Twitter

If you look to the right you'll see my Twitter updates. Most days I'm busy and so I forget to do daily posts here. On Twitter they are quick brief messages so it's just simpler. Watch that space because even if my blog messages don't update, that will.

Annabelle Foresight went to Fun Land!

I'm excited! A few months ago I sent a short story in. I'm hoping it'll get picked for an anthology.

Well I heard back and I made it through Round One! I t may still get rejected, but it passed the first level. I'll know within 90 days if it passes the next elimination round. I'm very excited!

I just want to get her out there into the world. Maybe this is the way?

More Marvel...and I'm a DC: Iron Man and Batman

Caption the Pic… Donna Troy; Grave Robber!

Thanks for all the well wishes last week. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not an on-coming train. Almost finished fixing my girls’ room and the bathroom, then we’ll finish my son’s room. Hopefully another week and our basement will be back!

Good news is I finished my Fin Fang Foom build a figure! This means quite a bit for the Parodyverse because “Finny” is one of their regular characters. Imagine the captions. If only I had a Visionary.
Of course Finny’s not just a star of fan-fan fiction (no that wasn’t a typo, Buzzers. It’s a Parodyverse thing). He’s a major and massive Marvel villain.
The regular hero captions are writing themselves!
*Rubs hands expectantly*

Anyway, CTP is back. Last captions were by; Wheelchair Rocker, mr Articulate, Gitwer, JoeAce, Kirby, Gernot, Spackling Compound, Brain, Falconhood, Curious Lurker, L! and Manga Shoggoth.

Thanks again everyone!

Here’s the caption site.


Don't forget to check out the RAVING TOY MANIAC Board to see the other captions posted for today's pic.

No obscene captions please, kids are reading.

Here's this one. Sorry it’s on my book shelf again. There are a couple more like that dispersed in the pics. I’ve moved onto better places so I’m trying to do different locations. Anyway, enjoy!

Hulk vs Thor

Sweet!

Time for Some Campaignin' - JibJab

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

New Stuff from Goldentusk, blamesocietyfilms and ItsJustSomeRandomGuy.

From Goldentusk



From blamesocietyfilms



ItsJustSomeRandomGuy

Dang! Sci Fi cut it out (Turn Left spoilers)

I love alternate timelines. I've been waiting for this episode for three reasons.

1) The almost crossover that it provided, mentioning all those characters and showing all those events. Yum!

2)Seeing another fun timeline where things go wonky.

3)Because this was the sequel to that Sarah Jane episode where the Trickster said he wanted to erase the Doctor.

I loved it. I didn't care if any thing was wonky. I sat back and enjoyed it. Pretty much the same reason why I enjoyed Indiana Jones 4 and Independence Day. I just sat back and allowed myself to be entertained.

What bothered me was Sci Fi.

I know they cut things out, but I enjoy sharing it with my family. Well, Sci Fi cut out the part where Rose mentioned Torchwood. I guess they felt that since they don't air the show, they can cut any reference.

Does that mean Torchwood's parts in the next two episodes will be cut, too?

And they didn't show the preview that showed Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Luke, Torchwood and all the others in next weeks episode.

GRRRRR! I've been waiting three weeks to share that on my TV.

Go to the link below to see the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wm7Iwn8MDI&feature=related

Chad Vader Training

John Madden: Dungeon Master

Star Wars Lion King

Funny Commercial

I should say I'm finished

Last week I finished the short story for Bob's vampire anthology. It's raw but complete.

Now the hard part begins. I sent it to several betas from the last two years. I got my first line by line edit back.

It was from Chris Leeson, the Manga Shoggoth. Chris was one of the first beta readers to teach me to really think in my story. He showed me things I should've seen right there in front of my face. He's from England and I still can't get over the fact that I've got friends from over there. It's so great! The things he and Ian see day in and day out. Things that are normal for them and amazingly cool for me.

He has a good understanding of what should go into a book. I need to remember to ask him if he's tried to get into publishing or has gotten into it. His line by lines are just as professional and in depth as Michelle or Kim and they're published authors who also serve as editors.

Chris also adds great humor to his edits. I always look forward to them. The only problem is how red-faced I get afterward. Not mad, but embarrassed. How could I have sent it to others in that condition? Just how elementary do I write? I actually thought it was ready? Why didn't I see those things? After four years, how much of a newbie am I still? How far is my dream? Have I learned anything in the last four years or am I just a pretender?

It's not his fault. I cherish his edits. I need to bring my self out of the worry and fear quickly 'cause there just isn't time.

OK, plan time. I'm getting Caption the Pic up this morn, then I need to open his edits and start applying most of them. As the author, I have the right to reject and there are just a couple tiny things I plan to not change. I've got to hurry and try to get all of Chris' edits finished because I need to send it to my critique group before next Thursday.

Yeeeow times 2!

GAHHHHH!

3 way star fest! Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sara Jane Adventures!

I'm going insane!

LOL!

heh. temping...

Frustrated

I don't normally post my problems here. I talk them out with friends or during some very stressful moments, I type them up in a secret word document.

I don't really want to bring it here.

On second thought, I just typed up my marital stress into a doc and saved it. No since bothering you guys with it.

new trailer for the second half of Doctor Who season four!

LOVE this show!

Indy 4, LOVED IT. Spoilers...

I saw it and I'm going to take a stand.

I am going to be unpopular right now. I realise it's popular to hate George Lucas. It's popular to go to certain movies super excited, sit there all pessimistic, judgemental with high expectations and expect perfection. It's popular to hate a movie and find fault, then join with everyone in bashing it.

I knew people would hate it. Did the movie suck? Sorry to disappoint you but it didn't. The movie was everything I wanted and more. The audience sucked. They didn't laugh at the funny parts or cheer at the cheering parts. They were all dead fish.

Sorry but I liked it.

High points...

1. Harrison back as Indy. Oh how great to see that again! In the warehouse, when he had to escape from the Russians and that Indy music started playing I realized something. A feeling erupted from my chest and grew out to fill my body. It was the suspense Indy watching feeling that I complete forgot. It's the feeling you get while watching one of his Indiana Jones films. Oh how great that was!

