Phil Giunta's Blog, page 61
August 9, 2016
From Star Trek to Stranger Things
Two weeks ago, I was off from work on a Tuesday to deal with some personal matters. To take the edge off, I decided to pop over to the local Carmike Cinemas and catch a matinee of Star Trek: Beyond.
I was not terribly fond of J.J. Abrams’s 2009 reboot. Further, I absolutely abhorred its sequel Into Darkness and among my circle of friends, I was not alone in that sentiment. When early reviews for Star Trek: Beyond were surprisingly effusive from those very same friends, I thought I’d give it a chance—and I’m glad I did.
Finally, they got it right.
Star Trek: Beyond, while not perfect, is a grand adventure that allows generous screen time to each cast member. The story was well-written, although it’s another variation of “we have met the enemy, and he is us” that seems to plague Starfleet in some of the previous films such as Undiscovered Country, Insurrection, and the aforementioned Into Darkness. I won’t give away spoilers, but you’ll understand if you see it.
The pacing, action, and humor were impeccable and the tribute to Leonard Nimoy and the original cast was a fine touch. Even if the last two films didn’t do it for you, I recommend Star Trek: Beyond. As both a writer and a loyal Star Trek fan, collector, and convention attendee since the late 70s, I actually walked away from this film feeling buoyant, as if the weight of my recent personal stresses had been lifted, if only temporarily.
After that, things got weird…or should I say strange. Last week, my wife learned about the new eight-episode Netflix mini-series, Stranger Things. I hadn’t heard one peep about it until we sat down to watch it and I was instantly hooked by this atmospheric science fiction thriller.
It’s 1983 in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Led by Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), the Department of Energy conducts mind experiments on an 11-year-old girl named, appropriately, Eleven (deftly portrayed by Millie Brown). At the same time, Will Byers, a boy of similar age, goes missing. His frantic mother (Winona Ryder) and older brother (Charlie Heaton) are convinced that Will is alive, but their search leads them to bizarre and horrifying territory.
The two plots intersect in a story that channels everything from The Twilight Zone to E.T. to The Goonies.
Although much darker, Stranger Things is comprised of many of the same tropes and story elements as J.J. Abrams’s Super 8 (which I thoroughly enjoyed). Both focus on the adventures of a group of pre-teen boys and one girl, frantic parents, an alien creature, and a secret government project.
Stranger Things is not only privileged with brilliant casting, but the 80s styles, music, and pop culture references were crafted with a respectful nostalgia for the time period in which I grew up. I look forward to season two!
Book Review: Mr. Monk Helps Himself
Life has changed for Natalie Teeger. After leaving San Francisco months ago to work as a temporary police officer in Summit, New Jersey, Natalie’s career in law enforcement has advanced beyond the role of mere assistant to renowned detective Adrian Monk.
Upon returning to San Francisco, Natalie sets her sights on passing the P.I. exam and becoming Monk’s partner. As a first step in that direction, she begins calling him Adrian instead of Mr. Monk. This does not sit well with the obsessive-compulsive detective who hates change.
If there’s one thing that Monk hates more than change, it’s clowns. When part-time clown Dudley Smith—aka J.P. Tatters—dies after handling cash coated in poison, SFPD Captain Leland Stottlemeyer calls Monk in to consult.
Meanwhile, to help bolster her confidence and reduce her stress before taking the P.I. exam, Natalie turns to celebrated self-help guru Miranda Bigley, creator of the Best Possible Me program. Along with Monk’s new girlfriend Ellen, Natalie visits Miranda’s campus known as the Sanctuary. There, Miranda and her husband Damien teach several workshops including yoga, meditation, and self-affirmation.
On the day that Monk turns up at the Sanctuary to dissuade Natalie from joining this “cult”, Miranda Bigley leaps to her death in front of dozens of witnesses. It isn’t long before Natalie suspects that Miranda might actually have been murdered, but she is unable to enlist Monk’s help since he reluctantly agreed to assist Stottlemeyer track down the clown’s killer. Thus, Natalie recruits Ellen to infiltrate the Sanctuary in search of the truth surrounding Miranda’s death.
This is the first MONK novel written by Hy Conrad, who not only took over from the fabulous Lee Goldberg, but also wrote for the TV series. I missed the final two installments penned by Goldberg, but Conrad does an admirable job of filling in background details. In my humble opinion, this is not the best of the MONK novels, but I’ll give Conrad kudos for his first try. He maintains crisp pacing throughout the story and, with few exceptions, the same humorous banter between the characters as seen in the TV series. Even though all of the MONK novels are told from Natalie’s first-person POV, Mr. Monk Helps Himself is focused far more on her than on Monk, which might turn off some readers.
