#had the most pleasure writing this plot with my lovely friend over on Twitter <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sharkselfies · 3 years

Text

The Minds Behind The Terror Podcast Transcript - Episode 1

Since some folks requested it on Twitter, I’ve started transcribing The Minds Behind The Terror podcast episodes! Below the cut you’ll find episode 1, where showrunners Dave Kajganich and Soo Hugh talk to Dan Simmons, the author of the novel The Terror, about episodes 1-3 of the show. They discuss Simmons’s initial inspiration for writing the book, the decisions they made to adapt it into a television series, and the depictions of some of the characters such as the Tuunbaq, Hickey, and “Lady Silence.”

The Minds Behind The Terror Podcast - Episode 1

[The Terror opening theme music plays]

Dave Kajganich: Hello! Welcome to Minds Behind The Terror podcast. I’m Dave Kajganich, I am a creator and one of the showrunners of the AMC show The Terror, and I’m here in the studio with executive producer and co-showrunner Soo Hugh.

Soo Hugh: Hello!

DK: And we welcome today the author of the sublime novel The Terror, on which our show is based, author Dan Simmons, calling in from Colorado. Welcome, Dan! Hi!

Dan Simmons: Hi Dave, thank you.

DK: So let’s start with the very beginning. This was a mystery from actual naval history that you decided to transform into a novel that was crossed with Gothic horror. Can you tell us a little bit about where you got the idea from this, how you went about preparing to write it, anything that can give us insight into how you blended all of these remarkable genres into this incredible book.

DS: I’ve known since I was a kid that I wanted to tell a story about either the North or South Pole. And the reason is in 1957, 58, when I was very young, actually I was just a fetus, they had the international geophysical year, and that really caught my imagination. Now the international geophysical year saw cooperation between American and Soviet scientists, it was the height of the Cold War, that’s the first time they submit(?) a permanent base at the South Pole, and I fell in love with Arctic stories. I had one book left on a book contract with a publisher I really liked, and we hadn’t decided what that book was, and I wanted to write a scary story about the Arctic, in this case the Northern Arctic, and that happened because I was doing a lot of research on Antarctica and just couldn’t figure out what the macabre, Gothic, scary part would be. I wanted to put it in, but I didn’t think they’d go for, you know, an eight foot tall vampire penguin.

[laughter]

DK: You might be surprised!

DS: There was a footnote on a book I was reading about the Franklin Expedition, which I had never heard of, and I decided that’s what I was gonna write about, and it had a tremendous amount of the unknown that I could fill in, that’s what novelists love. And so I told my editors excitedly that this was what I was gonna do, I would call it The Terror after the HMS Terror that went with the Erebus, got stuck in the ice, all the crew disappeared in history… And they said no.

[laughter]

DS: ...it was the first time the publishers did that. I said, “Why not? I think it’s gonna be a pretty good novel.” And they said, “Look, nobody’s interested in a bunch of people that’ve been dead for 150 years.”

SH: That sounds like some of our meetings.

[laughter]

DS: So I did what maybe you do, in such a meeting, I just thanked them, and I liked them all, and I had a good dinner(?) and I said goodbye, and bought back my last book on the contract and went out and wrote it on spec.

SH: Well why don’t we take a step back, Dave, and why don’t you tell us about how you found Dan’s book and that experience?

DK: Sure! Dan, you might remember some of these steps from your side of it, which is that originally this was auctioned by Universal as a feature, and I sort of tried to get the rights and was a bit too late, and tracked them down to the producers at Universal who were running the project and got myself hired as the screenwriter for a feature adaptation. By the time I was ready to start actually committing an outline to the paper, Universal had let the rights go because there was a competing project. It was interesting to sort of rack up reasons why people wanted to make it but didn’t feel that they could pull the trigger, and we were so grateful when AMC finally called us back and said, “Look, we’ve figured out a model where we can do this as a limited series,” it really felt like ten episodes was a great length for this, because we could blend genres in a way that, you know, we could unpack sort of slowly, more slowly than a lot of shows would’ve done, and drive the plot as much as we could, like the novel, with character choices and decisions as opposed to just horror kind of entering the frame and taking over for one set piece after another. So it was a long journey, getting this to AMC, but at the end of the day I think we found the right home for it.

DS: I can no longer imagine a two hour version, feature film version of this story, and I can’t imagine a second season of this story, I think it was just right.

SH: It does feel like we did a ten hour cinematic novel.

[audio from the show]

Crozier: Only four of us at this table are Arctic veterans. There’ll be no melodramas here--just live men, or dead men.

SH: Dan, Dave and I talk about how addictive the research gets for this when you start going down the rabbit hole, how did you approach the research?

DS: I think most novelists run into that, but since I write a lot of quasi-historical novels, at least set in history, I get totally addicted to going down the rabbit hole. Readers say, “Well, Simmons’ book is too long, and the descriptions of things are too exhausting,” but I watch your characters go on deck and there are all the things and views and everything that I tried so hard to describe and then people tell me, y’know, “talky, verbose,” and in print I have to do it that way, but you just pan the camera a little bit.

DK: You have words, we have images! For every thousand of yours, we get one!

DS: Yeah.

SH: But I remember this passage in your book where it talks about all the different ices, and you vest it with so much psychological import. We talk about that passage a lot in the writers room, it was one of our highlights, of this is how you do great descriptive writing.

DK: And you made so many parallels between things like the environments of the ships and characters, you built a kind of code book for the show without realizing you were doing it, which is making visual metaphors out of a lot of these things that would normally just be exposition or historical detail.

SH: Well especially between Crozier and the ship, I mean when you hear about Crozier’s relationship with Terror, and you have so many amazing passages about, you know, the groan of the ship and how it, y’know, and you cut to a scene with Crozier and how you feel that the bones of Crozier is embedded in the ship, and we really took a lot from that.

DS: Well I noticed that on one of the episodes where Lord Franklin [sic] is trying to get back in touch with Crozier, you know, trying to be friends with him again, I think it’s a brilliant episode you guys wrote.

[show audio]

Franklin: You’ve succeeded in avoiding Erebus most of the winter.

Crozier: I’m a captain. I’m--I’m peevish off my own ship. I leave it and I hear disaster knocking at its door, before I’m ten steps away.

DS: And that was beautifully written, that. You got so much of Crozier right there.

DK: It was a pleasure to write these characters on the backs of your writing of these characters, because you really--I mean, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, as you know, from having written, you know, a whole long string of historical books, is to make these people’s psychologies feel as modern as they must have felt in their day, while still being able to articulate some of the blind spots of being from the eras they were from.

I’m curious from sort of a history nerd point of view, if people watch the series and like the series, and read the book and like the book, and want to know more about this expedition, what’s the first book about the Franklin Expedition you would point people to? What was most helpful or most interesting in your research?

DS: I apologize, I can’t think of the name of it, but it’s a collection of stories about both the South and North Pole, and so it’s a short section on the Franklin Expedition, but it didn’t make mistakes, and most of the other books that I read, uh, keyed, and videos for that matter, like PBS did a story about the Franklin Expedition, but they keyed off a 1987 attempt by several doctors to figure out what happened to the crew, and they exhumed three crewmen’s bodies from the first island where they stayed the first winter, and those crewmen had only been on the ship a couple of months, but they decided because of a high lead content that the lead had poisoned them and then made them stupid, and made them paranoid and everything, but they didn’t compare that test of lead with any background people in London at the time, and later they did, so I didn’t believe the lead thing.

DK: Well that’s the fascinating thing about a mystery with this many parts and pieces, kind of in flux, is, you know, you can create all kinds of competing narratives about it, and what’s fascinating about writing a fictional version is you can’t have that kind of ambiguity, you have to make a decision. I think people will enjoy very much ways that the show and the book have a similar point of view, and also ways that they diverge in their points of view, because there are so many ways to tell this story--

SH: Well you know how much we invest responsibility in the audience as well, right?

DK: Sure.

SH: In terms of your book and our show as well, we’re not against interpretation, that there’s a responsibility on the audience’s part to put together--we’re not gonna hand feed them. There’ll be some people who put more of an onus on Franklin, and others who would say, “You know, if I was in that position, I probably would’ve made the same decision,” “Oh no, this definitely killed the men,” “No, this killed them!” and that dialogue is exciting, you know, when you read fans talk about your show and your books and really smart, insightful ways.

[show audio]

Franklin: Would it help if I said that I made a mistake?

Crozier: You misunderstand me, Sir John, I--I only meant to describe why I brood, not that I judge.

DS: I don’t worry about who or what my reading audience is. People ask me about that and I don’t imagine a certain reader. But I’ve always tried to write for somebody who’s more intelligent than I am. My perfect reader would be just smart as hell, speak eight languages, you know, have fantastic world experiences, and I want to write something that will please that person, and I think your show does the same thing.

DK: Well we were--that was our motto! We wanted to be sort of the dumbest members of our collaboration and there’s a sort of horrifying moment when you realize that’s come true.

[laughter]

[show background music]

DK: Tell us a little bit about why you made the decisions to tell the story in the order you told it, and whether you sort of felt like there was anything from the way you had told it that we were--or a missed opportunity. We’d love to know sort of what your experience of that was.

DS: I don’t think there were any missed opportunities in terms of not adapting my way of telling it, and I can’t remember all the reasons for why I broke it down that way, some of them were just very localized to, you know, when I was writing that particular bit. But I do know that it gains a lot by being told chronologically the way you’re doing it, so for me that seems now the logical way to tell it again.

DK: Have you ever read the novel in chronological order? When we hired writers for the writers room, we gave them a list of what the chapters were like in chronological order, and I think we asked half the room to read it in your order and half the room to read it in chronological order so we could have a discussion, a meaningful discussion about whether there were things about telling it without being in chronological order that we wanted to embrace or not. It was a fantastic experience and I wonder if you’ve ever read your chapters in chronological order? ‘Cause it’s also a fantastic book!

[laughter]

DS: I haven’t read it that way, they were that way in my mind before I started getting fancy and breaking them up and moving them around in time and space, but I would love to have seen that experiment.

DK: The reason we can get away with it in the show is because there is a loved book out there that people trust, and you know, it is a classic in this genre, so I mean this is a perfect example of, you know, the amount of gratitude we owe the book, because we got away with a lot of things that maybe we wouldn’t have been able to get away with because you came before us.

SH: And speaking of those rabid fans, Dan, it’s been really interesting reading audience reactions to the show from people who’ve loved the books and who just naturally will compare the two, and we’ve been heartened by just how supportive our fans have become--are of the show. There is this controversy, some people like our choice to give Lady Silence a voice and some people feel it was sacrilege to your book, where do you fall on that? DS: At first I was surprised. In fact when you were hunting for an actress for Lady Silence and I read about that, it said somebody who’s fluent in this Inuit language and this Inuit language, and I said, “What the hell?”

[show audio]

[Silna speaking Inuktitut to her dying father]

DS: Having seen her with the tongue and heard her, and knowing the different reason they call her Lady Silence, it all works for me and I was also surprised when Captain Crozier could speak fairly fluent, you know, dialect, ‘cause I had him just not understanding a thing.

[show audio]

[Crozier speaking Inuktitut to Silna in the same scene as above]

DS: I love it when readers get rabid about not changing something from a book, and I have to talk to them sometimes, not ‘cause I have a lot of things adapted, this is the first one, but I love movies. They say “Aren’t you worried it will hurt your book?” and first I explain Richard Comden(?)’s idea that you can’t hurt a book anyway, except by not reading it, I mean the books are fine, no matter how bad some adaptation becomes. Books abide, and so I wasn’t concerned. With the changes that I see, I get sorta tickled, whereas some readers get upset, and they just have that set. So I think that the vast majority of viewers haven’t--well, I know the vast majority haven’t read the book, haven’t heard of the book, probably, they’re gonna keep watching because of the depth of the characters, and that’s based on the first two episodes, and I agree with them completely.

[show audio]

[Silna speaking Inuktitut]

Crozier: She said that if we don’t leave now, we’re going to “huk-kah-hoi.”

Blanky: Disappear.

SH: We get asked a lot of questions about the supernatural element of the show and the way a monster does or does not figure in the narrative, and seeing our episodes, did it feel surprising or did it feel faithful to the way you imagined it as well to your book?

DS: It was surprising to me at how well it was done, because it’s hard, I know, to show restraint in a series like this, and certainly in a movie, but it’s hard to show restraint at showing and explaining the monster.

[show audio]

[ominous music, Tuunbaq roaring, men screaming]

DS: The way you did it in the first few episodes to me were just lovely, just, you know, a hint of a glance at something and then you see the results of this creature, so that’s what I tried to do in the novel, one of the reasons I moved around through space and time, part of what I wanted to do was not cheapen the story and not cheapen the reality of these poor men dying by just throwing in a monster, and so I tried to do it in a way that would not disrespect the true tale, and I believe you’re doing it the same way I tried.

DK: The way you incorporated the supernatural into the book, I mean, I was a fan of it when I first read it. It was jaw dropping the way that it fits so well on a level of plot, on a level of character, and on a level of theme. So when we got the green light to adapt it I was so confident that we were going to be able to do something with it that would be able to be nuanced because the bones of it are so organically terrific.

SH: It helped us know what we didn’t want to do. That formed so much of our conversation, of “this is what we do not want, this is what we do not want,” and slowly you whittled down to getting down to the essence of what this thing had to be.

[show audio]

[Tuunbaq growling]

DK: Another character from the book that really stands out for fans that they are wondering what in the world we’re doing with is Manson. [laughter] And I was curious what you made of the fact that he is pretty invisible in the first three episodes of the show, and that some of his plot beats have been given to a character called Gibson, who I don’t remember is--I don’t think he’s featured very much in the novel. And I wondered if that caught you off guard or if you sort of intuitively had a sense of what we were doing in making that change?

DS: Any discussion of Manson to me leads to Hickey converting him to his future, his tribe, the tribe he wants to have, group of worshippers, that I think Hickey wants to have, but he does it by sex below decks. Hickey’s not gay at all, he’s a manipulator, to me, and he was manipulating Manson who was big and dumb, in my book, he’s manipulating him by this sexual encounter. But I was curious whether you were worried about showing that?

DK: Well, we weren’t worried about showing characters having same-sex affairs or relationships. We wanted to make room in Hickey’s character for actual affection, or if not affection then companionship, or some kind of connection.

[show audio]

Hickey: Lieutenant Irving! I was hoping we’d meet.

Crewman: Mind the grease there, sir.

Hickey: I wanted to... thank you… for your help. For your discretion, I mean.

Irving: Call it anything but help, Mr. Hickey. Please. I exercised clemency for a man abused by a devious seducer.

DK: We wanted to make sure that Hickey had access to command in some way that a steward, an officer’s steward, would be able to provide him, that an able seaman wouldn’t be able to provide him, and that was really valuable to us in terms of charting out all of these character stories, was how does he know what he knows about how command is dissatisfied or where the fractures are if he can’t see them from where he’s sleeps in his cot in the forecastle.

