Pippa Jay's Blog, page 90

The last of Harry Potter?

So, after much too-ing and fro-ing on Facebook, I finally managed to arrange to see the last Harry Potter film with a fellow fan. Wow. I had worried that the film would drag like the previous two, which were tedious to say the least, but this one kind of made up for it. :)

Okay, first a warning - potential spoilers coming up! If, like me, you've already read all the books prior to seeing the film, then you know the story. Of all the films this seemed to follow the book the most closely, although there were certain elements removed, and others that just seemed a bit of a bolt out of the blue or grasped from no-where if you haven't read the book. The story behind the Grey Lady seemed to have been seriously edited or lost along the way, which jarred slightly. The part of Dumbledore's brother, Albus, had been hugely reduced. I had considered taking my nine-year-old daughter to see the film, but the final scene at Gringotts seemed far more bloody and grim than I remembered from the book - unnecessarily so. I think probably most Potter followers have already got the idea that Voldemort is a BAD man and I don't believe that needed underlying quite so graphically. It also came as a major relief for Hermione and Ron to FINALLY get it together. I've fretted that ten chapters is a long time to get two of my characters to realize they love each other - seven books to do so appears extreme! And if, like me, you're a bit of a sap, prepare to take a generous supply of tissues for at least one section of the film that almost had me bawling out loud even in a public cinema.

The action is pretty much non-stop and all the familiar favourites are there. The final battle over Hogwarts is impressive and heart-wrenching. Clumsy plant-obsessed Neville turns hero and there's a brief happily-ever-after section at the end.Overall I'd rate this an A and I can't wait to buy the DVD to complete the set. I don't think I'll bother watching Part One of the Deathly Hallows again though.

Two years.

My SFR story Keir is two years old today. Two years! I can't believe it. Two years ago today I sat at my computer, 10 pages of an old short story clutched in one hand as my kids played out in the garden, and going insane. I felt like I was disappearing. That beyond the labels of 'mother' and 'housewife' (both of which I was proud of but it seemed something was missing) 'I' no longer existed. I know saying that I wanted to find myself sounds a bit corny, but that's what it was. Reclaiming something of who I'd been, who I really wanted to be, before I completely lost touch with that part of my life. So it wasn't only Keir's redemption that I wrote over the following six weeks. It was mine.

Two years on and I can't quite believe how far I've come, and yet with the sobering thought of how far I still have to go. Keir is contracted to a publisher and I've just submitted my first set of pre-edits, but having a contract isn't the end of it. There's still plenty of work to be done to get Keir to its projected release date of April 2012. There will be promoting, marketing and editing to do. I'm glad in many ways for the advice of friends and fellow authors that have prepared me for some of it, but I know it won't be easy. I still have other pieces to work on elsewhere, a family and household to run and, come October, another university course to study. I'm facing the fact that I probably have another two years work in my current projects before I'd need to start anything new. I already have two follow on books ready to edit, another half written, a scifi novella just finished and a post-apocalyptic prequel that's about 15K into an anticipated 50K. I have a fantasy short entered into a competition for November and already have ideas for expanding it into a novella. I have a scifi short up on Smashwords and the vague idea of putting together an anthology of speculative fiction at some stage.

Gethyon - scifi novella






Sometimes I wonder where it all came from! But more, I can't wait to see where it goes ...

Sunday

To anyone who has managed to find their way here without the link, my deepest apologies for feeling unable to post this Sunday despite signing up. Usually I have posts scheduled in advance but not this week. And then other things came up. Sh*t happens. :(


A huge, huge thank you to everyone who stopped by last week and commented, and to all my visitors. :)

Leaping Lemurs!

So, as promised, here are the photos from my lemur encounter at Linton Zoo. If you happen to be near there any time in the future, it comes highly recommended!
This is one of the Mongoose Lemurs, who was so determined to get to the food bowl that he wasn't shy about using a passing human to reach his goal! Lemurs are named after the lemures (ghosts or spirits) of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species. I was curious about their weight - I've had a chinchilla as a pet and they're very light, more fur than flesh. The Mongoose lemur is smaller than the Red Ruffed and probably weighs in about the same as a fully grown kitten/young cat.
This is Ruby, a Red Ruffed Lemur and my favourite. Ruby and her son Charlie (see the picture below) were the only ones who would consent to be petted. The fur is amazing! I thought it would be like a cat's, but it's much denser, more like sheep's wool and yet very soft.
CharlieThat's carrot he's munching on by the way. Apparently their favourite food is banana and grapes, but too much fruit makes them overweight. Their 'paws' are hand-like - the palms are bare skin (and a bit chilly from the feel of it!) with nails rather than claws. Ruffed Lemurs actually build nests for their young and can have up to six at a time - the only species of lemur that does this instead of carrying their young around. One parent remains at the nest while the other forages.
One of the Crowned Lemurs didn't care who or what she had to climb over for her stick of carrot. You can't get much closer than that! Did you know that in Madagascar, the poorer people eat lemurs? They make a cheap and easy meal because the tourists tame them. :(
Both the Crowned and the Mongoose Lemurs are classed as Vulnerable. The Red Ruffed is classed as Endangered. The lemurs aren't being killed directly. Human beings destroy the rainforests that lemurs need to survive. I find it sad that pure human greed is pushing this animals toward the risk of extinction.I'd love to see them in Madagascar one day, and I hope that in the future we won't all be reduced to seeing them just at a zoo because there are no longer any left in the wild.
Mongoose Lemurs.Baby Tia with her mum.
Crowned Lemurs. The one on the left is the female. Males have paler faces and less of the red hair.
A handful of lemur!
Ruby isn't too sure about that stick of parsnip. Family portrait - baby Tia and parents.

