Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 159

Home for the Day

I'm done with musical rehearsals and just have performances to go, which means I have a day to myself today with nowhere to go. And bonus, it's raining! I hope to get some serious writing done. I'm also hoping they work out some of the kinks on opening night because last night was … interesting. They have the chorus and orchestra set up backstage, with microphones on us. Theoretically, we also have monitors that the cast mics are coming through, except that only seemed to be working with a couple of the mics. When we just had the keyboard in earlier rehearsals, we could still hear from the stage, but when we have instruments blasting directly at us, we can't hear anything, and it's nearly impossible to sing backup to someone you can't hear.

But the musicians were pretty cool. They noticed that I was reading Hogfather and had a nice chat about Terry Pratchett and fantasy books in general. I also learned from the woman who's teaching recorders to the older kids in the children's music program (the first through fifth grade kids do a rotation where they do recorders, guitar, and singing) that she couldn't get the kids to shut up long enough for her to teach them anything this week, so it wasn't just me having problems.

There are long gaps between chorus numbers, so I'm getting some good reading time in, using the clip-on light on my music folder. I was knitting during earlier rehearsals, but we're so cramped backstage that it's hard to juggle that, and in the dark it would be even harder since you can't really clip a light to the knitting, and it's hard to hold the folder and knit.

But for today, I think there will be some baking, as I bought ingredients for Irish soda bread for St. Patrick's Day but didn't make it then, and today's more of a bread kind of day. Then I will spend much of today either on the couch downstairs or the chaise upstairs (haven't decided yet), writing, and then Grimm is back tonight, and then I may write some more, or else I'll watch a movie, or read, or just enjoy being home.

Just a Spoon Full of Arsenic ...

Yep, yesterday was pretty much a lost day. My thinker was broken, so no real writing happened. I did work on music and did some lesson planning. But after choir rehearsal I just went home instead of going to the musical rehearsal. I was losing my voice and there was less than an hour left, so I figured it was better to rest and be ready for dress rehearsal tonight. I had nothing left after dealing with the kindergarteners, who were being little pills. One or two were being little sociopaths. Our teen helper had knee surgery last month. She's back to walking, but she's not at full strength, and these little demons were slamming into her legs and trying to pull her down to the ground. She asked them not to do that. It didn't deter them. I stepped in and explained that she just had surgery and they were hurting her, that it wasn't fun and this wasn't playing. A couple of them went right back to doing it. I then declared that all people in the room were lava, so no one could touch anyone else. That sort of helped, but then there were those going around and deliberately touching others so they could burn them. And there was the usual running around and screaming instead of listening. I think I'm going to be horribly cruel next week and line up chairs and make them sit, like in a regular choir rehearsal. That's what they'll get next year, anyway. If they're good, they may be allowed to use those chairs for musical chairs at the end of class, but otherwise, we may sit, since we have a song we'll need to sing in church the following Sunday. I just have six more sessions. We'll see if I survive.

Or if they survive. I'm re-reading Hogfather now because that's a "Susan as governess" book, with a fair amount of spoofing Mary Poppins, and I figure that's appropriate reading for backstage during Mary Poppins. I'm also getting ideas for dealing with kids, but I don't think I can get away with threatening to tie their elbows together behind their ears. These kids wouldn't even listen long enough to realize I was threatening them, and if they did, it would just give them ideas for what to do to each other. Incidentally, today is Terry Pratchett's birthday, according to my Facebook notifications. I think I have sent birthday greetings in the past, but it seems a little weird to do so now.

Today I hope to get back to writing, since I have an idea for something that should have happened in the last scene I wrote. And I need to figure out how this new thing I've figured out affects the overall plot. Then I will have my final rehearsal (yay!). I'm also going to run my errands today so I don't have to leave the house at all tomorrow.

Making it Through the Week

Oh dear, it's only Wednesday. This is going to be a long week. But I shouldn't have to leave the house or deal with people on Friday, so I'm hanging on.

But I am making progress this week. I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon writing, and new words, not revising. I also stumbled upon an idea that sent at least part of the story off in a new direction. Just imagine what I might be able to accomplish next week when I don't have to be at a rehearsal every night at 6:30.

