glitter_n_gore: (twixt)
Happy Black Panther Weekend!

I went last night and it was a million times better than I even expected it to be, and my expectations were HIGH. All my fellow film geeks have been talking about Black Panther for what feels like eons. This is a historic moment in cinema. Along with last year's Get Out and the still upcoming A Wrinkle In Time, black protagonists are finally getting a significant spotlight in mainstream cinema. It's a drop in a very large, very overdue bucket, but it's a step in the right direction.

One of the horror and sci-fi films with black protagonists from last year that you may have missed, along with The Transfiguration, Sleight, and It Comes At Night, is one of the finest zombie movies out there, and a stunningly faithful adaptation to boot: The Girl With All the Gifts.



I am going to spoil a few things here, so tread carefully if you haven't seen it yet.

Read more... )
glitter_n_gore: (underworld)

Behold! My Belated Official First Post of 2017!!



I, uh, watched a lot of movies last year. SO for my first official post of 2017, I’m doing a MASSIVE breakdown of the stuff I actually caught in theaters. Also, as you may have noticed, I have moved to DreamWidth! I’m still working on getting all the photos ported over here, so anything that links to Glitter n Gore is going to the LJ account until I get it fixed. Bear with me; I’ll make it work eventually. Meanwhile--movies! Let’s talk about those.

Cross-posted to [personal profile] rhoda_rants.

Capsule reviews below! )

What were some of YOUR favorite movie experiences from 2016?
glitter_n_gore: (freddie lounds)
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

So begins the second adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's collection of monsterifications of period pieces. The first, of course, was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which ironically was actually written after Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and more an original alternate history type thing than a retelling of an existing work of literature. But today, I'm talking about the movie.


Via Giphy


Now, I was extremely skeptical when I first heard this was happening. I had no interest in the book, or any of the copy-cat retellings that followed, such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, but . . . I don't know, somehow the trailer started to pique my interest. After the fourth or fifth time I watched it, and started to do a headcount of how many cool genre actors were a part of it--Charles Dance! Matt Smith! Lena Headey!--I decided I couldn't miss this one.

It didn't disappoint.

Read more. . . )
glitter_n_gore: (Default)
First, check out this interview with Luke Walker about his new ebook, The Red Girl.

Second, in the continuing spirit of Women in Horror Month, fellow Houndie Night Flyer has posted on a spotlight on author Sarah Langon on her shiny new blog. Check that out as well.

In other news, I have now read two--count 'em, two--of the books in my TBR pile: L. A. Banks's Minion and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Crossing 'em off the list now.

Anyways, since I haven't done one of these in far too long, here's a progress report on what I'm actually working on writing-wise:


Novels:

Fire Worker--previously known as "Demigeists," so obviously the first piece of news on this one is I changed the title. The reason being that "demigeists," these neat little fun-sized ghosties I made up that travel through mirrors and steal souls very, very gradually, while still worth a shot eventually I think, just aren't going to work in the context I worked out. The total wordcount so far is 28,000. I'm about at the halfway mark.

Early Risers--Currently standing at 13,000 words, and passing the Plot Twist. Which, this being a zombie story, means the outbreak is getting worse. Another issue is I realized I haven't described what my protagonist looks like yet. I tend to be lax with physical descriptions for some reason, particularly for POV characters. I don't know why. I'll figure something out, I hope.

Shorts:

Doppelganger--four rejections so far, all form, no takers. I took another look at it and decided the beginning was weak, so I'm putting it back into the editing stage before sending it anywhere else.

The Candelabrum--3,000 after the second round of edits, and now I'm scouring my lists for where to send it. Wish me luck!

NaNo 2011!

Nov. 8th, 2011 03:26 pm
glitter_n_gore: (hyde)
So I'm not doing NaNo this year, exactly, but I do have a number of projects currently underway so I figured I might as well use this space to track my progress. If nothing else, it'll give me something to blog about, because seriously, I need to update more often.

