Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 111

HOOK YOUR READER! IWSG post

 http://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html


The news.
 It has none of the characteristics that make something worthwhile.

It's not fun, it causes anxiety, it gives you a warped sense of reality, 

and people who watch it are rarely going to do anything with the information they get.

Yet, watch it they do.  Why?


If we want our books to sell, we need to be able to answer that question.

The appeal of many books, ideas and actions boils down to six key factors –

1.)  A person-centered subject matter
2.)  The presence of patterns
3.)  The odd incongruity
4.)  A topic that pushes the buttons of hope or fear
5.)  Stimuli that engage our body or senses 
6.)  Thoughts that play to our psychological biases


 Rhyming idioms are catchy, attractive and appear truthful 

because they are easy to mentally process and their repetitive sound appeals to our love of patterns.

Idioms that at first glance appear contradictory stimulate our keen eye for incongruity.


Fiction is so engrossing because we are hard-wired to detect useful information 

and while part of our brain knows that what we are reading is make-believe,

 another part thinks the characters, and events, are real.

Some aspect of our poor susceptible minds really thinks Hannibal Lector is out there. 

Somewhere.


Have you ever left a movie feeling vaguely dissatisfied?  

You didn’t like the film but don’t know exactly why?

 Chances are, the movie failed in terms of story structure. 

 Storytelling is so ingrained in us that it sets up certain expectations for how a story should unfold.  

When those expectations are defied, it leaves us vaguely unsettled.


A story is a character in pursuit of a goal in the face of an obstacle or challenge.

How the character resolves (or fails to resolve) the challenge creates the drama and human interest that keeps us reading or listening.


HOW TO HOOK THE READER ... 

1.) GET INTO YOUR PROTAGONIST'S HEAD RIGHT OFF AND STAY THERE.


2.) NO HEAD HOPPING

Readers will only know how the other characters are feeling through what your protagonist

 (POV character) 

notices and perceives—their words, actions, facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, etc.


3.) LEARN FROM THE DOCTOR DELIVERING A BABY

Slap your MC right out of the gate.   

It doesn’t need to be the main problem of the story,

but put something on the first or second page that challenges him and makes the readers start worrying about him.

 The difficulty or dilemma can be internal, external, or interpersonal.


4.) GRAVITY TAKES NO BREAKS; IT ONLY GIVES THEM 

Introduce some opposition in the first few pages.  

Bring on a rival, an enemy, or a nasty villain fairly early to get things moving fast and make your readers start biting their nails.


5.) SURPRISE!

 Surprise gets our attention by defying our expectations. 

We’re wired to immediately start figuring out what’s actually going on, 

the better to gauge whether the smack we're about to receive will be on the lips or aside the head.


6.) SQUIRM!

 Science has proven that the brain uses emotion, rather than reason, to gauge what matters to us.

So it’s not surprising that when it comes to story, if we’re not feeling, we’re not reading.

 In a compelling story the reader slips into the protagonist’s skin and becomes her/him –

feeling what she feels, wanting what she wants, fearing what she fears.


7.) HEMINGWAY YOUR WORDS

Over 11,000,000 pieces of information dive-bomb our five senses every second. 

Don't add to the reader's input unless it is necessary. Bore the reader; lose the reader.


8.)  NEVER BLUR THE FOCUS

We access the universal only through the very specific.  The story is in the specifics.

"Dario had a hard day."

There are all sorts of hard days. Is Dario a door-to-door salesman or a Roman gladiator?

Use the" Eyes-Wide-Shut test."
If you shut your eyes, can you see it? If not, then neither can the reader.


9.) MAKE THEM LAUGH

Life is hard enough for your reader.  Give them a chuckle or two in each chapter even if your tale is a dark one.

It is always darker after a light has died than if it had never existed at all. 


10.) CARE ABOUT YOUR STORY

If you care, it will carry over into your words.

Charlaine Harris stopped caring about Sookie 

and just continued to write the novels to keep her contract.