And I got my first "review" on the upcoming steampunk book, as someone who got an advance copy tweeted about loving it -- and they tagged the publisher, which is nice. It's good that buzz is starting this far out from release. Let's just hope people don't forget before July.

I anticipate getting a lot less done today because I have children's choir, choir, and then whatever's left of musical rehearsal after choir, and I have to do a lesson plan for children's choir and practice some music for choir, and I'm just really tired and rather sleepy, so I'm cutting myself some slack. But it feels really great to be making forward progress again.

I must say that so far I seem to have found the right combination of time management techniques for me. I'm setting an appointment to write, which helps me get started, and then the "pomodoro" technique, somewhat modified, is also working. That's where you spend 25 minutes working on something, then 5 minute break, then another 25 minute work session, and after three blocks you get a half-hour break. There's another theory/study that apparently people get the most impact out of doing two 90-minute intense sessions of something like music practice or creative work, and that ties into this. The trick is that the five-minute break really has to be just five minutes (or less), only enough time to walk around a little, stretch, and refill the tea cup, and the work sessions have to be actual work time, not setting up the workspace, checking e-mail, etc. I'm not quite making it to the two 90-minute sessions because my afternoons are cut short, but I'm doing closer to one 90-minute session, then another hour-long session, and then maybe some thinking/plotting time. I did some of my plotting last night during a long stretch in the show rehearsal between scenes where I have to sing.

I look forward to seeing how much progress I can make next week when I don't have so much going on. I have so many things I want to get written, and to do that, I need to write.

Time for the Tinfoil Hat

I had a pretty productive day yesterday: yoga, grocery shopping, meeting my writing time quota (yay! First time in ages!), then youth musical rehearsal. Oh, and I actually cooked dinner and managed to make my bed before leaving for yoga in the morning. Today's shaping up to be as good, since I've already washed a load of sheets and just put in a load of towels and I've cleaned the bathtub. I should be able to manage some cleaning/organizing work before I get to writing in the afternoon.

I'm still in the rewriting/fixing phase of dealing with what I've already written, but that's involved deleting scenes, writing new scenes, and deleting chunks of scenes to write new scenes, so there's been new writing. I may make it to the end of what I have written today. Sort of, as there's one scene that I think may be moved to later in the book, but there will likely be about 20,000 new words written before I get there, so I'm not sure it counts. It may rain later today, but right now it's such a pretty day that I may put up the patio umbrella and work outside.

Something I forgot to mention in my discussion of the new Cinderella movie: I may need to get out the tinfoil hat again. Last year, as a kind of writing exercise I attempted to write a short story, and as is usual for me, it spiraled out of control until it no longer counted as "short," which meant the ending was terribly rushed because I realized it needed to stop, right away. Then I put it aside because I wasn't sure what to do with it. This story was something of a spinoff of the Cinderella story, showing what was happening to some other people who were at the ball. I have not shown this story to anyone, even my mom (I keep forgetting to send it to her). Well, there was a scene in the Cinderella story that isn't in any version of the fairy tale I've read and that wasn't in the Disney animated version that was very, very similar to a scene in my story -- the same setting, the characters are doing essentially the same thing. And there's a character in the Cinderella movie who's given a name here (after never getting one in most versions of the tale, including the animated movie), and that name is the same as I named the main character in my story.

When I finish the current book, I may take another look at my story. I'll need to change the character's name because I don't want to look like I was copying and I don't want to confuse people who might think it's the character from the movie and I'm writing fan fiction. I'll need to flesh it out a bit and rework the ending, but if I'm not worried about length, I may have a novella or novelette that I can self publish (where I'd make a lot more money than I'd make trying to sell to a magazine).

But first, the current book. However, this renewed interest in another project is a good sign because it means the creative part of my brain is waking up again. I also had a dream last night about writing a "gothic" type story -- one of those creepy old house with a mystery stories. I wish I could remember more of what the story was actually about. I just remember that somehow I ended up inside the story and knew it was the story I was working on.

