OSCAR (Best Picture)

It's that time of year again.  The 84th Academy Awards are almost here.  While I have become somewhat lax in blogging about the movies I have seen, I have now seen all the movies that have a chance to win Best Picture.  

Even though there are nine entries this year in the Best Picture category several of them have 0 chance of winning.  Why?  Because the likelihood of one of the movies winning Best Picture that didn't have it's Director nominated for Best Director are very slim.  It's nice that the Academy decided to shorten the field by one this year from the ten nominees last year, but they could cut the field down even more.  

Let's be honest here  War Horse, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, and  Moneyball probably don't have a chance at winning in this category, because none of these films' directors were nominated for Best Director.  

Since I am being honest, I must confess that I have not seen War Horse or Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Rightly or wrongly I dismissed them from contention once the Academy released this year's nominees. Both films just didn't capture my attention like the others.  I admittedly wanted to see War Horse until I heard of the saccharin sentimentality of this film and then I lost interest. With Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close I had no interest in returning to 2001 for another cryathon.  Been there and done that enough already.     

I did however very much like the The Help as well as Moneyball.  Being an ex-baseball player, I really enjoyed Brad Pitt's  idiosyncratic character Billy Beane. Also, if there is one movie that might sneak up this year and garner a ton of awards it is The Help.  Strong performances and important subject matter make this movie a must see.      

Of the movies that were also nominated for Best Director, I must immediately remove The Tree of Life from contention.  This is a film and not a movie, because no average joe would  knowingly shell out money for something as emotionally cerebral and artistic as this.  The closest movie I can compare this to is The Fountain. A movie I really wanted to see.  Each of these films suffered from a disconnect from the thread of actually telling a coherent story.  They each require multiple viewings and loads of caffeine to fully grasp the filmmakers intent, and I have a novel to deliver to people, so... next.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

Stephen King play to finally make its premiere in Atlanta   

Stephen King + John Mellencamp + T Bone Burnett = Must see!

I saw the billboard the other day and couldn't believe my eyes. It must have been three of four years ago when I first heard about the possibility of this making its premiere here in the ATL.  Talk of it just kind of disappeared like some ghost in the Bayou.  Below is the synopsis for the show:

"In the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi in 1967, a terrible tragedy took the lives of two brothers and a beautiful young girl. During the next forty years, the events of that night became the stuff of local legend. But legend is often just another word for lie. Joe McCandless knows what really happened; he saw it all. The question is whether or not he can bring himself to tell the truth in time to save his own troubled sons, and whether the ghosts left behind by an act of violence will help him – or tear the McCandless family apart forever."

The show opens on April 4th and runs through May 13th and will be directed by Susan V. Booth.  

I don't promote much here on my Blog but I cannot wait to go see this.   To find out more got to the Alliance Theatre website.  If the link does not work go to Alliance Theatre and click "Our Plays" 

-aap

Book One Redux

After I butchered my previous post, I'll try and get this one right before pressing Publish. Again, I apologize for my premature posting.  

That brings me to the reason for this post.  Since publishing  Monarch: Egg  back in late December I have been focused on  Stage Two, or II as I refer to it. I put Stage One in the rearview. As you can see with my previous post "February and Beyond," where I sent it out too early, I am not perfect.  Yesterday, I sat down and finally did a read through of Stage One.

I knew there was a chance that I might have overlooked a few things in the rush to publish last year. For the most part, Egg was in good shape. Thankfully, since I am self-ePublishing I can make changes. 

Those of you who purchased Monarch or Monarch: Egg: will be receiving an email that should address the minor snafus I overlooked in the lead up to Book One's release. Just know that I am aware of the hiccups and will scare them away shortly.

In addition, I have altered the book cover for Egg. Each subsequent cover shall have a corresponding image representing the particular stage of the Monarch's life cycle.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks for reading.

-aap   

February and Beyond

As we move deeper into 2012 I have been forced to take account of my situation.  I am not a full-time writer whose following shells out for every word I type.  I am a 38 year old first-time novelist who has had to struggle to make ends meet in order to try and complete a time-sensitive novel that some readers may just find irrelevant after this year.  I have to constantly remind myself of Orwell's 1984 and Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

However, neither of those stories had to do with an actual event like 12/21/2012.  Will people care after that day?  I asked myself that question a thousand times before starting, (and still do to this day) but my desire to write the story was more important than the threat of eventual insignificance.  It had to be. Was it a wise decision?  I could have written something else as my first novel, could have chosen something more conventional that may have a longer shelf life.  I have a backlog of stories begging to be written.  I made my bed and some days I am actually able to sleep in it.

When I first set out to write Monarch in July of 2010, I felt two years would be more than enough time to write, edit and publish my story as an eBook.  I was emboldened to the idea that I could deliver on a deadline that will never come again.  Since then I have encountered a multitude of unexpected obstacles.  Some days I just want to give it up and be done with Monarch in the worst kind of way.

That reminds me of Lance Armstrong's cameo in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story when he is talking to Vince Vaughn's character, Peter, about quitting the dodgeball tournament.  Lance: "Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't have anything to regret for the rest of their life. But good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever."   

I laugh each time I watch that scene.  Thanks, Lance.

Even though I have no intention of throwing in the towel, I have had to reside myself to the fact that with the current rush to self-ePublish my little story is likely to get lost in cyberspace somewhere.  With such a diluted marketplace, the minuscule amount  of money to be made over the next ten plus months will likely not cover the losses I will have incurred over two  years.

People always say "don't quit your day job" to writers as they are starting out.  To this point, I have kept to that bit of advice.  I've had to.  It hasn't always been easy.  In fact, it has been downright difficult for a number of reasons.  Needless to say, my current situation (with so little time to rewrite, edit and polish) has forced me to reconsider how the rest of this year might need to unfold.  Because Monarch is my main priority and time keeps slipping away, I may need to cut back on my work away from writing.  While I may not be able to pay my bills, I am going to finish the book.

If only I were rich.  Wish in one hand, right?  Regardless, my priority is Monarch and I owe it to you and myself to get the story in your hands on time.

Thanks for reading.

-aap

P.S. My apologies for the multiple edits.

Happy 39th Birthday Ginger Reed!

In Celebration of my fictional character's 39th B-Day I am giving all of you who haven't yet gotten your copy of Monarch a chance to get it for free for 24 hours.  On Wednesday February 1st take advantage of the one-day only sale and enjoy a year's worth of entertainment on me.

I only ask that if you appreciate this gesture and enjoy what you read that you go to the Amazon page and "Like" it.  And if you are up for it, possibly go to the facebook page and "Like" us there as well.  I would greatly appreciate it.

-aap