tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22463161002599789872024-03-18T18:50:59.666-07:00A Far Out Fantastic SiteA blog about reading and writing science fiction, fantasy and horror and their influence on pop culture.Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.comBlogger520125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-61537906844397824822024-03-18T04:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T04:00:00.141-07:00Author Interview: Shannon Lawrence and ‘Wendigo Nights’<p style="text-align: center;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6w4qMYfG53guKJlSBdZLGYodCcCkMLkXS_Xcqt_CTZsnkw5SXag9roGIg-WYW4hyphenhyphen-AwytYltpz0Edvzg5xOrR8JhBnCg9UMfypHbfcxI0Wu9KOviEs0rWZ2vY5cIObRKqWZ3peHpKJ6W3KvzfYpmQXxW-GY7p8OzaSu8YLgVr_uHAB2Wqwq2JDuM1sa3/s720/Bluehair--Shannon%20Lawrence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Profile photo of author Shannon Lawrence." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6w4qMYfG53guKJlSBdZLGYodCcCkMLkXS_Xcqt_CTZsnkw5SXag9roGIg-WYW4hyphenhyphen-AwytYltpz0Edvzg5xOrR8JhBnCg9UMfypHbfcxI0Wu9KOviEs0rWZ2vY5cIObRKqWZ3peHpKJ6W3KvzfYpmQXxW-GY7p8OzaSu8YLgVr_uHAB2Wqwq2JDuM1sa3/w320-h320/Bluehair--Shannon%20Lawrence.jpg" title="Author Shannon Lawrence" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Author Shannon Lawrence. (Photo Credit: Shannon Lawrence)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Today I have the pleasure of interviewing guest author Shannon Lawrence! Shannon has published stories in more than 50 anthologies and magazines, and in her own collections. She’s a regular contributor to the <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly blog hop</span></a> with her blog, <a href="https://thewarriormuse.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">“The Warrior Muse”</span></a>, and co-hosts the podcast, "Mystery, Monsters & Mayhem". Shannon has an upcoming horror/dark fantasy novel, "Wendigo Nights", which features a Native American spirit. My own knowledge of the Wendigo myth mostly comes from a story in Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark", a children’s book of scary folk tales that a movie was based on back in 2019. The story from that book, "The Wendigo", involves an invisible creature that drags its victims until they burn up into ashes. However, Shannon's book features a variant of the mythical creature which she talks about here. So, read on! </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Steven Arellano Rose:</b> Hi Shannon and thank you for being with us for this post! Can you tell us a little about "Wendigo Nights"? Is it part of a series of books or is it stand-alone?</p><p><b>Shannon Lawrence:</b> It's intended to be the first in a series, with at least two more in the works, and we'll see where it goes from there. This first one is all about hunting down a Wendigo and features a guest appearance by a Cryptid whose story originated in Native lore, and each of the future books will be about different creatures from Native lore in the future. The first book is personal to Selina, the main character, as someone she deeply cares for is at risk. The second book will have a more widespread risk.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><b>SAR:</b> What inspired you to write "Wendigo"?</p><p><b>SL:</b> I was inspired to write Wendigo Nights because I was tired of Wendigo lore being twisted to being something it wasn't. While I take liberties since it's fiction, I've tried to stay closer to the original lore. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> Can you tell us a little about the Wendigo myth? What kind of creature is the Wendigo? What makes it so fearsome?</p><p><b>SL:</b> Wendigo is the best of both worlds: a dangerous human and a dangerous monster. Wendigo is a human who has been overtaken by a spirit (or manitou), most frequently due to having committed an ultimate taboo: cannibalism. The lore originated in the cold and dangerous winters of the past, when being stranded could mean finding food...one way or another. They only crave human meat and are always starving and wasting away, no matter how much they eat. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> Do you have a favourite mythical creature or monster? </p><p><b>SL:</b> My favorite changes on the regular. I do have a particular fondness for Chessie, the lake monster/sea serpent of Chesapeake Bay, because I believed she was real as a kid and still not-so-secretly hope she is. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> What were the biggest challenges in writing this novel?</p><p><b>SL:</b> My biggest challenge was personal. I started this book before my dad was diagnosed with ALS. After his diagnosis, I realized there were some serious similarities between the evolution into Wendigo and the evolution of ALS in its patients. As I watched my dad's body waste away while his mind stayed sharp, I had to set the book aside. There are parts of it that still get to me now that my dad is gone, because his condition became so linked with the condition of an important character in Wendigo Nights. Ultimately, I was able to pick it back up and dive in again, but I stayed away from it for several years.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> I’m sorry about your dad. Who are your favourite authors in the horror or dark fantasy genres?</p><p><b>SL:</b> Growing up, it was Stephen King, who was formative in my love of horror, but I became a huge fan of urban fantasy authors like Kelley Armstrong and horror authors Jeff Strand and Stephen Graham Jones. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> Do you have any favourites in other media, such as TV or movies, in horror or dark fantasy?</p><p><b>SL:</b> I was a big X-Files fan, followed by Supernatural. Monster-of-the-week episodes, as they're often referred to, were my favorites, with the alien and angel topics, respectively, being less interesting to me. I watch a lot of horror films, but my favorites right now are horror comedy, because that's where my current mood is. Tremors is a big favorite that I revisit often. I've got the streaming station Shudder, and have really enjoyed watching older horror films I wouldn't have been able to find elsewhere, though there are plenty of bad ones, too.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> What are your future writing projects or plans?</p><p><b>SL:</b> Oh, so many! I want to write a memoir about my dad, who accomplished a lot in support of fellow ALS sufferers during his 6 1/2 years with it, including a medical protocol specific to ALS patients that has been named after him (The Kenoyer Protocol), because normal emergency protocols can kill ALS patients. I've got a horror comedy in edits and then it will go out to beta readers. The sequel to Wendigo Nights is in the works, and I have an amateur sleuth mystery series I'd like to try my hand at. There's more, but these are the ones taking precedence.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Finally, is there any advice you'd like to give to other writers, especially novice or aspiring ones?</p><p><b>SL:</b> Absolutely! Keep trucking. Keep writing. Keep submitting. Put yourself out there. It's scary pondering letting others read your work, and you won't be able to please everyone, but you will find your readers, and their lives will be enriched by your work. Collect rejections. If you try to avoid them, you're going to struggle more, but if you aim for a certain amount of rejections in a year, you're sure to get some yeses, too, and those will be a nice bonus. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> Thank you for giving us your time here at A Far Out Fantastic Site! </p><p><b>SL:</b> Thank you for having me, and for asking such fun questions!</p><p><br /></p><p>Shannon’s book, “Wendigo Nights”, is due for release on March 26th. You can find it at stores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and <a href="https://books2read.com/u/4AaOJd" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">others</span></a>. Do you have a favourite mythical creature? Will you be purchasing Shannon's book? </p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NLt0LOSHHpOMa_dRTJGgeVmDraxOucDVHa62repf0qTLw48IcYJI0Sgf03hRFXY3XZCmbFLpYQClLQofpRdTV_EWLzfFifqpbsW9Tgx5ymnSOEwPZ_YvyjyIU6hW4siop6dEM4EOLlqAxbDTAjyBylcVAGEcPS0sIUKgSCfqrsVQ9meNE-IVlaPTCE9h/s2775/Wendigo%20Nights%20Cover--Shannon%20Lawrence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Book cover to "Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights" depicting a young woman holding a pistol." border="0" data-original-height="2775" data-original-width="1843" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NLt0LOSHHpOMa_dRTJGgeVmDraxOucDVHa62repf0qTLw48IcYJI0Sgf03hRFXY3XZCmbFLpYQClLQofpRdTV_EWLzfFifqpbsW9Tgx5ymnSOEwPZ_YvyjyIU6hW4siop6dEM4EOLlqAxbDTAjyBylcVAGEcPS0sIUKgSCfqrsVQ9meNE-IVlaPTCE9h/w266-h400/Wendigo%20Nights%20Cover--Shannon%20Lawrence.jpg" title="Book cover for Shannon Lawrence's novel, "Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights"." width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: Shannon Lawrence</i></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><b><i>Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights</i>,</b> <b>by Shannon Lawrence</b></p><p><b>Warrior Muse Press</b></p><p><b>Release date: March 26</b></p><p>A late night call from her mentor sends Selina Moonstone on a mission to Canada, determined to track down a Wendigo and exterminate it.</p><p>Accustomed to facing off with the all too real creatures of Native American lore, Selina discovers the Wendigo is someone close to her, forcing her to change gears from destruction to frantic search for a cure. There's no known way to rid a person of the Wendigo spirit once it has begun the consumption of the victim's soul, a lesson she learned the hard way in her youth.</p><p>With her loved one's transition to Wendigo imminent, Selina must fight her own lifelong training as a Myth Stalker and find another way. She gathers a mismatched group of allies, including a charming Sin Eater and a conceited mercenary Cryptid hunter from her past, and embarks on a mission to find a solution before it's too late.</p><p>Available in paperback and e-book, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more. Find the book at your favorite store using the universal link: <a href="https://books2read.com/u/4AaOJd"><span style="color: #fcff01;">https://books2read.com/u/4AaOJd</span></a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>About the Author</b></p><p>A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in over fifty anthologies and magazines in addition to her collections. Her nonfiction title, The Business of Short Stories, is available now and her debut urban fantasy novel is releasing March 2024. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. Find her at <a href="http://www.thewarriormuse.com"><span style="color: #fcff01;">www.thewarriormuse.com</span></a>.</p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-37571087650856506992024-03-06T23:04:00.000-08:002024-03-06T23:04:13.281-08:00IWSG: 2 Psychedelic Sci-Fi Movie Sequels; AI & Creative Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3POhKruObx15s4VD0pLpQyzjfcDTqNKOaN6EZ4TFrJipt-bRoaXi-ber5UYVaRdMu40vENMy4G8T72hy4Ws9YOLHR72StXbsUvteDpv1SVMhkDbbE90GQnmRxCFw8eOp1NYXm4s6DeEOp5oMIL_JiTJa-9U1R246ivQxLuPhxGSVo0b0U638gY5MJOJo/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo for the Insecure Writer's Support Group with a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3POhKruObx15s4VD0pLpQyzjfcDTqNKOaN6EZ4TFrJipt-bRoaXi-ber5UYVaRdMu40vENMy4G8T72hy4Ws9YOLHR72StXbsUvteDpv1SVMhkDbbE90GQnmRxCFw8eOp1NYXm4s6DeEOp5oMIL_JiTJa-9U1R246ivQxLuPhxGSVo0b0U638gY5MJOJo/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> blog hop! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. I apologise for missing Monday’s monthly post. Because of that, I’ve decided to do a bit of a double-up on this evening’s post. That said, today I answer the blog hop's optional question of the month and I have mini reviews of two psychedelic, science fiction movie sequels, both of which are based on books: the underground short film, "Space Disco One", and "Dune: Part 2"!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">IWSG Question of the Month</h3><p>The IWSG question for March is: <i>Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?</i> My answer to the first part of the question: no, I haven't and I don't ever plan to. Read on to know why and for my answer to the second part.</p><p>First off, I should mention that I don't think of writing synopses as a nasty task and so I don't feel a need or desire for an AI program to write them. I actually like writing synopses for my stories and books. However, because synopses are often used for marketing, I can see why many other authors and aspiring authors may not like writing them. However, for me, the synopsis is like a very short version of the book or story. Writing it helps me to know more the idea behind my book and to explain the book to potential readers. If I let an AI program crank out the synopsis, I’m telling myself that I don't know what my own book is about nor do I want to try to explain it. </p><p>Having the machine create the synopsis is telling myself that I want it to tell me what the story is about. To let AI do this, and so here is my answer to the second part of the question, makes creative writing too much of a mechanical or data processing process than it does a human creative act. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Mini Movie Reviews</h3><p>I saw two groovy sci fi movies over the weekend. One that the majority of the world hasn't heard of because it's an underground film, the other that the whole world has heard of. The former is 2007's "SpaceDisco One", directed by Damon Packard; the other is Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part 2" which released last Friday. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>"SpaceDisco One":</b> Many may refer to this approximately one-hour film as a sub-B one and they may be right. However, that's more in the sense of quantity (in this case number of viewings) than quality. It's an art house, avant-garde, complex movie yet visually stunning. The very basic storyline is that two young women who are the daughters of the heroic couple of 1976's "Logan's Run" (based on the 1967 novel of the same name) meet up with Winston Smith of George Orwell's classic novel, "1984", only to discover that they are characters in a movie that is a sequel to both works. The movie comes across as a tribute to 1970s/early '80s disco music and space opera films, as well as a commentary on society of the 2001s that it was produced in and how we may be headed toward a totalitarian surveillance state. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBtGNig-8yLqXwgzhZnx37uKie62lPBj8gKyowXCAIlNc1ILFjylCybCcrAy-JBcqD1TduIsjwwmst1Bwyr7gOov7JVIW8jMKWpeBxbXyhWBVWqoZLPbyZaqjR_lhhNuq1Hxkw76WIP2S_MEwJHF5eyEdee7mmOIht6svoW6cUpm2XDwJKDoTcaJhi9RV/s640/robots-7052894_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Digital art depicting two female fighters in a laser battle with two robots." border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBtGNig-8yLqXwgzhZnx37uKie62lPBj8gKyowXCAIlNc1ILFjylCybCcrAy-JBcqD1TduIsjwwmst1Bwyr7gOov7JVIW8jMKWpeBxbXyhWBVWqoZLPbyZaqjR_lhhNuq1Hxkw76WIP2S_MEwJHF5eyEdee7mmOIht6svoW6cUpm2XDwJKDoTcaJhi9RV/w400-h225/robots-7052894_640.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/robots-science-fiction-sci-fi-7052894/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Because this movie is about the making of a sequel, it itself is considered a sequel to both "Logan's Run" and "1984" movie adaptations. Scenes from both films run throughout the movie and so does news footage of the events of the time it was produced in. The dazzling lights of a space disco roller rink where people compete and train in laser tag competitions gives the movie a psychedelic touch. Because of the experimental style, this film is not for everybody. However, if you like surrealism and art house films combined with science fiction and social satire then you'll like this. You can watch "SpaceDisco One" right now for free on <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/472588/spacedisco-one" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Tubi TV</span></a>! </p><p><br /></p><p><b>"Dune: Part 2":</b> In my <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2024/02/2-sci-fi-book-to-screen-adaptations.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">last weekly post</span></a>, I had said that BBC referred to this movie as psychedelic but the trailer didn't convey that very much. However, I also said that, obviously, trailers don’t show you everything. Well, the psychedelia was one of the characteristics that “Dune 2”’s trailer didn't show but it’s definitely in the movie and done very well. It occurs mostly in the "mystical" segments. </p><p>“Dune 2” picks up from where the previous film left off: Paul, the Duke of the House of Atreides, and his mother, the Lady Jessica, are stranded on the desert planet Arrakis but settling among the native Fremen. The two, along with a Fremen girl, Chani, attempt to get the people of the planet to fight against the exploitive Harkonnen Empire that’s taken control of Arrakis for its spices. The movie's main characters are likeable, believable and so are played really good by their actors. The cinematography is as superb as that of the first movie: longshots and panoramic views of alien desert landscapes and close-shots of the action scenes. The ending is satisfyingly conclusive while leaving the story open for yet another sequel. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That's all that I have for this post. I'm skipping next Monday since this week was a blog hop week and I've doubled up on what would have been this past Monday's post. But I'll be back the following Monday with more sci fi and fantasy topics! Have you tried using AI to write your synopses? Do you enjoy writing synopses yourself? Have you seen either of the two above movies or plan on seeing them? </p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Kristina Kelly, Miffie Seideman, Jean Davis, and Liza @ Middle Passages! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-74371485892012267092024-02-26T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-26T05:00:00.140-08:002 Sci-fi Book-to-Screen Adaptations Coming in March<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJ2bBXeIcNRmW9Efr2_fKrO29Z_QPnh1nXdPQBv3fVV2NfCeAHMYp8n8YG0DijjYmudQT1I-UhWlj4FqU-9ZW7MI6FXQj1S1IQERnkmg1v5VPc4sjiNXB1nY4DsZj6kGUiMhQU1iFXzTzMPLn-Twq02aOjJ786CpwS7QV6LjqCjTTyLEzTsoIUzxKDjVi/s640/ufo-7487440_640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Illustration of a flying saucer flying above a forest at night." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJ2bBXeIcNRmW9Efr2_fKrO29Z_QPnh1nXdPQBv3fVV2NfCeAHMYp8n8YG0DijjYmudQT1I-UhWlj4FqU-9ZW7MI6FXQj1S1IQERnkmg1v5VPc4sjiNXB1nY4DsZj6kGUiMhQU1iFXzTzMPLn-Twq02aOjJ786CpwS7QV6LjqCjTTyLEzTsoIUzxKDjVi/w400-h400/ufo-7487440_640.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ufo-alien-night-sky-sky-night-7487440/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Already we're coming to the end of February! Although that shouldn't be too surprising since it’s the shortest month of the year, even with a Leap Day this year. This will make us have to wait less for the book-to-screen science fiction adaptations coming out next month. There are two of them that I know of off-hand: "Dune: Part 2" and "3 Body Problem". </p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Dune: Part 2:</i></b> this movie continues from where Part 1 (titled just “Dune”) left off in 2021. The movie series is based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, "Dune". In this sequel, the hero, Paul Atreides, (Timothee Chalamet), who has been stranded on the desert planet Arrakis, teams with warrior Chani (Zendaya) and the planet's natives, the Fremen, to avenge his family who were killed by the Harkonnens. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240221-dune-part-two-review-denis-villeneuves-science-fiction-sequel-is-jaw-droppingly-weird" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">BBC</span></a> says that this movie is psychedelic and art house. However, after seeing the latest trailer, it comes across as more art house than psychedelic to me, but then the trailer only shows you so much, of course. It still looks really good with its panoramic sandscape scenes, epic battles and, of course, giant sandworms! "Dune: Part 2" releases in theatres March 1 (that’s this Friday!).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U2Qp5pL3ovA" width="320" youtube-src-id="U2Qp5pL3ovA"></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><b><i>3 Body Problem:</i></b> While "Dune: Part 2", like its prequel, was made for the big screen, "3 Body Problem" was made for just the opposite. It was made for the small screen which can be as tiny as your wrist (e.g., Apple Watch) since “3 Body” will be exclusive to Netflix. It won’t even be a full-length film but, instead, a series. (Now you know why I used “Book-to-Screen” in this post’s title and not “Book-to-Movie”!) So, when I found this out, I was really disappointed. The special visual and sound effects look to be so high in quality that this adaptation should be on the big screen. But that’s not the only problem.