Sarah Allen's Blog, page 26

Movie Review: Frozen

Oh wow. Oh jeez.

Okay.

SO MANY things done right in this movie. I don't even know where to start. John Lassetter produced, and clearly he just has a magic touch. I don't know why I expected any less. But yeah, Frozen was unexpectedly amazing.

There were several flip-the-Disney-trope-on-its-head moments, which I really appreciated. I'll try not to be too spoilery, but I love how they spend so much time making fun of the engaged-to-a-guy-you-just-met. And the necessary, saving act of love was between sisters. And that its about sisters. It's a sister movie. YISSS.

The animation was gorgeous. Beautiful, and exactly right, despite all the female character design complaints that have been going around. Both sisters were beautiful. And the setting was just as amazing as in Tangled.

I think my favorite was the humor. Let me just say, "valiant pungent reindeer king" are words said in this movie. Also the word gassy is included in one of the songs. And let me just say this. Any movie with a song called Reindeer are Better Than People is BRILLIANT BY ME.

And the music. Freaking Idina Menzel man. Idina Menzel. I would post a video of The Song if I didn't want to spoil it for you. But you'll know it when you hear it. In fact, my main complaint would probably be that they during the credits they had somebody else do an autotuned version of The Song when you already had FREAKING IDINA MENZEL.

Not to mention Josh Gad and Alan Tudyk and Ciaran Hinds.

So yeah, now my roommate and I are listening to Idina on repeat. Go see this movie.

Sarah Allen

Writers and Our Own Magic Feathers

First of all, can I just say how freaking excited I am that it's December? December has all the best things. Big coats, twinkle lights, hot chocolate, The Osmond Family Christmas album, Albert Finney as Ebeneezer Scrooge. All the best things.

Anyway. I've been thinking a bit lately about magic feathers. I've talked about this subject occasionally with my writer friends and its something interesting to think about.

As writers, there are a lot of things that can become our "magic feathers." Maybe its NaNoWriMo, and you can somehow only make yourself really crank out during the month of November. Maybe it's a hat or a robe you wear when you write that puts you in Writing Mode. Maybe it's certain music or a certain spot on the couch or a certain caffeinated beverage. Maybe it's a scheduled time during the day.

I think for me, I don't necessarily have a magic feather as much as I'm way too willing to give in to excuses. I'm too worried about money, or I didn't get enough sleep, or I only have a half hour chunk of time, or bla bla bla. So I guess my problem is that I don't have a magic feather and have a hard time making good progress without one.

My point is this. I actually think magic feathers are a good thing. The problems arise when we become over-reliant on them and can't write when situations arise where we don't have our magic feathers (which is my problem). But, knowing what our magic feathers are and manipulating and taking advantage of them to push and "trick" ourselves into crushing it every day...I say use whatever tools we got, man.

So I'm going to get me a magic feather and stop folding under all the lame excuses. I'm going to make solid, specific word count and pitching/querying goals and actually write them down and use whatever magic feathers I can find to accomplish them. No excuses, and here's to flying.

What are your magic feathers?

Sarah Allen
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FREE book today and tomorrow only!

Yup! Cross-Eyed , short story collection, is free today and tomorrow. You know you need a good read to get you through all those long family gatherings, right?


So get yourself a copy, spread the word, enjoy. And I hope you all have great plans for Thanksgiving :)

Sarah Allen

Weird Fashion Quirks I'd Spend Money On If I Had It

I wanna talk about clothes today. That's enough of a reason, right? It's my blog, after all.

Not a big shopper here, definitely, but sometimes it's fun. And I do feel like if my bank account allowed it, I could have a very...unique taste for fashion. There are a few fashion things I love.

Leather jackets. Seriously, I just love leather jackets with everything. EVERYTHING. Leather jackets are just sexy, okay? That's all there is to it.


Horizontal stripes. I know, I know, horizontal stripes aren't supposed to be a thing. But...but...
(apparently I just really like black and red, too.)
Funky tights and leggings. Just look how schnazzy these are.
And this skirt that's a freaking MAP OF MIDDLE-EARTH.
So there's that. Clothes. Yeah. They can be pretty fun sometimes. What weird fashion quirks do you enjoy when finances permit?
Sarah Allen
p.s. Just wanted to point out a new tab up there on the pages bar. I'm selling myself. Er, rather, my services as a writer or an editor or even a video producer. Check it out, see what I've got to offer, and maybe we can work out something awesome.

Making Stop-Motion Animation With My Ipad

So, I like telling stories, even when all I have is my iPad and some socks.


I know its silly, but what do you think? I've been really gratified and pleased with the response so far, better response than I've ever gotten for videos. But I always want ideas and constructive advice, so any thoughts would be great!

Sarah Allen

And now I'm just waiting for someone to like me.

I feel like I've gotten to a certain place in my writing career where I've about reached the limits of what's in my power to do for myself.

I've written two books, the best writing I can do. I've found people to read and edit and make them even better, which I guess is technically getting help from someone, but you get my point.