2. Shia as his son. I never would've thought the boy from Evens Stevens could do it but he can. I would love a series of Shia as the adventurer. I loved how he at first judged Indy then later looked at him in awe. I loved how he was scared and showed it but learned to use guts. I think it was very appropriate that at the end he did not take up the hat. It's like he's not ready but someday. I hope we see a couple more to show his learning curve.

3. Marion being back. She was the best leading lady and everything was appropriate for her return. I loved her attitude. She really portrayed the character realizing she missed Indy and loved being in another adventure with him. Everything she did made perfect since.

4. Lucas threw in the line! I cheered when Indy said "I've got a bad feeling about this." Indy did the Han Solo line! Sure, it's been in every Star Wars including the first 3, but it's special when Harrison says it. I loved the fact that now Indy said it, too!

There's just too much to say. Very good film. Sorry to disappoint the many pessimists, but I was OK with Shai's Tarzan bit. I was OK with everything.

It's OK. You pessimists will have plenty of people who over analyze and complain. You can lose one voice.

I liked it, I loved it, and the DVD and sequel cant come soon enough.

Finally! Twilight!

I'm looking forward for this movie.
Regarding the book:Dispite seeing things from Bella's perspective (which sometimes you just want to yell at her), the book really is good.

Plus I need to support a fellow Latter Day Saint vampire author. ;)

Mummy 3 preview, kinda fuzzy

I'm excited. I don't expect much from the film but it should still be enjoyable.

Perfect review of Iron Man from JustSomeRandomGuy

I loved the movie, but this is soooo perfect. Don't forget to wait for the surprise after the credits!

Of sleep overs and Narnians

Each kid in my house had a friend sleep over. It worked very well. Everyone got along.

We took the kids to a movie last night. Neen and I chose Prince Caspian as the annual multi-sleep over movie. Perfect choice.

The movie was very good. As I watched it I got so involved that I forgot how the book ended. That's saying something since I read the book only 2 months ago.

I don't think I ever did post about Ironman. Another great film. So far my favorite of the two (course I'm comparing apples and oranges). I should say more but I don't have a lot of time this morning. I'll just say that when Stan created Ironman back in the 60's, he must've been channeling Robert Downy Jr here in the future. He did THAT good a job.

Back to Narnia 2. I'm sure people who don't know the book might've gotten confused. Already I need to answer my in-law's questions. Course they'd get confused watching Sesame Street.
The movie threw a lot in and didn't waste time explaining things 3 times so people who can't catch plot in small dialogue and body/face actions could miss a thing or two. They altered the story and built more on Peter's messed up frame of mind. That made it easier to translate C.S. Lewis' story.

I liked it. It made me want to continue reading the Narnia books (I've read 1-4). At the moment I'm reading Fablehaven and after that I'll either read the last Twilight book by Meyer or reread HP 6 and 7.

Is traditional publishing in trouble? Nope.‏

Here is some good news from writer/editor Sean McLachlan. This is from his post on the Fantasy Writer group...


There’s a lot of talk on writing newgroups that the traditional print industry is in freefall, soon to be tossed into the scrapheap of history and replaced by ebooks or no books at all. The facts say otherwise.
According to the Association of American Publishers, net sales for 2007 were $25 billion, up 3.2% from 2006. Not a bad showing for a recession year. Not only that, but the New York Times reported that in 2007 there were an astonishing 400,000 books published in the United States alone. Many of these are self-published books that hardly sell any copies, others are reprints of older works, but a great deal of them were new titles by reputable publishers. The development of affordable print-on-demand technology has led to a boom in small presses, and university presses are thriving too.
Ebooks had a net profit of $67 million in 2007, a growth of 24% over the previous year. But as a total of all book sales they constituted less than one third of one percent. There are a lot of smaller epublishers out there that aren’t counted in the statistics, but even if the figures are off by a factor of ten, which they’re not, I don’t think print publishers have anything to worry about.
So it seems that while Americans are reading less, dedicated readers are actually reading more. That’s the only way I can account for these figures. Traditional publishers are doing OK. Long live the traditional print book!
For more of my thoughts on this issue, and links to the data, go to

http://midlistwriter.blogspot.com/2008/05/is-publishing-industry-in-trouble-nope.html

regards,

Sean McLachlan

Oh man. Perfect. I love this one.

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy at his best...

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy has more fun stuff, too!

Goldentusk is at it again with Indiana Jones and the Song of Theme

I wish this guy would do Harry Potter. :)

down

I feel like my future is changing in a bad way.

It just feels like my dreams to get Annabelle out into the world is just that, dreams.

What's the point? Everything is passing me up. It's not as if I'm sitting around, stagnant. I have been working on it. But I feel like I'm spinning my tires while others go farther.

Maybe my dreams are wrong? Maybe I'm too foolish to achieve these goals. Did I reach too far, too fast?

David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants--April 19, 2008 Dealing with Criticism

I saw this on the Fantasy Writers group. It's very true and I wanted to share it with any potential or actual writers out there.

----


I got a note from a promising young writer yesterday who was wondering if he
should just hang it all up. The note, a rejection on a short story,
basically said that the story didn't work at all. So the author's confidence
was a bit shaken.

Now, I've mentioned a little bit about having courage in the face of
criticism, but I'd like to talk about it in more detail.

The truth is that no matter how good you are as a writer, not everyone is
going to like you. I can guarantee that there will be books and stories
that win awards this year that I will not like. It happens every year. I'm
sophisticated enough as a reader to recognize that just because I don't like
it, that doesn't mean that the story isn't good for its type. By that I
mean, you might write a wonderful tear-jerking romance novel that everyone
in the world loves, but I probably still won't read it. Similarly, you
might make the world's best asparagus casserole, but I won't eat it, either.

That's not a criticism so much as a difference in taste.

But as writers we have to face criticism. No matter what you write, you will
have to face criticism at some point in your life.

My first criticism came from my father. When I told him that I'd dropped
out of pre-med and that I wanted to be a writer, he lamented the fact that I
wanted to waste my life. He suggested that if I really had to be a writer,
that I find a writing job that actually paid. He knew that I was writing
poetry, so he got the address for Hallmark greeting cards and even offered
to help me pen a few sample greeting cards in the hope that I might become
gainfully employed. (Fortunately, my first novel got some nice reviews and
hit the bestseller lists, so that my father's concerns for me were eased a
bit before he died.)

