on with caution if you don’t want to know anything about the movie!)

What happened to Project Wonderland and the green “eyes of doom?” These aren’t necessarily vital to the plot of the book, but they do come up a lot and they’re a big deal…
Why is Cassie’s hair so perfect the whole entire time?
Why doesn’t Sam ask where his father is at the end of the movie? Did he suddenly forget all about him?
As for Evan Walker, the dude didn’t get much of a chance to be as creepy as the book made him out to be, which made Cassie’s distrust feel a little contrived sometimes. Same goes for their romance. Definitely contrived. Maybe this is where the book really shined, because Cassie’s internal thoughts kept building up her feelings for him, whereas the movie seemed to whip out the “let’s make out” card out of nowhere.
*end rant*

I’ve decided this movie falls somewhere in between all the adaptations I mentioned above. It’s definitely no Hunger Games, but it’s not really all that terrible either. Give it a chance, but maybe during one of the lower-priced matinees. If nothing else, you get to watch the X-Men Apocalypse trailer again! YES!

Sticking with the alien theme, here’s a fun song for all you rock lovers. Happy Sunday!

Art inspiring art

Yesterday I made the trek to the top of one of my favorite spots in town: Tumamoc Hill. It’s a climb of about a mile and a half, and well, today my lower body is screaming. It’s been over two years since the last time I hiked Tumamoc.

I had my earbuds in for the walk, and I started thinking about how awesome it is that life often syncs to music. I think about this often, actually. Put your library on shuffle, jump on the highway, and watch how well your iPhone can pull up the right driving song for you. (I think you can make almost anything into a driving song, but just go with it!) Put on Maroon 5’s Sugar and then watch how the little old lady–the one who puts you to shame with her fitness–powers up the hill in tempo with Mr. Levine. Do it.

Just a random musing today. I’m not going to say much more on this, but I will leave you with a song by the now late great David Bowie:

I’ve decided I’m going to post one song every week, because music is such a vital part of my writing process. Art inspires art. Make an effort to listen as much as you look around this week, and I think you’ll find that art syncs up with life in beautiful ways. :)

Happy Sunday!