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 for the November 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe, and Lee Lowery!
November 3 question - What's harder to do, coming up with your book title or writing the blurb?
Title!! Blurb is difficult, title darn near impossible for me.
The IWSG is looking for an admin to run our Instagram. Tyrean is stepping down at the end of the year. If you are comfortable with Instagram and would like to join the team, send an email to the IWSG.
Movies don’t always get it right. That applies to movies that include paraplegic characters. There are often two extremes—those who are helpless and miserable, and those who are depicted as heroic for simply doing what everybody does—make it through a day.
Screenwriters ignore some of the most significant challenges for some of the disabled community. When I spoke with spinal cord doctors before writing this book, I discovered that often losing mobility wasn't the hardest part of life for paraplegics, but learning to take over some of their body’s automatic functions was. Many paraplegics must monitor their bladders and bowels, they have to be sure to shift positions frequently, they must exercise regularly—no excuses, and they have to stay on top of pain. A big change is that they have to allow a lot more time for just the basics, like getting up and getting dressed.
Some movies (Wheels, 2017 & Passion Fish, 1992) depict such a dark picture that I had a hard time watching to the end. From the reading and interviews I did, I learned that the trauma following such a life-altering event is devastating, but it doesn’t send everyone into suicidal despair or non-stop drinking. There are a lot of stories out there of people who have worked through the tough emotions and are happy and content with their lives. They’re doing what they used to before paraplegia. They’re falling in love, having children, skiing, playing basketball—the difference is in how they do it. It’s called adaptive living.
One of the major things I learned while writing Shattered was to think differently about paraplegics (actually, about anyone living with a disability), to think of them as people first, and find ways in which we’re alike, not different.
Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for November. As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.
5 –
Eternals
The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
Director: Chloé Zhao
Stars: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek
These guys make Ant Man seem like an A-lister.
12 –
Apex
Five elite hunters pay to hunt down a man on a deserted island, only to find themselves becoming the prey.
Director: Edward Drake
Stars: Bruce Willis, Neal McDonough, Lochlyn Munro, Alexia Fast
Bruce Willis is hunted for sport. What won’t this guy do for a paycheck?
19 –
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
When a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
Director: Jason Reitman
Stars: Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Sigourney Weaver
If this doesn’t work, they’ll give the Ghostbusters a pet monkey and shoot them into outer space.
Ran out of room, so tune in next Monday for reviews of RiffTrax: Live – Amityville: The Evil Escapes and Dune, plus several music reviews and other updates. Then it’s off until December 1!
