The Miserables ...Les Miz

I'm not one for musicals unless they are outstanding. I only went to see this one because my daughter wanted to go. I didn't expect a lot. I had no hopes other than ...please don't let me snore if I fall asleep.

I saw Les Miserables on Broadway and although it was good it wasn't my favorite play. The actors (I can't even remember who they were), were good, Broadway caliber to be sure, but overall it was just..eh.

Now all we hear about Anne Hathaway is how she's up for an Oscar or Emmy or whatever they give the movie actors. Yeah, I'm that far out of the loop on these things. My movie going experience has never been a match for whoever is giving out those awards. I mean, after all, they liked Titanic-who had a main character I couldn't stand. She was the downfall of two men because of her selfish ways.
But here I'm going off topic. Back to Les Miz...

Yes! Anne Hathaway deserves the Oscar, Emmy or whatever because her short but soulful part in this movie was amazing. She had the entire audience n tears. Fontaine, a woman forced into prostitution, is portrayed by Anne with absolute perfection. We saw Fontaine as a good woman forced to do the unspeakable to save her child. Your heart broke because of her situation. Anne's acting was excellent. If you go for no other reason, go to see Anne Hathaway's Fontaine.

The photography, set design and wardrobe were all very well done. You were there, in the bitter bowels of the early 1800's with the poor and the suffering. The dirty alleys, people doing whatever they can to fetter out an existence all come together to set the scene where Hugh Jackman, aka Jean ValJean, and Fontaine's lives collide.

Without giving away the plot to those who have no idea what this show is about I have to say along with a great setting and photography, the casting was perfect. Of course we know Hugh Jackman as a versatile and talented actor, but I didn't even recognize him in the opening scene until he opened his mouth. And yes, this man can sing! Russel Crowe stepped up to give a great performance as well. He played the stoic and unforgiving Javert. I would have liked to see his part expanded upon but that's just not in Les Miz.

I was greatly impressed by the show as a whole and thought it a better experience than Broadway.  From the unforgettable Anne Hathaway, to the battle scene, to the end where we see Jean Valjean ....well, you'll find out....go see it!

I didn't even feel like snoozing on this one. One of the best musicals I've ever seen.

Jack Reacher: Movie Review by a Book Lover

I went into the theater with a chip on my shoulder. Tom Cruise as the invincible Jack Reacher? No way. Jack is like 6’6” and like 230 lbs. Cruise is just a skinny little guy with a body more like a teenager than a man. How can he possibly play this hero I’ve been reading for years?

So why did I go? One reason; Lee Child. This author gave me Jack Reacher and many great books in which to live for a little while. How could I not go and support an author who’s given me such great times?

During the opening scenes I had to keep reminding myself to calm down, give it a chance. Keep an open mind. It was hard at first…and then I got sucked right into Reacher-world.

Tom Cruise aced Jack Reacher.

There, I said it. And by the end of the movie I could definitely see him step into the skin of our hero. There were several reasons this worked.

Tom put on some weight for this character; mostly muscle.  When he took off his shirt his body had the muscular thickness I could see on a man I visualize as Reacher. Tom looked better than I’ve ever seen him in any of this other movies. Skinny kid gone, grown man awesome.

Camera angles. Tom didn’t appear 6’6” but he did come across as taller in most of the scenes. Good camera work made him appear larger overall which let us see him as a possible Reacher. It wasn’t there all the time but enough so that Tom definitely came across as much more than the skinny character he’s played in movies like Mission Impossible. 

The story was true Lee Child. The language of Lee came through in almost all of the scenes and they stayed true to character of Jack Reacher. We see him buying new clothing and dumping his old stuff in a Good Will bin. Yes, his toothbrush is in his pocket!  A little sexy, a little unreachable, very dynamic.

Action scenes were awesome. From the fight scenes to the car chases. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. It was Reacher style fighting, no holds barred and dirty as anything we’ve read in the books. Totally fitting our beloved Reacher.

