Brian Patrick McKinley's Blog, page 5
September 6, 2015
Yo, dudes: Alpha males are a myth, according to actual experts on wolves
Originally posted on we hunted the mammoth:
Manosphere misogynists like to tell themselves fairy tales about women. Their favorite such tale, repeated endlessly, is one called “The Cock Carousel” – sometimes referred to in expanded form as the “Alpha Asshole Cock Carousel” or the “Bad Boy Cock Carousel.” (Hence that Rooster-riding gal you see in this blog’s header about half the time.)
Despite the different names, the story is always, monotonously, the same: In their late teens and twenties, when they’re at the height of their sexual appeal, women (or at least the overwhelming majority of them) have sex in rapid succession with an assortment of charismatic but unreliable alpha males and “bad boys” who make their vaginas (or just ‘ginas) tingle. Then, sometime in their mid-to-late twenties, these women “hit the wall,” with their so-called sexual market value (or SMV) dropping faster than Facebook’s stock price. As Roissy/Heartiste puts it, in…
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September 3, 2015
What’s in a Title?
Originally posted on Vampire Explored:
I went strolling through the bookstore for inspiration the other day. What struck me … even more then the vibrant covers … were the names of the books, specifically, the KEY WORDS found in so many Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance book titles.
For example …
KEY TITLE WORDS IN URBAN FANTASY BOOKS
Hunter
Huntress
Guardian
Angels (fallen, of course)
Faerie
Demon
Blood (blood and more blood)
Dark
Light
Night
Moon
Wicked
KEY TITLE WORDS IN VAMPIRE BOOKS
Secret
Kiss
Thirst
Blood (of course)
Werewolf (odd)
Moon
Beginning
Hell
Desire
Devil Fire
Now I walked over to the Young Adult Fantasy department and this got pretty interesting. No wonder why teenagers are so scary!
KEY TITLE WORDS IN YA FANTASY BOOKS
Demons
Shadows
Darkness
Blood
Witch
Dragon
Night
Fallen
Powerless
Evil
Moon (Red, Black, Dark and a few other frightening versions)
Guilt
Dead
Dread
Fire
Godless
Sheesh! Do you think…
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Six Seasons and a Movie
Originally posted on thousandwordessays:
The Study Group
Television Appreciation 401
Greendale Community College
Six Seasons and a Movie
Community is a sitcom that lasted six seasons in various formats and was created by Dan Harmon. The show, while owing several of its seasons to the dedicated fans, is once again on hiatus. But not to worry. After the ban on dioramas after the incident that we all know as “changnado” and its sequel “changnado 2” the Greendale Study Group has discovered the best way to run a show and it is with six seasons and a movie. Community will be our case study.
You gotta have some awesome stuff in a show to make it to six seasons: Paintball, zombies, monkeys, chicken fingers, an awesome best friend, and anything else you dream up in your dreamatorium. Community has all this and more. It’s probably the best show since Inspector Spacetime. What’s the point of…
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August 30, 2015
Vampire Verisimilitude: “What makes a good immortal?”
Originally posted on Cedarcrest Sanctum:
You ask questions; I try to answer them – I make no other promises.
Mr. Johnson asked, “How do you know someone will make a good vampire?”
Great question…possibly the toughest one I’ve been asked.
The short answer is: nobody knows for sure.
A quick point of fact: if a vampire chooses to make a mortal into an immortal, it’s not guaranteed to work. Forget all that zombie movie bite-equals-undead stuff; even an intentional transformation comes with risk: you could die…period. Well, you WILL die – it’s part of the process – but the whole coming back bit is not a for-sure kind of thing for all those Carly Rae Jepsen fans who really, really, really, really, really, really want to be a vampire, too (GOD that song is annoying).
Got it? Good. Moving on.
Now, I’m making a bit of an assumption here: what’s the difference between a good and a BAD vampire? I don’t mean angelic vs. demonic but…
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August 20, 2015
Spotlight on Brian McKinley
Awesome interview from Clay Gilbert!
Originally posted on PORTALS AND PATHWAYS:
Today’s special guest is Brian McKinley, author of the new ”vampire noir” (my term) Drawing Dead. He’s also a lot of fun to interview, and has been at Portals before. Say hello again to Brian!
Q:Do things feel different now that “Drawing Dead” is in the world?
A:Right now, it all still feels slightly unreal. The book is both out-but-not-out, kind of like Schrödinger’s cat, in that it’s available for pre-order but no one is really reading it yet. No one can leave reviews on Amazon yet. I’m still waiting for the “opening weekend box office” to see if all these promotional efforts will pay off.
Q:What project are you currently working on?
A:Right now, I’m writing the sequel to Drawing Dead which is tentatively being called Drawing Thin. It will move the story along into the 1940s and deals with Faolan’s first real challenge to his new-found…
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August 15, 2015
Vampire Verisimilitude: “Life is But a Trope?”
Originally posted on Cedarcrest Sanctum:
Me again.
Do you know what a trope is? It’s a fancy word for a cliché, any common or overused theme or device – like zombies, for example.
Or vampires.
Prior to my employment here at Cedarcrest Sanctum, I had no idea how much vampire media stuff was out there. Television, movies, books, fan fic, erotica, crossovers, hybrids…wow. With so many creative people online these days, it’s as if every possible vampire idea and angle has already been covered; there’s nothing new.
