Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 139
February 4, 2016
Recommended Rebel Mechanics Reading
Yesterday as I was working out how to incorporate actual conflict into my story, I realized I should probably map out the rest of the major events, and then I figured it might be a good idea to take another look at the synopsis for this book, and then I realized that there was a whole plot line I'd planned but was neglecting. I remembered pieces of it, but I'd forgotten the underlying reason. And it's good, so it's not one of those things where once I start writing I can forget the synopsis because I'll have internalized all the good stuff. Of course, I got the idea for what to do about it right as it was time to leave for choir. Fortunately, it wasn't a normal children's choir night. It was the children's worship service, and my kids' role was to sing the prelude, so after they were done standing in front of the church, clapping occasionally and making no sound at all, I slipped out the back and sat in the fellowship hall, frantically scribbling out notes and ideas before I forgot everything.
While I was digging through my notes, I found some of my original notes and thoughts for Rebel Mechanics. I spent about a year doing reading and research related to that story idea before I even had a full plot, and I read more than 50 books while I was developing and researching that story. Since it may be a while before anyone gets to read the sequel, I thought I'd share some recommended reading of things that went into this book that you might also enjoy.
One of the first things I did when I had the first germ of an idea that my heroine might be a governess was re-read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (I read a few other Bronte works while I was at it). My initial concept was to go kind of Gothic with it, with my heroine working in a house full of secrets and her employer a mysterious single man responsible for children. That went by the wayside once I started developing characters because I don't really do dark and brooding very well, but this is kind of the ultimate governess book.
Another inspiration book was The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy. That's where I went with the bandit thing once I realized dark and brooding wasn't going to work. This novel is about a nobleman who secretly helps rescue people from the Terror following the French Revolution, and he deflects suspicion by acting like a fop. I decided to make my bandit act like a nerd instead. This book reads surprisingly well even now, and it's fun to think of an adventure novel from the early 1900s that was written by a woman.
To get a sense of the Gilded Age New York in which I wanted to work, I read several novels by Edith Wharton, including The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence. There was also Washington Square by Henry James. These are actually set about a decade earlier than my book, when living up by the park was practically being pioneering, but the manners and activities of the upper crust are similar. For the opposite side of the equation, Maggie by Stephen Crane provided a look at life in the tenements and among the street kids. I wielded that book like a weapon at every editor I dealt with who questioned the slang and language of the kids (particularly the term "outta sight"). The book was written in that period, and I took a lot of my street kid slang right from it (though I also made up some of the Rebel Mechanics' slang).
I know that novels don't necessarily count as a reference, but in these cases, the novelists were capturing a particular era and were trying to do so at least somewhat accurately. They were novels written either in the period itself or written by people who had lived that life in that era, so they were based on first-person observation. I also read a bunch of entirely unrelated books that were written around that period. I was particularly interested in the use of language by novelists working in that era because it gave a good sense of what words were and weren't in use at the time. For instance, there's a lot of question about when the word "okay" came into common use, but since I didn't find it in any novels of the period, I'm not using it in these books. That can be a real struggle. I didn't realize just how much I use it.
On the non-fiction side of things, I got some sense of the life growing up in Gilded Age New York from Consuelo Vanderbilt's memoir, The Glitter and the Gold (if you get the Smithsonian Channel, her story is one of those featured in the Million Dollar Princesses series). She was the heiress who married the Duke of Marlborough, and her story is fascinating, but for my purposes, I focused on the story of her childhood.
For the other end of the economic spectrum, How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis is a heartbreaking look at lower Manhattan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I think one of the earlier editions in which the photos were turned into engravings is available on Project Gutenberg, but it's worth it to find a more recent edition that has the actual photos. Riis was a journalist and social reformer who took a camera into the tenements to document the living conditions, especially among recent immigrants. We studied this book in journalism school, and I dug it out again as a reference for this book.
There were dozens more books on life in New York in the 1800s, as well as books on the American Revolution, since I had to research how things happened in order to move the events to a different time. I read about a few other revolutions to see what other things might happen. Plus I researched airships and steam engines, the development of electrical power, other transportation technologies, clothing, and interior design of the period. Fortunately, most of those mansions along Central Park were well-photographed because almost all of them were torn down within a couple of decades. I suppose I should find my list of sources and put a "read more about it" page on my web site.
While I was digging through my notes, I found some of my original notes and thoughts for Rebel Mechanics. I spent about a year doing reading and research related to that story idea before I even had a full plot, and I read more than 50 books while I was developing and researching that story. Since it may be a while before anyone gets to read the sequel, I thought I'd share some recommended reading of things that went into this book that you might also enjoy.
One of the first things I did when I had the first germ of an idea that my heroine might be a governess was re-read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (I read a few other Bronte works while I was at it). My initial concept was to go kind of Gothic with it, with my heroine working in a house full of secrets and her employer a mysterious single man responsible for children. That went by the wayside once I started developing characters because I don't really do dark and brooding very well, but this is kind of the ultimate governess book.
Another inspiration book was The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy. That's where I went with the bandit thing once I realized dark and brooding wasn't going to work. This novel is about a nobleman who secretly helps rescue people from the Terror following the French Revolution, and he deflects suspicion by acting like a fop. I decided to make my bandit act like a nerd instead. This book reads surprisingly well even now, and it's fun to think of an adventure novel from the early 1900s that was written by a woman.
To get a sense of the Gilded Age New York in which I wanted to work, I read several novels by Edith Wharton, including The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence. There was also Washington Square by Henry James. These are actually set about a decade earlier than my book, when living up by the park was practically being pioneering, but the manners and activities of the upper crust are similar. For the opposite side of the equation, Maggie by Stephen Crane provided a look at life in the tenements and among the street kids. I wielded that book like a weapon at every editor I dealt with who questioned the slang and language of the kids (particularly the term "outta sight"). The book was written in that period, and I took a lot of my street kid slang right from it (though I also made up some of the Rebel Mechanics' slang).
I know that novels don't necessarily count as a reference, but in these cases, the novelists were capturing a particular era and were trying to do so at least somewhat accurately. They were novels written either in the period itself or written by people who had lived that life in that era, so they were based on first-person observation. I also read a bunch of entirely unrelated books that were written around that period. I was particularly interested in the use of language by novelists working in that era because it gave a good sense of what words were and weren't in use at the time. For instance, there's a lot of question about when the word "okay" came into common use, but since I didn't find it in any novels of the period, I'm not using it in these books. That can be a real struggle. I didn't realize just how much I use it.
