Writing Wednesday: Creative Energy

I was watching Songland last night and it’s rapidly becoming my favorite network TV show. Yes it’s about picking a song and about music but it’s really a writing show. The premise is simple, a big name musician hears a bunch of songs, picks three to workshop, hands them off to award winning producers and, at the end of the day, picks one to turn into a powerhouse single. That’s all well and good, but what I want to talk about is that workshopping portion.

Having a group of creative people to bounce ideas off of, to work through tricky wording or vague allegory, is the kind of thing I dream about. I almost had it once in an online writer’s group but not quite. I experienced it firsthand in college but you grow up, grow apart, life settles in and since it was prior to the book of faces, I lost touch with most of them when I fell off the earth for a few years. For me, it’s the ultimate prize. The writer’s group I have now is all well and good, good energy and something of a recharge, but there isn’t really workshopping involved or a sharing of ideas in that way.

Part of it is me. I don’t put myself out there enough. I’ve given a lot of thought to forming a different kind of writer’s group to the one I already go to – something with a bit more discussion and workshopping. I’m part of a group that I think might have been started to be something like this but everyone is too quiet, including me. I hear tell of people finding these sorts of things at all the conventions I can’t really afford to go to just yet (especially during actual con-season when I’ve got little home with me all the time!).

Watching the way the producers and will.i.am worked with the songwriters last night just really drove home how much I wish I had that kind of thing in my life – people excited about words and ideas, coming up with ways to make a piece better and not just listen and headpat. Of course, I’d be thrilled just to have a group to talk to about crazy ideas and outlandish myths, but that’s why I have this blog.

Doctor Who is Back!

This post is spoilery if you love Doctor Who and haven’t watched the new episode yet.

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I have loved the Doctor most of my life. 4 was my first. I remember sneaking out of my room to watch from behind the couch where my mother couldn’t see me as she thought I’d be afraid of some of the things. I don’t remember how long I watched in hiding before she figured it out and just let me watch with her. I do remember wishing I could fly off in the Tardis with him like that other Sarah did. And I think he’s entirely the reason one of my favorite things ever is gummy bears (we don’t have Jelly Babies here).

I like the stranger doctors, the more crazy uncle type doctors – 4 and 12 and 9 are my favorites, in that order. I didn’t like 5 only because he wasn’t 4 and I really didn’t care for 11 much at all (even if he did get my absolute favorite episode to date) as he felt less like The Doctor and more like Secondary Magical Character and a little Deus Ex Machina. When they first announced Whittaker’s casting I was equal parts skeptical and excited and sad. Sad to be losing 12 who FINALLY got away from Clara (my least favorite companion maybe ever) but as a woman, I’ve been looking forward to this day for EVER.

My reaction boils down to this – I love her, I needed her, and I can’t wait to see what she does. I love that we got to see her rediscover herself. She did not hide her alienness or her innate kindness. She is the Doctor and I am so so glad she’s back on my tv.

I appreciated getting to see her create her new sonic – that she’s a tinkerer is great, that we saw her do it is better. I’m seeing some mixed reactions on the sonic itself but I kind of like the alien metal magic wand look of it and that we seem to be losing the screwdriver word a bit as it does so much more than that. I am interested to see how it ties in because it isn’t the same sonic the previous Doctors have used so the thousand years calculations process (a la Day of the Doctor) won’t work now unless she somehow finds the other one yes? I don’t know but I guess we’ll see.

But something happened a great deal bigger than the Doctor’s regeneration (at least in my house). One of the new companions is disabled. In my house, the only thing better would have been autism but dude – disabled! My son who is autistic saw that and immediately started asking me questions about it. Dyspraxia is mostly a motor skill disability and a lot of people have no idea what it is. There is also Dyspraxia of speech which I know a lot more about but in this instance, it’s the motor skills. I can’t wait to see where they go with it and I really hope they keep consistent with it.

