The Digital Upgrade and the Little Guy

Following Twitter, I got an update that Hugh Jackman was in small-town Iowa this past weekend!  What in the world was Hugh Jackman doing in a little town in the middle of Iowa???  I have to admit that I am familiar with Iowa, but I had to consult a map to find out where in the world Iowa Falls was!  With reading up on it, I discovered it was the hometown of Jackman's agent, who purchased his hometown theater and reopened it the opening weekend of Hugh's new movie, Prisoners.  Unfortunately, I found out about this the day after, which was much too late to hop in the car for a road trip.  That's typical!

The whole thing got me thinking, though.  With the dawn of digital, some of the small theaters here in the Midwest are struggling to come up with the money to purchase the digital equipment required for showing current films.  That is the case for two drive-in theaters near me.  One of the theaters has thrown in the towel and will be closing at the end of this season.  Why?  I think Hollywood should take a page from Hugh Jackman's book, and support these theaters.  A celebrity endorsement would save all of them.  You see many celebrities supporting charities because they are financially capable of doing so.  They could easily sponsor a struggling theater.  Wouldn't it be only right to give back to their fans and keep the small town cinemas open?  I am so grateful to have a local theater in our town, which has fortunately been able to upgrade to digital.  It is very convenient.  I couldn't imagine having to drive 20 miles to the closest theater.  I think I would miss seeing many movies if that was the case.  In addition to a higher priced movie ticket, I would also be paying for gas, and it would take extra time for driving.  With my local theater, I can go to the 7 PM showing and be back in time to put my kids to bed.  I think if more stars realized this, they would gladly contribute.

I recommend that if you live by or know of one of these "endangered" theaters, to write to your favorite stars and bring it to their attention.  Who better to help than the people who sell the popcorn?
Edited to add:  Better yet, write to a representative, like an agent.  That way, your letter doesn't get buried under a ton of fan mail, and they usually have several clients, so you would be reaching more celebrities with one letter. 

Autumn days are on the horizon.  It's time to start decorating!

Veronica
   

The Wolverine

What a busy summer it has been!  At least I can say we've had plenty of family time in the past month with short trips and family gatherings.  Now that school is starting, I hope I will have more time to read and write.

One place I haven't been to very much this summer is the movies.  I took the kids to a couple of family movies, but I hadn't been out to one by myself until this weekend when I saw The Wolverine.  From what I saw from the previews, it didn't look like it would interest me, except for Logan's nightmares about Jean.  Since Wolverine is my favorite character from X-Men, I wanted to see this movie.  It was in fact, the only movie I really wanted to see this summer that wasn't in the family genre.  I am happy to say that it exceeded my expectations.  The first scene of the movie starts off with Logan witnessing the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.  It was a horrible part of history, but it was amazing how they recreated it.  That was the hook for me.  Knowing that Logan had a past in Japan snagged my interest and I was ready to journey back there with him.  In addition, he had to resolve his inner conflict with destroying the woman that he loved.  Ah, the tormented hero!

One of my college roommate's biggest complaint about me was how I analyzed movies.  I now believe it was because I was thinking like a writer.  I am now going to analyze this movie (sorry, my old roomie!)  In the last movie, which was the Wolverine prequel, Logan lost all his memories.  Since he dreamed about Nagasaki, apparently his memory of it returned.   I didn't understand how he could remember Yashida but not his first love, Kayla.  Did it mean that his memories were gradually returning through dreams since the subconscious never forgets, or that the writers made a HUGE error?  I am thinking that it's the former since he dreamt about Japan in the beginning.  Regardless, it really caused the gears in my head to turn. 

People might think that I got some ideas for my novel from this Wolverine movie, but I will say here and now that it was already written (my manuscript is currently over 62,500 words) when I watched the movie.  I may get a little inspiration from Logan's dreams, but that's it!

I see that X-Men's next movie Days of Future Past is in post-production and that Anna Paquin returns to play Rogue.  I've always secretly hoped that when she came of age that she and Logan would get together!  It's probably wishful thinking, but hey, he's immortal!  He's been robbing the cradle through the whole series!  Why stop now?

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Veronica

Concept Graphics

 

Here's a couple of really cool concept graphics of my work in progess, The Whisperer of Storms.  A big thank you to Dragon Slayer for working so hard to make them for me.  You can check out her portfolio here:  Dragon Slayer's Portfolio  You can tell she's a Gerard Butler fan, like I am.