It showed.

However she redeemed herself with her Midnight, Texas novels.


Let's hope her enthusiasm for those characters is not tarnished by the NBC series based on them.
 

For laughter and reflection:

GROW YOUNGER EACH DAY

“I’m still going.  It keeps you thinking young.  My body is old,  but I think the same as I did  when I was 20 years old.”  - June Foray

"I believe it's important to stay young at heart, 

to have faith in what might seem impossible 

and to have goals beyond your current abilities or temporary means."
 - Haley Williams


June Foray, the voice of “The Rocky and  Bullwinkle Show’s” 

Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his nemesis Natasha Fatale

of Boris and Natasha fame in the early 1960s 

and a key figure in the animation industry, died Thursday just 8 weeks short of her 100th birthday.

Foray was also the voice behind Looney Tunes’ Witch Hazel, 

Nell from “Dudley Do-Right,” Granny in the “Tweety and Sylvester” cartoons

 and Cindy Lou Who in Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,”

 among hundreds of others.


 Foray continued to work late in life, reprising her role as Rocky 

in director Gary Trousdale’s short “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” released by DreamWorks Animation in 2014.


June Foray's sense of feeling younger and always finding a reason to laugh

is an important key to living well:

Feeling younger inspires a sense of resilience that keeps people young. 




1.) USE IT OR LOSE IT

Challenge yourself to try new things, learn new ideas, and develop new skills.

 Realizing that most human abilities follow a “use it or lose it” pattern 

can motivate us to stay active in all realms of our lives.




2.) HARD TO SAIL WHEN AT ANCHOR

Bring your attention repeatedly to the present moment, through informal mindfulness practice.

It can help you to appreciate this moment, 

rather than becoming lost in regrets about the past or imagining future deterioration.




3.) LIFE GROWS AS WE DO

Develop a sense of meaning in life.

Focus on something larger than yourself, 

whether that’s connecting with people close to you or helping improve the lives of others.

Or commit yourself to a hobby you love, 

such as gardening, attending the theater, dancing, or reading.

When our focus is just on our own immediate pleasure or pain, 

we’re much more likely to have difficulty with the aging process.





4.) SCRAPPED KNEE PRINCIPLE

 Remember when you were younger and would take a tumble, only to forget about it in five minutes? 

When you’re an adult, a lot of things aren’t all that easy to brush off, 

rather than dwell on them, you still manage to dust yourself right back off and go at it again 

(though this time, smarter). 
After all, life’s too short to spend it dwelling on the scrapes and bruises. 

Sometimes the only way to get over a setback is to simply just try again.



5.) LAUGHTER FILLS YOUR SAILS

 Laugh real. Laugh honestly. 

It will feel really, really good, and no matter how unattractive you think your laugh is,

And laughter releases endorphins which act as natural morphine.  

How cool is that?



6.)  LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE AS LONG AS YOU CONTINUE TO EXPLORE

 There’s always something new to discover and claim as yours, 

whether it’s a new restaurant, 

a new coffee shop hidden away in your neighborhood, 

a new book, or maybe even a new passion and hobby you never even knew you had inside yourself. 

We spend so much of our days going through routines and the same paths and habits, 

and breaking free only to stumble on something you never even knew you’d love 

 is refreshing and can remind you about every little beautiful thing in this world.


To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die.   It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,   And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.   Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven,  that which we are, we are;   One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.   WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Navigating the Deadly Seas of WRITING MISTAKES

Don't you wish there was a map to follow to find success with your writing?

Each of us must chart our own course to our novel's successful end, but there are some shoals we should avoid:


1.) TOO MANY CHARACTERS

When more than just a few characters are introduced in the first few pages of a book, 

it’s difficult to keep their names and roles straight.

Have a literal boatload of characters?  

Filter them in slowly in the first few chapters, 

linking them in the mind of the readers with vivid sketches of their personalities.


2.) STERILE CHARACTERS

 If your characters are flat, if there’s nothing to set them and their struggles apart, we won’t want to cheer for them, and might not care enough to keep reading.