Romantic Fantasy Movie Weekend

Spring break is over, so I'm back to my usual activities this week, plus more, because it's performance week for Mary Poppins, and that means I have to be at rehearsals every night. I'm already whimpering a little. But I started the week right with a yoga class, only that made me so relaxed that I want to go to sleep. But I can't because I'm determined to get some work done today. I do have my plumbing problems solved, which is nice. I have really hard water that tends to corrode metal, so my bathroom faucet was in bad shape and I had to wrestle it a bit to shut it off. It's so nice to just turn the handle. And the bathtub drain/plug assembly was a mess, but now I can properly plug the tub. I celebrated with a bath last night, since all the water stayed in the tub until I removed the plug. Luxury!

I saw the new version of Cinderella on Friday, and I really loved it. I always loved the animated movie, and this is to some extent just a remake because it mostly follows the same story beats, only there's a bit more depth to it. There's more getting into Cinderella's mindset of how she ended up in the situation she's in. They show the transition instead of cutting straight from happy family to her being a servant. It has a lot to do with the way that people who have a sense of responsibility and who try to be kind get taken advantage of by selfish people. Then there's a lot more substance to Cinderella's relationship with the prince, which is aided by the fact that the prince gets to be an actual character. It was charming and romantic, with gorgeous costumes, scenery and music and I'll be buying it on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

There is some meta amusement from the casting, with Agent Carter playing Cinderella's mother and teaching her valuable life lessons (though, sadly, none about punching people in the face), and we had an odd little Downton Abbey meets Game of Thrones mash-up, with Cinderella and one of her stepsisters being from Downton Abbey (in an upstairs/downstairs role reversal) and the prince and his buddy being from Game of Thrones. That led to an unintentionally funny bit when the prince -- played by the actor who played Robb Stark -- declares that he wants to marry for love rather than to fulfill a treaty, and you can't help but shudder and say "oh yeah, that's not gonna go well." You can just see the sequel writing itself, in which the princess he was supposed to marry invites him and his bride to attend a wedding.

If you're a fan of the animated version, stay all the way through the closing credits for some familiar songs (though it means sitting through the obligatory awful pop song first).

This weekend I also watched Stardust again, so I guess it was romantic fantasy film weekend. There was an article at tor.com about Ladyhawke that makes me want to rewatch that one, too. I just wish they'd do a "special edition" with a more appropriate score because the soundtrack just about ruins that movie.

Twitter Shyness

I have a plumber downstairs making interesting sounds. He's replacing the water supply valves under the kitchen sink, which were badly corroded by the nasty hard water here, to the point the guys installing the dishwasher weren't sure they could turn the valves enough to make the connection. In fact, most of the repairs needed today are caused by the extreme amount of lime in the water. It makes me wonder what it's doing to me on the inside. I don't really have a place to install a water softener here, but I wonder if the regular houses have them. That's something to look into.

After this repair, I'm down to minor things, though when I opened the blinds yesterday I found that I may need to replace a window because the seal in the double-paned windows seems to have broken, with condensation between the panes. Then I'll get the fun of seeing if I can get approved for a mortgage. Apparently that can be interesting/difficult for self-employed people. I'm hoping that the fact that I've already had a mortgage for the whole time I've been self-employed, will likely be sticking with the same company, and that company has been sending me letters suggesting I refinance with them will count for something. This would just be more or less refinancing while switching houses.

So, I've made it through the first week of my Twitter experiment. Results are very mixed as to whether there really is any bump from activity. I have all of 45 followers. I also seem to have a raging case of Twitter shyness, where I feel like something of a fangirl stalker if I follow people, and I feel like I'm trying to piggyback on their fame or ride their coattails if I do something like reply to them or retweet them. I know, I know, that's how this works. Being reserved doesn't get you anywhere in social media. The wacky thing is, some of these people I've actually met. I've been on convention panels with them. But I'm holding back, like I don't want to be the obnoxious "hey, remember me" person.

I probably need to make better use of hashtags for visibility that isn't capitalizing on other people's fame.

Or I could just hide out and actually write instead of stressing too much over all this stuff.

It sounds like there's some kind of cutting torch action going on downstairs. Must resist the urge to investigate. I wouldn't want to startle him while he has his head under the sink.