August 2, 2016
River Reads Book Festival
Join over two dozen of your favorite local authors for readings and book signings at the River Reads Book Festival at Prallsville, Mill in Stockton, NJ on Sunday, October 23 from 10AM to 4PM.
The festival will feature a day of readings and author signings from a variety of authors from the Delaware River Valley. In addition to myself, the current list of participating authors include Brandi Megan Granett (event organizer), Kathryn Craft, Donna Galanti, Jack Hillman, Kerry Gans, Phil Giunta, Kelly Simmons, Mary Shafer, Heather Webb, Kate Moretti, Nicole Loughan, Dylann Rhea, Marie C. Collins, Karen Hodges Miller, Nomi Eve, Caron Kamps Widden, Ethel Rackin, Karen Katchur, Kit Grindstaff, Casey Caracciolo, Richard Ziegler, Sandra Carey Cody, Curt Herr, Kim Kurki, and Kate Gallison.
And click here to read the article on NJ.com!
Hope to see you there!
August 1, 2016
Full List of 2016 Rehoboth Reads Short Story Contest Winners!
The official list of winners in the 2016 Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story contest has been posted to the Cat and Mouse Press website. Click here to see the full list and learn more about the upcoming anthology!
Second Place in Rehoboth Beach Short Story Contest!
I received a phone call from Nancy Sakaduski, editor at Cat and Mouse Press , and organizer of the annual Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story contest . In May, I had submitted a story that focused on a WWII veteran, his granddaughter, and the fire control towers built by the US Army along the Delaware Coast during WWII to protect the bay from German incursion.
Nancy called to tell me that my story, “Tower 16”, not only won a place in this year’s anthology, but that it took SECOND PLACE, which earns me $250 in addition to publication in their 2016 anthology, Beach Nights (see cover below)! Thank you so much, Nancy!
According to the info on the Cat and Mouse Press website, the official list of winners (about 20+ stories to be published, of which the top three collect cash prizes) have been, or are in the process of being, contacted and I imagine there will be an official announcement on their website and Facebook page soon.
This was wonderful news in and of itself, but for me personally it also provides one more connection to a town that I’ve come to consider my second home. My wife and I were married in Rehoboth Beach, we’ve vacationed there for the past several summers with wonderful friends, and some of my books are on the shelves at Browseabout Books , Rehoboth’s most popular indie bookshop.
Special thanks to writer and editor pal Ramona DeFelice Long for reminding me about the contest at the Write Stuff conference in April. I had wanted to submit something for the past two years, but was always busy. You know what they say, everything happens when it’s supposed to!
Stay tuned for more news on this!
Battle of the Books!
Sponsored by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group , Battle of the Books is a friendly competition among three published authors who read two-minute excerpts from their novels based on categories such as opening scene, introducing a character, action, setting the scene, closing scene, etc. Audience members vote for their favorite read in each category.
Fellow participants include Christopher Ochs and Kathy Kulig.
Moderator: Dianna Sinovic
Timekeeper & Quizmaster: Dawn Sooy
Backup Reader: John Evans
July 29, 2016
Blogging, Sanity, and Social Misery…er…Media
Goodreads is kind enough to send a weekly email alerting me to recent blog posts from some of my writer friends. With my project load and generally frenetic schedule for the past four to five months, it’s been a struggle to maintain my own blog, let alone keep up with everyone else’s.
However, today I took the time to read the latest three posts from Kristen Lamb on her Warrior Writers blog. The first one caught my attention because it’s something that’s been on my mind for more than a few years: Is Facebook Dying? What’s Killing It? In her analysis, Kristen posits that when social media was new, it was FUN and people enjoyed connecting with one another. Further, most people maintained a friendly rapport, but then we became comfortable with this novel method for connecting (and in many cases reuniting) with others.
We all know that it doesn’t take much to ruin a good thing, and if the human race excels at one specific skill, it’s destroying almost everything we touch. Additionally, it only takes a few to ruin it for the majority.
Spend a just minutes on any social media platform and you’ll see what I mean—posts and comments replete with hatred, racism, threats, abuse, derisiveness, and good ol’ fashioned ignorance—especially during election years and most especially during this one. As the old adage goes, there ain’t nothing new under the sun. Humanity has always found a way to quickly turn every method of communication ever invented into a shit show.