I am really looking forward to this season. They have a varied group of interesting people of varying skin tones, ages, and genders none of whom come off as dumb or snotty or particularly Special (like Mickey, Amy and Clara were portrayed).  I can’t wait to see more of Ryan especially.

I do miss Capaldi. I loved his crazy old Uncle type portrayal and I hope they have a multi-doctor episode where they can interact together because I do think he’d be quite chuffed about the whole thing. Plus, no more attack eyebrows. But, Whittaker has immediately won me over. It’ll be a season or two before I know where she sits in my line of favorites but I have a feeling it’ll be pretty far up there.

Can’t Turn Back Now

Sometimes my self-doubt is crippling but not today. Today I did it anyway. Today, the two books I’ve been sitting on for a while have been submitted. I have never met a writer yet who doesn’t have the same sort of self-doubt, at least sometimes. The key is really and truly just doing it anyway. There are a lot of really great writers and storytellers who the world will never know because they never do get past that self-doubt. Though there are some not so great writers who’ve never had a moment of doubt in their amazingness and  I really do envy that a bit. And now I’ve got to try very hard not to obsess over those stories or overthink the process or let that doubt-voice get any bigger than it already is. And really, the worst that can happen is that someone says no – I’m used to that by now.

I didn’t get words today but I did exercise and I did do submission prep and it’s Wednesday. Wednesdays are my med days and that makes me very sleepy. I also finished that last two episodes of Stranger Things, Season Two and I think I can safely say that that show is one of my favorite things to have ever been on any tv service ever. My oldest kid was watching it with me but our schedule got messed up and he went ahead without me so I’ve had to catch up. Season Three can’t get here soon enough.

Tomorrow it’s back to writing new words and not just formatting, proofreading, and double checking finished words. I’m determined to get Hunter’s Hell finished. I may even bump my total goal to 1500 before I’m allowed to work on one of the other books I’ve got going (and yes, there are too many of those). And I’ve got to get moving on my thoughts on the first half of this special limited season of the X-Files for The Geek Girl Project – that should post sometime after next week’s episode since there are only 10 episodes and tonight is #4.

Fifty Years

Today is the anniversary of the first episode of Star Trek. I have never been more emotional about a show, no, a universe, than I am Trek. Doctor Who comes very close but Trek has the lead by a Vulcan.

Trek has been a part of my life as long as Who – since before I have memory – but Spock was the first person I ever told my mom I was going to marry. Spock was my first real loss (even if it was temporary). My grandfather was a funeral director – I’ve been surrounded by death and loss my whole life – I’d lost people I cared about, animals I’d cared about, but somehow, it wasn’t as keenly felt as this fictional character who didn’t really exist. My mom was a little cruel, knowing what she knew about me. She did not let me watch Wrath of Khan until it and Search for Spock were both available at the movie rental place. She did not tell me about Search for Spock until I’d wept – full on ugly cry – until I literally had no more tears (took a few hours). She thought it was funny and Wrath of Khan still makes me ugly cry. In reality, it was easier for me to mourn a fictional character and later the actor who played him, than it was for me to mourn my mom. I’m honestly not done with any of those things and I probably never will be.

I don’t have the greatest volume of trivia knowledge of the Trek universe. I cannot speak Klingon. I don’t have ears, brow ridges, or a uniform. I do have a great love for this universe that Roddenberry created. I still have hope that we, as a people, can reach the stars and be better than we are now. I still believe we can live up to our potential.

Today, there is a video floating around with memorable moments and bits of dialogue and I get chills. Three minutes of disjointed snippets, a through-the-glass Vulcan salute, and seeing that beautiful ship (more than one version of her) and I’m all kinds of emotional and have goose bumps.

So, happy anniversary (or birthday really) to Star Trek and all the amazing people involved in it. Live Long and Prosper.

