As my title suggests, I'm now 21 years of age, and it's a freaking wonderful experiences. YEAH! But I must confess not all of it has been primrose and daffodils. My 21st was last Saturday and everything went all right. I enjoyed myself because it was the type of party I enjoyed- completely informal, and that we got more family invitees than we did at my 18th. But a major thing that I hated about the night was how so many of my friends decided to give me the flick. Some of them had the courtesy to call up and let me down, but a lot of them decided not too. Brilliant I thought. JUST BRILLIANT!
What else is there to discuss. I got the first three seasons of 30 Rock, this hilarious comedy Tina Fey created so I'm gonna be busy for a while, and I thank the family for doing this for me. However, they got me a tone of other stuff too. Stuff I neither asked for nor really need, and that annoyed me a bit. Like how they got me the DVDs, they were set for a year. I didn't need anything else. I was just happy at that. I don't even know what'd happen if I tell them all of this.
But then there are some brighter topics to discuss, like how I watched District 9. You know, the South African sci-fi. It was brilliant and different and stepped so far out of the box. I loved it! I ordered in my copy of Oryx and Crake today, so all I have to do is pick it up and be wowed by another dystopian novel. I just wanna know what happens. And then there is the bit where the Australian Literary Agency in Sydney has agreed to look at my novel. I'm very excited, but scared. I'm really hoping that they'll take me on, because like I've said so many times before... I REALLY NEED THIS!
That's all y'all!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Handmaid's Tale
Today I finished reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and I was really happy with it. I love the dystopian genre and how you can do just about anything with it these days, and this book is deffinately up in my top five or so. Before I offer my own personal thoughts, I'd like to thank some certain individuals for bringing my attention to this work of speculative fiction.
My good brother Babette who gave me my copy for Christmas, I pestured you sufficietly and it paid off. To my old literature teacher whom I've been calling Grace, thanks for bringing it up in class. Sadly I didn't read it at the time (all the books were optional) but if I had I would've brought so much to the class discussion. And finally to my good friend Yushka whom is a huge Atwood fan, thanks for making me aware of this genius of a woman! You've all been great.
Now, what I enjoyed most about this book was how it displayed the perspective of a female narrator and how women percieved the dystopic environment. Offred (whom is also June and Kate in the film) was just honest, fierce and tough through-out the whole 300 odd pages. I really felt her feelings when the Aunts (crusty old bitches who should die) were "reprograming" her and how she reacted to losing her husband Luke and her daughter. So much honesty, but I wanted to see more in her relationship to Nick, the underground man who saved her.
Other parts I enjoyed, but the one I loved the most was when Offred's friend Moira escaped the cruelty of the Aunts. I thought it was one of the strongest elements of the story, how she escaped and stuck it to oppression. I was a little bummed when she wound up in the brothel Jezebel's, but she seemed happy so I'm happy. The book was brilliant and I liked the final chapter where future academics are studying The Handmaid's Tale in the year 2195.
As much as it was nice learning that the oppression of the Republic of Gilead (the world America became in the book) came to an end and Offred finally got out to England, I just enjoyed the names of the professors. Atwood has a nack for creating interesting and likeable names from the smallest words in the English language, so I loved hearing about Maryanna Crescent Moon and James Darcy Pieixoto. It added a great touch to the ending.
I'm deffinately an Atwood nut, much like my good Yushka. She's got some other dystopian books out, including Oryx and Crake, and I'm gonna get a copy as soon as I can. I think I displays the male view of the future mixed with genetic engineering with animal and human DNA.
Looking forward to it!
My good brother Babette who gave me my copy for Christmas, I pestured you sufficietly and it paid off. To my old literature teacher whom I've been calling Grace, thanks for bringing it up in class. Sadly I didn't read it at the time (all the books were optional) but if I had I would've brought so much to the class discussion. And finally to my good friend Yushka whom is a huge Atwood fan, thanks for making me aware of this genius of a woman! You've all been great.
Now, what I enjoyed most about this book was how it displayed the perspective of a female narrator and how women percieved the dystopic environment. Offred (whom is also June and Kate in the film) was just honest, fierce and tough through-out the whole 300 odd pages. I really felt her feelings when the Aunts (crusty old bitches who should die) were "reprograming" her and how she reacted to losing her husband Luke and her daughter. So much honesty, but I wanted to see more in her relationship to Nick, the underground man who saved her.
Other parts I enjoyed, but the one I loved the most was when Offred's friend Moira escaped the cruelty of the Aunts. I thought it was one of the strongest elements of the story, how she escaped and stuck it to oppression. I was a little bummed when she wound up in the brothel Jezebel's, but she seemed happy so I'm happy. The book was brilliant and I liked the final chapter where future academics are studying The Handmaid's Tale in the year 2195.
