And Season 3 Adds Up to...

Well, in my opinion, they have turned something intelligently ridiculous into something pointlessly ludicrous. My standard Monday night TiVo recording might no longer be required.

Come Into One of My Worlds...

Exciting news!

I've alluded to a novel on this site a few times in posts as well as the semi-cyrptic message of the little clickable fox on this page.

You can now read this novel for FREE!

Publisher HarperCollins has a site Authonomy, which is designed to help launch the careers of new authors. Novels (either portions or entire manuscripts) are uploaded and made available to read online. Readers may then place books on a "shelf" indicating that they enjoyed and recommend it. As a book gains popularity, HarperCollins pays attention. "Shelved" books might then go on to be picked up by the publishing house itself.

Thus, I invite you to read my urban fantasy novel What If It's a Trick Question?

Natrually I hope that the increasingly dangerous world of Jeremy Strache strikes your fancy and you include it among the submissions to HarperCollins.

Start the adventure here!

A Rose By Any Other?

I’ve been struck with one of those ideas which is either vaguely brilliant or alarmingly dreadful. The kind that both wants to be seen and also never come to light. At least I think so. Before I tell you what it is, please note that I do not intend to tackle any such project. I’m just as much on the fence about it as I suspect you will be.

Let me begin with a terse rant about the Hollywood remakes. Yes, they exist. And yes, they always have existed. Lately they seem to be dominant. Love them or hate them (generally I hate them) they are here to stay. Some have been good, most bad. But I’m not going to pontificate on those. Point being they do exist, for better or for worse. If you want to hear me rant more on this subject, you can find it here.

Sometimes, however, a good reason or outcome is included with the re-do of films. I’ll give you two examples. Oddly (or not so oddly), they both deal with horror movies. Not surprising, I suppose, taking into consideration that horror movies, especially, are getting remade. (Now that’s an entirely different subject of exploration: why are we bent on remaking horror?)

Clive Barker had been approached to remake Hellraiser. For those of you who do not know, the Hellraiser series, as it pertains to Barker, is more than initially appears. I’m not trying to convince you it’s good nor that you should like it. I’m just relating that a great deal of thought and inventive mythology went into its creation. (As well as the comics it spawned.) When approached, Barker declined. Told that the remake would be done with or without him, Barker responded (paraphrasing): “Okay then, I guess I could stand to revisit my work and see what I can come up with now…” I love that…an author “invited” to rework their own work.

Sam Raimi, before Spider-Man, had a big hit with the Evil Dead series. This series has its own inherent oddities of creation, but perhaps I’ll discuss those another time. When the prospect of an Evil Dead remake came up, Raimi gave his blessing! I love the reason why. He wants to be able to watch his story through the eyes of another director and creative team. Curious how else it might be done, he allowed it gracefully. Very cool. I have to say I had not been charmed to remaking Evil Dead. Until I read Raimi’s reaction.

Now I’d like to turn your attention to the comic book world. I’m the peripheral sort of comic book guy. I like them a lot and a know quite a bit about a great much of it. In other words, enough to get by. But one of the things that anyone can see is: character design evolves. It may be obvious that it would…but that doesn’t make it any less important. New artists draw the character differently. Or perhaps new elements are introduced. All in all, fresh styles and visions come about. There may be exact guidelines touching upon it, but it’s a new perception all the same.

It also applies to characters from other than the comics. It might seem that they are static at first thought, but even icons Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse have undergone changes throughout time and artists.

Another area that has benefited from re-imagining is video games. From "re-inventing" 2-D to 3-D to upgrades in character desgins and the like, there is no denying that the world of video gaming has had many guises under the same umbrella.

Let us not forget the stage. Re-staging is a common term and practice, one that is even desired.

The music industry is no stranger to the idea either. Songs are "covered" all the time. To both sweet and sour results. And it's not just the "mainstream" music. We are always delighted to hear a different orchestra's rendition and/or a noted conductor's take on classical pieces.

