Battle: Los Angeles—Déjà Vu Anyone?

Posted on April 1, 2011 by J. D. Montague

battle-los-angeles So, I went to see Battle: Los Angeles while my siblings were at Disney on Ice. (Yeah, as much as I lurve Jack Skellington & Sally and the entire cast of Beauty and the Beast, it wasn’t incentive enough to sit for two hours in a freezing cold ice arena with a bunch of giddy children. I’ll get the DVD.)

Where was I? Yeah, Battle: Los Angeles. There were at least three different times during the movie when I said, I’m almost positive I’ve seen this before…Oh, that’s right, Independence Day.

Don’t get me wrong, B:LA was a whole heap of alien fun (and really, who can resist that?), but at least add the subtitle Independence Day 2 or mention that it was loosely inspired by ID or something. (Stop reading now if you haven’t already seen it or skip the checklist because it’s going to get a little spoiler-y.)

Let’s see…

  • Alien mother ships positioning themselves over key cities around the world? Check.
  • Aliens kicking ass and taking names without so much as a hello? Check.
  • Soldiers being called in on their days off (or in some cases, retirement)? Check.
  • Aliens disabling all useful means of communication (or using said useful means of communication against the military)? Check.
  • Soldier randomly stumbling over a half-dead alien and deciding to use it to gain some intell.? Check.
  • Soldiers having their asses handed to them by the aliens until soldiers figure out blowing up mother ship will disable all the mini alien drone ships? Check.
  • Ginormous alien mother ship crashing majestically into the horizon? Check.
  • Human race getting a fighting chance? Check.
  • Soldiers using Morse code to tell all the other world leaders how to take out the aliens (hint: blow up the mother ships)? Check.

There are far more similarities that I’m sure I’m missing, but even if you’ve already seen and enjoyed Independence Day, I’d still recommend seeing Battle: Los Angeles. Why? Because of the artistic direction, actually.

One thing about Battle: Los Angeles that was vastly different from Independence Day was how realistically the war was portrayed. Basically, Battle: Los Angeles was plausible. Should aliens decide they want our water and they’re not going to ask first, what ensues may look a lot like that movie. Gives me shivers just to think about it. Whereas Independence Day was just good ol’ action-packed implausible alien invasion fun.

The special effects were awesome, the pacing was decent (though a few scenes lagged), and the acting was passable. I’ll probably be adding it to my DVD collection in the future…next to Independence Day.

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SFP: Night Princesses, Starting Chapter 9

Posted on March 31, 2011 by J. D. Montague

I’d hoped to start doing the SFP’s beginning with chapter 1 of the MS, cautiously dubbed Night Princesses, but I really don’t feel like traveling back in time right now. I’ve just begun chapter 9, so I’m going with that.

Chapter 9’s SFP:

Ivor gave not a second thought to what he’d done as he walked back to his new home. When he arrived, it was dark. Bria had extinguished all the torches. He thought about relighting them until he saw her lying in the bed. He walked through the front room to the bedroom and watched her for a few moments. In sleep she reminded him of Caydn when he was just a young boy. His shirt was curled up under her head, dampened by her wet hair.

Now that I’ve re-read that paragraph, I realize it will make absolutely no sense if you have not yet read the previous eight chapters, or even the one prior. Plus it loses a bit of its mysterious allure. Sorry.

(Eventually I’ll illustrate something to serve as visual aid for the SFPs. Eventually.)

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A Turn Has Been Taken

Posted on March 31, 2011 by J. D. Montague

My Official Writing Blog (the hard copy) Cover From My Official Writing Blog (the hard copy) dated 03.14.11

My sister woke me up this morning because I was supposed to read her the next chapter in the story. Luckily she’d just gotten off work and felt tired so she gave me an extension ‘til she woke.

I’d much rather have gone back to sleep, but no amount of bodily readjustment could get me back there.  So…I got up, pulled out the notebook (did I neglect to mention that I’m writing this behemoth longhand?) and wrote the next chapter.

Random Uninteresting Fact: the chapter I wrote today had the exact number of words as the previous chapter. And I wasn’t even trying.

When I finished, Multiple Idea Syndrome struck me down momentarily. After I came ‘round, my story’s ending had completely changed, my characters suddenly had layers, and I was a little bit more in love with my project.

Oh, and somehow it decided it needed a companion. For now I’ll let Book 2 take care of itself.

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Wordless Wednesday 001

Posted on March 30, 2011 by J. D. Montague

Wordless Wednesday

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I Am Writing a Novel. Hoozah!

Posted on March 30, 2011 by J. D. Montague

My Official Writing Blog (the hard copy) Cover From My Official Writing Blog (the hard copy) dated 03.13.11

I know I’ve said it before, that I have six (or maybe eleven) unfinished manuscripts trapped in a cobwebbed Banker’s Box cluttering up my office closet.

I know that I’ve tormented my sister with countless stories of which she’ll (probably) never know the end.

But this time will be different. For really.

Come hell or high water, this novel will be written.

How can I be so certain? I’ve started a blog. I have told the world about this endeavor which makes me accountable (to the whole 1.2 people who will likely ever read this).

I’m not even sure why this is so hard a task because I’ve already done it before…and I was only 12 then. OK, the writing was crap and the plot was clichéd, but at least I finished.

So, yeah, hell or high water.

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Unless Your Skin is This Thick, You’re Not Ready Yet.

Posted on March 29, 2011 by J. D. Montague

Some background: Jacqueline Howett, apparently, sent out digital copies of her self-published novel, The Greek Seaman, to various reviewers. One of those reviewers, BigAl, offered his honest assessment which Ms. Howett didn’t agree with, so she took it to the comments and responded with “You obviously didn’t read the second clean copy I requested you download that was also reformatted, so this is a very unfair review.” From there it went tobogganing downhill.