SH: I mean we know that there were relations between the same sex on ships, it just was part of this world. Not to belie that there was serious consequences for it, but you know, we have 129 characters, and we wanted them to feel fully fledged and rich, and, you know, passions do naturally develop and have no characters engaged in sexual relations would have felt just as odd and perhaps even more controversial, and when Irving discovers Gibson and Hickey, his shock is from such a subjective point of view of his moral center. It’s not the camera’s perspective, right? Our camera’s very neutral in that scene. It’s Irving, that character at that point in the show, that is infusing a sense of horror, that’s his horror moment.

DS: I’d like to add that it’s not the gay connection that would cause criticism, but I was flayed alive because the most openly quote “gay” unquote character, that is, Hickey, you know, maybe hunting for affection but definitely hunting for power, he’s the only one they said in reviews, and he’s a killer and a bad person, so I’m homophobic, but I was flayed alive for that. The word homophobic appeared in about 80 reviews. Nobody mentioned the purser, who uh--

DK: Right, Bridgens and Peglar.

DS: Yeah. I thought he was a fascinating character. I loved getting glimpses of him in the series because he’s super smart, he’s super wise, he’s probably wiser than any of the commanders, ahd he’s obviously in love with--who is it that he’s in love with in the show?

DK: Peglar.

DS: Yes, that makes sense. And, uh, so Peglar says, you know, “Is this another Herodotus?” and, “No, I’m giving you Swift now,” he’s educating the man he cares for.

[show audio]

Hickey: I understand you cleared up our “association” for Lieutenant Irving? Gibson: You spoke to him.

Hickey: Mhm.

Gibson: Directly?

(beat)

Christ, Cornelius, I’d reassured him.

Hickey: Cornelius Hickey is a “devious seducer.” That was your--that was your reassurance? You’ve got some face, you know that?

DK: We wouldn’t have dramatized Hickey’s story if we weren’t also going to pull in Peglar and Bridgens’ story, because we knew that people, you know, are predisposed to sort of make that kind of quick assumption, and we just wanted to make sure that the show didn’t have that blind spot and reflected the book, which also doesn’t have that blind spot.

SH: We had those same questions with Lady Silence, and I’m sure you did as well. When we meet her, she’s a frightened young woman who’s about to lose her father, and that’s a universal character moment that anyone can relate to, and the otherness is sort of--is secondary, but then once--in the end scene of 1.02, when she’s sitting there grieving her father and then you have that language barrier with everyone else, we worked with Nive on this because we wanted to make sure the language itself was as accurate as possible, so when you say disappear making sure that the disappear in our language means the same thing as disappear in her language. I think whenever you have characters that feel othered in most media and you’re bringing them into your show, Dave and I also just wanted to make sure we weren’t swaying on the pendulum on the other side and being almost too careful about touching them, and with Nive I think when you have an actor of that talent, she was strong, she was representing a voice that she felt very confident in, and that was very reassuring for us.

DS: And it works well, and when her father’s dying, she throws herself on his chest and says “I’m not ready, it’s too soon, I’m not ready,” and I love that in the show because if she’s gonna become a Shaman he’s dying you know it’s not reached that point of education yet where she feels secure and later on you know beyond what we’re discussing today she becomes to me in the show I see her as more and more majestic.

SH: I do love the word majestic ‘cause I think it describes pretty much all of our characters. I agree, I do think there is something very sublime about who they have become at the end because when you go through that much trials and tribulations, it’s this beautiful human spirit to endure.

DS: I think that’s one of the central themes of the story that you’ve brought out so clearly. In most post-apocalypse, you know, terrible situation movies and shows, everybody turns nasty as hell, they start shooting each other, it’s just like WWIII when they should be helping each other survive, and I found even though there was controversy, even though there was opposition in this story, people opposing against each other, still that they rose to the occasion. And that is so rare I think in much media these days or even books where the characters are themselves and they do the best they can, and when things get bad they rise to the occasion.

DK: The first conversation you and I had about the book, you know, I was basically pitching you sort of what I thought thematically the book was about, and I talked a lot about, that in a disaster like this, a kind of moral emergency, that we would get a chance to unpack what is sort of best and worst in these characters’ souls.

DS: I confuse readers often when I was on book tour for this book, and it was a long time ago, I’ve written a few million words since then, but I confused people by saying that if you want a theme for the survival story of The Terror, it’s love. It’s love between the men. And just unstinting love. And this came out in a piece of dialogue, in the first two episodes.

[audio from the show]

Franklin: I’ll not have you speak of him uncharitably, James. He is my second. If something were to happen to me, you would be his second. You should cherish that man.

Fitzjames: Sometimes I think you love your men more than even God loves them, Sir John.

Franklin: For all your sakes, let’s hope you’re wrong.

DS: That to me was right the theme I was working with, and with Crozier who shows it a different way, with Fitzjames who’s struggling to show leadership, and between the men despite their hierarchy and the British hierarchy, the rank and lieutenants and so forth, eventually they come down to loving the men they try to save. And I found that lovely.

[The Terror opening theme music plays]

DK: Thank you so much for listening to The Minds Behind The Terror, join us in our next edition when we talk about episodes 4-6 with the additional guest Adam Nagaitis phoning in from London. We will see you soon!

[preview snippet from the next episode plays]

DS: I’ll confess something else to Adam, the first time I watched it, I thought your character was a good guy because he jumped down in that grave to put the lid back on.

[laughter]

#the terror #the terror amc #the minds behind the terror #david kajganich #soo hugh #dan simmons #personal #eps 2-4 should be up within the next couple days here!#hope this will be helpful!#also i am absolutely not a professional lmk if you see any mistakes or think a dif format would be better #and i'll add a google doc link in the reblogs too the tags will just break if it try to add it now

109 notes · View notes

neothebard · 5 years

Text

My time here is done.

Most anyone reading this that just stumbled upon it don’t know who I am, but those that do know me that got this link know me very well.

Hi, I’m known on Moon Guard as Neo Starstrider, Void Elf Hunter (High Elf Paladin in a previous life) though in the past I have gone by ‘The Doctor’ Andalian Morrison, Human Chronomancer and Illusionist best known for his time in Pyrebird Sodality. As well as Cillvia ‘The Fox’ Morrison, Human Rogue who climbed the ranks of the Melrony Crime Family to become its Underboss before stabbing Selvetore Melrony in the back (both IC and OOC, get to that in a bit.) and leaving to form her own company, Morrison Shipping and Trade, aka The Morrisons. But before that, I was simply Neo, a Human Paladin from Sargeras that raided and posted penis macros in trade chat.

Why am I writing all of this? Well, I’ve come to a turning point in my life where I have to start doing things a bit differently. And the thing I need to do different is cancel my WoW Subscription.

This is going to be a long story. So if you wish to keep reading, go ahead. If you wanna skip it and go straight to my reasoning for leaving, just go until you get to the break.

I was first introduced to WoW when I was in High School. I was having a get together at my house with some friends when one of them found my computer and began to download the game onto it. I asked him what that was and he said “This is World of Warcraft.” He let me create an Undead Warrior to play with for a bit. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But it wasn’t until that summer that I really got hooked onto that game.

Another friend of mine got me to play with him. This time I played a Night Elf Druid and boy oh boy was that a fun experience leveling. I only got him to level 12 before I stopped for a few months but it was still tons of fun! After a short break, I came back and made a Human Paladin on Sargeras known as Neotar. That same friend that was playing with me before made a Night Elf Hunter named Adremmalech and we both decided that we were going to get to max level with these characters no matter what.

We leveled and leveled and we both hit level 40 the day Burning Crusade was released. To celebrate our accomplishment, we ran our level 40 mounts all the way to the Exodar from Stormwind to check out the new Alliance city. Needless to say, it was super dope! But we weren’t done. We continued the Vanilla grind to level 60, stepped through the Dark Portal for the first time and were in absolute awe. What an experience it was to see that giant pit lord standing at the bottom of the stairs. The musical score blasting in our headphones. So much fun and great memories.

We blasted up to level 70 and soon got our first taste of gearing up to raid. I had some shortcomings being a Paladin as I didn’t want to only be a healer. Luckily, Prot was developing into something fun and challenging so I took it! Our entire time in BC was spent mostly in Karazahn, Gruul’s Lair, Mag’s Lair, and Zul’Aman. He went on to raid with a group that got into Hyjal and Black Temple on a regular basis while I stayed behind (mostly due to time restraints due to school.) But it was one of the most fun times I had playing this game.

When Wrath came out, we transferred servers to Drak’theron and met a guy that to this day is one of the nicest and kindest person I’ve ever met and am proud to call my friend (he also DM’s my weekly D&D games). We became members of his guild and went all the way to ICC 11/12 Heroic with him. A lot of accomplishments made with that guy and it was a lot of fun.

But that was the peak of my raiding experience as I stopped raiding when Cataclysm came out. I still wanted to play the game but didn’t know what else to do. So I gave RP a shot. I looked up an excellent guide on wowpedia, made a mage on Moon Guard, and went to town! I walked into the Cathedral district for the first time and was genuinely amazed by all the people there, acting out their characters.

I was hooked instantly.

I quickly leveled up this mage, known as Andalian Morrison, and joined a guild that I believe was called Kingdom of Arathor. I learned so much about Arathi Highland lore being in that guild (mostly research I had done) and decided to make my mage be from Arathi. Eventually I made him an entire family: 3 older brothers and 1 older sister. Cerious, Nethran, Cillvia, and Edrayne. I eventually made Cillvia into a rogue I had and transferred her to the server where I then was approached by Selvetore Melrony to join the Melrony Crime Family.

Crime RP was a new experience for me (much like all RP was) and I learned quick that RP Fighting was full of a lot of drama if you didn’t communicate effectively. But the stories told were fun and I had fun. Though like a lot of things, this RP came with a lot of OOC drama and for better or for worse, I let it get to me and run how my RP was. Rather than talk things out with Selvetore, I plotted with his other officers and we all left and made our own guild, The Morrisons.

I can’t say if I had just left on my own if things would be different but the whole experience taught me that talking things out with your guild mates might end in someone leaving but it’s better than essentially ruining someones day through shady means.

Running the Morrisons was challenging. We didn’t know exactly what we wanted to be. Half of us wanted to be crime RPers, the other half just wanted to be entertainers. Either way, we did our best. I ended up disbanding due to time restraints IRL but eventually I came back around on Andalian and joined up with the Pyrebird Sodality, the GM being Kenny.

Kenny was a lot of fun to be around and still is a very creative person. I learned a lot about RP from her as well (even though I had well over a couple years of experience at that point). She taught me a lot about running a guild as well. I stuck by that guild until time ran out for it and switched then to my paladin, Neo Starstrider, freshly transferred from Sargeras.

I used my raiding experience as his backstory and eventually landed on him being a devout Champion of the Argent Crusade, joining up with House Ravenshield in the process. I never let OOC dictate my actions with this character as IC was my only driving force.

Eventually Neo cut ties with the Crusade due to their inability to do anything about Sylvanas and her plague. He joined up with Elizabeth Embershield and the Embershield Protectorate and that’s pretty much where his story is concluding. He will be retiring from active service to take care of himself and his kids (if Telriah so wishes it.)

I will say this about Embershield: It is the best guild I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

Telriah is an amazing world builder and a great friend. I love him to death and I hope he continues to run this guild well after I leave. It’s been a pleasure to work with him in building the guild up and I loved every minute of it.

Linaly, Teanuu, Ainsling, Talen, Dubz, Keak, Garion, Nesara, Elbert, Kamarill, Trisana, Walorian and even you Moonsworn, I love you all so very much and I hope you continue to be the amazing people you are.

So if you read all of that, I congratulate you on getting this far. If you skipped to this part that’s cool too. But as I said before, my time in wow has come to an end.

My reasons for quitting are as follows:

1: WoW is just not fun for me anymore. Not even RP can keep me playing this game, sadly enough. I’ve played this game for over 13 years. I had so much fun raiding and jumping into RP. But the current iteration of this game is just not appealing to me anymore. I don’t like world quests, I don’t like the rep grinds, I don’t like the raiding or the PVP. I could go on and on with a lot of the things I don’t like (and to be honest they’re probably things you read or hear about on a daily basis) but it’s just plain and simple: Wow isn’t fun for me anymore.

2: I’m studying to become an Computer Tech and all of the things that follow that path. I am also wanting to start up my YouTube/Twitch project once more and don’t want WoW to be pulling me down.

3: In July 2017, I met the woman that I want to marry. At the time that I write this, we’ve been together for 15 months. She’s moved in with me, she’s decorated the apartment, we put up a Christmas Tree (the first one I’ve ever put up since living on my own). We have a cat, I buy her roses every chance I get, I love her family and she loves mine. It’s as simple as this: Every time I’ve had a choice between wow and spending time with her, I chose her.

Well, there’s that. I hope everyone reading this enjoyed my story and enjoyed the things I had to say. If you want to keep tabs on me, I’ll still be on Discord. My Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube Handles are SgtMajorCool. I believe they’re in my profile as well if you take a gander. But that’s that.

#world of warcraft #I quit #Moon Guard #US-MoonGuard #Embershield Protectorate #SgtMajorCool

6 notes · View notes

shancedisneyzines · 6 years

Photo

“AS A SCORPIO I'M A BITCH BY NATURE, BUT MY CHRISTIAN UPBRINGING HAS MADE IT VERY EASY TO MASK >:3″ @after-midnightmunchies | She/Her | Head Mod & Writer

Which Disney animated movie antagonist do you relate to the most?

I relate most to Te Kā / Te Fiti from Moana because I also wish to rain fire upon the enemies that slight me and sleep for thousands of years once I'm satisfied.

What got you into writing/art and how long have you been doing it?

Fanfiction actually got me into writing. I wrote my first fanfics for the Hetalia fandom back in 2013 after my friends introduced me to it. We would roleplay characters and brainstorm plots, and I discovered that I really enjoyed the process of creating and writing (and that I'm pretty good at it lol). I've been writing since!

What's one of your favorite things about Shance?

I'm a sucker for a fanboy being noticed by his hero, and I love the potential that a relationship between them could have! Lance's humor is exactly what Shiro needs to loosen up, and I feel like someone under constant duress like him could benefit from a flirtatious pass here and there. Shiro, on the other hand, could bring some much needed structure to Lance's wild nature, and also help him mature even more. Not to mention, I totally see them as the Meme Dream Team™ (move over “Team Punk!” lol)

Have you participated in any other Voltron zines?

Yes! I've had the pleasure of contributing to the Allura Zine, EnHanced Zine, TEOU Shance Zine, and the Kiss Me Zine. In addition to this zine, I will also be featured in the Shanced Wedding Zine, and I'll have the honor of modding the “Season’s Greetings” Writers' Zine, among others in the future!

All Creators | FAQ | Schedule | Twitter | Instagram

17 notes · View notes

skulduggerypleasant · 6 years

Text

Twitter Q&A (8/3/18)

Derek did an impromptu Q&A session on his Twitter last night, and answered a lot of tweets in very quick succession. I really do mean a lot, and he’s not even finished with all the questions yet (although I helped him out where I could), so expect an update to this post soon enough! Under the cut, you’ll find a summary of pretty much everything that he said, excluding anything that wasn’t really relevant to a wider audience. There are, inevitably, spoilers for every book up to and including Resurrection. Anyways, enjoy!

