Even Heroes Die

This will be a short post. I may do a more in depth, and more thought out blog in a few days. I just wanted to take a moment to remember one of my heroes.

This author made me fall in love with fantasy after not having read a fantasy novel in 9 years.

This writer made me fall in love with words, and made we want to write my own stories.

This man left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten.

On this day of September in 2007 James Olive Rigney, Jr., otherwise known as Robert Jordan, passed away.

Rest in peace, Mr. Jordan.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.

-Excerpt from chapter one of The Eye of the World

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Words For Writers: Shock Factor

Ursula K. Le Guin must be one of the most brilliant women to ever live. I admire her so much. Not only is she brilliant but she is a prolific writer, whose stories are mind bending and intelligent, and are beautifully written. I don't believe there is a better writer of prose.

At 81 she doesn't publish as much as she once did. She recently released a book of poems. Her last novel was released in 2008. A book by the title of Lavinia. Stephen King included her novel The Lathe of Heaven in his list of 100 Greatest Horror Novels. You can find that list in his book Danse Macabre. Thankfully she regularly updates her blog. It is always an entertaining and enlightening read. Today she posted a blog titled Dangerous Writing, Dangerous Cover Copy. 


She opened the blog by talking about the word "edgy" is the fashionable word to praise books. Another word to go along with edgy is "gritty." Every time I read a review or check out a blurb or listen to someone talk about a newly published book - especially in the fantasy genre - the word gritty and other such words are heaped upon the novel. This is done to appeal to the readers of George R.R. Martin. Dude has built a gigantic fanbase because his books are edgy and gritty. What folks don't understand is that his books are to the fantasy genre that Alan Moore's Watchmen is to comic books. They are a commentary of fantasy, a look or a reflection of the genre.

The last few paragraphs of Ursula's blog killed me. I'm going to copy/past them here. However you should read the entire blog. Click here.

This excerpt from Le Guin's blog is going to knock your socks off. Enjoy!


    But I don’t think Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Bronte, Melville, or Steinbeck were writing to horrify, to shock or frighten or sicken, to sear eyeballs or to wrench guts. They were aware of audience, oh yes indeed, but their intentions were not violent. They were not in assault mode. A writer whose intention is to frighten and distress the reader has a very aggressive program and a very limited goal. Serious writers want to do something beyond asserting power over their audience, beyond self-satisfaction, beyond personal gain — even though they may want all those things very much.


    I think the mystery of art lies in this, that artists’ relationship is essentially with their work — not with power, not with profit, not with themselves, not even with their audience.


    If this is true, a writer’s relationship with readers has no need to be aggressive, exploitive, coercive, or collusive. To writers whose essential relationship is with their work, the shock, distress, and fear their work may cause their readers to feel are means to an end, their only way of saying what they have to say. They will use these dangerous means carefully, sparingly, at need. The effect can be immediate, long-lasting, and profound. It can last several thousand years.

    Writers whose work is not an end in itself but a means to gain fame, power, money, etc., may find that causing shock, fear, digust, etc. are a direct means to that end and can be hugely effective. They use them as a pusher uses drugs. The effect is immediate, brief, and trivial. It lasts until the next best-seller.


    Readers who want no more than to get their jollies from the latest exploitation of the latest shock fad are praised by the blurbs for their courage in daring to read dangerous revelations, but I suspect that they’re just as complacent as the readers of “cozy” fiction — risk-free, knowing exactly to expect.


    Good writers ask for our consent, in fact our participation in their work, our collaboration in its recreation on the stage as we watch it or on the page as we read it. I guess the reason they’re “good” writers is that they’re so good at winning consent and participation from us, persuading us to give them our trust, and rewarding it with something we did not expect.


    That’s quite different from asking us to sit there guzzling another jolt of starbug caffeine while reading a novel in order to have our panic buttons pushed again.


    Trust somebody who’s going to give us something we didn’t expect? But that could be dangerous!


    Never fear. You’re safe. Just trust the cover copy folks. They’re all out there, ready to wrench your guts and serve them up in a presentation of fried eyeballs and fugu in complacency sauce. Bon appétit!


** I can't figure out why the formatting of the blog is turning out so weird. I apologize. I'm not tech savvy enough to fix it. I hope you enjoyed the blog anyway.

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Words for Writers: Writing Goals

Every writer who puts pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, wants to be great. I don't believe people are born great writers. I believe people can become great. Sure some folks are born with more of a knack for composing, but they must fine tune their craft. If they do not they'll have talent that'll become dull like a knife.

Before I sat down to work on this blog I wondered what makes a great writer . . .

Here are a few things that popped into my mind:

~ Creativity

~ A knack for words

~ Desire

~ Discipline

Those are by no means definitive answers. They are necessary to every writer's quest. He should keep those as handy as a carpenter would his hammer. This blog is going to focus on one aspect that makes a writer great.

Goals.

Every writer should have them. I don't think you can write a short story, let alone a novel, without having certain goals in mind. Since July 24th I've been working on a story called Thronebreaker. It's unlikely this story will been seen by the eyes of another reader. Part of Thronebreaker is being written to give me the thrill of writing. Part of Thronebreaker is being written to give me practice. Part of Thronebreaker is to establish the mythology of this fantasy world, and the Otherverse (a dimension that will tie all of my stories together). Since the 24th of July I've written 33,142 words. I've filled 135 pages. Thronebreaker started out as a short story. I had planned for it to be around 25,000 words, and I wanted to submit it to a magazine. It has outgrown that goal, and there is no end in sight. You have to understand, I am no outliner. I hate it. It kills my creativity. I'm a discovery writer. I sit down, start writing, and discover the story along the away. I take a lot of rabbit trails, I write a bunch of boring pages, but I stumble upon things, and they turn into beautiful moments of story. Editing will be a bitch, but will be worth it when I'm reading the final product.

I said all that to get to this . . . Before I made goals for myself I was undisciplined and started four novels that I've never finished. One of them is on my computer still and hadn't been thought about in a year's time. Writing Thronebreaker reminded me of this novel. I opened the document to check and see how many words I had written before I stopped. It was somewhere around 30k words. I vowed to myself that I would not stop writing Thronebreaker at that point. I then vowed that I would finish Thronebreaker. I'm close to finishing the fourth chapter of Thronebreaker, and have seven chapters, plus an epilogue, left to write.

Goals.

The kind of goals you make are up to you. I'll share with you the goals I've made for myself.

4. Word Count

Some writers are adamant about having no word count. They claim that the count gets in the way of the quality of words. There's a little truth to that, but I think it's a stupid belief. You can always go back and improve the quality of the words you've written. One of the most important things for me is getting words on a page. One of the ways I do that is having a specific number of words I want to get on the page that day. Back in July I started out with a goal of 500 words. I hadn't written in a while, because as I've said before I'm a lazy guy, and 500 words didn't intimidate me. Some days I slapped the words on the page in twenty minutes. Other days it took me nearly an hour. After two weeks I upped the count to 700. Two weeks later I raised my goal to 900. I'm now writing 1000 words every morning. On a good day I meet the goal in about thirty minutes. I'll keep writing until 9 a.m., and then go about my day. Other days it's a slug fest and it takes me until 9 a.m. to meet my goal. I usually start writing around 7:30 in the morning. Eventually I would like to stretch myself so that I am writing two thousand words a day.

