Monday, October 21, 2019

Movie Influences, Edititis, Joker and Zombieland: Double Tap Movie Reviews, and New Release

Movie Influences by Elle Cardy/Lynda R. Young

Everything writers experience becomes fodder for their ideas to blossom and grow. This is how some of my absolute favourite movies may have influenced my debut novel, a YA fantasy adventure, Wielder’s Prize:

The Princess Bride – Love, adventure, pirates, revenge, and the triumph of good over evil. What’s not to love? I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen this movie. Of course it’s going to influence my writing because it has everything I love in a story.

Firefly/Serenity – Awesome characters who do the best they can with what they’ve been given. Yup, this is another influencer, even though it’s a scifi and my debut is a fantasy.

The Pirates of the Caribbean – Because my book is set on the high seas, this is the more obvious influencer, but the story itself wasn’t the influence. It was the gorgeous tall ships. For research, I also went to the Maritime museum in Sydney and clambered all over the Endeavour replica and the James Craig, both ships originated around the 18th century. So much fun!

Aliens – This is the least obvious influencer, but influenced, I’m sure it did. How? The atmosphere, the art, the beats, the tension and the stakes that ramped up as the story progressed.

Some honourable mentions: The Dark Crystal, Ladyhawke, Ghostbusters (original), Fifth Element.

What are some of your favourite movies of all time?

Wielder’s Prize by Elle Cardy (the pen name of Lynda R Young)
Jasmine’s whole life is a lie. It isn’t until she’s snatched and forced to work on another ship that she learns how much of a lie it has been. Not only can she wield, but she’s a danger to everyone if she can’t control her magic. And worse: there’s another out-of-control wielder out there who wants her dead.

The ebook and paperback are available on Amazon
You can find Elle on her website or Instagram - @ElleCardy, her blog, and Goodreads

Edititis by Sandra Cox

Edititis. I’ve got it. Have you had it?

Symptoms: Feverishly going over your manuscript just one last time…and then one more. And after telling yourself you can’t bear to look at it anymore, combing through it again.

Side effects if not properly treated: Headaches from banging your head against the wall. Thinning hair, from yanking it out. Hoarseness from continual cursing after finding a typo, missing punctuation, or a misused word on the story you’ve already edited a dozen times.

Treatments: Lots of caffeine or wine. Sleep after the caffeine wears off. Typing in bold for emphasis The End.

Like the flu, just because you’ve had it once doesn’t mean you can’t get it again. Unfortunately, there’re no inoculations available for it at this time. If you’re an author, chances are you’ll succumb with your next book.

I caught it AGAIN when working on TumbleStar.

Warning. Besides hand-tooled boots, content contains: a big-hearted, hasty-tempered cowboy, a homeless young woman, an orphaned little girl and a wild, white stallion.

Available at Amazon
 
Sandra is a vegetarian, animal lover and avid gardener. She lives with her husband, their dog and several cats in sunny North Carolina.
Besides all things western, she also writes in several other genres. She is a category bestselling Amazon author, Eppie finalist and Golden Ankh Award winner.
Find Sandra at her blogsite and on Twitter

Movie Reviews

Joker
Origins story of a man’s descent into madness.
I didn’t want to see it and I probably won’t ever watch it again – but the film was brilliant.
It does tie into the DC Universe, coming from Detective Comics which focuses just on Batman and the Joker. It’s very dark, gritty, and grounded. Makes the Dark Knight Trilogy look like a comedy.
Phoenix’s performance is amazing and certainly Oscar-worthy. His descent into madness is very believable. He’s already unstable before a series of events pushes him beyond the brink. The story is pretty harsh on the state of health care for lower income people.
The cinematography is also amazing.
It’s a character study, so it’s a quiet and slow-paced film, interspersed with some rather shocking moments.
Not for everyone, but definitely a film to see.
Highly recommended

Zombieland: Double Tap
Picks up several years later with the gang fighting zombies and each other.
Did you like the first one? Your answer will determine whether you like this one or not.
It doesn't bring much new to the table, but it's still really, really funny.
Zoey Deutch as newcomer Madison steals the show. Can someone really be that dumb and still live, even without zombies?
Want zombie gore? Want it in slow-motion? Got you covered! Actually, there are some spectacular stunts and effects.
There's also Graceland. Well, not quite Graceland. But enough to get your Elvis fix.
Not quite as fresh as the original, as I expected all the meta and for them to be in on the joke with us. But this one is still a blast.
Recommended



New Release

Stone Man
And the Trail of Tears
By Charles Suddeth
Print ISBN 9781939844620
EBook ISBN 9781939844637
Find it on iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Dancing Lemur Press LLC, and Goodreads



I enjoyed my vacation but it’s good to be back!
What are your movie influences? Do you suffer from edititis? Seen Joker? Picked up Stone Man? Been on any good vacations lately?

