Announcement

My Column Racer fantasy series was originally planned to be two books, but I have changed the number of books in the series to three novels.  Look for the second volume to come out late 2013 to early 2014!

What a Savagely Bad Movie

So, okay, we just watched the movie Savages just a few days ago, and man . . . what a terrible, terrible movie.  I think we pretty much knew it was going to bad from the get-go, because when we checked it on rotten tomatoes, it was at 51% and the audience had given it 55%.  With two rotten scores this movie was far from fresh.  It was bad almost on every scale.  The acting wasn't great, especially Blake Lively, whose character was always teetering on the edge of annoying, and the editing was choppy as the movie decided to skip making a more coherent piece and instead settled on a world controlled by editors with massive ADD.  My firm recommendation for this movie, is to buy it, take it out of its case and smash the living heck out of it. Smash it until it turns into dust particles.  Then wipe the sweat off your brow, put the particles back in the case and recycle it.  That is the only way you could possibly find any entertainment out of the movie.

Kirkus Review for The Column Racer

I have just received the review for my first novel, The Column Racer, by Kirkus Reviews.  Here is just a glimpse:

A dark, well-plotted fantasy adventure.
- Kirkus Reviews

For the full review, please check the link below and enjoy!

The full review for The Column Racer by Kirkus Reviews

Announcement

Look out for the review for The Column Racer, coming out December 11th by Kirkus Reviews!

Sample Pages of The Column Racer Available!

I have left links to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble where you can look at sample pages of my book online!  Enjoy!

The Column Racer on Amazon

The Column Racer on Barnes & Noble

The Column Racer - Book Trailer

Q&A - The Column Racer

What’s the Story?

The story is about a fourteen-year-old dragon rider named Areli Roberts who earns a spot on the Abhi Hall column racing team after having an undefeated season.  Meanwhile, the Empire is plunged into dark and horrific times as the Emperor is tearing apart each sector of Areli’s homeland for a man named Degendhard the Great.  A man who the Empire slanders as a ruthless criminal and immoral fiend, but in reality 

Degendhard is a hero of the people, and now those people are paying the price for Degendhard’s actions. 

Once in Abhi, Areli is given two options by the Emperor for the upcoming season.  She can ‘win and live’ or she can ‘lose and die.’  Areli finds support in her best friend Fides and her new boyfriend Yats, whom she deeply loves and cares for even though she struggles with unresolved feelings for a different boy back in her hometown, a boy she truly thought was her soulmate.

As the upcoming season fast approaches, Areli has a confrontation with the Emperor’s niece, who threatens to destroy Areli’s season.  This threat, along with a deadly secret Areli soon learns regarding Degendhard the Great, pits her in a race both inside and outside of the racing coliseum to protect her life and the lives of everyone she cares about.

Why I wrote the book?

I wrote the book for my soulmate.  I actually plan to write a story for all my immediate family members.  She is the one who helped me find my passion for writing, so I wanted the first book I published to be for her.

So, I don’t exactly quite remember the chronological order in which the idea was formed, but I can give you an insight into how it happened.  I know that I wanted to write a story for the love of my life, and she just happens to be a barrel racer.  So, first I thought to write a story about a barrel racer and her season in barrel racing, which involves barrels and horses (it will be explained later).  But I quickly scratched that idea.  I am such a fan of Harry Potter that I wanted the story to be fantastical.  I wanted it to big.  So, I replaced the barrels with columns and the horses with dragons.  It’s also very cool to point out that her Chinese Zodiac animal is actually a dragon.

Then I remembered a specific instance when we were out at the barn and doing the typical morning chores of cleaning the stalls (which is very nasty business mind you), and there was this big junk of excrement from this big horse, and I quickly thought of that scene from Jurassic Park, where there is that Triceratops dropping and he is like “that is one big pile of ‘you know what.’”  And I had this vision of a dragon, in a stall.  A little girl watching from distance.  She had blue eyes.  She couldn’t have been older than twelve.  There was dirt on her face, and she was clinging to an old and rotting wooden fence.  The dragon was stubbornly fighting its owners to leave the stall and blew flames out at them.  And then I could see people flying these dragons.  I could see people doing a form of barrel racing on these dragons.  And then the story just kept on building from there.