</p><p>The other problem is that since it's exclusive to Netflix, like some many movies and TV series on the streaming media giant, it makes people who can't afford a subscription miss out. Well, that's Netflix for you. They’re competing against the other streaming media giants such as Amazon Prime and Disney+ and so it's probably more about the money than about the movies or TV shows or the people who would like to watch them! </p><p>"3 Body Problem" is based on Cixin Liu’s award-winning novel, which was actually titled "The Three-Body Problem". The story is that aliens plan to invade Earth but people throughout the world are divided between welcoming them to take control of a corrupt Earth and fighting them off. "3 Body Problem" releases on Netflix March 21.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5lj99Uz1d50" width="320" youtube-src-id="5lj99Uz1d50"></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fiction in Progress</h3><p>My current book that I'm working on, "Bad Apps", is taking way longer than I thought. Instead of making everybody wait for a book of mine that’s release date is unknown at this time, I’m thinking about releasing a single short story in book format during the interim. I'll talk more about this in my newsletter which will be coming out next month. If you haven't subscribed to it, you can do so <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. </p><p><br /></p><p>Are you looking forward to either of the above book-to-screen adaptations coming out in March? Do you know of any other book-to-screen adaptations (movie or TV series) in science fiction or fantasy releasing next month?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-58525539101193836452024-02-07T21:59:00.000-08:002024-02-07T21:59:42.150-08:00IWSG: Appearance Matters for a Genre Author's Website<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIiFVSI9tuEdsuCLAjaDUB0HdCdOcPc4Lx44b0EnZ8X2_cv-4M_NlYrUoOgcL-0yqi_0Zx3KFD_5eQJ1Byv1hl656ffErZKFNh4LgxKq4ulli0yf3Jk8TKq9lDbeWSCBZUv2S0zSJ9TvIFarAXi_kCWbJmiqlA_PH3JXDE_PnthmfcJaCZiun9sFKBcY2/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo of the Insecure Writer's Support Group depicting a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIiFVSI9tuEdsuCLAjaDUB0HdCdOcPc4Lx44b0EnZ8X2_cv-4M_NlYrUoOgcL-0yqi_0Zx3KFD_5eQJ1Byv1hl656ffErZKFNh4LgxKq4ulli0yf3Jk8TKq9lDbeWSCBZUv2S0zSJ9TvIFarAXi_kCWbJmiqlA_PH3JXDE_PnthmfcJaCZiun9sFKBcY2/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. I hope everyone's having a great start during this new month of February. Mine started off great since I had the pleasure this past Monday of interviewing a fellow IWSG contributor and author, Diane Wolfe! In that interview she talks about her newest book of paranormal romance fiction, "In Darkness: The Alien" and the "In Darkness" series that it's an installment to. She had a lot of interesting things to say about the book, the series and her writing career. So, check out my <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2024/02/interview-paranormal-romance-author-l.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">interview with Diane</span></a> if you haven't done so yet! Thanks, again, Diane, for letting me interview you! </p><p>Most of the rest of today's post will be answering the IWSG Question of the Month which is <i>What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?</i> While some of these have annoyed me, they haven’t annoyed me much more than the poor appearance of the author's website or blog itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I go to the website or blog of an author who specialises in a specific genre, especially a fiction genre, and its appearance doesn't even come close to reflecting that genre, there’s very little else that turns me off. It gives me the impression that the author doesn't take his or her genre that seriously. The author claims to write in a specific genre but their website looks like it could be for any genre. Even worse is when it looks like it can be the website of anybody, writer or non-writer. </p><p>Because I'm a writer of mostly science fiction and horror, I'll use an example of a horror author's website. I go to that author's website, having learned that they write horror. When I, as both a writer and fan of the genre, hear the word “horror” I think of dark landscapes, graveyards and old decaying mansions or castles in a night time setting. As far as colours go, I think of black, orange, blood-red or an eerie green or blue. But when I go to this horror author's website, what do I see on the home page? A bright, white background and, at the top, a large photo of a potted daisy in a window on a sunny, spring day! </p><p>Author, can you run that by me again? What genre did you say you normally write in? When I come to a site with graphics that make it look more like it’s a home-and-garden website than a horror author's and I know very little about that author’s work, I'm very inclined to leave that site immediately. </p><p>I mean, did Walt Disney make his Disneyland in the appearance of an oil refinery? Did J.K. Rowling give the covers to her Harry Potter books illustrations depicting a southwestern US landscape with cowboys herding cattle? Who would want to walk into Disneyland on first seeing and learning of it if it looked like a gritty, cold metallic oil refinery? What avid reader of YA and/or children's fantasy would bother with a Harry Potter book if the cover depicted something that was for a western?</p><p>If you have that much of a passion for the genre you write in, then you need to reflect it in your website by making the graphics, layout and/or images represent that genre. Its appearance needs to reflect your genre of interest and specialty because if it doesn't, readers won't take it seriously. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, when you’re promoting your books in a certain genre on your website, your website's appearance has to reflect that genre. Fiction genres target specific audiences and a specific audience is going to expect to see your website or blog reflect the genre they read in and that you write for them in. If it doesn’t, they will likely not bother looking through the website.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since I’ve posted twice this week, I’m taking a break from posting next Monday which is the usual day that I publish my weekly blog posts. But I'll be back with another exciting article the following Monday! When you visit the website or blog of an author who writes in your favourite genre, do you expect it to reflect that genre in its appearance? Or do you only care about the content itself? </p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Janet Alcorn, SE White, Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-23778919241991538072024-02-05T04:00:00.000-08:002024-02-05T04:00:00.140-08:00Interview: Paranormal Romance Author L. Diane Wolfe<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FUJRn7lwBMZroeMANwJay0xsAtfjLWTCTG7yOil8-RLuiXR99H4We7PtM7j4b5Iqup-zIn4OkcrPxwh_QPv5TZU92gVdplbO0fNpCiSVb9lu39KDKVeMUflG4FWcUMMS3BnscmHI0jisc-fOYwHxsAtrEAGdexmkUWgNBHSFOm9uaxVBqUe3jDqnLaMK/s1200/L%20Diane%20Wolfe%20Promo%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph of author L. Diane Wolfe" border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1200" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FUJRn7lwBMZroeMANwJay0xsAtfjLWTCTG7yOil8-RLuiXR99H4We7PtM7j4b5Iqup-zIn4OkcrPxwh_QPv5TZU92gVdplbO0fNpCiSVb9lu39KDKVeMUflG4FWcUMMS3BnscmHI0jisc-fOYwHxsAtrEAGdexmkUWgNBHSFOm9uaxVBqUe3jDqnLaMK/w400-h373/L%20Diane%20Wolfe%20Promo%202.jpg" title="Author L. Diane Wolfe" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: L. Diane Wolfe</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Today we have an interview with an author whose name you may have seen during the monthly blog hops that Far Out Fantastic participates in since she’s an administrator for the <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group website</span></a>: L. Diane Wolfe! Diane is author of the paranormal romance series of books, "In Darkness", in which her latest, releasing tomorrow, is "In Darkness: The Alien". She’s the founder of Dancing Lemur Press which has published more than 50 books, including best sellers and award winners. Diane also offers writer consultation services. It was a pleasure to interview her!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Steven Arellano Rose:</b> Diane, can you tell us a little about, the overall arc to, the "In Darkness" series?</p><p><b>L. Diane Wolfe:</b> “In Darkness” refers to where the main characters are at the beginning of each story. They are either lost, lonely, or in a bad place. The stories reveal that with love, the darkness can be overcome.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Now, can you tell us a little about "The Alien", your latest book in the series?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> This was a story I originally wrote over thirty years ago about a woman, an alien herself on a strange world, encountering a race that lacked emotions. Contracted to marry one of them, and in danger of losing her own feelings, she must convince him that emotions are valuable.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Did anything in particular inspire you to write the book?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> I’ve always liked Star Trek and the idea of a race without feelings (Vulcans) probably had some influence. </p><p><b>SAR:</b> This story is an alien contact/abduction romance. Was it a challenge to avoid any cliches of this science fiction subgenre while writing the novel?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> Most stories of this genre focus heavily on the passion and physical involvement. I wanted to keep it light and focus more on the relationship as it developed.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Did you have to do any research for "The Alien"? </p><p><b>LDW:</b> The only research I did was getting visuals of the settings and vehicles, and Pinterest helped with that. (I have a “board” for each of the four stories.)</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Which authors inspired your own writing?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> I grew up reading Anne McCaffrey and Richard Adams, both of whom focus on characters first.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> What made you want to write science fiction/fantasy and paranormal romance?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> I’ve always enjoyed the genres and every story I write contains an element of romance, so it was a natural fit.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Have you written and published in other genres? </p><p><b>LDW:</b> I have a five-book series, The Circle of Friends, that is new adult and two non-fiction books, How to Publish Your Book Now and Overcoming Obstacles with SPUNK: The Keys to Leadership and Goal-Setting.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Do you have plans for another book, either in the "In Darkness" series or outside of it?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> I do have an idea for a story involving a ghost that would fit in this series, but I haven’t fleshed out the middle yet.</p><p><b>SAR:</b> Finally, do you have any advice for other writers?</p><p><b>LDW:</b> Jot down every idea that comes to you because you never know which one will develop into a full story!</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you, Diane! You can purchase L. Diane Wolfe’s new novel, "In Darkness: The Alien", at these links:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6QVWB2K" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Amazon</span></a> </li><li><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6449979850Le" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">iTunes</span></a> </li><li><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940166065681" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Barnes & Noble</span></a> </li><li><a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9781939844972" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Kobo</span></a> </li><li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171026121-in-darkness" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Goodreads</span></a> </li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXk7hnmFOwDxtFS4tUqPy4rwdgc1q91Tr6ITkqoWYoEegntNblev90wvBcq02nznJX0xvkE9atK4zAlFfcWkWnsRqGnoyGd3yBKWPowFUdDi4LJNH7sEgcKXZ55UP34bBmrkZOFsxV-aC9539agPOpaiT2_KEOWHok-cRHXzRnyBYznhCexVnGlMzQAzw/s1096/InDarknessTheAlien-LDianeWolfe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover to the novel, "In Darkness: The Alien", depicting a landed spaceship." border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXk7hnmFOwDxtFS4tUqPy4rwdgc1q91Tr6ITkqoWYoEegntNblev90wvBcq02nznJX0xvkE9atK4zAlFfcWkWnsRqGnoyGd3yBKWPowFUdDi4LJNH7sEgcKXZ55UP34bBmrkZOFsxV-aC9539agPOpaiT2_KEOWHok-cRHXzRnyBYznhCexVnGlMzQAzw/w263-h400/InDarknessTheAlien-LDianeWolfe.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>In Darkness: The Alien</b></p><p><b>By L. Diane Wolfe</b></p><p>Souls shrouded in darkness…</p><p>Abducted from her research station, Liz’s life is flung into chaos. Sold into servanthood for her knowledge of planetary mining to a race called the Stren, she discovers her problems go far deeper. She is to marry her alien master, Krist, after enduring a procedure designed to eradicate her emotions.</p><p>Desperate, Liz persuades the Stren to grant her the duration of a short voyage to change his perception of emotions. But how can she convince someone lacking feelings of their value? Is there a means of accessing the emotional side of Krist before it’s too late?</p><p>Release date – February 6, 2024</p><p>From <a href="http://www.dancinglemurpress.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.</span></a> </p><p>Romance-Science Fiction / Science Fiction-Alien Contact / Romance-Paranormal</p><p>eBook ISBN 9781939844972 $3.99</p><p>A professional speaker and author, L. Diane Wolfe conducts seminars, offers book formatting, and author consultation. She’s an editor at Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and contributes to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.</p><p><a href="http://www.spunkonastick.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Spunk On A Stick</span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Spunk On A Stick’s Tips</span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group</span></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In case you missed it, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2024/01/4-sci-fifantasy-books-recently-entered.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">last week's post</span></a> covers an H.G. Wells novel and a Tarzan novel, both of which went into the Public Domain at the beginning of the year. Be here Wednesday for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writers' Support Group</span></a> blog hop! Have you read any of L. Diane Wolfe's books? Are you planning on reading "In Darkness: The Alien" (releasing tomorrow)?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-57225902227063529502024-01-29T04:00:00.000-08:002024-01-29T04:00:00.130-08:004 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books Recently Entered into the Public Domain<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1UEoJ_OznTL4Zc-kILKVEsdSEJO2l2vlXyi9MPsxAexD2XisATAH3Ti_q8td6royf50nPaWY5eIgAlFIuRRxEJc2vQrgMcs_1Dd4fMjrGJm2jxFBxh7iJzCjkpRaSip737IbIb8RFtar_cZeC2wRaATSjmHJNMSruBSs0UdAmzVAOLiLMUxh3gfVvd2O/s250/Tarzan_lord_of_the_jungle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Book cover to the novel "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle", depicting Tarzan wrestling a boa constrictor." border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="173" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1UEoJ_OznTL4Zc-kILKVEsdSEJO2l2vlXyi9MPsxAexD2XisATAH3Ti_q8td6royf50nPaWY5eIgAlFIuRRxEJc2vQrgMcs_1Dd4fMjrGJm2jxFBxh7iJzCjkpRaSip737IbIb8RFtar_cZeC2wRaATSjmHJNMSruBSs0UdAmzVAOLiLMUxh3gfVvd2O/w277-h400/Tarzan_lord_of_the_jungle.jpg" title="Illustration for the book cover to "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle"." width="277" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tarzan_lord_of_the_jungle.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>I didn't know it until this week, but January 1st is Public Domain Day! This means that on the first day of the year any works of art or literature--paintings, movies, novels, music, etc.--that’s copyright has not been renewed are considered Public Domain works and so are free to use without acquiring permission from the creator or a license. However, Public Domain law does very between nations. So, always look at the public domain notice that's stated in the source where a copy of the work exists before using it. It was when I came across <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2021/07/interview-with-author-jacqui-murray.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">author Jacqui Murray</span></a>'s blog post last week [link to interview] when I found out about this special day. So, thanks to her for letting us know about it and please take a look at <a href="https://worddreams.wordpress.com/2024/01/24/teacher-authors-whats-on-my-ed-blog-new-to-public-domain/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">her blog post</span></a> on it if you get a chance; it's really interesting. To celebrate this day, even though it’s a little late, I thought I would provide a short list of science fiction and fantasy books that have gone into the Public Domain this year.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A List of SF/F Books Entered into the US Public Domain in 2024</h3><p>Keep in mind, because this is a blog about fantasy and science fiction, I've limited the list of books to those genres. Furthermore, I've limited it to ones that became <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_in_American_public_domain#Literature" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Public Domain in the US</span></a> since that's where this blog is based and my dealings with public domain work have mostly been here. For other books and works that’s copyright has expired this year, please check out the <a href="https://publicdomainreview.org/blog/2024/01/public-domain-day-2024/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">“Public Domain Review”’s article</span></a> that has links to all of them. Two of the books listed below are science fiction, or at least written by science fiction authors. The other two books are fantasy, specifically children’s. So, here's the list:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1) "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle", by Edgar Rice Burroughs:</b> There have been several books in the Tarzan series that fall under the science fiction category. This being one of them may be debatable since it involves a lost European Medieval civilization in the midst of the African jungle but no hard scientific phenomena such as time travel. </p><p><b>2) "Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island", by H.G. Wells:</b> Much more adventure than sci fi but it's written by an author who mostly wrote in the genre and left an everlasting impact on it.</p><p><b>3) "The House at Pooh Corner", A.A. Milne:</b> A book in the Winnie the Pooh series where stuffed animals, plush animals as they’re called today, come to life.</p><p>4) "Peter Pan", J.M. Barrie: The children’s novel about the boy who never grows up and flies with the help of fairy dust. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Book-To-Movie Update</h3><p>I'm putting the Book-To-Movie on a hiatus but, hopefully, it will be a short one. I may had mentioned it before, but I've run out of books and short stories that I've read and that have movie adaptations and so I have to build up my reading list for more. I'm hoping to have something for the BTM by next month. Hence, why there hasn't been a BTM this month, which I apologise for. </p><p><br /></p><p>Next Monday I will have an author interview here. So, be here then! Have you read any of the four books listed above, or any others, that have gone into the Public Domain this year? If not, do you plan to?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-77999156479310149682024-01-22T04:00:00.000-08:002024-01-22T04:00:00.258-08:00‘Distant’, The ‘Missing’ Sci-fi Film; 2024 Writer’s Resolutions<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YgGh0VC-PKXyXUXPycKkEPuZhZGK92VtBYHxNoknt_rJ1y2v0Uy0ftWIFgdL-tEIheFSdDCpFuoc3_nHEWnFqrmbv9rJGmBX4WqQ42fNX40D0FDCFHcqgF92KSYji-Au6kQrlG8NeIzU-mKL6bE2uHf-LJCzGVMa0GkRzOwJGzmRiwvQir6fN3b1QMOT/s640/new-zealand-563761_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A hobbit house from the New Zealand set for the Lord of the Rings films." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YgGh0VC-PKXyXUXPycKkEPuZhZGK92VtBYHxNoknt_rJ1y2v0Uy0ftWIFgdL-tEIheFSdDCpFuoc3_nHEWnFqrmbv9rJGmBX4WqQ42fNX40D0FDCFHcqgF92KSYji-Au6kQrlG8NeIzU-mKL6bE2uHf-LJCzGVMa0GkRzOwJGzmRiwvQir6fN3b1QMOT/w429-h640/new-zealand-563761_640.jpg" title="A hobbit home from "The Lord of the Rings" movie set, New Zealand." width="429" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/new-zealand-hobbiton-563761/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>I have my writer’s resolutions for 2024. I also had plans to see my first movie of the year on the big screen this past weekend but the movie seemed to be missing. