PROMETHEUS--A Rant

I saw Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS on Thursday night.  I wasn't overly keen on seeing this movie, nor was I actively avoiding it.  Surprisingly, I had managed to avoid viewing any trailers or clips from the film before going to see it, but I knew that Scott himself had said the movie wasn't a "true" prequel to the Alien movies.  Somewhere in my mind, that statement set off a red flag.  I should say up front that I hate prequels.  Hate them utterly.  And a quasi-prequel?  I never even heard of that, but should have guessed by the way Scott was distancing himself from that notion that the movie would be a mess.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Way back in the 70s, when I was about eleven years old, I thought Star Wars was the greatest thing I'd ever seen.  My father had taken me to see the movie, and after that I saw it numerous more times without him.  I had the comic book and some of the action figures, and pretty much anything else I could get my hands on.  The problem was that there really wasn't all that much Star Wars stuff back in the very beginning.  Mostly what I wanted was another story, and although I hoped another movie would be made I really wasn't sure there would be one (remember folks, this is before the internet).  There were a couple of TV specials and there were a couple of books that came out.  And one of these was the very well known novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster.

The Forever Knight--First Excerpt

Update: Sorry, folks, the last of the DAW samplers has been given away. But you can still join the mailing list to keep up to date on book news and future giveaways.

The very first excerpt of my upcoming novel THE FOREVER KNIGHT has been published.  DAW Books has put out A Feast of Fantasy, a very cool paperback Sampler of some of their upcoming titles, including the first chapter THE FOREVER KNIGHT, which comes out in November.  I've been hoping to see an excerpt released for a long while, and now the time has finally come.
 
The folks at DAW have sent me a bunch of copies of A Feast of Fantasy to give out to prospective readers.  Besides the excerpt from my own book, the Sampler includes excerpts from upcoming books by Tad Williams, Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara, Jim Hines, and Kari Sperring.  Nice!

So how do you get a copy of the Sampler?  I've just launched a mailing list here at the blog, and anyone who signs up for it will be sent a copy (while supplies last). (The mailing list sign up form is at the top of the sidebar on the homepage--just look to your right). It's completely free, and the mailing list is a good way to be notified about book release dates, upcoming contests, and whatever other interesting things I can think of.  But it won't be a regular "newsletter;" it's just going to be an occasional email from me when important book-related news pops up.  Just put your name and email address into the sign-up sheet, and I'll contact you for a mailing address so I can send you your Sampler.  Easy, right?  Then you can start reading the latest adventure of the Bronze Knight.

BRAVE--A Short Review

So after a year of waiting, I finally got the chance to see BRAVE this morning at the local multiplex.  I read a number of reviews for the film before going to see it, and I wish I hadn't done that because I kept thinking about the movies "flaws" that I'd read about while watching the film.

BRAVE isn't a great movie, though it does have some great scenes.  The problem is there just aren't enough of them to put the movie as a whole into the "great" category.  One thing that is great about the movie is Merida, the heroine of the movie.

SpongeBob vs. Phineas & Ferb

Saturday morning always puts me in the mood for cartoons.  Of course, Saturday morning isn't what it used to be for kids shows, because now there are channels where it's wall-to-wall programming for kids, and while I love that and wouldn't want to go back to the old days, there's still something great about thinking of Saturday morning as a protective bubble of cartoons and a bowl of cereal.

On Writing--Sexing it Up

A couple of weeks ago I hopped onto Twitter to ask folks how they like they're fantasy heroines.  I wanted to know if they liked them sexy or not too sexy, and within seconds the answers started flying in.  I really had no expectations when I asked the question.  I asked it honestly because I've been struggling with it myself lately while create a central female character for the book I'm currently writing.  The replies I got back from Twitter were all very interesting but not very varied. Most folks like sexy heroines, and not just guys.  The real question becomes what's too sexy?  And that's where things get cloudy.

SUPERMAN

Did you ever think you knew a lot about something, only to find out that your knowledge about a subject is actually pretty weak?  I thought I knew a lot about Superman, mainly because I read the comic books and seen the movies.  Which is why I was so surprised when I listened to this terrific interview this morning on the NPR program Fresh Air with the author of a book about Superman.  I love podcasts, I love NPR, and I love Superman, so when you put all those things together, well, I'm a happy nerd.

Indie Spotlight--Debra L. Martin

Today I'm introducing a new, semi-regular feature at the Happy Nerd--the Indie Spotlight.  As some of you know I've recently caught the independent author bug.  After years of being published traditionally, and seeing that getting harder and harder to do, I've decided to eventually self-publish my own work.  I've been all over the net getting information about self publishing and have met a number of really great, helpful people.  I want to be able to highlight some of them here at the blog and let you hear their perspectives about writing, independent publishing--really anything they feel passionate about discussing.

