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So close...(fic update)
I'm two scenes and the epilogue away from finishing Never Say Die on paper. On paper doesn't count toward my "official" word-count as it's more detailed notes than actual prose. But it's good progress. Excellent progress. I might even actually finish this week. One of the still-to-write scenes is a sex scene which I skipped writing earlier in the story; the other is the last scene of the story-proper: the wrap-up.
In other news...
I saw Happy Go Lucky at the cinema on Saturday. Good film. Mike Leigh directed and his style is just to get into the character's lives and let the audience get to know them. In some ways, Happy Go Lucky is short on plot - the actual plot can be summarised in a few sentences. But it's not about the plot. It's about this woman and her life. Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a school teacher, single, in her 30's and she has a happy, bubbly personality. If I knew her in real life, she'd irritate the hell out of me inside a minute. In the film, well, yeah she's a bit irritating but what shines through is her sincerity. She's not putting it on or hiding misery behind smiles and jokes. She's a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. The plot? Her bike is stolen, so she decides to take driving lessons. Her driving instructor is, putting it mildly, a bastard. Racist, homophobic, sexist, opinionated...your typical Daily Mail reader, I guess. He tries to teach her how to drive; she chatters away during lessons, driving him crazy until eventually something happens and they part company. And that's pretty much the plot. But in between there's all this great character stuff.
Okay, that's a lousy review. It's a feelgood movie and unapologetic for it. It was a good movie for me this week; a real break from the dark, dark fic I'm writing.
I'm reading Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. It was recced to me online and so far I've read book one and am partway into the second. There's something about the writing style - she's got to be a fan writer. The violence-against-men theme, the sexual nature of so many of the relationships, the dark themes so familiar from fanfic, the perfect H/C setup... this stuff just isn't often found in pro writing. Or, rather, not in respected pro writing. There are a lot of faults; some of the portrayal of women and the de-sexualisation of the heroine (though that might change, she is, after all a child so far) has my teeth on edge. But the overall story and setup grabs me the way fanfic does. She's got to be a fanwriter. Or an ex-fanwriter. Surely.
Lastly, someone died. An old friend of my mum; a former next-door neigbour when I was a kid. I barely remember him but I do recall he built my very first playhouse for me. Hand-built it, I mean. He was living in South Africa and had a stroke after a routine heart-surgery...if any heart surgery can be called 'routine'. Rest in Peace, Alan.
In other news...
I saw Happy Go Lucky at the cinema on Saturday. Good film. Mike Leigh directed and his style is just to get into the character's lives and let the audience get to know them. In some ways, Happy Go Lucky is short on plot - the actual plot can be summarised in a few sentences. But it's not about the plot. It's about this woman and her life. Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a school teacher, single, in her 30's and she has a happy, bubbly personality. If I knew her in real life, she'd irritate the hell out of me inside a minute. In the film, well, yeah she's a bit irritating but what shines through is her sincerity. She's not putting it on or hiding misery behind smiles and jokes. She's a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. The plot? Her bike is stolen, so she decides to take driving lessons. Her driving instructor is, putting it mildly, a bastard. Racist, homophobic, sexist, opinionated...your typical Daily Mail reader, I guess. He tries to teach her how to drive; she chatters away during lessons, driving him crazy until eventually something happens and they part company. And that's pretty much the plot. But in between there's all this great character stuff.
Okay, that's a lousy review. It's a feelgood movie and unapologetic for it. It was a good movie for me this week; a real break from the dark, dark fic I'm writing.
I'm reading Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. It was recced to me online and so far I've read book one and am partway into the second. There's something about the writing style - she's got to be a fan writer. The violence-against-men theme, the sexual nature of so many of the relationships, the dark themes so familiar from fanfic, the perfect H/C setup... this stuff just isn't often found in pro writing. Or, rather, not in respected pro writing. There are a lot of faults; some of the portrayal of women and the de-sexualisation of the heroine (though that might change, she is, after all a child so far) has my teeth on edge. But the overall story and setup grabs me the way fanfic does. She's got to be a fanwriter. Or an ex-fanwriter. Surely.
Lastly, someone died. An old friend of my mum; a former next-door neigbour when I was a kid. I barely remember him but I do recall he built my very first playhouse for me. Hand-built it, I mean. He was living in South Africa and had a stroke after a routine heart-surgery...if any heart surgery can be called 'routine'. Rest in Peace, Alan.
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LOL! Well, with what I've read so far of the trilogy I don't feel it needs that level of explicitness. The relationships are so very sensual anyway.
I'm certainly not "too shy" to write sex but boy, is it hard for me. I just find it boring as hell after a while. Sex is great to read, but terribly difficult to write well because real sex is not sexy.
LKH - perfect example. Yes, she writes explicit sex. But it's terrible. I have difficulty believing anyone could be turned on by the crap she churns out as porn. And, yeah, she's homophobic in the extreme.
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I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend. What a lovely memory you have of him building your first playhouse. ::hugs::
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