Sarah Ettritch's Blog, page 5

My Writing Plans for 2016

Here we are at the start of a new year, and how time flies! It’s hard to believe it’s 2016. Remember the Y2K scare, when people were afraid that civilization as we know it would end at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000? Planes would fall out of the sky, the lights would go out, etc. It doesn’t feel all that long ago.

Anyhow, I usually kick off the year with a post about what I’ll write and release over the coming twelve months. Predictably, I’m doing the same thing this year.

The Daros Chronicles

I’ll release Daros Chronicles 6 in late April or early May. I had to put the chronicles aside while I finished working on Deiform Four, which is why there will be a longer than usual delay between the last installment and the next one. I’ll guesstimate that Daros 7 will arrive sometime in August/September.

When I announced Daros 5, I also asked whether I should continue to publish the Daros Chronicles as installments, or write Daros Volume 2 in one shot (which would contain what would have been Daros 8 and onwards). The vote is close, with the installments option having a slight lead. The survey is still open (someone just did it this week), so if you haven’t voted, you can still do so here. I’ll make my decision when I’ve finished Daros 7. In addition to the survey results, I’ll base my decision on what’s best for my schedule and a couple of other factors.

The Deiform Fellowship

Deiform Four will go to my editor on January 11. I expect to release it sometime in late February/early March (in eBook. Print will arrive in April or May). The working title is Scarred Souls.

I haven’t spoken about this book at all, so I might as well start doing so now. Deiform Four is longer than the first book, but shorter than the second and third books. It’s about a nun who confesses to committing three murders. However, Roberta believes the nun is innocent, so she sends Jillian and Sam to figure out what’s really going on.

In addition to the mystery, quite a bit of personal stuff takes place in this book. From the end of Deiform Three:

If Sam even suspected that Jillian liked her in that way, she’d tuck right back into her shell, and awkward wouldn’t begin to describe the air between them. Jillian would have to be patient. Patience. Always freaking patience.

In Deiform Four, Jillian’s patience runs out…

The Rymellan Series

I wish I could say that I’ll release another Rymellan story in 2016, but I won’t. I think I said in one of my new release announcement emails that I was considering it, and I did consider it. When I have my writer hat on, writing and releasing another story appeals. But when I have my publisher hat on, it doesn’t. Identity Crisis, the last Rymellan story I released, hasn’t sold as well as I would have liked. Given that, it doesn’t make sense for me to invest time and money into publishing another Rymellan story. That doesn’t mean there will never be another Rymellan story, though that could turn out to be the case. For now, it means that I won’t be releasing one in 2016.

Boxed Sets

I released a boxed set of Threaded Through Time late last year. You can now get Books One and Two as one eBook, and for a lower price than what you’d pay if you bought the books separately. Details here. Right now it’s only available at Amazon because I was toying with the idea of putting it into Amazon’s KDP Select program. I’ve decided not to do it, so I’ll be distributing the boxed set to the other bookstores soon.

Later this month, I’ll release a Deiform Fellowship boxed set that contains Deiform One, Two, and Three. I’ll let you know when it’s available.

New Work

Okay, so far I’ve said I’ll release Daros 6, 7, and potentially 8. I’ll also release Deiform Four. Those are the only works I’m committed to releasing in 2016, but I may release more.

I’d like to write a standalone science fiction story that’s been kicking around in my head for a while. I’ve done some up-front work on the story, so I’m pretty much ready to start writing it. I doubt I’ll finish it in time to release it in 2016, but you never know.

Apart from that, I don’t know. There will be a Deiform Five, but I won’t start to write it until later this year, and I’d guess (a really wild guess at this point) that it would come out in late 2017.

The Blog

What about this blog? I haven’t been posting every Friday for several months. I’ll continue to only post when I have something to say. Some months I might not post at all; other months I could post several times. It’ll depend on what’s going on in my writing life and the publishing world.

Happy New Year

I’m ready to get cracking on everything I’ve committed to for this year (and perhaps more). Happy New Year! I hope this year is a fabulous one for you. Talk to you soon.

