tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92714642024-03-20T10:12:35.930-05:00The Middle of the DarkDarby Harn. Eventually.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.comBlogger632125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-72713188093941275002018-10-14T14:55:00.001-05:002018-10-14T16:09:18.280-05:00Things Fall From The Sky All The Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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The future is impossible to see. That's what I think of, when I think of Kit Baldwin.<br />
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Kit is the main character of my novel NAMELESS, which I won't detail here too much but has to do with superheroes. Kit becomes one, accidentally. The impetus for this story began in 2011, when I read <a href="https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/tennessee-firefighters-watch-home-burn/?scp=1&sq=tennessee%20fire&st=cse">this article</a> about firefighters who refused to put out a house fire because the owner hadn't paid the bill for these services in his rural community. Seven years ago, that was shocking. in 2018, not so much. Kit began much earlier, way back in high school. She morphed and evolved and moved in and out of stories until she finally found her place in this one. Kit was right for Nameless because I wanted someone who didn’t fit into any of the worlds within the story. I wanted someone without power, but with a great sense of justice and decency. She finally manifested in this novel, but she didn't become real until today, when my friend and critique partner <a href="https://www.cultofsasha.com/">Alia Hess</a> realized her in ink:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmfTGRbqcjPlceVZ4a-yweOSRjyV7QPRZHu3uPS4gh6kkKnCrZZqz6XKCsZcIU0rh3hlek8C7JxbEtwBtZw-JJL5l9mD6ZBpfkuKhZvIRN8bTYlczE6bDi8NwtGmT2dC0ViXrzA/s1600/KIT+Alia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="869" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmfTGRbqcjPlceVZ4a-yweOSRjyV7QPRZHu3uPS4gh6kkKnCrZZqz6XKCsZcIU0rh3hlek8C7JxbEtwBtZw-JJL5l9mD6ZBpfkuKhZvIRN8bTYlczE6bDi8NwtGmT2dC0ViXrzA/s320/KIT+Alia.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
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I'm speechless and VERKLEMPT and typing this from the puddle I've made on the floor. Words can't express my gratitude for Alia. I am beyond fortunate to have found my critique partners, who have blessed me with positivity, support and endless generosity. I could not have imagined my good luck a year ago when I joined this group, or the future ahead. The future is terrifying sometimes, but always possible. Anything is possible, as Kit has taught me.</div>
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Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-748010353936922292018-08-20T14:20:00.000-05:002018-08-20T14:20:07.077-05:00LinksI've added a new links page (above) with relevant links to resources for writers. For the past year, I've been part of a writing group comprised of enormously talented individuals. They've been a tremendous help to me in improving my craft and helping back to publishing.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-51388857134994742342018-07-05T12:24:00.003-05:002018-07-05T12:33:46.493-05:00Interzone 276Here is the cover for Interzone 276, in which my story 'Tumblebush' appears. The issue is due any day now from <a href="http://ttapress.com/">TTA Press</a>, edited by Andy Cox.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK_kE_AM_sIJKRB-ge36VkVN-hKMn8LyRjbCqTlIEg6QWAD17K7IdGjcW_-njxsq7RHJdRczu5rOSfw3cR5HhG6yuUHAJhOD3CQcXBEvGK6ukLlUgZyQQNI4cMyG5Na-aJ7tWDg/s1600/Interzone+276+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="642" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK_kE_AM_sIJKRB-ge36VkVN-hKMn8LyRjbCqTlIEg6QWAD17K7IdGjcW_-njxsq7RHJdRczu5rOSfw3cR5HhG6yuUHAJhOD3CQcXBEvGK6ukLlUgZyQQNI4cMyG5Na-aJ7tWDg/s320/Interzone+276+cover.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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Tumblebush emerged out of a pair of questions about the future: what form would a living wage take, and also, what if that future is also one in which our ice caps have melted? The story takes place in a submerged New York City, about eighty years from now.<br />
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It's a story about allowances. What are you allowed, for your content, the product of your own life? What do you allow yourself? Others? Tumblebush is a private detective, and product of a vanishing city - she's tough, she's merciless and she has a set of rules.<br />
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Very happy to have this story in Interzone. You can order the issue <a href="http://store.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/ttapress?op=catalogue-products-null&prodCategoryID=4">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-9130852827223115332018-06-27T19:50:00.000-05:002018-07-05T12:18:22.065-05:00Tumblebush ArtA sneak peak of the full page spread for my story 'Tumblebush,' set to appear in Interzone from TTA Press in July. Outstanding illustration from Dan Senecal - I'm blown away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9euXMB12E9eXSAQ_IHCdkRa2EMgKiuhDaUYVfr8XorWqnpOJqvxhXlawRNnXN4IWMaaZE4BcP3v018WWP2zEsciruqyPw2AYK6W-jJj5dqAU20vKlDBUUC1wVdNsF7Zws-w57Dg/s1600/IMG_5396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1285" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9euXMB12E9eXSAQ_IHCdkRa2EMgKiuhDaUYVfr8XorWqnpOJqvxhXlawRNnXN4IWMaaZE4BcP3v018WWP2zEsciruqyPw2AYK6W-jJj5dqAU20vKlDBUUC1wVdNsF7Zws-w57Dg/s320/IMG_5396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-32732585380051471232018-06-09T17:30:00.001-05:002018-06-09T17:30:26.344-05:00I'll Tumble For YaHappy to share that my short story 'Tumblebush' will be published in the July/August issue of Interzone Magazine, published by <a href="http://ttapress.com/">TTA Press</a>. I've read Interzone forever, and I'm thrilled to be part of this great magazine.<br />
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Tumblebush is the username of a private investigator in a flooded NYC, about 80 years from now. A missing person case leads her on a journey through the ruins, to a cold truth.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-83283369592448531122018-06-09T17:24:00.001-05:002018-06-09T17:28:08.397-05:00Rejoice, For You All The Children of ThanosI used to write a lot of movie reviews, not so much anymore. Here's a stab at getting back into film criticism and discussion, with an <a href="https://medium.com/@darbyharn/rejoice-for-you-are-all-children-of-thanos-622632b54259">article </a>on a unique aspect of the reaction to Infinity War.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jKi5ugABk4nBhFrqIZZGePL-nrdZrNPdvMIHUbN1aRrC86o54pq0IZ215chVIfU5DLGmhyphenhyphen0L8AHODVAtf6WYPW7qY3GZlthWLnq6VzYkSMotzoto13FcpOSvV8EyoLGJe2-f-g/s1600/avengers-infinity-war-thanos-infinity-gauntlet-1018561-1280x0-1068x712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1068" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jKi5ugABk4nBhFrqIZZGePL-nrdZrNPdvMIHUbN1aRrC86o54pq0IZ215chVIfU5DLGmhyphenhyphen0L8AHODVAtf6WYPW7qY3GZlthWLnq6VzYkSMotzoto13FcpOSvV8EyoLGJe2-f-g/s320/avengers-infinity-war-thanos-infinity-gauntlet-1018561-1280x0-1068x712.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-12675461073016441252018-06-09T17:21:00.002-05:002018-06-09T17:21:35.999-05:00Princess MineHappy to share that my story <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/princess-mine/">"Princess Mine" </a>appears in <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/">Strange Horizons</a>. This is my first sale since 2011, and beyond thrilled it's to this wonderful magazine. The story is available to read or listen to, as a podcast. Be aware the story deals with suicide and depression.