Timothy collects movies and TV shows; I’ve watched everything he has. It doesn’t take long before familiar themes keep popping up: the sliding scale of vampire friendliness, our vampires are different/your vampires suck…almost SIXTY bloodsucking clichés just on TVtropes.com alone.
I can relate to more than a couple of them. I’ll go so far as to say I’m even JEALOUS of a few. Surviving on pig’s blood with a little otter added for taste?…
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August 4, 2015
DRAWING DEAD BOOK TRAILER
What do you think? Sound off in the comments!
August 3, 2015
BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA GUEST. 2007. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
Hilarious review!
Originally posted on sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris:
BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA’S GUEST. 2007. LIONSGATE PRESENTS FRIGHT CLUB. BASED ON THE WRITINGS OF BRAM STOKER. WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY MICHAEL FEIFER. STARRING WES RAMSEY, ANDREW BRYNIARSKI AND KELSEY MCCANN. CATERING BY MICHAEL. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
Far be it from me, a humble reviewer, to have a pop at anyone’s efforts and achievements, but this is a pretty bad film. It might even be the worst film I’ve ever seen. If it’s any consolation to the film-makers, however, I still kind of liked it. It was fun to watch, though I’m kind of surprised that Bram Stoker hasn’t yet climbed out of his grave to take his name off it and slap the director in the kisser with a wet kipper. That’s how bad it is, I’m sorry to say. Don’t believe me…? Read on for a bit.
Elizabeth Murray is a beautiful but annoying English girl…
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Vampire Verisimilitude: “Seeking Power and/or Identity?”
A fictional vampire sounds off against “real” vampires.
Originally posted on Cedarcrest Sanctum:
People are Strange – there’s a vampire song that says so.
Okay, so it isn’t REALLY a vampire song, but it is on a vampire soundtrack, and the band who wrote and performed it aren’t vampires (I think). As I’ve ventured out into social media recently, I’ve noticed an obsession with vampire lore…FOUR. That’s how many times I’ve written the word “vampire” so far, FIVE if you include the title.
What’s my point? It’s about something called the Vampire Community, places where (I’m not making this up) real vampires communicate with each other online. And demonkin. And otherkin. And elementals. If you’re still reading this, you’re probably thinking, “People believe this stuff is real?” I’ve wondered myself, specifically why anyone would want to be known as a vampire or demon or anything other than human.
I don’t wear my own mask as tightly as I should; my resident readers know this. I share this…
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July 30, 2015
Spotlight: Running Flat by Eric Maywar
Running Flat by Eric Maywar is a 75-chapter novel with breathtaking art, delivered to you in installments (starting in January 2016), and preserved on a website where you can choose which characters or subplots to follow.
Jess Foley hasn’t given up on love, even if it has given up on her. Jack Baldwin has given up and is planning a graceful self-destruction. Maya Hill is trying to escape her life before it kills her.
Innovative Storytelling
A Novel in Episodes: Like a modern digital version of a Dickens novel, the story and art will be delivered in installments, straight to your inbox. And it will be continually updated to the Running Flat website.
The Reader Shapes the Novel: On the website, you decide how to read the story. Each chapter will be sortable by character and plotline. So if you want to read only the parts of the story that have Amadeo D’Onofrio, the man who once beat a man to death with a bag of doorknobs, you can click on his name and read just about him. If you want to read only the story about two people falling in love, you can click on that and read just that part of the novel. If you want to read the whole thing, in chronological order, of course you can do that too.
Music and Poetry: In some chapters, as the characters go to their favorite hangout, the music and poetry they listen to is embedded in the story so you can hear what they hear and be immersed in the story.
Great Writing: The story is written by Eric Maywar, who studied with short story rock-god Stu Dybek and American Book Award Winner Jaime Gordon
Great Art: The story is captured in breathtaking still photography by award-winning Tamara Ramos and beautiful paint by Bethany Sellers. Examples below.
KICKSTARTER
To pay for the photography, the illustrations, and the website, we are starting a KickStarter campaign where you can support the project and get great rewards like subscriptions to the novel, photography prints, invitations to exclusive parties and even be included as character in the story!
Click here to find out how you can support the project and win great rewards. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/583490900/running-flat-a-blog-novel-storytelling-for-your-le
Running Flat allows the reader to read the chapters sorted by each of the main characters. Here’s what that looks like
Jess Foley hasn’t given up on love, even if it has given up on her. She is the sort of woman that radiates fun, the sort of woman that serious people don’t take seriously, but she refuses to be a secondary character in everybody else’s story. Click here to read just her parts of the story.
http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=58
Jack Baldwin, take-a-bullet loyal and a believer that short fences make good neighbors, is planning a graceful self-destruction. Click here to read just his parts of the story.http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=332
Maya Hill is trying to escape her life before it kills her. She is coiled and explosive, like a match flaring up because she got too close to a flame. Click here to read just her parts of the story. http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=62
Nikki Turner is kind, loyal, tall, and brings cookies. Click here to read just her parts of the story. http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=65
Lito Avila has nice abs and the personality of a torpedo. Click here to read just his parts of the story. http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=60
Natanya Kipketer is bright, chatty, likes a bit of conversation as well as mixed martial arts and small arms. Click here to read just her parts of the story. http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress...
http://runningflatnovel.com/wordpress/?page_id=8
