by Jason Joyner | Jun 20, 2011 | Blog, CSFF, I hear the soldiers marching myself..., Mike Dellosso, speculative fiction, supernatural suspense
June is here. Time for campfires and spooky stories. And the CSFF Tour has the book for you.
We are featuring the latest from Mike Dellosso, Darkness Follows.
Continue on with the tour, if you dare…
—
Sam Travis is an out of work carpenter, on disability due to a recent fall and head injury. He’s struggling with his slow recovery and the natural need of a husband to provide for his wife Molly and daughter Eva.
One night he is awakened by the sounds of battle. Living near Gettysburg, the sound is not unusual due to the frequent reenactments.
Except that is November, long past the time for it.
He investigates the sounds, and it leads him to a journal written by a Union officer named Samuel Whiting. The entry speaks of darkness and death. The despair of battle.
And it is written in Sam Travis’s writing.
The despair from the journals invade Sam’s life. He is reminded of his dead brother Tommy, and the memories that are supposed to be locked away in the recesses of his mind. He wonders if he is dealing with complications from his accident, or if the darkness that follows Samuel Whiting is coming after him next.
As mysterious deaths pile up around the area, and an influential senator plans a major speech at Gettysburg, Sam’s hold on reality is tenuous. His family is fighting for him, but he doesn’t know if it is enough to keep him from doing something terrible, something calling from the darkness…
—
Interested? Then check out
Mike’s blog for more information, my faithful friends in the CSFF Tour below, and I’ll have a review of the book tomorrow.
Julie
Carol Keen
Inae Kyo
Shannon McDermott
Allen McGraw
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Sarah Sawyer
Kathleen Smith
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
by Jason Joyner | Jun 20, 2011 | Blog, CSFF, I hear the soldiers marching myself..., Mike Dellosso, speculative fiction, supernatural suspense
June is here. Time for campfires and spooky stories. And the CSFF Tour has the book for you.
We are featuring the latest from Mike Dellosso, Darkness Follows.
Continue on with the tour, if you dare…
—
Sam Travis is an out of work carpenter, on disability due to a recent fall and head injury. He’s struggling with his slow recovery and the natural need of a husband to provide for his wife Molly and daughter Eva.
One night he is awakened by the sounds of battle. Living near Gettysburg, the sound is not unusual due to the frequent reenactments.
Except that is November, long past the time for it.
He investigates the sounds, and it leads him to a journal written by a Union officer named Samuel Whiting. The entry speaks of darkness and death. The despair of battle.
And it is written in Sam Travis’s writing.
The despair from the journals invade Sam’s life. He is reminded of his dead brother Tommy, and the memories that are supposed to be locked away in the recesses of his mind. He wonders if he is dealing with complications from his accident, or if the darkness that follows Samuel Whiting is coming after him next.
As mysterious deaths pile up around the area, and an influential senator plans a major speech at Gettysburg, Sam’s hold on reality is tenuous. His family is fighting for him, but he doesn’t know if it is enough to keep him from doing something terrible, something calling from the darkness…
—
Interested? Then check out
Mike’s blog for more information, my faithful friends in the CSFF Tour below, and I’ll have a review of the book tomorrow.
Julie
Carol Keen
Inae Kyo
Shannon McDermott
Allen McGraw
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Sarah Sawyer
Kathleen Smith
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
by Jason Joyner | Jun 19, 2011 | Blog, green jeans, Green Lantern, movies, reviews, superheroes
OK, freaks and geeks, it is the summer of the super hero!
We’ve already seen Marvel take two shots with Thor and X-men: First Class (enjoyed the first one, haven’t seen the latter). Now it is DC Comics turn with the introduction of Green Lantern as a movie franchise.
If you’re not familiar with this character, there is an intergalactic peace-keeping force called the Green Lanterns, using the energy of willpower (manifested by the color green, naturally?) to watch over the universe. There are 3600 Lanterns divided by sectors.
On a small planet in sector 2814, there is a test pilot named Hal Jordan. He is a daredevil flyboy who works as a test pilot. When the Lantern Abin Sur crashes onto Earth, the ring is commissioned to find a replacement. Hal is chosen, and he’s inducted into the corps.
Green Lantern hasn’t gotten good reviews from the critics (scoring poorly according to Rotten Tomatoes). Well, the critics are the critics, and not necessarily the intended audience. As an all-around geek and fan of comic books, I found Lantern to be an enjoyable summer movie and launching point for this character.
The movie does a good job of establishing Hal Jordan and his childhood friend, on and off again flame Carol Ferris. The Corps are thinly drawn. We don’t get a good picture of why Abin Sur is considered so great. His close friend Sinestro is played well, but the writers don’t give him the best background to set up his character either.
The plot of the movie moves along well without much down time. The slower parts set up the conflict between Hal and Carol, one of the main antagonists Hector Hammond, and Sinestro’s quest for power. Some of the dialogue is wooden and forced, but the action scenes are better. Some of the previews made the CGI effects seem pretty cheesy, but they turned out well in the finished product. Even the maligned, fully-CGI rendered uniform of Green Lantern came across better than I thought it would. The comic book world openly scoffed when the first images came out. Perhaps the artists adjusted it based on the criticism, but it worked except for the face mask. Then again, looking at a comic book picture of Green Lantern, the mask looks a little silly there now!