Six Sentence Sunday #37

Hi all, and welcome to another #sixsunday! Thanks for all your visits and comments last week, I really appreciate them. :)
Still with Gethyon this week after his fight with Dephon, and his friend Rylan is trying to shake some sense into him ...


"Get back home and stay indoors until … until they come for you. I'll let the authorities know.""Wha-?" Gethyon's mouth felt thick. "What are you talkin' bout?"
"Powers, Geth!" Rylan grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "You killed Dephon!"

© 2009-2011 Copyright Philippa J. Green All Rights Reserved Want more sixes? Stop by the new look website and check out the other participants, or check out the hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter. Want to join? It's easy. Read up the details on the website. All you need are six sentences from a WIP, of any genre, ready to go live Sunday morning. :)

Hitting 40

For some people, turning 40 is the beginning of the long, slow slide toward old age, senility, and death. Whoops, sorry, was that a bit strong? :-P


What does it mean for me? Mostly, it's just another number. My younger sister will take the mickey that I've reached another 'landmark' before her. My husband already considers me to have hit my mid-life crisis two years ago when I dyed my hair for the first time, got my first tattoo and started street dance classes at the same time as diving into a writing frenzy. It's only recently that I've taken note myself of the fact that I'm not eighteen any more. But I have even more reason to celebrate my birthday this year.

For one thing, my first book is going to be published. Squeeee! Okay, not until April 2012 (fingers crossed!), but the wheels are moving. Less than two years after writing it I'm pretty stunned to be thinking about being a published author rather than just an aspiring one. As my sister said, that's the kind of birthday present that's hard to beat! :)

And for my bonus gift, I get to fulfil one of my lifetime ambitions (aside from the publishing one). A trip to Linton Zoo to feed lemurs. Lemurs! Another squeee! I LOVE lemurs. Especially the red ruff lemur. At my local zoo in Colchester you have to take a train ride to see the lemurs up close. This time, I'll get REALLY close. Apparently they jump on you. I can't wait! (and I'll post pics. Lots and lots of pics!)

I'm also hoping to save up enough money to buy a Kindle. I have to admit to having a rather sceptical view of ebooks until recently. I much prefer a print book. But since my own will be coming out in electronic form, it seems only right that I should have the medium on which to read it. Right?


And then I bought myself this gorgeous digital print. Isn't it beautiful? This is done by a friend of mine, Trée George, and you can click on the image to see it, and many others, on his website.


I also fulfilled another ambition by getting to wear a sari for the Colchester Carnival. It's been a good year for achievements. :)


All in all, turning forty IS a big landmark for me, but it's not about my age. It's about the things I have to celebrate aside from making it to the big four-o. And having the people I care about here to share it with me. :)




So what did you do for the big four-o? Or is it so far away that you wonder what all the fuss is about? :)

A Flutter Through Friday Woods

My hubs is the outdoor type. Not the kind of Bear Grylls level, but he likes to be out and about. Yesterday he set me and our daughter a challenge - to take a photo of a dragonfly while traipsing through a local woodland. I'm not in the least competitive, but she is! So off we went with cameras at the ready and the two younger boys in tow.
 Common CentauryI'm not really a pink girl, but I thought these little flowers were pretty, and the local butterflies were being too unsettled for a photo. And then I got lucky.
The Small Copper isn't especially rare, but it's the first time I've gotten a photo. It did cost me two rips in my favourite skirt due to brambles, and I stuck my foot in a patch of stinging nettles. Ow.
A slightly tatty Speckled Wood. Large White. Small Skipper. Do you know how I know this is a Small Skipper and not an Essex Skipper, being as we are IN Essex? The ends of its antennae are orange. That's the ONLY difference! If it wasn't for my fab camera, I wouldn't have been able to see that.
As is normal for these little excursions, my hubs got us lost. I don't know WHY I still let him navigate when I know the consequences. But there you go. A short walk turned into a longer one, but we made it back within sight of the car park in the end. And on the way, my daughter won. (Well, strictly speaking this is a damselfly not a dragonfly but shhhhh! I won't tell if you don't.)Common Blue Damselfly

Six Sentence Sunday #36

Hello, welcome to my #sixsunday post. Once again, thank you so much for all the wonderful comments last week - you all rock! Just to recap - Gethyon has fought with his lifelong nemesis - Dephon - after he attacked Gethyon's twin sister Callon. But now the consequences are becoming fatally clear ...


