I did one of these last year and it was great fun to see the roundup. So, for 2012, this my year in review. ^_^
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 36,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals
Click here to see the complete report.
Heeeeeeeey! Thanks JM! I’ve always wanted to be part of a blog tour and your tagging me is a great way to start the year. ^_^
So if you’ve not come from JM’s blog, then pop back over there to read her answers to these interview questions. If you have, then welcome, and thank you for stopping by to check out what I have to say.
So! Here we go:
What is the working title of your book?
Silk Over Razor Blades (aka SORB) is on the shelf for the time being, but it is still my primary piece. So I’ll talk about that.
Where did the idea come from for your book?
A combination of enjoying Buffy The Vampire Slayer and desperately wanting a strong female lead in a book. This is from when I was about 14 years old. The idea has matured a hell of a lot since then, but that was the core; strong female lead, and a desire to see the vampire’s perspective.
What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy.
Which actors would you choose to play in your movie rendition?
Oooh I just answered this in a previous post, but for the sake of fullness I’ll answer it again. Ileandra I’d have played by a younger Naomie Harris. She has the look that means she could start weak and grow to become the strong woman we see by the end (she’s also English which is a big plus for me). Her or Brandy Norwood, before she went all Hollywood and began to straighten her hair. Think back to her Moesha days. Tristen I’d have played by Ben Barnes; I think he could pull it off so long as he lost the cute boy look. Or rather, if he could pull off ‘steamy, sexy and authoritative’ while his hair is long. Brad would have to be Liam Neeson; he could pull that off no problem (and Brad Pitt, though the age is right, is still too good looking). Nick… that’s harder; I think I’d cast Jared Padalecki into that role. He has the look and I can image him being able to pull off the ‘excited over supernatural’ aspect of Nick’s personality.
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
New vampire, Ileandra Young, schemes to derail the police investigation into the murder of her fiancée, whilst avoiding the search of the vampire who made her.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Everything else I’m happy to self publish, but this, I want to go through an agency. That is my major goal.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Nine months, I believe.
What other books would you compare this story to?
Oooo, that’s a tricky one, because most vampire stuff has a romantic element which this tale lacks. I suppose it feels, on occasion, like an Anita Blake book, though a little more like the Blue Blood books by Melissa De La Cruz; primary female protagonist growing used to a new state of being while not necessarily getting on with others in the same situation.
Who or what inspired you to write the book?
At the time I wanted to be like Christopher Pike, since his Last Vampire series was awwwwwwwwwesome! So a bit of that mixed up with a bit of enjoying Buffy and Xena.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
This book offers a new interpretation of the vampire myth, as in, the first vampire. There are several sequences that take place in Ancient Egypt and offer a completely different spin on how they originated and what the relationship is between vampires and humans.
Yey! I love talking about SORB, but now its time to direct you on. Please enjoy my nominations for the next leg of the Next Big Thing Tour, to be posting on Wednesday 9 Jan 2013. ^_^
J Keller Ford
Jennifer M Eaton
Naomi Baltuck
Cathi Rae
Jami Gray
Cheers folks!
Yes, that is our fridge.
…
Yes, we did get Scrabble magnets for Christmas.
…
Yes I’ve used them for nothing but spelling out naughty/dirty words.
Eat it.
^_^
Can’t believe I’ve done forty five of these. Forty five six Sunday posts sharing various WIPs with you and the rest of the world. It’s a shame to think that the Six Sunday site won’t be around for much longer. Or at least it won’t be actively listing the participants.
I suppose all good things do eventually end, right?
In the meantime, we left you all hanging last week with Raven having just opened the door to her new pet. Want to find out what’s next?
His face was calm, though his eyes were now hidden beneath the blindfold. Just the same, his lips were quirked into the faintest of smiles and his short, dark hair was tousled.
There was a coat; long, leather and hanging open at the front, held slightly back by his hands which were at his sides. Beneath the coat was very little else!
A collar wrapped about his neck, plain black leather with a single ring in the front to which to clip a lead. Beneath that was a low slung pair of shorts, also leather which were tight and barely able to contain his privacy.
Nom, nom, nom! Sounds tasty, right? Certainly wouldn’t mind opening my door to a sight like that. *snerk*
Okay, back next week for more from Raven and ‘the man at the door!’ Until then enjoy the rest of the Six Sunday crowd hanging out at the main site. Use the banner link to get there. Toodles!
More cinema! Dave and I are beyond lucky and the fact that we were able to see such a long film is testament to the wonderful people we are surrounded by.
So… The Hobbit. Prequel (if you like the term) to The Lord Of The Rings and a book which is just about a quarter of the length of The Fellowship Of The Ring. I’ve already had my rant about Peter Jackson splitting this book into three parts, but having seen this first part I can kinda see why. I’m not happy about it, but I’m not exactly unhappy either. It’s a curious balance.
The film opens with a wonderful recounting of the events at The Lonely Mountain in which Smaug takes over. For those of you who don’t know the story, or are concerned about spoilers, don’t read on. Bilbo has decided to tell the tale properly as it were, and I found myself quickly checking over Frodo’s fingers to make sure that what we were seeing was before the events of the previous three films.
It was wonderful to see so many roles reprised. I got over my rage over seeing Frodo and Galadriel there at all because it appears that all the events alluded to in various appendices, or over the course of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings books, are being given screen time. Things like the meeting of the White Council, or Radaghast looking into the Necromancer in Mirkwood; all things that we know happen (if you are familiar with the books) but the detail is never really given. It is a nice touch, on some levels, to see it played out, though the purist in me remains rattled that the film does not follow the book religiously. Though there are some beautiful sections near the beginning where the script has been taken directly from the text. I found myself reciting along with the characters – under my breath – and enjoying them speak because I know the passages well enough to do so.
Oh and the dwarven singing! I am most familiar with the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, but this version of their song ‘Far Over The Misty Mountains’ sent a chill through me. Loved it!
I am very much looking forward to the next instalment – I can’t help it – though I will continue to resent the fact that I have to. I think, it’s going to be two years before I can decide whether or not I am happy with the films overall and whether they are worth the wait.
For now though, I think it is certainly worth watching the film if you are a fan of Tokien’s work, Peter Jackson’s work, or a fan of any of the cast. Andy Serkis, as ever, was fabulous as Gollum and Ian McKellen suits the role of Gandalf right down to the ground.
^_^
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Writing: A Conversation Without Interruptions 