PSA: semi-permanent hiatus

As I’m sure my followers have noticed, I’ve been… less than active recently. To be honest, this summer kind of got on top of me, and I honestly don’t see my schedule clearing up any time soon as I go into my first year at University, so this blog is going to be on a semi-permanent hiatus until further notice. I apologize to anyone whose comments or questions have not been answered, and thank you all for bearing with me patiently!

You can still find me over at Goodreads, where I will be reviewing the books/comics/manga that I read in an abbreviated fashion. My Twitter is also a good place to catch me, and I also have a YouTube account where I will occasionally be video-reviewing.

Again, thank you all so much! It’s been a really cool experience, blogging with all of you; know that I’m not going away forever, either. I just want to focus on my studies (and writing/applying to the Dell Awards!) for at least this first semester. :3

 

PSA: my apologies for being so lax about posting!

I would like to apologize for my lack of blogging presence recently. There are many reasons why I haven’t really been blogging, but the two primary ones are a.) I’ve been having a really rough (and busy!) few weeks, with WAAAAAYYY too many trials and quandaries ranging from family issues to money troubles to water tanks failing right in the middle of a hot shower (ARGGGGHHH) and b.) I’ve been devoting my 1-2.5 hours of writing time to my fiction work instead. My work on my novel (which began as a short story a few months ago and has now expanded) has been limited to  character intros and outlining so far, but I’m about to charge recklessly ahead into the first chapter. Expect to hear updates on The Novel as time goes on!

(I’ve also been working on a short story set in The Novel’s Asian-inspired fantasy universe, and that’s also coming along quite nicely. I’ve finished all my set-up work and am about to head into my second act, and I’m thinking this one JUST MIGHT come out publishable, if I can avoid messing up the ending.)

As for A, there is a light at the end of the tunnel in that regard. The family issues are resolving themselves (thank gods!) and I’m getting ridiculously excited for college in the fall! This gap year has been wonderful in terms of having the scheduling freedom that I’ve had, but I am finding that without the structure of an academic work schedule, I am not as good at ignoring distractions/making deadlines. Also, I love learning, and am very excited about the classes I am taking this semester, especially Women’s Studies and Anthro 101.

For the record, I also have Evil Plans for this blog, which I will reveal in due course as they come to fruition. 😉 You guys are wonderfully patient with me, and I intend to reward that patience!

ETA: The next review to go up will be of Katana by Cole Gibsen; after that, expect to see my reviews of City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare and Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott! Happy reading!

Clockwork Princess Countdown

I’m so excited! Literally can’t wait!

Freeform Fridays: Writing an Ensemble Cast (Lessons from Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers”)

So, I’ve gone to see two movies over the last couple of weeks. For me, that’s a lot—I tend to only emerge for “big” stuff like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, and get everything else on DVD. They were Dark Shadows (which is going to have its own post eventually—I spent much of the movie with my face in my palm so I haven’t quite figured out what to say about it) and The Avengers.

I could seriously write a whole post on how much I loved this movie—I’m seriously considering going to see it again, and I’ve NEVER watched the same movie twice in theaters—but that’s not the focus of this post, so I’ll move on to the real topic: what we, as writers, can learn about writing an ensemble cast from this lovely superhero flick.

1.    There needs to be conflict.

Conflict is important to all writing, but never is it more necessary than when you are working with an ensemble cast. It’s absolutely unrealistic to expect to get the different personalities necessary to make up a team in the same room together and have them all hold hands and get along right away. It’s even preferable to have a character like Tony Stark, who spends most of the first half of The Avengers quipping at the others and being a pain. Conflict between characters in an ensemble cast equals dynamic scenes and even laugh-out-loud funny moments that can ease the tension of your plot a bit and keep your reader intrigued.

 

2.      …but, there also needs to be a certain amount of harmony.

If your characters do nothing BUT bicker all the time, I doubt very much that anything is EVER going to get done. Someone’s in danger? S/he will probably die while everybody’s hashing it out. Evil supervillain poised to take over Earth with an alien army? Done, while Steve and Tony are still butting heads. When the push comes to shove, your characters HAVE to work well together, whether they like one another or not, so that they CAN save the day.

It also bears mentioning that it’s always a good idea to have at least two characters in the group who kind of “get” each other, achieved to great effect in The Avengers with RDJ’s Tony Stark and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner. Stark pokes Banner and is generally a pain in his neck, to be sure, but he has an understanding of the scientific aspect that none of the others do, and Banner seems to see right past Stark’s jokey exterior to the softness underneath. They don’t necessarily “like” one another, but each UNDERSTANDS the other, and that understanding is palpable in many of their scenes.