Many of you either go to writing groups or should go to them. Facing a
writing group will help you learn to cope with negative criticism. It will
help toughen you up.

But you should beware of writing groups, too. I've been in writing group
where certain members of the group became hostile to one another, and thus
gave unfair critiques.

Cliques will sometimes form, and the criticism can become vicious. I recall
being in one group where a young lady was in tears. (Her story was quite
good by the way, nearly publishable.) But her attacker--a low-life scumbag
who hadn't written a word in five years--told her that "This story sucks."
Then with all of the sincerity that he could muster, he told her, "You
should give up writing . . . now. You should just walk out of this group
and never come back." She did, despite the fact that I and several other
people begged her to stay.

Unfortunately that group didn't have a mechanism for kicking out anyone who
acted like an ass. Every group should have such a mechanism, a
sergeant-at-arms. The attacker in this case needed to be thrown out.

Of course, there are other ways to waste people's time in writing groups.
If someone in a writing group always tells everyone how wonderful their
stories are and can't see anything wrong with any story, you have a person
who either has absolutely no critical facilities or who is just too
cowardly to say what they really think. That person also, needs to be
evicted from a writing group.

The purpose of a writing group is to give you helpful advice. Telling an
author what works is helpful, but one should also look for honest ways to
improve the work. Personally, I like getting criticism.

But once you become a professional writer, you'll have to face some real
criticism--from literary critics who actually get paid by newspapers and
magazines to read your books and offer honest opinions.

I have always had a policy that I never respond to such criticism, even when
the critics seem wrongheaded. I try to look at the columns, listen to their
comments, learn from them, and move on.

I'm aware that even good critics sometimes err. I've read articles from
people that I admire who sometimes get the facts of my books wrong. In one
case, I even got a glowing review--with some interesting errors.

I recall writing a negative review myself for a small magazine years ago, in
which I tore into a book by one of my favorite fantasy authors. I didn't
like it. The protagonist was too weak. She just stood around doing
nothing, too frightened to respond to the challenges in her life. But a
friend of mine pointed out that she identified strongly with that
protagonist simply because that was the way that she handled her life, too.
She was always too frightened to go out to look for jobs, or to seek a
better job, etc.

Mea culpa. I was wrong. The truth is that the book as fine, I just
couldn't identify with the protagonist. I like chocolate, and that novel
was very much vanilla. So I wrote a retraction.

And that's the way that it goes. Critics are nearly always wrong. Years
ago, I went into the library and spent a few hours looking up reviews that
came out when books that are now considered classics were first released.
Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea was considered trite by one reviewer who
noted that Hemingway hadn't dealt with a new theme in fifteen years. The
novel Dune was considered decent enough, but one reviewer wondered how in
the hell anyone ever got such a long novel published. And so it went. Not
a single one of those novels that are now considered classics got anything
other than a tepid review.

So don't expect your novel to get universally great reviews, either. The
truth is that the best novel written in the past ten years won't be
recognized as such until another forty years from now, when hindsight gives
us a clearer perspective.

Sometimes our personal tastes as readers and critics get in the way of sound
judgment. In science fiction, most polls will show that the novel Dune is
considered the best in the genre. Yet if you go onto Amazon.com and look at
reader reviews, you'll find people who will tell you that it's dreck. The
same goes with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, or with any other novel that is
a classic in any other genre.

So is your story really bad, or is it the critic? That's what you need to
determine. You have to look both at the criticism and at its source.

If your critics points seem valid, then all that you may need to do is
rewrite the story, get rid of the flaw. That doesn't seem so hard to me.
The truth is that every author at one time or another tends to write
something that doesn't seem worthy of them. Yep, some of my passages are
brilliant, and some of them are less so. Shakespeare wrote reams of crud,
but quite often he shows over and over that he can be the best of all time.

There are things that I purposely do in my writing don't always work for all
audience members. For example, in the novel Brotherhood of the Wolf, the
Earth King Gaborn Val Orden warns the folks of Castle Sylvarresta to flee,
for a monster is coming that could destroy them all. But do you know what?
People don't always do what they're told. Every time a volcano blows, it
kills someone. It doesn't matter what the geologists do, there's always
some old coot who refuses to leave. Hurricanes, same thing. All those
folks killed in Katrina were warned over and over again to leave, but they
stayed. One third of the city stayed. So I have some of my folks stay, and
I have Gaborn's new bride, Iome, sending troops through the castle in an
effort to force an evacuation. As a result, she's still there when the
monster comes.

Well, my editor hated it. He said that Iome was an idiot to risk her life,
and it would serve her right if she died. He felt that people who are
idiots deserve to die.

But I disagreed. I think that sometimes you need to put your life in
jeopardy to help another person who is acting foolishly. Even people who
are stupid and stubborn need to be rescued in spite of themselves sometimes.
So I kept the scenes in the book--though I know full well that by doing so,
I probably alienated many readers who felt as my editor did. Well, too bad.
I'm trying to make a statement in that book, one that has to do with showing
compassion, risking everything, when you feel like giving up on the world.
We are trained to love and look out for people who have the IQ of a dog. So
why shouldn't we love and look out for someone who's IQ is only a few points
lower than our own.

That's the way it is with every story. We struggle to convey our ideas and
emotions, and sometimes the story is just too big to handle in that medium.
At times, we may just be too weak to get our point across.

If you get criticism that seems wrongheaded to you, then realize that other
critics are human, too. Even a good critic will have lapses in judgment. A
few years ago there was a wonderful book published full of scathing reviews
on novels that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, or where the author went
on to win a Nobel prize. The fact is that even great authors are often
misunderstood.

Tomorrow, though, I will deal with some of the more subtle problems that
come with reviews. The fact is that there are indeed evil-minded critics
out there, people who will genuinely try to destroy you for their own profit
and amusement. I'll give some examples of what they do, and more
importantly why they do it.
--
Please feel free to share this email with friends. If you would like to be
added to this list, just email dwolvert@xmission.com and say, "Kick me!"

Fantasywriter

Recently I joined Fantasy Writer.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fantasywriter/

It's a great writer's email group where I can connect with other writers. I'm hoping to organize a critique group and get other eyes to spot my "stilted/ stiff" writing. I need to get rid of the stiffness and smooth it out so it can finally be accepted.