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The ‘Missing’ Big Screen Film</h3><p>I was getting ready to see “Distant”, the new science fiction film by Amblin Entertainment that was supposed to release last Friday January 19th. However, when I tried looking for it on Fandango, it wasn’t listed anywhere. I did a Google search for it and checked the movie’s official website which stated that its release date was <i>January 19, 2024</i>. Other results that came up from the search seemed to be contradicting information of when it was due for release and in what venues, such as theatres and streaming video. Of what I had read back in December, the movie was supposed to release on the big screen. </p><p>Then I came across an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_(upcoming_film)#Release" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">article about “Distant”</span></a> on Wikipedia. It said that, ever since 2022, there had been several planned releases but it kept getting postponed and that it most recently had been taken off the January 19th schedule. So, why was it postponed again? As far as I know, that’s as much of a mystery as its next planned release date. </p><p>Well, there goes the first big screen movie of the year that I had planned on seeing. I had been debating whether to see “I.S.S.”, which also released this weekend, but that’s barely science fiction in my opinion because, although it’s set in the near future, most of the science and technology in it seem to be today’s. The real science fictional element seems to come from geopolitical issues in the film. Also, there’ve been so many mixed reviews of it that I’ve been inclined to just wait until it comes to streaming video. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">3 Writer’s Resolutions for the New Year</h3><p>Well, if I can’t find a big screen release to watch at the beginning of this new year, I do have something else: my new year writer’s resolutions of course! I have three of them:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>1) Slow Down</b></p><p>This resolution was actually inspired by a pop song by Leonard Nimoy (“Star Trek” the original series). It was one that he performed in a video and is of the music genre, what we call today at sci fi and fantasy conventions, filk. The song is "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and so is a commemoration to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit". But it was specifically a line in the song that goes "Hobbits . . . are never in a hurry." </p><p>To a big extent, this is true. In Tolkien’s Middle Earth books, hobbits like to live quiet, down-to-earth lives (in a way, literally, since they live inside hills!) and don't like to speed through activity such as their daily work and chores. They like to experience each moment of their activity no matter how mundane that activity might be. Yet, they still get work done.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xRrhMDu9VmM" width="320" youtube-src-id="xRrhMDu9VmM"></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's a video of Leonard Nimoy's "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins". It's a poor quality picture but it's the only uncut version I could find.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>That said, after listening to this song several times on a collection of pop songs by Nimoy and William Shatner called “Spaced Out”, I realised that I need to slow down in my life more. Not just in my writing. In fact, not in my writing at all. So then why am I calling this a writer's resolution? I call it that because, during 2023 and before, I was (and still am but am working on doing different) always rushing myself through all my daily activities, such as washing the dishes and cleaning the house, to get all of it out of the way so I could write. </p><p>In doing so, however, I would either make mistakes that would slow me down or, when little insignificant things stalled me (or seemed to), I would get really frustrated, tense up and complain to myself. This often caused a chain effect because when I would get all these things done and then sit down to write I would be exhausted and not as ready to work as much as I should. The same types of complaints that I made in doing my household chores would carry into my writing because I would make mistakes in that. </p><p>I've been working on just slowing down, by not complaining about the little things and just experience the activity of the moment. The ideas for my stories, for all us writer's stories, comes from life itself. And so I'm going to slow down like the hobbits to experience that life more. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>2) Go to Bed Early</b></p><p>This second new year’s resolution is even less a writer’s resolution than my first. However, I think it will help me write more productively. This resolution is specifically referring to going to bed early on those nights when I don’t have to be at my day job the next morning. Throughout all of 2023, I was going to bed way too late on those nights and getting up too late. This would drive me to write into the late night/early morning hours and by then I was exhausted. </p><p>I was already going to bed early enough on those nights that I did have to be at my day job the following morning. I went to bed early enough to get some writing done in the morning even though had no more than a half-hour work on it. However, I felt more energized and ready to write than when I write in the evenings. So, if I go to bed on those nights when I don’t have to be at my day job the next day, I think it will help me to get my writing done earlier in the day when I’m feeling more fresh and alert. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>3) Make a Monthly Reading Goal</b></p><p>This may sound more like a reader’s resolution to some. It definitely can be a worthy resolution for some of you who don’t write but love reading. But for us writer’s it’s also a resolution that can improve our work because to be a writer you have to read even more than non-writers. I’ve been losing count so easily of how many books I read a month, which may not be many since I’m a slow reader to begin with. So, I’m going to set a goal for reading so many a month and keep track by recording the date that I start reading each book. Maybe I’ll even join a reading challenge. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, those are my writer’s resolutions for the new year. Do you have any writer's and/or reader's resolutions for 2024? Do you hope that a final release date for “Distant” will be established soon?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-13409049145232714352024-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:002024-01-15T05:00:00.133-08:00Support Minority Rights: Read Minority Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybI8ryr2kCe388qHp4NjIVCYamIyd6CiPxCbABG-PlaBWetMXb7ZbN7GVvlu1dyjs_VNXPMVOwmWFSXZ7LINhXSpt-RGOTyOMLMdXuBDqFujDWxNbO-copz_jqGYArLhWc1J1Pxg-2QyRgKomP8OSo4qIaPxMIjQ8_psCrWdaIdNuZiDqmRDoGZ8Q1Dct/s640/painting-4916134_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cartoon depicting a little alien steering an android from the open top of its head." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybI8ryr2kCe388qHp4NjIVCYamIyd6CiPxCbABG-PlaBWetMXb7ZbN7GVvlu1dyjs_VNXPMVOwmWFSXZ7LINhXSpt-RGOTyOMLMdXuBDqFujDWxNbO-copz_jqGYArLhWc1J1Pxg-2QyRgKomP8OSo4qIaPxMIjQ8_psCrWdaIdNuZiDqmRDoGZ8Q1Dct/w400-h400/painting-4916134_640.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/painting-creativity-imagination-4916134/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Today in the U.S. is Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. For those of you outside of the US, Martin Luther King was a Christian minister who led the fight for the civil rights of Black Americans in the 1960s. Besides this movement winning such rights as the right for blacks to dine in the same section of a restaurant as white people, it would eventually lead to the wide recognition of African American and other minority science fiction and fantasy writers. </p><p>Even though Dr. King’s leadership in the civil rights movement brought many opportunities to blacks and other Americans of colour, the demand for civil rights still goes on because, unfortunately, racism and bigotry still continue in many of our country’s institutions. This is also the case in science fiction and fantasy culture. As much as writers of colour have become recognized by publishers of speculative fiction such as TOR in the last 10 years or so, there are still groups of white fans and creators trying to reverse the progress. </p><p>We can help weaken the schemes of such bigots by reading books by authors of colour as well as ones by other traditionally marginalized demographics such as Latinos, Asians, the disabled and LGBT+s. Better yet, when you buy books by them, they receive the royalties which helps them stay and even become more established in the speculative fiction publishing industry. Some notable science fiction and fantasy authors of marginalized populations have been Samuel R. Delaney, Octavia Butler, Victor LaValle, and Charlie Jane Anders.</p><p>So, we as readers of science fiction, horror and other types of fantasy can help continue the demand for civil rights of the marginalized by reading and purchasing books written by them in these genres. </p><p>Will you support the ongoing inclusion of minority speculative fiction authors by purchasing and reading their books? </p><p>Until next time. . .</p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-89896135089138074682024-01-03T22:40:00.000-08:002024-01-03T22:40:21.177-08:00IWSG: National Science Fiction Day and Writing-In-Progress<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim84SenITJv2lwp4eRg55jInovdEiX0NN4Wgf6d6skI2e9VYjfafg3cwzGWqg1dblUX9mBWoPxlk_n_RcoSEDGjUrx1Y8otFFEsqrqQj7L8iuSJ2o5LWvILqZ2mof2SmtsrhlTUYNdBtdW-FzNv-TWr3PndiBCI1S5Idwd-Im8MqQJETHHO9M7TDe-Snix/s640/astronaut-8314571_640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An astronaut decorates a Christmas tree." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim84SenITJv2lwp4eRg55jInovdEiX0NN4Wgf6d6skI2e9VYjfafg3cwzGWqg1dblUX9mBWoPxlk_n_RcoSEDGjUrx1Y8otFFEsqrqQj7L8iuSJ2o5LWvILqZ2mof2SmtsrhlTUYNdBtdW-FzNv-TWr3PndiBCI1S5Idwd-Im8MqQJETHHO9M7TDe-Snix/w225-h400/astronaut-8314571_640.png" title="Happy New Year 2024!" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/astronaut-christmas-tree-presents-8314571/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a> </i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>I can't believe that, myself, a science fiction writer, only found out yesterday that January 2nd is National Science Fiction Day for the United States! Maybe that's just because it's unofficial. But I'm delighted that the new year can be opened with such a holiday! I'm also delighted to write this first post of the year which will serve both as my contribution to today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> blog hop and as a late version of my weekly blog post which I moved to today due to the New Year’s weekend. In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxQ6qpXPkco5ColMVY8tkjEhw0fgIb9TRyWVYsruheFqR8FOWXBuwtzaY6JkNM5CKxTvUvtNdMSGydt5gpfetAOnXEmNo6xPu9HPJg_U3brpv3H80DLDyNQNV6bmBZYhdGCgAdWK6ZhN9pJi0D1hZrm4ERMDCduF2S23rT3egZIdS282HFKBwZpUoV0U03/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo of the Insecure Writer's Support Group depicting a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxQ6qpXPkco5ColMVY8tkjEhw0fgIb9TRyWVYsruheFqR8FOWXBuwtzaY6JkNM5CKxTvUvtNdMSGydt5gpfetAOnXEmNo6xPu9HPJg_U3brpv3H80DLDyNQNV6bmBZYhdGCgAdWK6ZhN9pJi0D1hZrm4ERMDCduF2S23rT3egZIdS282HFKBwZpUoV0U03/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Normally I've been answering the optional IWSG question of the month which this month’s is: <i>Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?</i> But I’m going to pass on this one since I don't use BookBub and so know very little about it. Instead, I'll go over my progress on my upcoming book of short fiction, "Bad Apps” and a little about National Science Fiction Day. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">National Science Fiction Day (US)</h3><p>It shouldn't be too surprising that National Science Fiction Day in the US was made to occur on Isaac Asimov's birthday of January 2nd. Asimov was one of the most influential, most intelligent science fiction authors in the world whose stories and other writings talk about the possible impact that future science and technology can have on society. According to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Fiction_Day" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia article</span></a>, this holiday that opens the new year is unofficial since it's not recognised by the US government. </p><p>However, National Science Fiction Day is acknowledged by reputable institutions and organisations. One of these is MIT via their publishing house, MIT Press. This year MIT Press has come out with a <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/the-best-reads-for-national-science-fiction-day/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">book list</span></a> that honours the day and consists of lists books that seem really interesting and with diverse voices, including one of <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547611/the-inhumans-and-other-stories/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Bengali science fiction stories</span></a>. The more the genre has a visible impact on society, in which some of the most visible impact to date has been in AI, the more it will be recognised and maybe even made into an official holiday on some level. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Writing-In-Progress</h3><p>As far as my writing projects go, I’ve gotten some work done, including some revisions on a current story for my upcoming book of short fiction, "Bad Apps". I'm almost done with a round of revisions that includes the character development of the protagonist. I’ve been taking notes of the needed revisions; I just have to work the changes into the story itself. I even got some of this work done during my time that I spent with family in Fresno for the Christmas holiday. That’s a rarity for many of us writers when out of our normal writing environment and schedule! </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">New Appearance for the Blog Coming</h3><p>A new look goes with a new year and so that’s what I'm planning for the blog. I'm going to try to add a pictorial scene to the background since I haven't had one here at the Far Out Fantastic Site for several years. I hope to give the blog its new appearance by the end of the month.</p><p><br /></p><p>Do you use BookBub? For those of you who live in the US, do you celebrate National Science Fiction Day? Do you have any plans or goals for your writing for this beginning of 2024? </p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Joylene Nowell Butler, Olga Godim, Diedre Knight, and Natalie Aguirre ! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-62996314969321390252023-12-18T04:00:00.000-08:002023-12-18T04:00:00.136-08:005 Ghost Stories Perfect for the Holidays; Year End Book Sale<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMUBZYy8O_BFeaFnL6528rwT6SSyKxSsLFAnhdgmJI_WjyEPptw4oODkjx7fNa7ygffDAIgTMzdlxgJpLXYkMxPfdryenMaaJXPKwXMZ918KqhdJpwUqyT0ZUR1rX-ZKbWrRy1s0PFNG_8psNVUoBrYEzlzPjViYogZF9ss9VyiGxUQtE7z3_iXY3I8Il/s640/skeleton-gad5d634f3_640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An illustration of a skull wearing a Santa Claus hat." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMUBZYy8O_BFeaFnL6528rwT6SSyKxSsLFAnhdgmJI_WjyEPptw4oODkjx7fNa7ygffDAIgTMzdlxgJpLXYkMxPfdryenMaaJXPKwXMZ918KqhdJpwUqyT0ZUR1rX-ZKbWrRy1s0PFNG_8psNVUoBrYEzlzPjViYogZF9ss9VyiGxUQtE7z3_iXY3I8Il/w266-h320/skeleton-gad5d634f3_640.png" title="Ghoultide Season" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: Pixabay.com</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>This is supposed to be the happiest time of the year. But, in some cases, it can be the scariest. A year is ending and so that may bring anxiety over the year to come since we don't know what it will bring. It almost feels a bit apocalyptic, doesn’t it? But with the end of the year comes end of the year sales and so you'll find my books at some super discounts at Smashwords which I'll explain more about later. But let’s start off something that goes with the dark winter nights that the Holiday Season, or maybe I should say, the Hallowday Season brings: scary stories. Yes scary, stories of the supernatural. What we call holiday horror stories today, what the Victorian English called Christmas Ghost Stories in the 19th century! And so I have a list of Holiday ghost stories for you below.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">5 Ghost Stories for Winter Holiday Reading</h3><p>In general, ghost stories aren't associated with Christmas like they are with Halloween. But because this has been a time of the year in the western world where days are shortest and so nights are longest, the Victorian English had a tradition of telling ghost stories on those cold, dark December nights. Why during the Christmas season of all seasons? Besides the cold dark nights serving as the perfect setting for telling scary tales, perhaps the fear of what the new year might bring and so the end of the old year also set the mood for stories about fear of the unknown. And, in my opinion, it still does that today. </p><p>So, below are the dark, mostly short, stories of the supernatural that I've been reading this season or have read past holiday seasons and so plan to read again. We in the English-speaking parts of the world already know that Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is classic Holiday ghost story telling. So, that’s not on this list. However, there are a couple of Dickens' lesser known Christmas ghost stories, and others by authors less known to our consumer American society that sells and buys Christmas more than celebrates it. </p><p><br /></p><p><i><b>1. "The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton", Charles Dickens:</b></i> An old grave digger sees no good in humanity and so no need to celebrate Christmas. So, he stays behind in the graveyard to work on Christmas Eve and, because of this, goblins show up and terrorise him. This story has a lot of similarities to “A Christmas Carol”, which came later, but it's still its own thing.</p><p><i><b>2. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain", Charles Dickens:</b></i> At Christmas, a chemist makes a deal with a ghost to take away all memory of his past mistakes and bad experiences. The ghost does this, but it brings anything but peace of mind to the chemist. </p><p><i><b>3. "Martin's Close", M.R.James:</b></i> <b>Warning: Potential spoiler in this description.</b> This story by the author who wrote "Casting the Runes", (which we reviewed along with its movie adaption in <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/10/book-to-movie-casting-runes-and-curse.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">October's Book-To-Movie review</span></a>) is about a murderer who is stalked by the ghost of his victim at Christmastime. There may be no new year for this guy--if the ghost doesn't get him, the noose will. </p><p><i><b>4. "The Haunted Doll's House", M.R. James:</b></i> It's not particularly a Christmas ghost story but because doll houses are so traditionally common under the Christmas tree for little girls, I thought I'd read this one for the season. The story is exactly what the title says, but it's how and why the doll house is haunted is what's really scary about it.</p><p><i><b>5. "The Gargoyle's Song", Alan Rodgers:</b></i> This story by a Stoker Award-winning author is about a commercial artist who gets a visit from a gargoyle at Christmas. The strange thing is that the gargoyle's been right outside her New York apartment window ever since before she moved in. </p><p><br /></p><p>Want more suggestions for horror Holiday reading? Check out my 2017 post featuring <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2017/12/holiday-post-krampuss-list-of-6-tales.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Krampus's List of 6 Tales of Terror Toys!"</span></a> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_mRML3bvqeNeUoWTdEwqUjYoyl9eTA-yx-6cVQ8-JsaBtJg-q2MF-mMQjHwgCI7e2yoarh7P8OhKjh_3WMKfrmM9zwYjNQXYgwMC6ep4P00q3vA6Wtyq7fwBqfoTJHIWnWwbhb1V3Fj2629faoEUqnYYaCksFSCSBdNGSdfcx6DHHzf4vZjvsDhVv1ll/s640/woman-5726689_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1960s-style illustration of a woman standing on a staircase observing a Christmas tree." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_mRML3bvqeNeUoWTdEwqUjYoyl9eTA-yx-6cVQ8-JsaBtJg-q2MF-mMQjHwgCI7e2yoarh7P8OhKjh_3WMKfrmM9zwYjNQXYgwMC6ep4P00q3vA6Wtyq7fwBqfoTJHIWnWwbhb1V3Fj2629faoEUqnYYaCksFSCSBdNGSdfcx6DHHzf4vZjvsDhVv1ll/w400-h400/woman-5726689_640.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: Pixabay.com</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Smashwords End of Year Sale</h3><p>It's the most expensive time of the year! So, save some bucks on your Holiday gift shopping! <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Sarellanorose" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">My books</span></a> are available as part of the <a href="https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Smashwords 2023 End of Year Sale</span></a>. You can get my short fiction collection, "The Fool's Illusion", for half-price and my other books are free! Take advantage of these and other amazing promotions on thousands of indie titles from now through January 1, 2024. Find your or a loved one's next favourite book at <a href="https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos"><span style="color: #fcff01;">https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>This will be the last post of the year, but by no means the last ever! I'll be back again with another post to begin the new year next month but because New Year's falls on a Monday when we normally have our blog posts here at the Fantastic Site, it may not be until that Tuesday after and so one day late. And as you may have guessed, because this will be the last post of the year there will not be a <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie (BTM)</span></a> review for this month. I apologise, but I’ve been so busy with the holiday rush that I have not had time to read anything that has a movie adaptation. So, the BTM will be back next month on the fourth Monday. By then I should have something read and it's movie adapation watched.