Stories Left Untold

My planned topic for today, whatever it was (and if I even had a plan other than a few random thoughts flitting around) vanished when I got on Twitter this morning, apparently just minutes after the official announcement of Terry Pratchett's death. It's not a huge surprise, as it's been known for a while that he had a form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. I just hadn't realized that the end was possibly so near. Although I do have some mutual friends and was a Facebook friend (because of the mutual friends, when I got on Facebook he popped up in the "people you might also know" thing, and I figured what the heck and sent a friend request, which was accepted), I never actually really interacted with him, so my main reaction is a sense of loss of the stories that will never be told.

In case you haven't read it (and you really should), the Discworld series is a vast, sprawling conglomeration of stories set in a particular world that's a lot like our own in many respects but that's also got all the elements we're used to seeing in fantasy stories -- dwarfs, trolls, vampires, werewolves, kings, dungeons, wizards, witches, etc. It's the kind of thing that manages to be both a brilliant satire and a good example of the thing it's satirizing, but the satire extends into the real world to mock our own institutions. And it's funny. Really, really, laugh-out-loud to the point of disturbing the neighbors funny. These are the kinds of books you have to re-read multiple times -- first time for the story, to find out what happens. Next time to pick up on all the satire and social commentary. Then later to catch all the little jokes you missed while reading for the story, characters and social commentary. I've found myself laughing out loud at a throwaway line I just noticed in a book I've read at least five times.

Within this same universe, there were several "series" focusing on a particular aspect or group of characters, though some characters crossed over into multiple stories. There were the Witches books, the Wizards books, the Guards books, the Death books (though Death appeared in other books), and what I suppose you could call the "technology" books (mostly starring semi-reformed former(?) con man Moist von Lipwig). I love Death as a character, but I probably was most invested in the Guards books, and I think that's where I'm feeling the loss because I got the sense that he was setting up something big and gradually heading toward it, and it looks like he didn't ever get there. So we won't know what will become of the young policeman who may actually be the long-lost king and who's starting to pull some pretty impressive strings behind the scenes, so far with only the best of intentions.

Though I suppose we did get one last story, as his Twitter feed announced his death in a way that fit with his books, with Death himself coming to take his arm and walk away with him into the night, with the final tweet being "the end." Here's the final story.

And now I think I'm getting a little weepy. Part of me suddenly wants to do a massive re-read, and part of me is afraid that might be a little too painful right now. Instead, I may just work on my own book because there are stories to be told.

Taking the Plunge

So, that 10-2 window for the plumber? He came after 5. And it was too late to do all the work I needed done. So now there's another appointment for (supposedly) first thing on Friday. This is probably not the best way to turn a new customer into a repeat customer.

Anyway, it's time for a writing post. This week, I had a question posed by a high school classmate: what do you do to get started once you've written a book? Taking the plunge into pursuing publication is probably scarier than looking at that blank page/screen to start writing a novel. The good news is that there may be more publication opportunities than ever before. That's also the bad news because it means you have to be even more knowledgable about the business than ever before in order to make good decisions.

The first thing you need to do is educate yourself about the business. There are whole categories of books at Amazon on publishing and the book business (the Writer's Market for the year is a good place to start). You can also find these books at a library. A lot of agents, editors and authors have blogs and Twitter accounts where you can get information.

Meanwhile, you need to educate yourself about the market and where your book might fit in. Are there any other books and authors out there that seem similar to yours in subject matter or tone, so that you think readers of these books might like yours? Visit a bookstore and browse to see what's out there. Do some Amazon searches and then follow the "people who bought this also bought these" rabbit trails. Take note of who the publishers are, how recently these books were published, how they're selling (the ranking ), number of reviews, etc. If you see a lot of books like yours, that could either mean this is a hot market or that it's a saturated market. If you see no books like yours, that could either mean there's no market or an untapped market. Your book could still sell, regardless, but it's good to know what's out there. Read the books you find and then take another look at yours to determine if it's really of publishable quality or if it needs more work.