My Writing Plans for 2016 is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Losing Weight, Facebook, and Writing

I usually kick off each year with a “what’s coming up with my writing” post, but I don’t think I’ve done a retrospective before. I thought I’d touch on a few areas that have stood out for me this year.

Writing

I didn’t release much this year. Looking back, I only released installments in the Daros Chronicles. I wrote more than that. I worked on Deiform Four and expect to release it in March. I completed several short stories, but I didn’t do anything with them. I fleshed out several story ideas, but I didn’t write them. I’m not sure why that was the case. Maybe I needed a break. I hope to write and release more next year, time permitting.

On the other hand, I spent a considerable amount of time studying the craft this year. I read books about story structure, storytelling, etc., and I took several writing-related courses. So maybe I was on a bit of a study sabbatical, too.

Facebook

Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that my Facebook newsfeed has become more divisive and offensive. A few issues have been polarizing people (guns, refugees, Donald Trump, etc.). On top of that, not a day goes by that I don’t see someone making some type of speech or proclamation about how others should think and behave (“if you think like this, if you believe that, if you disagree, unfriend me now”, etc.). It’s become tiresome. And seriously, who wants to surround themselves with “yes” people? There isn’t a single person on this earth who agrees with me 100% of the time. If someone constantly disagrees with me, sure, but if I were to throw everyone away who disagreed with me on one or two issues, including those I’m passionate about, I’d lose the chance to engage with and educate them (and, potentially, for them to educate me).

It doesn’t help that I often see posts from people I’m not friends with because they have their privacy setting set to “Friends, and friends of friends, can see my posts.” I’d like to say to them, “Listen, if we’re not friends, I probably don’t want to see your posts, but I often do because someone who’s friends with you and me commented on or liked them. What’s really annoying is that your posts can displace posts from people I do want to see. Please go into your privacy settings and change them so that your posts are shown to your friends only. Thank you.” What’s doubly annoying is that these people don’t give “friends of friends” permission to comment on their posts, so I’m seeing stuff I can’t respond to. Get it out of my newsfeed, already!

As far as my Facebook author page goes, I’m torn about whether to continue updating it or not. I’ve never really been consistent about it. I tend to update it in spurts. It doesn’t help that hardly anyone sees what I post because Facebook wants everyone to pay to run ads.

Those two things combined have me wondering where I want to go with Facebook. I’m not considering anything drastic like deleting my page and deactivating my account, but I may change the way I do things. I don’t want to stay off Facebook completely. I have relatives that I mainly stay in touch with through Facebook. Also, I belong to (and participate in) several groups that keep me up to date on topics I’m interested in.

What I might do is limit my time on Facebook to groups and the list of people I really want to see updates from. Not only will that clear my newsfeed of the toxic stuff, but it’ll cut down on the amount of time I spend on Facebook.

As for my page, posting to it does feel futile. I might stick to posting about new releases. I’ll see.

Health

When I look back at 2015, I’ll remember it as the year I lost almost 20 pounds. I’d never had to lose weight before. I was one of those annoying people who could eat anything and not gain a pound. But something changed. Over the past few years, my weight had climbed, and the rate accelerated early last year (2014). We went to a wedding that summer, and I was horrified by how I looked in the group photos. But not surprised. I knew I was gaining weight, and earlier this year, I knew I was carrying too much weight. I could feel it. I didn’t have to be psychic to know that if I didn’t do something about it, I was heading for health problems. But I didn’t do anything at the time.

I had all sorts of excuses for why I was helpless to change the situation. Here are some of them, with my now-more-wiser self weighing in.

I’m post-menopausal now. Most women put on weight after menopause. It’s natural. (sure, so how do you explain all the slim older women?)
Losing weight is difficult (um, how would you know? You’ve never really tried.)
My body obviously wants the extra weight. (oh, please. I’m not going to dignify that with a response)
There’s more to life than being thin. (yes, like being healthy and taking care of yourself so you can live life to the fullest!)