In the end, it is a story written with all the love in my heart, for the love of my life.

Who is Areli Roberts?

Areli Roberts is just a girl who has always wanted to be a Professional Column Racer ever since she laid eyes on her first dragon.  She is aggressive and bold, and extremely competitive.  She is honest, but likes to withhold her feelings from people.  And column racing comes naturally to her, as if she was born to do nothing else except race dragons.

What is column racing?

Here is a video to help you understand what barrel racing is.  And after you are done watching it, picture giant columns instead of barrels and dragons instead of horses.  And a coliseum made of limestone, marble, and gold.

Look for The Column Racer on 11/6/2012 on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook!

The Column Racer

Release Date: 11/6/2012

Overview

For fourteen-year-old Areli Roberts, her dreamy new school isn’t really a dream come true.  There is already a blade being sharpened to promptly execute her if she doesn’t perform in the racing coliseum as she is expected, she constantly feels the bite of animosity from her new teammates, and no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to clean away the growing amount of blood on her hands. 

Areli is a dragon rider, and one of the newest recruits to a school with the most prestigious and talented column racing team in the Empire, which carries an impeccable winning tradition.  Outside the mountain walls of the valley where she now lives, there is a brutal manhunt for Degendhard the Great, someone who threatens the Emperor’s rule.  When Areli’s not racing or training, she is spending her time with her best friend Fides or falling deeper in love with her new boyfriend Yats.  But after an altercation with the Emperor’s niece and later acquiring a deadly secret about Degendhard the Great, Areli is plunged into a different kind of race.  One in which not only her life is at stake, but also the lives of everyone she loves.

The Column Racer, is an adventure of love, loss, pain, and sacrifices.  It is a character-driven fantasy novel for young adults, and the first in the series of two books that delve into the world of Areli Roberts and the events that change her for the better . . . and for the worse.    

Cover Art!

This is the cover art for my first novel, The Column Racer, done by Claudia McKinney at phatpuppyart.com!

My Thoughts on Wither

So, recently I finished the book Wither by Lauren Destefano, and I thought it was very good.  If you read my post about Bitterblue, you will know that whatever book I read directly after reading a story weaved by Kristin Cashore has a lot to live up to.  And Wither was up to the task . . . mostly.

By mostly I mean I was still sad about Bitterblue ending up until the second page of Wither.  It is such a beautifully rendered story.  So, the story is about how man has conquered cancer, but it came with an unexpected price.  The next generation of children were given a limit on their life-span.  They will never reach the age of 80.  They will be no such things as grandchildren, unless of course you're a first generation (the one's first freed from cancer).  They won't go through a mid-life crisis in their mid-thirties.  And the female population won't even be able to legally drink, or obtain a four-year college degree.  As the male population will never live past the age of 25 and girls not past the age of 20.

With the world being as it is, girls are kidnapped and either, killed, sold off to prostitution, or forced to wed into polygamous marriages.  So, what's a girl to do?  For Rhine, she hid from the world, and was under constant protection from her twin brother.  But after a costly mistake, she gets torn away from him, and forced into a marriage she never wanted, along with two other girls, to a wealthy twenty-year-old skinny guy who is still grieving after the loss of his previous wife, and is as much a captive as they are.  Their warden, Housemaster Vaughn, their husbands father, who is searching for an antidote at any cost.

One of the girls loves being a sister-wife, the other only hoping to die, but for Rhine . . . she plans to escape. As you get deeper into the story, relationships between the sister-wives grow, feelings and loyalties are questioned and tested, and for Rhine, desires grow . . . for someone not her husband.  It's a thoughtful book, with human characters forced to face the issue of mortality at too young of an age. 

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

If you haven't read The Rook by Daniel O'Malley yet, I would suggest that you go out to your nearest bookstore and buy a copy.  IT IS SO GOOD!  Okay, I might be a little bias, but I don't CARE!  I LOVE everything about this book, from the first word, to the last word (which is always the saddest word in a really, really good book, because you really want it to go on and on and on).