Choosing the first guest indie writer was a pretty simple decision for me.  I've known Debra L. Martin for quite a while now.  Over the years we've exchanged numerous emails, swapping ideas and thoughts about writing and publishing in general.  She's always generous with her time and input, and I'm really pleased that she agreed to guest blog for me.  In her piece she discusses a subject that I've always been curious about--writing with a co-author.  Thanks Deb!

Writing with a Co-Author: Leave your ego at the door

Thanks John for inviting me to be a guest on your blog. I thought about what to write about and finally decided that I was in a unique position to talk about a specific topic that most authors probably will not experience--that is, writing with a co-author.

I started writing with my co-author, David W Small, in 2006. I was lucky to have such an awesome co-author, but I’m a bit biased. You see, David is my brother and he has traveled around the world while in the Marine Corps. With his military background, I could be sure that any fight/battle scenes in our books would be spot on.

Growing up we both enjoyed the same types of books—science fiction and fantasy—and even into adulthood, we would pass books back and forth on a regular basis.  One day I was on the phone with Dave while he browsed the latest books in SFF and he was complaining that every book available was basically the same. I said, “we could write our own book,” and our collaboration was born.

Now saying you’re going to write a book and actually writing one is at opposite ends of the spectrum. As any author will tell you, they’re heard that exact same statement from lots of people, but actually following through on it and putting words to paper takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and self-determination.

Our first book was Quest for Nobility, a fantasy based on the distant planet Otharia. Our main characters were royal twins (brother and sister). Surprising, right? Anyway, it made perfect sense for us. We’ve had a loving relationship all our lives and it wasn’t hard to write these characters and how they would react to the conflicts we would throw at them. We had a general outline of the book and initially assigned each other a chapter to write. Now that sounds reasonable, however, it turned out to be a disaster.

We turned out to be pretty similar in our writing styles which meant that we included pretty much all the same information in both chapters. Out came the delete button and thousands of words went into the trash bin. So then we figured that we would write one chapter at a time before we sent it to the other one for edits. That way we both knew what was already in the chapter and could move forward with the next chapter without repeating the same information. Still, it wasn’t all smooth sailing especially when something was added that we both didn’t agree on. Our mutual test was “if you can’t justify why something is included, then out it goes.” Yes, you definitely need to leave your ego at the door and keep the big picture in mind. You want to write the best book you can and sometimes that means things got left on the cutting room floor.

So that should have worked, right? Wrong! Do you know what happens when two people are writing a story without a specific outline? It’s not pretty and ¾ into the book, we thought of a fantastic tangent that we had to include in the book. That meant we needed to go back to the beginning chapters again and rework them so that our new tangent made sense. When we finally finished the book, we felt like we’d run a marathon, but we weren’t done yet. After letting it set for a few weeks, it was back for another round of edits. It’s amazing how much you see that needs to be changed if you step away for a bit.  All in all, our first book was probably edited from cover to cover at least 6 or 7 times before it went to our editor for the final edit. That’s a lot of editing, but the book is now something we both are proud to put our names on. This was also the book that nearly landed us an agent in 2008, but in the end, it didn’t work out. The one positive thing we came away with though is that we didn’t suck at writing! We could write an exciting action-packed adventure and that was a huge boost for us.

Because of our experience in writing Quest, we knew that we needed more than a 10,000 foot outline. In the second book in the Otharia series, The Crystal Façade, the writing went much more smoothly. We were getting into our groove and we had a much more extensive outline to work from. That’s not to say that we don’t think of “cool” things to add in along the way, we absolutely do, but at least now when we add in an unexpected twist or another tangent we don’t have to backtrack to the beginning and fix the plot. Even though we both know what the outline says, it’s still exciting to see how it actually turns out especially when we both add in little tidbits as surprises for the other.

Our newest release, Assassin’s Curse, the first book in a new series, “Prophecy of the Witch Stone,” was an absolute blast to write and we have definitely gained our rhythm writing together. We are currently working on the next book in that series and will then tackle the final volume in the Otharia series.

Dave and I love writing together. It is a fantastic creative outlet for us, but it may not be for everyone. If you plan to write with a co-author, make sure you have compatible writing styles. When Dave and I look back at our books, we can’t remember who wrote what and that’s a very good thing!