Last summer I tried exercising to a Richard Simmons video for a bit, but I gave up when I didn’t lose any weight. I now know that I only had half the equation. Unless you exercise a lot, and vigorously, it’s very difficult to lose weight through exercise alone. Eating habits have to change, too.

Anyway, one morning in early August, I stepped on the scale, looked at the number, and faced a crossroads. Either I was going to do something now, or I would continue to get fatter and face the health consequences. I decided to do something. But what? As I said, I’d never had to lose weight before.

I did some research. I considered what I thought would work best for me. I came up with a program, stuck to it, and lost 16 pounds over 2 and a half months. Specifically, I went from 146 to 130 pounds (my target weight). The BMI is a benchmark that’s fallen out of favour, but for interest’s sake, 146 pounds was halfway between overweight and obese for my height. Ouch. My goal weight, 130 pounds, was at the upper end of normal, but I’d always felt and looked good at 130. I’d been that weight for years before I started to pack on the pounds. So I decided to shoot for that.

Not me (I wish!), but how I felt every weekly weigh-in day, and how I feel now.

I hit my goal in late October. Since then, my weight has continued to drift downward because my eating habits have permanently changed. Half the battle is taking the weight off. The other half is keeping it off. When I was figuring out how to lose the weight, I knew I wanted to do it in a way that would make keeping it off easy and natural. I managed to do that. I’m 128 pounds right now and I’m letting my body drift down to where it’ll naturally stop losing weight, which will be the ideal weight for me.

What happened on that August morning that made me finally take action? When I stepped on the scale and saw 146, I think my mind immediately jumped to 150 pounds and I thought, “No fucking way. This stops. Today.”

I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it wasn’t excruciatingly hard, either. It helped that I had a supportive partner who cheered me on. I was also highly motivated, and whenever I was tempted to fall off the wagon (often!), I reminded myself that I was investing a few months of my life to reap a lifetime of benefits.

I’m glad I stuck with it. I feel great, I look great (weight-wise), and I’ll never let my weight get out of hand again. I weigh myself weekly. Weight naturally fluctuates from day to day, but if I ever see a consistent weight gain over a three-week period, I’ll put my foot down immediately. Never again.

If you’d like me to write a post about how exactly I lost the weight and the tips I’d offer anyone who’s considering doing the same thing, let me know. Leave a comment or email me at sarah@sarahettritch.com. It’s the best thing I’ve done this year, a wonderful gift to myself. Over the holidays I’ll have my treats, but I’ll also know when to stop.

On that note, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays!), and a Happy New Year. I’ll be back in early 2016 with my writing kickoff post.

Losing Weight, Facebook, and Writing is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

SF/F 99-cent Sale on Now!

Two items of interest today:

Science fiction author Patty Jansen has managed to herd a bunch of SF/F authors together for a promo sale. We’ve all set one of our books to 99 cents at Amazon. I’ve thrown Rymellan 1 into the mix. There’s a lot of variety, so if you’re an SF/F reader, you’re sure to find something to your taste. You can try out new authors for a low price. You can also subscribe to the promo mailing list, so you’ll be notified whenever a new promo is active. Check out the books here. The promo banner says December 5-6, but most authors have already set their books to 0.99.

Also, today I’m a guest on mystery author Rebecca Bradley’s blog, talking about my first draft process. Drop by and check it out. I’ve love to hear from you in the comment section.

Have a great weekend!

SF/F 99-cent Sale on Now! is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Print vs. Ebook

I’m guest posting over at Canadian Lesfic today. I’m still an admin there, but I took myself out of the Friday posting rotation because I was pressed for time and had to drop a few things. But that doesn’t mean I’ll never post, and today I’m up.

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know I prefer to read print books, but I read some non-fiction in digital format. I expand on that in my post.

That Religious Argument: Print, or E-book?

Enjoy your weekend!  

Print vs. Ebook is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Daros Chronicles 5 (Friend or Foe) is Out

Daros Chronicles 5 (Friend or Foe) is now available. Avere catches up with Erryn. Fi runs into trouble. Lots of action.