Here they are being total bros. In identically hideous shirts. :3

3.      Choose the right characters/interactions for each scene.

One of the best scenes in The Avengers, in my humble opinion, was the scene where Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is “interrogating” Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Both actors played their parts perfectly, and the scene simply would not have worked had it been, say, Tony Stark or Steve Rogers in Black Widow’s place. There are other scenes that illustrate this point, but this one really stuck out when I was considering how I was going to write this post. Choose the right characters and the right dynamics to emphasize in a scene, and you will come out with something tense and powerful. Choose the wrong characters, and the scene will fall flatter than a cake after the oven door has been slammed shut.

4.      As you get toward the end, try to utilize a polarizing/drastic event to show how the characters have grown together.

The moment when Tony Stark falls to the ground made everyone in the theater that I was in gasp, and you can see that it catches Tony’s fellows off guard as well. This concern—this deep caring for “one of their own”– is what really brings this ensemble cast together. Why this, and not the scenes where they’re all fighting together in a completely unified group? Because this scene packs an emotional punch, and readers/watchers almost always connect to scenes in an EMOTIONAL way rather than a strictly rational way. So give your ensemble cast a tragedy to deal with, even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. Put one of their makeshift “family” in danger and watch for a moment, allowing your readers to feel like it could be their sibling/parent/child/lover/best friend lying there on the ground, dead or dying or in grave danger. Punching your readers/watchers in the gut can be a good thing—just don’t do it every scene/episode/chapter or they WILL come to hate you. (I’m looking at you, Supernatural season 7.)

So that’s it. If you’ve enjoyed this blog post, or have questions/comments/criticisms, go ahead and drop a comment below.

Book Review: “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” by Emily M. Danforth

I love the way that the model is posed in this shot. I’ve often been in a similar position during haying season– it allows you a “world view” of the hayfields that is just awesome.

Title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Author: Emily M. Danforth

Maturity Level: Upper YA. There are a few marginally explicit sex scenes and a lot of difficult concepts.

You May Like This Book if: you enjoy YA that’s written in a more adult/literary style;  you remember what it was like to be a teenager; you have an interest in LGBT issues.

You May NOT Like This Book if: you don’t enjoy literary fiction.

Cameron Post is your average teenage girl, devoted to swimming and old movies. But on the day her parents die in a sudden and violent accident, Cameron is busy shattering the status quo of her tiny-town-in-Montana life in a big way: kissing Irene Klauson in a hay loft. Suddenly and orphan, Cameron moves in with her super-conservative Aunt Ruth and tries to forget all about that day, hiding her sexuality in an attempt to blend in. Until Coley Taylor comes swooping in, that is, and Cameron can no longer hide.

This book was beautiful in so many ways. It was poignant and heartbreaking, with just enough humor mixed in to lighten the darkness. The whole “de-gaying facility” subplot was handled very well, with some really obvious research and care given to its portrayal. There is not a character in this book who is not wonderfully flawed and yet totally relatable, and the world is also drawn in such a way that you have no doubt where you are.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It has such a lovely feel to it, and I appreciate Danforth’s concise but lyrical prose. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of Danforth’s work in the future!

Pros

• Attention to detail. Danforth has dropped us right into the 90’s-era Bible Belt culture without being preachy.
• The leisurely pace. Rather than being draggy, it was a joy to read and savor.
• Cameron and I could be friends in real life. She was likable without being perfect, and I ached for her loneliness and confusion, celebrated with her when she had her breakthrough, and generally identified with her despite our differences.
• The Promise kids and the research that Danforth obviously did into these sorts of facilities.
• Adam and the wonderful portrayal of the winkte concept.

Cons

• Slightly slow-moving, and definitely written in a style more suited to adult literary than YA—but I can’t say I didn’t like it!

Favorite Scene (s):

• Pg 311-394. The whole end bit ran the gamut from arresting to terrifying to beautiful, a raucous roller-coaster ride of emotion that left me stunned by its ferocity. Very well done.

Favorite Line (s):

• “There was more than just one world beyond ours; there were hundreds and hundreds of them, and at 99 cents apiece, I could rent them all.” ~Pg 40
• “It felt really good to do something that made no sense at all.”~ pg 71

Star Rating on Goodreads: 5 stars out of 5.

Final Grade:  A+. Transformative, sad, and poignant.

Waiting on Wednesday: “A Confusion of Princes” by Garth Nix

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine and showcases new releases that we can’t wait to get our claws… err, hands… on.

I really like this cover. The color scheme is so pretty 😀

Title: A Confusion of Princes (Click  to add to your Goodreads!)

Author: Garth Nix

Expected Publication Date: May 15th, 2012 (for the U.S. release, anyway).

Summary from Goodreads: You’d think being a privileged Prince in a vast intergalactic Empire would be about as good as it gets. But it isn’t as great as it sounds. For one thing, Princes are always in danger. Their greatest threat? Other Princes. Khemri discovers that the moment he is proclaimed a Prince.

