I doubt anyone who knows me will be surprised, but I loved this movie. The music, the spectacle, the themes–all amazing. I appreciate that some people dislike the historical inaccuracies, especially in regards to Barnum’s character, but I don’t think focusing on the reality would have allowed for the same kind of escapist fantasy that is so thrilling and uplifting. The only thing that really threw me was that the opera singer didn’t sound like an opera singer. She sounded basically like everyone else, which is great, but not like an opera singer. Her song is beautiful, though, so once I got over that, I liked that part too. I will be purchasing the soundtrack.
All posts by Gayle
Quick Take: The Last Jedi
I really enjoyed this film, although sometimes it was kind of like one of those shows where things just keep going wrong. I told myself before I went that this was the second movie in the trilogy, so like Empire, this is the installment where things get worse before they get better. So overall, that didn’t bother me. And they left it on an uplifting note and the climax was great–and surprising. Finally, bittersweet watching Carrie Fisher on screen. Sweet because she was so wonderful and bitter because we’ve lost her. Hopefully, I’ll be able to go see it again.
Quick Take: A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
This is a wonderful historical YA novel by Mackenzie Lee, who I am so happy to have discovered. It’s not something I normally read, but it was absolutely delightful. It actually felt like a fantasy to me. There was a lot of action and general sense of fun, but also exploration of deeper themes, certainly relevant and resonant with the world today. I highly recommend. The characters are layered and the protagonist goes on a wonderful journey of self-discovery and growth. I am highly anticipating the sequel.
NaNoWriMo 2017: Skyfall
I’m so excited to get started writing my project for this year’s NaNoWriMo. As I explained this is a complete revamp of my very first novel. At its core, it’s similar: girl wants to do this cool thing she’s dreamed of her whole, but can’t because magic sucks. But the world and magic are completely different.
Believe it or not, I was inspired by the Matt Damon’s movie, The Great Wall. While it’s no The Martian, I actually quite enjoyed it. The pageantry of the army was great and it was the crane divers that really started me off on my new idea–that and a segment on NPR about a woman who works as a scientific researcher, trying to cure her own neurologic genetic disease, which would cause her to deteriorate rapidly once she started showing symptoms.
I also used an idea I had years and year ago–I called it my flying world–where people flew to help them battle in a war because they were constantly being attacked by countries who wanted their magic. Those flyers had wings (and this was completely unrelated to my first novel starring Marla) but in this novel they don’t, they use magic that basically controls their relationship with gravity. But they do live in a country constantly battling to survive because the surrounding nations want their magic.
Skyfalls are what those who wield this magic are called. They use it to make weapons for the military to use. The book is her struggle to come to terms with the new direction to her life (and a whole host of other problems as well.)
I have more scenes planned than will take me to get to 80k words, which is my goal and I’ve only planned through Act II, so it might be a long one.
Quick Take: Sorcerer to the Crown
One of the books I read as a possible comp title, this is the one I enjoyed the most. It definitely felt like a Regency novel to me, which is what I wanted and it was a fun, quick read. That isn’t to say it didn’t touch on some weightier issues. Both the main characters struggle to fit into society and it was interesting to get to know them. They both had layers and a nice arc through the storyline.
Massive Reading Project (and A Trip to the Library)
I went to the library for the first time in ages the other night. Either because of the time or the amount of my fine, my library card had actually expired, which meant I had to go to a person (egad!) instead of the self-checkout as I prefer. But I paid off the horrendous fine at the machine before it told me my card was expired and the woman who helped me in the real line didn’t say anything about it, so score! Social interaction kept to a minimum. 😉
Why did I go to the library after so long a hiatus? I’m looking for comp titles for my book.
Comp titles or comparable titles are books published within the past 2-3 years you reference so the publishing industry will understand something about the content of your work and the audience you are targeting. “My book should appeal to the readers of Such and Such and This and That.” Since I am woefully under-read in my genre over the past few years, plus Dakotashi being somewhat cross-(sub)genre, this is proving quite difficult for me.
All is not lost! Two of the books I checked out (I’ve read about half of one and few chapters of the other) are looking promising. I don’t think the third will work as a comp, but I enjoyed the couple of chapters I read already. More on the fourth below. Here are the books:
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. I’m about half-way through. Really enjoying it.
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. Enjoyed the first few chapters. Will read more.