I sighed and laughed to keep from crying because one commentator had it correct in saying that she gives all indie published authors a black eye.

It’s a wonder that anyone still agrees to read and review self-published authors anymore when they transform into whackadoodles when told their babies are ugly. Sure, no one wants to hear that her baby is ugly, but it’s best to grin, bear it, and move on, not engage.

Then I thought more about it. Her responses seemed too childish, almost exaggerated (“My writing is just fine! You did not download the fresh copy…. you did not. No way!” and “You never downloaded another copy you liar!” Really?!? Does that strike you as normal immaturity?), and after I nearly clicked on the buy button (to see if the book even deserved such a hot fuss), it dawned on me that maybe Howett’s bad behaviour was intentional marketing. In the past, other authors have enjoyed increased book sales, however temporary, following such buzz.

It almost worked, too, but I stopped myself just seconds from clicking. I told myself that $4.99 is too steep a price to pay for disappointment, especially when you can get it for free elsewhere. I’m thinking others probably had the same idea, too. (Plus, I’d rather have happy readers than readers only hoping for a train wreck, because happy readers mean loyal readers. That’s just me, though.)

As a reviewer and an aspiring author, I take umbrage at Howett’s unnecessarily childish behaviour whether marketing ploy or not. She asks who Al is and where he gets off, but where does she get off demanding that he remove his review? As far as I can tell there was nothing libelous or infringing upon her rights. In fact, the review wasn’t completely unfavorable; he said the story was somewhat engrossing, but the poor editing and grammar detracted from the reading.

When I wear my reviewer hat, I always worry that I’ll be offending an author who’s worked long and hard on his craft, so I always try to temper my reviews with something positive (if available) and pray the author has a thick skin.

Being a reviewer has taught me some valuable lessons for being an author: Authors need thick skins, to know that reviews aren’t personal no matter how much it may feel that way, merely one reader’s opinion, and to look at each unfavorable review as an opportunity to learn and improve, and also that readers don’t like to be told to “fuck off!” in a public forum.

Maybe more authors should be reviewers (and not just of the books they love, either).

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The Astral Stalker

Posted on March 29, 2011 by J. D. Montague

Last night I had the strangest dream (actually, one in a long string of them it seems). It was filled with tension and bad things happening, but I don’t really think of it as a nightmare.

Anyway, when I woke up, it lingered as dreams of that type have a tendency to do and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it might make for an interesting story element.

Since I’ve been awake for a long while, I can only pluck the most potent bits from my subconscious mind. But I’ll try to explain it as best I can.

I was in a school. It was an assembly of some sort, but it was taking place in the cafeteria instead of the auditorium. When we found out who the special guest was, I and two friends went to meet him. The other kids were excited, but they apparently didn’t know about the secret back way where I and two other friends went.

The man poked his head out of the car and one of the girls with me went a little mad with delight. I, at first, didn’t recognize him, then the girl said, “Yeah, that’s him! Emmy Lee!” (Or something of the sort. I am fairly certain, though, that Emmy was part of the name.)

We introduced ourselves to the man and got to accompany him for his grand entrance. When the doors to the cafeteria opened and he walked in, there was nothing but a bunch of stunned teenage faces, some were even stretching their necks to look behind him, and some still looked confused.

Apparently they had been waiting for Lee Emmy, not Emmy Lee. But we (the three girls who went to meet him) all feigned outrage because he was a pioneer of some-super-geeky-thing-that-I-can’t-recall-right-now.

Fast forward, I became good friends with this Emmy Lee person, but it all went to hell when some strange event happened. (I can’t remember that event either, but I know it was a betrayal of my trust.) Shortly after the event, I realized something of mine was missing. He’d taken it. (Again, I don’t remember what was taken, but I believe it was a shoe.)

Fast forward again, the whole Emmy Lee situation is behind me and I’m going about my business, still a little sore from prior events, but not letting it get the best of me. Then, betrayal strikes again. One of the girls I thought was a good friend ends up ambushing me (in true Hollywood Blockbuster style) and after I defeat her, I’m going through my room only to realize that my phone is missing. At first I thought she took the entire Internet modem, phone base, and answering machine, but it was just a single handset.

After some sleuthing I came to realize that there was another, unseen party involved. Someone was blackmailing these people close to me so they’d steal certain objects from me because…get this…they allowed this person to see certain aspects of my life psychically. For instance, the shoe let the person see wherever I was and the phone let the person hear whatever I was saying.

I only found out because this person was using another individual to get more of my personal belongings and I forced them to tell me what the deal was. Basically, I was being astrally stalked.

Freaky, but kinda cool, right?

Maybe I’ll actually write a short story called The Astral Stalker.

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Handwriting Meme 001

Posted on March 29, 2011 by J. D. Montague

Handwriting can say a lot about a person, probably the most important is whether that person cares about penmanship.

Then, there are some other considerations: Handwriting can change based on mood, writing position, pen, and paper quality.

So, I’ve decided that a single writing sample is simply not enough on which to judge; I’m turning this into a running meme. Each time I do the meme, I’ll mention my mood and tools.

The first is courtesy of some generic white copy paper and a Pilot G-Tec-C (the fancy U.S./European name for the Hi-Tec-C) 0.4mm ballpoint black gel ink pen, and I’m feeling a bit lazy right now so I’m writing this while lounging in my chair using a shabby notebook as support.

handwriting-meme-001

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