Buy links here: Friend or Foe  (at this time, the book is still in review at kobo and Barnes & Noble).

When I sent out the announcement to my New Releases list, I asked a question about how I should proceed with the Daros Chronicles. We’re nearing the end of 2015, and I’ve been thinking ahead about what I’ll write next year. Of course, I’ll continue to write the Daros Chronicles, but I’m considering a change.

If you were an early reader of the Rymellan Series, you’ll know that I wrote it in installments. At certain logical points in the story, I’d publish a set of installments in print and eBook (installments 1-8 ended up in Rymellan 1, 9-13 in Rymellan 2, and 14-18 in Rymellan 3).

I intend to do the same with the Daros Chronicles. The story will take two volumes to tell. At this point, I’m pretty certain that installments 1-7 will go into volume one. The eighth installment will kick off volume two.

The question is: should I write volume two in installments, or should I write it in one shot? If I continue to write in installments, there will be a Daros Chronicles 8, 9, 10, etc. If I write it in one shot, there will only be a Daros Chronicles Volume Two. I won’t publish any more installments after Daros Chronicles 7. Of course, that means there will be a wait between the end of the seventh installment and the release of the second volume (probably around 18 months to two years, but I’m guessing at that. It could be longer; it could be shorter).

I’d like to know what you prefer, so I’ve created a survey. To let me know what you’d like to happen, just click on the link and answer two multiple-choice questions. Your answers won’t be tied to your email address or anything like that.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P3M98FV

Alternatively, you can let me know by adding a comment to this blog post, or contacting me via the contact page.

Deiform Four

Now that Daros 5 is out, I’ll be focusing solely on Deiform Four until it’s ready to go to my editor in January. I won’t start Daros 6 until the New Year, and I expect to release it around the end of April. That’s a longer wait between installments than usual, but I need to finish off Deiform Four.

Have a great weekend!  

Daros Chronicles 5 (Friend or Foe) is Out is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

When Being Gay or Lesbian Wasn’t Fashionable

It’s Remembrance Day in Canada, an opportunity for us to remember those who fought and died for our freedom and to thank those who serve today.

A much younger me. If you look closely, you’ll see an earring in one ear. Quite daring for that time period.

On Remembrance Day, I also remember coming out to my parents 33 years ago. In 1982, it wasn’t politically correct to support gays and lesbians. It wasn’t easy to do so, like it is today. In 1982, same sex marriage wasn’t talked about because nobody could imagine it. Nobody would have believed that it would become a reality in Canada a mere 23 years later. The thought that I’d be able to marry a woman one day never crossed my mind. Hell, just coming out was a huge deal that carried huge risks.

In 1986, I served as the lesbian co-coordinator of Concordia University’s gay and lesbian group. I heard many heartbreaking stories about lesbians and gays being shunned by their families. One gay man was thrown out of his house on Christmas Eve, in his pyjamas and in bare feet. If you’re familiar with Montreal winter weather, you’ll understand how badly that could have ended for him. Fortunately a friend lived not too far away.

I was lucky. My parents were supportive, beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks to them, I was able to live as my true self, knowing that I was loved and accepted by the people who mattered to me the most.

Rant Alert

At the time, my mother was a practicing Christian (she still believes, but she’s moved away from the church). It irritates me when I see people on Facebook and other social hangouts tarring all Christians with the homophobic label. Nothing could be further from the truth. My mother embraced a lesbian daughter at a time when few would.

Many of the people who lump all Christians into one group would not have reacted like my mother did back in 1982. They would have told me it was a phase. They would have taken me to a therapist. They would have said they were disappointed with me. Maybe they would have kicked me out. They wouldn’t have said what my mother said: “If that’s who you are, then that’s who you are. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that counts.”

Lumping all Christians into one group is the same as tarring all gays and lesbians as sinners and promiscuous people. In 1982, it was acceptable to spout bullshit about gays and lesbians. In 2015, it’s acceptable to spout bullshit about all Christians being homophobic (or something else). I find it doubly disappointing when I see gays and lesbians do it. We know what it feels like. We should know better.

