“Playing good girls in the ‘30s was difficult, when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress.” Olivia De Havilland via BrainyQuote.com Olivia De Haviland as Melanie Hamilton in Gone … Continue reading Nice Girls – Are They More or Less Difficult to Write than Bad Girls?
86
Yet Another Livestream
Once again, I was privileged to be on the Superversive Livestream, readers! Anthony Marchetta and I were able to fill two hours discussing the anime and light novel series 86 – Eighty-Six* by Asato Asato. If you remember my piece on mad scientists and have dropped by my newsletter, then you have already learned some … Continue reading Yet Another Livestream
Return to the Superversive Livestream!
It’s been a busy month, readers! Nothing attests to this fact better than the knowledge that I was on no less than two Superversive Livestreams and had little attention to spare to tell you about them. The first stream focused on Mecha and took place December 26 of last year: Sunday Superversive Livestream: All things … Continue reading Return to the Superversive Livestream!
Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 2
Part one of this mini-series within the Writerly Sound Bites series focused on characters who suffered abuse in childhood that affected them in a variety of ways. But that meant the topic was limited to the most vulnerable among us: children. Children are incapable of defending themselves and are thus dependent almost entirely on adults … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 2
Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 1
If we seem to be focusing on broken characters exclusively, future authors, the reason for that is a fair number of creative writing courses and a lot of advice ties back to the sound bite I criticized here at the start of this series: the need to give characters flaws. Too often the “flaws” modern … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 8: Character Progression – How Characters Broken by Trauma Recover and Rebuild, Part 1
Writerly Sound Bites, Number 7: Character Progression – How Broken Mentors and Mentors Who Aren’t Broken Deal with the Loss of What They Held Dear
Last week we established that a broken character can and often does maintain the traits he spent years developing even when he chooses to act contrary to his nature. When a man like Bowen from Dragonheart* becomes a dragonslayer, for example, he is doing so in an effort to atone for an error he made, … Continue reading Writerly Sound Bites, Number 7: Character Progression – How Broken Mentors and Mentors Who Aren’t Broken Deal with the Loss of What They Held Dear
Music from 86 – Eighty-Six
One is always happy to find a new show to enjoy, of course, readers. But discovering some new music you cannot help but rock to when the show plays? That’s the metaphorical jackpot! If you’ve been keeping up with my newsletter, then you have seen my opinion of Asato Asato’s 86 – Eighty-Six* series. At … Continue reading Music from 86 – Eighty-Six
Mad Scientist: Cackling Goofball, or Deadly Menace?
The popular image of the mad scientist is one of a frizzy haired, generally harmless older man messing around in a lab. Such mad scientists seem and are typically portrayed as relatively inoffensive. Doctor Doofensmirtz from Phineas and Ferb* is one example of this common perception of the mad scientist, with Back to the Future’s* … Continue reading Mad Scientist: Cackling Goofball, or Deadly Menace?
Bulletin: A Return to the Superversive Livestream!
Yesterday I joined Anthony Marchetta on the Superversive Livestream to discuss anime, the Pulp Revolution, and the pulp tales of yore. We spoke about many other topics as well. It was a fun two hours, readers! There were some technical difficulties with the stream, and we went silent or at least too low to hear … Continue reading Bulletin: A Return to the Superversive Livestream!
A Song of Joy by Caroline Furlong 