3.)  EXPERIMENTAL STYLE

When a writer experiments with style or structure, the result can be refreshing or irritating. 

Your ability to pull off something out-of-the-ordinary depends on your skill as a writer, 

and your ability to connect with readers despite your unusual style.

Anyone who has read my blog for long knows that I loved Roger Zelazny's books.  

But towards the end of his career, he experimented with strange formats to his books.

In DOORWAYS IN THE SANDS, he ended the chapters with cliffhangers, 

but then started the next chapter some time later, working back to the resolution of the crisis.  

VERY, VERY irritating!  

I only stayed because I liked him.  I don't think many other of his fans did. 


4.) UNCLEAR CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS

Have you ever read a book where a character does something, and you say, 

“Why on earth did she do that?? A mother would never do that!”

 Ensure your characters’ actions are in line with their motivations, 

and if they don’t appear to be on the surface, your reader must understand why not.

 Don't lift your readers out of your novel with characters you force to be stupid to get them to make mistakes to propel your story forward.


5.) HAZY STRUCTURE

  If all the good stuff happens at the beginning, or if nothing exciting happens until the end, your reader will be frustrated with the rest of the book.


6.) WRITE FOR THE MARKET ONLY

If you start by chasing the market, you study the bestseller lists and try to identify a trend, jumping on it.

Even if the trend is still hot by the time your novel comes out, the story will be lackluster, for it didn't come out of your dreams.


7.)  NULLIFY THE DANGER OR REACH THE GOAL TOO EARLY

The point is to raise the stakes so that the readers are not only cheering your protagonist on, 

but afraid that they may fail to save whatever it is that they are trying to keep.

 Regardless of your genre, 

every novel must have a protagonist trying to accomplish or reach some kind of goal. 


The plot itself is then the character’s journey to try to reach said goal.

 In some novels, that goal may evolve along the way, 

but the important thing is that whatever the goal is, it is out of reach throughout the large majority of the novel. 

By making your characters fail, often repeatedly, to reach that goal, 

you keep your readers hooked because they’ll want to find out how your character will manage to succeed.

What do you think are some deadly mistakes to avoid in our writing?

THE UNKNOWN PERSISTS

“In a world of diminishing mystery,
 the unknown persists.”
- Jhumpa Lahiri

On July 24, 1911 American archeologist, Hiram Bingham
got his first look at  
Machu Picchu, 
an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world's top tourist destinations.
Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, 
Machu Picchu is believed to have been a summer retreat for

 Inca leaders, whose civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. 

For hundreds of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants living in the region. 
That all changed in the summer of 1911, 
when Bingham arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous “lost” cities of the Incas.
I wonder if Juli (from last post), who lives in Peru, has seen this mysterious city?
No, Ghost of Mark Twain, I am not calling Juli a peasant!!
(Darn that Mark -- always trying to get me into trouble)
As Wynonna Earp, whom we both love, said last episode --
"Single mothers are superheroes."

By the way, Wynonna Earp has been picked up for a Third Season!

But back to  Machu Picchu
The excited Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a best-selling book, 
sending hordes of eager tourists flocking to Peru to follow in his footsteps up the Inca trail. 
The site itself stretches an impressive five miles, with over 3,000 stone steps linking its many different levels. 
Today, more than 300,000 people tramp through Machu Picchu every year, 
braving crowds and landslides to see the sun set over the towering stone monuments of the  
“Sacred City” 
and marvel at the mysterious splendor of one of the world’s most famous man-made wonders.
Would anything Man has made today survive abandonment for 400 years? 
What do you think?

Why DO I Love Wynonna Earp So Much? Here's Why:

Around the WORLD with WYNONNA EARP

TV reaction videos on YouTube have become increasingly popular.  
Why?
Mirror Neurons and Empathy.
When a macaque monkey reaches for food, certain neurons light up in its brain. 