On the non-fiction side of things, I got some sense of the life growing up in Gilded Age New York from Consuelo Vanderbilt's memoir, The Glitter and the Gold (if you get the Smithsonian Channel, her story is one of those featured in the Million Dollar Princesses series). She was the heiress who married the Duke of Marlborough, and her story is fascinating, but for my purposes, I focused on the story of her childhood.
For the other end of the economic spectrum, How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis is a heartbreaking look at lower Manhattan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I think one of the earlier editions in which the photos were turned into engravings is available on Project Gutenberg, but it's worth it to find a more recent edition that has the actual photos. Riis was a journalist and social reformer who took a camera into the tenements to document the living conditions, especially among recent immigrants. We studied this book in journalism school, and I dug it out again as a reference for this book.
There were dozens more books on life in New York in the 1800s, as well as books on the American Revolution, since I had to research how things happened in order to move the events to a different time. I read about a few other revolutions to see what other things might happen. Plus I researched airships and steam engines, the development of electrical power, other transportation technologies, clothing, and interior design of the period. Fortunately, most of those mansions along Central Park were well-photographed because almost all of them were torn down within a couple of decades. I suppose I should find my list of sources and put a "read more about it" page on my web site.
February 3, 2016
Working out Conflict
Yesterday was a regrouping day on the current project. I was trying to figure out whether it was time to jump to the next part of the story or if I needed something else to happen in this part, so I went back and re-read from the beginning. I was stuck in the middle for so long that I had this impression of really slow pacing there, and it turns out that part flew by pretty quickly. However, it does seem like my recent conflict aversion has struck, and so there are some pivotal scenes that need fixing. I was dealing with conflict by having someone point out an issue and then everyone else agreeing that this was a good point. So, yeah, that's going to need work, and I should probably do it before I move on because it's possible that in redoing it and really digging into the conflict, I'll come up with an idea for something that will happen down the line. Rewriting now may mean less rewriting later, and the rewriting is going to have to happen at some point.
There's one idea I got recently from a history documentary I watched, and now I'm trying to figure out where to fit it in. There are two segments of the story where it could work, but I'm not sure which is best. It may be time for a pro/con list.
Meanwhile, one of my other ideas is really taking shape, though it's now gone in some really unexpected directions. In figuring out the why this person, why now part, I came up with a pretty complex backstory. And then I was trying to figure out how to fit that in. The backstory is its own story that's as strong as the present-day story, but without the context of the present-day story, it would lose impact, so I don't think it would work well to write it in series form, with a book about the backstory and a book about the present day. It's too much for just a prologue or even for weaving in to explain the present.
And then I got the idea that it might work in a structure like on Lost or Once Upon a Time, where there's a flashback story and a present-day story woven together. Though this would be more like the first season of Once Upon a Time, with a complete backstory story in the flashbacks, rather than the way they've gone more recently with the character-centric episodes. And one character's backstory might be non-chronological, starting with more recent events and then working backward. I had a non-linear story on my literary bucket list but never had the plot for it, and now I do.
And to think, this was going to be my "easy" book that I could just write while I'm working out the details on a fourth Fairy Tale book. I've never even attempted something that jumps around in time and tells multiple stories simultaneously. I think it'll be fun, but not quick and easy.
It's too bad I don't have anything relatively quick and easy ready to go because weird things are happening to book sales. Even with a relatively recent release, which usually bumps things for a while, sales are really down, and I'm hearing that from a lot of authors. We aren't sure if it's because the market is being flooded with cheap books now that everyone's jumping on the publishing bandwagon, if it's the "Kindle Unlimited" thing that's keeping people from buying new books when they can get all the books they want with a monthly subscription (and it has to be exclusive to Kindle to be included in that, which is why I'm not doing it), or something else. I don't know if more promotion will help, since I don't know the cause of the drop and it's across the board, so the only way around it is to write more. And pray for something big to happen to give me a boost, like a celebrity becoming a fan and gushing all over Twitter, or getting a major award nomination, or getting a TV/movie deal, or getting another traditional publishing contract with a publisher who actually does something to push and promote the book.
There's one idea I got recently from a history documentary I watched, and now I'm trying to figure out where to fit it in. There are two segments of the story where it could work, but I'm not sure which is best. It may be time for a pro/con list.
Meanwhile, one of my other ideas is really taking shape, though it's now gone in some really unexpected directions. In figuring out the why this person, why now part, I came up with a pretty complex backstory. And then I was trying to figure out how to fit that in. The backstory is its own story that's as strong as the present-day story, but without the context of the present-day story, it would lose impact, so I don't think it would work well to write it in series form, with a book about the backstory and a book about the present day. It's too much for just a prologue or even for weaving in to explain the present.
And then I got the idea that it might work in a structure like on Lost or Once Upon a Time, where there's a flashback story and a present-day story woven together. Though this would be more like the first season of Once Upon a Time, with a complete backstory story in the flashbacks, rather than the way they've gone more recently with the character-centric episodes. And one character's backstory might be non-chronological, starting with more recent events and then working backward. I had a non-linear story on my literary bucket list but never had the plot for it, and now I do.
And to think, this was going to be my "easy" book that I could just write while I'm working out the details on a fourth Fairy Tale book. I've never even attempted something that jumps around in time and tells multiple stories simultaneously. I think it'll be fun, but not quick and easy.
It's too bad I don't have anything relatively quick and easy ready to go because weird things are happening to book sales. Even with a relatively recent release, which usually bumps things for a while, sales are really down, and I'm hearing that from a lot of authors. We aren't sure if it's because the market is being flooded with cheap books now that everyone's jumping on the publishing bandwagon, if it's the "Kindle Unlimited" thing that's keeping people from buying new books when they can get all the books they want with a monthly subscription (and it has to be exclusive to Kindle to be included in that, which is why I'm not doing it), or something else. I don't know if more promotion will help, since I don't know the cause of the drop and it's across the board, so the only way around it is to write more. And pray for something big to happen to give me a boost, like a celebrity becoming a fan and gushing all over Twitter, or getting a major award nomination, or getting a TV/movie deal, or getting another traditional publishing contract with a publisher who actually does something to push and promote the book.
February 2, 2016
Book Report: Uprooted
One thing I'm trying to do more of this year is read. It's one of my favorite things to do, and it's essential to my work, but I haven't done as much of it as I'd like. So, I'm trying to make myself get away from the TV and the computer earlier at night and read more before I go to bed. Not only does that give me more reading time, but it means better sleep because electronic screen stuff can interfere with the sleep cycle.
So, this year I've already managed to read a Big, Fat Fantasy novel -- but fortunately not one that appears to be part of an epic series. I can imagine that there might be room for more stories in that world, but this one actually had a satisfying ending. It was Uprooted by Naomi Novik (the author of the Temeraire series, but this book is entirely unconnected).