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. Enjoyed the first few chapters, but probably can’t use as a comp. Will read more.- I wasn’t sure about the fourth when I checked it out and I was right. It won’t work at all. I chose it because I’m desperately looking for something from a male first-person POV that is somehow similar to Dakotashi. This particular book featured a character like Dakotashi could have turned out, if he had given into all the darkness in his heart rather than fighting it. However, it’s too dark to be a comp and more importantly not to my taste. So I’m not going to finish reading it. Which is why I’m not going to say what it was. If I wasn’t in such a hurry to find appropriate books, I’d probably read more just to see what it was like (and if I started liking it better as it went on), but I don’t have the luxury of doing that right now.
I’ve found some others that might work as comps as well. You can see my Goodreads To Read list, but unfortunately most of these are not from a 1st person, male POV.
I also have a WIP-Comp title list, which as I refine will hopefully give me some possible recommendations for other choices. I’m always looking for more options.
Is my massive reading list enough to keep me from binging on hours and hours of TV? Especially with the new seasons of EVERYTHING coming up? Stay tuned.
Should I or shouldn’t I?
Important question alert! NaNoWriMo has new merchandise out for 2017. Luckily for my wallet, I tend not to love the design every year. I didn’t buy anything last year, but bought a couple of things the year before. This year it looks like a love year. The theme is “superpowered noveling.” The designs are modern, clean and fun.
I’m particularly interested in the shirt and the mug. Should I go for it?
I’m mulling over what to work on this November and I might be super ambitious again. The last time I was ambitious (2013 for those of you not keeping track), I set a 80k-word goal, but also intended to write one full novel (The Vern), and hopefully start on another (Dakotashi 2). And I did both on my way to 130k words.
This time I would try to finish a novel (Cybermagic) and start on a new novel (Marla-revamp). Could go for 80k again, or maybe push it a little to 90k or even 100k (eek!). Should I purchase some goodies in honor of my goal?
What do you think?
Writing, Distractions, Brainstorming and more!
Alas! It has been a long time since I updated this space. I primarily blame searching for and landing a new job and the process of selling my condo, buying a townhouse and moving.
Other things that have happened since I last posted…
- I did successfully complete NaNo16 in word count. The book still needs an ending.
- I successfully completed a Whole30. It literally took over my life—soooo much cooking!—but even now, months after I finished, I’m trying to generally (sometimes very generally) to keep to the template.
- Went on vacation to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, which inspired me to set one of my books in that general region.
- Successfully completed a 40 hour goal in July for Camp NaNoWriMo, working on #5 and #6 below.
- Thought of a way to revamp my very first novel into something much less derivative (gravity magic a death sentence! Small country surrounded and constantly at war! Society/government contains no kings or princes, but a delicate system of checks and balances between military, forge magic (w/health benefits), and legislature. Physical setting see #3!). Same characters–Marla, Russ & Nat–with similar backgrounds and goals. I’m currently brainstorming.
- Finished my (hopefully!) last big revision for Dakotashi. I changed the beginning around. Now, I’m polishing/editing and getting it ready to query again.
My self-imposed deadline to finish polishing Dakotashi and get it out there is the end of September. My drop-dead deadline is to do that by the beginning of NaNoWriMo 2017.
Terminology
In my brainstorming, what little I did of it, before NaNo started, I didn’t quite figure out what I’m going to name everything. I ran out of steam. Could I have avoided interruptions to my first-day storm of words by thinking of most terms in advance? Yes, of course. But it’s hard to predict all the terms needed for a story ahead of time anyway. Will I keep everything I came up with in the middle of my creative outpouring? Probably not. I admit I would have preferred to know more ahead of time. But part of the fun of doing NaNo, are the discoveries made along the way. Even names and terms.
Interesting factoid. I wrote just over 3,300 words the first day of NaNo. While writing those new words I came up with twelve new terms for special things in the world I’m creating. Five terms I had prepared in advance.
Term I’m probably keeping: Gloss (term for magic)
Term I’m probably not keeping: Gloss gun
Clearly, gloss is an actual word. I like repurposing and redefining words to my own ends. This happens all the time with slang. “Cool,” for example. I’m using the term aura for what it generally means in a fantasy setting, but I wanted to avoid another historically used word aether, because I usually only see it in steampunk settings, which this story definitely is not.
I’m making these decisions as quickly as I can on the fly. While, I would have liked to had more figured out ahead of time, naming things is part of the fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what I come up with tomorrow.
(Now, if only naming characters worked as well.)
I have words!
It’s November 1, which means NaNoWriMo has started. I’m less prepared than ever and will be pantsing more than I am comfortable with, but I got started at lunch and words happened.
It’s always exciting to start a new story, but please wish me luck because I have a feeling this year I might need it.