Day: January 31, 2010

Post-apocalyptic overload

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 3 Comments

I watched some television last night.  (I tried to write while I did it, but it was tough).  One movie and onething off TIVO.

The movie was 9.  Not the musical, the animated-but-not-for-children movie.  It’s about nine Barbie-sized burlap robots fighting for survival after the apocalypse.  Well done with good voice talent (Elijah Wood, John C. Riley among others).  Very dark with a bit of uplift at the end, but hardly what I would call optimism.  I enjoyed it, I guess, but wouldn’t put it on a recommendation list.  However, if you found Avatar derivative, 9 might be the prescription you need.

I also watched the series finale of Dollhouse.  (Why does Joss Whedon even bother dealing with FOX anymore?)  It was way out there compared to the rest of the show, set five years later, after the Brain-pocalypse.  A whole lot happened in a small amount of time.  It probably should have been two hours, or an hour and a half at least.  But when your contract’s up…

It really was the definition of starting in the middle of the action.  You know how shows open with scenes from previous episodes?  Well the scenes at the start of this one were apparently from an episode that never aired, may never have been filmed.  I found that especially brilliant, but I bet it lost a lot of people.  They made references to “butchers” and “dumbshows” (I think that was the term…don’t remember) without defining them, but their meaning was easily apparent.  There was a lot of cyberpunk flavor to it, too.

The plot wasn’t all that creative but it didn’t have to be.  The characters’ new situations were interesting enough (particularly Topher and Alpha). I dare say it was the best episode, but there were some other good ones.

I’m dying for the next Whedon idea to hit the screen.  The man thinks out there.

Dollhouse never really caught on in spite of Eluza Dushku’s excellent acting and…other talents.  I suspect here “other talents” are part of the show’s failure, driving female viewers away from a show about what is essentially a slave operation.  Echo actually turns out to be a very empowered female, but the damage was done in advertising.  Much like Firefly (rest in peace, old friend) which was done in by lack of advertising.  The film 9 was doomed from the start, too dark for kids and too cartoon for mainstream audiences, but it still pains me that both of these were basically failures but Twilight breaks the bank.  *sigh*  Still, it’s nice to find a few gems in the rough.

Trapped in the snow…yay!

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

The snow came midday Friday.  The ice and sleet came down later.  Now the roads are covered in snow that is protected by a nice candy shell.  The sun is working hard, but it’ll be a few days before I get out to go anywhere.  I dare predict there won’t be any school tomorrow.  Aw shucks.  🙂

This has good and bad influences on my writing.  It’s good because I am home, where most of my writing takes place.  It’s bad because of what else is at home: mountains of dishes and laundry that need to be done, video games that beg to be played to compensate for being trapped, a daughter that wants to be entertained every minute, and a ncie comfy bed with an electric blanket.  All things call to me at once; my daughter calls with her not-so-little voice, the chores call with my wife’s voice, the games and bed seem to speak with my voice.

The keyboard beckons to me, too, and I’ve been trying to answer that call.  I’ve tried to plow through a difficult transition in my current story and maybe I can get some momentum going again today.

What I have accomplished is getting some older stories back in circulation.  They’ve been lying dormant for no good reason.  I sent one to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and the other to Clarkesworld.  The mail isn’t running, so electronic submissions were the way to go.  (Thank God we still have power!)  Both markets have quick turnarounds so I may get them back out again before I’m back in school…unless one of them gets picked up.  ASIM holds stories they want to buy for up to three months in a story pool, waiting to be selected for an issue.  If the three months pass without selection, they release it.  So even if they want to buy the story it might not sell.  Still, the whole process is about as long as other magazines’ slush process.

So I have five stories out, technically.  ASIM, Clarkesworld, Weird Tales, my WotF finalist, and my WotF Q1 entry.

I also have two stories up at OWW.  The funny one needs to have a character cut out; she doesn’t really add to the story.  I had plans for her when it was supposed to be a novel, and I may put her back if I resurrect that project, but for now she’s got to go.  The other story needs a better defined arc of growth for the main character.  It’s supposed to be that he finally views the value of a personal life over his professional one, but not until it’s too late.  It comes across, but necessarily as growth as it stands.  I’m hoping for a few more comments (2 reviews each, so far) before I start repairing them.

Well, that cleaning voice just walked in the room and requested my presence in the kitchen.  I can work a few hours before writing.  I hope.