3. Words

Some of you are seeing where words rank in, and are turning your nose up at my goals. Words are important. You can't tell a story without them. The problem is that sometimes words get in the way of a story. If you want to understand what I'm talking about read nearly anything by Ursula K. Le Guin. That's no slight against her. There is no finer writer of prose. I believe she is overlooked. One, because she's a woman. Two, because she unashamedly writes Science Fiction and Fantasy (unlike Margaret Atwood). Reading The Wizard of Earthsea is always a chore for me. It's so beautifully written I read passages two, three, four times. I'm admiring her prose and have forgotten what's going on with the story. I don't shy away from writing prose that is beautiful to read, but at the same time I do my best not to let it take away from the story I'm writing.

2. Write Everyday

Just before I started working on Thronebreaker I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts The Nerdist. The special guest was Neil Gaiman. Mr. Gaiman is one of my absolute favorite writers. The first book I ever read by him was Anansi Boys. To this day it's one my favorite books I read. I was then led to read American Gods which I enjoyed in an entirely different manner. If you're a writer you must read Neil Gaiman. The man is so brilliant, and such a phenomenal story teller, it pisses me off just a little bit. You should do yourself a favor and download the episode of The Nerdist he was a guest of. He made a comment that scared the day lights out of me, and is the reason I do not fail to write everyday:

If you don't writer everyday you'll never write a novel.

That was a hard pill to swallow. I'm naturally a pretty lazy guy. If I don't have to do something I won't do it. And if there is something that I must do I'll put it off until the last minute, and get it accomplished with haste. That's just the way I am. The above comment lit a fire under me and I wake up every single morning at 7 a.m., and I am writing by 7:30 or 8 o'clock because I'm determined to write and finish a novel.

1. Story

Of the goals I've listed Story is the most important goal of them all. You can't write everyday, put words on paper, or meet a certain count unless you have a compelling story to tell. Stories are why readers read. It's seldom for the words. The fact that Twilight has been guzzled by millions of readers is testimony to the fact that readers read for story. Whether or not Twilight is good story I cannot say, but people - millions of people - picked up a book and read. Kids around the word followed Harry Potter from beginning to end because of a great story. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis, Homer, Dante Alighieri, J.R.R. Tolkien, etc. etc. have been read for years and years because they all told wonderful stories. All other goals pale in the light of telling a great story. Making the story the most important goal gives you the desire to write everyday. Words force themselves on the paper when you have a great story to tell. If the words you write aren't so beautiful at first the great thing is that you can go back and edit. Forget about the words you're writing and tell a story that will make someone pick up a book and read.

These are my goals. Each of these things motivate me to write when I don't feel like it. Over the past month I've wanted to stop working on Thronebreaker, but I've written no matter what. Except Sundays. I take that day off from writing so my mind can rest and refuel. If you have no goals when writing you should take some time, between now and the next time you write, and make some. Who knows what may happen.

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The Help Helped Motivate Me To Blog

I haven't blogged in a while. I've been lazy. I do this often. I won't apologize. I'm not that sorry. ha.

Before I review The Help do know that I've seen a number of movies since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. Here's a rundown of the movies I've seen: Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, and Crazy Stupid Love. The best of these by far was Crazy Stupid Love. Cowboys and Aliens is the most disappointing movie I've seen all summer. It ruined my whole Saturday. No lie.

Second on the agenda is to welcome a number of new people to the Madhouse. Thanks to everyone who has started following my blog. It's appreciated. Maybe this influx of new followers will motivate me to blog on a more consistent basis, but don't base your life on it. That's one of my charms. You never know what to expect. Here's a few things I can guarantee:

I. I will not blog consistently. This is why my blog will never see as many followers as George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, or Patrick Rothfuss. Those are four blogs I follow regularly and in my dreams I aspire for the Madhouse to be as cool as their home on the net. You should check those guys out. You won't be sorry.

II. When I do blog it will not be a waste of your time. I don't want you to come here and waste your time. I've been working on a story called Thronebreaker. It's taken a lot of time away from the Madhouse. When I have planned to update the site I've been working on this story instead. Sorry but my personal writing time is more important than updating the Madhouse. This story is pretty important to the mythos of the universe my stories will be taking place. Earth is included in this universe and so are other planets. One named Nardanth. This is the planet Thronebreaker takes place on. All the planets are connected by a realm called the Otherverse. I'm going to stop talking there. A good writer is like a good magician. He doesn't give up all his secrets. In the next few weeks you can expect a single, or maybe a few, blogs on the topic of Writing Goals. I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. When it's fully percolated in my brain it'll make it's way on here.

Now, on to the movie review . . .

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to have a weekend get away. We try to get away from Tulsa as often as we can. The last time we did so it was for a vacation to Hawaii. That was how we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. That was back in May. Almost three months have passed since then, and we figured it was time for a pause from our life in Tulsa.

My wife was able to get us a king size room, in a grade A hotel, in OKC for $46. We jumped on the opportunity to get out of town. The icing and cherry on top for my wife is that a new outlet mall has just opened and I'll be spending my day there tomorrow while my wife spends my hard earned cash.

We're hanging out in the hotel now catching up on the latest episode of True Blood. We got into town about 3pm, checked into our badass room, and got ready for a night out on the town. Our night out on the town consisted of dinner and a movie. Unfortunately our dinner choice wasn't the best, and we'll have to redeem ourselves for lunch tomorrow. The movie choice was much better.

From the very first trailers I knew I wanted to see The Help. I'm no discriminators when it comes to movies. If it looks like I'm going to get the bang for my buck I'll go. The Help looked like one of those movies that would give me my money's worth.

The Help is set during the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. It focuses on three main characters: Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny. Skeeter is a recent grad of Ole Miss and has aspirations of being a big time journalist. Aibileen and Minny both work as help for well off white families. Minny works for Hilly Holbrook the bitchtastic queen of the socialites, and Aibileen works for Elizabeth Leefolt who wants to be Hilly.

I didn't find out that The Help was based on a novel until a few weeks ago. This intrigued me even more. From the opening frames the movie was enjoyable. The help go to their jobs. They work in the white people's homes cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their children. The help are looked down upon. They do not eat with their bosses. They prepare their meals, and if they do eat the meal they prepared they do not eat at the dining room tables. They eat in the kitchen. Alone. Some are not even allowed to use the bathrooms in the houses.

Skeeter is different from the other white people. She enjoys the help. She had a close relationship with a woman who helped her family for years. She raised Skeeter until she went off to Ole Miss. When she comes home from school she finds this woman is no longer working for the family. Skeeter is told that she has woman has moved to live with her family in Chicago.

Soon after arriving in town Skeeter gets a job at the local newspaper writing an advice column on housekeeping. Skeeter knows little about keeping a house so she gets Aibileen to help her. The causes a relationship to bud between the two. As Skeeter grows closer to Aibileen she conceives the idea for a book written from the perspective of the help.

This is where the movie takes off. Some of the stories included in the help you see unfold on screen. Other stories you get to enjoy the telling of from different women. There is one particular scene that takes place that is one of the funniest moments I've ever seen in a movie. I'm not going to tell you anything about it. You'll need to see it for yourself.

The movie is extremely well written. I was taken in from the moment is started. Emma Stone is one of the best actresses coming up in Hollywood. I've enjoyed her since I first saw her in Zombieland. Before finding out much about the upcoming Spider-man I decided I'd see it because she was starring as Gwen Stacey. This is the first movie I've seen her in where she was the flagship actor. I believe one day she could go down as a Julia Roberts. She's a pretty all American girl who's charming, and is a fine actress.

The rest of the cast is fantastic. On many occasions Octavia Spencer (Minny) steals the show. I don't recall seeing her in much, but she is one funny lady. The said scene that is one of the funniest moments ever is one of Octavia's focal scenes. Man, I'm laughing just thinking about it. Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays the part of Hilly, also has many defining moments in the movie. She is one mean lady. Also, who knew Ron Howard could produce such a pretty daughter. There were times, though, when I hated her character regardless of how pretty she is.