If you’ve read the book you see things from the inside of Reacher’s head and because this is a movie you don’t get that as much but that’s true with every movie. However the plot was there and kept us on the edge of our seat. There were moments I had to cover my eyes the action was so graphic. (That’s a good thing!) I laughed out loud, nearly screamed with fright and wanted to yell at the screen at times. (I restrained myself since the woman in front of me was doing enough of that for everyone ~ )

When we go to the theater, if the movie was GREAT we call it a “Buy”. Meaning we have to get the DVD when it comes out so we can see it again and again. Jack Reacher was definitely a “Buy” in my book.  I’d go see it again today if my family wouldn’t think I was crazy.

Well played Tom. Jack Reacher gets 5 STARS in my book. Go see it and keep an open mind. I’m glad I did. One more thing: make sure you check out the sexy desk Sargent…..

Unemployed and Uninspired

Maybe its the holiday season but getting a pink slip two weeks before Christmas can be a bit of a downer. Now you worry about money and doing all those things you're used to doing. First file for unemployment. Get that out of the way so some cash comes in while we decide what to do.

Reality? We show up for work on Monday morning, 2 of the bosses are sitting in reception. Look over and see none of the computers have monitors on them. Ut oh!

"Yeah," says boss #1, "Ut oh. We're closing up shop."

Just like that.

Everyone in the office is unemployed 2 weeks before Christmas. Merry you too.

To tell the truth I wasn't surprised. The last two months it seemed people had too much free time. When I brought this subject up others in the office weren't worried. "Look what good moods the bosses are in!" they would say. Good moods indeed. They were in that office every single day laughing and joking. This leads me to believe they did know what was coming and were probably milking the biz for all they could get. Why else would a floundering business put the powers in such a good mood. Get it while it's hot, folks!

So now what? To write or not to write? Better to use this time to finish one of the great American Novels I have under my keyboard or should I jump back into the rat race, find another boring job and kill my soul?

I vacillate back and forth trying to come up with the answer. Universe? Send me a sign!

Challenging Youself

One of the writers I most admire is Zoe Winters. She regularly posts her word count and how far she's gotten in her lastest WIP.  I need to do this. Not post it per say, but challenge myself to get X amount of pages done each day. In Stephen King's book, On Writing he says he completes at least 10 pages a day. Now I question if he perfects those 10 pages with edits or does he just blow them out to come back and edit later? Probably a little of both since we know writing isn't an exact science. I usually plow through to the end but sometimes I back track.
So what word count to set?
I work full time, volunteer and just started piano lessons. :) So with all that on my plate, what would be a viable word count? Should it be set for each day? Week? Or should it be a time goal? X amount of hours each day or week?
Sometimes 10 pages fly by, other times 5 pages are absolutely painful and time is a factor when you work 8 hours a day.
Do you set word/page goals? Are they daily or weekly?

How do you get it done? 

Work of Art for Writers

There was a show on Bravo for two seasons (I'm praying it comes back!) that brought like 20 artists together for a competition: Work of Art, the next great artist. Each week they'd be given an assignment, work through it and then it goes to the gallery for judging and some one's eliminated. I loved this show. Watching the artistic process, seeing how each artist comes up with his own ideas for challenge and the rush to finish by the deadline.
So I was thinking this would be cool for writers except for one thing....watchin a dozen or so writers sit and curse at their puters while they pounded the keys and hit the delete button probably wouldn't be too entertaining.
Too bad.
However, I could probably watch Stephen King write.
Not matter how interesting the process, the grunt work isn't always that entertaining in some industries. Watching a work of art go from lumps of clay and paint to magical works can be interesting. When writing the excitement is all in your head. The scenes are like visions that take us into another, far away world that is much more fun than everyday stuff.

So here I sit on a Sunday afternoon, ignoring the counter clutter, laundry and other stuff, to go into that far away land inside my brain. Its so much more interesting than anything else I could be doing today.

