I pre-ordered As You Wish, by Jackson Pearce (a.k.a. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
watchmebe), which will be available this fall. Here's the blurb from her blog:
Reasons why you might want to order it, too:
1. Instead of vampires and werewolves, which (to me) seem way over done, there are Jinn and Ifrits. It's an interesting twist on the young adult fantasy genre.
2. Pearce makes charming youtube videos, which give advice to writers using clever metaphors.
3. Because I told you so, of course. (Not really, I just like saying it.)
* * * *
I also ordered three other books:
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
The Forest of Hands and Teethe, by Carrie Ryan
and
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains, by Ryan Mecum
All of which have something or other to do with zombies. Obviously, I'm only a little
watchmebe), which will be available this fall. Here's the blurb from her blog:Seven months ago, Viola’s boyfriend told her he was gay—moments before she was going to lose her virginity to him. Heartbroken, Viola has resigned herself to near invisibility, until she inadvertently summons a young jinn out of his world, Caliban, and into her own. Here he will remain until she makes three wishes.
Jinn is anxious to get back to Caliban, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid her wishes will be manipulated into curses. Jinn knows that should she wait too long, the Ifrit, guardians of earthbound jinn, will press her to wish by hurting those around her.As they spend time together, Jinn can’t deny that he’s slowly falling in love with Viola, blurring the lines between master and servant. It’s only after Viola makes her first wish—for a popular boy to love her—that she realizes the feelings are mutual.
With every wish Jinn’s time with her diminishes, but the longer she waits to wish the greater danger she’s in from the Ifrit. Together, Viola, Jinn, and Viola’s ex-boyfriend try to outwit the Ifrit while dealing with their own romantic complexities and the alcohol-laced high school social scene.
Reasons why you might want to order it, too:
1. Instead of vampires and werewolves, which (to me) seem way over done, there are Jinn and Ifrits. It's an interesting twist on the young adult fantasy genre.
2. Pearce makes charming youtube videos, which give advice to writers using clever metaphors.
3. Because I told you so, of course. (Not really, I just like saying it.)
* * * *
I also ordered three other books:
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
The Forest of Hands and Teethe, by Carrie Ryan
and
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains, by Ryan Mecum
All of which have something or other to do with zombies. Obviously, I'm only a little
I spent three and a half hours last night working on an educational zombie/infected video for youtube. I am only about halfway done with it. Finishing it up tonight should go a whole lot quicker, since I now know what I'm doing with the program (I'm using the computer at my office, since my laptop would not have handled it well).
I left the office and drove home totally jazzed, in part because I'd been promising to make this video for a while now, and in part because I always feel great when I'm working on a creative project, especially if its going well. I feel like doing jumping jacks or something. Gotta love that feeling.
My plan is to hopefully get some sketches done for a poetry video and also get some writing done this weekend before I take my laptop in on Saturday.
I left the office and drove home totally jazzed, in part because I'd been promising to make this video for a while now, and in part because I always feel great when I'm working on a creative project, especially if its going well. I feel like doing jumping jacks or something. Gotta love that feeling.
My plan is to hopefully get some sketches done for a poetry video and also get some writing done this weekend before I take my laptop in on Saturday.
In this video I talk about my new allegiances, my new favorite zombie movie, and thank some subscribers.
I'll be working on a new youtube video tonight, which will basically be in response to this video on art and commercialization.
I used to have huge debates with my father about how I should approach my creative works, whether it's painting, writing, or whatever. He, being the good dad he is, was always concerned about me being able to make money with my creative self, so he would try to get me thinking about how the final product could be sold before I even had a product to sell.
This always frustrated me, and I would try to explain to him that while I would love to end up with a bestseller on my hands, I couldn't just approach it from a commercial point of view, because if I did that I would never get the heart of the story I was trying to tell. I needed a story I loved first, instead of just some gimmicky angle, otherwise I would never get anywhere. It's hard enough trying to write a story I'm excited by let alone some story that only would have commercial potential.
At the same time, I am always surprised at how many people out their look at commercial movies/books/art as bad things, as somehow compromised and unvaluable. True a movie/book can become lost in the realms of commercialism, they can be overburdened by the need to make money, but there is also nothing wrong with a work that is made strictly for entertainments sake.
X-men and Superman are very commercial movies, and yet, you can also tell that director Bryan Singer was passionate about the stories he was telling. He loved the superhuman characters he put onto the big screen. The fact that this was a commercial success did not take away from the story being told. It merely allowed for more people to be able to see it.
In approaching my own writing, I don't discount the market. I try to be aware of what's selling and of what is commercially viable. Yet, and the same time, when it comes to the story itself, all that is secondary. In the end, I just try to go with my gut, to go with the stories that excite me, that inspire me, that would be the kind of stories that I would want to read myself. Chances are that if it's something I'm passionate about someone else will be passionate about it, too.
I used to have huge debates with my father about how I should approach my creative works, whether it's painting, writing, or whatever. He, being the good dad he is, was always concerned about me being able to make money with my creative self, so he would try to get me thinking about how the final product could be sold before I even had a product to sell.
This always frustrated me, and I would try to explain to him that while I would love to end up with a bestseller on my hands, I couldn't just approach it from a commercial point of view, because if I did that I would never get the heart of the story I was trying to tell. I needed a story I loved first, instead of just some gimmicky angle, otherwise I would never get anywhere. It's hard enough trying to write a story I'm excited by let alone some story that only would have commercial potential.
At the same time, I am always surprised at how many people out their look at commercial movies/books/art as bad things, as somehow compromised and unvaluable. True a movie/book can become lost in the realms of commercialism, they can be overburdened by the need to make money, but there is also nothing wrong with a work that is made strictly for entertainments sake.
X-men and Superman are very commercial movies, and yet, you can also tell that director Bryan Singer was passionate about the stories he was telling. He loved the superhuman characters he put onto the big screen. The fact that this was a commercial success did not take away from the story being told. It merely allowed for more people to be able to see it.
In approaching my own writing, I don't discount the market. I try to be aware of what's selling and of what is commercially viable. Yet, and the same time, when it comes to the story itself, all that is secondary. In the end, I just try to go with my gut, to go with the stories that excite me, that inspire me, that would be the kind of stories that I would want to read myself. Chances are that if it's something I'm passionate about someone else will be passionate about it, too.
This video is just some of my thoughts on the book and movie, Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. I also talk about my problem with the "I can't live without you" concept.
I made a video about five tips and tricks that I have used to get through Nanowrimo in the past. Take a look if you are so inclined and let me know what you think.
Copy this sentence into your livejournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage/relationship (or if you think you might be someday), and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.
I'm withmsagara on this. Go read her post.
I've been seeing all these pro-prop 8 commercials on TV, and the ones that annoy me the most have to do with the idea that schools would teach that gay marriage was okay in schools. God forbid! God forbid, that children be taught to be accepting of different lifestyles, that they be taught that discrimination is wrong, that they be taught to accept people for being people rather than some category. Oye! i just don't get people sometimes.
On a similar note, here's a video: How to save your marriage*.
*Note: the video is intended to be sarcastic.
I'm with
msagara on this. Go read her post. I've been seeing all these pro-prop 8 commercials on TV, and the ones that annoy me the most have to do with the idea that schools would teach that gay marriage was okay in schools. God forbid! God forbid, that children be taught to be accepting of different lifestyles, that they be taught that discrimination is wrong, that they be taught to accept people for being people rather than some category. Oye! i just don't get people sometimes.
On a similar note, here's a video: How to save your marriage*.
*Note: the video is intended to be sarcastic.