My favorite character of the movie was Aibileen played by Viola Davis. She is the hero of the movie. You grow close to the character and you sympathize for her throughout the movie. She's not a weak character. She begins the movie as a timid woman but as she sets out on the trying path of helping Skeeter writer her book she becomes a strong woman. Like Minny, Aibileen has a character defining moment of the movie. It was much different than Minny's but just as satisfying.

My only complaint was the movie's ending. It's a minor complaint. I can't say why I want to complain. It was just bitter sweet, and I expected things to end on more of a high note. This by no means ruins the movie. For myself it was just meh.

All in all I give the movie an A+. It's one of my favorite movies I've seen all summer.

The summer movie season is coming to an end. I've done a pretty good job of reviewing the movies I've seen. There's only two movies I haven't seen that I planned on: Green Lantern and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I don't think I missed out on anything as far as GL goes. I'm sorry that I haven't got to check out Apes yet. I've heard great things. Next week I plan on seeing Conan the Barbarian. It'll be the last movie I see this summer. I'm exited about seeing this movie. Jason Momoa was awesome as Khal Drogo and I think he'll do a great job as one of the most recognized characters of fantasy literature. Personally, I hope he overshadows Arnold's legacy. His movies were good but I don't think they were true to what Robert E. Howard envisioned. We shall see.

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The Year I Graduated From Hogwarts

Okay, the last few days have been really off for me. Usually as soon as I leave the theater, and get home, I sit down to review the movie that I saw. Sunday afternoon I wanted to wait so I could include something in the blog I'm very excited about. I'll get to that in a bit. Yesterday what I wanted to share was online, but I just didn't feel like taking the time to blog. Today I had no motivation. It was one of the most pathetic points in my life. My mornings usually work like this: I take an hour and a half to two hours and work on my novel. I'm currently in the outlining stage. I hate outlining. If I can find an excuse to get out of it. I will. After I work on my novel I take two hours for reading. I'm currently reading George R.R. Martin's "A Dance With Dragons." It's been stellar. Every word this morning seemed dead to me, and I didn't bother reading. I ended up spending my morning in a semi-comatose state starting at Facebook. I'm shamed to admit it. Now, I"m forcing myself to review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Before I get to the review I must confess a sin, dear reader . . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

I have never read the Harry Potter series. I know. It's terrible. I champion myself as an avid fantasy reader and I've never read the most well known fantasy series of the last decade. I'll get to it eventually. I've obviously seen all the movies, and have enjoyed every single one of them. Up until Sunday my favorite movie of the series was Prisoner of Azkaban. There's no single reason that PoA was my favorite. I just remember being enamored with enjoyment throughout the whole movie. After having seen Deathly Hallows part 2 I must say that it is the best movie of the series. Without argument.

There's a few reasons that this movie is the best.

David Yates did a phenomenal job directing this movie. Mr. Yates has directed the last four Harry Potter movies. This is the best of his work. Having never read the book I can say whether or not he caught the essence of the book, but it felt like it. There was a sense of finality from the beginning. That was important. This film series has been going on for over a decade now, and having that sense of closure was important to me.

From the moment the film began I felt caught up in an epic scheme. I mean, we have arrived at the moment we've been waiting seven movies for. The battle of Harry Potter and Voldemort. Ah, the battle scenes were fantastic. A good portion of the movie was the battle of wizards good and evil. I wanted to grab up a wand, get down in a fox hole with the student, and shoot fire balls at bad guys. The special effects for this movie were on point. I felt as if I were in the midst of a war zone and may need to seek out coverage. Without this epic feel this movie would have crashed and burned.

I think Daniel Radcliffe deserves standing ovations all around. The kid has carried a franchise since he was eleven years old. That's a lot of responsibility. I don't even remember what I was doing at eleven. I was probably gaming it up on Super Nintendo. I sure as hell wouldn't have been starring in any movies. Radcliffe is Harry Potter. Not only that but he's a fine actor. I hope he isn't type cast the rest of his career, or denied parts because he's the world's most famous wizard. Personally I think he would be perfect for a John Lennon biopic. The rest of the cast deserves props as well. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have been in these shoes as long as Radcliffe, and it's been fun watching them grow and mature on screen. I'll be first in line to see any movie this trio make.

Ya know, while I was sitting in the theater I kept thinking to myself, There's no way I can review this movie and do it the justice it deserves. When it all comes down to it you need to see it for yourself. Honestly, Harry Potter is a series that needs to be watched by one and all. There's a great message behind it, and I think Stephen King summed it up better than anyone.

Harry Potter is about doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.

I love how he nonchalantly insults the Twilight series all while making a beautiful observation about Potter. But it's true. Today's entertainment is filled with characters of gray. The black and white battle of good and evil is slowly becoming a thing of the past. There are no clear cut heroes nowadays. The antihero is king of the hill. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Things aren't as black and white as they use to be. Slowly everything is fading to gray. It's nice to have a story about a kid, a hero, who stands for what is right, and will stand in the face of evil and do what is right. No matter what the consequences are. Even if it costs him his life.

See Harry Potter! It'll be worth your money.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has dethroned Super 8 to reign as my favorite movie of the Summer.

This weekend my wife and I will be seeing Captain America. I'm pretty excited.

Remember when I referred do something I wanted to talk about. I didn't forget. I hope you didn't either. Another reason you need to see the Harry Potter movie is because the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises premiered along with it. This is the final Batman movie of Christopher Nolan's trilogy. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and his take on Batman is the definitive film series of The Dark Knight. Since the trailer went online I've watched it about six times. I'm obsessive like that. I wanted to share it here on the blog. It's a great teaser. Your fed mysterious information and you get a short glimpse of Bane. Tom Hardy has transformed himself and turned into a monster. This movie is going to be epic. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

Here's the trailer:

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"Oh, You're One of Those"

Yesterday was a big day for the fantasy world. George Rex Rufus Martin's fifth installment of his series A Song of Ice and Fire hit bookstore shelves. If you're not familiar with the series by name you've probably heard of HBO's new series Game of Thrones, which is based on the series of books, and took it's name from the first novel in the series. We, in the fantasy world, have been waiting on A Dance With Dragons for six years. It's been eleven years since we've read from the perspective of Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. Outside of the fantasy genre you don't have authors that write stories in a series. Fans of other genres can't understand or really sympathize with fantasy fans. Authors of other genres most often write stand alone novels, and sometimes write stories focused on characters from another book. The only writer I can think of who's written a sprawling series, and has taken years between books is Stephen King. Between certain books of The Dark Tower series there were six year gaps. Waiting that long to continue the journey with characters you've been relationship with creates anticipation and excitement. It can also be frustrating and saddening at times. The best you can do is re-read the previous novels. The worst you can do is lose hope in the writer, and quit reading the series altogether.

If you've never read George R.R. Martin you have neglected one of the most brilliant writers of our time. Notice that I did not say one of the most brilliant fantasy writers of our time. G.R.R Martin is such a fantastic writer that the New York Times dubbed him many years ago, "The American Tolkien." Personally, I've never been a big fan of Tolkien. Tolkien was an awesome world-builder, wrote beautiful prose, but told boring stories. Now, not everyone feels that way. That's just me talking. The Hobbit is one of my favorite books. It's one of the first fantasy novels I ever read. I have re-read it at least three times. One day when I have children I plan for it to be one of the first books I ever read to them. However, I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy once and vowed to never read it again. It weren't my cup o' tea. Coming back to my point. To only dub Martin as "The American Tolkien" is an injustice:

First, A Song of Ice and Fire and The Lord of the Rings are two different beasts. LOTR is a traditional hero's journey, and probably the prime example of such. Ice and Fire is a complicated story, the world of Westeros is much more brutal than Middle-Earth, it includes thousands of characters, and the most shocking plot twists ever written on the page.

