Tuesday January 31, 2012
Last year at about this time I attended the Superstars Writing Seminar. My friend and fellow Writing Excuses podcaster, Brandon Sanderson, was among the hosts, and the event was in Salt Lake City.
If you go to conventions, you can usually find a panel or two that focuses on some aspect of the business of writing. It's hit-and-miss, though, because most conventions never get past the 101-level stuff. Superstars Writing Seminars is the brain child of Kevin J. Anderson, who realized that there were a zillion business things he'd learned as an author, but which are never actually taught. Not in school, not at conventions, not anywhere -- except maybe over drinks at the bar at World Fantasy, and that course is a tough one to schedule.
The hosts are holding a drawing for free membership to this year's seminar in Las Vegas. If you aspire to write professionally, this event is worth your time and money. If you can get in for just travel costs it should be a no-brainer.
I went in to last year's Superstars event thinking that I'd hear a lot of stuff I'd already heard before. I came out realizing that I had not, in fact, heard it all before, and I had piles of things to learn. Even hanging out with authors the way I do, I don't get this kind of information. I desperately wanted to be able to attend this year, but my schedule just won't allow it.
There's more information on the site. In a nutshell, if you want to learn about the business of writing, especially considering how that business is changing, Superstars Writing Seminars is the very best resource I know of.
Saturday January 28, 2012
By definition, the first movie I see of the year is always the best movie I've seen all year.
Historically, it also ends up towards the bottom of the list by year's end, because January is not a great month for the sorts of films I really love. Epic fantasies, science-fiction adventures, and special-effects blockbusters tend to be release either during the summer or between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If they're released in January it's generally not a good sign.
Underworld: Awakening did a few things pretty well. Specifically, it crafted plenty of scenes so that Kate Beckinsale's character Selene could be iconically captured in slow-mo. Also, Selene runs wisely contrary to almost all action-movie heroines and wears as much clothing as she can. Sure, she starts off stark naked, awakening from a frozen sleep, but she immediately puts stuff on. Clever girl.
But that brings us to what the movie does poorly. The humans (who, as we learn in the first five minutes, have waged a very successful open war with the vampire and lycan clans) are stupid. Why were Selene's uber-cool boots stored in the same room where she was being held? And why aren't high-intensity UV bulbs installed everywhere? I bet those are cheaper than UV-emitting bullets, and before you shout "what about skin cancer!" let me suggest that perhaps the bulbs only switch on when somebody screams "vampire!"
Seriously, the first thing I thought when Selene broke out was "how long before they turn on all the UV interior lights in this building?" Answer: you'll be waiting forever, because they don't have 'em.
There were other plot-holes, but I was enjoying my popcorn.
If you love the Underworld franchise, there is a lot to like in this film. Especially the part where it feels kind of like a SyFy TV series that they could keep making more of as long as we keep spending money to see them.
Saturday January 21, 2012
Okay, I'm awake again.
Last night at 10pm I felt a little bit like I was already coming off of an all-nighter, when the truth of the matter was that I was about to start one. From 10pm until 5am I painted miniatures with fellow fig-painting hobbyists Ryan, Jason, Joseph, James, Derek, Robby, and Dan.
It wasn't a contest. We were just sharing techniques and keeping each other company with good* conversation. My project was kind of ambitious. I hoped to get my Circle Orboros Celestial Fulcrum painted to the point that it could be completely assembled.
I didn't even get close, but I did achieve proof-of-concept on my color scheme. Instead of the brown rocks in the studio version, I wanted cracked obsidian over the roiling, molten heart of the world (I may have touched up the prose in my concept piece too.) I also wanted each of the orrery's orbs to have a different color, since each of them represents a different magical weapon.
Bigger (and more!) photos are available for your admiration here.
We determined that the reason what is obviously a magical orrery is not CALLED an orrery is because it belongs to the Circle Orboros faction, and saying "Circle Orboros Celestial Orrery" is a like trying to imitate a junkyard dog with a mouth full of marshmallows.
I digress.
The painting was great fun, and the company was awesome. I provided some chicken wings to thank Jeremy S. for staying up all night and hosting the event at Dragon's Keep, but he deserves some public accolades as well. Also, today is his birthday.
(*For "silly" values of "good.")