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-65948551649470647522016-06-24T12:06:00.004-05:002016-06-24T14:04:19.698-05:00Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine.<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="ccsrk" data-offset-key="b4vp9-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="b4vp9-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Trying to be optimistic on Brexit but it's hard. The fallout from this should send shivers down the spine of anyone contemplating the day after a Trump presidential win. The shock from two of the world's most influential forces voting to flee back to isolationism clearly pays no benefits, and as Brits are discovering this morning, some of the promises the Leave campaign made were <a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/watch-tv-presenter-stunned-as-nigel-farage-breaks-huge-promise-just-one-hour-after-win-34830368.html">false</a> (more money for health care). So hopefully here at least we wake up a bit. A lot of people said Trump would never be the nominee. A lot of people said the UK would never vote itself out. Well. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="58gpr-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">One possible benefit is the prospect of a united Irleand as the North has voted resolutely to stay in the EU. Scotland and Northern Ireland have made rumblings about leaving the UK in the take of this, which I think have to be taken seriously. David Cameron didn't take the first Scottish referendum seriously and nearly pissed away the empire then; apparently he learned nothing from it. On the down side, in the near term, Ireland has to decide if it's going to reinstate border checks with the North. The EU zone removed what was once one of the more bitter divides in Europe. It's disheartening to think checkpoints would return in Ireland. It's likely unfortunately, but perhaps in the long term the North will find its way back to Ireland proper. That's been pie in the sky since the partition, but nothing can be ruled out in a world where the forces of extreme nationalism have torn the UK to shreds and threaten to do the same here. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="5fbkk-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">As it happens I've met quite a few Brits in the last few days and to a person they're all Remain, and expressed doubt this would come to pass. It's the same kind of doubt I've heard about Trump and his brand of politics since he blundered his way on stage. We need a strong EU as an ally, especially with the resurgence of a nationalistic Russia, and of course, ISIS. There are a lot of valid reasons to question the direction of the EU. There are a lot of valid reasons to question policies here at home which have adversely affected people at the expense of global trade. There are no valid reasons to reject togetherness and cooperation. There are no valid reasons to close borders and build walls. Identity matters. Clearly. This morning the British are asking themselves who they are. Are they still Brits? In a couple years, likely no. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What it means to be an American has meant many things over the years, but one thing it has always meant is liberty for all. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. I hope we remember that as we vote in November, and as we move forward in a world which seems to crumble around us. </span></div>
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Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-77457885833262999252016-06-14T15:23:00.000-05:002016-06-14T15:23:07.960-05:00“All extremes of feeling are allied with madness.”<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
What do you say?</div>
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Everything you can say about the routine mass murder of innocent people seems rote. Empty. You lose the will to even say it when you realize how little comfort it gives and how little weight it carries in a country where this is normal. The outpouring of grief and support for Orlando is remarkable, but it was with San Bernadino. It was with Sandy Hook. It was with Columbine. It was with the dozens of other mass shootings that have occurred in this country. I was 6 or 7 when 'going postal' was how we described this. One post office shooting after another. I was watching the local news one night at home and they played a 911 recording of a woman, a post office worker, barricaded in some room as a shooter stalked through the building murdering her co-workers. I don't remember all of the tape, which seemed to go on forever, but I remember the last thing she said. 'I think I'm going to die.' And she did. Liz Mathis told me so, and then she moved on to the next story. We've been moving on to the next story my entire life.</div>
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When will it end? </div>
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When will our outrage and grief be enough? How many dead will be enough? How many dead children? Certainly not the 20 that were butchered in Sandy Hook 3 and 1/2 years ago. Will we be outraged finally when we realize our own leaders <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gop-blocks-bill-stop-terrorists-buying-guns">voted</a> to ensure that people we won't allow on an airplane can buy still buy weapons of mass destruction? Apparently not. When we realize that America is the world's leader in... deaths from gun violence? <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/13/health/mass-shootings-in-america-in-charts-and-graphs-trnd/index.html">No.</a> When we realize it's not really about personal security or 2nd amendment rights but that the feckless, shameless exploitation of the preventable deaths of innocent men, women and children isn't about your 2nd Amendment right, but a major corporation's bottom line? <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/13/smith-wesson-sturm-ruger-stock-prices-rise-after-orlando-massacre.html">No. </a>This is a country where we value stock over children. Where we value guns and bullets over children. Where we value the assumption it will never happen to us over children.</div>
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Isn't it?</div>
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We sigh and we shrug and we say never again and we go on checking for updates on Facebook and then it happens again. We should be embarrassed and ashamed and terrified and we're not. We should care more about our children and our future than the irrational need to own weapons of mass destruction, but it seems we don't. I want to be wrong. I should be wrong.</div>
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Am I wrong?</div>
Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-49069932945484011742012-11-05T22:02:00.003-06:002012-11-05T22:02:47.417-06:00Free Advice For Disney On The Next Star Wars<br />
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<a href="http://japaneseghost.net/wp-content/plugins/watermark-hotlinked-images/watermark.php?img=wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Star-Wars-Reunion1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://japaneseghost.net/wp-content/plugins/watermark-hotlinked-images/watermark.php?img=wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Star-Wars-Reunion1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After digesting what is probably the geek-news of the