End of Rant

As I said, it’s easy now to support gay and lesbian rights. Back in 1982, you were on the fringe. My mother was on the fringe. She stood up for her lesbian daughter. She did so to her friends’ faces. She did so at church.

Quebec was the first province to include sexual orientation in its charter of rights (it did so in 1977). My father brought home a copy of the charter and stuck it to our fridge. In 1982, that was a pretty damn cool thing to do.

Thanks, Mom and Dad. You gave me the greatest gift any parent can give to a child: you let me be myself.

When Being Gay or Lesbian Wasn’t Fashionable is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Would I Invite Casey, Emily, Gran, Barb, and Rachel for Dinner?

Today I answer the question, “Would I invite the characters from The Missing Comatose Woman and Like Water and Water over for dinner?”

The Missing Comatose Woman is a cozy mystery featuring lesbian PI Casey Cook, who lives with her grandmother (Gran). You’ll have to read the book to find out who Emily is. Like Water and Water is a lesbian romance novelette. It’s a little over 10,000 words.

Have a great weekend!

Would I Invite Casey, Emily, Gran, Barb, and Rachel for Dinner? is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Visiting Hoggs and Eugenia Falls

Not much to say today, so I thought I’d share a few photos of two waterfalls we visited last weekend. Before I do, yesterday Smashwords announced a new distribution deal with Gardners Books, the UK’s largest book wholesaler. I’ll spare you the details, but it means that my ebooks will be available at all the stores Gardners supplies, and at 2000 UK libraries. If you’re in the UK and Gardners distributes to your local library, you’ll be able to get my ebooks that way.

My books are already available from Overdrive to US and Canadian libraries. If your library doesn’t have a book you want and it uses Overdrive, you can put in a request.

Okay, on to waterfalls. It’s fall here now. The fall colours are late this year, but that didn’t stop us from visiting two waterfalls that are within a couple of hours’ drive of Toronto. Jen loves waterfalls. She wants to see every waterfall in Ontario.

Hoggs Falls

Our first stop was Hoggs Falls. As you can see from the photo, it’s not a waterfall on the scale of Niagara, but a pretty waterfall, nonetheless. We took a few photos of each other right near the falls, and then a woman offered to take a photo of us together, which was nice of her.

Sarah and Jen at Hoggs Falls

 

I took the next photo because it reminded me of Skyrim (the game). I hate to admit to this, but often when I’m out in the wilderness, I can’t help but think of game scenery. I often say to Jen that whatever we’re looking at reminds me of this or that game. She visited another waterfall with a friend during the week, and when she was telling me about it, she said, “You would have liked this particular lookout. It would have reminded you of one of your games.”

Does it remind anyone else of Skyrim, or is it just me?

 

Eugenia Falls

Eugenia Falls is within a five-minute drive of Hoggs Falls. Because of the steep cliff, you can’t get very close to them, as you can with Hoggs Falls. But the top of the falls is accessible. You aren’t supposed to stand right in the water; there’s a stone wall blocking part of the way. When it ends, a metal fence is supposed to block access, but it had been trampled down. In the photo, you can see people right at the top of the falls. According to the information near the falls, they used to be more spectacular (meaning there was a lot more water), but the water has been diverted for energy generation.

Eugenia Falls

 

Enjoy your weekend!  

Visiting Hoggs and Eugenia Falls is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Bouchercon 2015, A New Look, and Other News

A news grab bag today.

The Atheist at Bouchercon 2015

Bouchercon is the huge annual world mystery convention, and it’s in full swing right now. I’m thrilled to say that every attendee will receive a copy of The Atheist, thanks to Smashwords. The Bouchercon registration bag contains a thumb drive that contains over 400 books from 250 Smashwords authors.

It’s great that at least one book on the thumb drive has a lesbian main character, and I’m pleased that Smashwords accepted my off-beat mystery with a supernatural/paranormal/urban fantasy vibe for the drive.