Callon radiated fear as she tugged at him, trying to force him to move. Some of the group approached, a slow intensity to their movements. Another figure shot between them, coming to Gethyon's right side and clasping his arm. It took him five full seconds to recognize Rylan, and he didn't understand the expression on his friend's face. 
"Dephon's dead, Geth. You need to go."© 2009-2011 Copyright Philippa J. Green All Rights Reserved Want more sixes? Stop by the new look website and check out the other participants, or check out the hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter. Want to join? It's easy. Read up the details on the website. All you need are six sentences from a WIP, of any genre, ready to go live Sunday morning. :)

Facebook Friends and Transformers 3

Not as odd a combo as the title sounds. On Wednesday I met my third Facebook friend in the flesh for the first time, fellow scifi writer Laurel Kriegler. :) As my house is currently in disarray with boxes of stuff everywhere, and flooring lifted ready for new radiators (and because it freaks my husband out a little to find my Facebook friends materializing in our home), I suggested a film and dinner. I don't get to do either of those much these days. So tickets were duly booked for Transformers 3 (in 3D no less!) and Laurel got to meet my little brood of monsters for a couple of hours. :-P



As movies go, it was pretty good. One scene especially reminded me why I love scifi so much over other genres. Sure, you can get car chases with explosions and smashes and gunfire, but how many have cars transforming into super robots that tear up the tarmac and somersault through the air? How many car chases have the hero thrown through the windscreen, tossed over the flaming debris of crashing trucks to be caught by an Autobot on the other side? Of course, spectacular special effects are considered the norm now and no film would be without them, but it still impresses me. Maybe I need to get out more ...

On the whole I'd rate this a good but not fantastic film. I didn't like the use of old black and white footage at the start, however authentic it might be. It seemed a bit rough and patchwork, and I've seen amateur movie makers do a better job. I'm not exactly sure what the point of John Malkovich's character was aside from a little warped comic relief. In fact, several of the secondary characters seemed to be hanging around without much of a part to play in the whole, aside from reminding us that they'd been in the previous film. And I hated the fact that the Decepticons seemed so very invincible in human terms, and yet we beat them in the end with our inferior human technology. The mega-huge Decepticon Shockwave seemed especially impossible to destroy and yet - yep - it was.

Having said that, the overall story line was good. There were a couple of good twists in it (can't tell you what they are as I never do spoilers!). I question some of the comic relief during the apocalyptic scenes at the end, and Witwicky's girlfriend Carly Spencer seemed nothing more than a compulsory glamour token proffering the required terrified screams at the appropriate time. However, the final battle was AWESOME! Leonard Nimoy provides an iconic voice for Sentinel Prime and you can play spot the Star Trek connections. Bumblebee uses a sound clip from Star Trek II - 'your friend' taken from Spock's line 'I am and always shall be your friend.' - and Sentinel Prime quotes 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' from Spock's death scene. Alan Tudyk had a very minor role as Dutch but played his slightly deranged character well and John Turturro's character (Seymour Simmons) seemed a bit tongue in cheek as the ex-Sector Seven fruitcake but entertaining nonetheless. There's also the kudos of two real life astronauts (Buzz Aldrin and Bill O'Reilly) taking a part in the film.

The 3D was good for the battle scenes but I wouldn't pay out for it again. Overall, I'd rate this film a B+. Entertaining, visually impressive but the acting and the storyline sucked a little. If you want to know the whole story with spoilers you can check out the Wikipedia entry here.

