No matter what you read in any review, including mine, go see this The Last Mimzy.
I just went to this movie with my son (13), neice (16), and brother (43). Let me say from the very beginning, I enjoyed this movie immensely. You may not see that from the review you're about to read, so I just wanted to state it up front. Also be aware, there are SPOILERS ahead, so if you don't want the spoilers, stop reading!
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The movie had several flaws, and I'm going to bash them here, hard.

Number one, the movie is apparently set as a story being told by a teacher in the far, far future. However, the only references to the movie being a story are found at the very beginning, and the very end. That is, by far, the cheesiest and hokiest part of the entire film. It would have been better as a whole to drop those two scenes (although the cinematography in the far future scenes is beautiful, as is the countryside).

Number two, there is a scene toward the late-middle of the movie that introduces a new character played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He plays a Homeland Security director in Seattle. Now, there are some small problems with both the character, and the portrayal of the city of Seattle. First of all, they try to make the city seem... small, I suppose. The Homeland Security folks even make a point of asking why anyone would want to attack Seattle. Umm... huge population? Microsoft? Major corporate centers? That, along with other things, just seemed strange to someone like me, who lives in a town of 10,000. In addition to that, the introduction (and subsequent actions, and worse, INaction) of the Homeland Security folks just serves to make the entire sub plot pointless. They don't really DO anything. And at the end, after all is said and done, Duncan and the Homeland Security folks just... leave.

Number three, while we're shown this semi-interesting subplot about the elementary school teacher of the young male protagonist, it's hardly developed at all. The teacher (Dwight from The Office) has been having dreams for quite some time, and as it turns out, these dreams are directly connected to what's happening with the kids in this story. However... it NEVER EXPLAINS WHY! It never explores it one little bit. Here's this guy having prophetic dreams, and it relates to all this amazing, fantastic stuff going on, but we're never given an explanation as to why.

And, finally... we don't get closure! Or at least, not as much as I'd like. These kids develop interesting abilities and newfound intelligence... is it still there after it's all over? They suddenly have new insights into the way the world works, new ways of thinking. But we don't really know if any of this has had a lasting effect on them at all.

OK... so, all that being said... Go see this movie! The two kids are great, and the story itself, while having a few plot leaps that you have to pretend not to see, is engaging. The special effects are very, very well done, but not overused. They're not sparse, either. In fact, I'd say the quality of the SFX and the amount of effects use meld together to be near perfect.

So... A good movie. I'd give it a B to a B+.

Now that's a good blog friend!

I just wanted to start off the day by giving a quick shout out to one of the friends on my MySpace list, Nicole DeNardo. Nicole happened to be at a writer's workshop recently, where she met an editor for a children's/young adult publishing house and shared a table with her. The editor apparently mentioned several times the shortage of good "boy books", and how all she gets is fiction geared toward girls. Nicole gave me the tip, the editor's name and the name of the publishing house. To make long story slightly less long, my agent queried, received positive response, pitched my first book, and the editor liked what she saw and requested the full manuscript. Thanks, Nicole!

That's the kind of thing I'm trying to build here with this blog, with only moderate levels of success. I want a community of friends, fellow writers and aspiring writers, and even fans, who can communicate back and forth and share ideas, tips, and inspiration. Networking and making friends with others in the industry. So, to everyone out there, leave me comments! Send me messages! Leave comments for the other folks who blog around here! Don't leave us hanging.

Now, on to blogging about writing. My agent's comments about my first edit: I meant to say second novel were not as disheartening as one might think. She basically just said there were a few plot leaps in the very beginning that didn't work for her, and that I didn't develop the two introductory characters enough in the first chapter before jumping into a confusing fight scene. I can definitely work with what she had to say, and nothing she said changes the fact that I still think the second book is stronger than the first. Her only complaint was with my opening, and she didn't want to read further until I had addressed those issues, lest they get lost in the shuffle.

Speaking of being lost in the shuffle, my short story work has taken a back seat to revisions on book 2. I'm not likely to make the deadline for a first quarter entry into the Writers of the Future contest at this point. I may be taking too much on… I'm working on book 2, jotting notes for future reference about book 3, trying to write two very different short stories, working on a script for the Comic Book Challenge (speaking of which, any illustrators out there interested in collaborating?), and occasionally outlining/making notes for a new book in a different continuity. Plus, I'm still looking for work and starting to get a bit worried about the financial situation.

So there, in a large nutshell, is where I stand. One last thank you to Nicole, and a request to everyone else to leave comments, send messages, and generally correspond!

Sites of Interest, and a little news

Here are a few sites that might be of interest to those who read my blog:

Write A First Novel
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The World According to Boring John
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Deep Genre
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The Web's Most Humongous Collection of Writing Quotes
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There are quite a few more sites I could post here, and I'll probably do so in the future. These are just ones that I look at regularly.

On a side note, I've received my first two rejections, from Little, Brown and Company, and from Harcourt. Both rejections are due to "too many familiar elements" in the story, as was my very first rejection from Sourcebooks. Basically, there are a couple of series out there already that have a youthful hero traveling to alternate universes. It's frustrating, because the reason there are similar stories out there is because it's POPULAR! And never mind the fact that my novel has far more UNIQUE story elements than it has similarities. What my story shares with theirs is the basic premise of alternate universes accessible from our own, and a young hero. That's it! The meat of my story is about a single father's journey to become closer to his troubled son, and help the boy turn his life around.

I'm not too concerned about it. That makes a grand total of three publishers who've seen my first novel, and three who have rejected it. There are several hundred more to choose from... one of them will get behind it!