decade, I’ve accepted the fact that there will be new Star Wars movies – in
perpetuity, probably – and that these will be further and further removed from
the film that made such an impression on me as a child. George Lucas decided to
retire, secure his brain child with a corporation that will mint money off of
it until it’s public domain - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act">or they spend enough money lobbying in Washingtonto prevent that</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- and let go of the
reins once and for all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are inherent pros and cons with this. I’ve found
myself growing more and more excited about the idea of a new Star Wars movie,
especially one set in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi, that could
potentially feature so many of the characters and elements that people felt
missing in the prequels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So here’s some free advice from a life long fan to Disney on
how they can not just make money, but believers out of a willing but skeptical fan
base (if it goes bad - we know it – there will be blood):</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Two words: BIG. FUN. </b>Star Wars returned
from it’s first long sabbatical in 1999 with Episode I, and what many consider
to be a Disney movie; it’s big, bright, silly and harmless. But since then, the
series and its TV offshoot The Clone Wars have been increasingly dark, brooding
and infatuated with the decline of the Republic and Darth Vader. Ok. Got it.
Let’s go back to the big fun of the original trilogy, the optimism and panache
of those films. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Two more words:</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emotional investment.</b> Of all the criticism levied at the prequel
films, the most on target certainly has to be the fact that we felt nothing for
the characters. The writing in and many cases the acting prevented any kind of
connection. Watching the prequels felt at times like watching a video
instruction manual. From the get-go, the new films have to make us care about
its characters, and the stakes involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dance with the one that brung you.</b> One
way to get people involved is to bring back some of the characters from the
Original Trilogy, who should still be around in whatever timeframe this occurs
in (purely speculation at this point, but most of it assumes something like
20-30 years). The most obvious and popular choice is Mark Hamill as Luke
Skywalker, forecasted by Lucas himself when he initially discussed the idea of
an Episode VII 30 years ago. For me, this is a must have. Seeing Luke in the
role of the wise old wizard would be tremendous. And not just him; if Carrie
Fisher or Harrison Ford can be persuaded, why not. The ageless characters –
R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca even (Wookies live for hundreds of years don’t you
know) – will be on hand certainly, so let’s get the whole gang back together
for one last hurrah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It’s Star Wars, stupid.</b> It’s not rocket
science. Lightsabers, space battles, fathers and sons. The magic seemed to have
gone from the prequels but others – namely Genndy Tartakovsky in his Clone Wars
micro series and to a certain extent, Dave Filoni in his larger 3D series –
have shown that they can bring the swagger and spirit of old fashioned Star
Wars back. Let’s see it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But don’t forget to give us something new.</b>
Some tropes in Star Wars are played out. I personally don’t want to go back to
Tatooine again. Also, we don’t really need to blow up a gigantic ball shaped
object again. The biggest opportunity for these films is to give us vistas and
creatures and worlds that we haven’t seen yet. Star Wars is the biggest
universe in fiction – let’s see more of it, not the same corner we’ve been in
for the last 15 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m
cautiously optimistic about a new trilogy. On one hand, a lot of fans have what
they want: new Star Wars films without the heavy hand of George Lucas. On the
other, they have the reality of that, whatever that is. It could be the movie
they always wanted, or it could be pilot-less. We’ll have to wait and see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-15206850605764900102012-08-02T18:46:00.002-05:002012-08-02T18:46:45.022-05:00The Bastard Genre<a href="http://io9.com/5930613/how-a-crappy-unauthorized-sequel-created-all-of-science-fictions-main-plot-devices">Turns out modern sci-fi owes nearly everything to a bastard</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Edisonsconquestofmars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Edisonsconquestofmars.jpg" width="320" /></a>The surprise here isn't that most of the most famous tropes in science fiction owe themselves to a single work - hello, Star Wars - but that they originated from a book that was essentially fan fiction. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P._Serviss">Garret P. Serviss</a> somehow avoided the legal apocalypse that would surely visit him today after publishing an unauthorized sequel to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells">H.G. Wells's</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds">The War of the Worlds</a> - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison's_Conquest_of_Mars">Edison's Conquest of Mars.</a> The book was apparently written on commission from The Boston Post - I guess things were looser back then - and featured Thomas Edison leading the fight back to Mars.<br />
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The article at Cracked labels Serviss a 'hack.' I won't make accusations as to the man's ability (capsule review: Serviss never met a comma he didn't like. Also, brownie points for 'puissance') but I don't think it's fair to dismiss him so easily.<br />
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According to Wikipedia, 'the book contains some notable "firsts" in science fiction: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_abduction" title="Alien abduction">alien abductions</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacesuit" title="Spacesuit">spacesuits</a> (called "air-tight suits": see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacesuits_in_fiction#Edison.27s_Conquest_of_Mars" title="Spacesuits in fiction">Spacesuits in fiction</a>), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" title="Ancient astronauts">aliens building the Pyramids</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_battle" title="Space battle">space battles</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen" title="Oxygen">oxygen pills</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining" title="Asteroid mining">asteroid mining</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disintegrator_ray" title="Disintegrator ray">disintegrator rays</a>.' It also features what appears to be a Mary Sue type character in the form of Serviss himself. More than its contributions to science fiction, what the book may represent is a significant contribution to the genre of fan fiction.<br />
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Why is that important? Because we're all fans.<br />