As much as it was nice learning that the oppression of the Republic of Gilead (the world America became in the book) came to an end and Offred finally got out to England, I just enjoyed the names of the professors. Atwood has a nack for creating interesting and likeable names from the smallest words in the English language, so I loved hearing about Maryanna Crescent Moon and James Darcy Pieixoto. It added a great touch to the ending.
I'm deffinately an Atwood nut, much like my good Yushka. She's got some other dystopian books out, including Oryx and Crake, and I'm gonna get a copy as soon as I can. I think I displays the male view of the future mixed with genetic engineering with animal and human DNA.
Looking forward to it!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Everyone Keeps Pissing On My Waterboy!
There are way to many characters out there who can control the seas, and I am not happy with it amigos. First I had to put up with Tracy Strauss from Heroes, and now theres Percy Jackson from these yankee kids books that got adapted to the screen. I am not pleased, because I wanted to break with traditions of firestarters and throw in a powerful aquakinetic. Angry face.
Also, I wanted to bring up the issue of 3D in cinemas. I saw Avatar today for the third time (yes, that's right) and it was in the ever popular 3D form, which I have to say gave me a tremendous headache. There wasn't that much of a difference either. 2D is deffinately for me from now on, and sadly I've forgotten what else I wanted to write about. So that is all I guess.
Wait, I just remembered, I've decided to lay off Avatar until the DVD is out. James Cameron's Titanic was a massive thing for my sister Cactus Pete (who saw it four times) and Avatar is doing the same for me, but I won't be like my beloved sis. I'll either see it two more times of not at all, for I'm going to be the better human, and I won't make futile attempts at stalking the male lead either. Maybe the ladies if I've got time, but Worthington will not have to deal with me hiding in the bushes outside his window.
PS. Oh, I just wanted to make a shout out to sfauthor who commented on my last posting. You're the first person I don't know whose commented, so thank you.
Also, I wanted to bring up the issue of 3D in cinemas. I saw Avatar today for the third time (yes, that's right) and it was in the ever popular 3D form, which I have to say gave me a tremendous headache. There wasn't that much of a difference either. 2D is deffinately for me from now on, and sadly I've forgotten what else I wanted to write about. So that is all I guess.
Wait, I just remembered, I've decided to lay off Avatar until the DVD is out. James Cameron's Titanic was a massive thing for my sister Cactus Pete (who saw it four times) and Avatar is doing the same for me, but I won't be like my beloved sis. I'll either see it two more times of not at all, for I'm going to be the better human, and I won't make futile attempts at stalking the male lead either. Maybe the ladies if I've got time, but Worthington will not have to deal with me hiding in the bushes outside his window.
PS. Oh, I just wanted to make a shout out to sfauthor who commented on my last posting. You're the first person I don't know whose commented, so thank you.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
What Avatar Did For Me
Happy Boxing Day to all, hope you've all been well. Been a while since my last post, bout a month maybe, but I've got something good to talk about. Eh, you wanna hear. Actually I've got a few things to bring up, like how Little Miss Shifty and Little Miss Honeybear ran up to me willingly yesterday, which was Christmas Day. However, I knida think they made the mad dash because I was carrying the bag with the presents in it.
What else is there, I'm finally reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which I'm enjoying a lot. Thank you Babette, my good brother, and I read Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris, which is the book that inspired the series True Blood (Sookie Stackhouse kicks Bella Swans arse any day of the week). Also, like the rest of the movie loving world, I saw Avatar last Tuesday and IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
I've been wanting to see it since I saw the trailers on YouTube, and it was brilliant. At first I thought it was all going to be special effects and little story, but I was relieved when it got all intriguing. I enjoyed the actors too, like Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez (she makes anything work) and Sigourney Weaver. The imagery was spot on and the alien wildlife was interesting and something to look at, no questions asked. To me, the movie was ALIVE!
Now, the one special thing I wanted to bring up in this posting was how the search for the movie helped me out heaps! I get a lot of my info off the Wikipedia, so I looked up the movie on said abomination and I came across the Avatars of Hinduism (in India lesser thinkers) and I came across this religious quote.
Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
In order to protect the good and punish the wicked,
In order to make a firm foundation for righteousness,
I come into being age after age. (4. 7-8)
Bhagavad Gita (c. 3138 BC)
I'm not a religious person (however I'm willing to accept some things) but I am all about this quote now. If you haven't heard, I am writing a dystopian fantasy series and I want it to be so big that it's quote worthy, like Philip Pullman's His Dark Material series. I've been looking everywhere for the right quote (which I want in the final book) and I nearly decided to use song lyrics by Pat Bennitar (think that's how you spell her name). Anyway, I found this one and I shouted hooray!