Comic Book Challenge 2007

So, are any of my readers out there aspiring comic writers or artists? If so, you've probably already heard about this!!

Comic Book Challenge 2007 is on! Platinum Studios has announced that they are accepting submissions for their second annual comic book contest. Think "Who Wants To Be A Superhero" minus the goofy costumes, bad acting, and reality show aspects. Basically, aspiring creators come up with their best comic book pitch and submit it. Fifty semi-finalists will be chosen to go to San Diego in July and give their pitch on live TV to a celebrity panel of industry judges. Three pitches are then chosen to be voted on by the public in an online voting process. The top creator or creative team will then be paid to write and/or illustrate their comic, which will be published as a comic or graphic novel in 2008.

I don't have any details on the submission process right now, but they should be available soon at http://www.comicbookchallenge.com .

I've got about a hundred ideas for submission to the contest. I just need to choose which one to submit! I've also got the small problem of being just about the worst artist in the history of the genre. I can copy fairly well, but I can't do original work. So unless I can find an illustrator who is inspired by my story ideas, I'll be submitting just a story script... which I think will probably lessen my chances.

So, any aspiring comic authors and illustrators out there, there's your shot! Check out the contest, and get your pitch ready! And, as a personal aside, if there are any artists or illustrators out there who'd be interested in collaborating with me on a pitch, get back with me... quick! The fifty semi-finalists will be going to San Diego in late July, so time is running short!

Murdering my Little Darlings

I'm sure many of you are familiar with what the topic of this post actually means. It's a reference to an article I read on SFWA.org by James Patrick Kelly. He's not the first person to make the reference; he merely expanded on the sentiment that has been given by authors for years on the craft of writing. An author has a tendency to fall in love with his or her words, but special attention should be given to revising and "murdering your little darlings".

Basically, what this means is, after you've written a work and had an opportunity to step back from it for a while, it's sometimes helpful to go re-visit it and THEN start making cuts. With growing experience, you will find ways to make the work stronger. In fact, the article gives several examples of things to watch out for that I've found I'm definitely guilty of. Overuse of adverbs and adjectives, overdramatization, unnecessary characters, that sort of thing.

I finished the revisions for my first novel back in January. It's been a month and a half, and I suddenly had the urge to go back and re-visit it for several reasons. One is, I'm obsessed with what my agent has told me about length and word count. Of the publishers who chose not to look at my work after the synopsis and query were sent, a couple specifically said it was because the book was too long for the target market.

So I opened up the file and started reading through it. I already had some ideas for places where it could be trimmed. My opening chapters are rather long, introducing the two main characters and getting to know them. But with the experience I got writing my second novel, I learned how to introduce characters better, get to know them with fewer words, scenes, or drawn-out explanations. The opening took place over three chapters before the fantasy elements of the story even started to develop. So I moved some things around, made some cuts, and changed the opening from taking place over two days to all happening in one. It may take some further tweaking, but with the re-arranging of a few events and the paring down, I believe I've been able to introduce the characters just as strongly, and it all takes place in one chapter. By chapter two, the fantasy elements are beginning to come to the fore. And I cut over five thousand words!

I feel that I can continue this through the rest of the novel. There are several other places in which I have been a tad wordy when it wasn't necessary. There are a few places where scenes can be combined, or possibly just gotten rid of. This is something that I was not able to see when I revised before. And I wouldn't be able to see it now if not for the experience of writing my second novel. I don't really know if it's something I should be doing or not; my agent is already happy with the first novel, and she does have it in some big-name hands right now. But I'm a writer, and typical of writers, I always feel that I can make it better if I just change this word, or that word, and murder my little darlings.

Bad days

Well, that was a total waste.

I went to the interview, and was told that the shift required would be evening shift, 4PM to after midnight. That's not something I'm able to do. My son is having a sort of rough time in his life right now. If I were to take the evening shift, I'd literally never see him awake except on weekends and in the morning when I send him off to school, and that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make as a single parent. So the interview turned out to be pretty short, despite the fact that they seemed impressed with my qualifications.

I hope beyond hope that I get the interview for the other job soon. I don't know what they're delaying for, but they keep telling me the position isn't filled, and they haven't interviewed anyone else for it. But it's my perfect job, at a good salary, and 8-5 shift.

So today was a total bust. I'm now at home, and pulling up my short story to work on it and hopefully nail down the ending.

Oh, and for anyone curious, I've added an author photo (OK, it's actually a snapshot taken with my camera at arm's length). So you folk can see what I look like now.

All Work and No Play

Work, work, work
Well, I went and got my hair cut today. It's been a while; I hadn't gotten a haircut since November! I was kind of enjoying the shagginess. But I have to look presentable for my interview tomorrow.

Now, back to blogging about writing.

I've been working hard on this short story, and it's coming along great. It still feels very odd to write in this format. The story is about a secondary character from my first novel, detailing his early life and how he came to be in the position he was in during the novel. Sort of a prequel. It's easy enough to do, because I've got the basic character outline that tells me how things develop. The problem is, I've got enough material to cover almost half a novel. I'm having to pick and choose what I include and what I cut. It's frustrating. But still, it's coming along. Barring any extreme distractions, I should be finished with the first draft by the end of the week. Then add a little spit and polish, get some feedback, and drop it in the mail. That's the plan, at least.

And then it'll be months before I find out if I even place in the competition. Ugh! The waiting is the worst part of this whole game!

One good thing, though. Win, place, or show, my story will be read by some greats in the industry. Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Robert Silverburg, Frederik Pohl, to name just a few. I get a thrill just knowing that so many big names will be holding my manuscript in their hands within a month or so!