We’ll be getting bits and pieces of information about Carol’s death—and it’s consequences—as the books go on, although it won’t be a main plot point by any means. [x]

“China is generally the hardest to write, because I have to force myself to not make jokes. Val's the easiest, because she's the most real to me.” [x]

“Skulduggery has had primarily straight relationships in the past, but pretty much all sorcerers are bi, China included. Val is, at this point in her life, kinda straight, with definite bi leanings.” [x]

Female sorcerers have a monthly menstrual cycle for however long their bodies stay young. [x] (Why do you people ask these things?)

We’re never going to be told Skulduggery’s given name. [x]

The Unnamed will be elaborated on in Phase Two. [x]

Skulduggery brushes his teeth, and he showers if his bones are dirty. [x]

Derek only decided on Ghastly’s grisly fate around Mortal Coil; up until that point, he was going to live. [x]

Derek considers Necromancy the coolest power to write, but thinks that Teleportation is ultimately the best. [x]

“If someone was taken over by [both] a Remnant and a Faceless One, the Faceless One would burn out the Remnant in an instant.” [x]

Derek has no intention of telling us how many books he has planned for the series, but we’ll probably find out eventually. [x]

“[Valkyrie’s] powers will be explored further as we go.” [x]

Only one reflection can be released at a time, and you still have a normal reflection in mirrors all the while. [x]

“I had the first idea [for the series] in the summer of 2005, and I didn't change any of the major aspects since then. The only question was whether to set it in the ‘real’ world or a fantasy world where walking skeletons weren't a big deal. Obviously, the real world won.” [x]

Valkyrie will not be teaching any other sorcerers, as she isn’t in any kind of mindset to teach, and her power set is entirely unique. [x]

We’ll learn how Mevolent died during the war in Phase Two, as well as how the alternate-dimension Mevolent managed to survive where the original did not. Also, it’s implied that there’s plenty more we’ll find out about. [x]

“Harry Potter probably influenced me the most, especially early on. I should have been confident enough to throw off those shackles, but in a way I needed them in order to find my own way of telling stories.” [x]

Derek is suitably—but not necessarily suspiciously—evasive when questioned about possible connections between Valkyrie/Darquesse and The Unnamed. [x]

Skulduggery probably can’t seal his true name, without a heart to carve the appropriate symbols into. [x]

“Okay, but when does Ghastly come back to life?” / “On a Tuesday.” [x]

We’ll find out about Valkyrie’s infamous “vision boyfriend” that Cassandra Pharos saw back in Last Stand of Dead Men. [x]

Again, Derek heavily implies we’ll see the return of alternate-universe Mevolent in future books. [x]

“I've left it open enough so that I COULD link [Skulduggery Pleasant and Demon Road], but I don't think I will, unless I have an awesome idea for a crossover...” [x]

Derek was originally intending to reveal what Saracen’s power is, but now he’s unsure if he ever will. [x]

We’ll find out what strange thing Dusk tasted in Valkyrie’s blood back in Dark Days; it was already confirmed that it was neither her Ancient lineage, or her Darquesse alter-ego. [x]

Necromancers have yet to successfully figure out a way to harness their powers without the use of an imbued object. [x]

Derek is unsure if he’ll ever write (another) Dead Men short story set during the war, as short stories are incredibly time-consuming. [x]

We’ll find out as we progress through Phase Two what, exactly, made Skulduggery quit his job at the Sanctuary. [x]

“China’s charm works on EVERYONE.” [x]

The Reflection would’ve been unable to approach the Book of Names. [x]

It’s possible for a sorcerer who has discovered their true name to achieve power equal to, or greater than, the Ancients/Faceless Ones. [x]

Valkyrie has “not yet” dressed up as Skulduggery for Halloween. [x]

“Love is love, is it not?” [x]

Gracious O’Callahan is based on one of Derek’s friends. [x]

“Where did Skulduggery find the Bentley?” / “In the Bentley shop.” [x]

The Book of Names was not the only way to discover one’s True Name, and the Book itself was created by the Ancients. [x]

“The pop culture references simply reflect the times in which the books are set. The problem is that pop culture can date a book pretty fast, but I tend not to care about things like that.” [x]

Before Skulduggery died, his face was apparently “like, super handsome and stuff.” [x] (As if that surprises anyone...)

“You can use sigils if you're, say, an Elemental, but you can't get to China's level unless you devote yourself to the discipline.” [x]

Lord Vile is not mute, he just doesn’t like to speak. [x]

It’s a possibility that we might see a villain in future who has control over older, more visceral forms of magic. (Although, I can’t say Derek’s response was notably promising, but who knows?) [x]

“Omen has a definite journey in these books. He's just trying to figure out who he is, and find his place in the world.” [x]

“Darquesse is either A) kicking Faceless One ass or B) having her ass kicked by Faceless Ones. Vile hasn't gone anywhere...” [x]

Derek promises that we haven’t seen the last of shunters, again pretty much confirming a return to the Leibniz Universe. [x]

“Solomon always liked the name, which is why he took it... and he HAD [nine] brothers but they all died mysteriously. VERY mysteriously.” [x]

Fletcher was supposed to die early on, but Derek changed his mind. [x]

Solomon Wreath once had a pet gerbil, apparently. [x]

“The Taken Name is a psychological protection, so literally all you have to do is decide on your new name, and there you go.” [x]

We may possibly get more short stories set before the first book. [x]

“As powerful as Vile was, Mevolent was more so.” [x]

There are no plans to tell us much more, if anything, about Skulduggery’s family. [x] (However, we have previously been promised that Midnight will delve a little more into Skulduggery’s past.)

“Is there any way of bringing Tanith and Ghastly back together?” / “Sure. I’ll just have to kill Tanith.” [x]

Derek listens to music while he writes: “Soundtracks only—no lyrics! Star Wars, Marvel, Pirates of the Carribbean—anything big and bombastic.” [x]

Serpine has apparently used Skulduggery’s ribcage as a xylophone. [x]

Darquesse’s personality shifted away from Valkyrie’s because “she changed once her power grew; her consciousness expanded.” [x]

“[Skulduggery]’s unlikely to be the only one who's ever figured out how to do it, but I like to think that anyone else who learned how to fly lost their focus mid-flight and died screaming all the way down...” [x]

Following the death of Anton Shudder, the Midnight Hotel has been passed on to a different (unknown) owner. [x]

There probably won’t be any extra books or short stories about Milo, of Demon Road trilogy fame. [x]

We pretty much already know this, but: “[Skulduggery] is one of the few magically ambidextrous people out there.” [x]

If Derek had the chance to rewrite the series, he would save Ghastly. [x]

Skulduggery’s guilty pleasure is “watching old movies.” [x]

“Tanith is keeping busy, and Militsa SO fancies Val...” [x]

Billy-Ray Sanguine’s magic is earth-focused, so technically it could be classified as an Elemental ability, but because he’s so specialised and his powers are so unique, it’s counted as an Adept discipline. [x]

Elders are elected. [x] (But apparently, Supreme Mages are not...)

“At this point in her life, I'd say Val is probably closing in on bisexual, but heteromantic. So far.” [x]

“[Thrasher] had a mother, but she has sadly passed.” [x]

Apparently, Mevolent’s three generals were “cool with each other,” and “they had game nights and everything.” [x] (Inexplicably, I got scolded by an anon for saying that this was more than likely a joke.)

Valkyrie and Tanith’s dynamic may have changed following the events of the last books, but we’ll have to wait and see “if and when they meet again.” [x]

“There are parts I wish had slightly different rules linked to them, which would have made it easier to use these things in later books, but nothing I regret as such, no.” [x]

Mobile phones still worked when Skulduggery and Valkyrie were in Hammer Lane Gaol (in Kingdom of the Wicked) because... magic! [x]

There are no plans, and there probably never will be, to tell us whether Skulduggery’s child was a boy or a girl. [x]

Derek knew that Erskine Ravel was probably going to end up being the main antagonist in the book in which he was introduced, but he only knew for definite by the time he was writing the book after that. [x]

Again (because when do they not?), someone asked whether there would be a movie or a tv show based on the series, and as always, the answer is: hopefully yes, but no news yet. [x]

Derek would consider writing for Doctor Who again if asked, but he generally prefers having complete ownership over his writing—so he can kill whichever characters he wants. [x]

I don’t know why this was asked, but in case anyone was wondering, Skulduggery and Serpine are not related. [x]

#skulduggery pleasant #archive #i think i've managed to get all the links working but let me know if i've messed anything up

105 notes · View notes

altimys · 6 years

Text

Winter 2018 anime reviews

Hello, hello. This is a follow-up post to my initial impressions post. I’ll detail how my perception of the animes changed over the season.

Also note that I will not review Violet Evergarden since I’m way too far behind on it. I’ll finish it sometime in the next season once I’m free.

Dropped Animes

The ones that were unbearable.

Citrus

3/10

Like mentioned in the post from the beginning of the season, it just had this unrealistic, trope-driven, incest (but not really) story. Mostly style and little substance, but not even my style. Well, do take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t even finish the first episode.

Pop Team Epic

7/10

I definitely appreciate the experimental and sarcastic nature of this anime. But it wasn’t really worth spending an extra 15 minutes to watch the same thing a second time, especially since I didn’t find all the skits funny. I probably would’ve watched it if they were broken into seven minute segments.

Sanrio Boys

5/10

Too cheesy. Thanks for the “be yourself” message, but I’m not really interested in bishounens parading this every episode. The protagonist’s broken relationship with their grandmother as a sad backstory made me facepalm very hard. If you had advertised this to me about 6 years ago, I may have gobbled it up, but nowadays it’s not my taste.

Darling in the Franxx

5/10

I didn’t pick it back up, and I didn’t really see anything major from twitter or tumblr, except for gifs of the pink haired girl being with her sexy-cute charm. Y’know, the kind of charm where she’s designed to be appealing in a sexy, vampiric way, but she’s doing something cute like licking her fingers after eating a slice of meat or something. Normally I’d not mind this so much, but remembering how typical the protag was, it definitely gave off the manic pixie dream girl vibes. Art and animation I saw was great though! Unfortunately.

Osomatsu-san

5/10

Skits really fell flat this season. I knew that S2 would lose some drive after the stunt they pulled for the finale of S1, but a lot of skits were utter nonsense. I enjoyed the ones where they experimented with the complexities of each character’s personalities (i.e. Choromatsu and Ichimatsu’s awkward interactions), but it was like wading through a swamp to get a chuckle. I watched most of the season then dropped it, since it wasn’t really worth spending time not having fun.

Mediocre Anime

I don’t know why I watched these but I did.

Garo Vanishing Line

3/10

The story was killing me so much in the end that I would multitask when watching it, and I’m not a natural multitasker. It was just bad writing. Nothing really made sense, and it was quite predictable. Like Sword’s sister came out of nowhere (after she died for Sword’s sad backstory) and was suddenly had HACKER SKILLZ. And I was almost positive that in S1, Sophie’s brother was taken away from her by force, not him wanting to join the El Dorado project. Whatever, does it even matter? The best thing of the season was probably Luke getting a haircut and ditching that awful trenchcoat. Do not recommend.

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

6/10

Guilty pleasure of the season. Still managed to enjoy the nonsense, with the musicals, and these bishounen and moeblobs being one-dimensional. I did appreciate some of the character interactions and the references to Katsugeki Touken Ranbu, but with these kinds of animes, I really can’t say it’s quality. It’s meant to be aimed at a certain audience, and knowing that I am part of this audience makes it enjoyable to watch. Wouldn’t recommend unless you really like bishounenified swords.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

6/10

I previously wrote that I was interested in seeing the stalker girl’s infatuation with Koizumi-san turn into a relationship. Of course it didn’t happen. Yuri? In your dreams. I do applaud this anime for going in depth into the ramen culture and making me hungry every week. There were some hardcore facts about ramen’s origins and experimental ramen. You could tell that they did a lot of research (or were sponsored well). I ate an average of 1.5 packs of instant ramen each week, partly thanks to Koizumi-san. How can I not eat noodles after watching it? Not really any substance to this anime unless you like hearing about ramen facts and watching anime girls foodgasm.

Average Anime

These I could recommend with disclaimers and not feel bad about it.

Junji Ito Collection

6/10

Like with most animes with short stories, there’s a handful of good and bad stories. Since the source material is pretty good, there’s more interesting stories than not. There are definitely some that are ridiculously stupid, but if you are in search of horror anime, this is one you should watch. I wouldn’t say it’s equivalent to Yami Shibai, but it’s good. The animation can’t match the signature entrancing horror that Junji Ito creates, but it’s a decent adaptation. One minor quip I have is that they reuse voice actors in each skit. Might be a budget issue, might be something else. It’s not a big deal, but mostly noticeable to me because Hoshiyan’s voice is too recognizable for me. lol. Oh yeah, the short story with the oil was absolutely disgusting. I enjoyed being grossed out.

Gakuen Babysitters

6/10

It’s like a shoujo but with toddlers. Cute interactions, likable characters. Of course, it’s a light-hearted story, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. The comedy bits are well-written, and the art style is absolutely adorable. Great casual watch if you want to feel fluffy without the bullshit of shoujo romances.

Laid Back Camp

7/10

As the title suggests, it’s a pretty laid-back anime. I love the different personalities of the female cast. They shone quite well through the segments of texting. The way that they texted felt friendly, and I felt that I was part of this silly chat group. Also enjoyed learning a lot about camping supplies (and the little pinecones that squealed were so cute). Makes me consider wanting to go solo-hiking or camping to be able to enjoy nature. I’m really glad it covered winter camping, because that’s something that most people never consider, so you get to see the different equipment, activities, and benefits. Recommend if you want something chill with a well-written cast, but not a character-driven story line.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

7/10

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit. I was actually expecting this one to tank, because it had a predominantly male lineup, was about assassins, and had a crossdresser. Sounded like someone picked things they thought would appeal to the general public and made an anime of it. Thankfully, I was wrong. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is actually based off a light novel series, which really shows through the thought-out plot and layered characters. I wouldn’t say it’s as crazy as Durarara!!, but some of the twists are quite interesting. I also really enjoy the diverse cast and their interactions: Lin Xianming, pseudonym for a Taiwanese assassin who also happens to crossdress; Banba Zenji, a playful, seemingly idiotic detective with a deck of tricks up his sleeves. There’s also a canonically gay character, an ex, a child, a hacker (with an interesting backstory), and more. And these characters make mistakes, get injuries, and have flaws. I’m hoping for a second season, because watching this was quite nice each week.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san

7/10

If you wanted fluff with actual romance, here’s the one for the season! There’s also quite a bit of comedy added. I did feel sorry for the protag Nishikata for falling victim to Takagi’s pranks every time, but I always looked forward to what she was going to do, and how it would fluster him. I think the romantic buildup was well-paced throughout the season. Kudos to whoever paced it, because they danced around with my feelings like an expert, giving me enough of a taste to feel the flutters of romance in my stomach, but not enough to make Nishikata and Takagi an item. Some of the skits were directed very well, with surprisingly effective cinematography (see the rain and umbrella skit). The ending was really cute, and I’m pretty encouraged to read the manga to get more content.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

7/10

Nothing really jumped out at me. I feel like the actions of the characters didn’t follow a logic to it that made me understand the character better. Nothing really sparked an interested in wanting to cheer the characters on. I really felt passive in watching events happen to Chise and Elias, and the ending wasn’t particularly spectacular either. I think it’s a decent one to pass the time, but I could not get invested in the plot or characters.

Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni

8/10

This anime certainly isn’t for everyone’s tastes, but I think I really appreciated the latter half of the series more than the first half. The surface-level summary is about the age-gap romance, but once I was able to hear Kondo’s internal thoughts, especially about being older, the nostalgia of youth, and trying to pick a passion back up, I started enjoying it a lot more. I especially loved the scenes when he would banter with his college friend Chihiro. The only downside of the latter half of the episodes was the awkward tension between Akira and her friend. Her friend would just yell at her, and Akira would take it, and then not really consider it. And somehow it’s resolved. Well, other than that, I did like the characters and ending a lot.

Kokkoku

8/10

I rather enjoyed the setup and the unknown mechanisms of the system. The enemy really had the advantage in intellect and strength, and it was interesting watching how the characters tried to get around that. The last three episodes were a little flat, and the plot armor (kind of) and last bit of exposition was almost unnecessary, but it was there to give us a happy ending, which I did appreciate. Love the grandpa. I��d say this anime did a pretty decent job at the action and strategy, and the ending wasn’t blowing my mind, but I do really commend it on the setup.

Exceptional Anime

Worth your time.

A Place Further Than the Universe

8/10

Drama about girls aiming to go to Antarctica. Strong female cast, with a pretty believable depiction of average high school girls and how they might react and pursue their dreams. The voice acting was pretty spectacular for this show, especially during the second to last episode. ;) I think this anime is very real with what it’s like with concepts we usually don’t think of: having ambitions, lacking ambitions, making friends, losing friends, finding closure. It was rewarding to walk with the girls in every step of their journey. Animation quality was pretty awesome too. I also cried a bit at the end. I didn’t think I would enjoy an anime about high school girls going to Antarctica, but hey, I loved it.

Hakumei to Mikochi

8/10

It’s a slice-of-life about a pair of thumb-sized forest dwellers. Hakumei, the more adventurous of the two, works as a handyman and has a determined attitude. She’s still a very considerate person and is full of compassion and a heart to help others. Mikochi is a bit more reserved and particular. She’s famous for her cooking and has a passion for textiles and clothing. Both characters compliment each other well, and it’s cute seeing them bustle about their daily lives. You also get to see into the lives of other characters they meet, and it feels an established world with all it’s quirks and culture. The general feel of this anime is relaxed and storybook-like, similar to the same kind of vibe I get from Ghibli movies. I honestly thought this was a children’s anime during the first episode. It could be, but I enjoyed it a lot.

#personal #pointless anime ramblings

1 note · View note

casscutting · 4 years

Text

Author Interview: David Viergutz

I had the pleasure of meeting David (online) by complete chance. I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed one night and came across a post from a writer that I follow. He had just finished reading this book with one of the most beautiful covers I’d seen in a while. I read the caption then immediately went to Goodreads to see what this book was about. I was HOOKED from the synopsis and added it to my “Want To Read” list.

I went back and commented on that post, gushing over the cover and saying how I needed to read this book. Sometime after I get a message request from this guy, David Viergutz, I am shit with names until I get to know someone (online and in-person) so it never dawned on me who it was.

But I opened the message and he was saying how he saw my post and offered to send me an e-book in exchange for an honest review and I JUMPED at the chance and I am glad I did. I knew from the first page of his book I was going to love it and I did. I also hoped that he would be down for an interview and I was elated when he said yes.

David is an amazing writer and author and I look forward to seeing his career take off because I know it will. I encourage every one of you to go and get a copy of his books you won’t regret it.

Why don’t we start off with an easy question, why do you tell us who you are and a little about yourself?

So, I’m a bit of an oddball in the writing community, or so I feel. I’m a father of two (15 and 2, yeah…I know…) and a Law Enforcement Officer. I joined the Army straight out of high school and became a LEO shortly after. I had ZERO idea I wanted to be a writer. It wasn’t until my wife came around, about 10 years later, who convinced me I COULD be a writer. It was interesting, she looked at me and said, “Write the damn book!” after we had discussed how I had wanted to write one since I was 12. Like so many others, writing fell to the wayside as work took over.

Besides work, and writing, I’m a personal trainer and have my own business, and I recently dove head-in to leatherwork. I’m still learning, but it’s fun.

My wife is also a LEO and a medical student. I’m just counting down until residency so I can retire at 32 and write full-time, haha.

You are the author of The Box And The Bird a novella that came out in October 2019 as well as The Demonic Compendium a wonderful novel that I've had the pleasure of reading. Can you tell my readers a little about these books?

The Demonic Compendium is my flagship into the world I am writing. I never set out to write a book, I set out to create a universe. Most of my favorite series end so soon and I wish there was more. In writing epic-fantasy, I wanted to make sure this wasn’t an issue for my readers. That being said,

The Box and the Bird is a taste of The Demonic Compendium Universe, also known as The Darkenverse. (Think Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Star Wars Expanded Universe). This book is a fast-paced intense read that follows Samantha Lawson as her husband Richard returns home from a business trip with something terrible. This book ties into the main universe, but is not considered on the main timeline. I offer it free on my website davidviergutz.com.

The Demonic Compendium is my bread and butter and the first of many in the series. While it is epic fantasy, I bring in some elements that I think set it apart. Anti-heros, doom-and-gloom, dread, epic-battles and a fully immersive world. One reader said he felt like he wasn’t just in the story, he was also watching my main character Shaw cast wild demonic-magic and tromp through the castle.

The Demonic Compendium takes place in the wake of a terrible tragedy that has befallen a budding kingdom. We follow Shaw as he is forced to make terrible decisions for the greater good, and hopefully, find his purpose in the process. Not to give too much away, but there’s a reason my personal mantra for writing is:

“The hero doesn’t always win. The good guy doesn’t always get the girl. Things are going to get a lot worse.”

What was your inspiration for these stories, where did the original spark come from?

Well, I truly wrote the book I wanted to read. I thought back to a few captivating moments from what I’ve read and seen in movies and wanted my readers to get chills as they read the epic moments. Think about when Gandalf stands on the bridge with his infamous line. Or King Leonidas when he boots the emissary into the hole. Or when the Red Ranger screams “Tyrannosaurs!” I wanted a book FILLED with those moments, so I focused on those big events, and built a world to fit it.

The Demonic Compendium is the first book in your debut series, how many books do you have planned for the series altogether?

It’s hard to say. I’ve purchased covers for three additional books, as well as a novella from the same timeline following another lead character. As long as my readers love it, I’ll keep writing it. That said, I have a new series flagship releasing this year in the urban-fantasy genre.

Steering away from the book related questions. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I spoke above about my wife giving me inspiration to write this particular book, and get to the end of it, but my overall spark came when I was about 10 years old. I carried a black notebook with a home-made floppy-disk holder on the inside cover. I’d write my story paragraphs out, then read them to my friends and transfer them to the floppy disk.

This was my art, because I had failed art…I couldn’t connect two dots, I would have just eaten the crayon because I thought the assignment was stupid. I find my ability to write is a carry over from my ability to speak, so I stuck with what I was good at.

From idea to publication about how long does it take you to write a book?

Planning and plotting are about a solid two weeks (part time, a few hours a night). After that, my pace is a steady 1000 words an hour. On a good day (I’m married with kids remember) I can pump out 10k if I’m left alone. Most of my books are planned and plotted for 100k, minus the novellas. So, math aside, I’d say 30 days. I wouldn’t say a month, because life likes to drop a dragon in my living room. Now that I have my business processes down, 30 days is an accurate guess. When writing TDC, I had to learn the business, hire a cover artist, formatter, etc, so that delayed my process.

Both of your current books are indie published why did you choose to go this route and not the traditional one?

I love working for myself, and as I see my books as my art, I am reluctant to give that up. I’m very much a self-made-man, and I feel when my writing is loved and only my own efforts are responsible, it’s just that much sweeter when I make a single sale.

Which authors inspired you to write?

This is a tough one, as a lot of authors I enjoy have a lot of overlap. I prefer their methods instead of just their stories so I’ll mention those. From Dean Koontz, I loved The Husband for the mind-bending twist. Michael Crichton for the adventures in Jurassic Park, and Garth Nix for his epic magic in The Abhorsen Series.

What is the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Write the story you want to read. You don’t need to please everyone; you just need to please your fans.

Can you tell us about your writing process? What’s a typical writing day for you?

I’m a musically motivated to write. When I sit down at my desk, I make sure the music I’m listening to matches what’s happening in the story. There cannot be any words however, it must feel like I’ve got my own theme-song as I narrate on paper what I’m seeing in my mind.

My process is that of a plotter. I start with my epic moments, then think about who I want to be a part of them, then build in my what-if statements.

What-if a dragon lands in my living room? What-if it looks terrifying?

Now, I’m forced to answer my own questions with more plotting.

And then it seems to be entirely confused. And then it has crippling self-esteem issues.

I then arrange these series of thoughts into an outline, expand on them, and use that to write pages.

If the perfected productive writing day existed what would it look like for you?

I’m an easy fellow. 5:00 AM-6:59 AM workout. 7:00 AM-7:59 AM post-workout shake, shower, get ready, chores at home. 8:00 AM-11:59 AM in the office with hot coffee. 12:00-12:44 PM break to warm up meals and walk around neighborhood. 12:45-3:45, edit what I just wrote 4:00PM-5:00 PM, marketing, social media and business functions. 5:01-8:00 PM family time to include dinner. 8:01-11:00 PM, read, more writing or hobbies.

Why do you write?

Because I can’t afford to pay an author to write books exactly how I want to read them. I love my own stories.

What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

Okay besides the usual gripe that I hear/read people hear/write about, self-esteem, doubt, anxiety, introverts, socially awkward etc.…

How about the fact that we’re trying to make money on a commodity that has fallen to social media, instant gratification, and the digital age? The average e-book sells for $2.99. That’s a lot of books to sell just to fill the gas-tank.

What are you currently working on?

Book Two of The Demonic Compendium: The Queen of Duska Cereal of Third City: A novella from the TDC series timeline

The Bullet Board: An action packed urban-fantasy heist.

Lastly, what is the best advice you can offer someone who dreams of one day being an author?

Fake it until you make it. Undoubtedly you know something I don’t about writing, even if you’ve only written a Facebook post. You are the expert of YOUR stories. Stop looking for validation from others on how THEY would change YOUR story.

If they don’t like your story, they can write their own. Give yourself some credit and when you’ve finish something, anything, show it off, and be proud, it’s your art.

Author Links: Website Instagram Twitter Goodreads Facebook

Book Links: Goodreads Amazon

Question of the day:

If you could ask your favorite author a question what would it be?

0 notes

weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

Text

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 14, 2019 - MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL, SHAFT, LATE NIGHT, THE DEAD DON’T DIE

I apologize for taking last week off, but I really needed a break, especially considering how late I was running on writing anything for the column. I also worry that the fact I write so much about the wide releases over at The Beat -- hitting the ‘net in about an hour -- means I don’t have so much to write here, and I don’t want to disappoint those who click on the link.

Hopefully, some of you are using this column to check up on limited releases and repertory screenings. Feel free to drop me a line or hit me up on Twitter if that’s the case, as I hate working in a vacuum.

Sadly, I don’t think there’s been much buzz for MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL (Sony), the attempt to revive and reboot a franchise without the original movie’s two stars. This has rarely worked in the past, and Will Smith is so well-liked, as seen by the success of the recent Aladdin. Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious), the new MiB are played by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, both popular thanks to Thor: Ragnarok and the recent Aven gers: Endgame but not quite up to Smith when it comes to being a box office draw. I’m happy to see Emma Thompson back, although I’m sure she’ll be better used in this week’s expanding release Late Night, while Liam Neeson can be fun when given the right part.

Mini-Review: It’s officially the summer, so studios are starting to hope that film critics will go easier on their movies meant to be entertaining summer “popcorn fare.” That was certainly true of the original Men in Black, which combined a simple premise of an alien-fighting government agency with the charm of Will Smith.

Men in Black International has the same premise, but this time, instead of Smith, it has Tessa Thompson as Molly, a young girl who discovered the presence of the Men in Black. Twenty years later, she wants to become one herself. If you’ve seen the trailers and commercials, you already know that she’s accepted into the group and paired with Chris Hemsworth’s British Agent H.

There’s no point getting further into the plot, because it really doesn’t matter. It’s the exact same rookie MiB agent trying to keep up with the more experience agent who is having none of their youthful shit, as they encounter weird and often deadly CG aliens.

There’s a good reason Tessa Thompson has been cast in this movie, and that’s because she has a likeable personality in everything she does, and presumably, that’s enough to carry an MIB movie. Similarly, I like Chris Hemsworth as an actor, but right now, he’s in danger of turning into Johnny Depp, basically famous and popular for one character then trying to imbue every character after that with what he thinks works with his audience. In Hemsworth’s case, Agent H is another arrogant and dumb dope always getting things wrong and being corrected by someone else, in this case Thompson’s Agent M. Those looking forward to seeing this movie for Emma Thompson or Liam Neeson may be disappointed by how little they actually appear in the film.

I certainly don’t entirely fault director F. Gary Gray for the movie’s problems, as he clearly was working with what he was given and doing the best he can. The CG and action are well done and so well-blended there’s no problems there, although the only alien that doesn’t seem like a rehash to previous MiB movies is the one voiced by Kumail Nanjiani, who gets in a few fun jabs at Hemsworth.

The best part of the movie probably comes in the third act when Rebecca Ferguson turns up as an alien arms dealer (with extra arms, of course) and somehow, the combination of her with the other three actors delivers some of the movie’s strongest moments… and then it goes back to the tired plot that didn’t really seem to be going anywhere

I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy Men in Black International just fine, but one really has to go into the movie with lowered expectations to think it’s any sort of improvement even over the worst of the previous movies (MiB 3).

For the most part, Tessa Thompson shines in an otherwise uninspired and mostly unfunny reboot that really doesn’t give much hope for the future of this franchise.

Rating: 6/10

I have to admit that I also wasn’t a very big fan of Tim Story’s SHAFT (New Line), which reunites Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree 19 years after the previous Shaft movie, which I also never really liked. Joining them this time is Independence Day: Resurgence star Jessie T. Usher, who also will be appearing on the upcoming The Boys series on Amazon. You probably won’t know it from the amount of coverage you’ll be seeing from me this week, but hey, work is work, and who am I to pass up a chance to interview Jackson and Roundtree, not once but twice? No idea when that coverage is running but I’ll post links here when it does.

Adding a bunch of my features on the movie:

AM NEW YORK FEATURE

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH JACKSON, ROUNDTREE AND USHER

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR TIM STORY

I’m always excited for a new Jim Jarmusch movie, even though I’ve been mixed on some of his more recent films, including Only Lovers Left Alive, his vampire movie starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston that I seemed to be one of the few people who wasn’t that into it. With THE DEAD DON’T DIE (Focus Features), Jarmusch explores the world of zombies, and I think the tone and mood of this one are more in line with Jarmusch’s earlier work but also with Romero’s zombie movies, although there isn’t as much zombie gore as some might hope.