That's it for now, and I'm going to post something about THT by Atwood. Cheers for now, and have a good new year.
What else is there, I'm finally reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which I'm enjoying a lot. Thank you Babette, my good brother, and I read Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris, which is the book that inspired the series True Blood (Sookie Stackhouse kicks Bella Swans arse any day of the week). Also, like the rest of the movie loving world, I saw Avatar last Tuesday and IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
I've been wanting to see it since I saw the trailers on YouTube, and it was brilliant. At first I thought it was all going to be special effects and little story, but I was relieved when it got all intriguing. I enjoyed the actors too, like Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez (she makes anything work) and Sigourney Weaver. The imagery was spot on and the alien wildlife was interesting and something to look at, no questions asked. To me, the movie was ALIVE!
Now, the one special thing I wanted to bring up in this posting was how the search for the movie helped me out heaps! I get a lot of my info off the Wikipedia, so I looked up the movie on said abomination and I came across the Avatars of Hinduism (in India lesser thinkers) and I came across this religious quote.
Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
In order to protect the good and punish the wicked,
In order to make a firm foundation for righteousness,
I come into being age after age. (4. 7-8)
Bhagavad Gita (c. 3138 BC)
I'm not a religious person (however I'm willing to accept some things) but I am all about this quote now. If you haven't heard, I am writing a dystopian fantasy series and I want it to be so big that it's quote worthy, like Philip Pullman's His Dark Material series. I've been looking everywhere for the right quote (which I want in the final book) and I nearly decided to use song lyrics by Pat Bennitar (think that's how you spell her name). Anyway, I found this one and I shouted hooray!
That's it for now, and I'm going to post something about THT by Atwood. Cheers for now, and have a good new year.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Its Been A While, I Know
Okay, I've been pretty distracted for the last couple of months, what with watching girls flash me at the Deni Ute Muster to just can't being stuffed to write anything down. But I do have things to share with whatever following I may have.
1. I saw the last Heath Ledger movie ever made, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus, and I'm a little freaked out. I got the plot and liked the characters (Tony not so much), but I felt it was just too mad. Also I didn't like the special effects, except for the monastery made up of elephant carvings. I think Terry Gilliam's old movies were better, like Twelve Monkeys. Think he shouldn't rely on the effects so much and stick to a smaller budget.
2. I read the last part of Matthew Reilly's trilogy, and I hated it. The Five Greatest Warriors was to me the greatest waste of time ever. There was no depth, characters were flat and cliched and the dialogue was shit. The 11 year old kids talk like adults too much and whenever someone gets out of being captured they wind up getting caught by someone else. I think the biggest let down was introducing the new villain Vladimir Karnov, one of those stereotypical Russian villains with half his face made out of metal. He just came out of no where and took control- totally ****ed up!
Then you've got everyone turning out to be a traitor of some sort- Diane Cassidy, Cieran Kincaid etc, and Reilly makes the protagonist feel like they've been betrayed by the closest friend. BULLSHIT! Huntsman just met these people! WHY DOES HE FEEL LIKE HE'S GOT A STICK UP HIS ARSE YANKED OUT! Another thing about these villains is that they've too full of themselves and like to talk to much.
Finally, why is it that some writers keep putting the most boring people in charge of saving us all. Jack West Jr was flat, annoying and somewhat narcacistic. I keep saying this whenever I learn about a hero who just shouldn't be (John Connor, Jack Shappard, Peter Petrelli ect) "Let the world burn. We've had a good run." If people wind up saying stuff like that, the writer has failed! That is all.
3. I've recently sent my manuscript off to another publisher, this time it is TransitLounge. I think I might have a chance, since they asked for more than a 3 chapter sample. I'm hoping the wickedness of the Alchemist will urge the good people over there to want more. Also on the topic of the chronicles, I've been working away on some character development. To date I've been tweaking Andrew Natalis, Penn Lewis, Tracy Woods, Samuel 'The Hurricane' Guevarra, Marcus Sawyer, Kristen Yeow, Carey Luttrell and my all time favourite, Wes McCarthy.
I'm also planning something big and hopefully horrific for the fifth part of the series which I'm praying will make me one of those writers who'll go anywhere in his/her work. That's it for now, and I hope to be adding more the blog soon, and that people will read it.
1. I saw the last Heath Ledger movie ever made, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus, and I'm a little freaked out. I got the plot and liked the characters (Tony not so much), but I felt it was just too mad. Also I didn't like the special effects, except for the monastery made up of elephant carvings. I think Terry Gilliam's old movies were better, like Twelve Monkeys. Think he shouldn't rely on the effects so much and stick to a smaller budget.