Wish me luck.

Silly vid from The Onion, teasing about the Ironman trailer

Got this on MySpace from Gernot...


Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

I love not just the main joke, but the little jokes on the bottom.

bad and good

Bad:
I had to leave the critique group cause Sunday nights are insanely busy.

Good:
Michele pointed me towards the same writer's group that Willard has tried to get me to join. It sounds like there are a lot of published writers who could help me. I hope someone takes up my request for further one-lines and a critique group for Friday.

I'll keep you "faceless shadows" posted.

Ok, not so upset

In the immortal words of one of the peasants in Monty Python's Holy Grail, "I'm feeling much better."

I know I've over reacted. I just have such passion for this story.

Ah well. Just keep swimming.

Down

I'm feeling kind of depressed about my novel. Every time I think it's ready, I find obvious mistakes.

I feel pretty stupid at the moment. Things that I thought were great, weren't.

I don't know where to turn and quite frankly it's hard to be motivated on doing anything with it. I've lost my center.

I've even entertained thoughts that maybe I'm on a fool's quest. Maybe I don't have the stuff be be a writer.

I see positives, but I'm looking at them through a grey fog.

Sorry to be so down.

If I turn my back on that path, will another one come around to get me published? I would rather just walk right up to an agent or publisher, SHOW them why this is important.

But I still can't get me POV straight.


But I'm just a no-account wanna-be who can't even spell correctly without a spell checker.

Who am I kidding?

This fake Mattel commercial is hilarious!

California, here I am!

I'm posting from Sunny Cal. I'm here in Huntington Beach for more training in Micro Station. I'm using the hotel computer.

I sure miss the ocean. I want so bad to move to Central or Northern Cal. When I went on the pier yesterday and looked out at the ocean I just longed for it.

Sigh.

It's so expensive to Libbey out here. I can't ever imagine doing it. But I was born in this state, spent many years here. It's in my blood. If only my novel would sell and continue selling to the point where I could be a full time author living out here.

Will it ever come?

Lord of the Rings A-Team

Star Trek Time Warp!

More Youtube JLA fun from huckbone

Cool Live Action Challenge of the Super Friends

The critique group is smokin!

Ok, that's an old term, but it's the only thing to come to mind.

I resented my 6th revision version of chapter one. This was "the Eliza chapter", formally known as chapter 4 or 5 depending on the rev.
They wanted more on the how and who of Annabelle's world. The necessary stuff that just happened to be cut thanks to prior revs. I guess I cut it too soon.
I explained about the story behind the story. I told about the Falabranwyn and the true mission for Annabelle and Roland.
They said a simple thought that shocked me. Basically, instead of keeping those things secret, why not bring them up in a pre-scene?

I should say now that in the versions where I cut the Foresight's arrival and the intro of the Dunstons always fell short. Those events were very important so I had to TELL about them later instead of SHOWING them like I originally had done.

Now those scenes are back, with some simplifications, more showing things from Ann's perspective and best of all, a beginning scene from Eliza's abused, scared perspective. This scene stars Dominic in all his evil and after he leaves, Sybil the Falabranwyn with her brief foreshadowing on Ann and Roland. Also, Sybil explains why Annabelle acts and thinks older than her years.

I don't know where this scene was. Why didn't I come up with it before?

Anyway, they loved it.
I should say here that while they know their faults and shortcomings, the other members of the group are all published. They've done short stories and online stories. They also know all the rules and try to follow them in their stories.

I've learned a lot and hope to learn more. I really need to show vs tell and I'm still trying to soften the wording, use less of it and try to speak in my true voice. I only made it through a 4th of the manuscript in my last edits so I'll catch up when the critique group gets to that point.

So much to do and I'm scared that this version is no better than the others.

I do like this group though.

Grant and Jason added me as thier friend!

While I wasted time traveling through the net, looking over various sites on my favorite paranormal chasers, the Ghost Hunters, I discovered that they are on Myspace.

I requested that they add me as a friend and they did! I still can't get over how you can meet and talk casually with real celebrities on the web. It's amazingly cool.

So now they're on my friend list. It's great! I should send them a message, telling them about our ghost encounters.

"Darren Shan's view" of the Cirque du Freak movie.

So I was trolling the net and found myself back at IMDB. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450405/ )

I was reading on the anonced cast choices for the movie and people's reactions when I stumbled across the author's words on the subject.

Here they are...


I've been following the reactions of fans to the Cirque Du Freak movie with much amusement over the last couple of months. Each new cast announcement is met with a mix of indignation -- "How dare they even THINK of putting that person in the movie?!?" -- and OTT delight -- "That person is the best actor in the world -- this is going to be brilliant!!!!" The truth, of course, is that only time will tell. The movie-making process is a long, complicated affair. Great books, with great casts, have sometimes turned out to be stinkers, while in other cases less well known books, with dubious cast or crew choices, have become classics. I've no idea which way this one will go. I'm happy with the cast choices -- I can say that hand on heart. They might not be like how a lot of fans pictures the characters. Indeed, they're not all like how I pictured the characters. But the important thing is, they're how the MOVIE-MAKERS picture them. This is their baby now. The film will be a completely separate entity to the books. Different structure, different characters, different pace, different style. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But I do think it's good that they're doing things THEIR way. I did everything that I wanted to do with the characters and stories when I wrote the books. What interests me now that I'm finished is what other people do with them. I love getting fan art, seeing how fans imagine Darren or Mr Crepsley or Harkat. I love the Japanese manga adaptation, seeing how they interpret the vampires and vampaneze. Nobody draws the characters exactly as I imagined them, but that's what I love. I've shown the world what *I* see in the Cirque Du Freak and those who populate it -- now it's a chance for you lot to reinterpret what I've given you and entertain ME in return!!! So Cormac Limbs becomes a woman -- great!! I'll get to see a different side of the character!!

The film WILL NOT be faithful to the books, and nor should it be. That doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you lot either. It will stand or fall on its own terms, in its own way. If it succeeds and is good, we can all enjoy it as well as the books -- we'll have two different sources of entertainment to draw from. If it goes wrong and sucks, we can continue to draw comfort from the books -- they won't change, they'll still be there, the same as they were a few years ago, the same as they are now, the same as they always will be.