Here's the score so far:

Short Stories:

Doppelganger--supernatural horror, clocking in at 6500 words. Longish for the markets I'm looking at, but not too long, hopefully. Ready to sub, at least as ready as I can make it with the help of five betas and one personalized rejection.

Early Risers--zombie short, horror-comedy, 1290 words. Submitted to Publisher A, no word back yet. It's been about a month since I sent it, but their kill date is 60 days, so I'm not worried. (Yet.)

The Candelabrum--good ol' fashioned haunted house story, no word count yet as it's all longhand. Inspired by the October Prompt on AW.

Novels:

Early Risers--same zombie short, expanding into a novel against my better judgment. (The first "chapter" is what I'm pitching as a short story, and I still think it works rather nicely as a standalone piece.) I'm also taking some of the pieces I couldn't make work from "Dusty" and trying them here instead. Progress so far: 4500 words.

Demigeists--YA horror/urban fantasy/magic realism. I put all those in there because it's still cooking and I'm not sure what it'll look like once it's done. I've taken one of my own nightmares, the random infestation of crows that popped up 'round these parts over summer, mixed in some characters from a trunk novel, and enrolled them in a prep school next to a graveyard. Progress so far: 5000 words.

Total rejections so far: 6 (1 personalized)

Full requests: 1
glitter_n_gore: (cheryl)
First, I want to give a shout-out to my friend Jenna Pittman, whose story "The Language of Bones" is currently appearing in Blood Bound Books' Rock and Roll is Dead anthology, which was released this summer. I know I mentioned this before, but I bring it up again because the current issue of Rue Morgue Magazine--the one with the original Fright Night poster on the cover--has reviewed the anthology and spoke very highly of Jenna's story in particular. So, good job, Jen! Go check out the issue--there's always lots to savor in Rue Morgue.

Second, we have a situation.

In the space of less than a week, the East Coast--the ENTIRE East Coast, just about--experienced a seismic event unlike any most of us can remember; and then we found Irene getting cozy down south and preparing to crash this weekend. Keep in mind as well that the Dismal Swamp is still on fire.

Now, I'm not saying we're in for a zombie apocalypse or anything, but the plot bunnies are having a field day. And you have to admit, the timing is a bit odd.

Diane Dooley and Luke Walker have put together a top ten list of the best zombie movies ever made here: Here There Be Zombies! It's always great to see how the rules differ from one story to the next, and how they're similar is well.

Batten down the hatches, get your duct tape, bottled water, plywood, and hand-crank flashlights, but it couldn't hurt to sharpen a machete or two also. No harm in being prepared, is all I'm saying.

And speaking of being prepared, I myself am hammering out some finishing touches to "Doppelganger," which I'm hoping to submit to an anthology later this week. Well, the deadline is later this week, but I'm trying to put it in the queue a little earlier just in case we lose power.

More on that later. Stay tuned!
glitter_n_gore: (frank)
Like monsters? Read this article by self-described "icky bug" fan and author Fred Hayworth.

Like zombies? Check out this book trailer for Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy--the second of which, Deadline I bought just last week.

As for myself, I haven't accomplished as much word-count wise lately as I'd like to. However, I am progressing in a slightly different way, and pleased so far: I finished my "final" edits for my YA dystopia, which I wasn't expecting to happen as quickly or easily as it did, so I'm starting the query/synopsis/submission process again. YA dystopias are reportedly "hot" right now, and I just happen to have one, and this manuscript is decidedly more polished than the last one I sent out, so I'm hopeful.

Also, I joined a sci-fi/fantasy/horror workshop last week with a focus on short story format. I haven't successfully written a short story before, so I'm taking a stab at getting the form and pacing figured out. It's a good group, and I've workshopped with them before, so I'm excited. Wish me luck!
glitter_n_gore: (emma watson)
My reading list grows exponentially every time I look at it. The only thing stopping me from buying new books right now is my shiny new bookshelf and the fact that absolutely nothing else can fit on it at present--even if I keep two books on my nightstand at all times (the one I'm reading, and the one I'm going to read next).