</p><p>Do you have any scary Holiday story suggestions to add to the above list? If so, drop them in the box below!</p><p>Have a Happy Hallowday Season!</p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-85221530851966073502023-12-06T21:49:00.000-08:002023-12-06T21:49:16.390-08:00IWSG: Reviews Help Both Reader and Author<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBfCpSRk6le6pd6QdMBAzk6WGsn7PtONp7brCeav-ljGmBj1jMxgkolapPGe3kepISkvfXvpY9p9gaXDevttas-6IfGRfE2e_FbgDfCowh3k5BFIsslaI2vxS33afWoSANKDHO-xcGfWYAA9rqx6zCuGENmw2d_9-zaiuJdzNCW1DK8lJ_vptDS61yI29/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo for the Insecure Writer's Support Group depicting a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBfCpSRk6le6pd6QdMBAzk6WGsn7PtONp7brCeav-ljGmBj1jMxgkolapPGe3kepISkvfXvpY9p9gaXDevttas-6IfGRfE2e_FbgDfCowh3k5BFIsslaI2vxS33afWoSANKDHO-xcGfWYAA9rqx6zCuGENmw2d_9-zaiuJdzNCW1DK8lJ_vptDS61yI29/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group</span></a> (IWSG) post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. The challenge to my writing that began last Thursday and lasted through Monday was a cold. That shows us winter is here, doesn’t it? I didn’t want to push myself too hard because I didn’t want to get more sick. If a writer doesn’t take care of their health first then they eventually won’t write well. I did get some work done on my current story that I'm revising for my upcoming book of short fiction, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2021/10/october-newsletter-and-upcoming-short.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Bad Apps"</span></a> but it was very minimal. And I just barely posted my weekly blog post, which happened to be the monthly <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/12/book-to-movie-nosferatu-vampyre.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie review</span></a>, Monday evening in which I normally do that by the morning. I’m finally just getting back into my normal routine.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">IWSG Monthly Question</h3><p>Now for the optional IWSG question of the month: <i>Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?</i> I try to leave a book review for both reader and author. I feel both can get something worthwhile out of it. The reader can use the review to help them decide whether it would be worth their time and/or money to read the book, and the author can use it as input that will help them better write the next book. So, I believe it's important to leave a review for the benefit of both reader and author. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Author’s Newsletter</h3><p>There was no newsletter last month because of the Thanksgiving holiday that kept my family and I busy enough. I was also still trying to recuperate from October's Halloween newsletter. And the Christmas season is just as hectic, if not more, as the previous two holidays. However, I always try to come out with a Holiday edition of my author's newsletter each year and so will be working on that for the next couple of weeks. So, I'm going to try to release that about a week before Christmas. To sign up for my free author's newsletter, click <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. In this upcoming issue I’ll try to give more details about "Bad Apps" and will talk about my most current story that I'm revising. </p><p><br /></p><p>That's all for this IWSG post. Because there have been two posts here at the Far Out Fantastic Site this week, this one and Monday's Book-To-Movie, I'm going to skip posting for next Monday as I usually do after an IWSG. I’ll resume Far Out Fantastic Blog posts the following Monday. By then, I may even have the newsletter released! </p><p><br /></p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Do you leave book reviews for the reader, author or both?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-46998954595725778162023-12-04T21:23:00.000-08:002023-12-04T21:23:45.841-08:00Book-To-Movie: 'Nosferatu the Vampyre'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVdb7f6gJaC1abOlIL4ZBBMcUs4z5PdKFlzMmFdWAoSiooeGTYo6IafT0t-o4jVX9YRW4U_l0_tttUSyBwKsnZElO2O_oXl0C1A-w_UhXMPzgvbgdm9z2KU1J0SZ1-iRiEEujtrCderMgm1E5KRmLeD4xFK7YI9yDGQ255-WLLIPci1_rcHf9vzQVNmyp/s640/nosferatu-7783558_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cartoon of a bald, male vampire." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVdb7f6gJaC1abOlIL4ZBBMcUs4z5PdKFlzMmFdWAoSiooeGTYo6IafT0t-o4jVX9YRW4U_l0_tttUSyBwKsnZElO2O_oXl0C1A-w_UhXMPzgvbgdm9z2KU1J0SZ1-iRiEEujtrCderMgm1E5KRmLeD4xFK7YI9yDGQ255-WLLIPci1_rcHf9vzQVNmyp/w400-h400/nosferatu-7783558_640.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/nosferatu-vampire-cartoon-teeth-7783558/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Well, as I said I would on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/STARoseJr/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Facebook page</span></a>, I'm running late again with the <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie</span></a> which is normally every fourth Monday of the month. So, today's Book-To-Movie (BTM) is really supposed to be for November. For those who are new to A Far Out Fantastic Site, in a Book-To-Movie we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. I'm keeping this one short because I've had a cold all weekend that's put me back. In fact, I’m still recovering from it. In past BTMs, we've reviewed Bram Stoker's novel, "Dracula", and a few of its movie adaptations. These have included the unofficial original of all of the Dracula film adaptations, the silent <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2022/10/book-to-movie-dracula-and-nosferatu.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Nosferatu"</span></a> from 1922 directed by German director F.W. Murnau. During the Thanksgiving week, I finally got a chance to watch the 1977 remake of the latter, "Nosferatu the Vampyre". It's not a bad film, but it has several shortcomings that don't allow it to match up to the value of the original, the portrayal of Dracula being the worst of these. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bram Stoker's Novel, 'Dracula'</h3><p>Instead of giving a whole new synopsis of Stoker's novel, "Dracula", I thought I would just quote from the synopsis from my earlier <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2022/10/book-to-movie-dracula-and-nosferatu.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">BTM</span></a> of the original "Nosferatu":</p><p><br /></p><p>". . . Real estate agent Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to take papers to Count Dracula to sign as part of the purchase procedure for a house in Harker's native England. He soon discovers that Dracula is a danger to society who plans to use his new home land as a source of nourishment: human blood. When the count gets to England, not only does he drink the blood of innocent victims bringing them to their deaths, but in doing so he turns them into vampires themselves making them to also have to depend on the blood of humans. So, Jonathan, with the help of vampire expert Prof. Van Helsing, must find a way to destroy Dracula and cure his fiancee, Mina, whom the count has bitten."</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1977 Movie Adaptation, 'Nosferatu the Vampyre'</h3><p>The story for this '70s movie adaptation, directed and written by Werner Herzog, is mostly the same as that of the novel, and so it's the same case with the original film. Like Murnau’s movie, “The Vampyre” is reset from the novel’s England to Germany. Unlike the original, this movie "returns" many of the names used in the novel to the characters in the movie. The producers of the first “Nosferatu”, were accused of plagiarising Stoker's novel, and so had to change many of the story’s elements such as the characters’ names, including Dracula’s which was changed to Orlok. </p><p>Because many of the elements of Stoker’s book were returned to the “Nosferatu” storyline in “The Vampyre”, this film stays closer to the plot details of the novel making this one of its best points. Yet the original movie can’t be downgraded for leaving those parts out because of the legal issue involved. </p><p>Many of these returned elements are Dracula's characteristics from the novel. In the original film, Dracula was only associated with rats instead of bats. In Herzog’s version he's associated with both. Also, Herzog wrote back into the story Dracula’s ability to turn his victims into vampires when he bites them. There are others elements from the book that were included in the film, but I won't mention them here so as not to create spoilers. </p><p>Even though the movie had its good points, it lacked overall film style unlike the original. But the real problem was Dracula himself. His appearance is too melancholic and less terrifying. Even though he still keeps the basic features--such as the bald head, pointy ears and the overbite fangs--his appearance is more human-looking and so less demonic compared to that in the original. In “The Vampyre”, his ears and eyes are much smaller, and although he has the unusually long claws like in Murnau’s version, they’re comparatively shorter. </p><p>Another problem is that Dracula is shown too much throughout the film. In the original, the camera limits his appearance in certain scenes to his shadow crawling across surfaces as he stalks his prey, intensifying the suspense as well as giving a better style to the film. </p><p><br /></p><p>1977's remake of "Nosferatu" wasn't poorly made but it wasn't made that good either. It doesn't come near to the quality of the original like some movie remakes do with their predecessors. However, simply because it used the basic physical features of the vampire as in the original, it helped perpetuate the German version of the Dracula character in pop horror culture. This perpetuation may be continued by (can you believe it?) another remake of the film due for release in December of next year! [cite/link?]</p><p><br /></p><p>Be here Wednesday for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer's Support Group</span></a> blog hop post! Have you seen "Nosferatu" or the 1977 remake? Have you read "Dracula"? What do you think of the new remake coming up in December of 2024?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-63887614300313045312023-11-13T04:00:00.000-08:002023-11-13T04:00:00.142-08:00Psychics in Fiction; Poe Reference in 'Wednesday', Episode 2<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzhyS3IY4GuLhEuDhgJ3O3Q6eiBaLAUetVdG1Bk597UgmawA7Vjg2uc-GmEC4bNfETJDVnKRXs5oL0n-XnVALJTNsz3eX4G4evGWxcCAYDHYVsg_vhipq2bevsXGV490PL3Xzdsk09woJoVBR2RWV3Qp9xbfcyDCedzDYa__4ADrr42ygRvS2SDpdmwjL/s640/tarot-3777647_640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A painting depicting a Gypsy woman laying out Tarot cards on a table." border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzhyS3IY4GuLhEuDhgJ3O3Q6eiBaLAUetVdG1Bk597UgmawA7Vjg2uc-GmEC4bNfETJDVnKRXs5oL0n-XnVALJTNsz3eX4G4evGWxcCAYDHYVsg_vhipq2bevsXGV490PL3Xzdsk09woJoVBR2RWV3Qp9xbfcyDCedzDYa__4ADrr42ygRvS2SDpdmwjL/w640-h448/tarot-3777647_640.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/tarot-tarot-cards-fortune-teller-3777647/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Well already Halloween is a week and a half behind us and before we know it, here in the United States, Thanksgiving (or "Fangsgiving", as author <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fangsgiving-Ethan-Long/dp/1681198258" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Ethan Long</span></a> might call it), will be upon us! Yet, in my ancestries, we still celebrate our own versions of Halloween the whole month of November (All Souls’ Month, or Days of the Dead) as we invite our dead relatives and ancestors to haunt our homes, to put it a certain way. However, that's a little more of a, uh, mellowed down celebration. So, I decided to share with you a few other events: a talk by a paranormal fiction writer and a psychic that I attended last month; a psychic search engine in one of my stories; and something interesting that I learned about an Edgar Allan Poe quote used in episode 2 of "Wednesday", Netflix's "Addams Family" spinoff.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Psychics in Sac, Fiction and Search Engines?</h3><p>Paranormal Romance author<a href="https://www.dannawilberg.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;"> Danna Wilberg</span></a> and psychic Linda Schooler, both local to my home area of Sacramento (“Sac” for short) California, gave a talk entitled "Lifting the Veil" at the Woodland Public Library on October 21st. Wilberg discussed her series of books, titled <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Borrowed-Time-Book-Broken-Promises/dp/B084QLSDHG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RUIPCR4977Z9&keywords=Borrowed+Time%2C+danna+wilberg&qid=1699771748&s=books&sprefix=borrowed+time%2C+danna+wilberg%2Cstripbooks%2C131&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Borrowed Time"</span></a>, which she said started off as a short story. The protagonist is a psychic who helps solve crimes and whose side kick is Linda Schooler. No kidding. </p><p>Although psychic detectives are far from new in paranormal and crime fiction, what makes Wilberg's work so unique is that she uses real-life psychics, such as Schooler, as characters in her stories (with their permission of course). The other real-life psychic Wilberg has used as a character is Joseph Martin who was supposed to speak with Wilberg and Schooler that day but didn't make it. Schooler has a radio show although I haven't been able to locate it via internet. If any of you can find it out there, let us know in the comments box below. Martin has a web series called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHeIBSquDR0&t=1s" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"The Magic Minute"</span></a>. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Psychic Search Engine in My Upcoming Book</h3><p>Like I said, psychic protagonists in fiction are nothing new. However, a psychic search engine just might be. That's what one of my several short stories in my upcoming book, "Bad Apps", features. The story is called "Third Eye" which is the name of the search engine that types out the user's search terms on the screen before she can type it on the keyboard. That's a capability that goes beyond even what AI search engines can do. (So far, at least.) For more about "Bad Apps" such as progress on the book and behind-the-scenes, <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">subscribe to my free newsletter</span></a>! </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">'Wednesday', Poe and Lost in ‘Quotation’</h3><p>As I said, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/10/wednesday-and-year-of-addams-family.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">I started watching "Wednesday"</span></a> and actually liked it. But, Netflix being Netflix, that may be changing. However, that's a story for another time. What I wanted to talk about is a quote the title character uses from an Edgar Allan Poe story in the second episode. The quote is "Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." Or is it? </p><p>Well, Poe didn't say it quite like that, even though it comes close enough as far as the idea goes. The precise wording and so the actual quote is from one of Poe's short stories, "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether". According to the <a href="https://poemuseum.org/did-poe-really-say-that/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Poe Museum</span></a> of Richmond, Virginia, the actual quote is “Believe nothing you hear, and <i>only one</i> half that you see.” (My emphasis.) So, there's a variation in the wording mostly due to the changes in manner of speech between Poe's time and ours. Yet it shows you how popular media can mislead us, since to actually quote an author the words cannot be changed. (An exception may be when translating a quote from another language, but even then it may be best practice to make clear that it’s a translation.) </p><p>So, what got me searching for the quote’s original source to begin with? Well, I was really delighted when Wednesday attributed the quote to Poe because, Poe fan that I am, I hadn’t known that it originated from him. I first knew it as advice that my dad gave my brother and I when we were kids whenever we’d pass on gossip from our friends. My dad said he received that advice when he was in the military. So, someone in the military likely knew their Poe! So, I have to give "Wednesday" credit for helping me discover that that wise proverb from my dad originated, even if in a different form, from one of my favourite classic horror writers!</p><p><br /></p><p>Have you read any fiction with psychic protagonists or characters based on real psychics? Do you have a favourite Poe quote from “Wednesday”, or, better yet, from the man himself? </p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-1587382364676021682023-11-01T21:40:00.000-07:002023-11-01T21:40:32.122-07:00IWSG: Why I Never do NanoWriMo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKX9AGtreSDkwkmZ4Qr_mSPi9cQD1PAe8WSvtRbUwqHKFr2KybaqIYoSMTkDxM3LUodTgl77Ef9gDjUzD6b1QNcDQMBN-b68ttTPMxAH_ezf2YHWlG597h8GlP_ZRd4OZtzEPu05I-EQvh8XKmpjTFf0asfXuIKHqG40OHomLKpc2C1rPW-lziRGLmtYl/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo of the Insecure Writer's Support Group depicting a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKX9AGtreSDkwkmZ4Qr_mSPi9cQD1PAe8WSvtRbUwqHKFr2KybaqIYoSMTkDxM3LUodTgl77Ef9gDjUzD6b1QNcDQMBN-b68ttTPMxAH_ezf2YHWlG597h8GlP_ZRd4OZtzEPu05I-EQvh8XKmpjTFf0asfXuIKHqG40OHomLKpc2C1rPW-lziRGLmtYl/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions.</p><p>'ve never actually participated in NaNoWriMo. During the month of November for a couple of years, I did an alternative form of it on my own where I set a goal to write a novella, but I've never done a novel before and after not staying with the novella I don’t’ plan on giving writing a novel a try. When it comes to writing, I am not a novel person; I am a short story one. For me short stories are more manageable but they're still challenging and time consuming to write, as much as I like to write them. I mean look at the set of short stories I'm working on now, "Bad Apps": it consists of only 6 or 7 stories and I've been working on it for over two years! </p><p>But there’s some good news: I'm coming to revising my last two stories for “Bad Apps” and one is only the ending since the rest of it is how I want it. In the last couple of years, I've learned that I'm not good with fiction writing deadlines and so I don’t set them for myself anymore, at least not in the strict sense. Yet I don’t like keeping my readers in the dark so that's why I try to keep them updated with my author's newsletter. The one for October is now out. If you haven't subscribed to the newsletter yet then you can do so for free <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. </p><p>I'm cutting out here early because the past few days have been very hectic due to the Halloween weekend (in which I hope you all had a good one) and I'm so tired that I'm ready to let my face fall onto the keyboard. I won't be posting next Monday because we had the IWSG blog hop today as well as our regular weekly Far Out Fantastic Site post this past Monday. So, I'll see you the following Monday. Everyone have a great week!</p><p><br /></p><p>Do you participate in NanoWriMo? Or do you do an alternative form of it?</p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: PJ Colando, Jean Davis, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diedre Knight! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-1223496715518008032023-10-30T23:30:00.000-07:002023-10-30T23:30:54.264-07:00Book-To-Movie: ‘Casting the Runes’ and 'Curse of the Demon'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A9atsBXNIghSfbot5F-K2M8TD3jA1vtQm8mirqgZQclA1jpVVKKYe76WVcajOlutOKHkKInakRhPPF0EgEySn8gxqLn7Twm1tg076F4VgzWROMd88_BUgfUpr1bJrH0A-gn5VQj7PTlOfra4HNO93qzAhV0AVe9i_d9UchXRFn6bfij8S7Q9LvBboYn7/s640/halloween-g56a00886a_640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A cartoon of three jack-o-lanterns and four bats." border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A9atsBXNIghSfbot5F-K2M8TD3jA1vtQm8mirqgZQclA1jpVVKKYe76WVcajOlutOKHkKInakRhPPF0EgEySn8gxqLn7Twm1tg076F4VgzWROMd88_BUgfUpr1bJrH0A-gn5VQj7PTlOfra4HNO93qzAhV0AVe9i_d9UchXRFn6bfij8S7Q9LvBboYn7/w640-h429/halloween-g56a00886a_640.