The Writings and Musings of B.A. Matthews

Sorry for the delay… We’ll now return you to your regularily scheduled program…

Today’s blog is running a bit behind so expect it to be a bit brief.  I’ll make certain that I have a new blog post up Saturday for you guys.  I got a bit sick a few weeks ago.  The sucky weather Calgary has been having got into my hand, and my Tendonitis was so bad that I couldn’t close my hand into a fist or re-open it when I managed to.  While this did curtail my writing, rest assured, I have gotten some done… Although, instead of using my computer, I have the scene written up in paper copy right now and working on it while taking the bus to and from work.  The scene is turning out really well and I’ll be using a certain program of mine to add it to the computer.

That’s right, it’s time to talk a bit more about my Dragon!  I’ve been using it more frequently of late, and now I can give a better opinion on it.  My over all opinion is pretty good of it, though it’s near useless for using online.  The commands activate whether you want them to or not, which means that trying to write text into a forum chat box or updated any social media site is out of the question (it works much better in actual messenger programs, like MSN Messenger).

This experience really reminded me why I got that program, even if sometimes I do worry that it’s more trouble than it’s worth (if I have a stuffed up nose it can’t understand me at all).

Using it has been teaching me to think more about what I write before I say/type it.  I still have to delete things every once in a while, but it happens much less often now that I’ve been training myself not to screw it up.  I do suggest that everyone give it a try though, since I am actually coming to enjoy using it.  While I’m not using it to write this blog post (more for brevity reasons than anything else), it is on the computer and I have been training it to understand me.  I am going to be training it to understand me, by using it at least 2 days out of every week to do all my writing… Something I hope to continue during Nanowrimo as well. (Remember to add me as a Buddy if you want to follow my counts during Nano!)

I’ll keep you all updated on that front.

Other than using Dragon and resting my hand, I have been keeping myself mostly out of trouble.  I am still reading Brandon Sanderson’s “The Way of Kings”.  I am 66% finished it and I’d like to say that it’s pretty damn awesome.  It’s definitely an epic fantasy, told from a few different viewpoints.  The only question I currently have is about the character Kaladin.  While he is a wonderful character, Brandon Sanderson has been writing his chapters in a Present/Past sort of set up where we get one chapter of where he is now, and then we’ll get a chapter that led him to this point.  While its really interesting, I am wondering why he choose to write it that way.  I assume I will have discovered the answer in the next three-hundred and fifty pages.

I have also finally gotten notice that my long awaited copy of “The High King of Montival” is finally shipping.  I should have that next week, or the first week of October at the latest.  It will be next on my reading list after “The Way of Kings”.  I also picked up Aprilynne Pike’s debut YA novel, “Wings”.  While I don’t often read YA paranormal romance books anymore (Damn you Twilight), I heard about this one on Writing Excuses and decided to give it a try.  I am also listening to “www: Watch”, a book by Robert J. Sawyer.  If you haven’t heard of this series yet (beginning with “www: Wake”) pick them up.  This set of novels is definitely worth your time and interest, although I give fair warning… Mr. Sawyer has a thing for ‘soft’ endings… They answer all the questions but do seem to leave you wondering why you’re vaguely unsatisfied.  Perhaps it’s a problem with a super long dénouement feeling, instead of the hopeful awed feeling he was going for.  I’ll keep you updated on all of the books I’m reading, as usual.

Oh, I’m going to try to write a review of Dan Wells “I am Not a Serial Killer” and post it up here prior to Nanowrimo as well… Expect new site changes in the next few weeks as well!

What are you reading?  And will you be participating in Nanowrimo this year?  Are there any great podcasts dealing with Nanowrimo that you’ve been listening to?  Let me know, and keep those comments coming!

Oh, one final comment for all of you out there… Less than a month until my conference!  I am soooo excited.

Posted in Blogs on September 23rd, 2010 by B.A. Matthews | | 5 Comments »

Snow White and the Seven Sparkly Vampires?!

Yesterday as my husband was driving me to work, I heard about the worst movie ever on the “ready to be produced” list… Apparently, unwilling to stop at ruining Alice in Wonderland for everyone, Tim Burton has said that one of the projects he’s looking at is the Disney Classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Apparently he wants to make some changes to it, and honestly, while changes to an old idea can revitalize it, the changes proposed turn my stomach.

