Tips to Fix your Worldbuilding Blunders

With the end of NaNo just around the corner and your WIP likely in chaos, the wonderfully talented worldbuilder Lex Mosgrove offers tips on fixing those pesky problems you may have run into along the way.


NaNoWriMo is almost over and chances are you'll find yourself facing holes and contradictions in your worldbuilding where setting and story refused to go together the way you intended them to. Here are some quick fixes for the problems I commonly run into.

There are a few things you'll need to keep in mind to be able to fix these problems quickly:

• Make major change only when absolutely necessary.
• Avoid everything that would make any part of the story or setting feel contrived.

To Change Or Not To Change 

You accidentally created a major inconsistency or flat-out contradiction while writing and it turns out you like the second, contradictory version much better than the original. However, you’re not sure if you want to change it, after all you’ll have to change a lot of other things with it, which in turn can create new inconsistencies and besides, what if it just doesn’t work?

Your first step would be to ask yourself the following questions:

• Which version fits the story better? If either version doesn’t work for the story you want to tell then you shouldn’t use it. Period.
• Does the alternate version fit the core rules of the setting, and if not can you tweak them to fit without breaking the setting or story? You should know these rules by now, even if you made that world up just for NaNo.
• Can I change the setting to make the alternate version work in reasonable time? Keep in mind that what may look like endless hours of work my be solved quickly, but the opposite can happen just as well. However, this should never hinder you to change something for the better.

If you can answer all these questions with “yes” for your alternate version, then you should indeed throw the original one out.

Rebellious Characters 

One of your characters doesn't quite seem to fit the culture or world you intended him to come from, however changing the character would break the story (or make it very boring).

You have two options here:

• Change the character and story.
• Change the setting.

The crucial bit of information you need to change the setting without breaking it is what exactly makes the character not fit into their background. Once you know that you can re-design the culture or world to make the character work.

Cliché Hell 

There are lots of things you can do with clichés, abut these are my personal top three options when you don't want to do much rewriting or extra worldbuilding:

• Portray it as an old-fashioned view or outdated way to do things.
• Combine it with another cliché that's unlikely to got with the first one.
• Give it a realistic reason to exist.

Of course you can always break the fourth wall.

Here are a few techniques I use to fix problems with worldbuilding in general, and which work for these just as well:

• Visualization. If you're a visual thinker this will likely come naturally to you. If you don't know how this works, it's like watching a movie in your head. Except that you can change the camera angle at will and edit every part of it to your heart's content.
• Writing down alternate versions for comparison.
• Drawing it. Stick figures and simple will often do, and it's quite helpful to get an overview of a scene that doesn't seem to work and helps finding the error.

What other problems do you commonly run into? Have you found solutions to them yet?

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details! This is a giveaway you do not want to miss! And Warm Hands Warm Hearts still need your help.

All About Lex

Lex Mosgrove is a long-time worldbuilder, aspiring comic artist and notorious loner with an unhealthy taste for caffeine and True Norwegian Black Metal. They think that "normal" is boring and have made it their mission in (un)life to start small-scale revolutions when and wherever they see fit.


You can usually find Lex on their main blog, Worldbuilding Tutorials.

He Robbed from the Rich and He Gave to the Poor

Since I first saw him in Independence Day, Adam Baldwin has been one of my favorite actors. But he'll never be able to top his performance as Jayne in Firefly. In this wonderful video, Jayne serenades, well, himself. Do you have fun videos of your favorite actors "behind the scenes"?

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details! This is a giveaway you do not want to miss! And Warm Hands Warm Hearts still needs your help.

Saturday Scramble

The last Saturday in November is today. Oh my! Where does the time go? As I eat leftover turkey, let's recap some great posts/sites I stumbled upon this week.