My Review of The Dead Don’t Die from The Beat

Also expanding nationwide this weekend (presumably) is Amazon Studios’ LATE NIGHT, the Mindy Kaling-penned comedy co-starring Emma Thompson. I was mostly bummed about not doing this column last week because it meant delaying my review, but I do hope that people will go out see this very funny movie based on Kaling’s own experiences in late night. I think it’s one of Thompson’s best performances in a long time, although I did think she was great in last year’s The Children Act, a movie that was sadly overlooked by most film critics/writers.

Mini-Review: Anyone who has ever underestimated Mindy Kaling from her TV work on The Office and The Mindy Show will never do so again after seeing Late Night. I’m saddened to say that I’m one of those who has learned that lesson the hard way.

The premise is simple with Kaling playing Molly Patel, a young woman with dreams of being a comedy writer, something that becomes more possible when she’s hired as a writer on the prestigious talk show “Late Night with Katherine Newbury.” What Molly doesn’t know is that she’s a bit of a “diversity hire” once Katherine (Emma Thompson) realizes her writing room is all white males. Molly has troubles fitting in at first but her bright personality proves to be what Katherine needs to start examining her own life, as the network tries to take her show away from her.

Directed by Nisha Ganatra, an indie filmmaker whose work I have sadly overlooked until now, Late Night is a great example of the quality of work that can be created when an actor is allowed to make her passion project. It’s immediately obvious what Kaling has brought to her television shows as a writer, performer and producer as Late Night.

Kaling and Ganatra’s impeccable storytelling includes many characters around Molly and Katherine that add to their story without taking the attention away from them.Thompson has always been a fine actor but in Katherine Newbury, she’s been given a present that will bring her back to the forefront come awards time. Thompson creates a character that can be funny in the same was as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada but also quite sympathetic, and that’s a hard balance to create.

Overall, Late Night is just a joyous breakout film for Kaling. If you can imagine a cross between Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” and Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, then you may have a better idea whether Late Night will be your thing. Rating: 8.5/10

Interview with Director Nisha Ganatra

You can see how I think the above movies will fare over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

Although the big news this weekend is Late Night (presumed) expanding nationwide, as well as the wider-than-usual release for Jim Jarmusch’s latest, there are still a number of movies opening in select cities I want to draw attention to.

One of my favorite films from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer’s PLUS ONE (RLJE Films), which stars Jack Quaid (from The Hunger Games and the upcoming The Boys series) and Maya Erskine from Pen15as long-time best friends Ben and Alice who decide to accompany each other to an upcoming round of weddings, acting as wingmen to help the other one pick up men and women. As you can imagine, it only works out to a point.

I’m not embarrassed to say that romantic-comedies are a bit of a guilty pleasure with me, and Plus One is a really good one, since it’s both funny and romantic, which isn’t something we often get from studio fare in this vein. I absolutely love Maya Erskine, though I haven’t had a chance to check out her Hulu series just yet; there are few actors who are so talented at being hilariously funny but also delivering on the drama when necessary. I feel like Quaid is trying to keep up with her. If you’re the type of person who gets dragged to weddings every other weekend, this movie is definitely for you. Plus One will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday, and I definitely recommend seeking it out, especially for a fun date night movie.

Another really good drama coming out this weekend is Sienna Miller’s AMERICAN WOMAN (Roadside Attractions/Vertical), which stars Ms. Miller as Debra, a 30-something woman whose teen daughter goes missing, leaving her to care for her grandson. She’s able to deal with the loss with the help of her sister (Christina Hendricks) and mother (Amy Madigan), but also ends up with a series of bad men until she meets Aaron Paul. Directed by Jake Scott, Ridley Scott’s son, who made the drama Welcome to the Rileys back in 2010, this movie lives or dies on the performance by Miller, and she is pretty fantastic in a role that covers 11 years in this woman’s life. This is definitely a smaller slice-of-life movie that covers the things her character goes through in order to find her best self, but I generally liked the entire cast, which is quite diverse, including Will Sasso (from Mad TV) and the underrated Pat Healy as one of the most abusive men with whom Debra ends up.

Opening at the Metrograph Friday and in L.A. on June 28 is Sophie Huber’s documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, a terrific look at the classic jazz label that’s still going strong thanks to current President Don Was (yes, he of “Walk the Dinosaur” fame) but is also branching out into other jazz-influenced genres. I really dug how Huber told this story, featuring new interviews that’s framed by a recording being done by the current incarnation of the Blue Note All-Stars. If you like jazz or even have a passing interest, it’s good to know the history of the genre and Blue Note’s part in it.

A movie I’ve been wanting to see but just haven’t had the chance to is FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN (Sundance Selects), directed by Don Argott (The Art of the Steal) and Sheena M. Joyce and starring Alec Baldwin as the visionary who made his way up through the auto industry only to be disgraced when charged with drug trafficking. Also starring Morena Baccarin, Josh Charles and more, it opens in select cities on Friday.

Miranda Bailey’s BEING FRANK (The Film Arcade) features comedian Jim Gaffigan as the title character. Set in 1992, it stars Logan Miller as teenager Phillip, who wants to leave his small town to go to music school in New York, something his father (Gaffigan’s Frank) forbids. Philip decides to go on a wild spring break but he then discovers that his father has another whole family in another town.

Jay Stern’s SAY MY NAME (Electric Entertainment) opens in select cities and on VOD Friday. It stars Lisa Brenner and Nick Blood as two strangers who have a one-night stand that’s interrupted by a robbery, sending them across Wales to try to retrieve their stolen property.

Thomas Stuber’s German drama IN THE AISLES (Music Box Films) stars Franz Rogowski (Transit) as a guy who just started working at a big box store where he becomes obsessed with a co-worker (Sandra Hüller from Toni Erdmann) but when he starts delving into the secrets she’s keeping, he begins returning to his own dark habits. It opens at the Village Eastin New York on Friday.

Less than a month after her last film Poms bombed, Diane Keaton is back in Joel Hopkins’ HAMPSTEAD (IFC Films) starring opposite Brendan Gleeson as Emily, a widow in an expensive apartment in the title London neighborhood that she can’t afford. Gleeson plays Donald, a gruff loner living in a cabin who just wants to be left in peace, but when his home is threatened, Emily has found her new cause. Based on a true story, it also stars Lesley Manville, and it will play at the IC Center this Friday.

Kat Rohrer and Gil Levanon’s award-winning doc Back to the Fatherland (First Run Features) will open in New York (Cinema Village) and L.A. (Laemmle Music Hall). It deals with the friendship between the two filmmakers despite their different backgrounds – Kat is the granddaughter of a Nazi officer while Gil is that of a Holocaust survivor – and they seek out other grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who have moved back to Germany and Austria.

Opening on Wednesday at the Film Forum is Muayad Alayan’s psychological thriller The Reports of Sarah and Saleem (Dada Films) about the clandestine affair between an Israeli café owner from West Berlin and her Palestinian bread vendor from the East, made more complicated when their spouses find out. So it’s sort of a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Israel? It actually sounds intriguing.

I’m bummed that I didn’t get a chance to see divisive Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas’ latest, Our Time (Monument Releasing), but at three hours, it was just hard to find time to watch it. This one is about a Mexican family living in the countryside raising fighting bulls who is torn apart by the woman of the house falling in love with another man. No, I have no idea why this story had to be three hours long, but it will open at the Quad Cinema in New York Friday.

Lastly, there’s David Hackl’s Daughter of the Wolf (Vertigo), starring MMA star Gina Carano as a military specialist who comes back from the Middle East to claim her inheritance only to find her son has been kidnapped. Also starring living legend Richard Dreyfuss, it opens in a bunch of theaters, but this is more of a VOD special.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Premiering on Netflix (and in select theaters) Wednesday is Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, an amazing film resuscitated from 1975 as Scorsese goes on the road with Dylan during his 1975 fall tour. (Besides streaming on the network, it can also be seen in select theaters like New York’s IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center.)

Also, Adam Sandler is back with his latest comedy MURDER MYSTERY, reuniting him with Jennifer Aniston as a couple who go on a trip to Europe where they’re invited for a party on a yacht by a billionaire (Terence Stamp) who ends up being murdered with them being the prime suspects. So Sandler, a New York detective, needs to work with a local crimefighter, played by Luke Evans.

Also, the doc Life Overtakes Me which looks at the Resignation Syndrome being suffered by refugee children in Sweden as they end up in a coma-like state for months and years with their parents having few options to help them.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

A few decent festivals are starting this weekend, a couple in New York and on in Chcago, but the one that definitely shouldn’t be missed is the annual BamCinemaFest, which kicks off tonight with Lulu Wang’s amazing Sundance favorite The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. Unfortunately I didn’t get to nearly as many of the screenings as I hoped, but I’m sure you can find one or two gems in the line-up this year.

The annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival will kick off at Film at Lincoln Center this week with a wide variety of documentaries, dramas and foreign films. I haven’t seen any of the movies but really, with this festival, you can rarely go wrong in terms of learning what’s going in the rest of the world.

Kicking off in Chicago this week is the Cinepocalypse Genre Film Festival, which features a wide variety of genre films both old and new. It kicks off on Thursday with the World Premiere of Glenn Danzig’s Verotika and in a similar vein, there will be events like Gwar vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare and Gwar vs. Cinepocalypse plus there’s lots of vintage genre including Tammy and the T-Rex from 1994 and Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 70mm! Some of the big horror films from other festivals like Villains, The Lodge and Satanic Panic will also get their Midwest Premieres. It’s a fairly robust schedule that runs from June 13 through the 20.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Jim Jarmusch retrospective continues through the weekend with Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) with Jarmusch in person Thursday night, and 1991’s Night on Earth as well as a couple reshows. Late Nites at Metrograph will be screening the action-comedy The God of Cookery (1996) starring the amazing Stephen Chow, while Playtime: Family Matinees will screen Jimmy Stewart’s 1962 film Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. Sine Sunday is Father’s Day, the Metrograph is screening a couple father-friendly baseball comedies like the 1962 movie Safe at Home!, starring Mickey Mantle, as well as John Badham’s 1976 comedy Bingo Long Travelling All Stars and Moto Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Wednesday matinee is Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery, then the Weds-Thursday double feature is Dean Martin’s The Wrecking Crew co-starring Bruce Lee with Hammerhead, both from 1968. Friday and Saturday will be screenings of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), then Sunday and Monday is Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time In the West (1968). (Not sure if you noticed a trend there but all four movies are from the same year!) The weekend’s KIDEE MATINE is the Japanese sci-fi film The Green Slime … from 1968! Friday’s midnight movie is Tarantino’s own Inglourious Bastereds while Saturday is Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969 – changing things up a little). Monday’s matinee is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) from Andrew Dominik, and then Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is Model Shopand They Came to Rob Las Vegas.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Opening Friday is a new restoration of Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning (1991) which looks at New York in the ‘80s from the perspective of the African-American and Latinx drag scene. The movie ran for six months back in 1991 when it first played at the Film Forum. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Spike Lee’s Crooklyn from 1994. The Jewish Soul series continues this weekend with Maurice Schwartz’s 1939 film Tevya, while Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad will continue playing for another week, as well. Also, if you haven’t had a chance to see Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, it will play as part of The Hour of Liberation series which also ends on Thursday.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Cassavetes & Scorsese: Love is Strange, the series that just won’t end, continues on Friday with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymoreand A Woman Under the Influence, both from 1974 and a pretty good double feature actually. On Saturday from noon until midnight, there’s a Camp Void 6-Film Marathon, co-presented by Cinematic Void, which includes a number of classic genre films, as well as a couple comedies from the ‘70s and ‘80s.Kubrick’s long-time assistant Leon Vitali will be back to present a screening of The Shining (1980) for Father’s Day. Although it’s already sold out, the Egyptian will have a special John Woo double feature of Hard Boiled (1992) and Face/Off (1997) with John Woo in person!

AERO (LA):

As with New York’s Quad, the AERO is sharing the Pauline Kael centennial love with The Pearls of Pauline: Kael at 100 with Children of Paradise (1945) on Thursday, a double feature of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Thieves Like Us (1974) on Friday, and then Diner (1982) and Melvin and Howard (1980) on Saturday. For Father’s Day Sunday, there’s a special Indiana Jones TRIPLE feature of the first three movies, all in 35mm with the third film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade celebrating its 30thAnniversary.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Because I had to skip last week’s column, I wan’t able to write about the Quad’s amazing new series Losing It at the Movies: Pauline Kael at 100, which pays respect to the film critic who would have turned 100 next week. The movies being shown this weekend include Brian De Palma’s The Fury (one of my personal faves from 1978), Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet (1977), the horror classic Re-Animator (1985), Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance goes with David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977), Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad will screen Vittoio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948), while Late Night Favorites: Springgoes with Ridley Scott’s Alien(again), Suspiria (again), The Holy Mountain (again).. and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Seems like Bicycle Thieves is the best bet in terms of stuff that isn’t shown a lot.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Besides the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, the Upper West Side theaters are beginning an extensive Ermanno Olmi Retrospectivethat includes films from the Italian director ranging from 1958’s Time Stood Still and 1961’s Il Posto through 2014’s Greenery Will Bloom Again. I honestly don’t know if I’ve seen any of his movies but it’s an amazing series with two screenings of each movie.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

On Saturday, MOMI will screen Burt Reynolds’ Hooper (1978), directed by Hal Needham, in 35mm, as well as Sidney Lumet’s musical movie The Wiz (1978) starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as part of a StarringDiana Ross series. That series also includes Lady Sings the Blues (1973) and Mahogany (1975), both screening Saturday.

MOMA (NYC):

The extensive Jean-Claude Carrière will finally conclude on Sunday, and as before, I have nothing to add about it.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985) will be shown on 35mm on Friday and Saturday

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

This Friday’s midnight screening is the 1987 film Hard Ticket to Hawaii.

Next week, Disney is back to dominate with Toy Story 4 as Woody and Buzz Lightyear shouldn’t have too many worries facing the return of Chucky in Orion Pictures’ Child’s Play.

#WhatToWatchthisWeekend MenInBlackInternational LateNight PlusOne MoviesReviews Shaft TheDeadDontDie

1 note · View note

haleyfury · 5 years

Text

October was a month filled with so many (good) things and moments in my academic and personal life. That being said, my life was more busy and honestly hectic than it’s ever been before. October often marks midterm season in the college world, which meant a few papers and writing assignments on my end, including having to start drafting my first of two senior research papers. I know I haven’t been too specific about my senior project for my English major (honestly I’m still working out my subtopics and arguments even with my 15-20 page draft in the works), but I can reveal that I’m talking about Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give! I’ve luckily read a decent amount of contemporary literature in my English courses, but this is my first time studying YA.

Between also balancing my course-load alongside my jobs and social time (trying to make the most of my last year living with all of my best friends), my brain has been feeling fried and not exactly in the mood to read at the end of the day. Probably also not helping my reading life, I watched so many great new TV shows this month.