I sometimes get asked why I sold my books to Hollywood, and why I let them change them so much. Well, as for the second question, I haven't a choice -- when you sell the movie rights to your books, you surrender all control over it. The movie-makers can do whatever they like with your stories. That's just the way these things work. If you can't accept that, don't sell. If you do sell, you have to let them do as they please -- there's no point grumbling about it. I sold for a number of reasons. One, obviously, is money. I write because I love to write, but it's also my job, and while I write with total integrity, telling the stories I want to tell, the way I want to tell them, I always look to make the most amount of money out of them as I can once I'm finished. That's just common sense -- if you create something good, you deserve to profit from it. Money shouldn't be a writer's driving goal, but it shouldn't be spurned either. As with any other job in life, money can bring freedom -- a writer who has made a lot of money doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to; he doesn't have to take a commission just to support himself; he's free to follow his muse and create whatever he likes. (Of course, many lose themselves to the thrall of cold, hard cash and start to chase it, using their talents to try and make more money. But I haven't hit that point yet, and I hope I never do.) The money I get from the movie if it's successful will help ensure that I can continue to follow my dreams and write for myself, which is good news for all of YOU.

But I was also happy to sell the movie rights because movies are a great way of publicising your work. The worst thing about being a writer, especially a children's writer, is that very few people in the world ever get to hear about you. A hit movie makes headlines. Popular bands make headlines. Models make headlines. Writers almost never do. Even avid readers often struggle to keep up with what's hot in the world of books -- it's difficult to find out about new writers and novels. The internet has helped, more than anyone under the age of 20 can probably understand -- there was NO way of learning about new books when I was a kid!! But it's still a struggle to get your work noticed, to tempt readers to give your stories a try. Publishers have very limited funds to work with, and the opportunities to advertise books are also very limited. Films are one of the only tools we have to take our work to an even wider audience. Even if the movie sucks and doesn't do much business, it will still probably get quite a lot of people interested in the books. New readers will pick up Cirque Du Freak and give it a try -- then hopefully get hooked by it and join the rest of you in becoming true Shansters!!!

The thing any writer wants more than anything else is for people to actually READ their work. That's what I enjoy most about success -- not the money, but knowing so many people are enjoying my stories, following me into the weird, freakish worlds that I've created, trusting me to lead them on a journey worth taking. The film will help set more people on the path that you guys reading this have already taken. It's a path they probably wouldn't ever have heard about if I hadn't agreed to sell the rights and let a group of strangers do whatever they wanted with my stories.

Some readers are snobs -- they think that only those who actively seek out new writers are worthy of reading that writer's books. There are many Harry Potter fans who sneer at those who saw the films first. "What -- you only read the books because you liked the films? You're not a REAL fan!!!"

As I hope I make clear in my books, I've no time for snobs. My vampire generals accepted anyone who came to them. They didn't care how they turned to the creatures of the night -- they only cared about what they did once they'd made that choice. It's not how we come to a path that matters, but what we do once we're on it. If the film brings even a handful of new fans to this world that you and I have shared for however many weeks, months or years you've been with me, it will have been worth the giving away of rights. Even if it's a stinker, if it takes the books to just a few more people, it will be worth it. Obviously I hope it won't suck, that it'll rock righteously, that it will bring thousands of new fans our way. But even in the worse case scenario it can't help but be a winner. It will bring new readers to the stories, and that's what the stories crave more than anything else. It's why Stephen King has always been happy to sell his work to Hollywood. And it's why I'll probably be always happy to do it too.

So now you know.

Critique Group

I've joined a critique group. Hopfully there will be some forthcomming help on how to get this published.

Will this be helpful or send me into a depression. No clue.

Why is it I feel so close and so far away at the same time?

More writing update

Thanks to some fresh eyes I've tweaked it even more. I realize its silly but I've got to make this the best version I can.

Still no word on the other agent. I think he forgot. I'm not going to email him until the edits are finished, though.

Quick update

A lot has been going on, but I haven't been able to post due to time constraints.

The other month I finally heard back from Writer's House. They liked the manuscript and the characters but felt the story flowed unnaturally.
This goes with the rejection that said it read "stilted" and what Jeff told me long ago. He said it was stiff. I should've realized long ago what this meant.

The other month I realized how to fix it. I needed to find my "voice". Well it occurred just how I should do that and now I'm tweaking the manuscript, fixing things and reshaping it with my true voice. I feel really good about this.

Meanwhile, we've all been very sick. Hopefully this accursed flu will leave.

That's all for now. Talk to you faceless people later.

The new Star Trek Teaser Trailer

I'm starting to get excited about this.




Update, it's a fake. Ah well.

Little Batman!

I love Ghost Hunters.

Check out this video: Ghost Hunters - Revelations

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Celebrity Bric-a-Brac Theatre: The First Christmas

More Christmas Fun

Some Christmas fun

More Harry Potter 6 sneek stuff!

Stuff on HP 6!

I saw Golden Compass...

... and I loved it! The characters were very true to how they were in the books. The movie did a few scenes showing what various characters were doing while Lyra was occupied. See, the book Northern Lights was from Lyra's perspective. This mostly was too, but there were times when they had other characters explain the plots and subplots for the audience. It worked well.

Ah Pan. I really enjoyed him. I loved seeing Lyra just as much. Lee and Hester were great as well.

They did cut out the last two chapters, were Lyra and Rodger fell from Lee's balloon, where they meet up with Lord Asreal and the final part where the doorway to Cittizee (I know I have that name wrong) opens and she walks through.
That's saved for the next. Those parts are in pics and on the previews so it's filled and ready. They had better cast and film the rest soon before Dakoda Blue Richards is too old for Lyra.

Anyway, I loved it. I can't wait to own it.
I certainly want more!

Here you go, Katie-Cat

It's just a plug for the dvd.





It sounds good, though.

Twas The Dark Knight Before Christmas

This was very well done.

Lyra's song

Now there is a song dedicated to Lyra. This is a vedio of the preview, set to the song.

And here are the lyrics.

