December 17, 2007

Pop Culture Update

I haven't done this in a while. Recently I've just been blabbing about me and my writing. Well, enough of that nonsense, let's talk fun...ner stuff!

Kid Nation is over. I'm actually kinda sad about that. I enjoyed watching and learning from those youngsters. Sophia said it best when she mentioned how she has hope for the future of our country after meeting those kids. I agree wholeheartedly. Some of those "kids" were smarter and more articulate than many adults I know. I've been in a position with my Star Trek role playing game where I interact with kids as young as 13. I'll even admit that some of them helped me with college level math that I just couldn't do. :-) My favorites, by far were Jared, Zach, Michael, and Sophia. I hope some of the other kids grew from the experience and/or had a stern talking to by their parents after watching the show.

Survivor is over. I picked Todd as the winner before the merge, but then I thought Amanda might just pull it off. But once he gave his answer to JR I knew he had it in the bag. Next season's twist sounds great, I hope they bring James back, he was my favorite this year. I've been "thinking" about applying for a couple of years, because me and my roommate have a really good concept and now with the twist they have next season, it may be something they'd consider. Of course, I'd have to shape up quickly, but it's a good incentive....

Biggest Loser is over this week. I'm going to put my money on Isabeau (sp) or Neil. For the players that left earlier, I'll say either Bill or Kaye. Can I just say how much Bob and Jillian rule? I love them! The show has helped me stay on course with my own dieting, though I haven't put much effort into losing weight recently, I haven't gained, and that's just as important!!

Most of my other shows are on hiatus, but I think I have a couple to watch this week!

I'm anxiously awaiting 24, Jericho, LOST, and New Amsterdam. I think there's one other I'm missing, but I can't think of it at the moment. :-(

I've watched a bunch of movies (on DVD) recently, in no order:

A Mighty Heart. Angelina was spectacular in this movie, though I hear she's much sexier in Beowulf.

Superbad was super funny.

Skinwalkers was better than I thought it was going to be but still...not a great movie.

Pirates 3...had lots of people confused, but I'm not sure why. I mean, they didn't tie up every loose end, but that was okay. They gave a ending to the main characters...though I wouldn't wait around ten years for Will, I'd be with Jack. Just running along side him and laughing my ass off. *shrug*

Harry Potter 5. Yeah, okay, I've watched the damn movie three times already. Twice in Blu-Ray because it's so pretty. Can't really say anything bad about the HP movies, I really enjoy them as much as the books. I love Tonks and can't wait to see more of her in the next two films.

Pan Labyrinth. I finally got around to watching it, after my brother pestered me to no end. That move was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong on SO many levels, but it was also very, very good.

Die Hard 4 (right?) Better than the last one, I hardly even remember it. Roomie mentioned that 2007 was the year of the rolling car-actor ducking and being missed by inches. It was in a billion movies this year. Fun.

Hairspray. The new one. Cute, better than the original, probably not as good as the play, but it was great to see Christopher Walken dance again!

District B-13. This is a French film with a bunch of martial artists and free runners. Very cool stuff. Plot wasn't too bad either.

The Golden Globe Noms are out. I haven't seen half the films nominated yet, so I really can't pick winners, I'll just wait for the Oscars...

I haven't read anything new, other than magazines. I get like this when I'm writing...though, I haven't really been doing that either since NaNo ended. Stupid Lucky keeps standing over my shoulder asking me when she's going to get a query letter written up. Of course, Tiva's standing behind her asking when her book is coming out. Wish I could answer them so they'd leave me alone.

It's getting cold and windy here. I'm less insulated than I was last year so I'm really feeling the cold. How do you skinny people manage it? I used to be able to stand outside in 30 degree weather with no jacket and barely feel the cold. Brrrr. Layers!!!

I have two more Xmas presents to buy this week then I'm done. I'll be driving around like a mad woman come Saturday. Visit some friends, then shoot over to Northeast PA to visit mom's family, then Xmas morning driving to South Jersey to visit my Dad and other mom. I wish I had something I could give everyone this year but finances aren't what they were last year. Oh well, maybe next Xmas I'll have a shit load of cash at my disposal and buy whatever I want for whoever I want. It would be nice. It's fun to dream!

I don't have any solid plans for New Years yet. My roomie wants to do some Rock Band contest at our the mall but you have to be on expert! BAH! I could probably go expert on the singing part, but I wanna play the drums!!! I can actually play a few songs at the hard level, but that damn bass foot pedal gets me every time! Grrrrr. It sucks. When my friend from CA comes home to visit I'll make his ass play the game and teach me how to double bass pedal it...or something. He's a drummer, hopefully he can help. Heh.

I'm going to try and do something productive (writing wise) before I head to bed. Sleep tight all!

December 4, 2007

Marketing question and updates.

My publisher has asked me to put together a list of online marketing for the launch of the company and books. (Looks like next year now) I have a bunch of ideas and websites to give them, but I'm a noob at this, so I figured who better to help, than my online friends.

The publisher is Science Fiction and Fantasy, they will have a magazine, role playing game, and ten books to start off with. They have a website. It's still set to private. I've made them a Myspace and Facebook accounts so far.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas you'd like to share. Thanks in advanced!


Updates:

I finished and won the NaNo writing things and haven't touched the damn manuscript since. I'll get back to it today. It's a decent idea, but I know I've written better things. Not to worry. I'll complete it and see what happens with it later. I need to start focusing on Lucky now.

I'd really love to get Lucky into one of the bigger publishers. I think it has enough for everyone. My two biggest problems are 1. What do I label it? and 2. Writing a great query.

The label isn't such a big deal I guess. The manuscript has aspects of a thriller, a mystery, and a relationship (NOT a typical romance story) between two of the characters, as well as a family relationship between Lucky, her uncle and cousin. Fiction would cover it all, but that doesn't make it sound marketable does it?

The query. Ah the query. I haven't made another attempt at writing one yet, since I was finishing up NaNo, but I've been thinking about it constantly. I keep thinking, if I can't write a decent query, does that mean I'm not a good writer?

Sure, I've had friends and family tell me I'm great. I've had strangers comment on things I've posted online who loved my work. I was able to land a publisher for my Tiva books, without an agent. They haven't sent the books out for review yet, so I really don't have an idea what the reading public thinks of the book or my writing. I usually could care less what other people think about me, but the same isn't true about what I write. I do care what people think in that regard. Not necessarily if they like the story, rather the way I write.

It's the one aspect of my life right now where I feel like acceptance is the only way to know the truth. And to be honest, I don't like it. Heh.

I know I could go back to one of those POD or ebook only publishers for some of my older work, just to get my name out there, but I know the quality isn't anywhere near what I'm writing now. It would be silly for me to publish older-crappier novels right after Tiva comes out, right?

Bleh. I have a couple more months to figure this all out before I have to make yet another change in my life. Not looking forward to it. For once, I just wish I knew what I was meant to do and be...

I might be back later to talk pop culture. Haven't done that in a while either.