Those same neurons light up when the monkey sees a human reach for food, too. 

Later named mirror neurons, some believe these cells are active in human brains as well,

Mirror neurons could explain why we smile when we see someone else smile.

What would Wynonna say about all my theorizing why I like to watch YouTube reactions to her episodes?



I drop in on my fellow Earpers all around the globe and 

smile at their enjoyment of the show which has often been a light in recent dark times.



ARGENTINA
How could I not stop to visit with Denisa, Clara, and Fernanda 

who dressed like Doc Holliday complete with moustaches and Western attire 

for their 1st reaction?


On their 2nd video, 

Fernanda donned a Spiderman mask whenever a scary scene appeared to hide her squeamish expression.

They exude so much joy and friendship, I feel lighter with each visit.



NORWAY

Natalie gets so caught up in the lives of the those in the series it is a joy to watch.  

She connects with Waverly especially ...

and who can blame her  ... 

especially when she is forced to sing to save her life?

And when I followed her on Twitter just to express my concern for her not posting for a time, 

she sent me this reply she had posted earlier on Twitter:




PERU

 How could I not enjoy visiting Julia, a lady who likes Wonder Woman and Supergirl?  

I do not see how she finds the time to do so many reactions while raising a child.

I guess she is a Wonder Woman herself!





CANADA

 Dropping in on Sofia Rojas is inspirational.

All of you know of my grueling schedule as a rare blood courier, 

but Sofia puts me to shame infusing such enthusiasm and laughter into her reactions 

after working 72 hours in three days.





I couldn't help but laugh when Sofia groaned 

at the clueless woman not seeing the ghoul right behind her:

"This is how white people die!" 

(I believe Sofia may be Basque judging from her last name.)
 


UNITED KINGDOM

No matter how down I am, I feel transformed by the laughter of Leanne Heynes and her brother, Bradley.

Watching them try to high-five one another only to smack each other on the forehead or 

bicker about each one over-riding the other's enjoyment of the episode is such great fun.

Hearing them chuckle at Waverly telling a stranger trying to explain Kanye West to her:

"I'm British not elderly."

They laughed at how Americans think the British are so far behind-the-times.



SWEDEN/now in VANCOUVER

Ylva V infuses such delight and innocence in her reactions that it is recharging to visit her.

Her twin Swedish/Canadian perspective spins my own perception of Wynonna and her clan.

To see her fangirl over Dominique (Waverly) saying she loved her unique name so much

 that she would name her daughter Ylva made me smile despite my weariness.

 Ylva would fit right in here in Louisiana ...
 except for this terrible heat!





EASTERN EUROPE now America

Eden Singer said in one of her reactions to the second season of Supergirl 

that as an Eastern European refugee,

she identified with Kara and with feeling Other.

She brings that unique perspective and sensitivity to her reactions on Wynonna Earp.

I see beyond myself whenever I visit her video home.  Thanks, Eden.



Marcie DeFeo

I believe I am visiting Canada when I pop by her front room,

 but I cannot seem to find concrete data to support that feeling.

But Marcie was the first Wynonna reaction video I stumbled upon, and it would be rude not to thank her.

Marcie started reacting to Wynonna on the 4th episode of the first season.

Imagine her shock when her co-workers said they loved her reactions.

She thought she was merely talking to strangers!

Marcie's manner is so natural and fun 

that you feel as if you are a welcome friend in her living room, sharing a great program.


All of these warm, loving ladies will never know me, but I am lucky and honored to have met them -- 

 if only on YouTube.


Though from different corners of the world, they are all great ambassadors for the lesbian community.

As I had my fictional hero, Samuel McCord say:

"Life is so hard, and love so seldom found, who am I to object when and where two lonely souls find it?"

What keeps the TALENTED from GREATNESS?

“Principles are good and worth the effort  only when they develop into deeds."
  “The great doesn’t happen through impulse alone,  but is a succession of little things  that are brought together.”    -Van Gogh 

Teachers have long thought 
that there is in this present culture an ethical weaknesses and intellectual poverty 
that keep even the most gifted young people from ascending to greatness.