Author Bio:

Debra L Martin writes SF/fantasy with her co-author and brother, David W Small. They have been writing together since 2006. They make their partnership work through the use of email, Instant Messaging and Skype. Their newest release is an epic fantasy, ASSASSIN'S CURSE. They have written two novels, QUEST FOR NOBILITY and THE CRYSTAL FACADE in the RULE OF OTHARIA series and three novellas in the DARK FUTURE series to-date. 

Debra lives on the East Coast with her husband and 2 cats.  She works as a Programs Manager at a research university. David lives on the West Coast with his wife.  He retired from the Marines after 21 years and currently works as a Network Specialist.

Contact info:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debra.l.martin

Facebook Fan Page:

http://www.facebook.com/Debra.L.Martin.Author

Twitter: http://twitter.com/dlmartin6

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/debralmartin

TV Memories

The Tomorrow People

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much TV has changed. Actually, it's something I think about a lot. Maybe it's just because it's Fathers Day and I'm feeling nostalgic for the way things used to be, but with my birthday coming up my sister is asking me what I'd like for a gift, and it turns out I'm getting too really old TV shows on DVD (probably: I won't actually know until I get my gifts).  One is Sealab 2020, an old Hanna Barbera cartoon that just came out on video.  The other show is even older, called The Persuaders, a crime show that starred Tony Curtis and Roger Moore.  I wonder how many of you out there even know who those two guys are, much less remember the show!

On Writing--The Black Mirror

Some of you who come to this blog know that I wrote a book back around 2005 called The Black Mirror.  It was an epic fantasy novel, pretty typical in a lot of ways to the previous books that I'd written.  The manuscript went to my publisher, who read and decided that it needed a lot of work.  I was hugely disappointed at the time, because the book represented a lot of effort on my part and naturally I believed--and still do-that The Black Mirror is a good book and deserves to be published.  The manuscript has languished in limbo ever since, and I moved on to other projects, thinking that I would likely never get any editorial feedback on the book.

Rise of the Guardians

Funny, but just a day or so after writing about my preference for Dreamworks movies over Pixar films, I saw some promo posters for this movie that's coming out in November from Dreamworks--Rise of the Guardians.  I had no idea this was on the horizon, and it looks awesome.  Have you seen the trailer for it yet?  I just did.  What a treat for fantasy fans.  This is the kind of whimsical, emotional idea for a story that always give me the urge to sit down in front of the old laptop and start writing.  When you watch the trailer, check out how cool the Tooth Fairy looks, and Santa looks like some ass-kicking Cossack.  Not sure I'd want that dude coming down my chimney.

BK Bacon Sundae

So there I was, trying to figure out what nerdy subject to write about tonight when the perfect idea came to me from a twitter friend (thanks @TweetMMO!).  This may be all over the place by now, and if I’m late to the game I apologize. That’s the sucky part of being at work all day—you miss the really important stuff, like Burger King’s announcement for its new  bacon sundae.

Dreamworks vs Pixar

I wasn't sure what to blog about tonight until I saw this concept art earlier today for the upcoming Pixar movie Brave.  By now we've all seen plenty of clips from Brave (or at least you have if you ever watch the Disney Channel).  From the beginning I thought Brave looked like a winner, way back a year or more ago when I first saw a poster for it.  Nothing else, just that poster, and I was hooked.  I think I even blogged about it.  There's something about  a simple, static piece of art that's often much more powerful than a full blown video clip, and when I saw this sketchy, black and white drawing of Merida (the main character from Brave) it stoked me all over again into wanting to see the film.

Hatfields & McCoys

Believe it or not I don't watch a lot of television.  It's not because I don't like TV; I do.  The problem is finding the time to see all the good shows that are on nowadays.  Between work, family, and writing, a lot of shows I enjoy just aren't making it into my weekly rotation (like Nurse Jackie and Mad Men).  Yes, the DVR helps, but so much of it goes unwatched and then, sadly, gets erased.

Superman vs. The Elite

On June 12th, the latest DC animated movie Superman vs  The Elite comes out on DVD. If you’ve never watched one of these animated movies (either from DC or Marvel), and you’re a superhero fan, you really should.  No, must.  I see pretty much every one of these animated movies that come out, because they are the best way to experience these great characters in moving pictures.  I like the live action movies as much as anyone, but these animated movies are so much more like the comic books that frankly it’s hard to describe.  Where the movies are always messing with the back-stories and, worse, the costumes (what the hell was that Hawkeye was wearing in Avengers anyway?), the animated movies really resonate with the comics, often retelling long story arcs from the books in a truncated but (mostly) faithful form.

