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NEWS AND VIEWS - JANUARY 2022
WRITING NEWS January! 2022! Unfortunately I'm not off to a very good start this year, writing-wise; I haven't made as much progress with my latest novel, A City Burnished Silver, as I would have liked. That's partly because this insomnia is still kicking my butt two or three nights a week, but mostly because I've been distracted by other things: 1) Trails in the Sky: The 3rd, which I started playing a few weeks ago, and 2) work on a new, massively expanded version of The Signal City Visitor's Guide, which I'm planning to release (in paperback form) on Amazon at some point. This isn't just an update of the older versions; it's a complete redo, with a new design, and with tons of new information. The "characters" section, which I just recently finished, has almost five hundred entries. I'm also expanding the timeline, adding trivia, writing summaries of important events like the Darkplanet Invasion and the Undersea Uprising, and so on, and I'm going to be including a short story for it as well. The book will also be illustrated; I'm planning on hiring some artists to liven it up. It's going to take a long time to get to the bottom of this project, though, so don't expect to see it anytime soon. And don't expect to see any new Signalverse novels anytime soon, either; my first priority is A City Burnished Silver, and I'm planning on writing the first Playground Noir book after that. And even then I may not return to the series; the unfortunate fact is, as much as I like writing these Signalverse books, they've never really found an audience, and I feel like it's time to shift my focus to some other projects. But here's a sneak peak at a couple of pages from the new Visitor's Guide: 
* * * * * * * * WHAT I'M READING Here's what I've been reading this month: 
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of those books that I never got around to finishing for some reason; I got about halfway into it seven or eight years ago but got caught up reading something else and never went back to it (in my defense, it's a very, very long book). I'd like to try to finish it for reals this year. * * * * * * * * MOVIES I DON'T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES This might get a little controversial. Saving Private Ryan. This movie isn't a complete loss; the action scenes are good and the performances are fine. The grisly images, the somber music, the emotive characters, and of course the powerful subject matter make you feel like you're watching a very deep and meaningful film...but what is this movie actually about? What is the statement that Steven Spielberg was trying to make with this film? The best I can come up with is "war is hell", which, I'm sorry, is not exactly an original insight. It's just always struck me as kind of a shallow film. (If you want to watch a movie that has something a little more profound to say about war, but which is admittedly much less gory, I'd recommend The Best Years of Our Lives.) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. There's nothing really wrong with this movie. I like John Candy (not a big Steve Martin fan, though) and it has a feel-good kind of story. The first time I watched this movie when I was a kid, though, I was home sick with the flu and vomiting all over the place, and I've always associated this movie with that bad day. It's not really the movie's fault, I guess, but hey. My Neighbor Totoro. I like some of the Ghibli movies. Castle in the Sky is a lot of fun. Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke are okay. My Neighbor Totoro makes me fall asleep, though. It's just boring. It's the kind of movie adults think kids ought to like, because they like it themselves, and because it's very sweet and wholesome and there's nothing violent or scary in it, but in fact, if given the choice, I think most kids (from five to eleven, anyway) would rather watch an episode of Pokemon or something. Monty Python's Life of Brian. Because it's sacrilegious. There's some funny scenes in this movie, but a lot of it makes me uncomfortable. * * * * * * * * MOVIES I LIKE THAT NO ONE ELSE DOES Ghostbusters II. I know a lot of people complain that it's just a rehash of the first movie, and that the villain isn't as interesting, and that the whole thing with the Statue of Liberty coming to life at the end is ridiculous, and maybe those are valid complaints, but I've always liked this movie anyway. It's just fun. Problem Child and Problem Child 2. Both of these movies, but particularly the second one, are works of pure, absurdist brilliance. High art. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This might be my most heretical opinion of all: I think Temple of Doom is just as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade. People hate this movie because they hate Kate Capshaw's whiny Willie character, because its depiction of India is unflattering ("Snake...surprise!"), and because the movie never really slows down once it gets going (so there aren't any quieter character moments). Again, these are all valid complaints. But Temple of Doom, with its nonstop action, its girly-girl female lead, and even its backward depiction of a strange, haunted India, more closely resembles the old Republic serials and lurid men's adventure magazines from which the character of Indiana Jones arose than any other movie in the series. And Short Round is a great sidekick. |