But I remind myself of the words of Virginia Wolfe in Orlando:  “It is probable that the human spirit has its place in the time assigned to it.” 



1) The QUAGMIRE of CONTEMPLATION
 Contemplators love the study of nature but only for its aesthetic qualities :
the sublime spectacles, the beautiful forms, the splendid colors, and the graceful structures.
 To linger over-long in the realm of faerie 
is to miss out as the world -- and your opportunities -- move on without you.



2.) When LABEL becomes the GOAL not the CONSEQUENCE of ACTION
One did not become a knight merely by parading about in a suit of armor.
No, knighthood was found in deeds --
as the term author is reserved for those who complete the books in their heads.
"He who knows and acts is the one who counts,  not he who knows and falls asleep. 
We render a tribute of respect to those who add original work to a library,  and withhold it from those who carry a library around in their head." - Santiago Ramón y Cajal



3.) Eat a STEAK by swallowing  the WHOLE COW
We all have heard the term "Baby Steps."
Why did so many great writers start out by writing short stories?
They grew by doing, of course.
But also each successful sale reinforced their desire 
to write more stories that blossomed into writing novels.
This principle pertains to most things in life:
Tackle small problems first, so that if success smiles and strength increases,
 one may then undertake the great feats 



4.) The MAP is NOT the JOURNEY
The journey does not take itself.
Don't plan -- WRITE
Plotting your novel in detail may feel like writing, but it is not.
Writing one sentence, one chapter after another -- THAT is writing.
Plan too much and you increase the odds of your novel being dead on arrival.
Even if it is finished, 
the spark and spontaneity will have vanished like that iridescent rainbow that shimmered so beautifully in the storm clouds.

Writing is not building a house.  It is an art.
Do you think Van Gogh or Picasso outlined their paintings?
The best stories we read, the ones we aspire to write, 
are the ones that leave us in a more mysterious world than we knew at the start, 
stories that illuminate questions rather than answers.



5.) Our MUSCLES grow  BY USING them
The same is true of any skill:
We LEARN by DOING
"T he water does not flow  until the faucet is turned on."  - Louis L'Amour
The best writing happens when the writer is discovering what happens as he or she is creating.

OF COURSE 
I am not the Yardstick of the Universe so these are merely my suggestions for you to reflect upon.
I hope I have at least amused you.
If not:

WORLD'S LAZIEST COUNTRIES?

"Your assumptions are your windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” - Isaac Asimov

The headlines blare:
AMERICANS LAZIER THAN  CITIZENS  IN CHINA OR U.K.
How did they come to that astounding conclusion?
From a new study published in the latest edition of NATURE 
by a team of scientists from Standford University.
The research team analyzed the number of daily steps 
taken by more than 700,000 people worldwide, 
collected via the smartphone Argus activity monitoring app. 
All told, they amassed 68 million days of data.

 Their findings? 

The average number of daily steps worldwide, they said, was 4,961. 
But that number varied widely from country to country. 
In top-place Hong Kong, for example, survey participants took an average of 6,880 steps a day. 
In Indonesia, the average was just 3,513, putting it at the bottom of the rankings.

REALLY?

You and I may not be scientists, but I am sure you can see the glaring flaw.
As I wrote about yesterday, 
Technology seems to delude people into thinking everyone is like them.

The sample is quite obviously heavily biased.  Most people in poorer countries cannot even dream of having a device which measures their steps.
 Think the South American jungles, African hinterlands,  the desert homeland of the Australian aborigines, the impoverished third country citizens ...
You can easily add to the list ... So you know that the vast majority of people in those countries walk huge distances but their steps are not recorded.   SO WHY THE HEADLINES?   
Nothing in the study suggests that people who walk less are lazy.  But it was great click-bait!  It worked on you, me, and others.   CONCLUSION? 
Beware getting your view of the world through reading headlines.  
  UFF!  