Another way to educate yourself is to meet with other writers. Find a writing organization and attend meetings. Romance Writers of America and Mystery Writers of America allow unpublished members and tend to have local chapters with meetings. Many cities have writing groups. Attend a writing conference. There are some big ones sponsored by national organizations that focus on particular genres, and there are local and regional conferences that cover multiple genres. Many science fiction conventions include a writing workshop or have panels on writing and publishing. These can also be good networking opportunities, as publishing professionals often attend, and you may even be able to schedule a one-on-one session for pitching a project. An internet search will give you a lot of listings.

There are online communities, as well. Forums like the Absolute Write Water Cooler (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/) or Backspace (http://bksp.org/) give you a good place to meet online and learn about the business.

It does help to have done your research before you meet with other writers or publishing professionals. There's nothing more annoying than a new writer who just expects the more experienced people to present her with the keys to the universe when it's clear she's done absolutely no work on her own. Most of us remember the days -- years, even -- we spent reading books, going to conferences, etc., so we'd rather not spoon-feed others who expect to just be told everything they need to do. And never give a manuscript to an author, expecting feedback, unless you've been invited to do so.

Once you have some knowledge, you can make a decision about which path to publication you want to take. You can try submitting directly to a publisher, though fewer publishers these days are taking unagented submissions. This is more likely to work through smaller publishers (but research them carefully before you submit to make sure they're real publishers and not scams -- you should never have to pay money to a publisher). You can submit to agents, who will submit your work to major publishers. Or you can independently publish.

For more discussion on the differences between traditional publishing and independent publishing, look at a post I wrote last year on this topic: http://shanna-s.livejournal.com/2014/02/26/

My general recommendation is to at least try submitting traditionally first because it gives you a sense of where you fit in the market (are you being rejected for the quality of your work or because you don't fit a market niche?), it helps you build the thick skin you need to survive, and if you do sell a book this way, you can always decide to independently publish later, but you'll have that traditional publishing credential and more of an established audience that will help you stand out from the crowd. Don't think of independent publishing as any kind of shortcut. It's more like going into business, and you need to know even more about the industry than you do as an author going the traditional route.

Heroes and Villains

I am currently waiting on a plumber who is supposed to arrive between 10 and 2. This is one of the reasons I keep procrastinating dealing with this kind of thing or try to do it myself. I hate waiting during vague windows of time. But when this is over, I'll pretty much just be down to some minor repairs and some cleaning and my house will be ready to sell. Then the problem will be finding a new house. There was an article today about how there's a severe shortage of homes in my price range because they're only building more expensive homes. One reason there are few homes to buy is because there are few homes to buy -- people can't sell if they can't find a place to move to, so homes aren't going up for sale unless people are moving out or really moving up. I'm lucky to be in a position to be able to make a good down payment without having to sell my current house, so I guess I can afford to wait until I find something before I sell. And I guess I can keep saving money so maybe I can afford something more expensive.

Which means earning more. My Twitter experiment results were inconclusive. The Amazon ranking didn't improve with each tweet, as it seemed to do over the weekend, but it did rise at the end of the day. Maybe there's a slower tweet-to-sale correlation on a weekday? I do have a few more followers. I'll keep at it.

I also managed a big brainstorming session. The elements that were missing are falling into place, and I think the book can take off from here. I'm even starting to see the "movie" of this book in my head and imagine scenes I haven't written yet. Incidentally, this is why I don't have an Enchanted Inc. book 8 on the horizon. I know some general things that could potentially happen, but nothing that amounts to a plot, and the main thing is that I'm not seeing those characters doing anything. No scenes have come to mind, and I've tried. I've even tried picturing some "doing laundry" type scenes that aren't plot-specific, and nada. I guess they're still resting.

Meanwhile, I've started reading my way through the Nebula ballot, and while I did find one fun thing, the rest have been pretty bleak. I actually put a book down last night because I realized it was making me so miserable that I couldn't even put my "this really isn't my cup of tea" bias aside to judge it on any objective merits. One book I got through, but it was kind of like reading an entire book-length Facebook post by one of those people who thinks all other people suck and aren't nearly as smart or deep as she is, and who demonizes everyone who disagrees with her on the tiniest little thing and explodes it out of proportion.

I guess this sort of thing is considered "literary merit."

I'll just keep writing fun stories about good people fighting against bad people because it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to tear down my heroes to show that they're just as bad as the villains and call it "complexity."