The Great 200th Post

I was looking over the stats for the site last night when I realized that I’ve now made 199 posts here at T.H.N.  Obviously that means this one is number 200, a definite milestone for me and one that I’m quite proud of.  I started this blog back a year and a half ago, because I wanted a place to talk about all the ephemeral things I take pleasure in, things like comic books and cartoons, things that may not be “important” in the typical sense of the word but actually have a real impact on my day-to-day enjoyment of life

Ray Bradbury

I rarely if ever get emotional about the death of a celebrity. I didn't shed a tear when Princess Diana died, and when John Lennon got shot I had to ask my sister who he was--I honestly didn't know. Maybe it's our celebrity-crazed society that's got me uptight; who knows. Basically, if I don't know someone personally it's hard for me to feel connected enough to care very much. Which is why I was surprised how saddened I was to hear about Ray Bradbury's death today.

Tuesday Night Nerd News

The Ravagers

So I just got back from seeing Snow White and the Huntsman, and because I've been talking about it so much here I figured I'd let you all know what I think of it.  The quick and dirty lowdown is that I liked it, but I didn't love it.  To be honest, I was pretty bored throughout the middle of the film, and I just don't think there was enough of a story there to justify its two hour plus running time.  Most of the movie is about Snow White fleeing from the queen's men, and while that might make a good movie if handled well, it all felt kind of saggy to me.  Kristen Stewart takes a lot of heat for her acting, but honestly she was fine and made a very attractive Snow White. I've never seen her in anything before, but I came out of the movie liking her.  She's not a perfect beauty, which might be what I like in fact.  She's got what Bobby Hill would call Wabi Sabi :)

Cover Update

Thanks to all of you who've been following and helping me solve the problem of the cover images for The Forever Knight. (Quick backstory for those who don't know, the book is supposed to becoming out in November but the online booksellers like Amazon and BN had a cover image for an entirely different book.)

Anyway, turns out the problem wasn't with any of the sellers, but with the publisher, because I discovered yesterday that even the publisher had the wrong cover image posted. Ouch.  Apparently they have some kind of system that feeds the cover image out to the rest of the world, and the one for my book was wrong. Yes, I was pretty upset about it; I know I kind of made a stink.  Hey, I was frustrated!  But I wound up contacting one of the good guys at DAW about the problem, a fellow who's always been helpful to me in the past, and he got right on it.  The fix is in, so to speak, and the cover should propagate out to the online sellers over the next several days.

So, problem solved.  I hope :)  Thank you again to those of you who contacted Amazon to help get it fixed.  I'm really grateful to have such cool online friends.

Madagascar 3

So you all already know what a big cartoon and animated movie fan I am, but I've never really been into the Madagascar franchise.  I saw the first one a while back and thought it was decent, but nothing special; I think I gave it three out of five stars on Netflix.  So when some preview tickets fell into my lap over this past weekend to get a sneak peak at Madagascar 3, which opens this Friday, I wasn't all that enthusiastic.  I've been seeing the commercials for M3 for a while now, and to you the truth I thought the movie looked dumb and very unfunny.  On the other hand, I love going to movies and I especially love going to the movies with my young son, so I took the preview tickets and took a chance.

On Writing--Gods and Goddesses

Like a lot of fantasy readers/writers, I have a thing for mythology. For me it started way back in junior high when I was given a school book about the Greek gods. I'm quite sure I read every story in it and remember a lot of them to this day, including a story called "The Pomegranate Seed," about the goddess Persephone. Those stories have had at least some influence on all the books I've written so far, but I've never gotten too deeply into creating a real "world" of gods and goddesses until now.

Play the Sunset

I was at work the other day when the song "Stranger on the Shore" popped into my head. It's a song that I've known for a long time but never could figure out what it was called until I finally took to the web to search it out, because I remembered it appeared in the movie "Mr Holland's Opus." So while I was at work I hopped on the web again and found this, a mashup of my favorite scenes from the film:


The song really isn't important; it's the way Richard Dreyfuss and Alicia Witt play their scenes that give this such impact. A lot of people think about becoming a teacher and some point in their lives. I've thought about it myself from time to time. I like to imagine that this is the kind of teacher I'd have been.  Yes, it's a romantic notion, but a powerful one nonetheless.

I once heard an interview with Richard Dreyfuss in which he said he never doubted he'd be successful as an actor.  He just knew he'd make it, because he knew he was good and was committed to succeeded.

If you decide to watch this clip, take the time to really watch it. It's a little long, so just get quiet and slip into it.