Leslie Fucking Jones by Leslie Jones Leslie Jones is a character. There is really no one like her in the entertainment scene right now, much less the world. She’s a living female orc (and I mean that as a compliment — I like female orcs). What producers and executives don’t get is how to utilize her. So she’s stereotyped as the loud black woman or the comically large Black person among the petite white ladies. Like she only exists in relation to other people. But she’s her own person and this is her story. And to tell the truth, it’s unfortunately not very different from other struggling Black artists. She…
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Short Stories: How It’s Going So Far (Halfway Point Check-In)
So here we are halfway through the year. And yes, I’ve written 26 stories. Well, I fudged it a bit–I have 26 never-been-published short stories in my trunk. Most are in first draft format. Some aren’t really stories–they don’t have a beginning, middle, and ending. Some are just weird kinda fictional essays. Some I’m not sure what the point is–they’re more of an idea. But given the kinds of things I’ve read, this seems to be okay. I’m still not fond of writing them. It’s still a struggle to get my ass in the chair and churn out copy, but it’s happening. It’s a trickle, but the bucket is filling.…
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Neil Gaiman Accused of Sexual Assault (and other gross stuff)
Don’t have role models, kid. They only disappoint you.
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How Much World-Building Is Too Much?
This Tumblr post asks an interesting question that I’ve always wondered about — how much world-building is too much? World-building is a big part of fantasy, the idea of an alternate Earth is fascinating. The problem is that, if Earth did evolve differently, that world would be so alien it would be incomprehensible. There is a line where the world goes beyond one’s grasp. Now some people like that sort of thing. But how do you market something like that? I read a blurb recently from a self-published fantasy novel, one of a billion, that was full of jargon. “The world is under control of the Zorbos, an only a…
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Like Tears in the Rain
This scares me. I’m already scared of dying. And I know that, when I die, I’m probably going to be in the middle of a book (either writing one or reading one, probably both). I don’t even read 50 books a year and I’m a writer. I can manage about 30-35, so I won’t even get to 3,500. I can take some solace that I know I read more than what Goodreads accounts for–graphic novels, children’s books, comic collections, Star Trek novels, and all sorts of other books I’ve forgotten. And the average bookstore has 30,000! Now, granted, most of those I probably don’t want to read–atlases and how to…
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Actors vs. Writers: Who’s Right When It Comes to Character?
I don’t agree with this. Granted I’ve never worked with actors or adaptations of my book. I could be talking out of my ass. But movies, unlike books, are collaborative creations. Everyone’s got to share the same vision or it won’t work. When it comes together, you get Star Wars. When you don’t, you get Dune (the David Lynch one). Art works best when a single person is driving the vision, the idea. That’s why bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. persist. Even though the art they make needs all of them together, one single person writes the music and lyrics (usually). It’s also…
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Why Isn’t This More Popular?
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Analyzing the Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains: Colonel William Stryker (X2: X-Men United)
COL. WILLIAM STRYKER X2: X-Men United (2002) This villain represents an amalgamation of several characters from the X-Men comics/cartoon, but they’re all basically the same guy–a bigot. And the scary thing is he exists in real life. This isn’t Mephisto or Stegron. This is your next-door neighbor. This is a congressman working right now and he’s in charge of a hell of a lot of tanks and missiles. Characteristics and Powers: None. He’s just a human. But that gives him an advantage–being human (and a decorated military scientist) he can borrow the ears of politicians and influencers, especially with his background in mutant research. And from that research he’s developed…
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Star Wars Fans Will Never Be Satisfied
I’m starting to think Star Wars fans will never be happy, no matter what. Anything after the original trilogy has been met with scorn. They didn’t like the Holiday Special because it was cheesy, poorly written, insane, and most definitely not Star Wars. They didn’t like Droids or Ewoks because they were cheaply-made cartoons meant to sell toys. They didn’t like the Ewok Adventure movies because they were low-budget, childish, and too simple. They didn’t like the re-release of the special editions because it monkeyed with the original by adding CG stuff. They didn’t like The Phantom Menace because it was full of non-essential scenes, poor acting, “explained” things that…
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Stories Have Fates Too
And then sometimes God just doesn’t want a story to be written… I’m working on a Han Solo-pastiche short story and twice I’ve lost my previous day’s progress. Once I lost my entire collection of story notes, and at first I thought “Well, that’s it — everything I thought of is gone.” But somehow I recreated it. Then the second time, in my draft, which is very drafty, I accidentally hit “Don’t Save” instead of “Save” and lost all that with no backup. Sometimes I feel that fate is doing something to prevent me from being a writer because it will screw up his plans or invoke something devastating on…