I've been blogging since 2009. I use just about every social media platform known to man to network with people, make writerly friends and hopefully publicize books that I don't even have an agent for yet. I write and send out short stories and poetry and picture book manuscripts. I'm brainstorming my next novel and a screenplay.

Queries for my first book started going out a little over a year ago. I'm still going at it, and now I'm querying for novel number two. Maybe I shouldn't be talking about specifics until I've actually got an agent, but you know what, it's disheartening.

I feel like I'm at that point in my career where I've done everything I can do, and now I'm just waiting for someone (an agent or an editor) to like me. And yes, of course self-publishing is a great option, I just don't think it's a great option for me and right now it's not what I want. To get what I want, to get where I want to go, I need someone to give me a yes.

The thing is, after this waiting phase goes on for long enough, you start doubting yourself and wondering if maybe you're just obliviously terrible and never had a prayer. I'm genetically optimistic enough that I can usually chase those kind of thoughts away, but sometimes they are harder to chase than I want, and they always come back.

So. What do you do in this phase? How do you know you don't just suck? And is there any way to speed up the process of finding someone to like you or is it just a waiting/numbers game?

Thanks for the advice and support, guys.

Sarah

Author Marketing Lessons from Grumpy Cat

There always seems to be something new that's gone "viral," that everyone's seeing across multiple social media platforms. Even those not online much seem to hear about certain things almost through cultural osmosis. When we're marketing and trying to spread the word about our books, what better thing could happen?

There's no key or formula for "going viral." A video or blog post that someone works weeks on will languor in relative obscurity while the thing they whipped up in one day will get all the crazy buzz. So yes, it's hard, almost impossible to gauge. However there are certain things that help, certain lessons to learn. Today I thought it would be fun to look at some of the lessons learned from one of those viral sensations, Grumpy Cat.

Be Consistent. Everybody knows what to expect with Grumpy Cat, even when the hilarious and awesome owners are taking pictures of Grumpy at Disneyland. Because its so pervasive, when anybody wants to express frustration and just plain grumpiness, Grumpy Cat is one of the first things they turn to.

Now, I'm probably going to have some trouble with this, because I hope to write in multiple genres. However, I am going to try and be consistent wherever I can: in terms of voice, style, etc. You can also be consistent across your various social media platforms. Even consistent scheduling can help. I follow many, many blogs that I read regularly, but for example, I actively wait for and seek out blog posts on Anne R. Allen's blog because I know there will be a fabulous and helpful post waiting for me every Sunday. I know that every Tuesday and Friday I'm going to get a YouTube video from John and Hank Green.

Be Genuine. Grumpy Cat is huge because everyone can immediately understand and sympathize with that fabulous expression. We know exactly what that face means, and have felt it ourselves. People like it when you get real, past the fluffy niceties and superficial pleasantries. We're not Victorian England anymore. We know we're all imperfect and often hilariously fallible and human and we as a culture would most often rather talk about it than gloss over things and pretend there are no issues. In fact, its this sense of humor that is often exactly what's needed to help deal with the issues and problems, even if its just on an emotional level. So be real. We're all here to connect with each other.

Be Shareable. Part of the reason Grumpy Cat succeeds is because its so simple and easy and convenient to spread it. You can quickly find and post a Grumpy Cat picture on Facebook or Twitter or a Blog or Pinterest or anything. People can easily "read" the image, have a good laugh, and quickly move on. That's what the internet is about these days, and though things like long and in depth are still wonderful things in their own right, they're not as easily shareable. People like bullet points and numbered lists and humor and, especially, images. If it takes more than point and click to spread your news, more often than not, people are going to move on rather than expend the effort.

Hopefully these principles can be applied to all types of book marketing. What other marketing lessons do you think we could take from Grumpy Cat?

Sarah Allen

My Top Three Most Memorable Villains

I've talked before about how difficult it is for me to write villains. Every time I try, or even try brainstorming and outlining my "antagonist" character, they always end up Snape-like. As in, more anti-hero than true villain. I want my villains to have a tragic back-story and maybe even a last-second moment of redemption, which just makes me sympathize with them and often find them more interesting than my hero. This has even come up a couple times in college creative writing classes, where I was often told that my characters are too nice and my villains not really villainous.

Today, though, I want to take a look back at the three most successful, effective and memorable villains, at least in my opinion. These are the characters I want to personally keep in mind when I do, in the future, try to write truly despicable characters, or at least more really evil antagonists. So without further ado, here they are. My top three favorite and most memorable villains.


1. Benjamin Linus: Yep, we're back to Ben Linus. You know me, I have to bring him up every once in a while or I start doubting myself. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Benjamin Linus is one of the most well-written and intriguing characters on television, and while the writing itself was quite brilliant, a lot of the credit goes to the paralyzingly genius Michael Emerson. You fellow Losties know what I mean. "So yes, I lied. That's what I do." You heard that in his voice, didn't you? For me, Ben Linus is in that same Incredibly Sympathetic and Heartbreaking category as Snape, but I'm adding him on this list because I know plenty of people who find him truly and thoroughly villainous. And while I think on Lost there were more true "villains" than him, none of them held a candle to the complexity and awesomeness that was Ben...er, Doctor Benjamin Linus.


