Updates: Dog Days of Summer...

Those of you who regularly tune in may have noticed that I've not been posting as frequently.  That is because over the past month or so, my life has been incredibly busy... in a good way for the most part.  It's all I can do to post once a week, which I do vow to continue doing.  Once things slow down a little, I will go back to posting twice or more a week.

One bit of good news: the "publishing person" I referenced a while back is now reading my novel and likes it a lot.  She will refer it to editors in her company, and even though I don't think her company is quite the right fit, it is still awesome to hear.  In the meantime, I am working on my query letter and preparing to send it to agents.

But what's new for this blog?  The Movie Musicals Series will be back, along with some media critique posts (I have one for Game of Thrones up next) and some more Unpopular Opinions.  I don't have any new series planned for the next month or so, though after a debate over the merits of Kenneth Branagh's versus Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, I might do a series on Shakespeare in movies (last 20 years).  MIGHT.  I like Shakespeare, but large doses can try my patience.  "Look at me!  I'm doing Shakespeare set on a subway!  Aren't I hip?"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Earth's Children Series: Epilogue: What Could Auel Have Done Differently?

Image
So here we are.  Where did it all go wrong? A month or two after The Land of Painted Caves  was released, when the cynicism had fully sunk in, I dashed off this fanfic , which detailed the plot for a proposed Book Seven.  I still wish that such a novel would be released, though I have little faith that it will be.  Jean Auel hinted in 2010 that she had more material and The Land of Painted Caves  might not be her last, but that does not mean she is hard at work pounding out the story.  While Auel still seemed quite sharp in 2010 and 2011, the physical toll of writing -- at least at the pace she knew -- might be too much for her at this point. Of course if Auel does produce a Book Seven, all bets are off.  It could be the best story that she's written since The Clan of the Cave Bear , enough to dissolve our cynicism and make us fall in love with the   Earth's Children series all over again.  Or it could be drek that makes The Land of...
Read more

MTV's Daria: Did the Writers Send the Wrong Message?

Image
Since I'm on this animation kick, I might as well get something off of my chest that I've been thinking about for a while: is it possible that the creators of MTV's Daria sent the wrong message in the end? Daria  premiered on MTV in 1997 as the rare portrayal of a social outcast.  Not someone who was an "outcast" while looking and acting like a fashion model, but a genuine introvert with no interest in wider social approval.  The first season established a pattern where Daria Morgendorffer and her friend, Jane Lane, stood off to one side and criticized the activities that people their age were taught to embrace. At the same time, these episodes -- frequently referred to as "fish in a barrel" episodes -- started to feel a little stale.  Were Daria and Jane really the only two smart ones in the city of Lawndale?  Were other people really so stupid?  And even if they were, would they just stand by, grinning vacantly, while getting insulted?  The onl...
Read more

Movie Musicals That Got It Wrong: The Phantom of the Opera

Image
There are actually quite a few things I like about this adaptation.  Even though Evita was the more successful of the two Andrew Lloyd Webber movie musicals, I find myself coming back to The Phantom of the Opera  more often. Not because I'm a huge fan of Phantom .  While I nearly wore out the CD when I was 15, I came to dislike the hackneyed lyrics, bombastic score, and incoherent ensemble numbers.  In total, there are maybe three songs I really like from the musical: "Masquerade," "The Point of No Return," and, of course, "The Phantom of the Opera."  "Music of the Night"?  Pretty, but bored me on subsequent listens.  The same with "All I Ask of You," a very similar song. And it's not because the film version of  Phantom is so ambitious or well executed.   Evita was the much more ambitious film, and in many ways it succeeded in its goals of being a grand epic.   Phantom , on the other hand, seemed to have no goals larger t...
Read more