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Insecure Writer’s Support Group, October Movie Preview, CassaSeries Tour, Screen Rights, and New Releases

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

My awesome co-hosts today are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

October 2 question – It's been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don't enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?

We need to read to see how it’s done – both well and poorly –we just can’t adopt another author’s style as our own.
Of course, if you’re reading a genre outside your own and a style very different from yours, then it’s cool. But if your sweet love interests suddenly turn maniacal killers, then there’s a bigger problem…

Important dates:

This month’s Write…Edit…Publish challenge:
As you sow so shall you reap. What will your character sow - dragon's teeth, elven bones, gouged eyes from tormented souls? Most of our members go with horror or speculative for October. But that's not written in stone ... or blood.

January’s IWSG post day will be on January 8, the second Wednesday. The first Wednesday is New Year’s Day – do not post that day! Note it in your calendars now – January 8.

The next #IWSGPit - our Twitter pitch event – is January 15, the third Wednesday. This will be our fifth one and last year there were thousands of agents and publishers watching, ten thousand Tweets sent out, and #IWSGPit became a trending topic. Polish your pitches and check the site for full details.



CassaSeries Tour

Silver Dagger Tours is hosting a month-long tour for me that includes a giveaway for an Amazon gift card and swag.
Here are the final dates:

Monday – Guest post at Daily (w)rite and stops at Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author and 4covert2overt-A Place In The Spotlight
Tuesday – Guest post at Inside the Insanity and stops at Defining Ways and Speculative Fiction Spot
Wednesday – Stops at Better Read Than Undead, Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin', and Sylv.net
Thursday – Stops at Casey's Corner, Taryn Jameson, and Teatime and Books
Friday – Guest post at Introspective Press and stops at The Book Dragon and Twisted Book Ramblings
Monday October 7 – Stops at The Bookshelf Fairy, Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed, and Yearwood La Novela

Screen Rights by Damyanti Biswas!

Thank you Alex for the support on my debut novel, You Beneath Your Skin. It is a literary crime novel—a story that raises various social issues within the framework of a crime thriller. A woman from Delhi upper classes suffers an acid attack, and this case is investigated amid the backdrop of a crime spree. Unclad bodies of slum women are found stuffed in trash bags, their faces disfigured with acid.

This story is now being represented for screen rights by a top agent in Bollywood, and I’m writing a summary for adaptation pitches. It is so very different from a literary summary.
More pacey, more sensationalised, some literary parts suppressed. I’ve been at it for the past two days but am not even close to finishing.

I’m told that I need:
· a better logline,
· a short character sketch of the main voices
· less setting and characterization, and more action
· good handle on the beginning middle and end.

To the audience of this blog, and to Alex, my question and request would be for advice. Has anyone written a screen treatment? How do you go about it? Do you have any advice for me? Have you read You Beneath YourSkin?

Damy, here’s hoping you get those screen rights!

New Releases

One Good Catch by Heather Gardner
The next book in the Maguire’s Corner series
Find it on Amazon


A Sampler of Shadows by Roland Yeomans
Find it on Amazon

For a great laugh, visit Roland’s IWSG post today – he has some fun with me.




And here is the main character in Roland’s Dark Hollywood Cycle who's spoken of in several stories and appears in the last one in this collection:

September Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for September! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

4 –

Joker
A gritty character study of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society.
Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Jolie Chan
Yes, I’ll go see it. No, I don’t think I’ll like it. (And have to add after seeing it, while I'll never watch it again, the film was brilliant. Set in DC's Detective Comics world. Phoenix will get an Oscar nod.)




11 –

Gemini Man
An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself.
Director: Ang Lee
Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Will Smith, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong
Didn’t we see this already and it was called Looper?

The Addams Family
An animated version of Charles Addams' series of cartoons about a peculiar, ghoulish family.
Directors: Greg Tiernan | Conrad Vernon
Stars: Catherine O'Hara, Charlize Theron, Finn Wolfhard, Chloë Grace Moretz
From television show to movie to television show to animated movie – what next, Claymation?

Parasite
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo, Woo-sik Choi
The true story of kimchi gone bad…




18 –

Zombieland: Double Tap
Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Zoey Deutch, Bill Murray
Zombieland Two – Electric Twinkieloo

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.
Director: Joachim Rønning
Stars: Angelina Jolie, David Gyasi, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer
Are we sure this isn’t just an Angelina Jolie biopic?





25 –

The Aeronauts
Pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) find themselves in an epic fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a hot air balloon.
Director: Tom Harper
Stars: Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Himesh Patel, Tim McInnerny
Rogue One meets Harry Potter meets Jason and the Argonauts.



What do you think about writers who don’t read? Participating in WEP this month? The CassaSeries tour coming to an end – have you visited a stop or two and entered to win? And what movies catch your attention this month?

We are going on a family vacation, leaving next Monday and coming back the following Monday. So I won’t be posting those two weeks or visiting anyone next week. See you on October Twenty-first!