Thoughts on The Doctor

With recent news of Moffat leaving the show and the possibility of Capaldi leaving too after the 2017 season, I’m incredibly saddened by the thought and especially the utter glee coming from some of 11’s fangirls. Granted, they likely had the same thoughts about me when I got so excited that 11 was on his way out as he may well be my least favorite Doctor (who isn’t 5 whose only sin is not being 4). I was heartbroken when 4 left and when 9 was ripped away. Capaldi feels like my Doctor. He comes off as a bit flighty but he is incredibly sly, savy, and smart, and absolutely a riot. He feels like he’s brought the character back to his roots and I don’t want him to go.

I’m not opposed to a female Doctor or a black Doctor or a purple Doctor or a non-humanoid Doctor for that matter. I don’t want 12 to go yet, no matter who is being looked at for the future. There are things I don’t want to see. I don’t want to see a face that would lessen the roles played by certain companions or friends. I don’t want for the gender or color or features to be the sole reason for casting. I want a Doctor who can talk of scarves and question marks or wear a stalk of celery. I like the nods to long ago Doctors and long ago friends and the crazy, alienness that Capaldi brought back to the Doctor and the Tardis. No one can quite match Baker but Capaldi came awful close for me and that’s saying a lot.

I am super excited about getting a new companion at long last. I was not a fan of most of Clara’s tenure, with the surprising exception of the last few of her episodes. I hope it’s someone new and I hope it’s someone who isn’t looking for a boyfriend. I hope it’s someone who challenges the Doctor but doesn’t overshadow him. Donna was incredibly important but she did it in a way that didn’t feel like the show was suddenly all about Donna. Clara became the only important character for a time, even more important than the Doctor, the Tardis, all the rest of humanity. I want someone interesting but not necessarily any more important than any of the rest of us.

The X Files and All The Feels

I’ve done my less personal reviews of the X Files for the Geek Girl Project – See Part One and Part Two but there are some personal feelings I have about it that don’t really belong there.

I’m not shy about talking about my mother, from whom I inherited the crown to this, my fabulous Geekdom. She introduced me to all the best things. I remember watching Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Buck Rogers with her when I was very small. One day we had an earthquake during Wonder Woman (we lived in Washington at the time). (I admit, my father – the guy who doesn’t do fantasy or science fiction except for what I write – took me to see Star Wars – that was never Mom’s cuppa.)

Then came the X Files. It was treated differently than all the other shows we’d watched together. From the moment the pilot aired, we were solid hooked. It was an order pizza, turn out the lights, unplug the phone event every week that we could share as a family, me, my mom, and my brother (though I don’t think he remembers it much). Other people joined us or didn’t, depending on schedules.

The revival has stirred a LOT of emotions for me. My mom always identified pretty heavily with Dana Scully – an intelligent woman, a feisty redhead who didn’t need a man to be considered a whole person by everyone around her. I nearly burst into tears when Dana came on the screen. Gillian Anderson has aged well and reminds me a great deal of my mother, especially during her strawberry blonde/ soft red phase (before she discovered the copper penny color she loved so much).

It was hard to watch the show and not have someone to throw around speculation and theories after it was done. My family puts up with me doing so anyway but it isn’t the same. I could put them here and air them out but that is also not the same. I guess it’s the one social interaction that I do want to be face to face.

Watching now feels a lot like watching then and that’s awesome. It’s hard to recapture that kind of magic but, for me, I think it’s been quite good at managing. I know that, if my mom were still around, we’d at the very least be on the phone the moment it was over if not making the effort to watch together. That’s the part that makes watching hard. It’s a little like watching Babylon 5 without her or ST:TNG or Sea Quest or VR 5 or Earth 2 (we really watched them ALL). It feels the same watching Doctor Who.

I’m not kidding or exaggerating when I say that watching the new episodes feels like coming home to visit with old friends. It really does. I’ll watch them all and love them but they’ll all make me a little sad too, make me miss my mom a little bit more. She would love what they are doing as she would not have enjoyed how they left the line they are tugging. I’ll be watching. Just as I always have. When it’s done, I will miss it all over again.