And what's up with that, anyway? I've noticed that there's this weird moral equivalency thing they tend to do, especially on TV, where they try to show that the villains aren't so bad because the heroes are also bad. Except the way it comes across is that the heroes do one minor thing wrong, and they're declared to be just as bad as the villains. But the villains can do one good thing or have something bad happen to them, and they become a sainted martyr. It's like the villains can slaughter an entire village but save a puppy and have been given a mean look by a hero, and that changes the entire equation, so now they're heroes and victims. But the heroes can jaywalk and get angry at the villains who've murdered their entire families and see, they're just as bad as the villains are -- or worse!

Now, some of this is the way fans perceive it, as any "misunderstood" villain played by an attractive actor, particularly one who gets fun, snarky lines, is going to have a legion of fans prepared to excuse his every move and eager to give him all the love and cuddles he needs to heal his inner wounds, and this has nothing to do with the writing. It's been amusing watching J.K. Rowling's frustration with the way fans perceive Draco Malfoy. She's like "But he's a creep and a jerk! And look, there's Harry! He's good, and he's also played by a cute actor!"

But then there are the writers who also do this, which is why I'm in hate-watch mode with Once Upon a Time, where the writers are the ones making excuses for the villains, and they seem to have a huge blind spot about this. The villains do things like commit mass murder or destroy an entire society, but it's excused because something bad once happened to them, and it's all the heroes' fault, so really, the heroes are just as bad. But then we find out that the bad thing was something like telling a secret as a child, or exposing a lie, or refusing to trust someone who was being evil. Now they seem to be trying to actively tear down their good characters while the villains suffer nobly and are considered to be robbed because they aren't just being handed happy endings.

As a Christian, I believe in redemption, and I love a good redemption story. But a big part of redemption is acknowledging that you were wrong and repenting of that, which involves some degree of remorse for the pain you've caused. Redemption also doesn't erase the consequences of your past behavior. It just means you move forward. A redemption story can be very satisfying, but that sense of justice does need to be maintained. This whole "the heroes are just as bad!" thing is very unsatisfying to watch. I don't think a hero has to be perfect. Perfect people are boring. Good people can make mistakes. The difference between a hero and a villain is how they react to mistakes or the bad things in their lives. A hero will feel bad about it and try to atone while a villain will have no conscience or will try to justify it.

I just really don't get the love for bad people and hatred for good people, so I guess my writing will remain uncool.

Blowing Up Tom Cruise

I had a pretty good and productive weekend. Saturday I got my bedroom cleaned -- and I mean really cleaned, almost to hotel standards. There's still a little stuff visible because I live there, but there's nothing on the floor but furniture and little on top of the furniture other than the stuff that goes there. It's a room that could be photographed for a house listing with very little change. I have to give credit to the Pomodoro Method of time management -- set a timer for 25 minutes, work on the task for that time, then take a five minute break before starting another 25 minutes (the technique is named for a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato). I managed to get the room cleaned in three sessions. I think this helped because I either thought of it as overwhelming or I'd make a swipe at it and then get discouraged. It was easier to start knowing I had that time limit and knowing I had to keep at it for that long, and then I made enough progress I wanted to keep going. I've tried this before with writing and my rhythm didn't really fit with the 25 minutes, but then again it's probably good to at least get up and move every 25 minutes, so I may try it again. Like, today, since it's good rainy writing weather.

Meanwhile, I'm hardly tearing up Twitter, with only 27 people following me so far, but I have noticed that my Amazon ranking seems to jump each time I post something. I'm going to try some experiments today to test that.

I also managed to get in some entertainment this weekend. Saturday night I went to the spring production of the ballet ensemble associated with my ballet school (it's considered a "pre-professional" group -- these are the kids who stand a chance at a dance career, and I'm pretty sure that one of them is a real rising star). It was a number of shorter pieces, including a Balanchine work, but the one that I found utterly mesmerizing was a modern ballet (pointe and mostly classical technique, but in modern forms to modern music) choreographed by one of the teachers at the school.