Second, Martin and Tolkien are two different writers, from two different time periods, telling very different stories. As I said, Tolkien was a great world builder but wasn't the best story-teller. Martin has built an interesting world and is telling an engrossing story. Not only is Martin a great story-teller but he's a wonderful writer. I love his prose, his description, his language, and dialogue. He's the best example of fantasy done right.

This brings me to the point of my post. It bothers me that so many people, from the general public to the literary snobs, are so willing to turn their nose to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. Now, the general public is much more accepting of the SF&F genre. Literary snobs looks upon it with disdain. The New York Times said this about Martin:

Martin will never win a Pulitzer or a National Book Award, but his skill as a crafter of narrative exceeds that of almost any literary novelist writing today. Throughout the book I was reminded of Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (which did win a Pulitzer), as well as Anthony Powell's (similarly floridly titled) A Dance to the Music of Time. But even Powell can't twist a plot like Martin. A Dance with Dragons is a big book, topping out at 1,016 pages, but it turns on a dime. Reading a novel is a little like commanding a battle: you're always reconnoitering, trying to guess where the author will go next, what's a feint and where the action is really heading. I don't know when I have ever been as comprehensively and pleasurably outgeneraled as I am when I read Martin. He raises and raises the stakes, long past when any other writer would have walked away from the table, and just when you think he's done, he goes all in. There is, apparently, no piece he will not sacrifice, no character that you (and one suspects, he) love so much that he will not orchestrate that character's doom.

If there's any fantasy novel that would be worthy of the Pulitzer it would be A Game of Thrones or even A Storm of Swords. G.R.R Martin has never said that he wrote the first novel to be reflective of our political landscape. He wrote the book all through the early 90's and A Game of Thrones was released in 1996, the book was written many years before much of what has happened in our government recently, but the situations of the book are so applicable. Of course, A Game of Thrones is loosely based around The War of the Roses.

The sad thing is this: George Martin will never be considered for a Pulitzer Prize or a National Book Award because of the genre he writes in.

Everyone where I work pretty much know that I write, and am aspiring to be a published author. I recently had a conversation with a co-worker that went something like this:

"What kind of novel are you writing?"

"A fantasy."

"Are there people?"

"Yes, but in a fantasy world. On a different planet."

"Oh . . . you're one of those."

With those words my co-worker turned and walked away. I've never really taken any flack for wanting to become a published author. I do, however, get made fun of a good deal for being an avid fantasy reader. It doesn't really bother me. Most people make their comments in good humor, and I can always remind them that geeks rule the world. Other people aren't so good natured. It's something that every fantasy fan and author has to deal with. You can be considered literary because you're not telling stories with that aren't taking place in the "real world," or fantasy authors are good story-tellers but not good writers. The latter comment really irks the shit out of me.

Reading George Martin's writing amazes me how true to life his characters behave. One of the frustrating things about the fantasy genre is that your heroes are honorable and good and the villains are evil and despicable. Basically the world's are black and white and most fantasy was written as such until Martin came along. Westeros is a world of gray. There is no black and white and no character is truly honorable. Eddard Stark does his best to remain honorable in all his decisions, but even his honor causes him to make mistakes. Martin's characters are selfish and they look out for their own tail's. They all want to sit upon, or have a piece of, the Iron Thrones. Whatever it takes to claim that seat let all others be damned. If Martin's story didn't take place in an imaginative world, have occurrences of magic, and allow the existence of fantastic creatures he'd probably be classified as Historical Thriller. His story is that true to life.

One of the worst blanket statements applied to fantasy writers/authors is that they're bad writers. When people make this statement I want to ask them if they've ever read China Mieville, Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman, or Ursula K. Le Guin (for God's sake!). They haven't and they can continue to make their blanket statement because you'll never see a fantasy writer's name included in a list with: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce, et cetera et cetera. The thing is that some of the best writing I've ever read was written by fantasy writers. Of course I'm biased, but until you read Ursula K. Le Guin you can take your blanket statements and burn them. The lady is scary brilliant and writes words so tasty you want to lick them off of the page.

A Song of Ice and Fire is said to be the fantasy series for people who hate fantasy. I have a friend who wouldn't read any of the fantasy novels I recommended to him. Then one day I pressured him into reading A Game of Thrones. He checked it out and read it at break neck speed. As soon as he finished Thrones he moved on to A Clash of Kings. One day I asked him if Martin changed his opinion about fantasy and he told me while reading these books he was reminded of why he loved fantasy so much as a kid, and if I could recommend fantasy writers as good as Martin he'd be a lifetime fantasy reader. It's a good thing I've spend the better part of 26 years reading nothing but fantasy. Ha!

There are great fantasy writers out there. There are fantasy writers who stand toe to toe with the literary greats. There are fantasy writers who behead the literary greats with the ink of their pen. Will the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre ever have the respect of the literary snobs? No, but it doesn't really matter. I don't think the literary snobs respect a whole lot besides the writers they run in circles with (sniffing one another's butts). The most profitable writer in history is a fantasy writer. Of your Top 25 all time domesting grossing movies 22 of them are either Science Fiction or Fantasy movies. Money's not everything. Check out any Hugo or Nebula award winning Science Fiction and Fantasy author and you will find some of the best writing you've been exposed to.

ADDENDUM: Until you've read Gene Wolfe (!!!) you cannot make the statement that Science Fiction and Fantasy authors are not great writers. Michael Swanwick said of Gene Wolfe, "But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning." There is no one as skillful with the unreliable narrator as Gene Wolfe. He must be read.

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The Terrible Tragedy That is Transformers Three

It was insanely difficult to find a movie poster for this review. Either it's a sign that I should not be posting what is going to be a hate filled slur towards Michael Bay -- okay, I'm am somewhat exaggerating -- or, this was a sign that this movie should never have existed. At least not with Michael Bay behind the camera. Of the 15 movies the guy has directed I've slightly enjoyed two of them: The first Transformers and The Rock.

Preface: My History With Transformers . . .

I have none.

As a kid growing up in Toccoa, Georgia I had no love for Transformers. I don't remember ever having Tonka toys. If I did I can't recall any significant memories about them. I never remember having any Transformers toys. Even as a kid I can recall having memories that vehicle toys were pointless. I mean all the frakkin things did was roll around. There's not a lot of imagination that you can put into that. I had a slew of He-Man, Ghostbusters, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys. Man, those toys created for some good times. I even remember having some BraveStarr toys. The sad things is that I haven't met anyone that remembers BraveStarr. I'm pretty sure that cartoon created my love for the western genre.

Going into Transformer movies I have no inherent love for the franchise. There's nothing special about it to me. Therefore, it doesn't pain me to say that I haven't loved any of the movies.

The first Transformers movie was decent.

The second Transformers movie was  a disaster.

The third Transformers movie was overly long and had so many pointless moments I wanted to spit my Coke at the screen. I don't make such statements lightly. I love Coca-Cola.

The Review: The Terrible Tragedy That is Transformers Three . . .