It's inspired by/based on Polish fairy tales, and it contains a lot of fairy tale-like elements, though more fleshed-out and detailed than your typical fairy tale. There are some elements I recognized from my reading, but they're put together in a different way.
This is the story about a young woman from a village on the edge of a great Wood. Every ten years, the wizard who lives in the tower chooses a 17-year-old girl from the villages under him to serve him for ten years, and our heroine is in the group of candidates. Much to her surprise, since she's not the most beautiful or clever, she gets chosen. And it turns out that the job isn't at all what she expected it to be.
This Wood isn't just a place that's scary because it's dark and wild things live there. The Wood itself is a malevolent force that takes people or else gets into them and corrupts them. It's basically the demon forest from hell, and it's out to turn all the people against each other. Our heroine and the wizard have to figure out what it's doing and find a way to stop it.
This is the kind of fantasy I wish I could find more of. It's very focused on the characters rather than all the political maneuvering. There's magic, mystery, and romance, but some of the strongest relationships aren't romantic. We have an unlikely heroine who forges her own path. We have a scary villain that's hard to defeat. And there's an ending rather than a cliffhanger.
I'm not sure whether this book makes me want to take a walk in the woods (if only I could find a walking path in the woods that isn't under water right now) or take the clippers to that evil alien vine on my patio. Maybe both.
Oh, and fun trivia fact: it turns out that Naomi Novik's husband is the editor who published the Stephen King story that became the series Haven, and he was one of the producers and writers for the series. There was that episode about the evil plants attacking people ...
Meanwhile, I've started brainstorming something new, and it's going in some very unexpected directions.
So, this year I've already managed to read a Big, Fat Fantasy novel -- but fortunately not one that appears to be part of an epic series. I can imagine that there might be room for more stories in that world, but this one actually had a satisfying ending. It was Uprooted by Naomi Novik (the author of the Temeraire series, but this book is entirely unconnected).
It's inspired by/based on Polish fairy tales, and it contains a lot of fairy tale-like elements, though more fleshed-out and detailed than your typical fairy tale. There are some elements I recognized from my reading, but they're put together in a different way.
This is the story about a young woman from a village on the edge of a great Wood. Every ten years, the wizard who lives in the tower chooses a 17-year-old girl from the villages under him to serve him for ten years, and our heroine is in the group of candidates. Much to her surprise, since she's not the most beautiful or clever, she gets chosen. And it turns out that the job isn't at all what she expected it to be.
This Wood isn't just a place that's scary because it's dark and wild things live there. The Wood itself is a malevolent force that takes people or else gets into them and corrupts them. It's basically the demon forest from hell, and it's out to turn all the people against each other. Our heroine and the wizard have to figure out what it's doing and find a way to stop it.
This is the kind of fantasy I wish I could find more of. It's very focused on the characters rather than all the political maneuvering. There's magic, mystery, and romance, but some of the strongest relationships aren't romantic. We have an unlikely heroine who forges her own path. We have a scary villain that's hard to defeat. And there's an ending rather than a cliffhanger.
I'm not sure whether this book makes me want to take a walk in the woods (if only I could find a walking path in the woods that isn't under water right now) or take the clippers to that evil alien vine on my patio. Maybe both.
Oh, and fun trivia fact: it turns out that Naomi Novik's husband is the editor who published the Stephen King story that became the series Haven, and he was one of the producers and writers for the series. There was that episode about the evil plants attacking people ...
Meanwhile, I've started brainstorming something new, and it's going in some very unexpected directions.
February 1, 2016
Decluttering Entertainment
January is over, and although that's normally what I'd consider a slow month, it ended up being very busy for me. I had stuff going on every weekend. February is a little quieter. I actually don't have anything other than the usual church stuff scheduled this coming weekend, and I'm already excited about that. It's been a long time since I had a Saturday to just hang around the house and not have to worry about going anywhere or doing anything in particular.
This weekend's fun was seeing the new Star Wars movie again with a group of friends. Yes, I've seen it twice already, but I hadn't seen it with these people, and we went out to eat together afterward, so it was a social event.
My other movie viewing for the weekend was watching Mad Max: Fury Road on HBO, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I'd seen so much hype about it. So many of the SF/F authors I know were raving about it and talking about seeing it repeatedly. I was expecting something with unexpected depth for an action movie. Instead, it was basically fight, drive, drive, fight, and the fact that one faction was a group of women fleeing an abusive man didn't really elevate things all that much. I found it all rather boring.
Though I did like the vehicle with the rows of giant drums on the back, the wall of amps on the front, and the guy playing the flamethrower guitar. Because if you're going to head into battle, you might as well bring your own soundtrack. Really, I was more interested in all the ways they put the odd vehicles together with mixes of pieces and parts (and I am not a car person by any means) than in the story. And I liked the previous Mad Max movies.
I've also decided to give up on the Shannara series. I made two attempts to watch the latest episode and finally just turned it off and deleted it from the DVR midway through. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't enjoying it, and time is to precious to waste on things I feel I "should" like. Ditto on the opposite end of the spectrum for Mercy Street on PBS. I can recognize that it's well done, but I don't like any of the characters and am not interested in the story. It was rather liberating to turn the TV off after Downton Abbey. I guess it's like decluttering for entertainment -- if it doesn't bring me joy, I can get rid of it.
On the other hand, Galavant has made me so happy this season. I won't hold my breath for another season because the ratings are so low (what's wrong with people?!!!!), so I'm glad they gave it a nice ending with room for more, but oh, do I want more. And I need this on DVD immediately. It's like instant transportation to the happy place, a sure cure for a bad day. And it turns out you can already get the soundtrack on digital, so I think I need this right now.
Meanwhile, this is something of an anniversary for me. Fourteen years ago yesterday I got laid off from my last job, so today is my anniversary of being my own boss. There have been times when it's been a struggle, and there are frustrations sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for any other job. I'm getting to live my dream. There aren't a lot of people who are lucky enough to make a living doing something they dreamed of as a child, especially in a field like this. Now I just have to keep at it because I'm too spoiled to go back to a regular job. It would be soul-destroying.
This weekend's fun was seeing the new Star Wars movie again with a group of friends. Yes, I've seen it twice already, but I hadn't seen it with these people, and we went out to eat together afterward, so it was a social event.
My other movie viewing for the weekend was watching Mad Max: Fury Road on HBO, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I'd seen so much hype about it. So many of the SF/F authors I know were raving about it and talking about seeing it repeatedly. I was expecting something with unexpected depth for an action movie. Instead, it was basically fight, drive, drive, fight, and the fact that one faction was a group of women fleeing an abusive man didn't really elevate things all that much. I found it all rather boring.