However, I still keep an eye out for new releases of some of my fellow writers and do what I can to get the word out. Here's what's on my calendar this year (so far):

April 19, 2011: Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
I read Hannah's first book, Break, last year and really enjoyed her dry voice and unique characterizations. It was short, punchy and mean, and although the new one promises to be very different, I've definitely got my eye on it.

May 31, 2011: Deadline by Mira Grant
This the sequel to last year's Feed and the second in the Newsflesh trilogy, a story of intrepid bloggers in a high-tech, zombie-infested environment where infection is a weapon of mass destruction and the internet just might save the world--or at least tell it who the real bad guys are. I loved the first book to bits, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

July 5, 2011: A Shot in the Dark by K. A. Stewart
The second of the Jesse James Dawson novels, and the sequel to A Devil in the Details, which I read this year although I'm not sure when it first came out. A unique additional to the traditional urban fantasy genre--our hero is a guy who fights demons with a samurai sword and has a healthy, stable homelife for a change, both of which make me happy.

July 26, 2011: Another Kind of Dead by Kelly Meding
The third book in Meding's Dreg City urban fantasy series, this one about vampires. I like this series because it's dark and gritty and, in addition to the usual beasties like fae and trolls and vamps and shapeshifters, this one has gargoyles and gremlins.

September, 2011: One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire (no specified date yet)
The fifth in McGuire's October Daye urban fantasy series about fae fiefdoms set in San Francisco. I just finished the fourth, Late Eclipses, last week, and it was the best so far--and I'm not the only one who feels that way, because--also as of last week--it officially hit the New York Times bestseller list.
glitter_n_gore: (stargate snark)
Happy Humpday!

Here is my progress thus far on the submission package for The Carrion Girl: I have the first fifty pages printed, as per the guidelines for one of my snail mail agencies; the query is now entering its third draft, and getting juicier by the minute (I hope); the manuscript itself is almost fully reformatted to the standard specifications (double-spaced, courier new 12 point font, my name and the title at the header and page numbers at the footer, etc.); and I'm just a handful of chapters away from being finished with the synopsis.

What I seem to be struggling with the most query-wise is wanting to hook whoever reads it, but also not wanting to spoil anything. In other words, I'm thinking of it like a book-blurb , which you're supposed to hold back for. One of the pieces of (sometimes conflicting) advice I've gotten concerning queries is that you should do that--write them as if they're book blurbs, like the thing you see on the back flap, to get people to read it. However, with a query, it's a little different. You're trying to get someone interested in buying the book who will then either shop it around to publishers (agencies) or publish it for you (publishers). Depending on who you're querying. Anyways, the query is really not where you want to hold back--whatever's unique and exciting about the book, you have it put it out there. What's screwing me up is that the unique, exciting thing about The Carrion Girl is a very big plot twist. It's revealed gradually, so this isn't something that I'd put on the back cover (which I will eventually have to write as well, assuming it sells).

It's a dilemma.

So instead of using the Book Blurb model of query-writing, I'm going instead with the Three Questions:

1) What does your MC (main character) want?

2) What does s/he have to do to get it?

3) What happens if s/he fails?

These are the things I'm trying to touch on, and the answers span the entire book--not just the first few chapters, which is what they'll be reading in the submission package once I send it out.

Bottom line, the goal with the query is to entice whoever's reading it to want more. A few chapters, for example. Then the full manuscript. Then, if they like the manuscript, the offer of their services to get it out to the general public and get it on a shelf.

So, I'm still hammering it out. I'm getting closer to my deadline, so this is worrying me slightly, however I also feel like I'm closer to having it right than I was before, and it's becoming more fun than work again. So this is a good thing.

Onwards!

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