I really wish I was reading more, but I’m at the point where I have to dedicate my free time to the aforementioned things. However, I 100% admit that my senioritis is definitely kicking in and I’ve been finding myself drifting to blogging and reading when I should probably be doing school work. I think it’s also because it’s almost (!!!) the end of the year and I’ve been working on my favorites, yearly wrap-up, and holiday-themed posts, but I’ve been so in the mood to read lately because of all the new books coming out still this year (I’m looking at you, The Toll and The Queen of Nothing.

The Chase by Elle Kennedy | 4/5 Stars

I was so excited to jump back into the Off-Campus world with The Chase. Although it’s not my favorite Elle Kennedy book, I loved having Fitz as one of the protagonists.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh | 4/5

The most Halloween-esque book that I read in October, I enjoyed The Beautiful for its atmospheric setting and for the fact that it broke my usual reading habits with its paranormal and mysterious story.

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston (ARC) | 4/5

October marks Christmas season prep in the Fangirl Fury handbook, which further encouraged me to pick up 10 Blind Dates. 10 Blind Dates was a fun holiday mood read. I really enjoyed its family focus.

Full Disclosure by Camyrn Garrett (ARC) | 3/5

I appreciated that Full Disclosure took on a ton of important topics, as its main protagonist lives with HIV. While I appreciated its mature discussions surrounding sex and sexuality, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style and plot.

Crier’s War by Nina Varela | 5/5

Hands-down my favorite book of the month, I absolutely loved Crier’s War for its unique world and fantastic character and story arcs.

The Politician S1 (Netflix)- Hands-down one of my favorite TV shows of the year, The Politician stole my heart in October. It’s such a quirky show and honestly feels like a blend of Ryan Murphy’s other shows (Glee, AHS, and American Crime Story). I freaking loved Ben Platt (which led me to also being addicted to his album, Sing to Me Instead this month) and the overall cast. The show luckily came out during my fall break, which meant that I was able to binge-watch all 8 episodes before heading back to school.

Insatiable S2 (Netflix)- My guilty pleasure show the month, Insatiable season 2 was definitely more dramatic and crazy, but somehow much more developed than the first season. This show is totally not the best, especially in light of all the controversy, but it is a fun watch for me personally.

Schitt’s Creek S1 (Netflix)- I started watching Schitt’s Creek over the summer, but I struggled getting into it. My best friend (and lets be honest, Twitter) encouraged me to get back into and I’m absolutely loving it. David is for sure my favorite character.

Modern Love (Prime)- Towards the end of October, I flip-flopped between watching Schitt’s Creek and Amazon’s new show based on the Modern Love column. My favorite episodes are “When the Doorman is Your Main Man” and “When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist.”

You’ve Got Mail- I 100% admit that I am still confused over the fact that English major and lifelong reader me did not watch You’ve Got Mail until 2019. IT’S A MOVIE ABOUT BOOKSTORE RIVALS!!! I absolutely love movies from the 80s and 90s, and You’ve Got Mail was no exception.

Isn’t It Romantic? – One of the funniest rom-coms I’ve seen lately, I absolutely loved the cast (Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, & Adam DeVine) and it made me laugh out loud so much.

Reviews

NEW FAVORITE FROM FAVORITE AUTHOR: The Fountains of Silence Review

FAVORITE LEIGH BARDUGO BOOK: Ninth House Review

THOUGHTS, FEELS & RANTS: Wayward Son Review

FALL MOOD READ: Pumpkinheads Review

PERFECT HALLOWEEN READ: The Beautiful Review

THE BOOK OF YOUR READER DREAMS: The Library of Lost Things Review

STAR-CROSSED SWOON: Twice in a Blue Moon Review

BEST NERDY ROMANCE: Comics Will Break Your Heart Review

A 2019 FAVORITE FANTASY: Crier’s War Review

Bookish Fun

‘TIS THE FALL SEASON: The Autumn Tag

LIBRARY LOVIN’:The Library Loves Tag

Top Five Wednesday: Most Halloweenish Books on My TBR

My life happenings section always flips between monthly fangirl news or my IRL happenings, and today’s a mixture of both!

IRL

Lucy’s Deli on Sixth- I’m in the city twice a week for class this semester, so my friends and I try to do New York things on our lunch breaks and after class. I was on Twitter one weekend earlier in October and Jess from The Book Bratz shared a photo of a stuffed/felt avocado from a pop-up shop in Rockefeller Center, Lucy’s Delicatessen on 6th. This pop-up was set up like a grocery store and featured hand-sewn and felt food. My friend and I went on our lunch break that week and we had so much fun looking at ALL the cute things.

Fall-themed Saturday- I’m always wanting to do seasonal things, so I was really excited when my best friend and I decided to spend a Saturday afternoon at a local farm. We had a mini photo shoot (okay, it wasn’t that mini or spur-of-the-moment, I came prepared with my Canon) in a pumpkin patch and then we went apple-picking. This was my first time apple-picking and while its near the end of the season where I live, the orchard was really beautiful. I think all the apples I picked were honey crisp, which I used the next day to make an apple pie.

Fangirl Things

10 Things I Hate About Pinky Cover Reveal- The cover for Sandhya Menon’s second book of 2020, 10 Things I Hate About Pinky, is officially out in the world! I love how much it compliments her other books, and I’m just so excited for this one and Of Curses and Kisses.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky cover reveal Sandhya Menon Credit: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

More details about Sarah J. Maas’ Crescent City– I haven’t been able to find Sarah J. Maas’ full panel on Crescent City from New York Comic Con ’19, but Kristin of SuperSpaceChick included a clip of the panel in her NYCC Haul. I highly recommend checking out Kristin’s entire video! Anyway, SJM revealed more about the plot than she has ever have before. In shot, picture the ACOTAR universe set 3,000 years in the future (yes that means cell phones and cars), every paranormal and mythological creature possible, a party and half-Fae girl who finds herself involved in a murder investigation, and true to SJM, steam/romance.

Let It Snow Trailer- I’m just generally excited for Netflix’s holiday movie line-up, but I feel like I’ve been waiting for the Let It Snow adaptation for forever! This book was one of the first YA books I’ve ever picked up and while I probably need a reread, I’m excited to see it on the screen come November 8th.

Ninth House/the Alex Stern series is being turned into a TV show- While much attention in the Leigh Bardugo TV-world has been on the Netflix Grishaverse adaptation, it was recently announced that Ninth House will be adapted into a TV show by Amazon, with Leigh attached as the writer and executive producer. Since Ninth House is officially my favorite Leigh Bardugo book, I am so looking forward to seeing this show come to life!

What did you read and watch in October? Share in the comments!

BOOKS, TV & FALL THINGS: October 2019 Wrap Up October was a month filled with so many (good) things and moments in my academic and personal life.

#October 2019 #Wrap Up

0 notes

limejuicer1862 · 5 years

Text

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Lydia Unsworth

is the author of two collections of poetry: Certain Manoeuvres (Knives Forks & Spoons, 2018) and Nostalgia for Bodies (Winner, 2018 Erbacce Poetry Prize). She has two pamphlets forthcoming in 2019 from above / ground press and Ghost City Press. Recent work can be found in Ambit, Litro, Tears in the Fence, Banshee, Ink Sweat and Tears, and others. Manchester / Amsterdam. Twitter@lydiowanie

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I think I was always trying to. I would spend time anagramming, writing ‘lyrics’ to songs, reading, copying down sentences I liked, playing any kind of board game with words in it, watching improv comedy. Since I was a young adult, I was always more interested in the book at sentence level than the narrative as a whole. I liked novels full of tangents, and I was (still am) a big fan of underlining parts. I suppose I just didn’t know what poetry was properly, beyond the very traditional, or what it could be until much later. I think I was writing poetry on my art degree, although even at such a late stage, I still didn’t really know it was poetry. I knew I liked poetic language, poetic prose, form as concept, but actual Poetry, I think I still thought of that as quite an old, dead thing. I wasn’t around other writers in my real life, and the writers I was reading (prose writers or visual artists), when they did reference poetry, likely only confirmed that ‘old, dead’ belief. When I was 14 or so I found The Desiderata as the epigram in a series of Dean Koontz novels: I liked that. I printed it out and put it on my wall. Learnt the word ‘perennial’ from that piece.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I drifted towards it via visual art. Though I was writing throughout my art degree in sorts, but it was probably another ten years before I realised that the writing was the crux of the matter and before I found a path in to actually reading poetry proper. My prose reading habits were getting poemier and poemier. Years passed. Then I moved to Poland and wrote to someone whose blog I found funny (Socrates Adams) and he sent me his novel-in-progress in increments. It was the first time I’d had dialogue with another writer and I started writing again there, in my chilly attic bedroom, properly, long after the visual distractions had fallen away. I was writing poetic-prose or experimental prose or something: I had a few pieces published and a novel shortlisted, then it fell away again, and again. It was always there, but I was always waiting until later, trying to accumulate knowledge (not realising how much of that knowledge was ephemeral and slips away completely unless you do something with it in the moment – which is one thing I love about writing poetry now, just slapping the fleeting, contorted-to-fit, down on a page). Anyway, after some more years passed, and I was writing on and off (by now some actual poems, although I still wasn’t reading any), I was given a sum of money that allowed me to do a Masters degree in Creative Writing, and I knew I was at risk of losing much more time unless someone ‘in the know’ actually verified me, so I did it, and they (Scott Thurston) did, and what I wrote at the end of that year became my first published collection of prose poetry. It was a ten-year voyage from the land of art to poetry on a small lump of driftwood with an intermittent internet connection and a changeable breeze.

2.1. What do you mean by “My prose reading habits were getting poemier and poemier”?

I was reading for the language, not the plot.

2.2. Why did the language become more important?

I think it always was, it just takes a while for a chain of reading to lead you to certain places. I was always looking for sentences I liked. And I guess the more I read, the more I grew tired of some of the rest: the same shapes of novels, certain cliches, techniques, wrapping-up of narratives, representations of women, predictable metaphors. It takes more to be surprised, I suppose. Or a different way of viewing something to find what is, or can be, surprising about it.

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older writers traditional and contemporary?

I think I’m more aware of the what-seems-like-class of a lot of writers than the age. I don’t mind people being older per se, they might have worked for it.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

As much as possible in any possible sliver of a gap! I often pinch lines overheard from my environment as a starting clay, or some image from something I’m reading, whether that be a book or simply a strangely worded sign, so I try and store all these fragments until I have a fifteen-minute or more gap, and then I write. I do my longer bouts of refining and building and editing in the evenings at least a few times a week, preferably when everyone else is asleep.

5. What motivates you to write?

A desire to communicate everything that is interior and, by the very nature of its interiority, alone. It’s a reaching toward. And it’s the same thing that motivates my reading: knowing the strangenesses and possibilities of ‘the other’. That, and the ability to sculpt a piece of language-music from the environment you find yourself in, whether that be internally /externally /in real time /via memory.

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

They altered my outlook on life and have given me the foundations for my ongoing philosophy. It’s unshakable really. I think of Kafka and Beckett in particular, and I do still look for that melodrama and highfalutin despair everywhere in art, and when I find it, that very specific kind of comedy, then I do feel so terribly comforted. I’m reading The Milkman by Anna Burns in between questions here, and she’s also doing it in a way – it’s very funny, but serious-funny, bleak-funny. Like Catch 22 or Stewart Lee, just make the joke (or, following the same rule, take the emotion) and keep making it. I like that. The joy of repetition.

And I guess the writers you read at a certain age sort of raise you. So it’s good to stay fond of them. Helps you understand yourself.

7. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Anyone writing in a void, without a support system, or in scraps of stolen time, who manages to tread water long enough to burst through the surface. Anyone who doesn’t give up.

8. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Write. Write without thinking. Write until your body hurts. Change position. Do it again. Keep writing until you end up some place that surprises you. Edit.

9. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I’m working on a full collection, which seems to be spilling over into two collections. I have a pamphlet I’m trying to make ready, based on a bunch of poems I wrote as part of the Tupelo Press 30/30 project back in June. And I am nearly finished preparing another pamphlet (‘I Have Not Led a Serious Life’) that will be coming out with above / ground press later in the year. I’m mainly trying to keep momentum up around work and child-raising and physical exercise; it’s easy enough to write a poem, but harder to see which ones belong where without spreading out a hundred pieces of paper on the floor of a large empty room. I am grateful for my writing friends and our ad-hoc collaborative editing relays.

Thank you for these questions, Paul. It’s been a pleasure!

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Lydia Unsworth Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

0 notes

jenmedsbookreviews · 6 years

Text

Today I am delighted to open up the #booklove once more to celebrate the launch of Sandra Imrie’s new book, Connectedness. Happy publication dat Sandra and thanks for visiting my blog. Here’s a little more about Sandra and her books.

About Sandra

Sandra Danby is a proud Yorkshire woman, tennis nut and tea drinker. She believes a walk on the beach will cure most ills. Unlike Rose Haldane, the identity detective in her two novels, Ignoring Gravity and Connectedness, Sandra is not adopted.

Author links

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Pinterest

…

Connectedness

TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, ARTIST JUSTINE TREE HAS IT ALL… BUT SHE ALWAYS HAS A SECRET THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING

Justine’s art sells around the world, but does anyone truly know her? When her mother dies, she returns to her childhood home in Yorkshire where she decides to confront her past. She asks journalist Rose Haldane to find the baby she gave away when she was an art student, but only when Rose starts to ask difficult questions does Justine truly understand what she must face.

Is Justine strong enough to admit the secrets and lies of her past? To speak aloud the deeds she has hidden for 27 years, the real inspiration for her work that sells for millions of pounds. Could the truth trash her artistic reputation? Does Justine care more about her daughter, or her art? And what will she do if her daughter hates her?

This tale of art, adoption, romance and loss moves between now and the Eighties, from London’s art world to the bleak isolated cliffs of East Yorkshire and the hot orange blossom streets of Málaga, Spain.

A family mystery for fans of Maggie O’Farrell, Lucinda Riley, Tracy Rees and Rachel Hore.

About the ‘Identity Detective’ series

Rose Haldane reunites the people lost through adoption. The stories you don’t see on television shows. The difficult cases. The people who cannot be found, who are thought lost forever. Each book in the ‘Identity Detective’ series considers the viewpoint of one person trapped in this horrible dilemma. In the first book of the series, Ignoring Gravity, it is Rose’s experience we follow as an adult discovering she was adopted as a baby. Connectedness is the story of a birth mother and her longing to see her baby again. Sweet Joy, the third novel, will tell the story of a baby abandoned during The Blitz.

Amazon UK ~ Amazon US

Childhood Sweetheart Favourite book from childhood

Little Women by Louisa M Alcott. I guess, like so many women writers, I was motivated by Jo March’s determination to write, despite difficulties and opposition. I was quite sweet on Laurie and couldn’t believe he preferred Amy who I thought vain, superficial and spoiled. I still have my old Collins hardback, the sort with fragile thin paper; I love these books which make reading seem so special. Despite all the remakes, I still prefer the 1949 film – with Peter Lawford as Laurie, June Allyson as Jo and Elizabeth Taylor as Amy – I guess because it’s the one I watched as a child.