Anne McCaffrey has gone between
Tension or Frustration? Which does your book offer?
Was Hermione put in the right house? (Make sure you read the comments, too. They're so insightful!)
James Patterson's Read Kiddo Read (This site is great for parents struggling to get kids to open a book)

Only 4 more days to get your hands on a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. All you have to do is buy The Loyal Heart and let me know! I read it this month and one of the characters has totally replaced Mr. Rochester as my favorite hero. Yes, it's that good. Merry is a wonderful storyteller and this unique take on the Robin Hood tale will leave you begging for the next book.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving seems to be almost as popular as Christmas. People look forward to the huge turkey, the swimming pool full of mashed potatoes, and football all day. To be completely honest, most of the "memories" I have of Thanksgiving are from movies. I don't remember much from that particular holiday, but there is one year that sticks in my mind. I lived in Ohio at the time, and because I was in school, I usually couldn't go home to NY to visit for Thanksgiving so I often ended up at a friend's house. But that year, my family came to me, and I made dinner. I baked the turkey, I mashed the potatoes, and I even made a pumpkin pie for the first time ever. It was great, and it's stuck in my mind all these years later.

Do you have any particular Thanksgiving memories that stick with you through the years? Do you have any family traditions? Share with us!

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details! This is a giveaway you do not want to miss! And Warm Hands Warm Hearts still needs your help.

Guest Post: From Aunty Ivy to Khubilai Khan

Some great news before we begin. Winds from the North has been released and is now available on Kindle! (Nookbook coming soon) 
 

This week's guest post is lifted from the entertaining blog of Colin Falconer (with his permission, of course). It was first posted on 10/24/11. Thanks, Colin, for making me think back to my childhood and what brought me to where I am today.

My primary school teacher's name was Mrs Boyne. She once told my mother at a parent interview: “Your son is a complete dreamer. He’ll never amount to anything in this life.” I still think that was a pretty harsh judgment on a seven year old. But she was right, of course, I was a dreamer. It was my greatest asset.

It was about the time I first read Jules Verne’s Michael Strogoff. To get my hands on it, I had to endure a slobbery wet kiss from my Aunty Ivy, but I considered it well worth it. By the end of that first afternoon, I was hooked on classic literature.

Every week my Aunty Ivy took the train down from London to visit with us in (what was then) rural Essex, bringing with her a collection of Classics Illustrated comics. She must have picked them up in the markets in London. There were some Beanos and Victors mixed in, but I threw them out. My treasure was the cartoon versions of some of the world’s greatest literature. I read all of Jules Verne in an afternoon.

And so began my love affair with literature. By the time I was eight I had read Moby Dick, Doctor Jekyl and Mister Hyde, The Moonstone, The Black Tulip and Ivanhoe, was familiar with most of the major works of Alexandre Dumas (Père), Mark Twain and William Wilkie Collins and had even read most of Homer’s Odyssey (although I never found out how it ended because the last page had been ripped out.)

You can see the still see the whole comic at http://jv.gilead.org.il/CI/28/!

I don’t think that back then Aunty Ivy knew she was giving me primers for my future career, for no one in my family had ever used their hands for doing anything other than making pies or fixing corner cupboards So wherever she is in Heaven, I hope there’s an angel making her a nice cup of tea and letting her rest her sore feet, God bless her heart.

Those comic books were important to me. I was an only child and though not particularly bookish – I was then, and still am, a sports tragic – it nurtured in me a thirst for great stories painted on broad canvas.

This appetite shows up in the movies I love; The Last Samurai, the Godfather trilogy, the Last Emperor, Empire of the Sun. All epics. My favourite author is James Clavell. I love big stories and big characters.

So Aunty Ivy did not just give me the gift of something to read when it was raining too hard to play football. Classics Illustrated stirred my nascent imagination and at the same time gave me an undying thirst for travel and for adventure. These little gems of comics also made me want to time travel, because many of the places I was reading about no longer existed.

The only way I could revisit them was to recreate them in my head. Imagining them onto a page was the next logical step.

When I left school the first thing I did, to the consternation of both my parents, was to go hitch-hiking around Europe. After all, why go to university? I’d read The Iliad and everything Shakespeare ever wrote by the time I was eight. What was there left to learn?