Where are our lives
If there is no dream
Where is our home

We don't know how
There will be a way
Out of this storm
We will find home

And her soul walks beside her
An army stands behind her
Lyra, Lyra

And her face full of grace
Two worlds collide around her
The truth lies deep inside her
Lyra, Lyra

And the stars look down upon her
This darkness settles on her
Lyra, Lyra

Who's to know what's in the future
We hope we will be with her
We have all our love to give her
O Lyra, Lyra

Can't Wait! Indy 4!

My daemon, Onthia

I created my daemon on one of those Golden Compass sites. I really like the daemon concept and put some text as to why.
I added this to both my Myspace and Blogger. Since daemon's go with a human everywhere, she should be right up front on my blog. If she gets in your way just wave at her and scroll under. Just don't touch her! That would be taboo!

I finished Book Two!

It's done. I'm sure it will need edits, but most of that will come from my agent and editor.

Now if I can only find an agent and editor.

This means I've written two novels. Some people want to read it, but first I need to fact check some of the info.

So, it's either back to editing or starting on Book Three.

I'm pretty happy about this. I'm getting closer to finishing the original beginning story of Annabelle and Roland. I can't believe it's going to take three books just to tell the whole first storyline.
Sheesh!

I should email one of those agents who has my manuscript. I guess I'm just scared if I do, it will turn into another rejection.

I know deep inside this story will get published. I can feel it in my bones. But I still live here in the present world, where all I get is rejection, no matter how many people like it. The agents wont represent it.

It's still with those two requests for fulls. They still have it. I'm pretty sure the six weeks are up and I'm due to contact that first agent. But what if it's a rejection?

I wish people were reading this. I could use some courage.

Two more links!

I've added my daughters' blogs to my link section.
Katie Kat's Condo and Animal Lover's Sanctuary. Go check them out!

Catch Up

I'm behind on my report of how things went. I didn't even post "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" on Thursday.

So here is a brief review on the last few days.

Monday -Tuesday:
It's official! I'm going to be perminate on the 10th. It's more stability and a pay increase. I'm pretty happy about it because after all, I do like my job.

Wednesday:
I took the day off to help with preparation for Thanksgiving. It was nice to have that time to clean.

Thursday:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Tons of family came over and no one fought. Got full of food and enjoyed visiting with Janeen's brothers and nephews. Steven stayed over so he could do "Black Friday" with us. He was looking for an IPod and our local podunk Wal-Mart didn't have it.

Friday:
"Black Friday"
Found all the things we needed. We had to go to four Wal-Marts before we found my son's most wanted item. We were getting scared and I almost teared up when we found it. I just did not want him to be disappointed come Christmas.

Saturday:
Kids saw Santa and we took the day off.

Sunday:
Church and I also finished my second book.

So it's been an eventful week. I'm kind of glad to get back to work because I don't want to get lazy.

Spiderwick Chronicles theatrical trailer

The Golden Compass Clip - As We Pleased

The Golden Compass Clip - Contract

Golden Compass Author Phillip Pullman Talks About His Agenda

Making of Doctor Who : Time Crash

Doctor Who, Children in Need Special - Time Crash

Marvel/DC: After Hours #7

Broke in Two

I decided to take book two and separate it into two books.
Its ironic, because book one used to have both books one and two in it. I broke it into two and never regretted it.

Now book two has grown into books two and three. LOL! At this rate Annabelle's 300 year history will take hundreds of volumes.

Actually, I have a plan in place, but this only helps it.

This also means I now have a started trilogy. If it sells I can proceed to the others.

Book two is closer to being finished now!

More Golden Compass stuff.

I CAN'T WAIT! Long live Lyra and Pan!

Talked to a class of sixth graders today . . .

It was a blast!

Lets go back a bit. Over a year ago I finished my novel and began the edit process. I met a 6th grade teacher and asked him to beta check it. He did. He liked it and wanted to share it with his class. He read it to them and I spoke to the class about the book.

Fast forward to now. This is the next class of children (one of whom is my daughter) and he wanted me to come in and talk about the writing process, my novel and answer questions.

It always gets me charged up to see the excitement in children's eyes. I love it when they ask questions and get even more excited about the answers. I gave them another copy of the manuscript (the class already has one) so they could check it out and read it.

I love doing this! If I could get published, it would be so wonderfully amazing to talk with kids and share my stories. I just want to bring them excitement and enjoyment.

A very good experience.

Another request for a full!

Oh man! What a shocker! I'm still waiting for word on the other request (sent it the first week of October) and now a second request for a full came in!

So two fulls are out there! I'm so excited! I've got to take a deep breath and relax. I can't expect too much...

. . .but still!

I suspect its because Stephenie Meyer's insane growing popularity. I can't swing a dizzy bat without hitting a Twilight fan. Heck, I'M a Twilight fan!

Thank you Stephenie! Go Edward and Bella, go! Lets get people WANTING Annabelle and her brother.

... wow. I've never had two requests for fulls before.

Oh please oh please oh please!

And the other guy has an update. :)

He did another video. :)

I love this guy! I want these parodys on mp3!

Supes pic

A friend on the Parodyverse created this. I like it.

The Black Velvet Ribbon

I heard the original version as a child on an old LP. I was able to get an mp3 of it.

This is a satire of it...

A request for a full!

YES! I got a request for a full. Man I'm excited! Now I realize the chances are always high for a rejection, but I have to do a happy dance.

*Dances like a crazy man for a minute*

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!

Doctor Who rodeo!

YEEHAW!

Darth Vader Blues

California

Last week I went to Huntington Beach, California for training in Micro station.
The classes were Tues through Friday, with Monday being a travel/get to know the area day.

I had a really good time. I went with a co-worker named Dennis and his wife. She brought along her laptop to study real estate while he was in class. Class was good. I understood a lot and got ahead of things. Now I just need to remember everything.

I flew out on Delta. It was a small plane but the flight was good. The rental car was a Mustang. I'm not into cars but it looks and drives nice. It was too cramped, though.

I stayed at the Best Western Regency and they stayed at the Hilton.
Monday we all rested after the traveling. I mostly read the second "His Dark Materials" book called The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman.
Tuesday I stayed around the hotel and worked on the novel edits (Dennis' wife was wonderful. She let me use her lap top in the evenings).
Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney. Great place. The family is so going back!
Thursday I hung around the beach, the Pier and did some shopping at the little stores on Main Street.
Friday we got out of class early so we went to the pier to have lunch, looked around and then went to the airport early.