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: Pixabay.com</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I've moved our fourth Monday <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie (BTM)</span></a> again, this time to this 5th Monday of October due to the overloaded schedule of the Halloween season. But, so you can get a groovy Halloween post, I made sure to give it to you before October passes us unlike I did with <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/10/btm-dr-moreau-1996-movie-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">September’s BTM</span></a>)! A story by the early 20th century British author, M.R. James, such as "Casting the Runes" probably won't ring a death toll bell as does Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”. And unless you’re a big watcher of b-rated movies like me, not even the 1957 movie adaptation of “Casting”, "Curse of the Demon", will even ring much of a bell. Yet both short story and movie are made really good. One of the biggest changes made to the story for the movie is that the monster is actually shown while, yet, not taking too much away from the suspense of the original short story. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Short Story: 'Casting the Runes'</h3><p>"Casting the Runes" is about a committee officer, Dunning, who gets cursed by occultist Karswell whose paper on alchemy he had turned down from being read at a meeting. Out of vengeance, Karswell, slips a parchment of runes in Dunning's possession which brings on an invisible force of evil that terrorises Dunning. The committee man must find a way to return the parchment to Karswell without making it known to him in order to get rid of the unseen demon. </p><p>The demon in this story is described in very abstract terms most of the time because of its invisibility. In fact, it's the feeling of dread on Dunning's part that it's mostly described through rather than through its visage. The closest that we get to seeing a description of the monster is when it’s described biting someone. But often what can't be seen but felt is scarier. It's this holding back of details of the monster that keeps the reader in suspense and puts her more in the terrorised mind of the protagonist. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Movie: 'Curse of the Demon'</h3><p>In this movie, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050766/alternateversions/?tab=cz&ref_=tt_trv_alt " target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">originally titled "Night of the Demon"</span></a> for its original British version, the protagonist of the short story has been changed from committee man Dunning to skeptical U.S. parapsychologist Holden who goes to England for a convention on the paranormal. Instead of the rejection of a manuscript, the reason for Satanist Karswell slipping Holden the cursed parchment is because the latter attempts to disprove black magic of the former. </p><p>Unlike in the original short story, the demon in “Curse” is revealed, although only twice: once at the beginning and once at the end. According to an article in the October 2019 issue of “Famous Monsters of Filmland”, director Jacques Tourneur and producer Hal E. Chester conflicted over how often the demon should be shown in the film and so how much of the minimalism of the short story should be kept. However, I personally believe that limiting the demon’s appearance to only two points in the film was a good compromise which allowed the mere effects of its attacks to keep the audience in suspense and thinking more about the events of the story. </p><p>I had a couple of problems with the movie, though. One was actually a slight problem where, at one point, the monster grows from its human size to a gargantuan size for no apparent reason. The purpose is likely to have been competition with the atomic giant-monster films that dominated the U.S. cinematic market during that time that this British-made supernatural horror film was distributed to. However, one part of me was okay with it just because I'm biased for giant monsters. Yet, it caused a slight imbalance in the presentation of the story. </p><p>The acting was okay and so was the characterisation. However, Karswell's mom played comic relief too much for this mostly dark film and so, therefore, reducing the horrifying effect it’s supposed to have on its audience. Not that there wasn't a need for comic relief; there definitely was. But it was overdone with the middle-aged Satanist’s mother showing up all the time. </p><p><br /></p><p>"Curse of the Demon" works good visually while "Casting the Runes", its source material, works good psychologically. It’s a supernatural horror film that goes good with Halloween because it’s set around that time of year. Yet, it isn't dependent on its Halloween theme and so this makes it good for watching anytime and so doesn't come across as exclusively seasonal like some horror movies do. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Newsletter</h3><p>The, slightly, Halloween edition of my author’s newsletter is now out! If you haven’t subscribe to the newsletter then you can do so <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. It’s free! </p><p><br /></p><p>Be here Wednesday for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> blog hop! </p><p>Have you read anything by M.R. James? Have you seen "Curse/Night of the Demon"? Do you know of any other movies out there that are based on an M.R. James' story?</p><p>Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-42364606781782902402023-10-16T05:00:00.002-07:002023-10-16T05:00:00.138-07:00'Wednesday', and the Year of 'The Addams Family'?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5znQJhroAQqfmmliMtB2LxSQwS_ldfFyQKpaZ8x2BVRg09Sl0gDmuP4aUQLFSC5u5mFyDiHeW9xV-pDA3eS4d-_Cjysg33Lr7_Lb21QgtqSx2jW7EUU2YIAlQme-5IZE6V4-_zA_CUdqpzvyzf5Gzjk917aMVgXM9trHSRQUvY24ITWoAo19sp0VCpph/s381/Wednesday_Netflix_series_poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="This promotion poster for the Netflix TV series, "Wednesday", depicts the titular character holding an umbrella in a storm." border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="262" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5znQJhroAQqfmmliMtB2LxSQwS_ldfFyQKpaZ8x2BVRg09Sl0gDmuP4aUQLFSC5u5mFyDiHeW9xV-pDA3eS4d-_Cjysg33Lr7_Lb21QgtqSx2jW7EUU2YIAlQme-5IZE6V4-_zA_CUdqpzvyzf5Gzjk917aMVgXM9trHSRQUvY24ITWoAo19sp0VCpph/w275-h400/Wednesday_Netflix_series_poster.png" title="Netflix's "Wednesday"" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wednesday_Netflix_series_poster.png" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia</span></a>/Netflix</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I've always loved "The Addams Family" characters ever since I watched reruns of the '60s TV show when I was a kid. I was sure to see the first movie that came out in 1991. However, after seeing the sequel two years later I became skeptical of anything “Addams Family” from there on. I didn’t like the revived TV series from the late ‘90s and didn't even bother with the two animated movies that came out in 2019 and 2021. Just like I didn’t bother with Netflix's "Wednesday" series as much as it's been a big hit since its debut nearly a year ago. But I got an uptick in my own Addams craze late this past summer as it got closer to my area's production of a live "Addams Family" musical now playing at the Woodland Opera House in Woodland, CA. When I realised I was running out of episodes of the original series to watch on the streaming TV platform, <a href="https://pluto.tv/en/on-demand/series/5d7ffa69f3cdcd162e7fd500/details/season/1?utm_source=homepage" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pluto</span></a>, I thought I should read the original Charles Addams comic strips it’s based on. So, I ordered the collection, “My Crowd”, on Amazon which arrived last week. After looking through it that Friday evening I, believe it or not, finally gave "Wednesday" a try. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A Darker Series Than the Original</h3><p>As an “Addams Family” fan, I finally said to myself that I have to at least try watching the first episode of “Wednesday” and so I did. What I've seen so far has mostly been good. Director Tim Burton’s vision of a gothic setting definitely shows: it’s not only dark but otherworldly. Wednesday's private school, Nevermore Academy, is that. It’s like “Harry Potter”'s Hogwarts having taken one step more into the dark. In fact, the whole series seems to be “Harry Potter” doing this. The humour is more morbid, dryer and more sarcastic especially on the titular character's part. It’s all these more than the original TV series and movies. There are more lethal monsters in it that attack people in full. Wednesday (played by Jenna Ortega) herself is often on the edge of committing murder which is what lands her at Nevermore, boarding school for “misfit” students. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Characters</h3><p>The characters are likeable even if just in their darkly humourous ways. But the real twist to this “Addams Family" teen dramedy spin-off is some of the core members of Wednesday’s family. Like her character the ones of her dad, Gomez, and brother, Pugsley, are portrayed by Hispanic actors (Luis Guzman and Isaac Ordonez) bringing out Gomez's Latin background even more than in the original series (in which he claimed to be of Spanish lineage). It's a clever interpretation of the characters during this time of diversity awareness that works. After all, because of their non-conforming culture, the Addams aren't mainstream Americans which is why I’ve always loved them so much! </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Dark Humour Taken Too Seriously</h3><p>Being a darker, more suspenseful series than the original, it gets to the border line of gore. The problem with this is that it weakens the humour even when that humour is mostly dark. That’s a different direction than what the “Addams Family” comic strips and original TV series had taken. It's just another example of contemporary Hollywood, or more specifically “Horrorwood”, taking humour too seriously--literally. I mean, look what's been done to the modern-day Archies in “Riverdale”. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday: A Character Teen Outcasts Can Relate To</h3><p>Still, "Wednesday" seems to be, overall, a fun series. It has a really good script and goes in-depth into the titular character's life. In other words, Wednesday’s character is convincing and relatable to many of today's teens who may feel like outcasts, and even to we adults' own teenage pasts who may have been outcasts ourselves. (I definitely was.) </p><p><br /></p><p>There've been years where I’ve dedicated the Halloween season to watching "The Munsters". However, with the "Wednesday" craze going among television audiences and my own hometown’s performance of a live musical version of the Addams’ characters, I think I'm dedicating this Halloween to Charles Addams' gothic family. Not only have I bought a collection of his New Yorker comic strips to do that but I've gone as far as watching the first episode of a TV series during this time when television tends to lean too much toward the shocking and disgusting as an excuse for humour. I also plan on seeing the live musical which runs to the last Sunday of the month. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Book-In-Progress</h3><p>During the previous week, I began revising the next story that will be included in my book of short fiction, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2021/10/october-newsletter-and-upcoming-short.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Bad Apps"</span></a>. It's a story about an app that features a virtual Voo Doo doll. After this story, I'll only have two more to revise. For more details about "Bad Apps", <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">subscribe to my newsletter</span></a>, "Night Creatures' Call", in which the next edition, the Halloween edition, will be coming out around the end of next week. </p><p><br /></p><p>Have you watched the "Wednesday" series on Netflix? Do you have a favourite Addams Family character? Or do you prefer "The Munsters"?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-71863771016906207532023-10-04T21:54:00.000-07:002023-10-04T21:54:21.720-07:00IWSG: Generative AI Too Easy to Rely On; Book Giveaway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVLyfzFo_xm2tZ_uKCPs1h-tSlaXaS_x1JMaRE1Cceq7Np2S6ysz_xSW1e5Mbwx7nxJOeRx4U4-bdQ7IXCbXh7dL0eIMmwskloTbhyHRguF-2xkqB8vqKOGf5bqdrIUxJAwRgflb6twkbNoB86R6yvu_g6gsjlUpi8_fp_Lmw04vV-ERr7bRzc6NLpdfi/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo for the Insecure Writer's Support Group with a lighthouse in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVLyfzFo_xm2tZ_uKCPs1h-tSlaXaS_x1JMaRE1Cceq7Np2S6ysz_xSW1e5Mbwx7nxJOeRx4U4-bdQ7IXCbXh7dL0eIMmwskloTbhyHRguF-2xkqB8vqKOGf5bqdrIUxJAwRgflb6twkbNoB86R6yvu_g6gsjlUpi8_fp_Lmw04vV-ERr7bRzc6NLpdfi/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. In my post today, I answer the optional question of the month and I have details on the new deadline for entering the book and gift card giveaway that celebrates <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Illusion-Steven-Rose-Jr-ebook/dp/B00F785ZJQ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=21L3WORF1FNFZ&keywords=the+fool%27s+illusion&qid=1696480638&s=books&sprefix=the+fool%27s+ill%2Cstripbooks%2C142&sr=1-2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"The Fool's Illusion"</span></a>'s 10th Anniversary! </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Generative AI</h3><p><b>Question of the Month:</b> <i>The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?</i> Like other types of computer technology I've been fascinated with AI ever since I heard about it when I was a kid. As far as generative AI in particular goes, I think it's fascinating that humans can make a computer program that can respond on its own in a way very close to that of humans in written language. </p><p>But I was shocked to hear, back in December of last year, that generative AI can write full stories on its own. A month or two after that, I wrote a <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/02/what-we-authors-and-artists-can-do-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">post</span></a> here at the Far Out Fantastic Site about the dangers of AI writer and artist software. Those dangers range from the annihilation of human authors and artists' careers to the very severance of connection between human storyteller and their audience. </p><p>In that post, I offered some solutions to the problem: band together, demand creators' rights and avoid work produced by AI; or focus on buying each other's creations because there would be a time when mainstream publishers may no longer want to pay for human-written work. Fortunately, it may not have to go as far as this latter one because the Authors' Guild has been winning stages of the campaign against generative AI's takeover of human creators’ jobs. </p><p>Like, almost all technology, generative AI does have its uses for certain things and so, I think it can be used to assist us writers in our work. But we writers have to minimise our use of it. (I, personally, don’t plan on using it at all for my writing, with maybe the exception of SEO because that can be tedious for a creative writer.) It is far too easy to give our jobs over to AI in order to meet a deadline or simply because there may be days we don’t want to write. </p><p>We have to remember that storytelling and art are human acts. They are what make us different from all other intelligent life (at least on this world). When we as humans write, we are having a conversation with our fellow human beings who read our stories. We are sharing in words the experience of life common between writer and reader. There's a connection of awareness between these two that does not exist between robot and reader and probably, in my belief, never will. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">'Fool's Illusion' 10th Anniversary Giveaway </h3><p>If you haven't been here for the last couple of weeks, "The Fool's Illusion" 10th Anniversary Giveaway started on September 18th and was supposed to run until this past Saturday. However, it totally lacked entrants and so I’ve extended the deadline to enter. So, if you want a free copy of my book of short stories that this anniversary is for, check out my <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/10/btm-dr-moreau-1996-movie-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">post for this past Monday</span></a> to find out how to enter for a chance to win! Or you can go straight to the <a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/45e1c7ba3/?" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">form</span></a> itself . However, if you go to Monday's post you'll get a chance to take a look at the Book-To-Movie review for September (even though it was posted during this month of October)! Whatever you do though, do not enter the giveaway using the form on the anniversary post from September 18th since that form is now expired. I had to add a new one for the extension. The deadline now is <b>October 8th</b>. That’s this Sunday and, so, if you want a chance to receive a free book and a free gift card to Half Price Books, don't procrastinate!</p><p><br /></p><p>What are your thoughts on generative AI for writers and artists? Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Natalie Aguirre, Kim Lajevardi, Debs Carey, Gwen Gardner, Patricia Josephine, and Rebecca Douglass! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series </span></a>of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-9280986197323838602023-10-02T04:00:00.001-07:002023-10-02T04:00:00.148-07:00BTM: ‘Dr. Moreau’ 1996 Movie; Giveaway Deadline Extended<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZoE3FUaczWFunrC1J3hDcOMLRjZtnIs0DmKs9EPYb0cmPOewGXnMVuafZKNcsOhtPod4GTTFwVlHUdJQtrDtk34hKDqVuIM06ZZU616Tl3gdVEqKyxeNYEvkhNPjPPRcXGo-QDAlJyB2eOw6cV5OIup6EUEJVGm-vX2FNJBi7Wsg98C4F2kwuga0ZsDd/s384/Island_of_dr_moreau_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Promotion poster of the 1996 film, "The Island of Dr. Moreau", depicting actors Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer's faces." border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZoE3FUaczWFunrC1J3hDcOMLRjZtnIs0DmKs9EPYb0cmPOewGXnMVuafZKNcsOhtPod4GTTFwVlHUdJQtrDtk34hKDqVuIM06ZZU616Tl3gdVEqKyxeNYEvkhNPjPPRcXGo-QDAlJyB2eOw6cV5OIup6EUEJVGm-vX2FNJBi7Wsg98C4F2kwuga0ZsDd/w271-h400/Island_of_dr_moreau_ver2.jpg" title="Promo Poster for the 1996 film, "The Island of Dr. Moreau"." width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Island_of_dr_moreau_ver2.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikimedia</span></a> / New Line Cinema</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><b>Warning: There is a spoiler in this review.</b></p><p>As I mentioned <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/09/10-years-of-fools-illusion-and-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">last post</span></a>, today’s Book-To-Movie (BTM) review is actually for September because I was going to postpone it from its usual fourth Monday time slot. So, there will be an October BTM at the end of this month. For those of you who are new to my blog, in a Book-To-Movie we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. During the past summer, we reviewed in two BTMs H.G. Wells' novel, "The Island of Dr. Moreau", and its movie adaptations starting with the <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-to-movie-island-of-dr-moreau.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">original 1932 film</span></a>, then continuing with the <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-to-movie-island-of-dr-moreau-1977.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">1977 one</span></a>. Today, we're reviewing the 1996 version. This last one released during the 100th anniversary year of the novel’s publication and was intended to be a blockbuster but was, in the eyes of both audiences and critics, a flop. I don’t consider it a flop, but the problem I had with it is that it doesn't convey the horror or dark prophetic story-telling that both the novel and the two previous movie adaptations do. </p><p><br /></p><p>To reiterate, Wells' 1896 novel is about the sole survivor, Pendrick, of a sunk ship, who is rescued by the titular character's assistant and taken to the doctor's island where he becomes stranded. While there, he learns that Dr. Moreau is an exiled criminal who cruelly experiments on animals making them into human beasts. "Dr. Moreau" is a story about physically and psychologically surviving the terrors of a mad doctor and his subhuman creatures on a remote island. Wells does a great job conveying those terrors.</p><p>Sadly, the terror is not conveyed as well as it could be in director John Frankenheimer's 1996 cinematic version of the story. Much of this problem is due to Moreau (played by Marlon Brando) coming across as too comical and friendly, as creepy as he looks in his white makeup and priestly robes. In one scene he wears a tall ice-bucket-looking headpiece that ice is poured into to keep himself cool from the tropical heat. Because of campy acts such as this, Brando falls short of convincing audiences of his villainous role, a problem opposite of that of Charles Laughton’s portrayal of the character in the 1932 film in which he came across as too typically villainous. </p><p>One of the biggest changes in the 1996 movie from the original story is actually more of an attempted one. The story's time setting is reset from the 1800s to the then near-future of 2010 according to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116654/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_6_nm_1_q_the%2520island%2520of%2520dr.