Though I did like the vehicle with the rows of giant drums on the back, the wall of amps on the front, and the guy playing the flamethrower guitar. Because if you're going to head into battle, you might as well bring your own soundtrack. Really, I was more interested in all the ways they put the odd vehicles together with mixes of pieces and parts (and I am not a car person by any means) than in the story. And I liked the previous Mad Max movies.
I've also decided to give up on the Shannara series. I made two attempts to watch the latest episode and finally just turned it off and deleted it from the DVR midway through. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't enjoying it, and time is to precious to waste on things I feel I "should" like. Ditto on the opposite end of the spectrum for Mercy Street on PBS. I can recognize that it's well done, but I don't like any of the characters and am not interested in the story. It was rather liberating to turn the TV off after Downton Abbey. I guess it's like decluttering for entertainment -- if it doesn't bring me joy, I can get rid of it.
On the other hand, Galavant has made me so happy this season. I won't hold my breath for another season because the ratings are so low (what's wrong with people?!!!!), so I'm glad they gave it a nice ending with room for more, but oh, do I want more. And I need this on DVD immediately. It's like instant transportation to the happy place, a sure cure for a bad day. And it turns out you can already get the soundtrack on digital, so I think I need this right now.
Meanwhile, this is something of an anniversary for me. Fourteen years ago yesterday I got laid off from my last job, so today is my anniversary of being my own boss. There have been times when it's been a struggle, and there are frustrations sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for any other job. I'm getting to live my dream. There aren't a lot of people who are lucky enough to make a living doing something they dreamed of as a child, especially in a field like this. Now I just have to keep at it because I'm too spoiled to go back to a regular job. It would be soul-destroying.
January 29, 2016
Time to Travel (in 4-6 weeks)
I completed a major achievement this morning before 9:30, so I should get the rest of the day off, right? It kind of feels that way. What did I do? I applied for a passport.
That may not sound major, but I've been procrastinating about that for more than a year. Well, possibly even longer than that because I put off renewing the old passport until I missed the window, and then I waited a few more years because I wasn't even thinking about travel then. About a year and a half ago I started thinking that maybe I should do something about it, but most of the info I found said that you had to call to make an appointment at the post office, and if I have to call to make an appointment, it's probably not going to happen. I hate the telephone and get serious anxiety about making phone calls. If my house were on fire, I might be tempted to walk down the street to the fire station to report it rather than make myself dial 911. Really, it's that bad.
So I put off making the scary phone call. There were excuses like I was going to be out of town or busy, so I shouldn't make an appointment. Finally, earlier this month, I pulled together the courage and called, only to be told I'd have to call back at the end of the month and see if I could get an appointment for the next month. So the county government office started looking better, even though there had been articles in the newspaper about the terrible wait times (the reason I was going to force myself to make an appointment at the post office). There was a picture in the paper of the 2-3 hour line. But I figured that was better than waiting months to get an appointment. I put off that a few times because I felt it would be better to go in the morning, and so I set the alarm to get up early, and most of the time I changed my mind. Then last week I was going to do it, but I found a review of the place that said in spite of them saying they did photos, they didn't, and that meant I needed to get a photo taken.
So this week I got the photo done at the new CVS they just built down the block. There was a false start yesterday when I couldn't drag myself out of bed, and I finally did it this morning, though I left later than I hoped. I packed some bottled water, some snacks, and a book, ready to stand and wait for three hours.
And then I walked in, found no line, wondered if I was in the right place or if something was wrong, and one of the three clerks at open windows called me over. I was in and out in fifteen minutes, home before I'd normally be up and at my desk. The clerk did say this was unusual and that if I'd come in the afternoon, there would have been a long line. He laughed when I said I'd brought snacks and a book.
So now that big item on the to-do list is taken care of. It's been glaring at me from my ongoing task list for months, so it feels like a massive accomplishment to check it off. I don't have a specific trip planned, though there is one I'd like to make to research a couple of books. I just want to have the passport handy so that if something comes up, I can take advantage of the opportunity. I've said I want to start hitting all those bucket list items, since I finally have some money for travel, and I want to do things while I'm still young and healthy. I can do my job anywhere, so why not do my writing in the evening in a hotel room after a day of sightseeing?
Since I'd put together a light to-do list because of the anticipated hours of waiting in line, that means the rest of my day is clear for writing, and then I can have a guilt-free TV night to watch the return of Grimm.
That may not sound major, but I've been procrastinating about that for more than a year. Well, possibly even longer than that because I put off renewing the old passport until I missed the window, and then I waited a few more years because I wasn't even thinking about travel then. About a year and a half ago I started thinking that maybe I should do something about it, but most of the info I found said that you had to call to make an appointment at the post office, and if I have to call to make an appointment, it's probably not going to happen. I hate the telephone and get serious anxiety about making phone calls. If my house were on fire, I might be tempted to walk down the street to the fire station to report it rather than make myself dial 911. Really, it's that bad.
So I put off making the scary phone call. There were excuses like I was going to be out of town or busy, so I shouldn't make an appointment. Finally, earlier this month, I pulled together the courage and called, only to be told I'd have to call back at the end of the month and see if I could get an appointment for the next month. So the county government office started looking better, even though there had been articles in the newspaper about the terrible wait times (the reason I was going to force myself to make an appointment at the post office). There was a picture in the paper of the 2-3 hour line. But I figured that was better than waiting months to get an appointment. I put off that a few times because I felt it would be better to go in the morning, and so I set the alarm to get up early, and most of the time I changed my mind. Then last week I was going to do it, but I found a review of the place that said in spite of them saying they did photos, they didn't, and that meant I needed to get a photo taken.
So this week I got the photo done at the new CVS they just built down the block. There was a false start yesterday when I couldn't drag myself out of bed, and I finally did it this morning, though I left later than I hoped. I packed some bottled water, some snacks, and a book, ready to stand and wait for three hours.
And then I walked in, found no line, wondered if I was in the right place or if something was wrong, and one of the three clerks at open windows called me over. I was in and out in fifteen minutes, home before I'd normally be up and at my desk. The clerk did say this was unusual and that if I'd come in the afternoon, there would have been a long line. He laughed when I said I'd brought snacks and a book.