In the case of social media, just as it was in the case of bulletin boards back in the 90’s, it’s easy to talk trash when you’re sitting at a keyboard, using your favorite movie, TV, or comic book character as an avatar and posting under a fictitious name.
With anonymity comes ersatz courage.
Here’s an episode from Harlan Ellison’s Watching from the early days of the Sci-Fi channel, when they actually knew how to spell “Sci Fi”. In this segment, Harlan discusses the appalling behavior of computer bulletin board users (remember those days?). Ignore the inane vampire novel ad in the middle of the episode.
Just goes to show, this behavior ain’t new, folks! Technology may change, but human behavior is a constant. Today, people continue their proud displays of disgusting ignorance on Facebook and Twitter (and other social media sites that I do not frequent and probably never will) with increasing fervor.
Kristen compares this adolescent stage of social media to the petulant and volatile demeanor of teenagers, something I’ve often pondered, considering how even allegedly mature adults conduct themselves like juvenile-goddamn-delinquents!
The question is, will social media ever mature beyond this? Probably not, and honestly, I don’t have time or patience for it.
Kristen concludes her post with a theory that Pokemon Go might actually be the next level of social media, and one that could kill Facebook—or at least deliver it a solid punch in the gut. One cannot argue that Pokemon Go is drawing people out of their houses and into the wild. It’s forcing people to interact face-to-face (y’all remember how to do that, right?), providing physical activity, and returning “social” to its original definition.
Now, I’m a child of the 70s and 80s. I don’t need an online game to get me outdoors. I love the outdoors. I love walking, I love fishing, I love the beach, I love state parks. Get me outside as often as possible! However, if Pokemon Go is what inspires the troglodytes to vacate their caves for a few hours, then I’m all for it because most people have a tendency to mind their manners when face-to-face than when face-to-screen.
Kristen follows up her post about the imminent demise of Facebook with Breaking Facebook Dependence–How to Create an Enduring Author Brand. In summary, Kristen explains that social media sites may come and go, but a good blog is forever. She encourages writers to post their thoughts and experiences on blogs rather than social media sites. Not only do blogs “offer an intimacy with authors second only to the books they write”, not only do they “make us leaner, meaner, faster and cleaner at what we do: writing”, but the reach of social media is limited and anything you post there is ephemeral. Most of it is invisible to search engines and it’s gone in a few days after all of your friends and contacts have “Liked” and commented on it and have moved onto the next 50 captivating posts-du-jour from their other social media friends.
Yet, blog entries, if properly titled and tagged, are searchable and will remain as long as the Internet. People can and will continue to find and/or stumble upon your blog posts years later and could potentially become subscribers or readers who purchase your books.
Now, please don’t take this as a string of excuses, but in addition to writing and editing, I work full time in the IT industry. When I come home, I often have a few hours of chores and errands to complete and possibly a 60-90 minute workout to destress and keep myself in shape before I can sit down to work on the current writing project. I’m often up until midnight, and no, I’m not waking up at 3:30 or 4AM to write when I already need to be up at 5AM for work. The only other activity that gets me out of bed that early is fishing.
So I cannot always make the time to blog consistently. I do not blog “two to three times per week” as some experts recommend. I blog as often as I can. Look, if you asked me, “How would you like to use this next hour or two—make progress on your current writing project or write a blog post?” My answer will ALWAYS be “work on the current writing project”. EVERY TIME. It is far more important to me to finish the the next short story, the next scene, the next chapter in the novel, or to research something for a story, than it is to write a blog post.
While I agree with Kristen that blogging makes us write “leaner, meaner, faster, and cleaner”, so does short story writing, so does flash fiction writing, and so does a few rounds with an experienced editor over your novel.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not at all against blogging. After all, you’re reading this missive now. I blog as often as I can and I enjoy it. In fact, I’m writing this blog post over my lunch hour, when I had originally planned to start my next short story, because Kristen’s comments struck a chord.
My point? In order to maintain sanity as writers, we should prioritize our workload. This is nothing revelatory, you all know this. That doesn’t make it any less challening, though, does it? Or any less frustrating.
For example, over the winter, I finally outlined a science fiction novel that had seen minimal progress over the past five years, while I wrote and published other books and stories. Excited that I now had a fully developed plot, I wrote the first four chapters from January to April—then put the project aside as my publisher and I were prepping a new anthology to be released on August 1, but the pre-launch was scheduled for July at Shore Leave 38. It went very well and you can read about it here.