We flew out Friday night (I chose late Friday because I didn't want to be away from the family any longer). We flew out on Jet Blue and it was a better plane. There was TVs on the backs of the seats. I flipped through channels faster than a ADD person dosed in Crack. It was just so fun. :)

I really enjoyed the trip. I hope to go again someday. I was glad to get home, too. I missed everyone. I had a lot of time to work on the edits, but I waisted some of that time. BAD SCOOTER! I did finish Pullman's book and started on Stephenie Meyer's New Moon.

Well there is my travel story. Here are pics of the event.

Marvel/DC: After Hours #6

Check out JT''s blog!

Like humor? Need a laugh?

Go check out JT and Tea's blog.

He's one of my friends and he's a riot.

http://jtandtea.blogspot.com/

Spider-Man 3 How It Should Have Ended

Update on things

We saved the house. Now to get back to regular things and strive to keep things normal. At least what passes for it in our lives.


Tuesday night (all night) I was in the emergency room with my Katie. She has the stomach flu. She wasn’t improving (her blood pressure was dropping down and she remained pale despite a whole bag of water that went through her IV). They checked her in to the hospital and at 4:30 am (a ½ hour before I would get up for work) I went home to sleep for a bit while Janeen took over Katie Watch.
Later I took over and remained at the hospital till 7:30pm when she was released. She’s much better but we found out she’s anemic. They prescribed iron pills and sent us home.

Now I’m going to walk the dogs and then come home. If I have time to read some PV stories so I don’t get farther behind and so some of our fine writers get appropriate kuddos for their hard work, I will. Not sure if there is time. Another sad thing is that I just don’t have time to edit the book today. Several authors (including Stephanie Meyers) say to write every day and I didn’t do that today. Grr.

Speaking of Stephanie Meyers, with all that time at the emergency room last night, I was able to finish Twilight. It was a good book that kept me reading. I’ve observed a lot of showing instead of telling. This helps me in finding how I can show in my own way. I was disappointed with the ending, but a lot of that is because my muse has me thinking in one direction and she didn’t go that way. Just in time, Phillip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife (part two of His Dark Materials) arrived at the library. Now I can continue with that. Twilight’s sequel, New Moon, is due soon too.

I guess I’ll have reading material for my trip to California next week. For those of you out of the States, I live in Utah and California is two States away. My work is sending me to Huntington Beach (that’s Southern California) for training. I’ll have free evenings and besides looking for souvenirs and walking on the beach, I’m going to use the hotel guest computer to work on editing the novel as well as penning a PV story.

And that’s the news. :)

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy does it again...

Vampire writing music

I’ve been meaning to respond to a “music as writing inspiration” thread for a year but just haven’t made the time!

When I’m actually writing, sometimes music distracts me but there are some tunes that build up my excitement and keep me going.
Normally, though, I don’t listen when I’m writing or editing.

I’m a CAD Drafter by way of day job. I try to listen to music constantly. There are certain fast songs (like Evanescence “My Immortal” and “Bring me to life” that get me in the mood for Annabelle.
Some time ago I did a search for vampire music and found a lot. I also added several non-vampire movie themes that speak to me.

When I hear the Edward Scissorhands theme, at first I see the children in their dark cloaks, pale faces and bright red hair and eyes, following Eliza (their adoptive mother and vampire mentor) through the Colonial town at night. Then the song changes tempo and I see Annabelle dancing in the light of the full moon, as well as flying with the boy she loves, Thomas.

When I hear “Love Song for a Vampire” by Annie Lennox I see Eliza, biting the near dead children and turning them into what she is. I see her sorrow for them, and hope for them and the future they must save.

“The Kraken” from the Pirates of the Caribbean II soundtrack, gives me thoughts of Dominic and his evil majesty. I see his armies of night creatures, his mad devotion to his three black eternal goals and feel the pure, deep, forever evil seething within. The power. The arrogance. How could two simple children ever hope to stop his plan?

From the play “Dance of the Vampires”, the song “Carpe Noctem” always shows me the final battle at the end of the series. Taking place in whatever year the book comes out, I see Annabelle and Roland, now generals and leaders of their army, putting up the last line of defense with all their friends and allies against the massive armies at Dominic’s control.

It goes on and on. The Cocteau Twins – “Music For Vampires” is the children as little bats, hunting in the night. ”Journey To Transylvania” from the “Van Helsing” soundtrack shows me a different carriage ride than the one it was written for. It shows Annabelle, Thomas and Eliza in their desperate chase to rescue Roland from that gruff vampire-trapper Fenroth (and I don’t mean he traps vampires, I mean he is a trapper from pre-Colonial days who is also a vampire, and one of Dominic’s right hand men).

Music just excites me and drives the desires onward. I’m glad I finally took the time to share this with you guys.

A poem to discribe my thoughts

Oh bright ball of lunar majesty! You sit in the heavens, full of illuminating power!
As I walk the streets of man, my faithful beasts at my side, I wonder at your glow.
I hear her behind your glory.
If she were real she’d be dancing beneath you. If she were real she’s stroll much like I did, listening to the nightlife and thirsting for more.
I hear her in every cricket chirp.
I see her in every shadow.
I feel her in the glow of that beautiful moon.

So why do I not heed her strong influence once more? Why dose my Chapter Eight, and all it’s sisters, remain unedited?

Exhaustion. The frail body cannot keep up with life’s demands.

But I must return. Tomorrow I hope to return. She must be headed. I will serve her tempting, addictive call.

Chocolate Rain by Chad Vader

Marvel/DC: After Hours #5

Chad Vader update

SIXTH EDITS!

I'm going to bring in the old chapter 5 (where Dominic shows up at the house) and I need to polish and refine the prose. This will be an extensive reread where I try and check that the reader can really feel whats going on.

I got a review from a published vampire author. I like what she said and it goes along with what that one rejection said, but it's put in a better, helpful way.

The Golden Compass

I saw the preview and decided to treat this movie (and another one, the Spiderwick Chronicles) like I treated Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in 2001.
Back then I saw the previews for both movies and decided to read the books to know ahead of time what the stories were truly like. This way I could enjoy the movie even more.