2. I read the last part of Matthew Reilly's trilogy, and I hated it. The Five Greatest Warriors was to me the greatest waste of time ever. There was no depth, characters were flat and cliched and the dialogue was shit. The 11 year old kids talk like adults too much and whenever someone gets out of being captured they wind up getting caught by someone else. I think the biggest let down was introducing the new villain Vladimir Karnov, one of those stereotypical Russian villains with half his face made out of metal. He just came out of no where and took control- totally ****ed up!
Then you've got everyone turning out to be a traitor of some sort- Diane Cassidy, Cieran Kincaid etc, and Reilly makes the protagonist feel like they've been betrayed by the closest friend. BULLSHIT! Huntsman just met these people! WHY DOES HE FEEL LIKE HE'S GOT A STICK UP HIS ARSE YANKED OUT! Another thing about these villains is that they've too full of themselves and like to talk to much.
Finally, why is it that some writers keep putting the most boring people in charge of saving us all. Jack West Jr was flat, annoying and somewhat narcacistic. I keep saying this whenever I learn about a hero who just shouldn't be (John Connor, Jack Shappard, Peter Petrelli ect) "Let the world burn. We've had a good run." If people wind up saying stuff like that, the writer has failed! That is all.
3. I've recently sent my manuscript off to another publisher, this time it is TransitLounge. I think I might have a chance, since they asked for more than a 3 chapter sample. I'm hoping the wickedness of the Alchemist will urge the good people over there to want more. Also on the topic of the chronicles, I've been working away on some character development. To date I've been tweaking Andrew Natalis, Penn Lewis, Tracy Woods, Samuel 'The Hurricane' Guevarra, Marcus Sawyer, Kristen Yeow, Carey Luttrell and my all time favourite, Wes McCarthy.
I'm also planning something big and hopefully horrific for the fifth part of the series which I'm praying will make me one of those writers who'll go anywhere in his/her work. That's it for now, and I hope to be adding more the blog soon, and that people will read it.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Magician's Nephew
As my title suggests, this posting is about the novel The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis whom many would know was the writer of the Chronicles of Narnia. So, I'm writing to say that I've just finished reading the book and was very happy with it. I liked learning how everything fell into place such as Aslan, Jadis and the Wardrobe, as well as the many religious references. I like when writers use those.
Moving on, I guess my real reason for reading it was so I could learn a bit about Uncle Andrew, who is possibly the most despised character in the entire book. He was self obsessed and selfish and didn't care for anyone else really, but I feel somewhat inclined to disagree with some of those elements, mainly because without Uncle Andrew, the whole adventure of the chronicles could never be told. He was the one who granted access to Narnia.
Uncle Andrew had good intentions I've decided, but he tried to achieve them through selfish means, such as sending Polly Plummer to the Wood between the Worlds and not going himself. He wanted something good but got it the wrong way, and that's why I read the book because I was in a way doing research on a character for my own series, Andrew Natalis.
Andrew Natalis in a way was the one character who set everything into motion in my series The Hands of Sage Chronicles. There are some differences though. He did a generously good thing which had terrible consequences. Some characters refer to Natalis as "the most selfless son of a bitch in the world". That line's going to be used in the second part of the series.
So that was why I read The Magician's Nephew, aside from the fact that I enjoy classic stories, to learn how to create my own Uncle Andrew. As you can tell, they share the same first name which is an obvious shout out, but his surname "Natalis" is the Latin word for "birthday". It inspired the name Natalie and its variations also.
Aside from the Chronicles, I'm also drawing elements from other works of fiction, many of which I picked up on in my Literature class last year with my teacher Grace (I'm pretty sure I'm calling her that on the blog). The other stories I'm drawing on include the following-
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Cicade de Deus by Paulo Lins
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I'm also drawing on elements of Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast. As for me I'm going to go and start on the rest of the Narnia stories as well as get my hands on Alice in Wonderland, mainly because the movie is coming out next year and Lewis Carroll was a left hander like myself.
Cheers.
Moving on, I guess my real reason for reading it was so I could learn a bit about Uncle Andrew, who is possibly the most despised character in the entire book. He was self obsessed and selfish and didn't care for anyone else really, but I feel somewhat inclined to disagree with some of those elements, mainly because without Uncle Andrew, the whole adventure of the chronicles could never be told. He was the one who granted access to Narnia.