Now, the movie wasn't completely terrible. Shia LaBeouf is an actor who has potential. I think he can really turn into something someday. I'm not sure if he'll become great. But I enjoy him in what I watch. My problem with the guy is he plays the same type of character in every movie. I would love to see him take on a movie that would challenge his abilities. The good thing about the Transformers movies is that they've given him a name, and he can take risks with the films he chooses. Leonardo DiCaprio did that after Titanic. I think he's benefited from that. Not sure if Shia will take the same path.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was nice to look at. It bothered me that in her posing shots she wore stilettos, but during the action scenes she wore flats. I hate flats. They make a woman look so frumpy. I love heels. Sexxxxy! Another thing that bothered me is that through all the disaster she went through she came out without scratch, without bruise, unscathed, and sexy as hell. Give. Me. A. Break. This blame I place at the feet of Michael Bay. He doesn't know how to make a believable movie. All he knows how to do is make a film look pretty. Bright lights. Big explosions. Action shots with quick cut aways are his specialty. In every film he's made he has a hot babe that remains hot not matter what. I like it when my heroines get dirt under a nails. Women get sexier the dirtier they get. Evangeline Lily from Lost was sexiest when she was covered in mud and dirt. Rosie walking out of collapsed buildings unscathed made me shake my head.

The plot of the movie was pointless as were every human actor. The only point of this movie was to have as many poses of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, have Shia LeBeouf scream like a banshee, actions scene where stuff gets blown up, and Autobots and Decepticons battle to the death.

Transformers length was absurd. My wife and I went into the movie at 7:50 PM. We didn't get out of the movie until near 11 o'clock. Michael Bay needs to learn that if your movie is going to exceed two hours you better have a damn good reason. He did not. I wanted to pound my head on the seat in front of me. Arrrrrrgggggghhhhh!!!

The most terrible thing about Transformers was Michael Bay. He doesn't know how to make a movie. He knows how to make music videos. That's what the guy did before he got into making pictures. His method of movie making is to make a two hour music video. If I wanted to watch a music video I'd sit down and turn the t.v. to MTV. Oh wait, they don't even show music videos anymore.

This movie isn't worth your time. If you want to watch a Shia LeBeouf movie watch something else. If you want to see it for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley go to Google images instead.Your time can be better spent.

Grade: D-

Next week, if I can talk my wife into it, we may go see Horrible Bosses.

The rest of July is going to be a good month. Three straight weeks I'll have my butt in theater seats at my local Cinemark. July 15th is the final Harry Potter movie, July 22nd is Captain America: The First Avenger, and July 29th is Cowboys and Aliens (the second movie I'm most excited about this Summer).

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Words for Readers: Horns

I've never had to make a vow to not read a book before I went to bed. Until recently. Joe Hill has a special ability where he's able to freak me out. This sort of accomplishment is not easily done. I'm a trickster by nature. I work at a parking garage as a valet. I like to hide in places - i.e. the back seat of cars - and scare my co-workers. Many of them have tried their damndest to scare me in return, and nearly all have failed. What I'm saying is, I don't scare easy.

I didn't develop a love for the horror genre until recently. Two writers helped me fall in love with the art form: Stephen King (duh!) and a less well known writer, Dan Wells. Stephen King needs no introduction. Dan Wells is one of three hosts of the podcast Writing Excuses. His debut novel was one of the first horror stories I ever read. It's called "I Am Not A Serial Killer." (<--- Click the title) After reading both of the guys I decided horror wasn't at all like the poor imitation served out by Hollywood. You know, the thousands of Jason movies or silly Saw movies. Horror could really get in your head and take you for a fun ride.

Somehow or another, I'm not really sure, I found out about Joe Hill. If you don't know Joe is Stephen King's middle child, and has inherited his father's talent for scaring the crap out of people. I dare say that he may have taken to the family business a little better than his dear ol' dad.

The plot for "Horns" is pretty straight forward. The main character, Ig, wakes up hungover on the anniversary of his girlfriend's murder. He quickly notices a change about himself. He has horns growing out of his head. With the new addition to his body come a few special abilities.

I'm not sure which horror writer said this but I once read, "Monsters aren't scary. People are." That's the thing about "Horns." The emotional ride that Joe Hill takes you on is more terrifying than the fact that Ignatius Perrish has devil horns growing out of his head. Sure, that's freaky. But the feelings of pain and anguish that Ig feels over his lost love is more more horrifying. The fact that people to crazy things to hurt others makes me cringe more than the knowledge that a dude has horns coming out of his head.

This book showed a lot of maturity for Joe Hill. His debut novel "Heart-Shaped Box" was a fun read, but there were things that could have been better. While reading "Horns" I noticed that Joe doesn't even read like the same writer. The work that he's put into the improvement of his craft really shines. Joe seems to be a jack of all trades. His comic run with "Locke & Key" is one of the best things going on in the comic industry, and his novels are scary fun.

Okay, one final thing, I know a lot of people won't read Stephen King because of his tendency to be wordy. I'm mean, for real, the guy can take a three-hundred page story and stretch it out over a thousand pages with minimal effort. This seems to be something Joe didn't inherit from King. He's not wordy or descriptive in the same way as his dad. His novels are easily read and can be plowed through rather quickly. Being an avid fantasy reader, Stephen King's wordiness doesn't bother me. However, it is nice to sit down with a novel that isn't a huge tome. Sometimes three-hundred page stories are much more entertaining that the ones that stretch out over thousands of pages. Brevity plays a big factor in that.

I'm rambling. If you're looking for some fun (scary) summer reading then check out "Horns." It's a helluva good time. No pun intended.

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The Wonder of Super 8

I love movies filled with wonder. I believe the master of wonder has always been Steven Spielberg. Three of my all time favorite movies are from his catalogue. They are: JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, and E.T. The awesome thing about each of these movies is that they're about more than monsters, and they're about more than aliens, these movies are about people. All three of these movies are about people put in wonderful, or terrifying, situations. You follow these people and you feel their fear and excitement. You feel their hurt and their pleasure. You fall to the bottom with them, and you rise to the top with these characters.

One of my favorite moments from JAWS is when Chief Brody, Sam Quint, and Matt Hooper set out on Quint's boat to finally get rid of the shark. One night out at sea they're sitting together at a table, they've had a few shots, and Quint and Hooper begin to trade stories. They recollect every scar on their bodies and how they came to bear that badge. There is so much humanity in that situation and is a perfect build up for the final show down with the Great White. Super 8 has a moment like that, but I'll talk about that later.

It's been a long time where a Science-Fiction movie has taken kids and thrust them into the main roll of the movie. It's also been a long time since a Science-Fiction movie has filled me with awe. Joe Hill tweeted Friday night,

"No, but seriously: SUPER 8 is the happiest I've been in a movie since I was 9 and saw E.T. for the first time."

And he's right! I don't know if SUPER 8 will stand the test of time in the same way E.T. has. They're different movies. Super 8 is more about the characters than it is about the alien. I can already tell you there are going to be people complaining that the alien didn't get enough screen time, or J.J. Abrams didn't reveal it early enough. I don't get that. It annoys me that people feel like the thing needs to be flaunted, and put out front. One of the scariest things about JAWS is that you hardly ever saw the damn shark. There were startling moments during Super 8, where I nearly jumped out of my seat, and you never saw the alien. You caught short glimpses of him, maybe an arm, or maybe a quick shot of the face, but there was never a drawing back of the curtain. It thrilled me and captivated me. I watched in anticipation waiting for the next encounter, and I never gave a flip about whether or not there was a full frontal of the alien.