He also discovers mysteries within the hidden workings of the Empire. Dispatched on a secret mission, Khemri comes across the ruins of a space battle. In the midst of it all he meets a young woman named Raine, who will challenge his view of the Empire, of Princes, and of himself.

 Why I’m Waiting: I’ve loved Nix ever since I read The Ragwitch when I was twelve. Since then, I’ve pretty much devoured everything he’s ever written (even Shade’s Children, which was a little too hard SF for me but whatever), and I can’t wait to see how he incorporates his own military past into this lovely little sci-fi.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday? Comment below and let me know/link me back to your WoW post.

PSA regarding TV Round-up for 4/30/2012

Due to unforeseen circumstances that included a computer eating a few files, my mom being just out of an extremely painful tooth extraction, and my needing to work on Sunday, I have not either a.) watched the new Legend of Korra episode or b.) rewatched the most recent SPN episode. Thus, I think I will postpone this week’s TV roundup, and simply include my thoughts on both episodes in next week’s. Thank you for your patience!

One thing that WILL be coming your way is my review of “Partials” by Dan Wells, so stay tuned!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Characters of All Time

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome people over at The Broke and the Bookish. Check ’em out! 😉

There’s something you should probably know about me before you start reading this post.

I LOVE characters (which is probably a good thing for my writer-brain), and I get attached to them in ways that are probably unhealthy. I weep for them, I laugh with them, and I mourn them when they’re gone. Don’t get me wrong– I love “real people” too. I just have a fangirl problem.

So be ready. There will be MASSIVE fangirling ahead. MASSIVE. (Also, it’s a darn good thing this one is limited to books/graphic novels– I have half an hour to jot out this post and if I had TV/movie characters in there as well, it might literally take me all day. :P)

1. Crowley (Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett, Good Omens)

Yeah, Crowley gets top billing here. Badass Angel-Who-Sauntered-Vaguely-Downward who has a weakness for good food and classic British cars? Me likey.

 

 

2. Aziraphale (Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett, Good Omens)

Annnd I couldn’t mention Crowley without Aziraphale, now, could I? I appreciate his book obsession, and also the strange balance of utterly selfish and pervasively GOOD that Gaiman and Pratchett have achieved within his character.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Remus Lupin (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter series)

I try not to play favorites with HP, since I love all the HP characters, but Lupin has always been and will always be a character that I really appreciate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Katniss Everdeen (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games)

Katniss is a badass with a heart of gold. ‘Nough said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Daine Sarrasri (Tamora Pierce, The Tortallbooks)

Daine was always a girl after my own heart, and her character progression throughout this series is FANTASTIC.

 

6. Numair Salmalin (Tamora Pierce, The Tortall books)

Part of what drew me to Numair is that he is a TOTAL DORK…. but he’s also a badass who could kill you with his pinky finger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Jem Carstairs (Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel)

Plays violin. Kicks demon ass despite his physical limitations. Kind, generous, and loving. Yeah, Jem is my favorite.

8.  Death (Markus Zusak, The Book Thief)

Doesn’t look like this. Also, BEST NARRATOR EVER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Anna Korlov (Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood)

I just love her so much, both as a vengeful ghost and as the girl Cas falls for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Juushiro Ukitake (Tite Kubo, Bleach)

I’m cheating a little, because he is actually from an anime/manga, but whatever. At first, I kind of hated him because to me he broke the flow of the whole Soul Society arc, but he grew on me as time went on. What can I say? He became one of my all-time favs. Funny how that turns out.

 

 

 

 

What are your Top Ten characters? Let me know in the comments or link me back to your own TTT post! 😀

TV Round-Up April 15th-22nd (Supernatural and Legend of Korra)

NOTE:  I’m switching my TV review style, in light of the fact that I am now watching/reviewing Legend of Korra alongside Supernatural, and also that Doctor Who and Leverage will both be starting their new seasons soon as well (YAY!! :D). Rather than posting individual reviews of shows, I am now going to be posting a concise synopsis of the episode, followed by some quick thoughts, and then compiling them all into a compendium format.

Onwards!

Supernatural 7.19 “Of Grave Importance”

Apparently, SPN is determined to keep giving us one-two punches this season, mainly in the form of a.) killing beloved characters or b.) bringing them back again. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I still hadn’t recovered from Castiel’s return and subsequent tragedy when we saw Bobby at the end of “Party On, Garth”, so I’ll admit that I may have cried a little.

Annnd that brings us to “Of Grave Importance” where Bobby finally makes his presence known to the Winchesters after they receive a call from the lovely red-headed Annie regarding a haunted house case that she’s working.