%2520moreau" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IMDB</span></a>, but there is no apparent indication of this in the film itself. But this flaw kind of works to an advantage since it helps raise the concern and tension of modern day's genetic engineering potentially going too far. That brings us to the other big change in the story: Moreau's experiments are based in that kind of engineering, a growing issue of the 1990s, rather than in surgical sculpting and grafting. </p><p><br /></p><p>Even though 1996's "Island of Dr. Moreau" does not live up to the terror and prophetic dark message of both the novel and preceding two movie adaptations, the tension and action is still enough to keep a viewer's attention. However, they may not be enough to compel the viewer to watch it a second time, especially if he/she has already read the novel. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz4FuFmxBg9DccIqfYsByD3ZjSLXWZrVzRnPVvPgigmaOaeX2GclB6pX8SdGiflyxHD4I6Ow2h_ReH4pZNQVik9i8wch2H-qDWn_QUCP3Eq9Airf1DlaTyoUUlZfzfq0dbz8B7HpbrV2v2_9iSKw90S9QW5uz-ZiScqqxyaV3DawRyxmWNArDgdAb6tLTR/s2404/Fool's%20Illusion%20BookCover--Front.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Book cover for "The Fool's Illusion" depicting a ghoulish jester holding a chainsaw." border="0" data-original-height="2404" data-original-width="1564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz4FuFmxBg9DccIqfYsByD3ZjSLXWZrVzRnPVvPgigmaOaeX2GclB6pX8SdGiflyxHD4I6Ow2h_ReH4pZNQVik9i8wch2H-qDWn_QUCP3Eq9Airf1DlaTyoUUlZfzfq0dbz8B7HpbrV2v2_9iSKw90S9QW5uz-ZiScqqxyaV3DawRyxmWNArDgdAb6tLTR/w260-h400/Fool's%20Illusion%20BookCover--Front.png" width="260" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: The blogger</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">‘Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway Deadline Extended</h3><p>Yes, yours truly has decided to extend the deadline for entry into the giveaway for my book’s 10th anniversary! There were not near enough entrees by the original deadline needed to select a winner. You can see how lacking of entrees there were by checking out the <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/09/10-years-of-fools-illusion-and-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">original entry form</span></a>. So, I’m extending the deadline to October 8th! </p><p>To enter the giveaway, simply fill out the <i>new</i> form below. No purchase is necessary to enter. All that’s required is that you are a US citizen 18 years of age or older. If you have not done so, please be sure to read the Terms and Conditions (which can be found below and on the form) for other important details such as when the winner will be contacted and privacy statement. </p><p>Now take advantage of this chance to win a free copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” and a gift card to Half Price Books!</p><p><br /></p><p>Be here Wednesday for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group</span></a> blog hop! Have you seen the 1996 movie adaptation of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”?</p><p>Until next time . . . </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="45e1c7ba3" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/45e1c7ba3/" id="rcwidget_ot15scvz" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>‘The Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway - OFFICIAL RULES (Terms & Conditions)</b></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. </p><p>1. PROMOTION DESCRIPTION: ‘The Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway (\"Giveaway\") begins on OCTOBER 2, 2023 at 12:00 AM PST and ends on OCTOBER 9, 2023 at 12:00 AM PST (the \"Promotion Period\"). </p><p> The sponsor of this Giveaway is Steven Arellano Rose ("Sponsor"). By participating in the Giveaway, each Entrant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor is responsible for the collection, submission or processing of Entries and the overall administration of the Giveaway. Entrants should look solely to Sponsor with any questions, comments or problems related to the Giveaway. Sponsor may be reached by email at SARELLANOROSE@GMAIL.COM during the Promotion Period. </p><p>2. ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA who are a MINIMUM AGE of 18 YEARS OLD (the \"Entrant\"). Sponsor, and their affiliates, distributors, retailers, advertising and promotion agencies (the \"Promotion Entities\"), are ineligible to enter the Giveaway or win a prize. Household Members and Immediate Family Members of such individuals are also not eligible to enter or win. "Household Members" shall mean those people who share the same residence at least three months a year. "Immediate Family Members" shall mean parents, step-parents, legal guardians, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. This Giveaway is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited or restricted by law. </p><p>3. PRIZES:</p><p>The winner will get to choose one of two sets of prizes: </p><p><b>First Set:</b> a signed print/paperback copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” by Steven Arellano Rose (writing as Steven Rose Jr.) (approximate retail value or ARV: $9.24) and a $20 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books</p><p><i>or</i> </p><p><b>Second Set:</b> an ebook copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” by Steven Arellano Rose (writing as Steven Rose Jr.) (approximate retail value or ARV: $4.99) and a $25 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books </p><p> Gift cards and gift certificates are subject to the terms and conditions of the issuer. Prizes cannot be transferred, redeemed for cash or substituted by winner. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to award a substitute prize of equal or greater value if a prize described in these Official Rules is unavailable or cannot be awarded, in whole or in part, for any reason. The ARV of the prize represents Sponsor's good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed. If the actual value of the prize turns out to be less than the stated ARV, the difference will not be awarded in cash. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty concerning the appearance, safety or performance of any prize awarded. Restrictions, conditions, and limitations may apply. Sponsor will not replace any lost or stolen prize items. </p><p> This Giveaway is open to legal residents of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and Prize will only be awarded and/or delivered to addresses within said location. All federal, state and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. Failure to comply with the Official Rules will result in forfeiture of the prize.</p><p>4. HOW TO ENTER: Enter the Giveaway during the Promotion Period online by visiting the entry form.</p><p> Automated or robotic Entries submitted by individuals or organizations will be disqualified. Internet entry must be made by the Entrant. Any attempt by Entrant to obtain more than the stated number of Entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations, logins or any other methods, including, but not limited to, commercial contest/giveaway subscription notification and/or entering services, will void Entrant's Entries and that Entrant may be disqualified. Final eligibility for the award of any prize is subject to eligibility verification as set forth below. All Entries must be posted by the end of the Promotion Period in order to participate. </p><p>5. WINNER SELECTION: The Winner of the Giveaway will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible Entries received throughout the Promotion Period. The random drawing will be conducted about THREE DAYS after the Promotion Period by Sponsor or its designated representatives, whose decisions are final. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible Entries received.</p><p>6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner will be notified by email at the email address provided in the Entry Information approximately TWO DAYS after the random drawing. Potential Winner must accept a prize by email as directed by Sponsor within TWO WEEKS of notification. Sponsor is not responsible for any delay or failure to receive notification for any reason, including inactive email account(s), technical difficulties associated therewith, or Winner’s failure to adequately monitor any email account.</p><p> Any winner notification not responded to or returned as undeliverable may result in prize forfeiture. The potential prize winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability, and a Publicity Release (collectively \"the Prize Claim Documents\"). No substitution or transfer of a prize is permitted except by Sponsor.</p><p>7. PRIVACY: Addresses and email contacts supplied by you will only be used for Giveaway purposes and will never be sold or shared except for passing on information for source(s) to send the prizes. By entering the Giveaway, you grant Sponsor permission to share your name and/or username on a publicly available announcement of the Winner.</p><p>8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for (a) any incorrect or inaccurate entry information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (b) any unauthorized access to, or theft, destruction or alteration of entries at any point in the operation of this Giveaway; (c) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, camera, computers or providers utilized in any aspect of the operation of the Giveaway; (d) inaccessibility or unavailability of any network or wireless service, the Internet or website or any combination thereof; (e) suspended or discontinued Internet, wireless or landline phone service; or (f) any injury or damage to participant's or to any other person’s computer or mobile device which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the Giveaway or download of any materials in the Giveaway.</p><p> If, for any reason, the Giveaway is not capable of running as planned for reasons which may include without limitation, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which may corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Giveaway, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Giveaway in whole or in part. In such event, Sponsor shall immediately suspend all drawings and prize awards, and Sponsor reserves the right to award any remaining prizes (up to the total ARV as set forth in these Official Rules) in a manner deemed fair and equitable by Sponsor. Sponsor and Released Parties shall not have any further liability to any participant in connection with the Giveaway.</p><p>9. SOCIAL NETWORK DISCLAIMER</p><p>A Facebook account may be required to enter. If you don’t already have a Facebook account, visit www.facebook.com to create one. It is free to create an account. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Sponsor and not to Facebook. By participating via the Facebook platform, participants are also subject to Facebook’s data policy and terms of use, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/update.</p><p>10. WINNER LIST: For accessing a Winner List online, visit http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/45e1c7ba2/? . The winner list will be posted after winner confirmation is complete.</p><p>11. SPONSOR: STEVEN ARELLANO ROSE, PO BOX 8481, WOODLAND, CA 95776, SARELLANOROSE@GMAIL.COM </p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-76151235302387455492023-09-18T00:00:00.006-07:002023-09-18T21:50:38.095-07:0010 Years of 'The Fool's Illusion', and a Giveaway<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHjbduTocABwQNHER0yN1jE-daHYp-PmnHcqE9RBCOfpDcXILJjZsqJpR8vevMNg5lQHUnYlBFXykZSd6nnzIpf7OhbPWbpq07AsrBuIupq80nYsSwzqCWhBj-AQjvg7wQTVJFa6kGtv1KN7CG0wH5iPEGAeOWUV3CGXQNgPNBoZxymjt2j2PUO1oAV2w/s2717/Fool's%20Illusion%20BookCover--Front--balloons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Book cover to "The Fool's Illusion" depicting a ghoulish jester with balloons in the background." border="0" data-original-height="2717" data-original-width="1767" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHjbduTocABwQNHER0yN1jE-daHYp-PmnHcqE9RBCOfpDcXILJjZsqJpR8vevMNg5lQHUnYlBFXykZSd6nnzIpf7OhbPWbpq07AsrBuIupq80nYsSwzqCWhBj-AQjvg7wQTVJFa6kGtv1KN7CG0wH5iPEGAeOWUV3CGXQNgPNBoZxymjt2j2PUO1oAV2w/w416-h640/Fool's%20Illusion%20BookCover--Front--balloons.jpg" title=""The Fool's Illusion"'s 10th Anniversary" width="416" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: The blogger</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><i>Updated on 9/18/2023 at 9:50 PM, PST</i></p><p>Ten years ago from last Thursday September 14th, I published my first full book of short fiction, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Illusion-Steven-Rose-Jr-ebook/dp/B00F785ZJQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=30OW6FVG5QLLT&keywords=the+fool%27s+illusion&qid=1694937161&s=books&sprefix=the+fool%27s+illusion%2Cstripbooks%2C157&sr=1-3" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"The Fool's Illusion"</span></a>! To celebrate the occasion, I'm running a giveaway, which you'll find the details for below! But first, here's a timeline of notable blogposts leading up to the release of "The Fool's Illusion":</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">'The Fool's Illusion' Timeline: From Book Cover Art Concepts to Book Release</h3><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2012/03/art-of-lettering-illustration-and.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">March 18, 2012: The Art of Lettering, Illustration and 'Illusion'</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2012/06/this-is-not-chainsaw.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">June 3, 2012: This is Not a Chainsaw</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2012/07/concept-sketch-for-fools-illusion-book.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">July 1, 2012: Concept Sketch for 'Fool's Illusion' Book Cover</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2012/07/completed-concept-sketch-for-fools.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">July 7, 2012: Completed Concept Sketch for 'Fool's Illusion' Book Cover</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-change-in-font-types.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">March 24, 2013: A Change in Font Types</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2013/06/finalised-version-of-fools-illusion.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">June 16, 2013: Finalised Version of 'Fool's Illusion Book Cover'</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-fools-illusion-book-cover-is.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">August 25, 2013: 'The Fool's Illusion' Book Cover is Completed!</span></a></p><p><a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-fools-illusion-has-arrived.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">September 21, 2013: 'The Fool's Illusion' has Arrived!</span></a></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">‘The Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway</h3><p>And here's what you've all probably been waiting for! (Or skipped all the way over to here for if you don't like timelines.) In celebration of this far out fantastic occasion, I'm running a giveaway between now and September 30, 2023 for a <i>choice</i> of two sets of prizes. The two sets of prizes are</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li> A signed print/paperback copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” (approximate retail value or ARV: $9.24) and a $20 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books</li><li> An ebook copy of “The Fool’s Illusion”, (approximate retail value or ARV: $4.99) and a $25 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books </li></ol><p></p><p>To enter, simply fill out the form below. No purchase necessary. This giveaway is open to US citizens 18 years of age and up only. Please be sure to read the Terms and Conditions (which can be found below and on the form) for other important details such as when the winner will be contacted and privacy statement. </p><p>Good luck!</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm taking next Monday off to take a rest from this busier than usual week. So, there will be no post next week. Because that Monday is the fourth one of the month when we normally have our <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie</span></a>, we will postpone the BTM until the following Monday (October 2). </p><p>Until then . . .</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">The entry form for the Giveaway</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="45e1c7ba2" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/45e1c7ba2/" id="rcwidget_9795is7k" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>‘The Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway - OFFICIAL RULES (Terms & Conditions)</b></p><p>NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. </p><p><br /></p><p>1. PROMOTION DESCRIPTION: ‘The Fool’s Illusion’ 10th Anniversary Giveaway (\"Giveaway\") begins on SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 at 12:00 AM PST and ends on OCTOBER 1, 2023 at 12:00 AM PST (the \"Promotion Period\"). </p><p> The sponsor of this Giveaway is Steven Arellano Rose ("Sponsor"). By participating in the Giveaway, each Entrant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor is responsible for the collection, submission or processing of Entries and the overall administration of the Giveaway. Entrants should look solely to Sponsor with any questions, comments or problems related to the Giveaway. Sponsor may be reached by email at SARELLANOROSE@GMAIL.COM during the Promotion Period. </p><p><br /></p><p>2. ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA who are a MINIMUM AGE of 18 YEARS OLD (the \"Entrant\"). Sponsor, and their affiliates, distributors, retailers, advertising and promotion agencies (the \"Promotion Entities\"), are ineligible to enter the Giveaway or win a prize. Household Members and Immediate Family Members of such individuals are also not eligible to enter or win. "Household Members" shall mean those people who share the same residence at least three months a year. "Immediate Family Members" shall mean parents, step-parents, legal guardians, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. This Giveaway is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited or restricted by law. </p><p><br /></p><p>3. PRIZES:</p><p>The winner will get to choose one of two sets of prizes: </p><p><b>First Set:</b> a signed print/paperback copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” by Steven Arellano Rose (writing as Steven Rose Jr.) (approximate retail value or ARV: $9.24) and a $20 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books</p><p><i>or</i> </p><p><b>Second Set:</b> an ebook copy of “The Fool’s Illusion” by Steven Arellano Rose (writing as Steven Rose Jr.) (approximate retail value or ARV: $4.99) and a $25 gift card (choice of physical or electronic) for Half Price Books </p><p><br /></p><p> Gift cards and gift certificates are subject to the terms and conditions of the issuer. Prizes cannot be transferred, redeemed for cash or substituted by winner. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to award a substitute prize of equal or greater value if a prize described in these Official Rules is unavailable or cannot be awarded, in whole or in part, for any reason. The ARV of the prize represents Sponsor's good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed. If the actual value of the prize turns out to be less than the stated ARV, the difference will not be awarded in cash. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty concerning the appearance, safety or performance of any prize awarded. Restrictions, conditions, and limitations may apply. Sponsor will not replace any lost or stolen prize items. </p><p> This Giveaway is open to legal residents of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and Prize will only be awarded and/or delivered to addresses within said location. All federal, state and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. Failure to comply with the Official Rules will result in forfeiture of the prize.</p><p> </p><p>4. HOW TO ENTER: Enter the Giveaway during the Promotion Period online by visiting the entry form.</p><p> Automated or robotic Entries submitted by individuals or organizations will be disqualified. Internet entry must be made by the Entrant. Any attempt by Entrant to obtain more than the stated number of Entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations, logins or any other methods, including, but not limited to, commercial contest/giveaway subscription notification and/or entering services, will void Entrant's Entries and that Entrant may be disqualified. Final eligibility for the award of any prize is subject to eligibility verification as set forth below. All Entries must be posted by the end of the Promotion Period in order to participate. </p><p> </p><p>5. WINNER SELECTION: The Winner of the Giveaway will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible Entries received throughout the Promotion Period. The random drawing will be conducted about THREE DAYS after the Promotion Period by Sponsor or its designated representatives, whose decisions are final. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible Entries received.