Wondering what my point is? What is this "big, crazy-enough-to-work but please don’t try it" idea? Remakes of Novels. An author who writes the same story of another author into his or her own style. All of the same story elements, characters (and names) would exist and the sequence would be the same…but written anew, with different language and words to tell the story. For instance, what if Stephen King “rewrote” Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? Re-read Peter and Wendy written afresh by Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions).

I bet you can think of a great many “What Ifs?” along this vein. I’m trying not to…

(I’m sure someone will tell me that it’s already been done. If that is the case, then it’s mea culpa for not hearing about it. But it's just as well I not know.)

Do the Math-ew.

One of my copies of Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) has an Introduction by Anne McCaffery, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. I'm a little perturbed by something she wrote. It seems she did a great deal of research to be able to write her insightful Indroduction...except for the author's name. It's not the greatest quality picture, I apologize. But I hope you will be able to see what's wrong.

Losing Myself in Another Read...

LOST. No, not the television show.
Lost by Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame. He works with pre-existing stories here, too. This novel supposedly ties together Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Lewis Carroll’s “Alice Adventures” and also, yes, Sir J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

So far it’s clever in how they show up. As of right now, they are merely referenced by the character, a writer. Such as Pan having been brought to mind by something and then later, when she’s alone in a storm and freaked out, the window shade goes up and she wonders if Peter is trying to get in…as an amusing thought, not wondering in earnest. It also certainly seems like she is a descendant of the real Scrooge on whom Dickens based his story. It has the potential to be rather fun. Especially now, as it's ghost story in some capacity.

I have noticed, though, that he misspells the name of Barrie’s famous fairy. Frankly, this appalls me. Either Maguire or an editor should have checked on that, don’t you think? I believe Maguire should have, as he is the one referencing the character.

I’m not very far into it. I’ll give a report when I’m done. It will probably be a while. It’s a pretty good-sized book and as I’ve said, I primarily read in transit.

Lights Out on "Ember"

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
My initial post of it is here.

Well, I can’t say I didn’t like it. I enjoyed it, yes. My theories proved wrong. (Oh well.) I discovered shortly after buying the book that it is in fact a series of (currently) four novels. But I’m sorry to say that I will not be picking up the others. Again, it’s not bad…I just didn’t feel such a love for it that I needed to know what happens next. In fact, the first chapter of The City of Sparks had been included in my copy. I almost didn’t even read it. But since I had to wait for someone to arrive, I did. And with my apologies to DuPrau, I’m not interested. Ember itself is a bit heavy-handed. I do not intend that as a slam, as I have also been guilty of this literary ‘crime.’ All in all it’s very well done. Well paced, clues and answers neatly in place to keep the interest and momentum. But I just can’t say I love it. I did have a lot of fun discussing its ramifications and symbolism with Sunshine.

I am still going to see the movie. My copy had photos from the movie (yes, I wound up with one of those “Now a Major Motion Picture” editions) and half of the pictures make me wonder where on earth they got such a notion or objects or scenes. For practically none of it is in the book. Having watched the trailer again, they seem to have beefed up the “puzzle” and “adventure” aspect of the novel beyond what is actually there. So it will be interesting to see what their spin on all if it is. My guess is that it will end up being much the same as my reaction to The Spiderwick Chronicles. I longed for a hybrid of the movie and the book, as each had elements that were missing or could have enhanced the other. I’ll let you know when I see the movie version of The City of Ember.

Villainous or Venomous?

Heroes: Villains
Well, I can’t say I didn’t like it. For that’s not true. Let’s just say that it felt more like an eclipse than the usual radiance shining behind it. Much of what transpired made me wonder where and why they were going with it - and not necessarily in the good sense. But it “got better” (as the saying goes) toward the end. But it just seemed all over the map, I questioned characters’ choices and it didn’t draw me in per se. And yet…I am thoroughly intrigued. So, well, I suppose I am drawn in, for I keep asking “What the HELL?” and must know. It just doesn’t feel the same to me. It’s not a “must know” because I must know. It’s an “Okay…explain yourself…and this better be good.”