So, what if I am crazy about anything The X-files, or anything remotely resembling The X-files.  Yes, I will admit it helps if you're an X-files nut, and if you happen to not like the X-files, first off - shame on you, and second off - put your hate aside and read this book anyways (it's that good).  And humorous.  And good.

So, what is this good, humorous, X-filey book about anyways?  Hold, your horses . . . I'm getting to that.  So, anyways, the book starts in London, in a park, with a woman, named Myfanwy Thomas, but she doesn't know she's Myfanwy Thomas, because she had her memory licked away from her.  So, this woman, this Myfanwy Thomas who doesn't know she's Myfanwy Thomas, in the opening pages finds herself surrounded by bodies, dead bodies, all of whom are wearing latex gloves.

It turns out that Myfanwy Thomas is a Rook, an operative in a secret government agency called the Checquy that takes care of paranormal and supernatural disasters, incidents, and situations, all very confidential.  So, the story follows Myfanwy as she tries to navigate her way around this secretive world, all while trying to figure out who erased her memory, and trying to expose a bigger conspiracy in the works.  It's all so very technical and you are going to need level five clearance for me to say any more.

The real beauty about this book, is the growth that Myfanwy Thomas goes through.  She has her memory wiped clean, and she has the long and extensive letters of her previous self to help her get through her responsibilities of being a Rook.  It's not the old Myfanwy Thomas, who was shy and timid, this is the new Myfanwy Thomas, and she comes into her own nicely.  This book with it's handful of hilarious characters, will excite you, it will make you laugh, it will cause your heart to race and your lungs to halt . . . and who know's . . . you just may love it just as much as me.

Was it Really Amazing . . . Or Was it Just in the Title?

So, I just saw The Amazing Spider-man last week.  So, what did I think?  Did the film truly embody what the title promised?  Did I get amazing?  Or should they have just called it 'The Spider-man.'  I'll be honest.  I got amazing.  But I also got something else.  The movie is really like the leftovers of Thanksgiving dinner.  You know how that is.  During Thanksgiving, the whole house smells of turkey that had been roasting before the sun broke the horizon, mixed in with the mouth watering smells of marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, stuffing, and the classic green bean casserole.  

When the meal is served, every bite is like morsels of chocolate popping and melting in your mouth.  After you lick orange-cranberry sauce off your plate, you are wanting more (Spider-man).  You get seconds, in which the tastes build on the delights of the first (Spider-man 2).  And then you are like, I am so full, but I just can't stop eating even though you know you really should.  And after you are midway through your third helping . . . you're screaming at yourself - WHY? (Spider-man 3)  After that, you're done and take a nap.  The next day, your refrigerator is stuffed with all the delectable foods of yesterday (five year's later), and your mind instantly goes back to how good it tasted the day before (movie execs) and you're like . . . second's please! (thus the creation of The Amazing Spider-man)

So, you load up your microwave safe plate, stick it in to be cooked for a few minutes, and then dig in.  And what do you get?  You get the same flavors, most of the same joy of the day before, but the texture is off because it's not as fresh, as vibrant, as special as having it on actual Thanksgiving (So like The Amazing Spider-man).  

You're basically served an updated version of the first one, but only in the measure of special effects.  The first had a better origin story . . . which actually made more sense, than the oh so coincidental one of the newer one.  The bad guys are essentially the same, both green, both criminally insane.  And the plot is a map of the first.  The differences.  The female lead is a blonde.  And Spider-man is more brash and filled with more angst.  So, I would say go see The Amazing Spider-man, only if you're hungry for leftovers.

Feeling Like I Should Talk About Bitterblue

So, awhile ago I finished reading Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  So, what did I think?  First off, I love both of Kristin Cashore's previous two books Graceling and Fire.  So, it wasn't that hard for me to fall in love with Bitterblue as well.  The story is a direct sequel to Graceling and a companion novel to Fire, and characters from both novels enter into this one.