First love The first book you fell in love with

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. I still love the series and have all the audio books on my iPod. Actually the first book of the series which I read was Pigeon Post, a present from my parents, and of course after that I collected them all. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them, always wanting to be a more imaginative John or less flaky Titty. I love their independence, their adventurous spirits, their bravery, their ability to make friends with whoever they meet.

Biggest book crush The book character you’re totally in love with

Adam Dalgliesh. Long before television detectives had to be emotionally challenged alcoholics or depressives, with more problems than their victims, PD James created this wonderful, sensible, poetry-writing, literature-quoting detective with a vulnerable side. One of the last gentleman detectives, Dalgliesh features in fourteen novels written over a period of 46 years. He seems unsurprisingly ageless, a mentor to his crime team, watching, observing, analysing. His inscrutability has a lot in common with Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot though Dalgliesh lacks the grand flourish, that would simply be too out-going for him.

Weirdest book crush Well… duh

Researching art and artists for Connectedness, I found myself drawn to Tracey Emin. I had enjoyed reading her weekly column in The Independent newspaper between 2005 and 2009, so was pleased to find these articles collected in My Life in a Column [Rizzoli]. Her anecdotal tales of her working week, her inspirations and frustrations, her victories and mistakes, gave me an insight into the practical world of a modern artist like no formally-written memoir did.

Hardest break up The book you didn’t want to end

It’s a series, rather than one book. I wish Elizabeth Jane Howard’s ‘Cazalet Chronicles’ would never end. What a master she is of unassuming quiet stories, making you care so much about the three generations of this wealthy family living through the Second World War. The lives of everyone are changed forever but particularly the women in the family; matriarch the Duchy; daughter Rachel and daughters-in-law Sybil, Villy and Zoe; and granddaughters Polly, Louise, Lydia and Clary.

The one that got away The book in your TBR or wish list that you regret not having started yet.

I could be predictable and say War and Peace, which is still on my bookshelf and on my Kindle. But instead I’m nominating Haruki Murakami’s IQ84. I’ve been a huge Murakami fan since first reading Norwegian Wood but the hardback edition of the trilogy is sitting on my to-read shelf. I’m not sure why I don’t pick it up: its length, perhaps [the trilogy is 1300 pages], or the reviews ranging from 1* to 5*.

Secret love Guilty Reading pleasure

Harry Potter. All of them. I listen to the amazing Stephen Fry read the audio books and tend to start with The Philosopher’s Stone and listen to them back-to-back. Why? JK Rowling has created a magical world that feels fingertips away from my own, which I could possibly join if I were Muggle-born. It has everything; good v evil, great fight scenes, wonderful characters to love and hate, and Rowling is so good at the detail and the planning. No fact is included in the early books that does not have relevance in the later books. Stay alert and spot them all!

Love one, love them all Favourite series or genre

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and now The Book of Dust. Ostensibly for children but which, like an iceberg, both disguise hidden depths of philosophy, thought and backstory enough to satisfy any adult reader. Pullman is excellent at plotting and character. We root for his people in a world not unlike ours, shaped slightly differently and running in parallel, so it is easy to imagine ourselves there. Like Rowling, Pullman is a master storyteller; many adult novelists would do well to read and study him.

Your latest squeeze Favourite read of the last 12 months

The best novel I’ve read in 2018 to date is The Heart’s Invisible Furies by Irish writer John Boyne. It is rare for me to give a book a 5* rating [my usual rating is 3] but I knew quite quickly when reading it that this would be a 5. Honest, sad, laugh-out-loud funny, touching, with paragraphs I just had to read out aloud to my husband. It is about being true to yourself, the need for honesty in relationships, and the power of love. It is the life story of one man, Cyril Avery, but also of a country and its attitudes to sexuality. The story starts in Goleen, Ireland, in 1945; a country riven by loyalty to, and hatred of, the British, at the same time in thrall to its Catholic priests whose rules were hypocritical, illogical and cruel. Cyril narrates his story, starting with how his 16-year old mother was denounced in church by the family priest for being single and pregnant.

Blind date for a friend If you were to set a friend up with a blind date (book) which one would it be?

The two novels I give most often to friends are The Light Years, the first of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s ‘Cazalet Chronicles’ and The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford. Both are wonderful books to take you to another world, away from the stress of contemporary life and into the lives of a group of people who you come to care for.

Greatest love of all Favourite book of all time.

An impossible question to answer so I am going to nominate two [if that is allowed]. Both by Jane Austen. A predictable answer, I know, but I cannot lie and choose something else just because other people have chosen Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I love the wit, the observation, the sumptuous descriptions. And then I remember Austen’s circumstances, moving from place to place, dependant on others, watching, writing quietly, and I wonder even more at her achievement. None of the Bronte experience of group supportive writing around a large table. Jane was on her own, without feedback.. Could you do it?

Thanks Sandra. Some great choices in there. I really just get on a read some more of the classics. I’m a very naughty reader. Hope all goes well with your book launch. Don’t forget folks – order links are at the top of the page.

Have a fab day everyone and keep spreading the #booklove.

Jen

Book Love: Sandra Danby @SandraDanby Today I am delighted to open up the #booklove once more to celebrate the launch of Sandra Imrie's new book,

#Identity Detectives #Sandra Danby

0 notes

thecosydragon · 7 years

Text

My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with Sue Bentley

An Interview with Sue Bently, author of We Other

Tell me a bit about your writing history so far.

A personal favourite from my other published works – it’s difficult to choose a favourite as I also write sparkly books about magic animals for kids. Very different, to We Other! But if I had to choose a title – it would be A Summer Spell, the first title of this series of books for ages 5-9 years, also written as Sue Bentley.

My first novel – well there were a few turkeys! But I learned a lot from the mistakes made when writing them. I had high hopes for Mooncaste, an historical novel inspired by an iron-age, hill-fort close to where I live. I hand wrote it in three notebook. It was never published, but I did get an agent on the back of that book.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I work best when writing to commission. A dead-line is wonderfully motivating. My children’s series were written in concentrated bursts of energy, but each book was quite short. I haven’t been commissioned by a publisher for a while. The publishing world has changed a lot. We Other was a much bigger undertaking. It’s a complex novel, aimed at an older readership. I did a lot of research before beginning to write, made notes about the main characters, and wrote a detailed plot outline. I find it works for me to live with characters for a while before diving in – maybe for a few months. But when the urge to write is too strong, I’ll begin. It would be easy to be seduced by doing research, which I love, but I have to force myself to call a halt. We Other probably took around 3 years to write, all told.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I’m lucky enough to have a room of my own, where most of the writing is done. I write directly onto my desktop. I scribble notes on bits of paper, which pile up on my desk. I also take notebooks and research books with me to cafes and sit writing in longhand, which I type up later. I like writing with a pencil. There’s something about the way ideas flow, but I couldn’t write entirely in long-hand. I’m a perfectionist and do a lot of re-writing as I go along, so any piece of paper would soon be unreadable with all the crossings-out and notes in the margins.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I have close writing friends who will read and comment on work in progress. I do the same for them. Over time I’ve developed a good instinct for when a passage is working. I also know when it isn’t right and will re-write as many times as I need to, before finishing a first draft. There are usually cuts and more edits to make before I finally show it to my agent or publisher. And then more to do when working with an editor.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I’ve always loved everything about books, their smell and feel. Opening a new book is such a pleasure – better than a box of chocolates. I enjoy browsing bookshops – especially small independents. Haye-on-Wye, a small town in Herefordshire, is my favourite place to go as it’s full of bookshops, cafes, and vintage shops. But I also enjoy browsing larger bookshops like Waterstones and Foyles. I buy books online too, and can’t resist looking at the shelves in charity shops. I’m also a regular user of my local public library. I’m never without a book in my bag.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind from your different life stages?

Historical. I started with these, as I enjoy being lifted out of the every day. But I also like fantasy, magic-realism, gritty dark fairy fiction, gothic and dystopian fiction. I enjoy crime now and then. A good psychological thriller with a fantasy or historical setting can be good. From childhood, I enjoyed traditional fairy tales, some sword and sorcery stuff, anything unusual. The works of BB. A local author who wrote some fabulous books about the last gnomes left in England, rich with details of the natural world, made a huge impression on me as a child. As did Jane Gaskell and Michael Moorcock, when I was growing up. I’ve been inspired by Diana Norman, Tanith Lee and latterly Teri Windling, Holly Black, Stef Penney, Carol Birch, and so many others.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Social Media is a mixed blessing. For authors it’s a great way of bringing your work to the attention of readers and it’s great to keep in touch with other writers and friends. Writing is a solitary craft, which is fine most of the time as I’m comfortable in my own company. I sometimes use social media for research, but it’s easy to become distracted, when you ought to be working. At the moment I manage my own profile, which can be very time consuming. I try to limit posting on FB, Twitter and Goodreads to the evenings, but don’t always succeed. Two or Three hours can go by without me noticing. I’m presently about to have a major overhaul of my website and I’ll then write a regular blog. I’m constantly learning how to make the best use of social media.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! I try to make my questions as interesting as possible, is there anything else you wished I had asked? And tell me honestly… Are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

This Q and A session – the questions were interesting and stimulating – thanks Rosemarie! Yes it takes a while to answer all of them. Makes you think hard – which is no bad thing. Was I tempted to recycle my answers from one interview to the next? Yes and no. Yes – because it would have been less work and some of my answers may have been of interest to readers. No – because it’s a privilege to be asked to contribute to a blog and I’m grateful for the opportunity and the time you’ve taken with this. The least I can do is try to be honest and provide full answers. I hope your readers will enjoy reading this interview. It’s been a pleasure.

from http://ift.tt/2hMDfi8

#book bookreviews authorinterviews lovereading bookworm

0 notes

mysteryshelf · 7 years

Text

BLOG TOUR - Till Dirt Do Us Part

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Till Dirt Do Us Part by Teresa Trent

Till Dirt Do Us Part by Teresa Trent Cozy Mystery Pecan Bayou #7

Approximately 219 pages

Not everything stays buried. When Betsy, a notorious brown thumb gets roped into a gardening contest sponsored by the Pecan Bayou Gazette, she finds herself digging up more than weeds. She is ridiculed by the garden club ladies, and now her heart breaks for a newly single mom whose world has just collapsed. The Happy Hinter is back so take some time to revisit the cozy little town Pecan Bayou, Texas. Grab a glass of sweet tea before you turn the dirt in the garden and sit a spell with all your favorite characters who dole out heartfelt caring and compassion with a side of humor. Till Dirt Do Us Part includes bonus recipes and helpful hints from Betsy’s column!

Teresa Trent lives in Houston, Texas and is an award-winning mystery writer. She writes the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series, is a regular contributor to the Happy Homicides Anthologies. Teresa is happy to add her Henry Park Mystery Series to her publishing credits with Color Me Dead, the first book in the series. Teresa has also won awards for her work in short stories where she loves to dabble in tales that are closer to the Twilight Zone than small town cozies. When Teresa isn’t writing, she is a full-time caregiver for her son and teaches preschoolers music part-time. Her favorite things include spending time with family and friends, waiting for brownies to come out of the oven, and of course, a good mystery.

Author Links

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/teresatrentmysterywriter

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ttrent_cozymys

BLOG: https://teresatrent.wordpress.com/

WEBSITE: http://teresatrent.com

Purchase Link Amazon

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

What initially got you interested in writing?

Reading! I love a good story that touches your heart. There are books and then there are books you love. I wanted to create a story like that. I try to include a human element in all of my mysteries—not just quirky characters who run around tripping over bodies.

What genres do you write in?

I write cozy mysteries. Think Agatha Christie but take out the rainy villages of England and put in the sultry weather of Texas. Take out the vicar and put in a bubba or two and there you have it.

What drew you to writing these specific genres?

I loved Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher. Also, a cozy mystery often takes place in a small town with characters that are often humorous and closer to the people I am around in my own life.

How did you break into the field?

I started writing my first novel in 2011 and then published it. I made plenty of mistakes but kept writing and trying to improve. Eventually I landed an agent and now I write three series.

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

Cozy mysteries are just a little bit of an escape. Yes there’s a murder but you also get to see how the characters and town deal with it through support and love of their families and friends. In the world we live in today, it’s just really nice to know you can head over to the Best Little Hairhouse in Texas, get your roots touched up and hear the latest gossip.

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

I love my characters and pulling the story together. It always amazes me how I will plot the story out carefully and one of my characters will take over the page causing me to have to replot. I guess I’m living in my own head!

What do you find most challenging about writing?

Revising with an editor can be challenging because it is their job to tell me what is not working. For me that means I have to go back to the computer and try again. As frustrating as this can get, I really value the process of making a story better.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

Read two kinds of books. Books in your genre (especially the ones that are selling) and books on how to write. Not just one, but every book you can get your hands on! Find your weak points and read up on how someone else overcame that problem. Then write every day. Don’t spend all your time revising the first draft and not finishing it. Make a second draft fix-it list and keep going until you can write those two little words writers love—THE END.

What type of books do you enjoy reading?

I read mysteries, literary works, and guilty pleasure-celebrity biographies. Who knew Dick Van Dyke dances in the grocery store and Carol Burnett wore a borrowed dress to her first big audition? I just read Lauren Graham’s latest biography just because it had information about Gilmore Girls in it. As you can see I am a pretty intellectual person.

Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

In the Pecan Bayou Series I have a character with Down syndrome. I also have an adult son with Down Syndrome and when I’m not writing, I am a full-time caregiver. I didn’t see any people with disabilities in cozy mysteries and my world is full of them so I included the character of Danny.

What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/teresatrentmysterywriter

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ttrent_cozymys

BLOG: https://teresatrent.wordpress.com/

WEBSITE: http://teresatrent.com

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5219581.Teresa_Trent

Tour Participants

May 1 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

May 1 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

May 1 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST

May 1 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW

May 2 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW

May 2 – Bookworm Cafe – REVIEW

May 2 – Babs Book Bistro – REVIEW

May 2 – A Holland Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST

May 3 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW

May 3 – Rainy Day Reviews – REVIEW

May 3 – Books,Dreams,Life – REVIEW, INTERVIEW

May 3 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

May 4 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT

May 4 – Sleuth Cafe – SPOTLIGHT

May 4 – The Self-Rescue Princess – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 4 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW

May 5 – Valerie’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

May 5 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 5 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

BLOG TOUR – Till Dirt Do Us Part was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

#shannon muir #pulp and mystery shelf

0 notes

lovelyparanormalbooks · 7 years

Text

Book Blitz: Grand Finale: The Matchmaking Game by Donna Hatch (Giveaway)

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Review & Excerpt Book Tour Grand Finale for

The Matchmaking Game

By Donna Hatch

We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the reviews

or reading the first chapter of the book, go back and do so now...

Launch - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 1

England 1814 Rowena Emerson studied her longtime friend, Evan Barnes, and tried to judge by his expression if he’d be game for a new scheme. It was hard to tell; he had come home from the war a mysterious stranger, with only glimpses of his former playful self who had always been ready for a new lark.

Rockin' Book Reviews - Review

"I loved reading this book. I have read several Donna Hatch’s books and loved everyone of them. . . . I would definitely recommend this book to other readers, especially those who enjoy a good clean romantic novel."