Author Interview - Misa Buckley

[image error]  It is with great pleasure that I welcome speculative fiction author Misa Buckley to my blog, author of the very-soon-to-be-released Ironhaven.
Please tell us a bit about yourself.I'm a mum of five, living in the UK with my husband, two budgies and a Bull dog called Harley (like the motorcycle).
Tell us about Ironhaven. Is it a stand-alone story or do you foresee a series from it?Ironhaven is a stand-alone novella. It's a sci fi romance set in the far-flung future – the sun is burning out and Earth is in another ice age. The action starts with Lucian, the MMC, being refused access to the last shuttle to leave the planet. The story then follows his attempts to save himself, which throws him together with his ex-fiancée. If you want to know more, you'll have to read the book, heh.
You have a couple of free reads up on your website - Paradigm Shift and Vigil. What kind of feedback have you had on those?Vigil's not had very much, to be honest. I don't mind – it was a flash fiction that I'd nothing else to do with. Paradigm Shift has had a few good reviews. It's a web series and I think I'll probably get more as it progresses.
What inspires/inspired you to write?Gosh, lots of things. The odd song lyric, the eternal "what if", TV shows, Cliff Simon…  :D
Which comes first for you – a character's looks, personality or name?Looks and name tend to come first. Personality and backstory tends to come as I write.
Any tips for aspiring authors?Write, write and write some more. Read up on the technical side of writing, but the best way to learn is to write and get critic on it. Join a writers' group (I highly recommend Absolute Write), make friends and pick up tips. Writing can be a very lonely business, so make sure you have a good circle of fellows to call on.
If you had the power of time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?The one thing I wish I'd done is art at college, but considering I met my husband on the course I did do, I think I can live with my choice J
Questions for fun:What super-power would you choose? The ability to transport myself from one place to another, so I could attend sci fi conventions, heh.
Which group would you most like to be a team member of? SG-1, Sanctuary or a Star Trek away team of your choice?If it means getting my hands on Ba'al, I'll take SG1 :D
Coffee or tea?Pimms!

What is your favourite book?Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Favourite genre and why?Epic fantasy and sci fi romance. Yes, I know that's two.
Favourite colour? Blue.
Upcoming news and plans for the future? More of Paradigm Shift and an erotic Steampunk release in 2012
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!Thank you for having me!  ABOUT MISA BUCKLEY
AUTHOR BIO:[image error]
Misa Buckley is a sci fi geek who escapes the crazy of raising five children by creating imaginary worlds. She loves character-driven stories that have romance, adventure and really hot sex.

When she's not writing, you'll find her watching Stargate SG1 and lusting over Ba'al. She has a thing for bad boys in black leather.

Website:    misabuckley.com
Twitter:    twitter.com/MisaBuckley
Facebook:    http://www.facebook.com/misa.buckley


ABOUT IRONHAVEN:
[image error]
The Earth is dying, and Lucian Hoyt is going to die with it thanks to his parents cancelling his pass aboard the last shuttle off the planet. There is hope, though – a brilliant inventor has come up with a plan to build a ship to evacuate those who've been left behind.

That inventor turns out to be Genevieve Scott, Lucian's bitter ex-fiancée. If they're going to work together to get off this planet, they need to put their past aside, but even melting the ice between them can't erase all the scars.



Decadent Publishing
Amazon
Good Reads


EXCERPT:
The run-down laboratory on Fifth Avenue didn't so much sit next to the building beside it as lean against it for support.

Lucian stared at the corrugated iron roof and the boarded-up windows in some disgust. He'd not expected this when Drew had explained about the female inventor who, with the government gone and her usual work dried up, now repaired heaters in between designing a starship that ran on alternative fuels. He couldn't imagine how she did anything in the hovel in front of him.

I wouldn't house a dog in such a place. He walked over to the ill-fitting door. His knock echoed hollowly. He waited…and waited.

Did he have the right address, or was the woman just was not awake? It was early morning, but not so much that anyone should still be in bed. At least, not in his opinion, but he supposed the inventor might have a different one. He knocked again with as little result. He sighed and glanced around. A passing couple spared him a quick look but didn't say anything. Still he felt oddly conspicuous, as if he was doing something he shouldn't be.

He tried the handle. It turned easily. Okay, then. Pulling it open, and wincing at the screech of the hinges, Lucian poked his head through the gap. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

A faint shout came from somewhere within the tangle of machinery and littered benches. Taking it as an invitation, Lucian stepped in out of the cold and wandered around the laboratory. Most of the benches groaned under the weight of a variety of heaters, all in various stages of assembly or disassembly—Lucian wasn't sure which—but there was one given over to an intricate, clockwork-driven device that he could not make head nor tail of. He picked up a roll of paper and unwound it to find a blueprint. That made no sense either.

He shook his head: he'd been to university and had education in every science and theory going, but the level of intelligence indicated by the blueprint was still far beyond him.

Putting the roll down, he called again. "Hello?"

"One moment."

Her voice was husky; mid-range feminine with a hint of smoke. It also carried a note that Lucian thought he recognised yet couldn't quite place. A shadow shifted on the opposite wall, shortening as she came into the laboratory, nose buried in a thick book.

She wore leather trousers spotted with burn marks and grease, and a tightly-fitted blouse under a heavy apron. Her hair was swept up and gathered into a loose bun atop of her head, and the hands that held the book wore gauntlets. She looked up and her mouth dropped open, her eyes widening in shocked recognition.

"Lucian?" she said in barely more than a whisper.

He could only stare. It had been so very long since he'd last seen this woman. Long enough that it had taken seeing her face to identify her fully. Five years too long.