To the Stars

Thought provoking music. "Saturn" by Sleeping At Last

I was reading the second chapter of The Princess Diarist on the snowy morning of Dec. 23, 2016, while I waited in the car in a machinery lot for my husband.  In the book, Carrie Fisher was discussing hairstyle options for her iconic role as Princess Leia.  I had been looking forward to reading the book ever since I had heard about it over a year ago.  What fangirl wouldn't enjoy reading Carrie's journals she wrote while filming A New Hope?  I was jolted out of reading when my husband came back to the car and we started a slow track in the snow to town.  As we progressed, the snow flakes became bigger and the travel more hazardous.  I remember thinking, "I really don't want to die on my birthday!"  We finally made it to town, where we stopped for lunch and Christmas shopping.  My husband assured me that if we took our time, the snow would end and the roads would be better on the way home.  Sure enough, by the time we left the restaurant the weather had improved.  When we finished shopping, the snow had completely stopped and the roads were clear.  When we got home, I checked my Facebook news feed for birthday posts, when I discovered a post about Carrie Fisher suffering a massive heart attack on a plane earlier that day.  I remember thinking, "But, it's my birthday..."

I know these days people can be very sensitive about the attention celebrities receive when they pass away, stating statistics of how many public and armed services figures died in the past year.  I am exceedingly grateful for our real life heroes but--to be honest--they are complete strangers to me.  They have unfamiliar faces.  I don't know a thing about them.  I will ask this question...how many of them were a part of one of your first memories?  Anyone?  Maybe if they were a neighbor or a close relative.  Sure, I have foggy memories of being in the crib because that was before toddler beds.  But my first clear memory was going to A New Hope at the drive-in theater with my family.  My older brother and oldest sister sat in the front with my dad.  My mom sat in the back with my older sister and myself.  Sadly, the only part of the movie I remember was a scene of Luke and Leia talking.  I cannot pick the scene out today, as our memories change over time with the dialog and the background fading away.  (I remember Chewie's son Lumpy from the holiday special walking across a big structure similar to Titan's kingdom in The Little Mermaid.  It turned out to be a railing on a primitive tree hut with a painted background!  My, have my memories become distorted with time!)  Part of the reason I don't remember much of Episode IV was because I fell asleep across the backseat.  No stones, please.  I was preschool age and it was way past my bedtime. I slept fairly sound until my sister sat on my head!  That is a topic of discussion that continues to this day and we still laugh about it.

I thought Carrie was going to make it.  I truly did.  Maybe she had found peace by going public with her long ago affair with her co-star?  They had such phenomenal chemistry that many of us fans were not surprised when we found out.  I actually wasn't feeling that chemistry in the last movie and I wondered why.  Now I know.  I was shocked to hear of Carrie's mother passed the following day.  Not the fact that her mother possibly died of a broken heart, but the irony that Princess Leia's mom died of the same thing.  It's like George Lucas had a little bit of the Force himself when he wrote it.

Girl Power started with Princess Leia.  She was my inspiration for Hope.  I wanted a strong female protagonist and I gave her these characteristics: a petite brunette with brown eyes and an inner strength that made her very powerful.  Thank you for paving the way, Carrie.  Godspeed.  I hope you've found peace.

Veronica

  

#ForPaul

I saw The Fast and the Furious 7 today, even though I haven't seen 2 - 6.  It was the first Paul Walker movie I've seen since his death.  The theater was quiet as the end credits rolled.  Afterwards, as I was driving home, I caught a glimpse of Heaven . . .       

A picture is never as good as the real thing, but I still had to pull over to snap a few shots.  The afternoon had been sunny, until the clouds rolled in, which was shortly after the movie.

  

I have to commend the filmmakers, and the Walker family, on persevering during that difficult time.  As a writer, I have far less worries than a movie director.  I could continue to write in the case of an untimely death, and I've, in fact, done so.  Losing the lead cast member is another story.  Caleb and Cody Walker did a wonderful thing stepping up to help them complete filming.  I thought they all did a great job, and made a beautiful tribute to Paul.

I have to wonder how the original script played out.  I noticed that Paul wasn't in many scenes in the beginning; therefore, I'm assuming those were the unfinished scenes that they had to modify.  I really couldn't tell which scenes had his brothers, but I think it was those where he didn't have much or any lines.  The only time I was aware of CGI enhancement was a closeup.  He looked almost otherworldly, but I thought it was a fitting scene for it.  I'm hoping they'll reveal more about the revisions in the DVD extras.

I've heard many people complain about how people react when a celebrity dies or has an accident, but no one cares when a commercial airliner crashes, taking 150 lives.  Of course people care!  The thing that divides a celebrity from the main stream is people know who they are.  There's a recognizable face to the statistic, many times bringing with it public awareness.  What's more, a celebrity can touch many lives.  Not only by their work, but by their charitable efforts.  They not only donate to their choice charities, but they form charities, and also get their fans involved.  I've provided a link to Paul's charity Reach Out WorldWide.

In closing, I recently read someplace that the most coveted role Paul Walker auditioned for but didn't get was Anakin Skywalker.  I don't know if I could have ever seen him in that dark of a role.  For me, he was the light shining through those dark clouds.
#ForPaul


Veronica     

Jayce

It's been a difficult couple of weeks.  I used to marvel at how my class made it all the way through high school and had two reunions without losing any fellow classmates.  Unfortunately, the inevitable happened.  It hit very close to home.  He was an old friend of mine; taken away from us too soon.  Apart from family, he was my first friend.  I keep waiting to wake up and realize it was only a nightmare.  He can't really be gone.  But he is.  Instead of Hope in the cemetery like Christine Daae wishing he was somehow here again, it's me.  Now, I have the life experience to write about an unexpected death.  I now truly understand the emotions enough to describe them and to make them believable.

I started writing again and I never told him.  He'll never know how much of an influence he had been.  I had captured our friendship in two of my characters in The Whisperer of Storms.  He was my Jayce.  Selfless, loyal, dependable, and gifted.  I find that working on Jayce's character development is therapeutic for me.  It's my way of keeping his memory alive and of letting the world know him.  I think many people who know me will be surprised that I wrote The Whisperer of Storms before he died.  I only wish he knew.

Every morning, I wake up in blissful forgetfulness and it takes a few seconds for me to remember that he's gone.  Many say that we find forgetfulness in sleep.  Then, we wake every morning and the reality sets in that they're gone.  Is it truly forgetfulness, or is it comfort?  Perhaps it is only in sleep that we can hear them speaking to us?

Hold your loved ones close and get in touch with a friend that you haven't seen in a while.  You never know when someone you hold dear will be taken away from you.

Veronica