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winner will be notified by email at the email address provided in the Entry Information approximately TWO DAYS after the random drawing. Potential Winner must accept a prize by email as directed by Sponsor within TWO WEEKS of notification. Sponsor is not responsible for any delay or failure to receive notification for any reason, including inactive email account(s), technical difficulties associated therewith, or Winner’s failure to adequately monitor any email account.</p><p> Any winner notification not responded to or returned as undeliverable may result in prize forfeiture. The potential prize winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability, and a Publicity Release (collectively \"the Prize Claim Documents\"). No substitution or transfer of a prize is permitted except by Sponsor.</p><p><br /></p><p>7. PRIVACY: Addresses and email contacts supplied by you will only be used for Giveaway purposes and will never be sold or shared except for passing on information for source(s) to send the prizes. By entering the Giveaway, you grant Sponsor permission to share your name and/or username on a publicly available announcement of the Winner. </p><p><br /></p><p>8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for (a) any incorrect or inaccurate entry information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (b) any unauthorized access to, or theft, destruction or alteration of entries at any point in the operation of this Giveaway; (c) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, camera, computers or providers utilized in any aspect of the operation of the Giveaway; (d) inaccessibility or unavailability of any network or wireless service, the Internet or website or any combination thereof; (e) suspended or discontinued Internet, wireless or landline phone service; or (f) any injury or damage to participant's or to any other person’s computer or mobile device which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the Giveaway or download of any materials in the Giveaway.</p><p> If, for any reason, the Giveaway is not capable of running as planned for reasons which may include without limitation, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which may corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Giveaway, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Giveaway in whole or in part. In such event, Sponsor shall immediately suspend all drawings and prize awards, and Sponsor reserves the right to award any remaining prizes (up to the total ARV as set forth in these Official Rules) in a manner deemed fair and equitable by Sponsor. Sponsor and Released Parties shall not have any further liability to any participant in connection with the Giveaway.</p><p> </p><p>9. SOCIAL NETWORK DISCLAIMER</p><p>A Facebook account may be required to enter. If you don’t already have a Facebook account, visit www.facebook.com to create one. It is free to create an account. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Sponsor and not to Facebook. By participating via the Facebook platform, participants are also subject to Facebook’s data policy and terms of use, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/update.</p><p><br /></p><p>10. WINNER LIST: For accessing a Winner List online, visit http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/45e1c7ba2/? . The winner list will be posted after winner confirmation is complete.</p><p><br /></p><p>11. SPONSOR: STEVEN ARELLANO ROSE, PO BOX 8481, WOODLAND, CA 95776, SARELLANOROSE@GMAIL.COM </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-3142729132144124722023-09-06T19:58:00.000-07:002023-09-06T19:58:04.181-07:00IWSG’S 12th Anniversary and Another, Upcoming, Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIxJbCfdcMUxBoMAdjHyfdBi1GUgkZs-c3Y7sxQgKlnvZZ4sOnIi5JYLFkiqYcZoO29SjP8ylLlPwU0Eu_BSJDgHisRt4YvT2akJD9kihpAx5MX9y-UGQVziq9mtyZFHP0XxCYuCWoaMEZ9pqYccOiLseJaqbwm18u0oKR6miEyrZOidgycfDYxybs9lv/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo of the Insecure Writer's Support Group with a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIxJbCfdcMUxBoMAdjHyfdBi1GUgkZs-c3Y7sxQgKlnvZZ4sOnIi5JYLFkiqYcZoO29SjP8ylLlPwU0Eu_BSJDgHisRt4YvT2akJD9kihpAx5MX9y-UGQVziq9mtyZFHP0XxCYuCWoaMEZ9pqYccOiLseJaqbwm18u0oKR6miEyrZOidgycfDYxybs9lv/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. To my awareness, this month of September brings us two anniversaries. First is the anniversary of the IWSG which is 12 years old today! Second, is the 10th anniversary of my first full book of short fiction, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Illusion-Steven-Rose-Jr-ebook/dp/B00F785ZJQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BMKLNG4J1N3E&keywords=The+Fool%27s+Illusion&qid=1694054178&s=books&sprefix=the+fool%27s+illusion%2Cstripbooks%2C184&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"The Fool's Illusion"</span></a> which is coming up next Thursday the 14th! More about that later. For now, I'm going to help celebrate IWSG's 12-year anniversary by answering the question of the month, which is catered for that: <i>The IWSG celebrates 12 years today! When did you discover the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you? </i></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">My Answer to the Question of the Month</h3><p>To tell the truth, I don't really remember when or how I discovered the IWSG. I probably came across it on one of the blogs that I follow. At that time, I was getting few visitations to my own blog and needed to increase its views and so I learned one of the best ways to do that was through a blog hop. IWSG’s monthly blog hop was the one that I was most familiar with and I think I was reading several posts by other bloggers, including IWSG founder Alex Cavenaugh's, and I left a comment on his blog saying that I'd like to participate but that I wasn't sure if I had the time to commit to it at the time. He was really friendly about it and invited me to join it when I felt ready too. </p><p>Well, sooner than later I felt ready to. And so ever since that <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-hero-can-doom-story-and-protagonist.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">first post</span></a> of mine back in March of 2019 I've been participating and have felt it to be a really awesome experience meeting and conversing with all kinds of wonderful fellow bloggers including Alex. In that way, I've made plenty of blogger friends that have helped me to keep going in the writing journey that can be a real struggle and has been for me several times. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Upcoming 10th Anniversary of 'The Fool's Illusion'</h3><p>September 14th will mark the 10th anniversary of 'The Fool's Illusion"! It will have been ten years ago from that day that I released my first book of short fiction which consists of horror, dark fantasy and science fiction. Since then, I've mostly written and published short stories individually in book format and, more recently, have been working on my next short fiction collection, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2021/10/october-newsletter-and-upcoming-short.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">“Bad Apps”</span></a>. </p><p>To celebrate 10 years of “Fool’s Illusion” I'm going to hold a free giveaway next week, possibly starting on the book’s anniversary day! It’s going to last through the end of the month, so there will be plenty of time for everyone to enter! Maybe I’ll even have a blog post of links to past posts that led up to the book's release. So, keep checking back here at the Far Out Fantastic Site and my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/STARoseJr/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Facebook page</span></a> for more details. </p><p><br /></p><p>It's great to be a part of such an awesome blog hop and group! It's like gathering as a family each time we post and comment on each other's posts. I don't see myself leaving any time soon! How has the Insecure Writer's Support Group helped you? Do you have any anniversaries of your own coming up? (e.g. For a book? A relationship? Your own blog?)</p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Sonia Dogra, J Lenni Dorner, Pat Garcia, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, and Meka James! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels!</p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-74475539253135413912023-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:002023-08-28T21:58:59.002-07:00Book-To-Movie: 'Dracula' and 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter'<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD9Qze5S4P3OPv6dFYsju_JddA2RJlbLis4L395Hr3aPrQBp9QdypGevudlqRLxgSoeXOt7YdUMt2L7x5pPCVuXNGQEmujYMLk8o4Be8noAa5bM37eswPAzo4USp30uYAAWwy89fiwi0Pf9wuj3U9JKTPh_S7Yn4WDB06JNBLQjD8EFEQT7anyEl0NG-_/s363/The_Last_Voyage_of_the_Demeter_(2023)_poster%20copyrighted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Movie promotion poster for "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" depicting a mostly shadowed out Dracula standing at the ship's bow." border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD9Qze5S4P3OPv6dFYsju_JddA2RJlbLis4L395Hr3aPrQBp9QdypGevudlqRLxgSoeXOt7YdUMt2L7x5pPCVuXNGQEmujYMLk8o4Be8noAa5bM37eswPAzo4USp30uYAAWwy89fiwi0Pf9wuj3U9JKTPh_S7Yn4WDB06JNBLQjD8EFEQT7anyEl0NG-_/w216-h320/The_Last_Voyage_of_the_Demeter_(2023)_poster%20copyrighted.jpg" title="Promo poster for "The Last Voyage of the Demeter"." width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Last_Voyage_of_the_Demeter_(2023)_poster.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia</span></a>/Universal Pictures</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><b>Warning:</b> <b>A spoiler lurks in this review.</b></p><p>I know, the title to this post makes it sound like Dracula's gone Indiana Jones. Although <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/06/summers-dracula-movie-is-based-on.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">the summer's Dracula film, "The Last Voyage of the Demeter"</span></a>, can be said to get into the genre of adventure since it takes place on the high seas, it is a very dark and terrifying film and so is horror overall like what any Dracula film should be. It's the fourth Monday of the month and so it's time for another Book-To-Movie (BTM) review in which we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. </p><p>As you may have guessed, for today's BTM we’ll be reviewing Bram Stoker's famous classic vampire novel and its latest movie adaptation. However, the movie's not so much adapted from the overall book as it is from a single chapter and so this is how director Andre Ovredal’s “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” differs from many other Dracula films. There have been a lot of Dracula film flops and this movie is just one more. But that’s only according to popular opinion of the critics. This critic writing saw the movie and was really impressed. There are different takes on the Dracula myth in cinema, many of them low-rated and cheesy, but "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" is one take that is believable and remains connected to the novel.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Dracula Movie Flops of Past and Present</h3><p>Most Dracula movies that have put the titular character in unusual settings other than Transylvania or England have been really bad. One example is 1966’s "Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula". (For those of you who aren't big viewers of sub-b-rated films: yes, there is such a movie and it does feature both Dracula and a fictionalised version of the infamous outlaw.) A more recent example is this past spring's "Renfield" which also did poorly. It did so poorly, that yours truly didn't bother wasting 10 bucks to go see it on the big screen after he saw the trailer for it. However, he did see "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" and discovered it had been far too underrated. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A Movie that Expands on a Chapter from the Book</h3><p>One of the things that makes "Last Voyage" work really good as an adaptation of Stoker's novel is that it's both set in an unusual setting for a Dracula film, the high seas, while yet staying within the story arc of the book. The movie is based on chapter 7 of the novel in which a significant portion of consists of the captain’s log that gives a brief account of the mysterious disappearances of the crew of the Russian schooner, the Demeter. So, this movie expands upon that chapter showing in a sufficient two-hour time frame the details of Dracula's attack on the ship's crew. It's a similar project to that of Universal's much earlier movie, 1935’s "The Bride of Frankenstein", which takes a scene from Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein", and expands upon it. </p><p>I'm not saying this is the best Dracula film made. However, it is far better than what many have given it credit for. The plot is developed in a convincing way by keeping it on route to the main storyline of the novel. The characters are likeable and, overall, believable even in 21st century racial and female inclusivity and so these two are written mostly seamlessly into the story. </p><p>And Dracula's character is made super well! Although he doesn’t speak any lines (like in the 1966 Christopher Lee film, <a href="https://gizmodo.com/12-of-the-worst-dracula-portrayals-of-all-time-1642944138" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Dracula Prince of Darkness"</span></a>) he is made to look terrifying with an evil all-fanged grin and a <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2022/10/book-to-movie-dracula-and-nosferatu.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Nosferatu"</span></a>-based, hairless bat-like head. The effect of terror works especially great in the glimpses we get of him in half-lights and lightning flashes which are some of the best techniques of the cinematography. </p><p>The movie has a few anachronisms, but they stay mostly hidden provided that you view this film for its thrills and suspense rather than as a scholarly reflection on a past time period.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Main Problem with the Movie</h3><p>The biggest problem I actually had with this film (and here's the spoiler) is that, contrary to what the captain's log states in the novel, not everyone on board the Demeter dies in the movie. There's one survivor and although we're glad that he lives because of his heroic qualities, sparing him from the fate of the others takes away the sense of mystery that the disappearance of the crew in the novel conveys so well. Someone living to tell about the arrival of Dracula in England makes us think that the evil count will take no one by surprise. Even so, the movie still leaves off on some degree of a scary note. </p><p><br /></p><p>If you like Dracula films, or even horror films in general, for the scares more than for the believability then you'll like "The Last Voyage of the Demeter". But if you like your period horror to be a precise reflection of its time setting, then you may be disappointed with this film. However, because this movie is developed directly from a chapter in Bram Stoker's novel, "Dracula", it easily steers away from the cheesiness that many Dracula movies run into when they put the count in a setting other than those that dominate the book. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6hlXpec41LUZivg16tJHJgp-Z4QBCvNi_VLn_8uNFdooE5rG8gEL0RYxmX27rxlgFGlGdiyF0gOy_NUy4NdtNjFAXhZm8LcmzNt3DKBYX0vGOU6y8mR58roalWDCZNFq2vYZ4B1w8Va0OBQ49P_4dn9L8BULhZ2B02WOQlZksA7toNu2Ca6rcpE5KMGx/s424/Night%20Creatures%20Call%20Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Water color illustration of a gorilla-like hand lifting the receiver to a 1960s telephone." border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="424" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6hlXpec41LUZivg16tJHJgp-Z4QBCvNi_VLn_8uNFdooE5rG8gEL0RYxmX27rxlgFGlGdiyF0gOy_NUy4NdtNjFAXhZm8LcmzNt3DKBYX0vGOU6y8mR58roalWDCZNFq2vYZ4B1w8Va0OBQ49P_4dn9L8BULhZ2B02WOQlZksA7toNu2Ca6rcpE5KMGx/w320-h240/Night%20Creatures%20Call%20Logo.jpg" title="Logo for the newsletter, "Night Creatures' Call"" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: The blogger</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Newsletter for August</h3><p>The newsletter, “Night Creatures’ Call”, for August is now out. For those of you who are subscribed to it, check your in-boxes if you haven’t yet. For those of you who are not subscribed, you can do so <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. In issues of this free newsletter, I go over the progress and behind-the-scenes of my latest fiction. I also offer exclusive discounts on books and cover other sci fi/fantasy news, info and details on events, not covered here.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Have you seen “The Last Voyage of the Demeter”? Have you read its source material, Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula”?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-83899163063037811372023-08-14T04:00:00.010-07:002023-08-14T04:00:00.144-07:00Dark Art and Letters at the 'Freakshow'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHw5SDg4_Rm8z2KeXkXcbqqmMdZvuJDIOCELqvXdUTWtRVVdab_Ggsl9wJCblX2_u2RQR4nYTRzMgx2s31OPHHbtdsdQzcQpN6fgpIxyIu7w-t3eYiLCNhoG_GZfKXiKiv7L5ON2jG1tQhP7brGfq23Vtoi05Ap9D7u7xFj_8N8YdUNE_nxaEgNtoYqjAW/s640/circus-742054_640%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The front of a circus sideshow theatre." border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHw5SDg4_Rm8z2KeXkXcbqqmMdZvuJDIOCELqvXdUTWtRVVdab_Ggsl9wJCblX2_u2RQR4nYTRzMgx2s31OPHHbtdsdQzcQpN6fgpIxyIu7w-t3eYiLCNhoG_GZfKXiKiv7L5ON2jG1tQhP7brGfq23Vtoi05Ap9D7u7xFj_8N8YdUNE_nxaEgNtoYqjAW/w640-h480/circus-742054_640%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/circus-tarot-clairvoyant-742054/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Well, we're in the latter half of the summer now, the halfway point having been this past Monday. By the way, there was no blog post then because the previous Wednesday was an Insecure Writers support group (IWSG) blog hop. If you haven’t done so yet, you can read my contribution to it <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/08/iwsg-scene-so-terrifying-that-i-had-to.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. However, the summer is really flying by like a trapeeze artist! Speaking of which, my childhood summers were full of circuses. I loved going to the circus! Until I learned of the dark side of many of them. I was eventually disillusioned of the way many of the animals were treated. Still, I can’t help cherishing my memories of visits to the circus. </p><p>So, as an adult, I’ve turned to the alternative. One that also often has a dark side but in a different sense: the nouveau cirque (‘new circus’). This type of circus is often inspired by the sideshows, also known as "freakshows", of traditional circuses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even so, they tend to have a much more humanitarian stance on the treatment of animals and human performers no matter how different they are. </p><p>So, I was sure to attend the nouveau cirque that was in town on the last weekend of July. Actually, it was more of an oddities market but it included some small circus acts. It was Menagerie Oddities and Curiosities’ second annual "Freakshow!" (as it was titled) held on Saturday the 29th at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria in Sacramento, California. While the artwork, strange yet hilarious clowns, skeletons of animals (said to be ethically obtained) and a presentation on early, real freakshows were great, or interesting at the very least, the attractions I want to talk about here on this blog of literary strangeness are antiquated horror books and their accessories. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A Vendor of Antique-Style Horror Books </h3><p>Because this was held on the complex of a library, this oddities market wouldn't have been quite complete without a literary side (“show”) to it. After all, many of us book nerds are oddities or freaks ourselves, especially those of us who read (and, like myself, write) horror. One of the vending artists at this show was <a href="https://thebookishdenshop.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">The Bookish Den</span></a>. They had their booth of gothic wooden bookmarks and antique-style horror books. Many of the latter were covered in decorative gift wrap with gothic illustrations such as skulls, with text in the background. The work was so beautifully done it would be hard for any receiver of one of these gift books to tear the wrapper off! </p><p>The bookmarks were cleverly made. They were wood with woodcut illustrations of gothic scenes such as graveyards, skeletons, bats and other creatures of the night. I thought they were so beautifully done, I purchased one featuring a graveyard scene with a giant skull hovering over it. When I got home that evening, I slipped it in my copy of an M.R. James short story collection. The Bookish Den was on the ground level floor of the vending area.