Apparently the ‘honourable’ Tim Burton has decided that the problem with an old story like Snow White isn’t the pretty, stupid girl, the evil wicked stepmother or the prince once again stepping out to save a woman too dumb to know that she is a D-I-D (Damsel-In-Distress).  It’s that there are no dragons in it (why is it always a dragon?  Are Hollywood roads today filled with dirty men on the streets holding signs saying “Have Dragon, Will Travel”?) and that there are dwarfs.  Let’s focus on that for a moment now, shall we?  Tim Burton has no problem producing a kid’s show about Necrophilia, (Corpse Bride, anyone), but he does have a problem with Midgets?

Seriously though, Tim Burton has gone on record as saying he wants Burglars instead of Dwarves.  Hmm, Men in black outfits doing impossible high rise dexterous moves… I going to go out on a limb here and suggest that what Tim Burton is thinking of isn’t a burglar.  Not a burglar, you say?  What else could be thinking of?  Well, what other popular ‘criminal’ character type dresses in black, operates best in the darkness and has few qualms about other people’s property and doesn’t tend to hold society’s morals in high regard?  Yep, I think you know what I’m talking about.  Tim Burton wants to do “Snow White and the Seven Ninja”.  I can only imagine that he used his rolodex of popular and over-used ideas to come up with this one.

And what exactly is the problem with dwarves anyway?  It’s not like we’re taking about the Travelocity-type Garden Gnomes here.  We’re talking about Tough as Nails Dwarves.  Perhaps the two words just don’t fit together in his vocabulary.  I mean, come on… edgy and dwarf?  How could you even work with a ridiculous idea like that right?

I can only assume that Tim Burton has never heard of the Roleplaying game, Shadowrun.

For those of you who don’t know, Shadowrun is an edgy futuristic role-playing game set in the 2050’s and on.  In it, Science has continued to advance and move forward at it’s current breakneck pace, but Magic also returned to the world, creating new magical problems as well.  Magic isn’t the be all/end all, but neither is Science, leaving the two sitting snug while their respective proponents to growl that “mine is better than yours”.  Humanity has branched off into 5 major races.  Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc and Troll.  And trust me, the Dwarfs in this game are about as likely to sing and whistle while they work as any other New Yorker.  What they are likely to do is to fill you full of holes if you call them “Little People”.  Here is a Shadowrun dwarf.

Dwarf Street Sam

Does this scream “cuddle” to you?  No.  In fact, I see a shorter than average man, who’s honestly led a hard life dealing with constant racism and has finally had enough.

Personally, I’d take out the mining, perhaps making them a retired mercenary company living in the woods.  It may be a cliché way to change it, but if they insist on making them battle a dragon, at least then it would explain why they know how to fight.  On a final note to Mr. Burton before I put this topic aside… Johnny Depp may be a fine actor and wonderful at playing delightfully insane yet suave characters, but if I have to sit through an hour and a half of him playing Dopey, I will be severely disappointed.

On a secondary note, I came to a conclusion about the Twilight book series yesterday as well.  My husband commented that Bella was a stalker… Having read the first two books (and not hearing anything different from fans of the other two), Bella does not have the traits of a stalker.  Edward, on the other hand, does (what else can you say about the behavior of watching somebody from outside their bedroom window and then creeping in after they’re asleep and cuddling with them until a few minutes before they wake up, leaving the person to wake up to their alarm?).  Bella, if I had to name her psychosis and obsession would probably be best fit by Stockholm Syndrome, which is a condition seen in terrorist situations, where the victim becomes emotionally attached to one of their tormentors.  This feeling can lead to dependency on the object of their obsession and feelings similar to love.

I have to admit, I may not be a fan of Mrs. Meyers books, but she does know how to make her characters have a creepy, “2-Dimensional, psych-case” feel to them.

Posted in Blogs on June 8th, 2010 by B.A. Matthews | | 4 Comments »

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Snow White and the Seven Sparkly Vampires?!

Posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Yesterday as my husband was driving me to work, I heard about the worst movie ever on the “ready to be produced” list… Apparently, unwilling to stop at ruining Alice in Wonderland for everyone, Tim Burton has said that one of the projects he’s looking at is the Disney Classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Apparently he wants to make some changes to it, and honestly, while changes to an old idea can revitalize it, the changes proposed turn my stomach.

Apparently the ‘honourable’ Tim Burton has decided that the problem with an old story like Snow White isn’t the pretty, stupid girl, the evil wicked stepmother or the prince once again stepping out to save a woman too dumb to know that she is a D-I-D (Damsel-In-Distress).  It’s that there are no dragons in it (why is it always a dragon?  Are Hollywood roads today filled with dirty men on the streets holding signs saying “Have Dragon, Will Travel”?) and that there are dwarfs.  Let’s focus on that for a moment now, shall we?  Tim Burton has no problem producing a kid’s show about Necrophilia, (Corpse Bride, anyone), but he does have a problem with Midgets?

Seriously though, Tim Burton has gone on record as saying he wants Burglars instead of Dwarves.  Hmm, Men in black outfits doing impossible high rise dexterous moves… I going to go out on a limb here and suggest that what Tim Burton is thinking of isn’t a burglar.  Not a burglar, you say?  What else could be thinking of?  Well, what other popular ‘criminal’ character type dresses in black, operates best in the darkness and has few qualms about other people’s property and doesn’t tend to hold society’s morals in high regard?  Yep, I think you know what I’m talking about.  Tim Burton wants to do “Snow White and the Seven Ninja”.  I can only imagine that he used his rolodex of popular and over-used ideas to come up with this one.

And what exactly is the problem with dwarves anyway?  It’s not like we’re taking about the Travelocity-type Garden Gnomes here.  We’re talking about Tough as Nails Dwarves.  Perhaps the two words just don’t fit together in his vocabulary.  I mean, come on… edgy and dwarf?  How could you even work with a ridiculous idea like that right?

I can only assume that Tim Burton has never heard of the Roleplaying game, Shadowrun.

For those of you who don’t know, Shadowrun is an edgy futuristic role-playing game set in the 2050’s and on.  In it, Science has continued to advance and move forward at it’s current breakneck pace, but Magic also returned to the world, creating new magical problems as well.  Magic isn’t the be all/end all, but neither is Science, leaving the two sitting snug while their respective proponents to growl that “mine is better than yours”.  Humanity has branched off into 5 major races.  Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc and Troll.  And trust me, the Dwarfs in this game are about as likely to sing and whistle while they work as any other New Yorker.  What they are likely to do is to fill you full of holes if you call them “Little People”.  Here is a Shadowrun dwarf.

Dwarf Street Sam

Does this scream “cuddle” to you?  No.  In fact, I see a shorter than average man, who’s honestly led a hard life dealing with constant racism and has finally had enough.

Personally, I’d take out the mining, perhaps making them a retired mercenary company living in the woods.  It may be a cliché way to change it, but if they insist on making them battle a dragon, at least then it would explain why they know how to fight.  On a final note to Mr. Burton before I put this topic aside… Johnny Depp may be a fine actor and wonderful at playing delightfully insane yet suave characters, but if I have to sit through an hour and a half of him playing Dopey, I will be severely disappointed.

On a secondary note, I came to a conclusion about the Twilight book series yesterday as well.  My husband commented that Bella was a stalker… Having read the first two books (and not hearing anything different from fans of the other two), Bella does not have the traits of a stalker.  Edward, on the other hand, does (what else can you say about the behavior of watching somebody from outside their bedroom window and then creeping in after they’re asleep and cuddling with them until a few minutes before they wake up, leaving the person to wake up to their alarm?).  Bella, if I had to name her psychosis and obsession would probably be best fit by Stockholm Syndrome, which is a condition seen in terrorist situations, where the victim becomes emotionally attached to one of their tormentors.  This feeling can lead to dependency on the object of their obsession and feelings similar to love.

I have to admit, I may not be a fan of Mrs. Meyers books, but she does know how to make her characters have a creepy, “2-Dimensional, psych-case” feel to them.

Tags: Bella, Dwarf, Edward, ShadowRun, Snow White, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Snow White and the Seven Samurai, Stalker, Stockholm Syndrome, Twilight

Posted in Blogs by B.A. Matthews | 4 Comments »