2. Moriarty: How amazing is this character? I mean, the character of Sherlock Holmes needed a villain that could match him, and he got that in Moriarty. The version I'm really thinking of is, of course, the aching and slightly mad version played by the incredible Andrew Scott. I love me some quirk, and Scott's Moriarty has that in insane spades. Sherlock: "People have died." Moriarty: "That's what people DO!" Again, it's that genius voice and line delivery. Maybe it's the voice that truly makes the villain. It gets stuck in your head. "I'm *so* changeable!"


3. Wild Bill Wharton: Ok. When I think of truly despicable, awful, truly evil and completely unsympathetically villainous characters, this is the face that comes to my mind. (Either him or Bob Ewell from To Kill a Mockingbird.) In the book he is just as completely evil, but really I think, again, some of the credit is due to the chillingly fabulous and insanely underrated Sam Rockwell. (You've all seen The Way, Way Back, right? Right??) Seriously. Amazing. Pair that genius acting with a character by Stephen King and you've got a match made in...well, Hell. Percy Whetmore, also from The Green Mile, could also deserve a place on a truly despicable villains list like this. Thank you, Stephen King.

These are the first characters that come to my mind when I think genius villain. Mad villain props also have to be given to Dolores Umbridge, more despicable even than Voldemort in my opinion, Darth Vader, and of course, Heath Ledger's Joker. So yeah, I don't do well at villains, but as I try and teach myself, these are the evil masterminds I will try to learn from.

Who are your favorite/most successful/most memorable villains?

Sarah Allen

Dreams and cochlear implants and brains

Last night I had a dream that I had stolen the space shuttle from the Air and Space museum by the Dulles Airport in Virginia and I was trying to use it to fence-hop so I could runaway, only my pilot was a talking golden retriever. There was also something to do with a scientific study going on at an amusement park, where they put everybody in a Tower of Terror type enclosed drop-zone ride and monitored everybody's heart-rates, and everybody was fine except me and my heart rate was something like 550 beats per minute, which I don't think is even possible? Anyway, the doors opened and the medics came in with this stretcher, assuming someone was having some sort of attack, but I was just sitting there totally fine, like, hey, I don't know what's going on with my heart.

Last Sunday was testimony meeting at my church, which, for those of you who don't know, means that members in the congregation all get a chance to go up to the pulpit and take a few minutes to bear testimony about their faith and belief. One girl got up and started off by saying that she hoped she didn't sound to weird, because her cochlear implant was broken and she couldn't hear anything. When she said that I automatically thought 'You are awesome and sweet and I want to be your friend.' I think a lot of people felt that same way. I connected with that girl and automatically felt like she was more genuine. "Ideal" people do not exist in this world, or I think even hypothetically. There is no "ideal" or "perfect" person. (Except Meryl Streep, obviously. Sorry, I almost forgot for a second.) This is why we need well-rounded, complicated and unique characters. No Mary-sues. We're all so beautifully perfect in our incompleteness.

Life is strange and wonderful. Brains are strange and wonderful. And dreams. Isn't it just ungraspably weird how our minds form possibly random and incoherent images and stories while we sleep? Isn't it incredible that technology allows us to take someone who doesn't hear and give them the ability to hear? That must be one of the most intense and incommunicable experiences in the world. There's a story for you.

Sarah Allen
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NaNoWriMo Lessons for Non-NaNoWriMoers

So, I know there are a lot of people doing NaNoWriMo. Lots. But there are also a lot who are not doing it, myself included. Everyone makes their own decisions about doing or not doing it, obviously, personally I just don't feel like I can keep up the pace and want to work on increasing my pace yearlong. However there are very good reasons to participate in NaNoWriMo, and a lot of lessons to take from it, whether you participate or not.

1. Just write. This is the main point of NaNoWriMo, obviously. A person cannot be a writer if they don't write. We have so many editorial voices going on in our heads, so many things taking our time in our day-to-day-lives. In other words, the excuses are ad infinitum. NaNo really makes a point of just getting it done. Just buckle down, sit down, and crank out the words no matter if half of them amount to nothing but horse poop. The cleaning and editing can come later. But you can't edit a blank page.

2. Community is valuable. One of the coolest things about NaNo in my opinion is the sense of community. The participants gather together, psych each other up, inspire each other and assist each other. The NaNo blog has respected and intelligent writers who guest post fantastic and wonderful advice that can be applied way beyond the month of November. I think this sense of community is valuable, and something every writer should participate in and be grateful for all year long. This is one reason I love blogs and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and Pinterest. They are some of the best places to meet like-minded folk and be inspired.

3. Goals are helpful. Even for those of us not writing the 1,600 or so words per day as part of NaNoWriMo, the concept of setting a daily word count is a very old but very wise and practical piece of advice. That's one of the first things we hear as writers, is to get down a certain number of words a day, but its good to be reminded. And it's this kind of simple goal-making that accomplishes big things.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? 

Sarah Allen