The movie is a love story. It's J.J. Abrams love story to Spielberg. It's about a boy and a girl discovering what love feels like for the very first time. It's about a man who's lost his love. It's about a father and a son, a daughter and her daddy, finding love that they've been without. It's about a kid's love for movies and his desire to make it his best.  Super 8 is exciting and will cause you to fall in love with each of its characters.

Finally, the movie is a mystery. It angers me that so many people have told me they won't see this movie because they don't know enough about it. Critics have predicted the movie's financial failure because the trailers didn't contain enough spoilers. At what point did we lose our sense of mystery and wonder? Why do we feel like we need to know how a movie is going to end before we decide if we see it? Why does Hollywood feel the need to spoil the climax of every movie with each new trailer? Even books nowadays are spoiled because the complete story is told in the synopsis. Not too long ago I was at the bookstore and  was interested in reading a book. I picked it up, glanced at the back, as I was reading what it was about the ending was revealed in the short synopsis. I put the book down and refuse to read it. A girl once told me that she doesn't read a book until she reads the last chapter first. Have people lost all desire for adventure? Is there no desire to go on a journey without knowing the road blocks you may encounter?

Super 8 is my favorite movie I've seen so far this summer. I'm excited for the day it comes out on DVD. I haven't bought a movie released to DVD since INCEPTION. It'll be nice to add this to my collection. This is a movie you'll want to see.

Next week I'm debating on whether or not I should see Green Lantern. I'm afraid for this movie.

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The Evolution of Xavier's Gifted Youngsters

Growing up my introduction to X-Men was the cartoon that ran from 1992-1997. Cartoons were my introduction to so many wonderful comic book characters. Besides the '89 Batman, with Keaton and Nicholson, a favorite cartoon was Batman: The Animated Series. Batman: TAS ran from 1992-1995. I have volume 1 on DVD, and watch it periodically. Kevin Conroy is the definitive Batman. Mark Hamill is the greatest voice actor to interpret The Crown Prince of Crime. One day when they make The Dark Knight Returns into a movie Mark Hamill would be the best choice of actor to bring the Joker back to the silver screen.

In 2000 the first X-Men movie was released. I was 16 years old. I was thrilled. I can remember that my mom took my brother and I to the theater, and the place was packed. Even though Hugh Jackman would not be my choice for Wolverine now at the time he was a dream come true. I was finally getting to see one of my favorite comic heroes on the big screen. Looking back X-Men hasn't withstood the test of time. The second installment, X2, has done a little better. The Last Stand is to the X-Men franchise that Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are to The Dark Knight's movie franchise. I thought the X-Men were dead after The Last Stand. That movie was horrid. I remember being offended after spending money to see that movie. Even now I fill disdain.

A few months ago I first heard about X-Men: First Class. Honestly I had no intention of seeing it. I figured that Marvel and Fox Studios (Fox Studios is my least favorite movie maker) were grasping at straws, and decided to jump on the band wagon of origin stories. Afterwards I ignored any news about this movies.

Weeks ago I saw the first trailer for the movie. I think I was seeing Your Highness. That was back in April. I decided then that maybe I should give X-Men: First class a second thought. Then my wife and I went to see The Adjustment Bureau - if I remember correctly - and this was when I saw the second trailer for First Class. It was then that I came to a conclusion that this was a must see for my summer.

On to my thoughts . . .

This movie has one of the best beginnings. Immediately we are introduced to Erik Lensher. A kid named Bill Milner plays a teenaged Erik. He has no thoughts about one day becoming Magneto. He's never me Charles Xavier. He doesn't even no he can manipulate metal. He's a scared kid who wants to be near his mom. When they're separated we see what type of potential Erik has when he destroys a big metal gate. Enter Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). I believe Kevin Bacon is at his best when he plays a villain. Remember Sleepers? He was one effed up dude in that one. Here he's wanting to bring to surface Erik's abilities, and he'll do whatever it takes. This scene is one of the most powerful of the movie. I was awed, saddened, and sympathetic for Erik after this scene. Many applauds to Bill Milner. Wonderful performance.

Charles Xavier is going through life differently. He's in college trying to get his PhD. He's a party boy using his telepathy to pick up girls. James McAvoy has come a long way since he pranced around with hooves in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Some might hear this as blasphemy but I prefer his Xavier to Patrick Stewart's. Xavier seemed more human after watching McAvoy's performance. Patrick Stewart had the look for Xavier, but I felt like his performance was soulless. James brought soul and life to the one day leader of X-Men. I read that people would not accept this movie if James McAvoy could not bring Patrick Stewart to the viewer's mind. He did bring Stewart to my mind. I kept thinking about how superior he was throughout the movie.

The rest of the cast is spot on. I especially loved Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee. It was fun watching the evolution of each of these kids throughout the movie. Seeing the become comfortable with their mutation, and grow in skill with their powers was one of the highlights of the movie. January Jones was beautiful as Emma Frost. I've been infatuated with her since the first time I watched Mad Men. She's dethrones Scarlett Johansson, for me, as the sexiest woman in Hollywood. The only problem is that she acted more like Betty Draper, in this movie, than Emma Frost.   Emma is not only sexy but she's witty. As Emma, January was sexy but her performance was stiff.

The story was exciting and the missile crisis of 1962 was an intriguing way to introduce these characters. Watching Xavier and Erik's friendship bud, bloom, and wither was a painful pleasure. Fassbender and McAvoy made you believe in this friendship. Even though you knew the inevitable was going to happen at the end of the movie you hope that they'll save it for the sequel. Picking out how different pillar's of the X universe came to be was fun. Each moment was like a lightbulb. Finding the origin of different factors of the X-World was better than a game of Where's Waldo.

I believe this is my favorite movie of 2011 at the moment. It had all the ingredients of a summer movie should have: entertainment value, fun filled, humor, an exciting story, and a great cast.

Grade: A+

Next weekend Super 8 finally hits theaters. I. Can't. Wait. I've been waiting for over a year. J.J. Abrams is one of my favorite modern movie directors. Alien movies from the 60s and 70s are some of my favorite movies. Especially aline movies made by Spielberg. J.J. Abrams says this movie is his homage to all those great Steven Spielberg science-fiction movies. My prediction is that Super 8 will be my favorite movie of the summer. I hope it lives up to the prediction. Here's the trailer:

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Words for Readers: Locke & Key, Your Doorway to a Wonderful Comic Series

I've been reviewing movies on the blog for a while. I read a number of books a year and thought it'd be a good idea to use the blog as a place to review the books and comics I read. 

I've already posted my review to my Goodreads account. I'll copy/paste it below:

LOCKE & KEY: WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT is a prime example of why I love comic books. Usually when I read a comic book I like to take it slow, break it up over a couple of days. I was to digest the story and the art. Once I opened this book and peered into the first pages I ate up L&K like a t-bone cooked to perfection.

Joe Hill deals a thrill ride from page 1. The story focuses on the Locke kids. They've been through a tragic time in their life and move to Keyhouse on Lovecraft Island just off of the coast of New England. To find out the rest of the story you need to find your local comic shop and buy this. You won't be disappointed. If you are I'll gladly pay your money back. I only make that offer on books I believe in, and I believe in this series. I only wish I had bought the rest of the series along with the first two volumes.

One thing that really shines about this story is the dialogue. The story is a gem, the artwork is so beautiful, and the dialogue tastes like a good cigar. Comics can be a frustrating medium because the dialogue isn't always up to par. Joe Hill didn't let me down. I will return to this comic again and again and again.

If you've never read comics - or believe that it's literary trash - this would be a great doorway into this medium of literature. The awesome thing about comics is that it's the only form of literature that stimulates both sides of your brain. Eat that, literary snobs! Ha! 