Ghost of Mark Twain here brushing this fool boy aside so as to make sense of his nonsense ... 
Again.
"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it 
and stop there lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid.
 She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again  and that is well
 but also she will never sit down  on a cold one anymore either!"


What do you pilgrims  think about all this?

THE NUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA

'He was so terrible that he was no longer terrible, only dehumanized.'
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Have the woes of others merely become our own private reality show,
our modern gladiator games?





Take American Idol or any of the amateur talent shows.
It seems the audiences revel in the humiliation of the less talented contestants.



I waited for what seemed an eternity at the DMV.

A mother with her 10 year old boy sat down beside me.

She busied herself with FB on her phone while her son pulled out an Ipad

and promptly started playing the latest CALL OF DUTY.

For an hour, he rocked back and forth as intently shot and maimed silicon enemies.


Was he becoming numb to the realities of violence and the finality of death?



Is Technology
numbing down America?
We view the world and one another through the filter of a smartphone screen ...

distancing us from directly experiencing emotions and ugly realities.

The Internet desensitizes us to shocking images and diminishes our empathic skills.


Videos of gruesome events that we view online for the figures are so tiny that the humans do not appear real.


The shock value of the loss of human life and the cries of misery have lessened.


Desensitization has become the new normal.
Do we give up on tragedies and the people in them...
because the lack of action by politicians,
and little or no long-term coverage
by main media sources
gives a tacit message that
we are not like those suffering the tragedies.


There has been a shift in the way we communicate; rather than face-to-face ...
 Changes in the style and type of
interpersonal communication.

Young people use smartphones rather 
than interacting with the people around them,
to the detriment of being able even to make eye contact for more than a few seconds.
The Twitter and text bytes sent back and forth have reduced our ability to focus for any length of time
and have made it easier to be insensitive with impunity.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE

One of the favorite movies of the League of Five --

 http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-league-of-five.html

think the boys of Stranger Things but with weird movies holding them together and not Dungeons and Dragons!

We watched that movie whenever it came on the classic fright TV shows on the weekends.  

Little pre-teen me fell in love with Barbara Rush and wanted to be grow up to be Richard Carlson 

who later tangled with the creature from the Black Lagoon!


The evocative dialogue touched me even as young as I was.

And well it should since it was written by Ray Bradbury though  Harry Essex snatched the credit.  

Sigh.

Listen to the intro by John Putnam (Carlson):

"This is Sand Rock, Arizona, of a late evening in early spring. 

It's a nice town, knowing its past and sure of its future, as it makes ready for the night, and the predictable morning. 

The desert blankets the earth, cooling, resting for the fight with tomorrow's sun. 

And in my house near the town, we're also sure of the future. So very sure."


Or the words of Frank, the desert telephone lineman:

 “John, after you’ve been working out in the desert fifteen years like I have, you hear a lot of things. 

See a lot of things, too.  The sun in the sky, and the heat, all that sand out there with the rivers, lakes that aren’t real at all.  

And sometimes you think that the wind gets in the wires and hums and listens and talks, just like what we’re hearing now.  And then it’s gone."

{ Shot after shot of cars and trucks moving along the desert roads are aerial shots, 

composed with telephone lines continually strung along in the foreground,

 humming with the strange theremin music composed for the film by Herman Stein, Irving Gertz and Henry Mancini.  

It’s as if the aliens have tapped into the telephone lines for purposes we cannot know or understand.}



Or

take the moment from the film right before Ellen and John meet Frank:

Ellen shivers when she looks out at the desert, seeing buzzards circle around and thinking how dead it is.  

"No", murmurs Putnam, “It’s alive, and waiting for you.  

Ready to kill you if you go too far.  The sun will get you, or the cold at night.  A thousand ways the desert can kill.” 



 Evocative scenes like this provoke the sense that the primitive desert, formidable enough on its own merit, 

is portentous with alien menace and intrigue. 



Bradbury never meant for the audience to see the aliens but for them to see humans through alien eyes.