I can’t give you all the books on the drive, but I can give you mine. Until October 11, when Bouchercon ends, you can pick up The Atheist at Smashwords for free using coupon code SS76V at checkout. Grab it here.

A New Look

If you’re reading this at my website, you’ll notice that things look rather different. I’ve switched up the theme to a very mobile-friendly, modern one that uses HTML5 (for the geeks among you). You’ll notice cool stuff like the navigation bars remaining visible as you scroll down a page (desktop only; you won’t see this on a mobile device due to the different layout).

One of the biggest changes is the absence of a sidebar. If you’re wondering where the WIP section went, I’ve temporarily moved it to the About page. I say temporarily because I’ll probably move it to the homepage when a WIP plugin I want is released toward the end of this month.

I didn’t know this, but according to surveys, the second most common reason that readers visit an author’s website is to find out when their next book is coming out and what they’re working on. When the plugin becomes available, I’ll see how the WIP section looks on the homepage. If it doesn’t look all that great, I might put it on its own page. I’ll see.

If you’re wondering where I am in the photo that’s now on the homepage, I’m at Killarney Park.

I expect to make more changes to the site in the coming months, but not to the theme. If there’s anything you hate about the new look, please let me know.

WIPs

Speaking about works-in-progress, I’m currently waiting for beta feedback on Daros 5, which I haven’t titled yet. Then I’ll do a final round of editing. My editor will start working on it on November 2.

While I’ve been working on Daros 5, Deiform Four has been in a holding pattern. I’ll pick it up again on Monday and start my first round of editing.

Rymellan 1 is free

A couple of months ago (I think; time flies), I said that I was giving away Rymellan 1 for free to those who signed up for my new releases list, for a limited time. That temporary time period had now ended. I also said that I was considering giving it away at the bookstores, and I’ve gone ahead and done that. You can pick up Rymellan 1 for free at Smashwords, kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Google Play. Bookstore links are here.

How about Amazon? Well, I’d like it to be free at Amazon, but Amazon doesn’t allow me to set it to free. I have to hope that it price matches. It hasn’t yet. I’ll give it a couple of weeks and then write to support and ask them to do it, but they don’t always agree to do it. It’s a fickle process. It would be so much easier if Amazon just let us set a book to free, like all the other bookstores do.

That’s it for this week. Happy Thanksgiving to Canadians!  

Bouchercon 2015, A New Look, and Other News is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

TIFF 2015 Roundup

As usual, we went to five movies at the film fest this year. I’m posting this on Sunday because we saw our last movie yesterday, and I didn’t want to wait until this coming Friday, when it would feel like old news.

Here’s what we saw:

Ninth Floor

This was a documentary about an occupation that took place at Sir George Williams University in Montreal. I wanted to see it because I attended Concordia University, which was formed from the merger of Sir George Williams and Loyola College. In 1969, black students accused a biology professor of racism. When the university dragged its feet about doing anything, the students and their supporters took over the computer centre, which was on the ninth floor of the main university building (the same building where I took all my classes), for 14 days. At one point, they thought the university had capitulated to their demands. When they found out that wasn’t true, frustrations boiled over and they started to throw all the computer paper out the window (remember, back then, there were no PCs or anything like that. We’re talking huge mainframe computers). The riot squad was called. It removed the students and many ended up in prison.

When the riot squad reached the computer room, it went up in flames. The squad had cut off the usual exit. There was another exit, but it was locked from the other side. The students were trapped—in a roaring fire. Fortunately someone unlocked the other door. What’s chilling is that the students interviewed for the documentary all said that it wouldn’t have made sense for any of them to have started the fire, because they would have known they’d be trapped. They’ve always suspected that one of the riot police did it. As one student said, all it would have taken was a flick of a lit cigarette.

Even though I attended Concordia, I hadn’t heard about this story. It’s buried. There isn’t a monument or a plaque or anything like that in the university. There should be, because the protest led to changes at Sir George that benefitted everyone who attended it (and Concordia) later on. One interesting tidbit: at the time, some McGill students staged a sit-in in solidarity. One of those students was Anne Cools, a former senator. She was at the screening and spoke afterward, along with several of the students.

