Starbound Lovers

The Fall TV season starts in October and this will be the second year without a science fiction TV series.  Once Upon A Time, Grimm, and Supernatural fill the paranormal/fantasy genres but the last true science fiction show I watched was Stargate Universe (and it didn't measure up to the original Stargate SG1).

Where are the space explorer and starship shows?

Growing up there were tons of cartoons and tv series involving aliens and space exploration.  Votron, Battle of the Planets, Star Blazers, and Transformers. TV shows like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, and the Star Trek series and its spinoffs.

In the 1990s and 2000s, we had shows like Babylon 5, Andromeda, Stargate SG1 (and its spinoffs), Firefly and the Battlestar Galactica remake.  But in 2011 and 2012 we are without space exploration. I can't believe there isn't an audience for these type of shows.

Is this a new trend?  Next summer the sequel to the Star Trek reboot movie will come out.  Do you think this will bring a resurgence in science fiction tv?

I have to admit, we don't watch a ton of sci-fi movies. Generally it consists of Predator, Alien, Star Trek, and unfortunately, the Transformers series. On occasion we'll hit the theater or rent one that I'm pretty sure I hate, but if I watch it again or think about it really hard, I find I like it. Cowboys and Aliens, for example. At first I had a hard time putting my suspension of disbelief away on that one, but upon re-watching it, I liked it. Maybe there was a guy with stinky feet sitting behind me in the theater and it skewed my thought process--who knows? And I'm caught in limbo right now because I can't decide if I liked John Carter or not. At the end of it was going, what just happened?

Today I'm going to list the top three sci-fi/fantasy movies I hope I never have to watch again whether it's because of low budget or bad writing.

#1 - Alien 3000 - We picked this up at Movie Gallery (when there still was such a place) a few years ago thinking it was somehow related to the Alien vs. Predator franchise. We were wrong. Very, very wrong. I'm pretty sure it was just a ploy to get some soft core porn made into a movie. The first five minutes is a couple making out and the girl's boobs hanging out. This is my all-time Worst Movie Ever pick. When you pick up the box it says it starts Lorenzo Lamas. I didn't know who that was, but my husband did. During the cheesy special effects the trucks kept changing models, the computer graphics looked like they came from the original Nintendo, and no one in this movie could act their way out of a wet paper sack. Fortunately at Movie Gallery you could take a movie back, tell them you hated it, and they'd give you a free rental.

#2 - Transmorphers - This is the movie that made me realize my husband and I need to learn to read. We foolishly (again) assumed this had something to do with Transformers (because the first one wasn't that bad, you know?). This movie was so hokey with bad effects and acting, I couldn't even finish watching it. Honestly, I'm not even sure what to tell you about it aside from: stay away!

#3 - Journey to Promethea - Go look at the cover for this movie. Tell me it doesn't look that bad. It has Billy Zane in it. He . . . well, he used to be a good actor. The sound quality was terrible, but that doesn't cover half of it. They actors simply couldn't act, the camera jiggled, the writing was less than subpar. Let's put it this way: once in high school some friends and I filed Barbie dolls "acting" out The Scarlet Letter. This movie was right on par with that, only it had real people moving their mouths, but that's about it. To distract from the wretchedness of the movie, they put in girls with big boobs. I think that's what a lot of sci-fi/fantasy movie directors and producers think the audience wants.

Off to watch a quality science fiction movie--Serenity. What are some of the worst movies you've ever seen?

When I'm not shuddering in horror at bad movies, I'm blogging at Have Novel, Will Edit, hanging out on Facebook, Twitter and G+.

I love all the Star Trek Series and movies. But I have to admit there is only one captain, who is my favorite: Jean-Luc Piccard. So here, in no particular order, are my top ten reasons why he's my favorite.

Bald can be beautiful. Well at least it was on him.
He was an excellent leader.
He had a wicked sense of humor.
He didn't always have to be the hero. My favorite episode is when he is captured and tortured and his captor is trying to tell him the number of lights hanging over him.
Not every episode was about what was in his uniform pants.
He encouraged his crew to innovative be but could keep a firm hand on them.
He believed in right and wrong, and was smart enough to do right in spite of the regulations.
He knew when not to lead.
He took responsibility for the actions of his crew, even when they weren't following his orders. His punishments were fair and just.
He knew when he needed a break from action--such as when he was captured and when he'd become a Borg.

I think we could use a few leaders like Jean-Luc Piccard.

It's on everyone's mind, on their tongues, on their TV's.  The Olympics.

I have to admit there are a few of the games that get my heart pumping.  The swimming and of course, the gymnastics.  I remember being in the 8th grade and doing the floor exercise.  I was not prepared for it nor adept at it.  I felt like the elephant in the pink tutu in Fantasia.  I was dressed for the part but that was all.

That;s why I love watching the girls gymnastics competition.  Those young women make it look so very easy but I know first hand it's not easy.  Not to look graceful and athletic at the same time.  They've put in long hours of practice.  Worked endless hours honing their craft.