Elsewhere in the Middle Eternity is the second installment in a speculative fiction anthology series that I created. I am not only the editor, but the project manager as well which means I work with the writers and the artist to bring stories, cover art, and interior illustrations together. We financed the project through Kickstarter, so I had to record the video for that, write the blurb, and create the reward levels.
What’s more, it was spring, which always brings with it yard work and one or two home renovations and yes, spending time outdoors!
I didn’t completely put aside writing during all of this. For the past few years, I’d wanted to enter a story into the annual Rehoboth Beach Short Story contest sponsored by Cat and Mouse Press. Rehoboth Beach is a quaint coastal town in Delaware with the feel of an old neighborhood rather than a resort town. I consider it my second home—if only I could afford a house there! Well, this year, the contest’s theme matched a story that had been percolating in
the back of my mind for a year or more so I finally wrote it in April and submitted it in May. Winners will be annouced on August 1, the same day Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity will be released. Should be an interesting day so stay tuned!
During the month-long Kickstarter campaign in May, my blog was active with semi-weekly author interviews for our anthology, which generated spikes in donations. Since then, I’ve been promoting the book on my blog, of course, but I also heeded Kristen’s advice and began blogging about “high concept” topics like vacations, day trips, museum visits, and even this post about social media and, yes, blogging. At the moment, I have a fair number of followers, but I’m working to build my audience here.
Addtionally, July gave my wife and I a scare as a family member was rushed to the hospital for life threatening complications and again days later as a result of a severe infection.
After all that rambling, have you forgotten about the science fiction novel I was working on? Wouldn’t blame you if you did. Well, I didn’t forget about it and now that the dust is settling on the aforementioned projects and emergencies, I hope to get back to it again…in between editing stories for the third annual anthology to be published by my local writing group next year and the final two Microsoft exams I need to take to complete yet another IT certification.
If it ain’t one damn thing, it’s another…or two…or three…
I’m burned out again just from writing about everything that’s been burning me out all year! As such, it was refreshing to read Kristen’s latest post, Stress & Burnout—How to Get Your Creative Mojo Back, where she explains how and why your mind and body react to stress and what to do about it. I already practice some of the advice offered, such as freewriting. Don’t overthink it, just break away from your current project and write something different. For example, I did that back in June over another lunch hour, and then revisited the piece earlier this week. After some revisions, it resulted in a lovely vignette that will be my submission to the aforementioned writers group anthology.
This was probably the longest blog post I’ve ever written. My apologies, but I hope I’ve directed you to some useful information on Kristen’s blog.
July 23, 2016
Shipwreck Museum – Fenwick Island, DE
During my recent vacation to the Delaware coast, I stopped into Sea Shell City on Fenwick Island along Coastal Highway. The second floor of the shop holds the DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum, an amazing collection of artifacts uncovered from various shipwrecks dating back to the 1600s. All are elegantly displayed and quite a sight to behold!
July 22, 2016
On Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble…
Our new speculative fiction anthology, Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity will be released on August 1!
In eternity, all stories are timeless.
Visit a dystopian future where the wealthy reside on high-speed trains-or risk certain death…
Board a space station with a team of scientists as they discover a terrifying lifeform on a remote planet…
Join the Army Rangers as they confront the deadly aftermath of a mythical creature in the sands of the Middle East…
Travel to Ireland where an ancient artifact regenerates severed limbs while healing old family wounds…
Hit the beach with two teenagers as they track down the owner of a mysterious bracelet and find the true meaning of love…
Journey from Earth to the stars with your tour guides Daniel Patrick Corcoran, Michael Critzer, Phil Giunta, Melissa Carta Miller, Susanna Reilly, Stuart S. Roth, April Welles, Steven H. Wilson, and Lance Woods. Cover art by Michael Riehl.
All aboard as we take you Elsewhere in the Middle of Eternity!
Click here to see it on Goodreads
Click here to see it on Amazon
Click here to see it on Barnes and Noble
The View from the Tower – A Day at Cape Henlopen State Park
Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, DE has everything–several beaches, two lighthouses, a fishing pier, bird watching, nature museum, Fort Miles WWII Army base complete with a 75′ tall fire control tower open to the public, and four other towers to see. The views are astounding from the top of the Tower 7 and from several other points in the park as the pictures below prove.
