With apologies to Dave the Thune
(as well as Mike Baron & Steve Rude).
HAPPY V-DAY (the day after)!
WRITING:
Every day. 1000 words.
That’s the goal.
Passed 75,000 words on the novel
(draft 1) this week, while continuing to write every day [I’ve only missed a
single day of writing in 2015; at this point last year, I’d missed at least
five]. Though, as I approached that
landmark, I ran into a major snag. I
knew where I needed to get next, in the story, but I had no idea how that was
going to work organically. So I pondered
on this for quite a while, and hit upon it.
I would take one of the earlier tangents I followed in the first part of
the novel and weave that into the recent shake-up of the status quo to ease
along to the next landmark. This is why
I’ve taken the advice of writers who loosely outline their stories, which
allows for them to stay on track as they write while affording them the opportunity
to follow unexpected tangents that inevitably arrive.
READING:
Finished re-reading Dune Messiah
this week, and I loved it. I know there
are many Dune aficionados who hold up the first novel with due reverence, but
then diminish the narratives of the latter novels. I plan on re-reading all the subsequent Frank
Herbert written Dune novels this year (which probably will leak over into next)
to see if I agree with this, but as far as the second one goes, I can’t ascribe
to this line of thinking. I really
enjoyed the more limited scope of this second outing on Arrakis, with the
political intrigue and the enormous weight of Paul’s visions, as the shorter
novel hurtled along to its conclusion, wherein the status quo was shaken up
drastically. I applaud Herbert’s
confidence and courage in not being unwilling to kill off or dramatically
change important characters. It’s
something that makes these novels feel more “real” and, as a result, makes them
more engaging, in my opinion.
I’m also reading Grendel: Black,
White, and Red, a collection of short stories featuring the Hunter Rose
incarnation of Grendel, all written by Matt Wagner, with art from a variety of
notable artists like John Paul Leon, Paul Chadwick, Ho Che Anderson, and Scott
Morse. It’s impressive how many ideas
Wagner is able to examine in short, eight-page spurts that not only are
entertaining but add to the grander myth of his character, Grendel. Highly recommended.
WATCHING:
Watched volume 2 of Kill Bill,
and it’s official, Brad, this vaulted to the top of my Quentin Tarantino list
[with the caveat that I am watching these in order – most of those after Jackie
Brown, for the first time – and so I still have Death Proof, Basterds, and Django to watch and rank]. I
loved the samurai exploits, the not so subtle links to westerns Tarantino made,
particularly with the music, David Carradine (and that Superman speech toward
the end), and the variety of approaches Tarantino utilized for this revenge
epic. Loved it.
I’m also halfway through True
Detective. Man, all the accolades
and hype is well-damn-founded. These
characters are so well defined and play off one another with such drama and
tension, not to mention the investigation and the strange, and surreal, twists
and turns it has taken in these first four episodes. I can’t wait to see how this all plays out,
and I’m looking forward to checking out season 2, whenever it hits DVD. Now I need to read Pizzolatto’s novel.
MISCELLANY:
Dan – the other guy above [insert
pointy-finger here] – is starting a podcast to talk all things pop
cultural. It’s going to be called the
Potato League Podcast, and you should definitely seek it out, when it
hits. The first one was to be recorded
yesterday, so it should be available soon.
Here’s the facebook page. Look for it!
SIGN OFF:
As always, check out my friends – Brad& Matt and Don McMillan for their own weekly recaps on things comic-y and geeky, and we'll see what's
what in seven.
-chris
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