Friday night, I watched Edge of Tomorrow on HBO OnDemand, and it was a fun science fiction war movie that you might consider Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers/Aliens. I didn't see it at the theater because I'm allergic to Tom Cruise (and this goes back to when I was a teen and he was supposedly a teen idol -- he's pretty much my physical type, but there's always been something about him that was offputting to me, mostly that he comes across as insincere and artificial), but it ended up being pretty good and quite satisfying for people who don't like Tom Cruise because he dies hundreds of times in this movie. It's kind of awesome.

Basically, there's been an alien invasion and the humans of earth have banded together in an all-out war to fight them off. Our boy Tom is a PR officer for the military. His job is to rally the public spirit, get people to enlist in the military and to get public support behind the war. There's been one big success fighting in France, and now they plan to follow that up with an invasion of France -- sort of D-Day, round two. Then the general tells him he'll be going in embedded with the troops so he call tell the story of the invasion. His response is essentially, "I don't do danger. PR, darling, PR." When he attempts to blackmail the general by saying he can ruin his reputation and then walks out, he finds himself arrested for desertion, tased when he tries to fight, and he wakes up on base with a sergeant screaming at him. And this is the Best Movie Ever. In spite of his protests that he isn't really a soldier and all this going in with the grunts is beneath him, he finds himself as part of the invasion (in the kind of mechanized suits that should have been in the movie version of Starship Troopers). It's a bloodbath. His squadmates are being slaughtered all around him. He even sees the woman who was the hero of the previous victory die. Then he gets killed, and it's a beautiful thing. Then he wakes up on base with a sergeant screaming at him. After doing this invasion thing a few hundred times, he's starting to get good at sidestepping the dangers and sometimes even saving people. When he saves the hero by warning her of something he knows will happen, she tells him to track her down when he wakes up. He does, an iteration or so later, and it turns out she's experienced what he's going through, she knows why it's happening, and she thinks they can use him to end the war.

This is where it gets fun. There's a training montage that's highly entertaining because when he screws up, gets tired or gets hurt too badly to keep going, she shoots him so he can reboot. They test their various plans by letting him try them, see what works, and then die and reboot. We don't necessarily see all the in-between stages because on the first time we see a sequence, he's already telling her what didn't work last time.

As someone who loves the Groundhog Day do-over trope and who has Aliens in my list of all-time favorite movies, I really ended up liking this movie. I loved the woman played by Emily Blunt. I'm not all that familiar with her outside Into the Woods and her and her husband's ongoing prank war with Jimmy Kimmel, who lives across the street, but her character here is in the Ripley mode. She is kind of the "Rambo in drag" flavor of "strong female character," but it's appropriate to the situation, and we can tell how she got that way. In fact, aside from one little bit (that I thought was unnecessary), it didn't really matter to the story that she was a woman. It was a character who happened to be played by a woman, and that's pretty cool.

Aside from the fact that much of the fun of the movie involved Tom Cruise dying horribly hundreds of times, I'd have to say that he was the weak link. It was fun to watch while I was watching it, but there was something missing. I did snark early in the movie when he was being a jerk that I bet he would be learning A Valuable Lesson. The problem was, I'm not sure he did. Yeah, he was a hero, saved the day, and all that, but his character arc was established at the beginning as someone who thought he was too good for combat. He was smugly superior to the grunts. But at the end of the day, he struck me as having really learned nothing. He was just smugly superior in a different way. The script even was structured as though to show he was learning something, like when he starts using his foreknowledge to save his fellow squadmates or when he uses things he's learned about them while repeating this same day to convince them of what's going on with them. I think that was supposed to show that he was starting to care about them and see them as people, but all we got was that usual Cruise smirkiness. The smug superiority was perfect for when he was in "PR, darling, PR, but I can't get my hands dirty" mode, but unfortunately I think that's his default, and he never managed to convey that he'd become one of the guys. I guess wanting more character depth in a movie that's basically about blowing up giant bugs and Tom Cruise is rather silly, but just a little more substance to his character, a trace of humanity, would have taken this movie up a level.

Bottom line: Even if you normally don't like Tom Cruise, make some popcorn and be ready to start counting deaths because this is in the same neighborhood as Aliens. Not quite as scary, not quite as deep, but it's a bughunt that plays games with time, which is something we don't get enough of.