The Descendants

Yesterday was a good day. Sometimes the bipolar disorder is really nasty and doesn't allow for any fun. Yesterday was great. I went to the bookstore. I wrote. I set up an author event, laid the ground work for another and saw one of the best films of the year. Definitely top three. The Help and CrazyStupidLove being the other two. Now I looooooved Cowboys & Aliens but that's not the kind of movie Oscar likes, although I think the mash-up of Sci-Fi and Western genres should make it a contender, but I digress.

Films on the human condition and epics are usually what the Academy go for and when you have the pleasure of sitting down and watching a great one that is able to avoid taking itself too seriously then you're in a for a real treat.

Are you from a messed up family? Then you are going to love The Descendants. I think my best friend and I laughed in parts because we know people like the ones in this film and those around us thought we were nuts. Or maybe they thought they were supposed to be 'serious'. Listen this is what the film is about.

George Clooney plays Matt King a married father of two girls who is dealing with the fact his wife is in a coma and discovers she's been having an affair and that she was going to leave him. He is totally disconnected from his emotions and his family and he must come to terms with that, connect with his daughter and figure out how he feels about his wife.

George really knocks it out of the park in this film, and may be looking at an Oscar nomination, as does the young lady who plays his eldest daughter annd Robert Forrester who plays his father-in-law. This is the stuff Best Pictures are made of. And even though it's a heavy film it does have a powerful message at the end and is totally worth the price of admission. 4 Stars out of 4 Stars.

A Parade of Heroes

Everyone here knows of my not-so-secret love affair with Daniel Craig. I mean if I imagine it he's the model of many of the heroes in my books and stories. And I like him anyway I can imagine him. As a Bureau agent in #SetFireToTheRain, as an assassin #AnotherWayToDie, as a half-breed human alien in #NoOrdinaryLove, or even as a futuristic #GLADIATOR. 

I could post endless pictures of the man and just sigh at the way he smolders. And it seems the darker he is the more I like him. All of my heroes are damaged in some way or another. I like the idea of broken people finding peace with one another. It's a romantic notion. When the reality is we are all broken to some degree by our pasts and it's how we deal with that brokenness that allows us to function in our daily life.

I am at a crossroads of sorts. All of the those stories above are basically book 1 of a series. And choosing a story to write is difficult when all them speak to me at once. I mean even my Ryan Reynolds hero Luke Logan and Ryan Gosling hero want to get in on the action. Honestly, people want to see more and it's a place I've worked hard to get to. Now what? More time with dark, brooding, hunky heroes. *Sigh, as one my commenters said once, sometimes life is so hard ;).

Sex in Stories and Holiday Gifts

Really, I should have called this post intimacy in stories. Mostly because you can have sex without intimacy and intimacy without sex. But the best combination for my money in a story is sex with intimacy.

In the book I'm writing now, Set Fire To The Rain they main characters sleep together the night after they meet. But the story took me there. But I don't show the sex. I show the intimacy before the sex and close the door before they do anything. It alters them both in a big way.

But I can write graphically too. And have fun doing it. Make no apologies for it and sometimes it's hot and sometimes it's tame. But I always try to show the emotional connection between the two people.

As for multiple partners, I've never written that, not because I'm above it but mostly because I don't share my toys in real life so it's hard to put myself in a frame of mind of where I'd want to share them in my creative life. It's just not a fantasy or reality to me. But I've seen people handle that subject matter wonderfully. Kat Holmes comes to mind.

As for my erotica tales they have to turn me on some so if I'm not who else will be? I guess that's the real yardstick for anyone. I get embarrassed when talking in an uncontrolled setting about my erotica books funny huh? Ask away at booksignings or online. I know I'm still somewhat repressed myself when it comes to that stuff.

So if your looking for a enduring passion and true love where the sex is hot you should checkout No Ordinary Love. You can click on the buy button to your right and it will take directly to the buy page.

If you like your romance on the dark side and can handle violence, danger, and a hero to die for then you can click on the Another Way To Die pre-order button. Excerpts from both books are available on the excerpt page.

Memories Of Movies Past...

Have you ever wanted to make a movie? Get rich? Win awards? Be known as the next big thing?

If you want to keep your sanity then I'm here to tell you now. Stop. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Go back to whatever your daily life is and just do that. Think writing a book will test your nerve? Well, it does, and it's hard, but nothing and I mean NOTHING will prepare you for what filming a microbudget movie.

Let's start with the script. There is this notion that writing a novel is all about art and a screenplay is just easy pasy money making scheme. Think again.

The writing of a quality script comes with constraints. Unlike a novel you have 90-120 pages to tell your story, especially when you're trying to breakthrough. If you ever breakthrough. Hollywood is an old boy young boy's club and if you're a woman you have to have some real chops or a real high concept to breakthrough. Chops: JK Rowling, Concept: Stephanie Meyers.