Hearts & Scribbles - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 2

“Semantics. Come.” She stood. “Let’s go out for some air, and I’ll tell you all about it. There is a terrace outside,” she added in case he didn’t remember the layout of their host’s home.

He rose, his posture straight as a tin soldier. The lamplight shone on his dark hair, regulation-short rather than stylish, but it suited his new military bearing. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret even listening to your idea.”

Bookworm Nation - Review

"... I was quickly sucked into the story and didn't want to leave. I loved the slow buildup of the romance between these two, and how everything works out. Like I said, its a charming regency that will warm your heart. Very enjoyable."

Zerina Blossom's Books - Interview

Q: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

A: Wow, that’s a tough question. The first chapter was effortless; it practically wrote itself. I loved the chapter where they really see each other as attractive adults, and not as the childhood friends they used to be. The big kissing scene was also super fun, and, ahem, very much put me in the mood when my husband came home.

Wishful Endings - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 3

She laughed at his indignation, then put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. “I’m only quizzing you, Evan. I haven’t done that sort of thing for at least a month.” She chuckled at his raised brows. His departure for the war had put an end to most of her pranks. Losing her friend and cohort, not to mention her heartbreak at his absence, had taken the joy out of many of her favorite pastimes. She’d settled for more mundane activities in his absence. Now that he was back, she could finally breathe easy.

Hardcover Feedback - Review

"The ending was great and I enjoyed every minute of reading this book. I think anyone who enjoys reading stories set in this period will love The Matchmaking Game too."

The Silver Dagger Scriptorium - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 4

Rowena pointed her chin at the couple. “Look at her. Look at my papa. I think they have always been fond of one another—they are often near each other. It probably wouldn’t take much on our part to help them realize they would make a perfect match.” Evan lifted a dark brow. “You want my mother to marry your papa?”

Christy's Cozy Corners - Review

"You will love Rowena and Evan. They are very fun characters! I really enjoy when a novella can make a romance believable in such a short few pages. The Matchmaking Game is another one to add to your lists!"

Katie's Clean Book Collection - Review

"The progression of the storyline is sweet and natural, causing the reader (me included) to feel swept up in the events and to feel a part of the story, as it's very believable."

Reading Is My SuperPower - Review

"The Matchmaking Game by Donna Hatch is a delightful treat for the heart! With sizzling kisses, charming humor, and a tender friendship, it’s the perfect choice for a quick weekend read. You will fall in love with the characters and be sad to bid them farewell. And did I mention the kisses?!?!"

Heidi Reads... - Review

"Such a great story! The characters are vivid, the setting is awesome, the conflict is angsty, and the romance is... so romantic! . . . I loved this Regency romance and could not put it down until I was finished!"

Rainy Day Reviews - Review

"I would call this a regency read for sure, but I appreciate the love story, the story line itself and the loving romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I am sure most every other reader will too."

deal sharing aunt - Interview & Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 5

Q: What do you think makes a good story?

A: Good stories stem from unforgettable, complex characters who overcome obstacles, find new strength they didn’t know they had, and learn to place others’ happiness above their own. I love it when the hero is strong and yet has a vulnerable side to him—I find that very endearing. And of course, the happily-ever-after!

Rowena gave his arm a little shake. “I adore your mother, and I think she’d make my papa very happy. He needs the influence of a wife and companion, as I’m sure your mother would welcome a man to love and care for her.”

“Ro, this isn’t our place.”

Mel's Shelves - Review

"It's a great story of childhood friends whose feelings evolve as they get older. They are perfect for each other, but there's an obstacle to overcome to get to a happy ending. I enjoyed how it all played out. This is a great pick if you're looking for a quick, clean Regency romance to keep you entertained for an afternoon!"

Getting Your Read On - Review

"Donna Hatch does such a good job of creating characters that feel real and sincere. I love that. . . . This book was just fun. It made me smile and left me feeling happy."

Bookworm Lisa - Review

This book has some cute twists and turns. All is not as it seems. There are counter plots in the making. The book is a short and fun book to read for the pleasure of reading. I enjoyed my time engaged in the story.

Celticlady's Reviews - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 6

She heaved a sigh. “Very well, then. What else can we do?”

“Stay out of their business?”

She smacked his arm with her fan. “Don’t be a wet blanket. This is just what they both need. Think of how devious and clever we’ll have to be to make them each realize that the other is interested.”

Booklove - Spotlight

Nicole's Book Musings - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 7

Perhaps Evan’s reluctance sprang from a new source. Rowena softened her voice. “She can still love and honor your father’s memory even if she remarries.”

He murmured, “I know.”

Beck Valley Books - Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 8

Rowena opened her mouth and then closed it with a snap. The last thing Evan needed was a husband-hunter like Cynthia Pritchard dogging him. Evan had only been home from war a short time and had much more pressing issues—like helping match her papa with his mother.

Singing Librarian Books - Review

"From page one readers will be pulled into the story and not want to put it down until the end. It is a sweet romance that will fill the heart with happiness and warmth."

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven't already...

The Matchmaking Game

(Timeless Romance Single) Donna Hatch

Adult Historical Romance

ebook, 126 pages

April 18th 2017 by Mirror Press

From the publisher of the USA TODAY bestselling & #1 Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology series in Clean & Wholesome Romance, comes the Timeless Romance Singles line. THE MATCHMAKING GAME: A brand new historical romance novella from bestselling author Donna Hatch. Rowena’s childhood friend, Evan, has returned home from war a handsome, but mysterious stranger. In an effort to bring happiness to her father, not to mention uncover the Evan she remembers from their youth, Rowena seeks to unite their parents. Who better to match a lonely widow and widower together than their adoring children? Her matchmaking game could help their parents find happiness and draw out her childhood friend buried beneath Evan’s new reserve … or it could break more than one heart.

Goodreads│Amazon

About the Author

Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty five years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

Website│Blog│Goodreads│Facebook│Twitter│Amazon

Tour Giveaway

- 1 winner will receive a print copy of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (US only)

- 1 winner will receive an ebook of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (open internationally)

- Ends April 22nd a Rafflecopter giveaway

#ParanormalBooks

0 notes

victoriabondblog · 7 years

Text

Release Day for The Matchmaking Game

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Review & Excerpt Book Tour Grand Finale for The Matchmaking Game By Donna Hatch

Happy Release Day!

We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the reviews or reading the first chapter of the book, go back and do so now…

Launch – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 1

England 1814

Rowena Emerson studied her longtime friend, Evan Barnes, and tried to judge by his expression if he’d be game for a new scheme. It was hard to tell; he had come home from the war a mysterious stranger, with only glimpses of his former playful self who had always been ready for a new lark.

Rockin’ Book Reviews – Review

“I loved reading this book. I have read several Donna Hatch’s books and loved everyone of them. . . . I would definitely recommend this book to other readers, especially those who enjoy a good clean romantic novel.”

Hearts & Scribbles – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 2

Bookworm Nation – Review

“… I was quickly sucked into the story and didn’t want to leave. I loved the slow buildup of the romance between these two, and how everything works out. Like I said, its a charming regency that will warm your heart. Very enjoyable.”

Zerina Blossom’s Books – Interview

Q: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

Wishful Endings – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 3

She laughed at his indignation, then put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. “I’m only quizzing you, Evan. I haven’t done that sort of thing for at least a month.”

She chuckled at his raised brows. His departure for the war had put an end to most of her pranks. Losing her friend and cohort, not to mention her heartbreak at his absence, had taken the joy out of many of her favorite pastimes. She’d settled for more mundane activities in his absence. Now that he was back, she could finally breathe easy.

Hardcover Feedback – Review

“The ending was great and I enjoyed every minute of reading this book. I think anyone who enjoys reading stories set in this period will love The Matchmaking Game too.”

The Silver Dagger Scriptorium – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 4

Evan lifted a dark brow. “You want my mother to marry your papa?”

Christy’s Cozy Corners – Review

“You will love Rowena and Evan. They are very fun characters! I really enjoy when a novella can make a romance believable in such a short few pages. The Matchmaking Game is another one to add to your lists!”

Katie’s Clean Book Collection – Review

“The progression of the storyline is sweet and natural, causing the reader (me included) to feel swept up in the events and to feel a part of the story, as it’s very believable.”

Reading Is My SuperPower – Review

“The Matchmaking Game by Donna Hatch is a delightful treat for the heart! With sizzling kisses, charming humor, and a tender friendship, it’s the perfect choice for a quick weekend read. You will fall in love with the characters and be sad to bid them farewell. And did I mention the kisses?!?!”

Heidi Reads… – Review

“Such a great story! The characters are vivid, the setting is awesome, the conflict is angsty, and the romance is… so romantic! . . . I loved this Regency romance and could not put it down until I was finished!”

Rainy Day Reviews – Review

“I would call this a Regency read for sure, but I appreciate the love story, the story line itself and the loving romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I am sure most every other reader will too.”

deal sharing aunt – Interview & Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 5

Q: What do you think makes a good story?

Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 5

“Ro, this isn’t our place.”

Mel’s Shelves – Review

“It’s a great story of childhood friends whose feelings evolve as they get older. They are perfect for each other, but there’s an obstacle to overcome to get to a happy ending. I enjoyed how it all played out. This is a great pick if you’re looking for a quick, clean Regency romance to keep you entertained for an afternoon!”

Getting Your Read On – Review

“Donna Hatch does such a good job of creating characters that feel real and sincere. I love that. . . . This book was just fun. It made me smile and left me feeling happy.”

Bookworm Lisa – Review

Celticlady’s Reviews – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 6

She heaved a sigh. “Very well, then. What else can we do?”

“Stay out of their business?”

Booklove – Spotlight

Nicole’s Book Musings – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 7

Perhaps Evan’s reluctance sprang from a new source. Rowena softened her voice. “She can still love and honor your father’s memory even if she remarries.”

He murmured, “I know.”

Beck Valley Books – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 8

Singing Librarian Books – Review

“From page one readers will be pulled into the story and not want to put it down until the end. It is a sweet romance that will fill the heart with happiness and warmth.”

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven’t already…

The Matchmaking Game (Timeless Romance Single) Donna Hatch Adult Historical Romance ebook, 126 pages April 18th 2017 by Mirror Press

From the publisher of the USA TODAY bestselling & #1 Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology series in Clean & Wholesome Romance, comes the Timeless Romance Singles line.

THE MATCHMAKING GAME: A brand new historical romance novella from bestselling author Donna Hatch.

Rowena’s childhood friend, Evan, has returned home from war a handsome, but mysterious stranger. In an effort to bring happiness to her father, not to mention uncover the Evan she remembers from their youth, Rowena seeks to unite their parents. Who better to match a lonely widow and widower together than their adoring children? Her matchmaking game could help their parents find happiness and draw out her childhood friend buried beneath Evan’s new reserve … or it could break more than one heart.

Goodreads│Amazon

Tour Schedule

April 6th: Rockin’ Book Reviews & Hearts & Scribbles April 7th: Bookworm Nation & Zerina Blossom’s Books April 9th: Hardcover Feedback & The Silver Dagger Scriptorium April 10th: Christy’s Cozy Corners & Katie’s Clean Book Collection April 11th: Reading Is My SuperPower & Heidi Reads… April 12th: Rainy Day Reviews & deal sharing aunt April 13th: Mel’s Shelves & Getting Your Read On April 14th: Bookworm Lisa & Singing Librarian Books April 16th: Celticlady’s Reviews & Booklove April 17th: Falling Leaves & Nicole’s Book Musings April 18th: Grand Finale

About the Author

Website│Blog│Goodreads│Facebook│Twitter│Amazon

Tour Giveaway

– 1 winner will receive a print copy of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (US only) – 1 winner will receive an ebook of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (open internationally) – Ends April 22nd

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Matchmaking Game, an Excerpt

Blog Tour for Courting the Countess and Lots of Chances to…

Mounting a Horse in Regency England

Welcome

News & Events

Release Day for The Matchmaking Game published first on http://donnahatch.blogspot.com/

0 notes

dianelyman1 · 7 years

Text

Release Day for The Matchmaking Game

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Review & Excerpt Book Tour Grand Finale for The Matchmaking Game By Donna Hatch

Happy Release Day!

We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the reviews or reading the first chapter of the book, go back and do so now…

Launch – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 1

England 1814

Rockin’ Book Reviews – Review

Hearts & Scribbles – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 2

Bookworm Nation – Review

Zerina Blossom’s Books – Interview

Q: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

Wishful Endings – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 3

She laughed at his indignation, then put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. “I’m only quizzing you, Evan. I haven’t done that sort of thing for at least a month.”

Hardcover Feedback – Review

“The ending was great and I enjoyed every minute of reading this book. I think anyone who enjoys reading stories set in this period will love The Matchmaking Game too.”

The Silver Dagger Scriptorium – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 4

Evan lifted a dark brow. “You want my mother to marry your papa?”

Christy’s Cozy Corners – Review

Katie’s Clean Book Collection – Review

“The progression of the storyline is sweet and natural, causing the reader (me included) to feel swept up in the events and to feel a part of the story, as it’s very believable.”

Reading Is My SuperPower – Review

Heidi Reads… – Review

Rainy Day Reviews – Review

deal sharing aunt – Interview & Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 5

Q: What do you think makes a good story?

Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 5

“Ro, this isn’t our place.”

Mel’s Shelves – Review

Getting Your Read On – Review

“Donna Hatch does such a good job of creating characters that feel real and sincere. I love that. . . . This book was just fun. It made me smile and left me feeling happy.”

Bookworm Lisa – Review

Celticlady’s Reviews – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 6

She heaved a sigh. “Very well, then. What else can we do?”

“Stay out of their business?”

Booklove – Spotlight

Nicole’s Book Musings – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 7

Perhaps Evan’s reluctance sprang from a new source. Rowena softened her voice. “She can still love and honor your father’s memory even if she remarries.”

He murmured, “I know.”

Beck Valley Books – Excerpt, Chapter One, Part 8

Singing Librarian Books – Review

“From page one readers will be pulled into the story and not want to put it down until the end. It is a sweet romance that will fill the heart with happiness and warmth.”

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven’t already…

The Matchmaking Game (Timeless Romance Single) Donna Hatch Adult Historical Romance ebook, 126 pages April 18th 2017 by Mirror Press

From the publisher of the USA TODAY bestselling & #1 Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology series in Clean & Wholesome Romance, comes the Timeless Romance Singles line.

THE MATCHMAKING GAME: A brand new historical romance novella from bestselling author Donna Hatch.

Goodreads│Amazon

Tour Schedule

About the Author

Website│Blog│Goodreads│Facebook│Twitter│Amazon

Tour Giveaway

– 1 winner will receive a print copy of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (US only) – 1 winner will receive an ebook of Heart Strings by Donna Hatch (open internationally) – Ends April 22nd

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Matchmaking Game, an Excerpt

Blog Tour for Courting the Countess and Lots of Chances to…

Mounting a Horse in Regency England

Welcome

News & Events

Release Day for The Matchmaking Game published first on https://donnahatchromancenovels.wordpress.com/

0 notes