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I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of the 'reboot.' Our pop culture seems to be in something of a death spiral with it right now. My novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-Elizabeth-ebook/dp/B005E3PHFQ">The Book of Elizabeth</a> deals with the theme of the reset on a historical scale. While a lot of what we see in movies, TV, comics and elsewhere induces groans, <a href="http://io9.com/5931046/why-remakes-are-one-of-our-greatest-achievements-as-a-civilization">some suggest</a> it's a necessary function of storytelling, and even culture.<br />
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In a way, all fiction - original or not - is in some aspect 'fan fiction.' We are all inspired to create our own works through romances with others. All great art echoes its origins. Dante's Inferno, Paradise Lost, Shakespeare, Ulysses, all of these books are buckshot with references to other works. This extends down to Star Wars, or the Nolan Batman trilogy. These connections deepen our appreciation of a book or a movie. They often lend a work credibility. <br />
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There is a clear distinction between theft and homage. What Serviss did strains credibility - I also think of all the Lord of the Rings derivatives - but yet he delivers in return tropes that form the foundation on which much of adventure sci-fi is built. Is every work that contains a ray gun or laser rifle derivative? Larcenous? Is fan fiction merely a selfish aside, or can it contribute? Does it have value beyond the writer? Are we all not fans?<br />
<br />Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-87236237494904861912012-07-31T20:07:00.000-05:002019-02-18T22:47:06.525-06:00The Dark Knight Rises Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The question for the last four years has been, is there any
way they can top The Dark Knight? The answer is obvious, and became beside the
point in the early morning of July 20th. The question unfortunately for this series of Batman
films by Christopher Nolan is why such grand cinema must be forever associated
with tragedy. At the end of the day, this is just a movie. It means nothing in
the light of the loss of so many lives in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colorado</st1:place></st1:state>, just as The Dark Knight meant
nothing in the wake of Heath Ledger’s unexpected passing in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What TDK did become was a tribute to a spectacular actor.
The Dark Knight Rises was not intended to be any tribute to what happened last
week, and it cannot be. What TDKR becomes is a tribute to a feat very rarely
accomplished on film – the successful trilogy. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The bad third movie in a trilogy is a bit of a running joke
in cinema. Say when: X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3, Superman III (yes, they did it in
Roman Numerals once) The Godfather 3 (this actually happened). The Dark Knight Rises withstands any
comparison to these movies, and most movies being made today; for all its
faults, TDKR is a</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> barely restrained commentary on the current state of class in our
society – the villain Bane (Darth Vader’s love child with
Dr. Evil) comes to <st1:place w:st="on">Gotham</st1:place> looking to liberate
its people from the oppressive greed of the rich and privileged, Bruce Wayne
foremost among them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Why connects this film back to the first, Batman Begins,
and this is where the film becomes something on the order of Return of the Jedi,
and these three films something akin to the original Star Wars trilogy. I don’t
say that lightly – there simply is not another comparable series of films, much
less a frame of reference, for these movies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For a writer – for a geek like myself – it is a powerful
thing to become inspired again by something as familiar, and fundamental, as a
character like Batman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Dark Knight Rises is less a film in its own right than
the cap on a story that until then had been somewhat sprawling; the three
Batman films become a single story, a grand epic that does what no other series
of comic book films have attempted and no version of Batman ever could –
telling the story of Bruce Wayne, beginning to end. A more apt title for this
movie might be Batman Ends, or more to the point, Bruce Wayne Begins. I don’t
want to spoil the ending, so I’ll say that the best part of this movie is that
there is an end, and it’s the one Batman Begins suggested in 2005.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve found some of the reaction to the film so far –
particularly the ending – to be confusing. Some of this comes from die hard
comic book fans, and I suppose that is part of the problem. The issue seems to
be Batman is not behaving like Batman. That’s mostly because by the end of this
film, he is not Batman anymore. Bruce Wayne died when his parents did. The
façade of Batman was born that same day, and it’s not until the events of this
film that Bruce Wayne emerges from its shadow. To take such a definitive course
with such an iconic character is in keeping with the bristling ingenuity of
this series, and elevates the character once and for all out of his origins
into a mythic arena reserved for characters that become examples and lessons
through their <u>complete</u> stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What I Liked:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. The single best thing
about this movie and as inspired a choice as Heath Ledger. She saves the movie
from becoming too dark for its own good, and this is the best take on this
character so far.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Christian Bale gives his best performance yet as
Bruce Wayne/Batman. The performances all around were astounding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The ending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>“I am the League of Shadows.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Tom Hardy has a future in voice acting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What I Didn’t:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The five months until BOOM plot really didn’t do
it for me. It harkened back to the weakest part of Batman Begins, which was the
using our own technology against us Bond villain kind of super weapon thing
that would have been better served by putting the bomb in Wayne Tower, for
instance, and daring everyone to come get it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>I actually think the very Bond-ish opening with
Bane and the airplane, while exciting, served no real purpose. I would have
much rather had Batman follow a trail of breadcrumbs that led him from Selina
to Bane already in the sewers, tunneling <st1:place w:st="on">Gotham</st1:place>’s
doom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span>Bane advocates a people’s revolution that we
never really see – clearly it’s lip service, but does any of this resonate
beyond his words?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span>Maybe they didn’t understand him (not always).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Talia – I love that they went here, and I love
Marion Cotillard, but this could have been so much more. It’s very last minute
and for me at least, the shock value was spoiled a year ago by the very porous
security on set in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pittsburgh</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The film is not perfect, and it’s not The Dark Knight.