It worked great for both those so I'm doing it again. I read the first four Spiderwicks (they're small) and while waiting for book five from the library I started on Golden Compass. I like Spiderwick, but I think I like Compass more.

Originally published in England as the Northern Lights, this is the first of a trilogy. It's about a girl in a parallel Earth who has to go on a quest and do all sorts of stuff. You know me, I like my spunky, adventurous girls (Annabelle) so I'm totally eating it up.

At first I wasn't to enamoured with Lyra only because she's a bit crass sometimes, but as a writer I can see that Phillip Pullman did that to give her room to grow in the series.

In this world every human who ever lived has a Deamon. These are shape shifting creatures who share every emotion and physical feeling with their human. Lyra's Deamon is Pantalaimon. I really like him. He's my favorite character. Sometimes he reminds me of Adam's "Fleabot", but not rude.

This preview shows him a bit more than the other. It's from the Comic Con.






Pretty sweet, huh?

I hope we're out of our crisis by December. I REALLY want to see this.

At the moment I'm about half way through the first book. I need to get back to reading.

An accounting of my submissions so far...

Started October 06- present (August 07)

1 request for a full. (Among the rejected)
6 requests for partials (5 among the rejected)
1 full submission to a publisher (among the rejected)
59 Rejections total

32 electronic submissions still out there. 11 since last March)
9 snail mail submissions still out there. (8 since last March)
1 full soon to be submission to a publisher going out next payday.


I discovered as I compiled this list that I still had a request for a partial since last October that was still out there. I’ve gone through three revisions since then. The first five chapters (most of which were slow intro chapters and a first chapter that, while quick and hooky, was back-story) have been removed since then! Huh. I emailed him to ask if he wanted the new chapters. I expect a rejection but still!

100 submissions so far. Not bad.

JK Rowling web chat transcript now online

Lot's of info on the behind the scenes stuff for books 6 and 7. Take a look.


Here’s the transcript as seen on Mugglenet. BIG SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7

Request for a full, hmm, worry...

I'm done with the 5th edits and now I'm submitting again.

I've got four email submissions out (two more back, instantly rejected), two more as snail mails and...

A full.

Not sure about this one though. Here's why and advice needed.


I was at the local fair and discovered an author signing her cook books. I asked who her agent was. She didn't have one but she gave me the name of a contact person for a small publisher here in Utah.


Cedar Fork Inc


I called the guy and talked of my book, my passion and the kids and betas who loved it. He's more than happy to look at the manuscript.

It's a small publisher, though.


As some of you might remember, I asked about jumping in with a small press.


Here's the link...


http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44643&highlight=Shadow+Mountain


I'm still concerned. I've "only" been looking for a year and as you guys know, that’s small potatoes. Feels like forever. Still I hear about how authors start out with small publishers, then after a bit they sell to bigger ones. I believe JK and the Eragon writer both did this.


I want Annabelle everywhere, not just in Utah. It's for any young adult audience. Of course, it's not LDS and this small publisher seems to focus on LDS, so it'll probably be rejected. I did send in to Shadow Mountain last October. It was rejected.


I guess I still have fears that it wont get very far with a small timer and since I have no agent I will get shafted in the deal.


Yet I hear that it's easier to get an agent if you have a publisher already. Kind of like you've done their work for them. And I do need a foot in the door.

Look at me, putting the cart before the horse.

I put this in "Goals and Accomplishments" because it's kind of exciting to me that some one will be looking at the whole book. And this is the version where we begin in the thick of the main plot.

Wish me luck and if anyone has more advice on the good/bad of small publishers please let me know.

5th edits done

I cant cut any more from the front. Sure, I could cut the kidnappers and the school house, but why?

This version is the best. I know there still will be more edits, but I'm happy.

I sent out five submissions to lit agents today. Got two more rejections. That means three plus the one from the 31st of July combine to make four submissions.

So four out there. I want to send out two more tomorrow by mail. That would make six. It's not the goal of twenty, but I cant send the rest next week.

I'm a drop in a large bucket. Chances of striking gold is crazy, but I feel good about it. There were those who were interested in the past. Maybe I'll hook more and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to keep one.

Too static, feeling better

Saundra Mitchell posted the best reply on Absolute Write.

"When my agent and I were cleaning up a manuscript for submission, she said something to me that has stuck with me ever since, referring to the big hook of the introduction: "Page 54 is too late."

So if your real story doesn't start until Chapter Three, then Chaps 1 and 2 may be full of action and motion, but they're static because the story hasn't started yet, perhaps?"

My real story starts in chapter 5 or 6.

I'm getting some ideeeeas.

Too static part two

I posted the following on AW (Absolute Write).

It gives my feelings right now.

----

Thanks guys. Not a bad idea. He only looked at the first three chapters. Chapter one is constantly in motion, but two gives time to figure who the main characters are and the world they live in. Chapter three has them discovering the spooky plot.

Maybe I'll take the real changing event of the book and put it in the front. Maybe I should take that important second chapter of info, and spread it out.

I just don't get it. I read other author's books. I read their first ones, the ones that they sold and gained the agents and publishers from. I read those and I see boring second and third chapters with info dumps and everything else. How did they get accepted?
Meanwhile, people tell me they love my book and can't put it down, yet it gets rejected from agents again and again.

I've changed and changed and changed. I've been told to alter things by one beta to the point that it would no longer be my dream anymore. The kids liked it. People I only met through looking for betas liked it. Yet no agent wants it.

Maybe they're too picky? Maybe I'm not giving enough of the dream up? Maybe I have changed too much? Maybe I've changed enough? It took JK ten years from concept to publish. Will I be 50 when it's published? IF it's published? Am I fooling myself? Am I jumping the gun with my concerns?

Should I skip the agents? Should I write them all off as too jaded and untrusting and move onto publishers? But then I'll run out of publishers.

On one hand I believe this will make it. On the other I wonder if I'm fooling myself. I started to submit last fall and after several requests I'm still left cold. And I can't even trust what they say. One agent told me vampire fiction was past it's time, yet others wanted it and I see vampire fiction selling. So if I can't trust them, who can I trust? Maybe a interested agent who wants to give me a real chance is as real as the tooth fairy.

WHEN? WHO?
WHY do I feel, deep down, like this will be ok? WHY? Why is it so... dang...hard?

GAAAAHHHH!