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Rare, Illustrated Edition of a Poe’s ‘The Raven’ </h3><p>The second floor had vendors along the mezzanine that overlooked the first floor vendors. There were a lot of neat stuff up there too, including terrifying teddies and other such plushes, but one of the things that struck me most actually wasn’t at any of the vendor booths. It was inside the Sacramento Room where many old and rare books are shelved. It was an antique book of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" that a librarian was exhibiting. </p><p>This early edition of Poe’s famous gothic poem was folio size and had a lithograph of a winged/angelic man on the cover. Each line from the poem was featured on its own page with a corresponding page of an illustration opposite it. These lithographic illustrations were nearly photographic! They kind of reminded me of the art in my copy of <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/01/book-review-illustrated-edgar-allan-poe.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">“The Illustrated Poe” by Satty</span></a>. </p><p>But that’s only an antique of the 1970s, (and so not really quite an antique yet). The copy of “The Raven” exhibited at the library goes as far back as the Victorian era. The book was very old, and you could tell that it was fragile by its loose cover and browning pages. The librarian had to use latex gloves to turn the pages. I wish I had a photo of it, but I (as nobody should) dared not take a picture of it in its fragile condition. </p><p><br /></p><p>Even though I couldn't get a picture of the book, here are some pics I took in other parts of the oddities market that you might find fascinating: </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoaF3XxZauaupxZje9EjPIbl4-GHepBkk6BSC1QdzTjQRbRNHXTv4dq6Ei7sVCQBDlcbKTKYxytjRmNi6x-g-q4wo2LAC34rE3Saa197NwC-2t4RxB5kvvrCqBbQdeS032GQ43jJ_sPXbdsQFVyI_hc_Q3T3Qi6WmwSFXYqkNXqYG5T7X5Vpc-avXd0A3/s3014/Clown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A scary, female clown holds up a parasol." border="0" data-original-height="2008" data-original-width="3014" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoaF3XxZauaupxZje9EjPIbl4-GHepBkk6BSC1QdzTjQRbRNHXTv4dq6Ei7sVCQBDlcbKTKYxytjRmNi6x-g-q4wo2LAC34rE3Saa197NwC-2t4RxB5kvvrCqBbQdeS032GQ43jJ_sPXbdsQFVyI_hc_Q3T3Qi6WmwSFXYqkNXqYG5T7X5Vpc-avXd0A3/w400-h266/Clown.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPQNA_uYk_nWVD8JvL0uh89iip5ZgGOyty2XBIlR3_frp3j9gJPZ8Uyqxx-1ym_Ma2C66qVOsGtwXKv_nlaZMdwmKTf08lgdXLI0Zyq-SHWSf2KngM-ZvmyckxarW08Rxm2eEHXlsC_9qXWBcsPlwwzlWHymFZ81p5m1n8h0YMr4EbbIUskEzt_ayeU0-/s4128/20230729_145816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Circus dolls of a two headed clown; a weight-lifting three-breasted transgender; and two female dancers." border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPQNA_uYk_nWVD8JvL0uh89iip5ZgGOyty2XBIlR3_frp3j9gJPZ8Uyqxx-1ym_Ma2C66qVOsGtwXKv_nlaZMdwmKTf08lgdXLI0Zyq-SHWSf2KngM-ZvmyckxarW08Rxm2eEHXlsC_9qXWBcsPlwwzlWHymFZ81p5m1n8h0YMr4EbbIUskEzt_ayeU0-/w400-h300/20230729_145816.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxzzJKY7IuuxM7gJ5XTCjuzPc4v4kH01S5t30ZHTyenO64mdMPdtSZK0rNxHdLgKVzinnOVhshpcbwiCplrHOzfiCiervDgd-MTo_AwnfUl3xg6zh0_4U3eHzfShxsvt-04RjXNj7jdCQkkxZJeug2wI6O5MzEQJuz8HC-24SO9qXtylGGZisi4eZEODB/s1948/Teddy%20Scare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A huge teddy bear viciously showing its fangs." border="0" data-original-height="1948" data-original-width="1844" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxzzJKY7IuuxM7gJ5XTCjuzPc4v4kH01S5t30ZHTyenO64mdMPdtSZK0rNxHdLgKVzinnOVhshpcbwiCplrHOzfiCiervDgd-MTo_AwnfUl3xg6zh0_4U3eHzfShxsvt-04RjXNj7jdCQkkxZJeug2wI6O5MzEQJuz8HC-24SO9qXtylGGZisi4eZEODB/w303-h320/Teddy%20Scare.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Newsletter</h3><p>I’m running later than I originally have been on the newsletter, “Night Creatures’ Call”, for July and August. A power outage in my neighbourhood last Wednesday set me back on some things and, unfortunately, the newsletter was one of them. I was without power from the early evening into the early morning hours. </p><p>So, I ask that you give me another week to get the newsletter out. Just keep checking your in-boxes for those of you who subscribe. For those of you who don’t subscribe, you can do so for free <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. In “Night Creatures’ Call”, I discuss the details of my latest projects, such as my upcoming book of short fiction, “Bad Apps”.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Have you been to an oddities show or a nouveau cirque? What’s the oldest book you’ve seen in person? </p><p>Until next time . . .</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-65294388396228103042023-08-02T22:15:00.000-07:002023-08-02T22:15:41.738-07:00IWSG: A Scene So Terrifying that I had to Rewrite It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpIXswIdkKuwq3teSrTwDoA-_HFO1YZUjrYBbDfuK_56jO57zRv5QHW8Q3xiN4Afc3bS0P24826O2Wff65gbH89oWvUviArNYrKS6EgY5aGtZAmJCjwHj-TQruO63zXWszXr0uxSGguUZG50BjXcCnyOhslniFciGRqj91JhGAMxLCyFk1Hvq309S3EFy/s932/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Logo of the Insecure Writer's Support Group depicting a light house in the background." border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpIXswIdkKuwq3teSrTwDoA-_HFO1YZUjrYBbDfuK_56jO57zRv5QHW8Q3xiN4Afc3bS0P24826O2Wff65gbH89oWvUviArNYrKS6EgY5aGtZAmJCjwHj-TQruO63zXWszXr0uxSGguUZG50BjXcCnyOhslniFciGRqj91JhGAMxLCyFk1Hvq309S3EFy/w320-h315/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" title="IWSG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)</span></a> post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. The challenge I bring to today’s post is the answer to the optional question of the month which is: <i>Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?</i> My answer to the first part of that question is: yes, I have. The answer to the second part: I rewrote it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The conflicting part in my writing that I had to rewrite was in one of my recent stories that I’m working on for my upcoming book of short fiction, “Bad Apps”. This book will consist of stories about strange and deadly mobile apps. The story I had the challenge with involves a demonic creature from another universe that gets summoned through a music video. The creature is so chaotic and evil that it feeds off of perverted, sexual acts. One of these acts is a rape that occurs in the video. </p><p>When I wrote this scene in the first draft, it was so terrifying to myself as the author that I knew it would be traumatic for many readers. So, I rewrote it toning down on the graphic details. Even then the scene was still disturbing. That was confirmed when I presented the story to my writers’ critique group. I had been sure to put a warning notice on the submission so that if anyone in the group was too easily disturbed by such traumatic scenes, they could pass up reading the story. And, sure enough, many did. </p><p>After the critique meetup for that week, I was sure to refine the attack scene even more and so made it as implicit as possible without sacrificing too much of the terror of this terror tale. </p><p>I’m not going into details of the changes I made for two reasons: 1) Even with the scene having been toned down twice, certain people may still find it too disturbing (we all have different tolerance levels); 2) For those who don’t get too disturbed by those things, especially those who like horror and suspense, I don’t want to create spoilers for when the book releases. I’m going to try to release it by fall sometime. </p><p>If you want more details of “Bad Apps” and the progress I’m making on it (without the spoilers), then sign up for my free author’s newsletter, <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">“Night Creatures’ Call”</span></a>. For those who have already signed up, check your in-boxes within the next week or two for the next edition of the newsletter. </p><p><br /></p><p>Have you written anything that has bothered you so much that you needed to change it or even take it out completely?</p><p>Today’s <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IWSG</span></a> is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Kate Larkindale, Diane Burton, Janet Alcorn, and Shannon Lawrence! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cassa Series</span></a> of novels! </p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-57878190108523701782023-07-31T05:00:00.001-07:002023-07-31T05:00:00.132-07:00Book-To-Movie: 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' 1977<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfg2Q_fCTjWyQEDDlhThezDSwknJGl_Hbgbk_5Uyf_c0AsJ6HmZFriH6-g_VUchPXgjC8UK4zymg0tWtmsnGsi39FvrLy3GqtGg7UbxarV5QqOp8Ugy8OjrygL28v1Qvh9xJLgukt_bi1YasO1CqLK0FzZ47bYRW7ML1eV05YYOPPELMt9Y-4ZNWJcz3r/s383/Islanddrmoreau1977--Fair_Use.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Promotion poster for the 1977 film, "The Island of Dr. Moreau", depicting a man turning into a beast." border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfg2Q_fCTjWyQEDDlhThezDSwknJGl_Hbgbk_5Uyf_c0AsJ6HmZFriH6-g_VUchPXgjC8UK4zymg0tWtmsnGsi39FvrLy3GqtGg7UbxarV5QqOp8Ugy8OjrygL28v1Qvh9xJLgukt_bi1YasO1CqLK0FzZ47bYRW7ML1eV05YYOPPELMt9Y-4ZNWJcz3r/w271-h400/Islanddrmoreau1977--Fair_Use.jpg" title="Movie promotion poster for 1977's "The Island of Dr. Moreau"." width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Islanddrmoreau1977.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>As I said <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-hero-for-cult-of-shock-value-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">last post</span></a>, I had to postpone our fourth Monday Book-To-Movie to this fifth Monday. In a <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie</span></a> (BTM), we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. In the previous BTM we reviewed H.G. Wells' science fiction horror classic, "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and its 1932 movie adaptation, <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-to-movie-island-of-dr-moreau.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"The Island of Lost Souls"</span></a>. Today we're going to look at American International Pictures’ (AIP) 1977 film that has the same title as the book. This version has the realism of the novel and the countercultural revolution of the early 1970s. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Synopsis of the Book</h3><p>A short synopsis of Wells’ novel: A shipwrecked passenger takes refuge on a remote island and discovers that it is the place of exile of Dr. Moreau, a mad scientist who cruelly forces the evolutionary process in animals to make them human. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The 1977 Movie Adaptation</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Twist in Plot</h4><p>AIP’s “Dr. Moreau” is basically faithful to the book but, as with “Lost Souls”, leaves out a lot of scenes from it. However, it contains some twists that work well. The main one of these is that, unlike in the novel or 1932 film, the doctor does one of his cruel experimentations on a major character, literally turning that character from human to beast. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Filming Style</h4><p>Other major differences from the 1932 version are products of the film’s decade of release. Instead of stylistic filming like the original's film noir technique, this one's style is much more realistic which is reminiscent of the source material. It comes along with the 1970s' paradigm of cinematic realism. </p><p>An example of this (besides the absence of heavy light and shadow) is that, for the most part, Moreau's "House of Pain" looks like an ordinary Victorian structure rather than a strange, menacing one like in the original movie. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Hairy Beasts Suggesting 1970s Counterculture</h4><p>The mob-like attack of the beast people suggests the protests of the early ‘70s’ counterculture. When the beast men rebel, it’s not over the debunking of their leader, Moreau, as God as it is in “Lost Souls”. Instead, it’s over his act of hypocrisy. </p><p>Moreau breaks the law that he tells the beast people that they, like all humans, have to live by, and it’s a capital offence. However, the hairy rebels don’t react by bearing peace picket signs like hippies did in the latter half of the 1960s. Instead, they launch a violent attack like what much of the counterculture of the early 1970s did. </p><p><br /></p><p>After having seen "The Island of Lost Souls", even though I've always loved 1977's film version of Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau", I'm more of a stylist when it comes to film and so love the original film most. But being a fan of ‘70s pop culture, I can't love AIP's version that much less. However, the novel will always take precedence over these two films since only Wells has told the full story and has told it really good. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Smashwords’ Summer Sale</h3><p>Don't forget, <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Smashwords' Summer/Winter Sale</span></a> ends today! If you haven't taken advantage of the groovy markdowns on the thousands of authors' books during this sale, today's your last chance! These markdowns include <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Sarellanorose" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">my own books</span></a> that's prices have been reduced by 50% and 100%! </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Upcoming Book of Short Fiction</h3><p>On Friday, I finished another round of revisions on a story for my upcoming short fiction collection, "Bad Apps". This book will consist of tales about strange and deadly mobile device apps. To find out more details about "Bad Apps" and its work-in-progress, subscribe to my free newsletter, <a href="https://mailchi.mp/eaf13ca4d71e/night-creatures-call-newsletter-signup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Night Creatures' Call"</span></a>. I'm currently getting together a new edition of the newsletter and am hoping to get it out in the next week or so. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Be here Wednesday for another <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Insecure Writer's Support Group</span></a> blog hop! Have you seen 1977's "The Island of Dr. Moreau" or read H.G. Wells' novel that it’s based on? Have you been to the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale and, if so, found anything interesting?</p><p>Until next time . . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246316100259978987.post-73772579719678379352023-07-24T04:00:00.001-07:002023-07-24T04:00:00.271-07:00A Hero for the Cult of Shock Value in Science Fiction Literature<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH6aNM1HHQ8OdJyAVJqwlvBvkEA99VgdXtP63t-fq-skbYD_HP7FmAjN6o8ImMSv2gkqy5FnwygN6D50Gb9fQwUOQvZ_U_hlxepD7UF75IHVxPvPfouzirFcsEpWojJPw-NOR-QzGzCZvrGYINnOXHbQrqjkZegO40MmAV1Rz17TCg_EBfywDAEWPEYhc/s498/Hands%20and%20Bolts--Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A drawing of a the upper portion of man with two hands above shooting electrical bolts." border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="498" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH6aNM1HHQ8OdJyAVJqwlvBvkEA99VgdXtP63t-fq-skbYD_HP7FmAjN6o8ImMSv2gkqy5FnwygN6D50Gb9fQwUOQvZ_U_hlxepD7UF75IHVxPvPfouzirFcsEpWojJPw-NOR-QzGzCZvrGYINnOXHbQrqjkZegO40MmAV1Rz17TCg_EBfywDAEWPEYhc/w640-h574/Hands%20and%20Bolts--Cropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/man-hands-head-mysterious-magic-5488502/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Pixabay</span></a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>I apologise, but I have to post pone this month's <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/search/label/book-to-movie" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Book-To-Movie</span></a> review to next Monday. I had a dentist appointment last Friday that took longer than expected so didn't have enough time to plan and write the review for today. Because of this, I thought I'd talk about one of the books from last blog post's <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/summer-sci-fi-reading-where-to-get.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Summer Sci Fi Reading List</span></a>. I had said last week that I didn't plan on stopping the reading of any of the books on the list to switch to another book because so far, the ones that I were reading were good. Well, when I said "so far", I really did mean it. It was only the next day when Jeff VanderMeer's novel, "Borne", proved not to be so good once I came to a scene where the protagonist does something that’s there much more for shock value than for anything else. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Shock Factor in 'Borne'</h3><p>Instead of writing a synopsis of "Borne" for this post, I'll just quote the synopsis I gave <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2023/07/summer-sci-fi-reading-where-to-get.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">last week</span></a>. So, in “Borne” </p><p>"A young woman, Rachel, and her bioengineering boyfriend, Wick, discover and adopt a small blob-[like] creature that grows both physically and intellectually each day. As it does, it becomes more threatening to the post-apocalyptic city the two people reside in." </p><p>(The square brackets are around "like" in the word "blob-like because I just now noticed that I had misspelled it as "lkie" in last week's post. I apologise for that.) </p><p>As indicated in the synopsis, Rachel is the protagonist of this novel and so the story takes place through her viewpoint and is also told by her. She takes into her home the creature that she name's Borne, cares for it and teaches it human behavior. (It even picks up on human speech.) She defends it when Wick wants to cut it open to analyise it. Because of these actions on her part, you care for and respect this character. Or at least I did. </p><p>Until about a quarter of a way into the story. There, a random shock bomb is dropped on the reader. The narrator/protagonist directly refers to a time when, in retaliation toward Borne over a disagreement, she let out flatulence. </p><p>That’s totally out of character for the main character. It’s an act that seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the story and so not to move the story forward. In fact, it’s conveyed in a single sentence within parentheses. That nearly shows you right there it wasn't integral to the plot. It seems like this sort of thing hasn't been a problem with the protagonist in science fiction literature until fairly recently. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Cult of Shock and Disgust</h3><p>So much of American society has become addicted to sensual entertainment. Too many Americans simply want to be amused or shocked rather than delighted over a character or situation, regardless of how undesirable the situation would be in real life. Because of this, a cult of shock and disgust has formed in this nation. </p><p>The problem isn't so much with shock value as a genre. Shock value can be considered a valid device in fiction <i>if</i> the overall work was made for it and for a worthwhile purpose. The problem is when shock value as a device for its own sake goes mainstream in a genre. </p><p>I've read VanderMeeer's <a href="https://faroutfantastic.blogspot.com/2022/09/book-to-movie-jeff-vandermeers.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">"Annihilation"</span></a>, published three years before “Borne, and thought it was really good. It didn’t have uncontextualised shock scenes. It stuck to the main situation of the story and was consistent in the characters’ actions. So, a shock and disgust scene such as in “Borne” is an indication that it may be more about the readers’ desires than the author’s vision especially when such scenes have increased in movies and television within the past decade.</p><p><br /></p><p>I could go on with this and other examples where the Cult of Shock and Disgust takes over but, unfortunately, I don't have the time to do it here. But I will go over this problem in storytelling some more in future posts. Well, now I have to find another book to replace "Borne" with on my summer reading list. But that’s actually okay. There are too many other things out there that I badly want to read than to waste my time with a story that drops a shock bomb when it’s not even built off of shock value conventions. If I decide by next week which book to replace “Borne” with, I’ll let you know. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Smashwords Summer Book Sale Still Going</h3><p>Don’t forget, <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Smashwords' July Summer Sale</span></a> is going on right now! For those of you in the southern hemisphere of the planet, this is the Winter Sale. </p><p>Again, for this sale, I've reduced <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Sarellanorose" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">my books’</span></a> prices to 50% and 100% off! In other words, some of my books have been reduced to as much as free! Plus, thousands of other authors and publishers of sci fi, fantasy, horror and many other fiction and non-fiction genres are also offering super markdowns on their books. The <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Smashwords Summer Sale</span></a> runs to the end of July, but not all books may remain discounted until then so check it out now at the links above!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Do you think too much science fiction and fantasy literature has lately been sacrificing story and character for shock value? Have you found anything interesting at the Smashwords Summer/Winter Book Sale?</p><p>Until next time. . .</p><div><br /></div>Steven Arellano Rose Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03874980314982333471noreply@blogger.com2