Tomorrow my wife and I are going to see X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. I'll post the review tomorrow afternoon.

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The Hangover 2

I put a lot of thought into my blog titles. I like for them to be clever. Unfortunately I can't think of anything witty for this post. Therefore, it's simply titled "The Hangover 2."

My wife and I have just returned to our apartment after seeing the second addition to this franchise. I'm in limbo. I can't decide if this sequel was funnier than the first. It is more outrageous for sure. Zack Galifianakis is possibly the funniest man alive. He outdid himself and "The Hangover part 2" is worth seeing for that fact alone.

Ken Jeong gets a little more screen time in this movie. The guy is hilarious. If they do a third one I would like for him to be throughout the whole movie. I think they should do one more movie. Complete these movies as a trilogy. What would be more than icing on the cake than if Alan got married? He would then be the alpha dog of his wolf pack. Anyway, I was talking about Ken Jeong. He and the monkey are really the only competitors for funniest person in the movie that Galifianakis had. Don't get me wrong Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms dish out the laughter, but Zack, Ken, and the cigarette smoking monkey own this film.

You can expect this movie to basically follow the same story line as the first movie. If you're going to see the writers do something new with this movie you're going to be disappointed. However, if you're going to laugh your ass off you will get a belly full. This movie and its predecessor are the only movies that kept me laughing from beginning to end in a long time. Probably because, other than "Dumb and Dumber," they're about as close to my sense of humor as a movie can get.

If you don't like your humor, rude, crude, and uncalled for then you should skip this all together.

Overall I give "The Hangover part 2" an A- on the verge of a B+. Full of laughs but nothing we haven't already seen.

Okay, side bar. I'm an avid viewer of movie trailers. If there's a movie I'm really excited about I'll view the trailer dozens of times. I can't even tell you how many times I watched the trailer for "The Dark Knight." When trailers for "The Dark Knight Rises" finally arrive you can bet I'll watch every trailer about a hundred times. I've been following all the news for the newest Batman since I saw "The Dark Knight."

Tonight before Hangover was a trailer for a remake of "Fright Night." Honestly, it looks like it has a lot of potential. Granted I've never seen the first. Now, this trailer could be deceptive, and the movie be a stink fest. I hope not because it looks cool. I've added the original to my Netflix. If I'm going to see a remake I need to be able to judge it against the original. I've included the trailer for the new "Fright Night" below. Am I right or wrong? Full of potential or full of sh. . .

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By The Power of Thor You've Been Thunderstruck

It's one of my favorite times of the year: Summer movie season. All the big blockbusters that I spend one to two years waiting for are finally getting released. I'm more of a fan of the big budget summer movies than I am the low budget independent movies. Don't get me wrong. There are some great independent releases. Moon - a 2009 independent Science Fiction movie - is one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies I've seen. A movie like 127 Hours, on the other hand, I slept through over half of.

Last year I chronicled about six months worth of movie going. I got lazy the second half of the year, and didn't continue my movie journey with you guys. I've caught a lot of flack for that. I apologize. I didn't realize I had such faithful readers. That's what comments are for, people. I'm self indulgent and enjoy attention. If you like a blog. Let me know. Anyway, on to the review.

I'm a huge fan of comic books. Have been since I could look at pictures. One day when I become a successful writer I would like to segway into the writing of comics. Currently I'm reading Preacher by Garth Ennis. It's one of the most exciting, and most disturbing, comics I've read. I want my uncle to snag this part if it ever makes it to film. Check out his IMDB page, James Jarrett. Once you've done that check out his movie Dance of the Dead. Uncle James stars as Gravedigger. One day he'll be remembered as a legend among zombie slayers.

This weekend, for Mother's Day, I took my mom to see Thor. The year 2008 was a revolutionary year for comic movies. The Dark Knight changed the way that people looked at movies based upon comics. It changed the way these movies could be made. Comic movies, like comic books, can be serious and adult oriented. Read Watchmen, The Killing Joke, and The Dark Knight Returns. Those, my friends, are not your run of the mill comics. They're game changers. Alan Moore is my favorite comic writer. He's the Herman Melville of the comic industry. He's crazy but will blow your mind. The last two years or so have been weak years for comic based movies. It's sad to say. However, I think Thor is the best comic movie since The Dark Knight.

Let me get to Thor. This movie was awesome. It starts off with a bang. The movie doesn't slow down for about a half hour. You're taken down this crazy winding row about the feud the Norse Gods have with the Frost Giants. I love Norse Mythology. I have about three books on my Kindle about Norse Mythology that I'm about to wet my pants to read. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Norse mythology is also a reason I'm a fanboy of The Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan weaves so much of the mythology into the series you can have a field day hunting the myths out.

Chris Hemsworth played the ideal Thor. I loved the guy. I think Hemsworth looked even better than the comic. I've never been a reader of Thor, but this movie made me a fan. I've also never been a fan of how Thor looked on page. I was skeptical of this movie because of that. Chris Hemsworth made me believe the Norse God of Thunder might actually exist, and if he did, he would be none different than he was portrayed on screen.

Tom Hiddleson approached the part of Loki in an interesting way. He based his character on Shakespeare's Henry V. It's been years since I've read play but I thought it was very fitting for the character. Hiddleson's performance should give the viewers a balanced mixture of sympathy and dislike for Loki.

The rest of the cast were all nice additions. Natalie Portman, of course, holds her own with Hemsworth and Hiddleson. I've never been disappointed with any movie Ms. Portman has acted in. She had me at The Professional. Another member of the secondary cast who did not disappoint was Anthony Hopkins. He was stellar as Odin the All Father.

One aspect of this movie that I loved was the humor. There were a number of scenes where I laughed out loud. I think this is going to make the movie very assessable to the casual viewer. One scene in particular is where Thor is hitting at a hole in the wall restaurant. He's had his first cup of coffee ever. In appreciation of this fine cup of Joe he slams the mug upon the floor and shouts, "I'll have another!" I believe every single person in theater laughed. It's much funnier than my small snippet.

My only complaint about the movie is that the Frost Giants looked like the demons from the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each time those guys were on screen I expected Sara Michelle Gellar to ram a stake through their chests. Thank God she never did.

Thor is a nice christening for the 2011 movie season.

Grade: A+

I'm looking forward to the rest of the movie season. Here are other movies I'll be checking out:

THE HANGOVER PART II

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

SUPER 8

GREEN LANTERN

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES*

30 MINUTES OR LESS

CONAN THE BARBARIAN

*I'm a devotee of the original Planet of the Apes. If this turns out to be a horrendous adaption like Tim Burton's piece of trash I'll never see another having to do with apes taking over the world.

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Five Television Shows That Won't Waster Your Time

It's not always easy to find a good t.v. show to follow. Especially if you're busy. I work, write, read, and set aside a fair amount of time for my wife. There are literally zero shows that I DVR. With the premiere of Game of Thrones a little over 24 hours away that's all about to change. In honor of Mr. Martin's Ice and Fire series finally hitting the small screen. I decided to blog about my five favorite television shows. GoT's premiere is only one of the motivating factors for this blog. I'll talk about other motivations throughout this countdown.

In the words of the Clown Prince of Crime . . .

And . . . Here . . . We . . . Go . . .

5. Dexter

One of only two shows that aren't science fiction or fantasy on my list. Dexter helps to round out the bottom two. Honestly, this was a difficult decision. But Dex stabbed his way into the top five.

There's great writing. Great acting. Great guest stars. A major plot twist in the fourth season. Dexter is everyone's favorite sociopathic serial killer. Some of my favorite parts of the show are the conversations he has with his dead father. I have to say James Remar is stunning as Dexter's dad. Not to mention he's one of my favorite actors I forget about.