Nothing could match that film in its power and this film wisely doesn’t even
try. It remains an outstanding film, and a triumphant finale to a remarkable
series of films. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I encourage everyone to go see it, and then to go home and
watch the first two films. You’ll be struck with how much more satisfying they
all become.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-66474349705008418012012-07-28T11:57:00.001-05:002012-07-28T11:57:20.160-05:00Rule #10: WINNINGA writer offering rules on writing is always a fun exercise to - if nothing else - argue about the rules of writing. <a href="http://www.colsonwhitehead.com/Site/Home/Home.html">Colson Whitehead</a> provided <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/colson-whiteheads-rules-for-writing.html?pagewanted=all">his own</a> the other day in the NY Times that you should definitely read if you write or have any interest in writing.<br />
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All of the rules resonate, but for me, #1 and #10 do the most:<br />
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<strong>Rule No. 1:</strong> Show and Tell. Most people say, “Show, don’t tell,” but I stand by Show and Tell, because when writers put their work out into the world, they’re like kids bringing their broken unicorns and chewed-up teddy bears into class in the sad hope that someone else will love them as much as they do. “And what do you have for us today, Marcy?” “A penetrating psychological study of a young med student who receives disturbing news from a former lover.” “How marvelous! Timmy, what are you holding there?” “It’s a Calvinoesque romp through an unnamed metropolis much like New York, narrated by an armadillo.” “Such imagination!” Show and Tell, followed by a good nap. <br />
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Show, Don't Tell is extremely pervasive in fiction workshops, and can be stifling, depending on the type of story you are wanting to - key word - tell. What Whitehead says makes a lot of sense to me. Showing gets you a lot of places. Telling it is what you went there for.<br />
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<strong>Rule No. 10:</strong> Revise, revise, revise. I cannot stress this enough. Revision is when you do what you should have done the first time, but didn’t. It’s like washing the dishes two days later instead of right after you finish eating. Get that draft counter going. Remove a comma and then print out another copy — that’s another draft right there. Do this enough times and you can really get those numbers up, which will come in handy if someone challenges you to a draft-off. When the ref blows the whistle and your opponent goes, “26 drafts!,” you’ll bust out with “216!” and send ’em to the mat. </blockquote>
Now, whenever friends ask me how the work in progress is going, I no longer need to hang my head and mumble, "I'm revising." Now, I can hold my head high, and answer with gusto:"I'm WINNING." <br />
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What do you think of Whitehead's rules?<br />
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</blockquote>Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-10449297759399416632012-07-27T08:32:00.001-05:002012-07-27T08:37:43.732-05:00The Maze<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://inhabitat.com/gigantic-amazeme-book-maze-in-london-will-be-made-from-250000-books/amazeme-maze-5/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/07/amazeme-maze-5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">aMAZEme Book Maze In London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Imagine
you wake up in the middle of one of those huge hedge garden mazes. The scary
Shining kind. You start wandering around, looking for a way out. Time after
time, you hit a dead end. Some paths hold promise only to come to nothing. You
ultimately test each possible path, because you don’t know where you are. You
know where you’re going – out – but how to get there? Eventually you find your
way, but only after you have spent a lot of time, effort and frustration. Fear,
even. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
is writing a novel for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<a name='more'></a><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s
always been a debate between whether to outline your novel or wing it. I wouldn’t
say I fly completely by the seat of my pants, but I never outline. Generally I
know the structure of the book – the maze – only I exhaust every possible path.
In the case of my current novel, I may have started making new ones. I began
work in earnest on this novel a year ago, around the time I finished The Book
of Elizabeth. The seed of the idea came three years ago, in 2009, during a trip
to Chicago. I jotted down a page of notes on this novel, excited to bring it to
life. The day I returned from Chicago, my uncle died. The idea got lost in the
aftermath of his death, and the water torture that became Elizabeth’s route to publication.
As I started to develop the book, which takes place in part on a planet where
night only comes once a year, I started to fill in the architecture of this
world with details from a long dormant series of books that I had started
working on in 1995. I thought, here’s a chance to salvage some of these
concepts and ideas that I still liked. And then, those ideas took over the book.
The new novel suffered an identity crisis from the get go – is it the novel I’ve
been wanting to write since 2009? Or 1995? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve
spent the last year trying to figure that out. There are four different
versions of this book, all mostly from different POV’s. I got 200 pages into
one version, completed a draft of another. A couple weeks ago, I finished this
draft and thought I was done. And then I realized I wasn’t. This path led me
nowhere. You do a lot of backtracking in the maze. At times I feel like the
work regresses. You come on your own tracks, and your spirit sags. You’re never
going to get out. No one is going to come and find you. What happens as you
backtrack though is you avoid repeating the same mistake again. This is
critical, metaphors aside; if you outline or wing it, if you are making the
same mistakes over and over again, you will not escape the maze. You will not
know if you are making these mistakes unless you see your tracks. The most
important thing a writer can do is become a scout. A tracker. Learn the
landscape. READ. Listen. Watch. If you’re content with being Garth Marengihi,
your maze is your home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
last draft wasn’t the way. My tracks told me where I’d been, where I’d gone
wrong, and where I had yet to go. At this point I’ve exhausted the paths this
novel can take, and either the one I’m on now is the way out, or there is no
way out. That sounds fatalistic, but sometimes novels come to nothing. A
smarter, better writer would avoid exhausting so much time and energy on this
method of writing, but for me it’s not a method; it’s a way of being. There are
cons, which I’ve mentioned. The pros are less obvious, and less easily found,
but they exist. First among them is the joy of discovery. Believe me, when you
see daylight, you will have discovered something. You will also find things
along the way that you could not have if you knew the way out from the start.