After Europe I headed down to Morocco, where me and my mate were the only white faces (then) wandering the Djema El-fna’a, the Place of the Dead, in Marrakech. Not too long after that I found myself in the middle of a typhoon in the South Java Sea, and wandering the Golden Triangle of Burma, shaking hands with CIA agents and drug smugglers.

All thanks to Aunty Ivy and Classics Illustrated.

http://corvus.shamwana.com/book/Silk%20Road

I guess what Mrs Boyne didn’t account for when summing up my future prospects was what would happen to my daydreams once introduced to the genius who sandwiched Les Miserables into 48 lurid pages with speak bubbles. The invention of the laptop, of course, helped a little as well.

I've never made the NY Times bestseller lists but this month my seventeenth novel SILK ROAD, was published in London. I'd send Mrs Boyne a copy, but we have lost touch.

Would you like to share what your teachers said about you? (Not just the bad ones - you can include the really good teachers as well.) What would you like to say to them if you could meet up with them now?

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details! This is a giveaway you do not want to miss! And Warm Hands Warm Hearts still need your help.

All About Colin

Colin is the author of over twenty historical novels, including SILK ROAD which was published in London in October. His work has been published in the UK and US and translated into seventeen languages. (None as yet in his native Cockney.) He has two amazing daughters, one studying English literature, the other manages a pub chain in London. So no influence there, then! See his web page colinfalconer.net.

Join Colin at his blog  or connect with him on Twitter .

The Original Kung-Fu Panda

 

The mom's reaction is absolutely priceless. I laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes. Do you have any favorite panda videos or pictures?

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details! This is a giveaway you do not want to miss!

Saturday Scramble

Morning, folks! Tis Saturday, which means huevos rancheros and the Saturday Scramble! I really enjoyed this week's round of posts. Some were pretty funny. Enjoy!

Ralphie's Gifting Secret
Star Wars Video Mash-up
The Peasant Diet I think they ate better than we do oftentimes.
Biking in Panties A hilarious story that had me cringing for the author
Warm Hands Warm Hearts is still in need of donations.

Make sure you pick up your copy of The Loyal Heart by November 30th and email me a copy of the receipt. You'll be entered to win the sequel, The Faithful Heart, a great Christmas gift for you or a friend! This is one book you do not want to miss! It might very well be my favorite book this year, and I'm not even done yet!

Who Designed That Ship??

Even as an action figure, he's badass
From Flickr - ShaunWong

I'm a huge Boba Fett fan. There are no two ways about it. When someone asks me what fictional character I'd like to meet, the answer is always Boba Fett. The man is, hands down, the most awesomest epically badass dude in any galaxy, world, fictional setting you want to name. He rocks.

But in my late-night, pre-dream fantasizing about Boba Fett meeting me on some far away planet and falling head-over-heels in love with me, I've run into some mind-boggling and troubling issues. I tend to be a realistic fantasizer. If I'm crushing on a Hollywood celeb and find out he has a girlfriend, I have a hard time pretending he doesn't. I feel like I'm making him cheat in my mind, and it kills the crush pretty quickly. So the issues with the ship put a huge wrinkle in my plans to spend the rest of my life (and his) on Slave (whatever number he happens to be on at the time). I'm sure some of you are looking at me like I have two heads now, but that's ok. Bear with me. I'm going to focus on Slave I, but all of his ships are the same model, so they all have the same inherent issue.

See? Makes no sense!
From Flickr - Doc_Brown

And that issue is gravity. I don't know who designed the ship or came up with the idea for it to lay on it's back while in port, then stand up while flying, but it was a bad idea. It makes no sense. What about gravity? Gravity has to exist, whether it's real or artificial, or everything just floats around and we know from the movies and books that he doesn't float in his ship constantly.