Easy To Please

At least when the medium is some variation of film I am. With books, I’m incredibly critical. I can enjoy a story and dislike the writing of it or vice versa but I absolutely admit to being hugely picky about what I read. TV and movies, apparently I don’t hold them to the same standard. Did it make me laugh, make me feel, make me gasp in surprise? I think it is because of what I want from each medium. I want to feel and be a part of the world when I’m reading. When I’m watching, I just want to be entertained. One is a release and one is an obsession. Sometimes both can be either.

I enjoy shows and movies for what they are and I don’t care to rip things apart and make things so much less than they were. Yes, Big Bang Theory has become a comedy about a bunch of caricatures rather than actual characters but it makes me laugh. Yes, there are gaping logic flaws in Scorpion (seriously, simple is sometimes better writers!) but it makes me laugh and it makes me feel so I can honestly say I enjoy it. I liked Transformers and Waterworld and a few other movies that apparently everyone else hates. I like the NuWho, New Star Trek, and the new Star Wars. Despite it’s flaws and it’s retconning and inconsistent mythology, I still love Supernatural.

I guess I think sometimes we expect too much of our entertainment. Not everything is deeper than the story whether it’s father rescuing granddaughter from the satanic cult (I liked that movie!) or crazy puzzle box opens up hell. Not everything needs to be. I enjoy the  movies and shows that don’t try so hard to be something bigger. I like the bigger ones too but only the ones that don’t try so hard they’re all in your face with their lessons and their great big MESSAGE.

Personally, there’s as much pleasure to be found in the kitcsh as there is in the blockbuster, the documentary, the period piece, or the vanity films. I’ll take Toxic Avenger or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes over a lot of most people’s must watch movie list.

Case in point. One of the worst movies (or so I thought for EVER) was Vampire’s Kiss (a really crazy Nick Cage movie that I’m totally going to spoil right now). Watching it again as a grownup, introducing my oldest kid to the best angry alphabet recitation in cinematic history, I’m pretty sure I saw a different movie. From a certain point of view, it’s almost brilliant. We watch a self-important man have a killer of a psychotic break. It’s almost sad, watching him prance down the street in the illfitting plastic fangs yelling that he’s a vampire.

I’m not picky with my movies or my television (though I wish my three favorite things were not on at the same time, on the same day!). I come to a theater, to my television, asking to be entertained, to get caught up in someone else’s life for a bit and I gett what I ask for. I might not get some cinematic masterpiece or whatever but at the end of it, if I laughed, if I gasped, if I cried, I’m happy. If things exploded in overly dramatic fashion, that’s even better!

All the Shows I’ve Loved Before

When I find a new show that I really like I figure it’s either going to go FOREVER or going to fall to an early demise. Especially lately.

I loved Firefly. I loved Surface. I loved Almost Human. I loved Constantine. Terriers, My So Called Life, Moonlight, and I’m sure there are others I can’t think of right now. Basically, if I love a show, it’s probably going to die a quick death. Supernatural and Doctor Who are simply juggernauts that cannot be stopped (and I came late to the party to – season 2 and the Fourth Doctor respectively) and the X-files started before I became a jinx.

I really hope they renew Killjoys. I’m coming in late to the party which is probably in its favor but I am really loving it. More of you should be watching it. If you liked the shows I listed above, especially that first one, you’re likely going to like Killjoys. It is so much better than the next episode of Famous People Who are Famous for no Reason I Can Determine or Houses I Will Never Be Able to Afford.

I admit, there is a heavy sci-fi/fantasy bias in my favorite tv. And in my favorite movies, books, and comics too. It isn’t that I don’t watch reality tv. I do. Just not reality tv that is entirely based on people being awful to each other. There’s enough of that in actual reality. When I watch reality tv, I like art shows – the early years of Project Runway (not so much now), Face Off, I liked Top Design a bit, the new Steampunk’d is fun but limited and I like survival shows – Naked and Afraid (not so much XL  as there’s too much nastiness), Survivorman, Bear Grylls does anything.