 

More Concept Siggys/Wallpaper

 

Veronica

On My Own

Unrequited love.  I think it's one of the saddest things in the world to love someone who doesn't love you.  That's what the song from Les Mis is talking about.  I've been there, done that.  A part of that experience has influenced my novel.  Fortunately, my heroine, who happens to be around the same age that I was at the time, does not suffer the same fate.  She's too busy looking out for others to be concerned with matters of the heart. But, I do tend to make my male characters suffer on occasion.  Come to think of it, it is quite a bit. But, make no mistake, I do still love them as their creator.  That's the fun of being a writer.  It's like playing God in your own little world.

I hope you're enjoying summer.  During this heat wave, I'm looking forward to the cooler days of autumn.  That is my favorite season.

Veronica

Storms, Traveling and the USB Drive

Wow, we had quite a storm this past month.  The sky was as dark as midnight and the thunder rumbled like there was a bowling tournament in Heaven!  The wind blew the rain against the windows like a car wash.  I made sure to grab my USB drive, which has a backup copy of my novel,  before heading down into the basement.  Whenever the weather radio goes off during this active storm season, I grab the USB drive.  Leaving it behind would feel like leaving one of my children behind.  I've told my hubby many times that I feel like this story is my baby.   If I don't bring my laptop along on trips, even day trips, I like to bring along a copy of my manuscript on my USB drive.  What if there was a fire?  What if there was a tornado that relocated my house?  It's always good to be prepared.  I couldn't imagine all the time and effort I put into it being gone, like it never existed.

I'm currently a little over 61,000 words on my manuscript.  Since I like to read books 300-375 pages in length, that's the size I'd like my novel to be.  Normally, that's about 85,000 to 90,000 words.  That means I have 2/3 of it written!  I still have plenty of revising to do, as well.

I'm currently reading Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick.  She doesn't provide a year for the setting, so from my research, I was able to determine it took place after 1829 when she mentioned Scotland Yard.  She also mentioned traveling by train, which the first passenger trains in England began in the 1830s.  The telegram also became a method of communication in the 1830s and 1840s.  It's good to know these things, so I don't try to incorporate them in my own novel, which takes place in 1820.  I haven't decided if I'll include the year, or make the reader guess like Ms. Quick does.  If you're ever looking for a good mystery, I recommend reading one of her books! 

I hope you have a safe and Happy 4th of July!  It looks like we will be having our backyard picnic again this year.

Veronica 









I Dreamed A Dream

I saw Les Miserables for the first time last week; the 2012 movie with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.  I'm not really a fan of musicals, but I made it through this one thanks to subtitles.  I loved the opening scene with the ship being pulled in.  That was quite some cinematography. 

One thing I always enjoy about films with a historical setting is the costume design.  I especially paid attention between 1815-1823.  I love the empire dresses and that trousers were replacing breeches.  I've never been much of a fan of knee breeches.  Men used to wear them with white or black stockings covering their calves, with buckle shoes and it doesn't look masculine to me.  Now, if he were to wear a pair of knee-high boots such as Hessians or Wellingtons, well that's a different story.   It was interesting to see more of the poor in this film, as we normally see the wealthy dress in historical films.

Some of the songs were familiar to me from college.  I had a friend who loved Les Mis.  I can remember "On My Own" and "Castle On A Cloud".  "Do You Hear The People Sing?" has been stuck in my head since I first heard it.  "I Dreamed A Dream" was so familiar to me, that it took me a while to realize that was the song Susan Boyle sang in her first audition when she blew the world away with her talent.  Now, that's the lesson in the old saying that you cannot judge a book by it's cover!  I loved this verse in the song, "But there are dreams that cannot be.  And there are storms we cannot weather."

Something I discovered from the DVD extras was that Victor Hugo, the author of the original novel, was born the same year as my protagonist; in 1802.  I hadn't even planned that.  I should see what other historical figures were born in the same year.

I've been busy updating my web site, so check it out when you can.  Just keep in mind that I'm new to this and I'm learning as I go.

Hope you're enjoying the start of summer.  It feels like April here!

Veronica

Website

I finally have a website: My Website.  I also placed the link over to the right of this page with my other links.  It's a very basic site at this point, but it will give you more of an idea of what I'm about.  As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Happy Memorial Day!

Veronica