I am always sad after the final pages of Kristin Cashore's books, mainly because I wish they were longer, even though they are at a length of over 500 pages.  Her writing is simply beautiful.  She weaves a tapestry with words, bringing to life characters that you yourself wish you were friends with.  Well, at least some of them.  If you read the book, there is this fellow by the name of Danzhol, who is well, graced in an unappealing way. But with characters like Bitterblue, Katsa, Po, and Giddon.  You'll enjoy the journey that Kristen Cashore takes you on.

There is one thing about Kristin Cashore's books that I will mention.  Even though I love her books, her stories are always accompanied with a handful of slower moments.  BUT these are times she uses wisely to build her characters and entwine layers into her plot.  She is meticulous with her pacing.  She expertly keeps you captivated with intense plotting, crisp and at times humorous dialogue, and colorful and very well-developed characters.  Her endings can be anti-climatic to some.  But when you really think about it.  How else can they really end?  She always has the perfect ending for her stories.  It's not the one Hollywood would come up with, but it's the right one for the world of her stories.  Desperate, intense, and thoughtful.

I highly recommend everyone to pick up a copy of her books.  Kristin Cashore is a skilled storyteller that knows when to slow down the pace to allow the characters to grow, and then how to rapidly speed it up, sending her characters on a collision course with danger.  If I were to compare her stories to anything.  I would compare it to a roller-coaster.  At the beginning of the ride, you start that steep climb and you get this nervous feeling inside, you hear the clicking sounds and you just keep getting higher into the air (intensity is building), and then there is a pause (and you're like this is it), and that's when the ride really starts.  You slice through the air at incredible speeds, you're sent through jarring turns, you scream through loops, and the end of the ride always comes a bit too soon.  But only because you had so much fun.  Her books will delight you.  Fascinate you.  And if they captivate you like they mesmerize me . . . then the next book you read after hers . . . has a tough act to follow.

I can't wait for Kristin Cashore's next book!!!

Was Brave . . . Brave Enough?

So, I just saw the movie Brave last weekend in the theater.  Did I like it?  Yes, I liked it.  Did I love it?  No . . . no, I didn't love it.  And that's sad.  Because I really, really wanted to love it.  It's a PIXAR film, and who doesn't love PIXAR?

Every PIXAR movie I have ever seen has been wonderful, and I truly love their movies, like Toy Story 3, Up, and Wall-E.  I didn't see Cars 2 though, but could you blame me.  The movie got a dismal, totally bad rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  What was that score you may ask?  38%!  WHAT!  I'll repeat.  38%!!!  How? I don't know, but come on, before Cars 2 came out, I thought it was virtually impossible for an animated movie to get less than a 70% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, however I am aware that there are those select few animated films that are incredibly bad, which to keep them from further shame I will not mention them.  But for PIXAR, you might of as well have given the movie a 0%, that would be it's equivalent.  Okay, enough of Cars 2, and it's apparent suckiness.  We were talking about Brave a minute ago, let's get back to that.

So, Brave, liked it, didn't love it.  What was wrong with it?  What lacked in it that made me not feel the Disney magic?  Was it a well made story?  Yep.  Was there good funny characters?  Yep.  Was there action?  Yep.  Did it have a good message?  Yep, it had a great message.  Then what is going on?  Thinking about it more and more.  Maybe the story feels a bit . . . um . . . generic.  I wanted out there Disney.  I wanted primetime Disney.  I wanted Wall-E Disney.  I wanted to be on the edge of my seat.  I wanted to jump with joy.  I wanted to feel the true Disney magic of riding on a roller coaster of emotion and feeling.  I wanted unique.  I wanted special.  And Brave.  Even though good.  Even though entertaining.  Even though funny.  Wasn't Disney at their best.  And that left me unfulfilled.  The last line to be narrated before the credits was: "Our fate lives within us.  You only have to be brave enough to see it."  I believe it.  I just wish PIXAR still believed.  They used to be the pioneers in the animation businesses.  Now, they are so Hollywood . . . running on sequels . . . and making movies relying on their name!  Please, Monsters 2, don't be a rendition of Cars 2.  Bring back Disney/PIXAR magic!