First, let's think about storage. There is a cargo hold and cupboards and such. Even if each and every storage compartment had its own artificial gravity to keep things from tumbling all over, what happens when he needs something while the ship is landed? He opens the door, breaks the gravity plane, and boom, everything tumbles out onto the floor. Or if somehow the plane stays in tact while his hand reaches in there, if whatever he pulls out doesn't have a cover, it's going to spill all over. And what's going to happen to his hand when half of it is in one gravity plane while half is in the other? That has to mess with his cells somehow.

Looks cool, but impractical (so not Fett)
From Flickr - Justin Good

Anyhoo, problem two: his captives. I know he's not too horribly concerned about them, but he does like to keep them from hurting themselves too much. The less damaged the goods, the better the price, right? He can't have them tumbling all pell mell whenever he takes off and lands. And the same goes for his cargo. He'd have to tie each and every piece down to keep it from shifting. Way too much trouble just to have a ship that looks cool when it's flying.

Not to mention the annoying issue of having to climb into a chair sideways.Remember that scene in Episode 2 (I think) where Boba and Jango had to climb into the ship while it was docked? Yeah, not very comfortable. And the cabin would have to be insanely tiny in order to sit in the chair while you're standing on the wall. Plus, unless they plan on crawling everywhere while the ship is landed, all hallways would have to be as wide as they are tall. Impractical and a waste of space. (And on a semi-unrelated note, I doubt the ship is as small or minimal as images would have you believe. There is no way that someone who spends 90% of their time on their ship doesn't have a place to sleep or an area to relax in. Boba Fett was hardcore, but he's not a robot.)

So there you have it. While Boba Fett is probably the coolest person to ever (not) exist, his ship falls short of his awesomeness.

Are there any seemingly minor aspects of any movies or books that drive you bonkers and make you wonder what the author/designer was thinking?

All this  month, you can be entered to win a free copy of The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer. Check here for more details!

Warm Hands Warm Hearts

Sorry to inundate you with posts this week, folks, but this charity drive just came to my attention and I think it deserves mentioning. As many of you know, the area I live in was hit hard by Tropical Storm Lee in early September and a lot of people are still suffering. The Warm Hands Warm Hearts campaign is collecting gloves, hats, scarves, and mittens for both children and adults to help those who lost all their winter clothing. From now until December 10th, I will put $1 of every book sale toward purchasing those items, and I will also collect donations from those so inclined. If you are a knitter/sewer/what-have-you and have spare items lying around that you would like to donate, please contact me privately and I will find an address for the items to be shipped to.

Living a Double Life

I posted about this a tiny bit in a previous post, but I wanted to expand on it. A lot of people in my family are anti-internet. They think it's this horrible thing that causes trouble and badmouth anyone who spends time on it. They think less of me because I spend so much time on it, and because of that, I live a double life.

The person they see is not the person I really am. The person they know is quiet, reserved, somewhat standoffish, uncomfortable in groups, and I'm sure some of them think I'm a bitch. They know very little about me and very few of them even ask. They all know I've published a novel and many of them bought copies, but only two family members and one friend have actually read it, and I have a very big family. I would've given them all free copies, if only they'd read it. That's what matters, but they won't. Yeah, it annoys me, considering all the times people have come to me for help with editing or making something sound nice. I've read a lot of crap I didn't want to read, because they were family and it's what you do for family. But apparently that feeling wasn't reciprocated and in the last year I've gotten better at dealing with it.

So what has helped me deal with it? The internet. Yes, that horrible awful thing that sucks away my time and earns me the criticism of my family. But there is something about the internet that my family doesn't know: The internet is supportive. Ok, so it's not the internet, exactly, but it's the people I can find on the internet.

Believe it or not, the strangers I meet on the internet tend to be exponentially more supportive than my family. They care about me and encourage me to find my true self, instead of expecting me to be someone I'm not. They don't tell me I need to do something I hate, just because that's what people "should" do. They tell me I need to find what makes me happy, and they support me in my decisions. They lift me up when I'm sad and listen to me when I need someone to talk to instead of making me feel like I'm weak for having feelings.They don't bash me for playing video games because many of them do, too. They don't roll their eyes when I talk about a fantasy or sci-fi book or movie, because they love the same things. They're just as crazy and weird as I am, and they make me feel like I actually belong somewhere, even if it may not be a real, tangible place.