I thought the movie was quite enjoyable. I liked Iron Man and The Dark Knight better, but it was on par with Thor. I hope people will see the movie and make up their own mind instead of going by the critics. I would like to see more movies in a series. Perhaps it could turn out like Spiderman 2. Many people didn’t think the first movie was all that special, but #2 is considered one of the best superhero movies ever.
We’ll see if it will be “brightest day” or “blackest night” for Green Lantern. I’m leaning toward the light.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 19, 2011 | Blog, green jeans, Green Lantern, movies, reviews, superheroes
OK, freaks and geeks, it is the summer of the super hero!
We’ve already seen Marvel take two shots with Thor and X-men: First Class (enjoyed the first one, haven’t seen the latter). Now it is DC Comics turn with the introduction of Green Lantern as a movie franchise.
If you’re not familiar with this character, there is an intergalactic peace-keeping force called the Green Lanterns, using the energy of willpower (manifested by the color green, naturally?) to watch over the universe. There are 3600 Lanterns divided by sectors.
On a small planet in sector 2814, there is a test pilot named Hal Jordan. He is a daredevil flyboy who works as a test pilot. When the Lantern Abin Sur crashes onto Earth, the ring is commissioned to find a replacement. Hal is chosen, and he’s inducted into the corps.
Green Lantern hasn’t gotten good reviews from the critics (scoring poorly according to Rotten Tomatoes). Well, the critics are the critics, and not necessarily the intended audience. As an all-around geek and fan of comic books, I found Lantern to be an enjoyable summer movie and launching point for this character.
The movie does a good job of establishing Hal Jordan and his childhood friend, on and off again flame Carol Ferris. The Corps are thinly drawn. We don’t get a good picture of why Abin Sur is considered so great. His close friend Sinestro is played well, but the writers don’t give him the best background to set up his character either.
The plot of the movie moves along well without much down time. The slower parts set up the conflict between Hal and Carol, one of the main antagonists Hector Hammond, and Sinestro’s quest for power. Some of the dialogue is wooden and forced, but the action scenes are better. Some of the previews made the CGI effects seem pretty cheesy, but they turned out well in the finished product. Even the maligned, fully-CGI rendered uniform of Green Lantern came across better than I thought it would. The comic book world openly scoffed when the first images came out. Perhaps the artists adjusted it based on the criticism, but it worked except for the face mask. Then again, looking at a comic book picture of Green Lantern, the mask looks a little silly there now!
I thought the movie was quite enjoyable. I liked Iron Man and The Dark Knight better, but it was on par with Thor. I hope people will see the movie and make up their own mind instead of going by the critics. I would like to see more movies in a series. Perhaps it could turn out like Spiderman 2. Many people didn’t think the first movie was all that special, but #2 is considered one of the best superhero movies ever.
We’ll see if it will be “brightest day” or “blackest night” for Green Lantern. I’m leaning toward the light.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 15, 2011 | Blog, fiction, is it time to eat yet?, overdone analogies, writing craft
We just finished our kitchen.
Maybe “we” is a misnomer. My wife did all of the leg work to pick out everything with the design, and the contractors did the heavy lifting. I…stayed out of their hair. It was better that way.
I am not a construction type of guy. If a home improvement video says a job will take 1-2 hours, that means all day for me. So, I don’t do that sort of thing unless there’s no other option! This means I’m not familiar with the process of building.
It was fascinating to come home from work each day and see the layers stripped down. First the cabinets, then the old floor, then the sub-floor. The sheet rock, plaster, electrical, plumbing. The foundation wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world.
Then it started changing. The sheet rock guy did the mudding, adding texture. Now there was some dynamic going on, instead of being flat. He did the basic painting, and now it seems like we’re getting somewhere!
The cabinets came next, and it fleshed out everything, allowing a place for all the little things a kitchen needs. Then the counters. Now it can carry some weight.
The flooring was laid, and the path became clear. Still, the painter had to do the little touch-ups at the end to make everything finished.
I think you can see where I’m going with this…
I was taken by the relationship to building this new kitchen to building a novel. It wasn’t completely brand new – the old foundation and walls were still there. However, it took a process to get to the end product, and it wasn’t always apparent how it was going to turn out. The care my wife took in looking at all the options created a beautiful setting.
I know as I slowly chip away at what I want in the story, I find twists and turns. Some things don’t work out as planned. Some choices make it worse. I realize I’m still in stages where it hasn’t all come together yet.
It was a relief to get cabinets in, and the countertops set, but that wasn’t the end point. What makes the kitchen is the little touches – the decorative pieces set into the backsplash, the glaze on the cabinets, the edging on the counters. A writer can get by with the functional pieces in place, but the novel can only reach its full potential if the time is taken to work the little details into the otherwise sturdy workmanship.
My wife is very pleased with how it came out. I’m happy for her, I enjoy the kitchen, but I’m just happy to have regular cooking again! I could have been satisfied enough with less, but it is so much more due to her vision.
I hope to keep this thought in mind as I go through the different levels of working my story.
—