We see them as they assume the shapes of humans they capture.

In this movie, we are the monsters.




Why did they do that?

Putnum points out a scuttling spider to the sheriff while he tries to explain just that to him.

The sheriff stomps on it in disgust.

Putnum sighs, 
"You did that because it was ugly, strange, and headed your way.  

You had no way to know if it meant you harm. Yet, you killed it anyway."

Bradbury later explains his reasoning,

"I tried to point out, in one way or another, that we would never give anything a chance. 

 We would kill first and ask questions afterward.  

Beneath the veneer of civilization there is a barbarism.

These creatures from outer space, were benign and not hostile, unless provoked."


  
The reason for the aliens' visit?

Their craft simply broke down as a human car might snap a fan belt while traveling over the desert.

They are completely unimpressed with us, wanting nothing so much as to be on their way ...

and please leave them alone!



The story is literate and suspenseful, 

becoming ever more engrossing as the truth regarding the aliens is revealed.  

It is thoughtful, intelligent and surprising. 

 Steven Spielberg has said that this film was a prime influence 

on his pet project Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

 The Blue Ray of it can actually be played in a 3D Blue Ray for a 3D TV ...

which I wish I had.

If you see it at Wal-Mart or Amazon -- take a gamble -- 

You will find it still holds up, though in a innocent time capsule sort of way.

Excuse me, Midnight and I are going to re-watch it again.

When TV gets PREGNANT

When Lucille Ball became pregnant, the network wouldn't even let the show use the word "pregnant."
How times have changed, right?

THE X-FILES
When baggy clothes would no longer cover Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, the X-Files went full Sci-Fi ...

and had poor Scully the victim of an alien abduction in the episode, Ascension/

this scene was so particularly graphic the network originally did not want to air it.



XENA
When Lucy Lawless became pregnant, the show's writers went full-on mythic.

In a twisty episode that found Xena's soul both in Hell and then Heaven, 

Xena meets her arch-enemy Callisto in both places.

Callisto touches Xena in a gesture of forgiveness.

Upon her return to earth, Xena finds she is pregnant with no idea how.

The mystery is solved when Callisto's spirit

reveals in another episode she "gave" Xena the child to make amends for all the evil she did her. 


DOUBLE DOOMED SARAH SHAHI In the too short series, Life, 

Sarah played the feisty partner to the hero of the show. 
To cover her pregnancy, 
the show had poor Sarah kidnapped and held captive for most of the 2nd season.  
In the excellent series, PERSON OF INTERST,
Sarah played yet another feisty and unwilling love interest of a killer trying to turn over a new leaf,
Root.  

No pun intended.  
To cover Sarah's pregnancy that would not have fitted at all in the story-line ...
Aw, you guessed ... 
Sarah was apparently killed, then found to have been kidnapped
and held captive for most of the remaining episodes of this fine series.  
Notice Sarah's baggy clothes in the following video
whose music was composed by the same artist who composes for GAME OF THRONES:



WYNONNA EARP Although Melanie Scarfano was pregnant the entire 2nd season, she still did a lot of her own stunts.  

And took ballet lessons to keep up her strength and balance.

My Stetson's off to this trooper.


Writing for the second season began in the spring of 2016,

and Scrofano told executive producer and showrunner, Emily Andras, 

of her happy news in September of that year, when she was not that far along. 

 “I basically blacked out for a month, so I’m hazy on the details,” Andras joked. 

Emily seriously added,

 "I went into Syfy and basically said, 

'I need to do a ‘Fargo.’ I really want to have a pregnant superhero. 

I want to do a Marge Gunderson. 

I think it speaks to everything that makes our show special.” 

And they fell in love with it.


It is a fine show that entertains with laughter and heart ... 

not too many of those shows around any more.

Apparently, if you record this show on your DVR, Syfy is notified ...

So even if you do not plan to watch it, please record it and play it in the background to up the ratings.

Support a new mother and her fans who love her.