I am really enjoying Killjoys. There’s a Space Western flare like Firefly. It’s a lot like Firefly actually. It works. It works really well. I hope it lasts longer than this one season. It is fabulous. And now I’m going to go watch another episode.

Naked and Afraid

I know I’m not the only one watching Naked and Afraid. To be honest, usually, the show amuses me. Yes, it is more about the drama than the survival. It’s a bit like Alaskan Bush People (known as the Trainwreck Show in my house) in that way. You get caught up in it and you can’t look away! You want to see if Honora really does throw that big a tantrum or if karma will find Alana for her cruelty.

Naked and Afraid XL is just a supersized version and is rapidly becoming a PSA about bullying. If you don’t watch the show, it drops a bunch of people in exotic locations with very little equipment to survive for a set amount of time. XL has 12 people instead of the usual 2 and they are divided into groups of 3. Apparently Columbia is the perfect location to go crazy in.

Yes, this is a TV show and they edit it to be as interesting as possible. There are a LOT of hours of footage to fit in a few measly hours of entertainment. But, no matter the editing, those actions took place, those words were in fact uttered and that’s not ok. Certain people should be ashamed of themselves. Very.

One contestant through a toddler proportioned tantrum and threw everyone’s tools to the bottom of a pond. Because that’s healthy and helpful. It doesn’t matter if her teammates didn’t necessarily deal with the tantrum the best way (I’d bet neither of those men have children), her actions were inexcusable.

Another contestant was on the verge of breaking and, according to the edits we saw, that lies at the feet of one mean girl and her lackey. Sure, now they’re home and saying it’s the edits but they haven’t acknowledged how awful their words were regardless of how edits have maybe manipulated their position and intent.

I don’t watch a lot of reality TV for this very reason – I’m not big on the soap opera aspect (I’ll watch General Hospital for that thanks!) and I don’t trust the editors as they want the most compelling tv not the truest telling. It’s one of the reasons I love Face Off – I’m there for the makeup not the drama and, with few exceptions, that’s what SyFy gives me. I would honestly rather see how they build the mold rather than listen to one contestant gripe about how another contestant was snippy with her.

Regardless of intent or edits or however they want to justify their behaviors, we should be using this as a teaching moment – here we see what happens when you treat people terribly or throw a temper tantrum that you are twenty years too old to be throwing. Look at Shane and see the effects of harsh words, cold shoulders, and snobbery. It could be used as a training for people who don’t see the effect of their words. Bullying isn’t just something kids do, adults do it too and they are so much more cruel.  Why can’t we all just be nice. If you don’t have something nice to say, keep your mouth shut. The world would be a happier place if we encouraged each other more than tearing each other down. But, the whole world loves to watch tension and arguments.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tim Curry rocks that lingerie better than a lot of women could. The news that Fox is making a two hour TV special does not excite me. You cannot improve on perfection. At least they’re sticking with the script that already exists instead of hiring new writers I guess. I wish the powers that be would stop remaking things that are awesome just as they are. I don’t want to hear about all the new fangled effects that can be done and all that. I haven’t heard anyone talking about remaking Casablanca or Gone with The Wind. To me, Rocky Horror is just as much a classic as those movies and Tim Curry as irreplaceable as Bogart or Butler.

I get that the entertainment industry is a business and, as such, they want something they know will sell, bring in the watchers, the advertising dollars, the ticket sales. I get that Rocky Horror is a cult classic with fans so devoted they know every word, every nuance, even when it isn’t actually in the script. I just want hollywood to start making new things that deserve screen time and not remaking things that are perfectly good just as they are.

The casting has me most concerned. I can’t see anyone as Frank-n-Furter but Curry. Anthony Head was brilliant, but still not Curry. I imagine this remake isn’t being made with fans like me in mind but in trying to grab new, younger viewers who’ve never seen it. The rest of us will be too hard to please as we recite the lines they will inevitably cut and correct the television when they change words.