Indie is friendlier towards women but if you have a tandem directing team and your partner is a guy lookout for people naturally gravitating towards him. I didn't have that problem I had other problems.

If someone doesn't know their lines at the beginning they're not going to know them at the end and they are going to really fuck up the flow of your movie and make it impossible to edit it in the post production process. Fire them immediately. They will do nothing but cost you what little money you do have and cause you endless headaches.

But, if you are interested in making a movie I have one word of advice. COMMIT. Not halfway but 110%. It will not be easy. The picture is of me holding the promotional poster of Going Under from 2005. The designer of the poster is Paul Reynolds. You can checkout his artwork at Reynolds Originals on Facebook.

Too Far From Texas was the film I had all the drama on. Going Under was much better. But my best experience was probably Southern Fried and Laid to the Side.

Violence In Stories

There are some stories I write where violence is graphic. Sometimes it is physical. Sometimes it is emotional. And yes, sometimes it is sexual. I don't necessarily apologize for these stories. My stories are personal, and while I might not necessarily have been trained as an assassin ;) or sold into sexual slavery but I do know what it's like to be passed around to my biological father's friends and I know what it's like to be smacked around. Shit like that ain't pretty and people don't like to look at it sometimes but I think books like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Winter's Bone get to a truth and show where it can be profitable for a publisher to look at those stories and publish them.

I wrote a short story and the main characters are flawed. Incredibly so. Flawed characters are much more interesting to me. Gritty, raw, and emotional they are wounded and do things that aren't always nice and written in black and white. Some people are offended by that and really that's okay with me, it's a risk I take knowingly and without apology.

I wish I could make everyone love my stories, hell, I'm a natural born people pleaser lol. And I'll admit it stings when people get hyped about the nature of how I tell a story. I wish it didn't, but hey, I'm only human.

For those who read my stories and like them I'll keep writing them. For those who write 'cleaner' fiction and are offended by what I do, you don't have to read my stuff and I won't read yours, I personally find Christian fiction boring. That doesn't mean anything about your talent, it just means I don't care for the genre. Hell one of the best Christian fiction writers out there is Maurice Broadus and while I don't read his stuff I think he's incredibly talented and is absolutely hilarious in person.

But for those who read my stuff and have feedback to give me, I'm always willing to listen and I always appreciate it when I get it. Even if it isn't singing my story's praises :).  

Christmas Madness

To say that I'm excited today is an understatement. Of course I have my coffee on, what would a day without coffee be like? Why it would be like a day without chocolate or a look at Daniel Craig of course. Dark and without purpose. ;) LOL.

Nah today is a good day. I feel the itchy urge to write, I'm interviewing Real Andrews about a cause close to my heart. Folks, I have to tell you as someone who has bipolar disorder you find ways to survive and thrive. There are several schools of thought on this. For me I need my meds and therapy. If I didn't have these things I would lose my stability I work so hard for.

A good way to see if I am stable is to see if I'm writing. And yes I am writing right now. As a matter of fact the story I wrote which inspired me to create a blog and to write a novel is coming along quite nicely. Not to jinx myself of course. LOL

My bipolar disorder is something I wouldn't wish on too many people. Living with the diagnosis is often a difficult time. I am for the most part on an even keel. But there are days that are better than others and given the opportunity I have been to interview Real I am excited.

My fellow authors he's a really cool guy you should check him out. I know you might not normally think, gee mental health, holidays let's jump on it, but Christmas Madness is all about coping. The support would be nice too.

 

As a treat maybe I'll post a little bit of the novel tomorrow. Here's Real....

Tomorrow Live w/Real Andrews

Who knew a simple tweet would result in the opportunity of a lifetime. An absolute squeeing joyful opportunity to help change peoples lives.

As I've mentioned before I love television and film One of my favorite soaps is General Hospital. My favorite actors from that show include the mainstays like Anthony Geary, Jonathan Jackson, Steve Burton, Maurice Benard and Real Andrews.

I have been running a campaign to try and get my favorite actors to come join me next November at the #MuseGalaAwards. When Real responded to me I thought you could have blown me over with a feather. We got to tweeting and I checked out his USTREAM channel http://ustre.am/Fa21 and thought wow, this guy is traveling his own journey with bipolar disorder.

Well, one thing has led to another and I have been granted the chance to interview him live tomorrow at his A Real BiPolar Life Channel about his daily trials and tribulations with the illness. I hope you will join us and learn how we deal with this disease and cope with the holidays. Just follow the link http://ustre.am/Fa21. If you're not awake at 8AM EST checkout the blog later. The video and transcript will be made available then.