Miranda from The Book of Elizabeth is a prime example of this – I planned to
kill her at the end, and she became the book for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Still,
if you hear me screaming for help, feel free to shout “Over here!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span>Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-84777035569298183182012-07-05T19:02:00.000-05:002012-07-05T19:02:00.324-05:00Revision Revisited Matthew Salesses wrote an <a href="http://necessaryfiction.com/writerinres/AMonthofRevision">outstanding article on revision</a> at <a href="http://necessaryfiction.com/">Necessary Fiction</a> the other day, and it inspired me to think a little about what rules I have for revision, since it's mostly all I do. There are no hard and fast rules - a random Google search will generate hundreds of equally good suggestions - but what I liked best about the 'thoughts' Matthew shares is that they're fairly unique. Most how-to's and guides you will find on this subject are very clinical and technical. Do this. Do that. Writing is rewriting, and writing to me has always been a very intuitive process.<br />
<br />
The best one maybe the first:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. To me, the most important question to ask as I revise is: Am I bored here? The best “advice” I’ve ever heard on revision was from the wonderful teacher and writer Margot Livesey. It was something like this: if you are bored, it’s not because you’ve read that section so many times, it’s because it’s boring.<br />
</blockquote>
A lot of the time as a writer, you spend so much time with something, you lose perspective on it. Writing a novel for me at least is something like a relationship, so I'd offer this thought:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Writing a story, novel, play, what have you, will in some way, shape or form mimic the ups and downs of a typical relationship. There will be passion. There will be boredom. There will be fits of rage. Doubt. If you're lucky, at the end you'll find a comfort and a connection to something more than yourself. If not, you will have at least hopefully learned a valuable lesson. <br />
<br />
I spent four years of my life with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-Elizabeth-ebook/dp/B005E3PHFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313357524&sr=8-1">The Book of Elizabeth</a>. At times, I hated this book. Others, I doubted my faith in it and myself. And at the end, I found a respect for it and my own ability.<br />
<br />
I think by understanding this, you will have a sense of the needs and wants of revision. These are two different things. The needs of revision are not necessarily obvious. The wants usually are. A story will want something - an exciting scene, a different character, a different point of view. You will doubt your fidelity to the story as it is and you may or may not indulge these wants. <br />
<br />
A story will need attention. Clarity. To hear itself. Fulfilling these needs may come naturally or you may spend a lot of time guessing at them, but knowing that you will may help you get there.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
<br />Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-47292657598607567372012-07-03T18:25:00.001-05:002012-07-03T18:40:48.941-05:00If We Let Semicolons Marry...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/files/imagecache/preview/files/semi%20colon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/files/imagecache/preview/files/semi%20colon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I came across<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/semicolons-a-love-story/?hp"> a nice essay on the semicolon</a> over at NYTimes today. I'm a fan, in case you couldn't tell, but it seems not everyone is. The writer, Ben Dolnick, quotes an amusing anecdote from Kurt Vonnegut on the subject:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Do not use semicolons,” <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2778055.Kurt_Vonnegut">he said</a>. “They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”</blockquote>
This only endears the semicolon to me. I find it one of the most musical of tools in the language. The semicolon allows you to impinge on other thoughts, other sentences, often in a rhythmic or as Dolnick points out when discussing William James, symphonic way; in the present tense, the use of the semicolon can help achieve a certain kind of kinetic energy that has always appealed to me. I love music. If I had a choice of any artistic ability, it would be to create music. The only way for me to even try is through words. I fail daily, but I keep tapping away at beats I hear in my head. I marry them to images, and then dialogue, and time them to punctuation. I have this fantasy any of it makes sense. Periods are absolute. Non-negotiable. Music, like language, is always a negotiation. Fluid.<br />
<br />
It surprises me, the hostility Vonnegut had against the semicolon. The language he uses is especially grating. You could do worse heeding the advice of Kurt Vonnegut, but I'd suggest giving every instrument in the language a try. Music is music; language is language.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-67313135374819267892012-06-25T15:17:00.000-05:002012-06-25T20:43:41.507-05:00The Next OneSo, like I said. The next novel after this new one will probably be the Elizabeth sequel.<br />
<br />
I say probably because it was supposed to have been the next book, and obviously that didn't pan out. I do have about 150 pages of what was to be the sequel that I wrote back in '09. I probably will not use any of this. We'll see, but my concept of the next book has veered pretty far from what I had in mind back then. My approach to the sequel is that it's not even really a sequel at all. <br />
<br />
As I said <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/01/writing-update.html">earlier this year</a>, I am approaching the sequel somewhat as a level setting of the story. It will
assume no one has read the first book. One of the themes of the first book is reinvention and the sequel completely recontextualizes the story to the point that you could call it a reboot, except it's not. Some of the influences on this novel include The City and The City, Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, Watchmen, and Chris Claremont's early run on X-Men. <br />
<br />
Obviously comic books feed a lot of my thinking here and the comic book Miranda is reading in book one will be an important aspect of the story. The endless rebooting of comic book continuity proves endlessly fascinating to me for some reason, and I will continue to explore this idea in the fractured continuity of history in the novels.<br />
<br />
I look forward to getting back to the story.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-63138183409957776052012-06-23T14:57:00.000-05:002012-06-23T14:57:23.133-05:00Not FinishedBut kind of.<br />
<br />
The story that has given me <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/05/through-looking-glass.html">so much grief</a> over the last - um, it's been a long time - finally came together in the last month or so. As always with me it was a matter of confidence. The book is more or less the version I attempted about three years ago. I lost confidence in it then and spent a long time lost in the weeds trying other approaches. These yielded some interesting writing but ultimately they weren't right for this story. <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/05/through-looking-glass.html">The Book of Elizabeth</a> had quite a few false starts too, but none as dramatic as this (actually, I'm leaning toward my next novel being the Elizabeth sequel, which as it stands now would kind of make the first one a false start...) I hope this is something I am getting better at recognizing. Maybe I am just one of those tinkerers that never knows when to quit. Or maybe I just never know what I want.<br />