I doubt any family members are reading this, but if you are and it offends you, I apologize. But there's no getting around it: My internet family loves me in a way my real family simply can't. I want to thank you all for your love, support, and encouragement. It is because of you folks that I pushed through my first novel and got it self-published. It's because of you that I'm still writing today and actually enjoying it. It's you who tells me to suck it up and keep going when things get rough.

You are my support system, and though I may never meet you face-to-face or share a laugh over coffee with you, you mean the world to me and I wouldn't be who I am without you. Thank you.

Nature Has A Sense Of Humor

It's true. And the evidence is in the fainting goat. These things are hilarious, and there are videos out the wazoo about them. Some people can watch cat videos for hours. I watch fainting goats. They're some of the most entertaining creatures out there. Just don't challenge them to a game of Red Light, Green Light. I'm pretty sure you'd lose. 

Saturday Scramble

Woohoo! It's Saturday! Time for our weekly round-up. There were some great blog posts this week.

Are Libraries Good for Authors?  -- I give this an emphatic "Yes!!!".
Silly Soapbox: Beer Can Barriers
Stop Kicking My Chair--An interesting post on how Twitter is often more informative than your local news station
Why Sliders May Be Possible--Who didn't love the show Sliders? And how awesome would it be if it was real??
I'll Get To It Later--Procrastination at its finest
Why Marcy Kennedy falls for promotional contests every time

I told you there were some great blogs this week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

And just a quick reminder:

The Loyal Heart is our indie book of the month, and the wonderful Merry Farmer has offered three copies of the sequel, The Faithful Heart, to my lovely readers.All you have to do to be entered is purchase The Loyal Heart between now and November 30th and email me a copy of the receipt.

A Special Thanks For Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day (which is technically tomorrow), I would like to give thanks to a very special soldier. My best friend's husband risked everything for this country when he spent several years in Iraq as an Army Ranger. He continues his sacrifice daily as he struggles with life-threatening health conditions as a result of the war.

I also would like to thank his wife, who has been by his side the entire time and is a veteran in her own way. Though she did not serve, she deserves to be recognized for standing beside her husband and caring for him and their two children through the craziness of their lives. They go through each day never knowing what the next will bring, and meet it all head-on with squared shoulders and their heads held high.

Guest Post: Recipe for a Hero—and Other Character Lessons from Stargate

When Samantha and I were tossing around the idea of a guest post for her blog, I mentioned that I’m a Stargate addict. Samantha then sheepishly confessed that she hadn’t seen it before. Once I picked myself up off the floor and scrambled back into my chair, I decided that I would use my guest post to convince her to “get in the gate.” **Note from Samantha: Janelle's enthusiasm convinced me to sign up for Netflix again just so I could watch SG1. Netflix should thank her.

I’ve been a Stargate fan for longer than I’ve been seriously pursuing a career as a fiction writer. Stargate SG1 was my “gateway drug” into science fiction. And I’m proud to say that I can find a Stargate reference in any moment in life. (In need of stress relief? Have you tried Kel’no’reem?) Besides arming me with a lifetime supply of jokes that only my fellow nerdmigos appreciate, my love of Stargate has taught me a few lessons that I apply to my writing.

Lesson No. 1: There’s a No-Fail Recipe for a Hero.

