Sketches

Since I have done three differant sketches in the last 24 hours, I thought I might as well share the others with you (in addition to the Fish sketch I posted earlier). The following are three differant characters from the mysterious fan fic I mentioned in a previous post. No, I'm not going to say more about it, except that I am very happy with the way the faces turned out. I don't always manage to get the right faces, but I feel that these pictures really captured the feeling of the characters. (Click for more detail- though neither will be as clear as the actual drawing)

Sketch of Fish

An unfinished sketch I did of Fish from "The Shadow of the Bear."

(click to view larger image)

That is the question...

So, as I mentioned earlier, every now and then I like to take a break from *serious* writing and do a fan fiction or two. It has several benefits- entertainment, amusement, the ability to practice my writing techniques without worrying too much over the end product, and often being able to colloborate with others as well.

My *daytime* writing project is the SotB screenplay, but my *nightime* fun is a fan fiction about which I'm going to remain rather mysterious.

However, my point is that it's giving me a chance to practice the technique of asking "what can go wrong next?"

Now I like conflict. I like drama. I like car chases and people getting murdered and all those things that make up a great book. But every now and then I get overly protective of my main character and say "no, I'm not going to make that happen" even though it would make a more suspenseful story.

The beauty of a story, though, is that as long as you know that your hero (and their romantic interest!) is going to come out alive, it doesn't really matter what you put them through, as long as it drives the story onwards.

For instance, one of my friends suggested having the plane crash in this fan fiction. Now at first I was like "what on earth would be the point of that?" However we were able to work it out so that it pulled the villian in, drove the story on, and created suspense. Would the story still exist without it? Of course. But so far it's one of the most memorable things we've done.

(By the way, we didn't actualy make the plan crash. We figured out how to jump off it, which sounds crazier but works much, much better.)

So my point is...a) when you write fan fiction, use it as an opportunity, not just as entertainment! And b) no matter what you're writing, always ask- "how could things get worse" and "what could be important about the terrible thing that just happened?".

Agatha Christie

Recently I have been in an Agatha Christie mood. I can nearly always enjoy one of her mysteries, so any time I'm particularily stumped for books I head over to the library and check out anything I haven't read yet. Her writing is reasonably clean (though there are still stories that I wouldn't give my younger sister yet) and so I can pick one up without having to worry about running into *nasty* stuff.

What I really love about Christie is that she always takes into account the way her characters minds work. Even though she has written dozens of novels, almost each one has a completely unique character- if not several. It is obvious that during her life time she was, like Miss Marple, an avid student of human nature.

I think that is perhaps why I like Miss Marple better than Hercule Poirot. And I do love Miss Marple. Of course, it's also delightful to think of a little old lady being the one to uncover the culprit...

Although I do hate it when one of my favorite character's ends up being the villain. I'm getting better at predicting them, (now that I know Christie's formula) but I'm by no means perfect. "The Moving Finger" gave me a bit of a scare, but actually resolved itself perfectly. I love her *heroes* and *heroines* when she actually allows them to exist. They are quite natural and lovable.

So which ones have I appreciated most- and why?

Well, it goes without saying that "Murder on the Orient Express" is one of her best. It uses a differant formula than her other books, so is very difficult to predict. The ending is masterful.

Almost unique (and in some ways the complete opposite) is "And Then There Were None." This almost falls into the horror genre, but stays just enough in the mystery realm to retain my affection. Most people I know agree that this is one of Christie's best.

Both my sister and I really enjoyed "Why Didn't They Ask Evens?" This features a pair of younger, novice detectives, and it really is hilarious to watch how they go about solving the mystery. This one threw me for a loop- I was quite stumped as to the answer- and the lightheartedness is a welcome change.

I enjoyed "N or M" for a similar reason, although it featured a pair of middle aged detectives. Again, a break from the genre and very intriguing. I did manage to guess this villian almost from the get go. I liked the inclusion of a young child- babies are always so darling, but rare in mystery novels.

"The Mirror Crack'd" was really interesting because this murder was set in the household of a famous (but nervous) movie star. I love Christie's insights into the strains and difficulties of that kind of fame and artistic work. It gave a good background and twist to this mystery.

I've been reading so many it's hard to keep them all straight...but I did also enjoy "The Moving Finger" which had a lovely hero and two heroines that I very much enjoyed.

Shadow of the Bear Official Blog

I would like to introduce the official blog for my new film, Regina Doman's "The Shadow of the Bear."

I will be posting film updates, as well as more information about the story itself. There will be pictures, and links to other websites connected to the book. Plus other randomly interesting on-set stories that we find interesting.

So come over and check it out! Pictures of the actors will be coming soon!

Prince Caspian DVD Release

I thought it was worth a post to say that the official DVD release date for Prince Caspian is December 2nd. Just in time for Christmas, of course.

Weird. By then I probably will have seen Twilight. When PC was released, I had been certain I would never even read Twilight. How life changes in such short spans of time...

Beauty and the Beast- Pictures

All right, as promised (and requested) here are a few pictures from Beauty and the Beast. In keeping with my blog policy, I've chosen pictures in which the faces were either obscured/distorted in some way, or where only adult faces could be seen. We had a lot of kids in the show, so that means none of the big finale numbers are here. But I think you'll enjoy the taste I give you below!

First is the Beast's entrance after Maurice's arrival:

Second is Gaston and Belle in the song "Me"
Third we see Chip, Mrs. Potts and the Wardrobe
Fourth is the Beast- "How Long Must This Go On?"
Fifth is the title song- two of my favorite costumes!