<br />
In any case, I am very happy that I have found my way to this place. The novel right now sits at about 424 pages, which is probably a little longer than it will end up. I'm going to let it cool its heels for a few weeks, and then clean it up before sending it to some beta readers. My hope is to see it released probably late this year/early next. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, I do plan to go ahead with the story collection that has been neglected while I went off on this long weekend with the novel. That's actually been ready to go for a while now, so that should come together kind of quick. <br />
<br />
And then it's on to the next one.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-18332001519263045352012-06-10T13:23:00.001-05:002012-06-10T13:24:36.119-05:00Type Those Money Makers BabyThere was an article recently in the NYTimes (the link is escaping me) about how the boon in digital publishing for indie writers has created something of a sprint to generate as much material as possible. The nutshell is that if you are not producing multiple books in a single year, then you are not sustaining your brand and worse yet, not making money. Dean Wesley Smith actually breaks this down in <a href="http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=3204">a post on his blog</a> that is well worth reading. There is a lot of thought that goes into his reasoning, and that of all the advocates for blitz publishing. The e-reader consumes at a pace that is both electrifying and terrifying. If you want to build a readership, you need to give them a reason to stay around.<br />
<br />
Even if I wanted to, I couldn't write more than one book a year. I will probably publish my second novel later this year. I feel the same pressures other indie writers do. I feel the same spirit of opportunity. Money simply doesn't motivate me, and I'm not going to sacrifice the quality of my writing for the quantity of my output. It will cost me in income and readers. The fact that I can't focus on much else beyond my slow writing - including this blog - already does that.<br />
<br />
When A Country of Eternal Light comes out, the people that read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-Elizabeth-ebook/dp/B005E3PHFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313357524&sr=8-1">The Book of Elizabeth</a> may or may not find it. They may or may not wonder why I spent so much time on something that isn't a sequel to the last book. They may think this guy spends a lot of time on nothing much at all.<br />
<br />
It's a price I'm prepared to pay.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-10281618599321300882012-05-19T15:10:00.001-05:002012-05-19T15:10:15.823-05:00Through The Looking GlassSo.<br />
<br />
Have not been posting as much as I've meant to. This is entirely due to the fact that I can't write a novel and anything else at the same time. I have tried. I admire those that blog and build their <a href="http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/05/author-blogging-101-finding-time-for-blogging/">'platform'</a> - which is so key to what indie authors need to do these days - and I admire the hell out of authors who can produce quality material at a decent pace, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/in-e-reader-age-of-writers-cramp-a-book-a-year-is-slacking.html?_r=1&ref=books">since that's also apparently something we need to do</a>. <br />
<br />
In just about every other aspect of my life, I can multi-task like no one's business. Not when it comes to writing. I have to focus on what I'm working on to the point that I can't really see what's in front of me. And that's really the problem. I've talked <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-write-no-write.html">quite a bit</a> before about my struggles with the Big Damn Epic. Over the last several years, it has taken this strange place in my life. The elephant in the room. The monkey on my back. Alternately it feels like I'm turning into Axl Rose, and this is 'Chinese Democracy,' or I'm Brian Wilson, and in my head at least, this is 'Smile.' Either way, I feel a bit cracked. And clearly delusional. And lost. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Any time over the last few years I get any traction on what I think the BDE is, I get stuck in the mud. The novel literally exists in four (five?) different versions, all of them perfectly legitimate, and I'm sure all of them sufficient at least to call it good.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The original BDE, and its various drafts</li>
<li>The BDE through the lens of a more Indiana Jones type thing, if Indy were an asshole</li>
<li>The BDE from the POV of a man who has outlived most of existence, which produced some of my favorite writing but painted a big picture of how outlived this idea is</li>
<li>And most recently, and promisingly, I began a novel set a planet where night comes only once a year. The idea was to approach it as sort of a sci-fi John Hughes. I really liked this idea. The issue is the world of the novel filled in with all the unused architecture of the BDE, and before I knew it, it was transforming into the BDE. </li>
</ul>
The only thing I know is that this idea, this world, won't let me alone. The issue has always been how to express this idea. And the real issue I think has been myself. As I said, any of one these versions of the book would have been fine in their own right. I doubt each one, to the point that I'm pretty sure - only pretty sure - that I had the right approach before, and didn't trust myself.<br />
<br />
We'll see. The idea lives, in my head at least. God willing it will live on paper.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-60974619805723037382012-04-15T16:07:00.001-05:002012-04-15T16:07:44.569-05:00Buffy Season 9 #8, Or Hey We Were Just Kidding<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bamfas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/18-700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.bamfas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/18-700.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
This is a tough post to write.<br />
<br />
<br />
I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love Joss Whedon. A lot of people love the current direction of the comic series, which is canon and often has matched the quality of the television show.<br />
<br />
I do not love where this comic book is going.<br />
<br />
<br />
The pregnancy/abortion storyline that sprang up recently seemed to offer a true evolution for the series and for Buffy herself. I thought the approach was a <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/02/into-every-generation.html">little too literal</a> but it offered an enormous opportunity. The last two issues have squandered that opportunity, and frankly, the series' credibility with me as a reader.<br />
<br />
I'm a writer and it's not my intent to judge the merits of other writers, especially ones as gifted as Joss Whedon. So this will be the last of any such post where I do anything other than offer what I'm reading/seeing as a prompt or guide for my own writing or yours. If there is a lesson here, it's simply not to play games with your reader. I feel that the last two issues put Buffy through the ringer for no reason save to raise the subject of abortion. That just doesn't work and the bizarre gobbledy-gook that Andrew spews in issue 8 to explain away why a robot thought she was pregnant has to be the clumsiest attempt to throw dirt on a narrative fire I have seen.<br />
<br />