Recommended.

Freeheld

This was a movie based on a documentary. It’s about Laurel Hester’s fight to assign her pension to her partner, Stacie Andree. When Hester was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, she wanted her pension to go to her partner, so that Andree could afford to live in the house they’d renovated together. At the time, counties in New Jersey could assign benefits to those in domestic partnerships (which Hester and Andree were) at their discretion, but the freeholders (five men who could make it happen) refused to assign the benefits. Protests followed, and eventually they relented and Andre received Hester’s pension.

It was an interesting movie, but it fell a bit flat for both me and Jen. What I’m going to say applies only to the movie. It has nothing to do with the real Hester and Andree. First, the lesbian relationship was idealized. On our way out of the theatre, I said to Jen, “I’m surprised we didn’t see them running through a field of flowers holding hands, their hair blowing in the wind.” Jen’s problem, and I concurred, was that there was absolutely no chemistry between the two actors (Ellen Page and Julianne Moore), and you got no sense from the movie as to why the two women would be together. You see them on their first date, which doesn’t seem to be going well until they kiss, which I guess was supposed to solve everything. Then you see tension because Hester, who was a cop, was firmly in the closet and didn’t want Andree to answer her phone. Then you see them having a conversation about wanting a house and a dog. Then the movie skips forward a year and they’re buying and renovating their house. There was no depth. Because neither of us saw a real relationship there, any emotion the movie hoped to evoke didn’t happen. Also, we found out after the movie that they’d been together for five years when Hester was diagnosed. That didn’t come across in the movie.

There was also a comic-relief character: a gay man who led some type of LGBT rights group and organized protests. His character was way over the top, didn’t fit with the tone of the movie, and, as usual, the movie started to focus on the men in the film (Hester’s partner and this guy), rather than on Hester and Andree.

I watched the documentary after I saw the movie. It’s short (about 35mins), but much more powerful. It focuses solely on what happened after Hester was diagnosed (obviously; there wasn’t a story there before it happened and they decided to fight for Hester’s pension to be assigned to Andree). I’d recommend seeing the documentary over the film. I’m not sure why the film had to be made. Some of the scenes in it were exact replicates of scenes in the documentary. Why see it with actors when you can see the actual people?

Also, the movie changed a few key facts. The most blatant difference was that all of Hester’s police colleagues, save her partner, were portrayed as homophobic in the movie. In reality, they all supported her from day one.

I’d only see the movie if you’re a huge fan of Page or Moore. Otherwise, see the documentary.

Spotlight

This was also based on a true story. It was about the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and the fact that the bishop knew about it and merely moved priests to other parishes. It was quite long, but it held my attention throughout. This was Jen’s favourite movie. I don’t have much to say about it, but don’t take that to mean that it wasn’t all that great. It didn’t wow me, but as I said, it was interesting and held my attention.

Recommended.

Sherpa

This was a documentary that originally intended to follow a Sherpa (Phurba Tashi) as he climbed Mount Everest, as part of assisting a group of foreigners, of course. If he made it to the summit, he’d set a world record (summited 22 times!). The director was at the screening, and she explained that she made the movie because Sherpas are ignored in most Everest films. The focus is always on the foreign climbers.

Jen and I enjoy watching Everest and K2 films. We don’t know why. We have no interest in mountain climbing. I’ve never been able to figure out whether I watch because I admire the climbers’ stamina and determination, or I think they’re idiots. Probably a bit of both. I do think it’s a bit of a waste. I don’t know why people are compelled to risk their lives to accomplish something that essentially does nothing for society or anyone else, but hey, their time, their money, their lives. I’m not thrilled with all the garbage on the mountain, though, and because of tour companies, climbing Everest ain’t what it used to be. In the movie, there was one scene where the Sherpas delivered tea and hot towels in the morning to the climbers in their group. Yeah, that’s roughing it.