Take a tragic past, an innate sense of justice, and unwavering sense of duty; add a full stick of courage; let rise overnight. The result: One able-bodied hero not afraid to make incredible sacrifices for what he (or she!) believes is the right thing. Take, for example, a couple guys at the SGC:

Col. Jack O’Neill, U.S. Air Force. Played by Richard Dean Anderson (of McGyver fame), Jack O’Neill would make the perfect romance-novel hero. Coming from a traumatic past (his son died in a tragic accident and his marriage ended in divorce), O’Neill dedicates his every waking moment to fighting the Goa’uld. He’s also famous for those wry comments that only Anderson could deliver so perfectly:

O'Neill: “Just give me some kind of warning.”
Teal'c: “I'm going to shoot you.”
O'Neill: “I was thinking more along the lines of, ‘On 3.’”

Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). Daniel Jackson is the perfect foil to O’Neill, playing the moral compass on the team. He says, “Let’s talk it over,” every time O’Neill says, “We’re done talking” (usually followed by, “Set the timer on the C4.”). Shanks delivers the perfect blend of buff and bookworm. As the series progresses, his character evolves from ridiculed archeologist with allergies to a gun-wielding, kick-ass space explorer fit to battle any system lord. His knack for coming back from the dead certainly helps matters. ;)

Teal’c (Christopher Judge). The ultimate stoic, the shol-va (traitor), a Jaffa and former first prime to Apophis, Teal’c is the guy you want to have your back. He is a warrior first and foremost, but one cannot help but ponder what lies beneath that tough-as-nails exterior. I swear, one day I will wear a t-shirt with a pic of Christopher Judge that reads, “Team Teal’c.”

Edward Cullen might glitter, but he has nothing on the men at the SGC.

Lesson No. 2: Character dynamics create tension, conflict, and humor.

Characters with opposing motives, goals, and worldviews don’t just create snappy dialogue and conflict, fueling the fire of our plots; they also provide great comic fodder (often coming in handy for necessary comic relief scenes—it can’t be all doom-and-gloom).

In the SG1 spinoff Stargate Atlantis, the creators took the franchise on a different path. The members of the Atlantis team have far more tense relationships with each other. They don’t always do the right thing. In fact, they frequently do the wrong thing believing it is the right thing. Maj. John Sheppard (played by Joe Flanigan) is no exception. He and scientist/genius/egomaniac Rodney Mackay provide great character dynamics, resulting in anything from near-tragedy (as when Mackay blows up a solar system, nearly taking himself with it) to hilarity.

If you want a great laugh, I suggest the episode “Harmony.” Watching Sheppard and Mackay traipse through the wilderness with a spoiled pre-teen princess is an absolute riot. Mackay might lack Jackson’s sense of ethics, but he’s still a personal favorite. His one-liners also rock: “Don’t be so analog.” “Good thing I remember DOS.” And, on one occasion: “I’m not crazy; I just have another consciousness in my brain.” A big part of why those one-liners work so well is because of how Mackay relates—or rather, doesn’t relate—to his fellow team members.

Lesson No. 3: Writers always hurt the ones they love.

As much as we love our characters, if we want our readers to love them as well, we must make them suffer. The hero can’t be the hero if he’s just gliding through life, easily winning every battle, overcoming every obstacle, and not having to sacrifice. It’s not enough to fight hard, something must be relinquished, something with which the character would not part willingly. In the pilot of SG1 (**Newbies: Spoiler Alert**) Daniel Jackson’s wife is taken as a host by the Goa’uld. He joins the battle against the system lords in part to save her.

If our characters get everything they want, the story is missing that final piece. As I revise my WIPs, one point on my checklist is to make sure the characters don’t achieve their goals too easily. We can’t just chase our characters up a tree and throw pebbles. We have to hurl a couple boulders up there—maybe even set the tree on fire.

Are you a Stargate fan? Who’s your favorite character, and why? What have your favorite shows taught you about writing?

All About Janelle

A writer of paranormal and fantasy romance, Janelle Madigan pens stories that often feature the fae, magic, witches, and world mythologies–but there’s no telling what rabbit holes she’ll follow her characters down. Her fiction runs the gamut from short stories to novellas to full-length novels, with settings from urban to earthy to subterranean.