It may turn out Buffy is pregnant, and this is one of a series of endless complications, but it doesn't matter. The reversal cheapens what came before. Buffy says it herself:<br />
<br />
<br />
<em>'It turns out it's just more bizarre Slayer crap.'</em><br />
<br />
The comic book is doing more acrobatic tricks than a Russel T. Davies episode of Doctor Who. That's not Buffy; Buffy is straight forward, honest emotion through the lens of a genre that Joss Whedon proved could sustain just about anything.<br />
<br />
Except this.<br />
Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-90575207580182231832012-04-08T11:05:00.001-05:002012-04-08T11:11:37.195-05:00Websters Not Doing It For You? Write Your Own Dictionary<a href="http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/library/images/1181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/library/images/1181.jpg" width="320" /></a>Back in the 80's the supernatuarally cool Nick Cave <a href="http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/lyrics/handwritten-dictionary-of-words-1984">wrote his own dictionary</a>. The only thing that would have been better than that would have been if he had made up his own words. Which of course, some people do, and<a href="http://www.pseudodictionary.com/"> you can too</a>. <br />
<br />
For example: <br />
<br />
rebel, rebel (noun): a torn dress<br />
<br />
So take this as a lesson - don't settle for those dogmatic tomes from Webster's. <br />
<br />
English is yours! Take it back.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-79894173155607568852012-04-04T18:33:00.001-05:002012-04-04T18:33:20.766-05:00The Book of Elizabeth: Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXNjMLVwqb2302hlkAJ08Hkzk9jNjigNnJsX5yqb7H6i_YISgS3gW05hFlp-EMrvfXaMRIAQZA5blZl1zsQEWY0dKWBUJ0mEbUzMu_JhVjEo5Zwes1W9NRqUW-tUGppP932v87Q/s320/BookofElizabeth_cover_5.19.11.jpg" width="213" /></div>
<br />
As you may have noticed one of my hobbies is <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2011/11/ralph-wiggum-has-nothing-on-me.html">collecting Star Wars toys</a>. My very good friends at <a href="http://jedidefender.com/">JediDefender </a>have joined forces with me for a giveaway of my novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Elizabeth-Darby-Gavin-Harn/dp/0615496008/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315064721&sr=8-2">The Book of Elizabeth</a>. <br />
<br />
Take a look and if you enjoy Star Wars toys and good conversation, go ahead and join the forums! This is my favorite place on the internet.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to Jesse and everyone on the outstanding JD staff!Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-24268730403012797262012-03-26T20:48:00.000-05:002012-03-26T20:49:08.500-05:00'Zou Bisou Bisou,' or Subtlety In Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ngf2zHq4FEI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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A big part of what I like to write about in this blog is what interests me in the moment, and how that impacts my writing, and maybe yours. Much has been said that this last decade or so has been the 'Golden Age of Television.' There is no denying that, not with The Wire, Deadwood, The Sopranos, and certainly, Mad Men, which returned last night after nearly two years with a fantastic example of why the writing on television is quite possibly the best writing that's happening anywhere.</div>
<br />
That's not to leave fiction lovers or writers out. There's lots to take away from TV, as there is any medium. Cinema and now television have always presented an aesthetic challenge to literature - the axiom 'Show, Don't Tell' is simply a fact of life in motion pictures as opposed to a rule (well - ok, it's not, but by virtue of its nature, the camera eliminates the need for the kind of scene setting that was expected and necessary in literature in the past, and really, still is today). <br />
<br />
Great writing, in any medium, is subtle. Last night's Mad Men was a perfect example of this. The scene above is both the least subtle scene in the show - the series? - and one of its most subtle. Instantly generating internet buzz around the country, Jessica Pare undid the Freedom Fries debacle of a few years ago in less than two minutes by making all things French very, very cool again through a little song called 'Zou Bisou Bisou.' Just watch it. Trust me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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Out of context, it may be hard to see get a full picture of what's going on, but the scene represents the intersection of a woman asserting herself in a very direct way to her husband, in public, in the mid 60's as the Women's Movement and the Civil Rights Movement begin to gather steam. The scene represents the conflict between traditional society and counter culture - among the crowd are a sailor bound for Vietnam, a black gay musician, and of course, Jessica - and it represents what must certainly be the turning point in the series itself. Until now, Don Draper has been a very private man. To the point of exhaustion. Now, regardless of whether he wants it or not, Don is on full display. His life is. Everyone sees his life - a very good, good life - and he is no longer in control.<br />
<br />
We don't see how true this is until the aftermath of the party, when another very subtle scene drops a bomb on us: through some deft dialogue, we realize Don has told his new wife his secret. He is Dick Whitman. She uses it, ultimately, as a taunt; the party and her performance can be seen the same way. Outwardly, Don appears to have found a measure of calm and happiness. His life is back in order. Inside this marriage, he has ceded control of his very identity - all he is - to someone of a generation that is about to rip the identity of a nation right off its bones.<br />
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The show does this without virtually saying a word. This can be done in fiction as well; the best writers do it. Hemingway, famously does so in "Hills Like White Elephants," in which two characters have a conversation about an abortion that is never spelled out on the surface. In a short story, this obviously packs a dramatic punch. In a novel, or television series, the accumulation of drama - of what you know of these people - impinges on the work in such a way that scenes of great subtlety become like the icons of advertising brands. They're everywhere, but you don't see them.Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9271464.post-12437345569575111182012-03-25T10:49:00.002-05:002012-03-25T10:49:59.670-05:00Carnival of Indies - Issue #18!<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/10/self-publishing-carnival-of-the-indies-issue-1/" target="_blank" title="The Book Designer"><img alt="The Book Designer" src="http://www.thebookdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/COTI-featured-badge-125x125.png" style="border: currentColor;" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/03/self-publishing-the-carnival-of-the-indies-issue-18/#more-20581">latest issue</a> of Carnival of Indies, featuring a round up of great links from the world of indie publishing, is now up at Joel Friedlander's amazing site, <a href="http://the%20book%20designer/">The Book Designer</a>. Even better, one of my posts is among the links you'll find there - <a href="http://darby-harn.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-advice-for-writers.html">My Advice For Writers</a>.<br />
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If this is your first time to the blog, I hope you enjoy what you see and come back for more. Thanks!Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03437443961716194647noreply@blogger.com0