Anyway, I said that the documentary originally intended to follow the Sherpa. This was during the 2014 climbing season, when an avalanche hit and killed 16 Sherpas. Because of that, the movie actually captured a political event and turned into a political movie. After the tragedy, the Sherpas demanded better wages, respect, etc. They also didn’t want to continue the climbing season. They believed it would disrespect those who had died. Most of the foreigners, as the Sherpas called them, wanted to climb. Of course, they can’t do it without the Sherpas. But they get all the glory.

The Khumbu icefall is the most treacherous part of Mount Everest because it’s constantly shifting, and blocks of ice can break off from above at any time. That’s where the 16 Sherpas were killed. In order for a foreign climbing group to summit, several camps are established on the mountain (base camp being the most well-known). Someone has to carry all the equipment up to the other camps. It isn’t the foreigners. They usually only have to traverse the icefall twice (up and down). The Sherpas have to traverse it anywhere from 20 to 30 times, each time carrying a heavy load of equipment on their backs as they walk across ladders perilously balanced over deep ice crevices. They get little in return. Everyone who has summited the mountain owes that accomplishment to the Sherpas.

Recommended.

Equals

This is a science fiction movie about a society in which emotion has been banished (you learn how in the movie). In fact, if someone shows emotion, they are diagnosed with a disease called SOS (Switched On Syndrome). If they reach stage 4, they’re taken to the Den, where they’re given electroshock treatments. Most commit suicide. There are a lot of suicides in that society. They’re not allowed to touch another person. Anyone caught having sex is a “coupler” and is immediately taken to the Den. They reproduce by inseminating women.

The main protagonist (Silas) comes down with stage 1 SOS. He suspects that a co-worker also has SOS, but she’s hiding it (they call people who are hiding their SOS “hiders”). They begin a relationship. They fall in love. They decide to escape the collective (to a peninsula referenced early in the movie). Of course, they run into problems.

As I watched the movie, I realized that this society actually exists. We live in it. It exists for gays and lesbians. Think about it. Something that is perfectly natural is seen as abnormal. Those exhibiting signs of it are thought to be ill. In some cases, they’re sent off somewhere to be cured. In western society, the collective (i.e. straight people) are coming around, but there are still many who see homosexuality as something that should be quashed. In other parts of the world, the hell portrayed in this movie still exists, in all its glory, for gays and lesbians.

The straight people in the audience probably wouldn’t have this insight, because they’re part of the collective. It demonstrates, once again, how film and literature is in the eye of the beholder. Every person views a film and reads a book through her worldview, her experiences, her lens. It’s why, as a writer, I don’t pay much attention to reviews. I appreciate them, because they’re a form of social proof that helps to sell books. But each review is always, always, always one person’s opinion. Often writers will say that a review didn’t seem to be about their book, and that’s because the reviewer’s experiences/worldview heavily affected their interpretation of the story and took them to places the writer didn’t anticipate.

Sociological science fiction is my favourite SF subgenre, so I wanted to see this movie. Jen wasn’t so keen. To decide what we’ll see at the fest, we independently look through the movie schedule and list what we really want to see, and what we’d like to see. Then we compare lists and see what movies we have in common. This year, a whole bunch of movies we had in common were scheduled for the same day. We couldn’t fit all of them in, so we had to resort to stuff we didn’t have in common. This was one of those movies.

Jen really liked it. It was her second-favourite movie (after Spotlight), which is saying something. After the movie, I realized there was one obvious plot hole and one subtle one, but that didn’t change my mind about the movie. It was my favourite movie this year. The producers signed a distribution deal at the fest, so it’ll be in theatres.

Recommended.

That’s it for this year. We’re not sure if we’ll go again next year. The tickets are expensive, and unlike in previous years, actors don’t stick around for second showings. If you don’t pay megabucks for the gala, you’re out of luck, and that raises the question of why we’re paying a premium for movie tickets. But we’ll see how we feel about it come July 2016, when packages for TIFF 41 go on sale.

TIFF 2015 Roundup is a post from: Sarah Ettritch