So now that big item on the to-do list is taken care of. It's been glaring at me from my ongoing task list for months, so it feels like a massive accomplishment to check it off. I don't have a specific trip planned, though there is one I'd like to make to research a couple of books. I just want to have the passport handy so that if something comes up, I can take advantage of the opportunity. I've said I want to start hitting all those bucket list items, since I finally have some money for travel, and I want to do things while I'm still young and healthy. I can do my job anywhere, so why not do my writing in the evening in a hotel room after a day of sightseeing?
Since I'd put together a light to-do list because of the anticipated hours of waiting in line, that means the rest of my day is clear for writing, and then I can have a guilt-free TV night to watch the return of Grimm.
January 28, 2016
Write Faster!
I was very pleased with myself for getting something accomplished yesterday even though it was a choir night. I've been really bad about that lately. But so far this week, I'm on track to have produced words every day. I'm sensing that there might be a struggle today because I'm so sleepy and I finished a big scene yesterday without figuring out what happens next. However, I found myself daydreaming some potential scenes.
Meanwhile, scenes from the Fairy Tale universe are starting to play in my head. I don't know if they'll end up in a book, but the characters are starting to take action, and I know what the main plot for the next book will likely be about. However, if it goes like any of the previous books, when I get about 3/4 of the way through, I'll realize what's really going on behind what I thought was the main plot and I'll have to rewrite the whole thing.
I saw someone talking yesterday about publishing a new book (via independent publishing) every four to seven weeks, and that's blowing my mind. I thought I was a fairly quick writer. If I'm really working at it, I can do a rough draft of a full novel of around 90,000 to 100,000 words in a month, but then I need at least a month for revisions. And then there's at least another week or two of dealing with copyedits and proofing. The only way I could imagine getting a book out even every six weeks is if they were a lot shorter, and there my problem is that my books fit the length of my ideas, so I'd end up having to do a cliffhanger and put out one book as two shorter books. All of this may be why I'm not one of those self-published Amazon millionaires. I admit I don't spend as much time writing as some people, but quality of life has to count for something, and I feel like I've run out of words after a certain amount of time. I'm trying to build up my writing endurance and my time management to produce more and faster, mostly because I have so many ideas that I want to write that I'm afraid I'll never get to.
I'm probably between the two publishing worlds. I write too quickly for traditional publishing, where they only want a book a year, at most. But I'm too slow for independent publishing, where you need a new book every couple of months to gain and keep any momentum. This is why I try to do a little of both. It's also why I'm trying to work on some shorter pieces that could serve as in-between releases to maintain a presence. I'm also considering doing something more serialized -- shorter chunks of a larger story produced more frequently. The industry has changed so much since I got started that there are more ways to do things and there's room to innovate. Really, though, the serial idea isn't so much an innovation as it is a return to the Dickens era. All those doorstopper novels of his were published originally as serials in magazines and newspapers, and those individual installments were later compiled into books. If you were eager to see what happened next, you bought the magazines as they came out, but there was still the option of waiting for the whole book.
But for now, I need to finish the book I'm working on and gear up for a convention in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, scenes from the Fairy Tale universe are starting to play in my head. I don't know if they'll end up in a book, but the characters are starting to take action, and I know what the main plot for the next book will likely be about. However, if it goes like any of the previous books, when I get about 3/4 of the way through, I'll realize what's really going on behind what I thought was the main plot and I'll have to rewrite the whole thing.
I saw someone talking yesterday about publishing a new book (via independent publishing) every four to seven weeks, and that's blowing my mind. I thought I was a fairly quick writer. If I'm really working at it, I can do a rough draft of a full novel of around 90,000 to 100,000 words in a month, but then I need at least a month for revisions. And then there's at least another week or two of dealing with copyedits and proofing. The only way I could imagine getting a book out even every six weeks is if they were a lot shorter, and there my problem is that my books fit the length of my ideas, so I'd end up having to do a cliffhanger and put out one book as two shorter books. All of this may be why I'm not one of those self-published Amazon millionaires. I admit I don't spend as much time writing as some people, but quality of life has to count for something, and I feel like I've run out of words after a certain amount of time. I'm trying to build up my writing endurance and my time management to produce more and faster, mostly because I have so many ideas that I want to write that I'm afraid I'll never get to.
I'm probably between the two publishing worlds. I write too quickly for traditional publishing, where they only want a book a year, at most. But I'm too slow for independent publishing, where you need a new book every couple of months to gain and keep any momentum. This is why I try to do a little of both. It's also why I'm trying to work on some shorter pieces that could serve as in-between releases to maintain a presence. I'm also considering doing something more serialized -- shorter chunks of a larger story produced more frequently. The industry has changed so much since I got started that there are more ways to do things and there's room to innovate. Really, though, the serial idea isn't so much an innovation as it is a return to the Dickens era. All those doorstopper novels of his were published originally as serials in magazines and newspapers, and those individual installments were later compiled into books. If you were eager to see what happened next, you bought the magazines as they came out, but there was still the option of waiting for the whole book.
But for now, I need to finish the book I'm working on and gear up for a convention in a couple of weeks.
January 27, 2016
Problem Characters: The Strong Female Character
In my writing posts (every other Wednesday), I'm discussing "problem" characters. These may be characters who are difficult to write or who may trip you up. This week I'm looking at the "strong female character."
This is a weird one because it sounds good but is so often a big failure. People know this kind of character should be included, but they may go about it the wrong way and not actually write a strong female character. And then there's the problem of cultural expectations and ideas of what this really is, so even if you write a truly strong female character, there will be people in the audience who claim that what you've written isn't really one.
Here are some things that a strong female character isn't (necessarily -- she might be some of these things, but she doesn't have to be any of them):
A warrior and expert in martial arts
Stoic and emotionless
Someone who punches a male character in the face as soon as she meets him
Someone who doesn't do anything stereotypically feminine
Someone who never has to be rescued or helped
You'd think from the way that "strong" women are so often written that a strong woman is Rambo in drag. On the other hand, there are people who'll complain that a woman isn't strong if she has any weakness whatsoever, if she ever needs help or shows emotion.
What is a strong female character? Really, it boils down to a person who makes decisions and takes action that affects the story.
This is where a lot of attempts at strong female characters fail. Some critics are calling it "Trinity Syndrome," after the character in The Matrix. These are characters with a lot of traits we think of as "strong" -- they're strong fighters who are tough and hard. They may say harsh things to the hero or even hit him. They seem to know their way around the situation and may even serve as a guide to the hero at first. And then they're abruptly sidelined for the rest of the story, playing the kinds of roles that women typically get in stories, where they either have to be rescued, prop up the hero, make the hero feel sad if something happens to them, or serve as a reward for his success.