Uncle Andrew had good intentions I've decided, but he tried to achieve them through selfish means, such as sending Polly Plummer to the Wood between the Worlds and not going himself. He wanted something good but got it the wrong way, and that's why I read the book because I was in a way doing research on a character for my own series, Andrew Natalis.
Andrew Natalis in a way was the one character who set everything into motion in my series The Hands of Sage Chronicles. There are some differences though. He did a generously good thing which had terrible consequences. Some characters refer to Natalis as "the most selfless son of a bitch in the world". That line's going to be used in the second part of the series.
So that was why I read The Magician's Nephew, aside from the fact that I enjoy classic stories, to learn how to create my own Uncle Andrew. As you can tell, they share the same first name which is an obvious shout out, but his surname "Natalis" is the Latin word for "birthday". It inspired the name Natalie and its variations also.
Aside from the Chronicles, I'm also drawing elements from other works of fiction, many of which I picked up on in my Literature class last year with my teacher Grace (I'm pretty sure I'm calling her that on the blog). The other stories I'm drawing on include the following-
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Cicade de Deus by Paulo Lins
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I'm also drawing on elements of Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast. As for me I'm going to go and start on the rest of the Narnia stories as well as get my hands on Alice in Wonderland, mainly because the movie is coming out next year and Lewis Carroll was a left hander like myself.
Cheers.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
It Is Done
I've been up to a lot lately, and I must admit I'm feeling rather buggered. The past week has been very eventful, such as me lugging myself around the city doing my sisters bidding on Tuesday (I finally went into Sticky- not bad), doing the drive up to Bendigo today with my bickering parents in the front and my grandpa in the back who was just laughing on the inside... and let's see, what else did I do? I sent my manuscript off to a publisher.
I was really excited about that, and hopeful that the recipients take interest in my story. My proof readers enjoyed it and helped me improve my tale by turning it from a 309 pg manuscript into a 308 one. Sweet. Anyway, that's the biggest thing on my mind at the moment, but there are other things too.
Let me see, there's my temp agency calling me up with some work because I am just poor. Seriously, I'm not enjoying it friends. I'm also waiting to see the new Roland Emmerich movie 2012 (I'm not expecting anything dramatic, but the trailers looked good- I'm going to be scared shitless in three years also) and there's The Time Traveler's Wife as well. Fingers are crossed that they're good also.
Also, I'm trying to get a short story down which my main idea will be about friendship. This "thing" came to me when I came up with the names Danny McCabe and Amy DeLeigh, and I decided that they would be life long best friends who would comfort each other when times were grim. All of these images come into my head like seeing them dance ballroom style in lounge room and a burning stable with horses running out of it. I just want to write it dammit!!!!
And then there's this little novel I've started on the side which will be heavily laddened with fantasy. It's meant for younger readers (older primary school) and I've got some good lines and images down on paper. I started writing it all down after I saw my little cousins, Little Miss Shifty and Little Miss Honeybear, a few weeks ago, and they tell me that monsters aren't real. Anyway, it dawned on me that the stuff I write isn't appropriate for them and so I'm going to do something about that Seamus. Fingers are crossed.
And that's that. I'm gonna try and post some drawings soon. Promise.
PS. I'm also getting published again. Go Wonderland!
I was really excited about that, and hopeful that the recipients take interest in my story. My proof readers enjoyed it and helped me improve my tale by turning it from a 309 pg manuscript into a 308 one. Sweet. Anyway, that's the biggest thing on my mind at the moment, but there are other things too.
Let me see, there's my temp agency calling me up with some work because I am just poor. Seriously, I'm not enjoying it friends. I'm also waiting to see the new Roland Emmerich movie 2012 (I'm not expecting anything dramatic, but the trailers looked good- I'm going to be scared shitless in three years also) and there's The Time Traveler's Wife as well. Fingers are crossed that they're good also.
Also, I'm trying to get a short story down which my main idea will be about friendship. This "thing" came to me when I came up with the names Danny McCabe and Amy DeLeigh, and I decided that they would be life long best friends who would comfort each other when times were grim. All of these images come into my head like seeing them dance ballroom style in lounge room and a burning stable with horses running out of it. I just want to write it dammit!!!!
And then there's this little novel I've started on the side which will be heavily laddened with fantasy. It's meant for younger readers (older primary school) and I've got some good lines and images down on paper. I started writing it all down after I saw my little cousins, Little Miss Shifty and Little Miss Honeybear, a few weeks ago, and they tell me that monsters aren't real. Anyway, it dawned on me that the stuff I write isn't appropriate for them and so I'm going to do something about that Seamus. Fingers are crossed.
And that's that. I'm gonna try and post some drawings soon. Promise.
PS. I'm also getting published again. Go Wonderland!
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