She watches way too much Stargate, Charmed, and Buffy; has an off-the-wall sense of humor; and practices her own blend of magic and spirituality, hedge-witch style. She’s afraid of praying mantises, skydiving, and roller coasters but will eagerly run toward anything that goes bump in the night. A Pennsylvania native, she currently lives in Virginia with her husband and their household full of animals.

Join Janelle at her blog , or connect with her on Facebook , LiveJournal , or Twitter .

The Freedom To Be Ourselves

The Guild is one of my favorite webseries ever. It follows a group of gamers who bond together to join create a guild and form an unlikely friendship. It speaks to anyone who is a gamer geek at heart. But this music video is their best work, IMO. It's funny and tongue-in-cheek. But if you think about it, don't we all put on a different face for the internet? I find it much easier to be open with my online buddies than in person. Maybe we don't all make avatars in video games (I do), but we all take on a slightly different personality, show a different face than we do to our family. And why not? It's a place where we can be who we want to be, where we won't be judged based on our past or what people think we should be, where we can be free to be ourselves.

Saturday Scramble, IBotM, & A Giveaway!

It's November, and it's Saturday. That means two things, and they're both great for you!

First up, we have the Indie Book of the Month. The Loyal Heart is the first book in the Noble Hearts series by Merry Farmer. I'm super excited about reading it and it's next in my TBR queue (though I sneaked a peek at the sample and I might end up putting the other book aside). The second book is due out by Christmas. Merry is being extremely generous and offering copies of that book, The Faithful Heart, to three lucky readers. All you have to do to be entered is purchase The Loyal Heart between now and November 30th and email me a copy of the receipt. Easy peasy! This is definitely a giveaway you don't want to miss!

Now for the Saturday Scramble!
The Cost of Kindle Books - Pay Up or Shut Up
Why Tolkien Wouldn't Be Published Today
Harry Potter - Character Analysis: Snape (Part 1)
And a guest post I did on Monday: How to Escape a Vampire Assassin

Guilty Pleasures - Cheesy Movies

The more cheese, the better.

I admit it. Cheesy movies get me every time. I went to see Clash of the Titans (the new one, not the old claymation version), and I was disappointed that it was actually a good movie. I guess I was expecting something less... polished, and I wanted cheese, dammit! Sometimes I just don't want a well-done movie. I want one that's so bad, it falls off the scale and ends up in awesomesauce. (Yeah, I just said awesomesauce. Whatcha gonna do about it?)

I love Starship Troopers for that very reason; it's deliciously cheesetastic. I haven't read the book and I'm afraid that if I do, it'll ruin the movie for me.

And my favorite cheesealicious movie of all time? Tank Girl. If you haven't seen Tank Girl, you're missing some epic dairy goodness. Lori Petty is fantastic and it's still my favorite film from Naomi Watts. Not to mention the crazy ninja kangaroo dog things and that awesome Cole Porter number. Go watch it, or I'll send the Rippers to get you! Puh-puh-puh-POW!!

What are some of your favorite cheeseamongous movies? Don't think you can hide behind your box-office superstars. I see that DVD peeking out of your dresser drawer. No, not that DVD! This is a PG-rated blog! The other one. Yeah, that one. You know you want to share. =)

Guest Post: Doesn't Anyone Write Anything Original Anymore?

This week's guest post comes from Barry Crowther, author of Missing (A Matt Spears Mystery). It was originally posted on Barry's blog in August, where you can read more wonderfully insightful and entertaining posts.


Does Anyone Write Anything Original Anymore?

This post is a little rough around the edges, it’s Monday morning and I’m a little hungover. Go figure…

I have worked on more than eight or nine novels over the last twelve years. Can’t even remember how many short stories I’ve pumped out. The most successful of the gaggle has been ‘Missing’ a Matt Spears Mystery.

IMHO This is a novel that lacks any real originality but strangely enough people love more than their shiny new iPad2′s. (I was going to put first-born here but first-borns have lost their luster, iPad’s have far more cache these days!)