If you could replace a female character with a valuable object without the plot changing significantly, you don't have a strong female character, no matter how many black belts she has. The hero might be seeking to obtain this object/person, he might be rewarded with it/her if he's successful in reaching his story goal, having this object/person makes him feel better so that he has the confidence to go after his goal, or losing this object/person makes him feel sad or want revenge on the person who took it/her.
This doesn't mean that you can't have male heroes or that women always have to play a key role. But don't delude yourself into thinking you've written a strong woman when you haven't.
What are some traits of a strong female (or male) character?
Intelligence -- able to assess a situation and come up with or contribute to a plan, able to think on the fly and improvise when the plan doesn't work (even a sidekick can do this)
Skills -- yeah, martial arts might fit in here, but linguistics, communication skills, mechanical aptitude, and even domestic arts fit in here. The person who can glean and scrounge up a meal on the road is going to be valuable to a questing party, and there's a difference between this being treated as a real skill that is appreciated and "you're the girl, so cook us something."
Resilience -- the ability to bounce back physically and emotionally when things go wrong.
A non-strong female character might sit in a tower and wait to be rescued. A strong female character might still be a prisoner and might still need some degree of rescuing, but she might improvise weapons from items in her cell that come in handy during the escape. She might be observing the guards, their personalities, and their routines so she can help guide her rescuers on their way back out. She might get out of her cell on her own and meet her rescuers halfway. She might have signaled her location. She might have won over one of her guards. Or even if she has to be rescued without contributing to her own escape, she holds up to torture rather than giving up her side, and she observes enough while a prisoner to get valuable intelligence that helps her side. She does something that makes a difference in how the story goes.
One trap that's easy to fall into when attempting to write a strong female character is the "not like other girls" trope (you can look this up on TV Tropes if you have time to fall into a rabbit hole, but I won't link because I'm a nice person). That's where the character's merit isn't measured against an ideal or against the entire species, but rather just against other women. The message that sends is that women are useless and silly, but this one woman is different. I really hate it when I see this in children's and young adult books, and it's endemic there. This is what you get where all those other girls are silly and useless because they like girl stuff like clothes and boys and romance and cooking and sewing, etc., but this one girl is awesome because she's not like them at all. She's more like a boy and likes sports and fighting and action. This, to me, is worse than the damsel in distress because at least the damsel isn't being demonized for being female. She's considered desirable even if she's essentially an object. The "not like other girls" routine demonizes the entire gender in order to prop up one character.
Not every woman in a story has to be a strong character, but then again, neither does every man. There are sidekicks and human scenery. It's just more common for the female characters to fall into those roles, so it's good to take a look at the people you're writing.
Next, I'll tackle one that may seem to be odd as a problem character: the hero.
This is a weird one because it sounds good but is so often a big failure. People know this kind of character should be included, but they may go about it the wrong way and not actually write a strong female character. And then there's the problem of cultural expectations and ideas of what this really is, so even if you write a truly strong female character, there will be people in the audience who claim that what you've written isn't really one.
Here are some things that a strong female character isn't (necessarily -- she might be some of these things, but she doesn't have to be any of them):
A warrior and expert in martial arts
Stoic and emotionless
Someone who punches a male character in the face as soon as she meets him
Someone who doesn't do anything stereotypically feminine
Someone who never has to be rescued or helped
You'd think from the way that "strong" women are so often written that a strong woman is Rambo in drag. On the other hand, there are people who'll complain that a woman isn't strong if she has any weakness whatsoever, if she ever needs help or shows emotion.
What is a strong female character? Really, it boils down to a person who makes decisions and takes action that affects the story.
This is where a lot of attempts at strong female characters fail. Some critics are calling it "Trinity Syndrome," after the character in The Matrix. These are characters with a lot of traits we think of as "strong" -- they're strong fighters who are tough and hard. They may say harsh things to the hero or even hit him. They seem to know their way around the situation and may even serve as a guide to the hero at first. And then they're abruptly sidelined for the rest of the story, playing the kinds of roles that women typically get in stories, where they either have to be rescued, prop up the hero, make the hero feel sad if something happens to them, or serve as a reward for his success.
If you could replace a female character with a valuable object without the plot changing significantly, you don't have a strong female character, no matter how many black belts she has. The hero might be seeking to obtain this object/person, he might be rewarded with it/her if he's successful in reaching his story goal, having this object/person makes him feel better so that he has the confidence to go after his goal, or losing this object/person makes him feel sad or want revenge on the person who took it/her.
This doesn't mean that you can't have male heroes or that women always have to play a key role. But don't delude yourself into thinking you've written a strong woman when you haven't.
What are some traits of a strong female (or male) character?
Intelligence -- able to assess a situation and come up with or contribute to a plan, able to think on the fly and improvise when the plan doesn't work (even a sidekick can do this)
Skills -- yeah, martial arts might fit in here, but linguistics, communication skills, mechanical aptitude, and even domestic arts fit in here. The person who can glean and scrounge up a meal on the road is going to be valuable to a questing party, and there's a difference between this being treated as a real skill that is appreciated and "you're the girl, so cook us something."
Resilience -- the ability to bounce back physically and emotionally when things go wrong.
A non-strong female character might sit in a tower and wait to be rescued. A strong female character might still be a prisoner and might still need some degree of rescuing, but she might improvise weapons from items in her cell that come in handy during the escape. She might be observing the guards, their personalities, and their routines so she can help guide her rescuers on their way back out. She might get out of her cell on her own and meet her rescuers halfway. She might have signaled her location. She might have won over one of her guards. Or even if she has to be rescued without contributing to her own escape, she holds up to torture rather than giving up her side, and she observes enough while a prisoner to get valuable intelligence that helps her side. She does something that makes a difference in how the story goes.
One trap that's easy to fall into when attempting to write a strong female character is the "not like other girls" trope (you can look this up on TV Tropes if you have time to fall into a rabbit hole, but I won't link because I'm a nice person). That's where the character's merit isn't measured against an ideal or against the entire species, but rather just against other women. The message that sends is that women are useless and silly, but this one woman is different. I really hate it when I see this in children's and young adult books, and it's endemic there. This is what you get where all those other girls are silly and useless because they like girl stuff like clothes and boys and romance and cooking and sewing, etc., but this one girl is awesome because she's not like them at all. She's more like a boy and likes sports and fighting and action. This, to me, is worse than the damsel in distress because at least the damsel isn't being demonized for being female. She's considered desirable even if she's essentially an object. The "not like other girls" routine demonizes the entire gender in order to prop up one character.
Not every woman in a story has to be a strong character, but then again, neither does every man. There are sidekicks and human scenery. It's just more common for the female characters to fall into those roles, so it's good to take a look at the people you're writing.