I would really have liked to see Annie as a recurring character, but unfortunately it appears that Castiel is the only member of TFW to have dodged the Winchester Sex-is-Death Curse. So far. (We still don't know what happened to Daphne, after all.)

Annie is doomed before we meet her, as she has managed to complete the Trifecta of Death by…ermm… knowing Sam, Dean, AND Bobby. In the Biblical sense, of course. So she and Bobby hang around, all ghost-like, Bobby picks up some ghost-fu, and the case wraps up as most haunted house cases do–only now, Bobby has finally managed to get through those thick Winchester skulls, and it looks like we’re headed for a Team Free  Will reunion of the epic sort… but the Winchesters aren’t sure that having a ghost sidekick is necessarily an awesome idea.

Which leads to this bit of expression-acting from Jim Beaver, sending him firmly into the trying-to-kill-me-with-their-sad-eyes corner with Misha Collins for company. C'mon, boys. How can y'all resist that?

Overall, I thought… it was a solid episode, certainly, and I am psyched as always to see Bobby back with the boys—even if they have some misgivings about it.

I liked…. The very traditional, very old school SPN “Haunted House” plot. Annie, the hunter with… ahem… a varied past. Hemingway being used as a euphemism for sex. Sam’s face when he realized that he, Dean, and Bobby had all slept with the same woman. Victoria, the “fancy lady”.

I didn’t like…. The makeup jobs on Annie and Bobby. The fact that we STILL don’t know what Dick Roman is up to. The slightly laggy, boring bits in the middle. The fact that Dean did NOT step out of the shower in just a towel.

Final Grade… B. Not a stellar episode, but entertaining enough to make up for it. Also, BOBBY.

Coming Up Next… We have Felicia Day as a hot techie hacker-chick! And Dick Roman! And an awesome comic-style promo! AND HOPEFULLY SOME FORWARD MOTION IN THIS PLOT AGGGGHH….

(All links go to SpoilerTV, because they rock my socks and post sneak peeks lightning-fast :D)

Avatar: Legend of Korra 1.03 “The Revelation”

So far, I am totally loving this series. It’s so different from A:TLA and yet so similar, despite the fact that most of the main cast of A:TLA are either dead or very, very old. Korra herself is a freaking godsend– rash, impulsive, strong-willed, and entirely relatable.

Anyway, the episode begins with Korra having made the Fire Ferrets pro-bending team a household name. They’re headed for the championship, and even the stoic Mako seems pretty excited. Of course, the bros have debts, and unfortunately, they’re going to have to come up with more money to get in to the championship…. which leads to some stupidity on Bolin’s behalf.

Bolin's definitely the Sokka of LOK. He's charming, but he just isn't all that bright.

He gets mixed up with the criminal Triple Threats (and I have to say, I do love gangsters in my 1920’s steampunk metropolis, thank you very much) and ends up in the hands of Amon, the creepy and hateful leader of the anti-bending movement. Because Mako’s a good brother and Korra is a BAMF, they infiltrate an Eqaulist gathering while looking delightfully couple-y….

Only to discover that Amon has a terrible power to remove a person’s bending…. forever! *legasp*

Yes. I ship it.

Overall, I thought… this was a pretty phenomenal episode. It had an intriguing plot, and introduced concepts that I believe will be very important in the episodes to come.

I liked… Korra’s badassery (as always). The developing bromance/romance between Korra and Mako. Mako and Bolin getting some time devoted to their backstory. The aesthetics of the animation. The Chi-blocking fights.

I didn’t like… the fact that it ended JUST WHEN everything was getting REALLY REALLY interesting.

Final Grade…. A-. Needed more wow factor to make it perfect, but overall, it was excellent.

Coming Up Next… Was it just me, or are the chi-blockers/eqaulists actually STORING bending energy in their little cattle prods?

(All links lead to Nick.com)

 

New This Week… (A.K.A What You Will See Here Next Monday)

Bones 7.10: “The Warrior in the Wuss”

Supernatural 7.20: “The Girl With the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo”

Avatar: Legend of Korra 1.04: “The Voice in the Night”

 

Waiting on Wednesday: “Thieftaker” (Thieftaker Chronicles #1) by D.B. Jackson

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine and showcases new releases that we can’t wait to get our claws… err, hands… on. 😀

The cover's not particularly impressive, but we don't judge books by their covers, now, do we?

Title: Thieftaker (Click  to add to your Goodreads!)

Author: D.B. Jackson

Expected Publication Date: Jul 17th 3rd, 2012 (according to Jackson’s website).

Summary from Goodreads: Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson’s Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.
Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can’t stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

 Why I’m Waiting: Historical fantasy set in Boston? COUNT ME IN. I also like the detective element–I’m hoping to see something similar to Sherlock Holmes with a New England/magical twist.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday? Comment below and let me know/link me back to your WoW post.