Why is this? Why is Missing loved by one and all, with the exception of a few who I like to consider ‘not my target audience’?

It’s hard for me to answer that, I’m too close to the subject. So Let’s look at a recent comment directed at this novel from a lovely well-wisher:

“I have Simply pointed out that you (no doubt unconsciously) copied the plot of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”

The review was long winded and pretty boring but this remark, maybe it was off the cuff, really caught my attention. The comparison the commentator made was like some Jedi mind trick. Not because he was 100% wrong but because he seriously had a point. Let me expand below:

• Dragon Tattoo is a story centered around a missing girl. So is Missing (that seems a bit obvious from title).
• Dragon Tattoo has the hero Mikael Blomkvist tasked by the uncle of the missing girl to find her. Missing has the hero Matt Spears tasked by the uncle of the missing girl to find her also.
• In Dragon Tattoo the uncle is a wealthy industrialist, in Missing he is a blind gangster. Both are central and charismatic.
• Dragon Tattoo has the team of Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander (who has the dragon tattoo) searching for the girl using their various skill sets. Missing has Spears and Nathan Draper (no tattoos) searching for the girl using their various skill sets.
• Blomkvist is a journalist. Spears is a debt collector. Salander is a computer hacker. Draper is a forensic accountant with considerable computer skills.

Okay, the list goes on if you keep probing. Coincidence?

This guy was also not the last reviewer to see similarities between the two, yet real Dragon Tattoo fans seem to think they are both plot driven but very different novels in their tone. Missing has a lot of humor where Dragon Tattoo has very little (none in fact, or I couldn’t find any).

Here’s the kicker. I did not read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo until I saw these reviews. I enjoyed it but there could have been no plot copying at all. I have not followed on the series either just in case some osmosis took place.

So how did this happen? Who knows, maybe a collective consciousness exists and we are all plugged into some matrix. I think I’m reaching here or my imagination is running riot. It is interesting though.

How many times have we come across a film or novel that we think has similarities or is blatant copying of other work? It happens. And there is this new phrase ‘the reimagining of’ like the Freddy Kruger franchise has recently been re-imagined, as has Halloween. How is this okay and straight out plagiarism not? The story is the same, the characters are the same, it’s just shot from a different angle with new actors. Seems to work though, both of the new re-imaginings have been well received.

Orson Welles said “It does not matter whether a work of art is fake or not. It matters whether it’s a good or bad fake.” I’m paraphrasing but I think I understand what he means.

Are Star Trek spin offs, prequels, origins, re-imaginings all just copies of a kind – fakes in other words? Maybe that’s the answer to my own question of how the ‘coincidences’ of Dragon Tattoo and Missing happened.

Nothing original is produced anymore because human nature points us in a direction (mystery genre, romance genre, sci-fi format, etc) … which ultimately means everything becomes the same, nature shapes it. And for some reason we love it that way.

All About Barry

Barry's first couple of attempts [at writing] were really good, well researched, excellently plotted and exquisitely crafted, so of course they never made it past an agent’s in-tray. Disappointingly, his latest offering has already been grabbed by some demented half-witted publisher who has chopped down a sizable clump of woodland to produce the paper which will be wasted in the printing of the piece of art called “Missing.” Actually no one’s really read it yet, but then again neither have the publisher or Barry – apparently he can’t abide to read his own work as he finds it distressing! He only needs to sell about 1000 copies for it to be considered a publishing success – and then, you never know. Maybe a film deal and maybe extra parts for all concerned (mooching about LA will beat smashing up a gaff in Salford – maybe not). So pass the word around: a partially educated FC United supporter has escaped from LH to LA and written a novel, and apparently it’s pretty good. Buy the book. Maybe there’ll be a film, maybe Eric Cantona will play the lead. Maybe it’ll get pulped…… He’s already working on the next Matt Spears book so it looks like he’s in for the long haul!


Check out his blog, pick up his book, and catch up with Barry on Twitter!