Next, I'll tackle one that may seem to be odd as a problem character: the hero.
January 26, 2016
Accomplishments
I felt such a sense of achievement yesterday from doing things that I would normally procrastinate about. So now I have a hotel room for WorldCon this summer and filled out the programming survey. There's still no guarantee I'll get any programming, but I've done what I can to try to give them reasons to use me.
I've also started the brainstorming for a fourth Fairy Tale book, and I think I have the core plot idea. It needs a lot more development, but that's why I'm doing this work in the background while I write other things. These books refuse to be linear and always take me a lot longer to write than everything else I do, so I'm trying something new and doing the development work while I write stuff that's clearer. That way, I may be able to get more books out.
I had another chorale rehearsal last night, and it's definitely a learning experience because the director is very different from anyone I've ever worked with. I'm having to change a lot of the ways I do things, and then will have to change back for my regular choir (fortunately, we're not doing anything at all like this piece for a while). My regular choir director will be performing this with us, but only making it to the final rehearsals, so I can't wait to see his reaction. I guess I'll stick with this, but I must admit that it's hard to drag myself out on Monday nights.
I'm approaching the big midpoint event in the book I'm working on, and it wasn't even an event I initially planned for this book. Funny how that happens. I was just mentally running through things that might happen in this location but running against the fact that most of the things this location is known for wouldn't have happened in this alternate history. But then I realized that one of them could happen now in the story, in a different way. And it's going to be tons of fun. That's what I get to write today.
I've also started the brainstorming for a fourth Fairy Tale book, and I think I have the core plot idea. It needs a lot more development, but that's why I'm doing this work in the background while I write other things. These books refuse to be linear and always take me a lot longer to write than everything else I do, so I'm trying something new and doing the development work while I write stuff that's clearer. That way, I may be able to get more books out.
I had another chorale rehearsal last night, and it's definitely a learning experience because the director is very different from anyone I've ever worked with. I'm having to change a lot of the ways I do things, and then will have to change back for my regular choir (fortunately, we're not doing anything at all like this piece for a while). My regular choir director will be performing this with us, but only making it to the final rehearsals, so I can't wait to see his reaction. I guess I'll stick with this, but I must admit that it's hard to drag myself out on Monday nights.
I'm approaching the big midpoint event in the book I'm working on, and it wasn't even an event I initially planned for this book. Funny how that happens. I was just mentally running through things that might happen in this location but running against the fact that most of the things this location is known for wouldn't have happened in this alternate history. But then I realized that one of them could happen now in the story, in a different way. And it's going to be tons of fun. That's what I get to write today.
January 25, 2016
A Sneak Peek at The Magicians
Yoga started again this morning, so I got a good stretchy start to the week and forced myself out of bed. Now to see if I can carry that energy through the rest of the day and the week. I made a huge pot roast yesterday, so I won't be having to do much cooking the rest of the week, other than maybe coming up with other things to do with leftover roast. I'm thinking Friday night's dinner will be beef pot pie.
Over the weekend, I found that the first episode of The Magicians, which starts with the first two parts tonight, was available on demand, so I gave it a shot.
I wasn't crazy about the book. I liked the idea of it because I wanted more contemporary fantasy that was about wizards and magic rather than vampires and werewolves, but the book itself struck me as cynical and derivative. It seemed to me more a case of "fantasy" about fantasy fans rather than a book written for fans of fantasy. It seemed to be trying too hard to be "edgy" in the sense of "Harry Potter, but with drinking, sex, smoking, and drugs!" and that made me dislike the characters. I never bothered reading beyond the first book, especially because the way the characters were at the end of the first book made me really intensely dislike them. It seemed to me that the fantasy tropes were all obviously taken directly from well-known works, and in some cases from a superficial understanding of those works.
However, I kind of liked the first episode of the series, though there's still a chance that I'll turn against it (since I was still okay with the book that far into it). In a nutshell, the series (the book is slightly different) is about a young man who's getting ready for graduate school but who is still obsessed with a series of fantasy novels (basically Not!Narnia) that provide his escape when the real world is too intense. He goes to a grad school interview in Brooklyn and finds himself at a school in upstate New York, where he's being tested on magical aptitude. He gets into the school for magical training, but he starts having strange visions of that fantasy world from his favorite books, with one of the characters giving him cryptic warnings. Meanwhile, his best friend also ended up at the aptitude test, but she failed and was sent home, supposedly with her memory wiped. But she does remember and becomes obsessed with the idea of magic and wanting to learn to use it.
They seem to be aging it up from college to grad school in the series, and on the one hand that's good because it avoids making it a teen thing (see the Shannara series) and it makes some of the goings on at school a little less sketchy if these are all 20-something adults. On the other hand, a guy in his early 20s who gets annoyed that his friends aren't as into the series of kids' books they were obsessed with in their teens does sound a little weird. Mostly, I like the imagery in the series. I like the world they've created, and I think they've done a good job of making it its own distinct place rather than Not!Hogwarts and Not!Narnia. I could never get the originals out of my head while reading the book, but the series creates its own world. I still feel like they're trying way too hard to be edgy, but that's just my personal taste.
Bottom line: I'll check out the next part and then see if I want to keep up with it.
Over the weekend, I found that the first episode of The Magicians, which starts with the first two parts tonight, was available on demand, so I gave it a shot.
I wasn't crazy about the book. I liked the idea of it because I wanted more contemporary fantasy that was about wizards and magic rather than vampires and werewolves, but the book itself struck me as cynical and derivative. It seemed to me more a case of "fantasy" about fantasy fans rather than a book written for fans of fantasy. It seemed to be trying too hard to be "edgy" in the sense of "Harry Potter, but with drinking, sex, smoking, and drugs!" and that made me dislike the characters. I never bothered reading beyond the first book, especially because the way the characters were at the end of the first book made me really intensely dislike them. It seemed to me that the fantasy tropes were all obviously taken directly from well-known works, and in some cases from a superficial understanding of those works.
However, I kind of liked the first episode of the series, though there's still a chance that I'll turn against it (since I was still okay with the book that far into it). In a nutshell, the series (the book is slightly different) is about a young man who's getting ready for graduate school but who is still obsessed with a series of fantasy novels (basically Not!Narnia) that provide his escape when the real world is too intense. He goes to a grad school interview in Brooklyn and finds himself at a school in upstate New York, where he's being tested on magical aptitude. He gets into the school for magical training, but he starts having strange visions of that fantasy world from his favorite books, with one of the characters giving him cryptic warnings. Meanwhile, his best friend also ended up at the aptitude test, but she failed and was sent home, supposedly with her memory wiped. But she does remember and becomes obsessed with the idea of magic and wanting to learn to use it.