Forcing it?

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you write just as long as you write. Forcing something down on paper/keyboard can be liberating. Sometimes.
Other times its torture.
I have several books completed, but not ready for public viewing. Some are shorter, but still book length but there's a few that are huge. When I can't wrap my brain around anything new I go back and play in these books. There are a few that I really like and would love to see them all polished up for Amazon, but for some reason I procrastinate. I believe this is some kind of phobia. If I finish them I'll put them up on Amazon and God forbid someone hates them! Crushing!
And then there's all these new stories in my head that keep nagging at me.
The full time job really gets in my way.
I have a really boring job and actually have time to work on my stories there, but its a room full of cubes and everyone can see each other. Just when I'm in the zone and going good someone demands my attention. Its like walking out of a cloud. Suddenly I'm not miles into my story but being yanked back into the cube-world. (I hate cube world) I did try to use head phones but the others objected because I didn't jump when they wanted my attention. Even if it wasn't about work--all summer long we do NOTHING--they were still offended that I would zone out on them. Heaven forbid I miss the building's gossip!
So now my writing time is either early morning, before work or after work or at night. Morning is when I do my best writing but sometimes I get so pulled into the story I lose all track of time and end up being late for work...where I'll sit in a cube and do nothing for hours. After work is better but there's dinner to make, family to talk to and dogs to walk. I usually practice piano after work too. Sometimes there's meetings.
I admire Zoe Winters who sets word count goals and meets them. Maybe that's what I should do. Page or word goals to get the job done.

Any other goal setting ideas? How do you get it done?

Ambition...where did it go?

I feel foolish confessing my writing has fallen by the wayside. Normally writing is my savior. Its where I go to hide from the world. In the past year it feels as if I lost something. That drive inside me that makes it so I HAVE TO write has faded, vanished, slammed into park and refuses to move. I can't seem to jump start anything to do with writing.
This scares me a bit.
I've been painting a lot and have started to learn piano, but I know these are substitutes for that thing inside me that wants to be writing.
As silly as it may seem I blame this on a loss of a pet. Elvis, my parrot of 11 years died suddenly. He was jumped on by one of the dogs I fostered and died in my hands. He nipped my finger once and was gone. I cried for days. I'm still crying inside and the smallest things can set me off. Its been over 6 months and still my heart weeps. I blame myself. I was his protector and I failed. His death is all my fault.  I don't blame the dog. Something fell beside him and he pounced. My daughter and I were standing right there and still couldn't stop it. I don't even think the dog knew what it was when he jumped on it. Probably thought it was a toy. Dogs move instinctively. I was the failure. Elvie's death is mine. I should have kept him safe.
Silly, I know but since then I can't write. I don't know what I'm waiting for, or why I've been so stuck over this. He's not the first pet I lost and I'm sure won't be the last. But parrots are special. They are almost like little people. He talked and would say the absolutely right thing at the right time. He ate when we ate, slept when we slept and was part of the family. I miss him terribly.
They say grief has five stages; Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I guess I'm in depression since there is no guilt. Or maybe there should be guilt. Or is that in bargaining? Am I trying to bargain my way out of guilt? Justify that I didn't keep him safe?
I know accidents happen and we can't stop the world, but still my heart broke when Elvis left me.
Weirdly, about two weeks before he died I had this overwhelming feeling that he was going to be gone soon. Like I looked at him once and knew he would leave me soon. The thought so horrified me that I shook it off immediately.
If I ever have pychic powers I don't want to know things like that but sometimes...
Why don't I ever get the lottery numbers? Something useful.

Then a few months ago my dog died. Halston was 16 and a golden retriever so we knew it was coming. Still didn't make it any easier.
So now I'm plodding through an old story, trying to get it ready for Kindle but my heart's just not in it.
Tell me how to get "it" back. That thing inside that makes you write. I think it's still there. It just won't come out and play.