I firmly believe that there are things that a writer can learn from television. Dexter is a anti-hero done right. Check it out, people. You won't be disappointed.

Warning: There's a fair amount of sex, language, and violence. Stray away if you care not for such things.

4. 24

No television show has ever kept me as stressed out as 24. From the get-go there are more twist and turns going on than you can imagine. Thank God Jack Bauer is will be there to save America. He is our only hope. I don't believe Kiefer Sutherlin was ever better. He will be immortalized by this show. Unfortunately I think the rest of the cast was overshadowed. Carlos Bernard, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Dennis Haysburt, and every other face that helps Jack Bauer bring down the enemies all deliver knock out performances. The writing can be like a punch to the gut. Bad things happen and sometimes one right after the other. It's worth your time.

My only qualm: Every season CTU: LA has a double agent. C'mon, people, do you not do better background or security checks?

3. Lost

No one will ever know just what the hell the Island was. Not even the creators, the writers, the producers, the directors, so on and so forth. The mystery was one of the things that made the show so awesome. Characters you love at the beginning you'll hate on down the road. Characters you hated from the beginning you'll love after a while. You'll never forget the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42. You won't forget the lyric, "You all everybody." You'll sing it when you don't realize it. Hurly will be your favorite character and you'll sympathize for each and every individual stranded by Oceanic Flight 815.

Be Warned: The end will piss you off.

2. Battlestar Galatica

The best thing the Scifi network ever televised. Now that they're the SyFy network I avoid them like the plague. Talk about going down the crapper, guys. This is hard science-fiction done splendidly (Some people may argue this point, but oh well. My blog not yours). Personally I avoid hard scifi at times because I'm afraid it will be so over my head that I won't be able to enjoy. I'm sitting here trying to think of words to type, but am at a loss. There are so many great things to say about this show. I mean this is the reason it's my number 2. Forgive me for not having more suitable words, but this show was brilliant from beginning to end. You'll replace the word f*ck with the word frakk, and enjoy saying it just as much. Edward James Olmos will make you want to become one of his officers. The man's presence is commanding, and you just respect him. Starbuck kicks ass from beginning to end.

Enough of the purple prose.

Just. Go. Watch.

1. Firefly

I don't even hesitate to say that this is the best show I've ever watched. Nathan Fillion's Malcolm Reynolds must be Han Solo's bastard child. Firefly had it all. It was a western set in space which is brilliant genre blending. The show was action packed, had enough of the technicalities to attract hard scifi fans, was just enough space opera to please the casual viewer, beautiful acting, will leave you in stitches you're laughing so hard, and after you finish watching the 14 episodes plus the movie Serenity you'll love every minute and wish you could relive them all. I shake my fist at Fox Broadcasting Company for screwing Joss Whedon  and Firefly over. I guess I'll just after to re-watch over and over thinking about what could have been. I'll forever consider myself a Brown Coat so it's easy to list Firefly as my favorite show that will not waster your time.



Wait . . . Wait . . . the blog's not over yet. Here're a few Honorable Mentions . . .



Honorable Mention #1 . . . .

The Shield

Vic Mackey is the best bad cop ever.

Honorable Mention #2 . . .

True Blood

Thankfully these vampires don't sparkle.

You will also mutter Sookie in anger.

Well, there ya go. If you were struggling to find a good t.v. show that wouldn't waster your time I hoped this helped. Now, I'm off to try and decide what to watch next. Here's what's up next on my To-Watch list if you'd like to lend a hand in helping me choose: Farscape, The X-Files, Sons of Anarchy, and Dr. Who.

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Words for Writers: With a Little Help From My Friends

Firstly, it's nice having people that read and comment the blog. Thank you to all that do. I apologize I'm not more consistent. I don't like to post unless I feel like I have something to say that has substance, and I'm lazy.

Now to the post . . .

One of the most common things you'll hear said about the art of writing is that it's a solitary act. You'll spend hours, days, nights, weeks, months, and years by yourself. You'll spend that time alone dreaming, imagining, creating, and crafting stories. The craft requires that. As a writer you need that time alone.

What does not need to happen is that you drift from the main land, and become an island unto yourself.

I've been thinking about that for the past few days and weeks. I have a tendency to be a loner. I've been so since I was a kid. Personally, I'd prefer to spend time to myself. It has nothing to do with people, but I know how to entertain myself better than anyone I know. (Except for my wife. She knows me pretty well.)

What I've pondered more than anything else is this: What kind of people do writers need in their lives? I think there are a number of different types of people we need, but I think I've narrowed it down to the three most important.

Here we go:

1. A spouse or partner who believes in your art.

Ursula Le Guin was once quoted:

If you want your writing to be taken seriously, don't marry and have kids, and above all, don't die. But if you have to die, commit suicide. They approve of that.

Why would the Mother of Fantasy say not to marry or have kids? I believe she said so because when you do either of these two things you're giving your life and time up for another. I've been married for two years. I devote many hours to my wife. There are times when I would like to be writing that I spend with her instead. With jobs and school we don't get to see one another much. Therefore, I'll spend whatever time I can with her.

However, my wife believes in my dream of becoming a published author as much - sometimes more - than I do. It's an encouraging thing. We don't have the same tastes in literature but I know that I can sit and tell her my story ideas, and she's genuinely interested. She's also objective and offers great advice. If she didn't believe in my dream so much this journey would be much more discouraging than it can already be. Being married to a woman who would rather me give up my imaginary worlds to become a pencil pusher is a horrifying thought. A guy I work with tells me daily to go to college, get a business degree, and make the dollar bills. I don't need that at home. I need someone who will help me incubate my dreams.

2. Friends who will be there throughout the journey.

I wish I had more friends interested in my stories. I wish I had more people I could talk to about the art of writing, my favorite books, and my favorite authors. Most of the people I know are more interested in finding a job where they can earn a big paycheck to pay their bills. That's understandable. I'm someone who needs to talk about my stories. I need to tell someone about my new ideas, and the new things I've written. I can't be like Stephen King and keep what I'm working on a secret. I need someone to listen. I need friends who will be just as excited as I am about my stories.

Thankfully I'm not alone. I can always count on Derik Hefner to lend me an ear. We don't talk as much as I would like us to, but our emails and other forms of conversation are always fruitful. Recently we exchanged a series of emails about the latest story I've been working on. I was having some trouble working through an idea. I submitted this to Derik and received an email with his ideas of how to solve my problem. I thought about it for a day and a half and then replied. His response has stuck with me for weeks now. It was a short sentence. Only four words. But he did so much for me. He said, "OMG that is so awesome!!!" Every writer - no matter who they are - needs that kind of encouragement.

3. Every writer needs authors, they can read, who gets their creative juices flowing.

Every writer's taste is different. That doesn't really matter. What does matter is that they can run to these authors they love, crack open their novels, and read. While reading ideas spring to life. Moments of zing spring forth from their imaginations, and new stories arise. Characters are and birthed out of these moments of enjoyment. Presently I'm reading George R.R. Martin's series, "A Song of Ice and Fire." I've never had such an enjoyable reading experience since I read Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time."

Whenever I get frustrated, and my writing starts to suffer, I pick up books by my favorite authors and spend a few moments with them. I always leave better and encouraged. Whoever sets you on fire for the art is who you need to run to when your wood is wet.

Finally, I'd like to share a song with you. It's what inspired this blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Without further ado . . . Joe Cocker performing "With a Little Help From My Friends" at Woodstock '69.

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