They seem to be aging it up from college to grad school in the series, and on the one hand that's good because it avoids making it a teen thing (see the Shannara series) and it makes some of the goings on at school a little less sketchy if these are all 20-something adults. On the other hand, a guy in his early 20s who gets annoyed that his friends aren't as into the series of kids' books they were obsessed with in their teens does sound a little weird. Mostly, I like the imagery in the series. I like the world they've created, and I think they've done a good job of making it its own distinct place rather than Not!Hogwarts and Not!Narnia. I could never get the originals out of my head while reading the book, but the series creates its own world. I still feel like they're trying way too hard to be edgy, but that's just my personal taste.
Bottom line: I'll check out the next part and then see if I want to keep up with it.
January 22, 2016
Not Snowed In
I had a really good writing day yesterday, moving the book forward significantly. And I know what happens next, so today should be good, as well. I'd been kind of stuck for a while, so it's good to feel like I'm moving forward. It probably helped that it was cold and rainy outside, with the wind howling madly. That makes huddling under a blanket with my laptop and a cup of tea very appealing. Today it's still cold and with howling wind, but it's sunny, so it's a different atmosphere. In a weird way, I'm a little jealous of the people getting snowed in. I'd get so much reading and writing done.
Not that being snowed in would change things all that significantly for me. It would just eliminate the few occasions I have that require me to leave the house.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to do DVR catchup on some of the new stuff.
There's Mercy Street on PBS, the Civil War drama that comes on after Downton Abbey. I'm so-so on it. The Civil War era has never really interested me all that much, and this series so far seems to hit all the tropes. I could probably write a very accurate outline of how the rest of the series is going to go. But I like the cast, so I may give it at least one more episode before I try to fight off the sense of obligation (because it's PBS and therefore Good For Me).
I'm most of the way through the first installment of War & Peace (showing simultaneously on History, A&E and Lifetime), and I like what I've seen of it. It's the same writer who did the Pride and Prejudice adaptation in the 90s. I've seen some comments that it's too "British," but that's probably going to be the case in something produced by the BBC. Plus, at the time the Russian nobility was trying hard not to be Russian. They were emulating the west and most of them spoke French at home. I only got a jarring sense when someone had an obvious regional British accent rather than the generic "BBC Accent" that's generally become TV/movie code for "not American." The music and setting gives it a touch of Russian flair. I was a little distracted by the constant wondering of "who is that under that wig, and what else have I seen him/her in?" but a bout with IMDB should take care of that so I can focus on the story. I'm afraid it's going to make me want to read the book, and I really don't have time to wade through that right now. See, I need a blizzard. Mostly, this series is reminding me of the glory days of A&E, when it looked like they were going to be serious competition for PBS rather than the home of a lot of trashy stuff.
I keep giving that Shannara series one more chance. I'm not sure I could just sit and watch it. I use it for knitting background noise, and there's a fair amount of snarking. I've had to give up imagining any link between the book and the series. It looks like the latest episode finally set up and launched them on the quest that was the main plot of the book, so they get one more before I decide I'd rather just re-read the book. Right now, I don't like any of the younger leading characters.
My big joy at the moment is Galavant, for all its poking fun at fantasy (and other) tropes and catchy earworm songs that are so warped but still quite good music. A couple of weeks ago, we had the lovely ballad "Maybe You Won't Die Alone." Last week, they did an insanely wonderful sendup of West Side Story, involving a fight between the dwarfs and the giants (all of whom were average-size men), and then there was the rousing Les Miserables parody. All shows should be forced to label their Forest of Coincidence as such.
I have a relatively quiet weekend, with just an afternoon/evening event on Saturday, which is nice. I like having a Saturday morning without the need to get up and go anywhere anytime soon. I can put on some music and linger over the newspaper and crossword puzzle as I drink my tea. If it warms up Sunday, I may take a walk, if I can find a walking path that's not under water. All my "I need trees!" routes are currently closed.
Not that being snowed in would change things all that significantly for me. It would just eliminate the few occasions I have that require me to leave the house.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to do DVR catchup on some of the new stuff.
There's Mercy Street on PBS, the Civil War drama that comes on after Downton Abbey. I'm so-so on it. The Civil War era has never really interested me all that much, and this series so far seems to hit all the tropes. I could probably write a very accurate outline of how the rest of the series is going to go. But I like the cast, so I may give it at least one more episode before I try to fight off the sense of obligation (because it's PBS and therefore Good For Me).
I'm most of the way through the first installment of War & Peace (showing simultaneously on History, A&E and Lifetime), and I like what I've seen of it. It's the same writer who did the Pride and Prejudice adaptation in the 90s. I've seen some comments that it's too "British," but that's probably going to be the case in something produced by the BBC. Plus, at the time the Russian nobility was trying hard not to be Russian. They were emulating the west and most of them spoke French at home. I only got a jarring sense when someone had an obvious regional British accent rather than the generic "BBC Accent" that's generally become TV/movie code for "not American." The music and setting gives it a touch of Russian flair. I was a little distracted by the constant wondering of "who is that under that wig, and what else have I seen him/her in?" but a bout with IMDB should take care of that so I can focus on the story. I'm afraid it's going to make me want to read the book, and I really don't have time to wade through that right now. See, I need a blizzard. Mostly, this series is reminding me of the glory days of A&E, when it looked like they were going to be serious competition for PBS rather than the home of a lot of trashy stuff.
I keep giving that Shannara series one more chance. I'm not sure I could just sit and watch it. I use it for knitting background noise, and there's a fair amount of snarking. I've had to give up imagining any link between the book and the series. It looks like the latest episode finally set up and launched them on the quest that was the main plot of the book, so they get one more before I decide I'd rather just re-read the book. Right now, I don't like any of the younger leading characters.
My big joy at the moment is Galavant, for all its poking fun at fantasy (and other) tropes and catchy earworm songs that are so warped but still quite good music. A couple of weeks ago, we had the lovely ballad "Maybe You Won't Die Alone." Last week, they did an insanely wonderful sendup of West Side Story, involving a fight between the dwarfs and the giants (all of whom were average-size men), and then there was the rousing Les Miserables parody. All shows should be forced to label their Forest of Coincidence as such.
I have a relatively quiet weekend, with just an afternoon/evening event on Saturday, which is nice. I like having a Saturday morning without the need to get up and go anywhere anytime soon. I can put on some music and linger over the newspaper and crossword puzzle as I drink my tea. If it warms up Sunday, I may take a walk, if I can find a walking path that's not under water. All my "I need trees!" routes are currently closed.