We as writers also spend long hours working on our craft.  We make it look easy.  It's not.   Creating our worlds takes time and effort.  Perhaps we don't put in the physical effort that the gymnasts do, but the mental effort is the same and just as important.

We make it look easy.  So much so that I hear all the time, "Oh, anybody can write a book."  Or perhaps, "I'm taking next weekend off to write my book, that should be enough time."  Well guess what.  They can't.  Not everyone can write a book, just as not everyone can be a gymnast.  It doesn't take long to decide if you are a writer or not.  There are many who believe that no matter what they do and how they write, that they are a writer.

Maybe I'm one of those.  My goal is not to write the next great american novel, but to entertain my audience.  For a few short hours my books take you away from your "normal" life.  Away to the old west or to another planet.  Away from your worries, your job, your housework.  They are only entertainment.

So when I see someone who calls my books trash because they are romances, I know they've never read a romance and they've never had romance in their life.  Maybe they've never been truly in love.  Willing to stand by your mate through thick and thin.  Will to sacrifice all for that person even to the detriment of yourself.  They've never known a love so great as that.  They've not gotten their happily ever after and belittle those who have and like to read about them.

I've got my happily ever after to my own romantic hero.  A hero who brings me flowers when I'm having a down day.  Who holds me and lets me cry for no apparent reason.  Who loves me above all else.  Who can sit with me and watch me holler at the screen during the Olympics when my countries athletes are on the screen.

 My own romance hero.  Do you have yours?

Leave me a comment and be entered into a drawing for a paperback copy of my Centauri Series:  The Complete Collection.

Total Recall

Dredd

Apocalypse Babes--time-travel, frenemies, pink velour.

I'm one of those people NBC dreams of because I've been watching the Olympics day and night.  In the morning, I'm watching Tennis, Equestrian and Water Polo.  In the afternoon, there is Vollyball, both indoor and beach, Swimming heats and Rowing.  And at night there's Diving, Swimming, and Gymnastics.

While writing the first book in my Legends and Lovers series, one of the opening scenes for The Treasure Hunter's Lady was the hero, Abel, being confronted by a fortuneteller. She correctly predicts that his life is in danger and that a beautiful woman will change his life. This particular fortuneteller is spot on with her predictions. I didn't know it at the time, but she'd have an even bigger roll to play when I did a second draft of the manuscript. She revealed herself to be a Native American woman named Hummingbird.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my 88 year old mother about writing my next blog, trying to come up with a subject. That was an interesting conversation. Though for awhile she did use the computer to do email, these last few years she's lost interest in the virtual world. She'd rather read a book (print, no ebooks for her,) watch a movie or TV, chat on the phone and spend real face-to-face time with friends.

Though I doubt she'll ever read it, in honor of her upcoming birthday I decided to blog about my mom this time. While I didn't get my Swiss mom's beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, she passed her love of the written word on to me. I look more like my dark haired Italian father (his once black hair is now snow white.) I pretty sure I got my stubbornness and temper from him.

I remember when I was growing up though money was tight Mom would always find just enough extra so I could buy books from the Scholastic Book Sale at school. My favorites were books about horses. She read to me, and once I learned to read on my own only occasionally chided me to stop reading and go outside and play. Then she looked the other way when I took along a book. I credit her for fostering my love of words and allowing me to explore my imagination. I think I also inherited the "writing gene" from her.


For a time she wrote a news column in the local paper. I was too young to care about reading them then and now they're gone, lost in a flood back in 1972. I asked her about them once, but while she's still sharp those memories have faded and she couldn't recall the name of the publication, so I doubt I'll be able to locate them.







Here's a picture of her when she was Miss Milwaukee. Sexy, right. Poor mom, her parents were mortified that their daughter was walking around in a skimpy two-piece bathing suit, something that was considered shocking then. They refused to attend the pageants. It wasn't until years later that they finally acknowledged her accomplishment.


One of the prizes she won for being Miss Milwaukee was an extra part in the Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante movie THIS TIME FOR KEEPS filmed at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan. A few years ago the movie was released on DVD. I purchased a copy to see my mom. She's in two scenes for a total of about ten seconds. If I blinked I missed her, but it was fun looking.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039898/

She went on to win the Miss Wisconsin title and competed in the 1944 Miss America pageant. Unfortunately, due to the war and gas rationing she wasn't able to attend the pageant in Atlantic City, NJ. She was barely able to make the Miss Milwaukee and Miss Wisconsin pageants. She recalls taking the  trolley car to compete in the Miss Milwaukee pageant and carpooling with seven people to get up to the Miss Wisconsin pageant. Because she didn't have gas coupons her Miss America entry was submitted and judged by mail. She didn't win. The winner was Venus Ramsey, but I think my mom was a lot prettier.

Unlike her parents my mom is supportive and proud of my writing.