James Master's Blog, page 17

Review of The Maidens

Amazon Rating 4 out of 5 Goodreads Rating 3.63 out of 5 My Rating 2 out of 5 The Silent Patient was one of my favorite reads of last year. In my opinion, Alex Michaelides knocked it out of the... Read More ›

Villains: Family

There’s a reason why Disney movies like using the “evil stepmother” trope in their movies. It’s entirely relatable.  Well, okay. Maybe not the whole stepmother contracts a dude to take a child into the forest to kill her, then poisons... Read More ›

Adding Gas to the Fire

So, the plan was to have a nice little rant about another type of fictional villain. However, due to recent events, I feel that it’s my responsibility to rant about yet another book burning.  Now, I have joked about burning... Read More ›

Villains: The Antihero

Have you noticed lately that there are more and more protagonists that aren’t…well…heroic? For instance, my mom likes to watch the Fox/Netflix show Lucifer. If you haven’t already guessed the premise, the show’s protagonist is Lucifer Morningstar (that’s right, the devil)... Read More ›

Different types of bad guys: The Dark Reflection

Last time, I talked about the need to torture the heroes of your story. One of the best ways to do that is by writing a really great villain. Every hero needs one.   “You just couldn’t let me go, could you? This... Read More ›

Review of The Dating Plan

Have you ever finished reading a book and thought that it would make a better movie than a book? That was my thought when I turned the last page of Sara Desai’s The Dating Plan. Don’t get me wrong, it... Read More ›

Torture Your Heroes

No one likes to read about characters living normal lives. Have you ever asked someone about the story they’re reading, and they tell you: “Oh, it’s an amazing story where the hero works a 9-5 job, and the villain is an inept boss. But it’s okay... Read More ›

2021 Year End Reading Review

So, it’s about two hours until midnight on Dec. 31, 2021. I’m pretty sure I can’t squeeze another book in this year, so I guess I’ll make my end of the year reading review.   Overall, I finished the year having read 86 books. Here’s the breakdown:  5 out of 5: 6 books  4 out... Read More ›

Time to Make Those Resolutions…Again

That’s right, it’s time to make those promises to ourselves in hopes that the dawning of a new year will motivate us to actually commit to them.   You guessed it, I’m talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Ugh…am I right?  There’s a website I was looking... Read More ›

The Importance of the Backstory

My mom is a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. So much so, she asked if I wanted to watch Avengers: Endgame (2019) with her. I asked if she’d seen Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the film that sets up Endgame.... Read More ›