Thanks J.D.

As someone who makes lots of apparently meaningless comments about writing a book someday, what I look for most in books (and movies and tv for that matter) are characters. I'm addicted to good characters - the ones who are real in every possible way - except for the fact that they don't exist. The ones who walk off the page (or screen) and make you love them, hate them, or care in some way about them.  The brilliant and sad dichotomy of Tyrion Lannister. The sweet and generous soul of Samwise Gamgee. The joyous, energetic, fascinating  - and unimaginably lonely - Doctor. (look 'em up if you don't know. And ok, I like fantasy/sci fi. So sue me.)

Stephen King has written before about how his characters seem to have a life of their own and show him what happens next - and for my money Uncle Steve writes some of the best characters in the business. If you believe in the characters you can believe the rest of the story. That's what makes his books work (and I will say here I am not a fan of horror at all - but I'll read anything he writes, just to get to know the people in them).  I think half of my writing fear is that I won't be able to tap into wherever great characters come from and write someone real. It's a gift that not all writers have, that's for sure.

Having said all that, if any of you teenagers over the age of 17 out there (as if teenagers, or anyone else for that matter, are reading this) haven't read at least The Catcher in the Rye, go out there and read it. Trust me. And if any adults out there haven't read it, shame on you. Sixty-odd years later, Holden is, and always will be, as alive as you or I.

Mid-Season Meh

So the mid-season TV shows have started to come out, and I tuned in to the good ol' CW to watch Life Unexpected, having watched the previews with all the fantastic review quotes (because those are always accurate) and thinking it wouldn't be completely unoriginal crappy schlock. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

This is why I'm afraid to write - well, that and the utter fear of failure. Or is it fear of success? No matter. Bigger than those is the fear that I'll write something this awful. I'm not a tv snob - far from it, in fact. I see nothing wrong with a good gooey slice of teen angst, if it's done well - as shown on Felicity back in the days the CW was known as the WB. (Let's just take one second here to remember the geeky wonderfulness of baby Scott Foley as Noel. And hey, wait a second...Felicity was a story about a completely annoying girl who went after the supposedly "dangerous" guy who was about as interesting as a dishrag, as opposed to the amazing other guy who she only saw as a friend. Hmm.... perhaps Stephenie Meyer watched a little Felicity herself).

But I digress.

Back to the artist known as the CW and their current crappy show. I'm not even going to give a plot summary, it's not worth caring. But for any producers looking for feedback - just an FYI, a girl raised in foster homes would not have perfectly tousled Kardashian-esque hair and a bunch of supposedly "street" friends that are only slightly more threatening than the Saved by the Bell gang. Honestly.  When the newly-reunited-with-her-birth-daughter mom said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "We can give her the one thing the other place can't.... LOVE!"  I wished I had an 80's style TV brick to throw at the screen.  Godawful.

The other two new shows I've tried, Human Target (sorry, even I can't suspend disbelief far enough to buy that flying a passenger jet upside down wouldn't cause it to plummet to the ground - too bad Mark Valley can't find a decent show that he doesn't get killed out of in the first episode), and The Deep End (meh) are underwhelming as well.

Only 6 days until the new season of Lost!

Once more for the people in the back

I started this blog about a month ago, figuring it would be a good place to blabber on about all the things I'm obsessed with interested in - tv, movies, music, books - since most of the people I know tend to start glazing over with boredom about 30 seconds into my latest fangirl squee about one thing or another.

I posted a few things, got exactly zero hits after a week or so (to be fair I didn't really tell anyone I had a blog - but let's face it, the same people who glaze over at me in person probably wouldn't be too interested in me talking about the same things online), and wasn't sure quite what to do with it all - so I did what any sensible person would do and deleted all of it.

Which was really stupid.

Because now I'm stuck trying to start all over again, and to be honest it's more difficult the 2nd time around. The secondary reason for writing this (other than fangirl squee) is because I've threatened to write a book my entire life and have done exactly zero to get myself there (and for the record, no I do not expect this blog to become a book - my supposed book will be some sort of fiction). I don't write very often; in fact I find it a chore most of the time.  So I figure if I have this place to wax poetic about David Tennant's fantastic and versatile hair (not to mention amazing acting ability) or Dave Gahan's hawt tattoos (not to mention gorgeous voice).... (yes I have a thing for guys named Dave), maybe I'll be inspired to write something else.

Or not. I guess we'll find out.