The Best Fast Food Burger in Rochester

So, over the course of last week, I decided I needed to find out which burger was the best burger to get in Rochester in under 2 minutes.  I didn't have a stop watch, but the burger better be in my hands before whatever song was blasting on the radio came to a close.

The journey started at McDonalds to try their Angus burger, which I have been told was a fine, succulent piece of beef.  So, in order to judge the best burger, all the burgers had to be alike.  So, my order was a burger (no cheese, there is something about American cheese that makes my tastes buds say icky!) deluxe with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayonnaise.  The next stop was Burger King.  Then Five Guys.  And ending at Culvers, to rank their famous butterburger.  Now remember, this was over the course of a week, so I wasn't stopping at one place after the other (that would be unhealthy).

So, was it unfair that I didn't stop at Wendy's or Dairy Queen.  Maybe.  But I have an excuse.  One - I just didn't think to go to Wendy's.  Two - if I go to Wendy's it's not to get a burger (hello, Frosty!).  And three - the Dairy Queen's in Rochester are not the place to get anything except for maybe a blizzard (I'm sorry, but if a DQ doesn't have a chicken strip basket on their menu, then what does that say about the quality of their burger?).

So, then how did the taste test go for the four that I did go to?  Well, McDonald's was absolutely AWFUL.  It was the most disgusting thing I have EVER eaten.  The Angus burger there is like trying to eat a floor rug to decorate a fine kitchen.  It's only saving grace was that it was drowned in mayo, because everything about the actual burger made me want to throw the thing out the window.  I am getting nauseous just thinking about it.  It was the most chewiest piece of meat I have eaten in my life.  Forget about the burger being fast, one bit will take more than a half-hour to even cut it down to stomach requirements.  I am certain if I inspected the burger further, it would be a patty of the toughest beef jerky, instead of a moist patty of meat.  Please, stay away from the Angus, get the McDouble.

So, what about Burger King.  Yum!  I like burger king burgers.  It was a big burger, but the difference between the Whopper and the Angus, was that the whopper was moist and melted in your mouth on a cloud full of mayo.  The Angus burger is nothing but a wood board disguised as a beef patty (watch your teeth!).  I feel like the Whopper is the way a fast food burger should be, covered gloriously in toppings, on top of a burger that melts like chocolate (what more could you ask for in a burger?).

So, then what happened at Five Guys?  Did I like their burger?  The thing about Five Guys, is that yes, their burger is moist, but then the whole sandwich is moist.  When I teared away the aluminum foil casing over the double deluxe (without cheese!), I actually thought my burger had went for a swim.  I honestly wanted to know if it did a dive, a cannon ball, or a triple flip before it landed into the deep end of the pool.  I find it unappetizing when a burger has more grease on the outside bun than the most unhealthiest of pizzas.  And on another note . . . Five Guys burgers make me queasy after I'm done with them . . . ishy.

Then the journey comes to Culvers and the butter burger.  I used to like Culvers so much.  When I was younger, I used to get the double burger deluxe, an order of onion rings, cheese curds, and a chocolate malt.  Now days, I usually just get a single scoop chocolate custard in a waffle cone.  So, not having the double burger in a while, I had great hopes that it would taste how I remembered it.  Before I talk about the actually burger, has anyone else noticed the speed in which they bring out your food these days.  I remember Culvers being slow to deliver, hence the number they give you to bring out the order.  They did this because their food was fresh, not a single burger was laid down until it was ordered.  So now what?  Now the food is delivered to you, even before you have a chance to order it.  Unless they have someone working at each Culver Restaurant that can see into the future as to when and what a person is going to order, you can't be telling me their food is freshly made (but I may be wrong, and maybe I'm right!)  Okay, lets get to the burger.  There is something about it.  There is this unappetizing char to the burger, and it tasted . . . well . . . it tasted not that good.  The burger definitely doesn't taste like the best fasty burg in town.

So, as it goes, Burger King truly is king of the burger.  At least in the fast food world in Rochester.  BUT . . . if you're ever in the grand city of Rochester and are looking for truly the BEST burger in town, and you don't mind a little waiting and climbing a few stairs.  I would suggest you go to Newts, their downtown location.  Actually, there could be a reason for the stairs . . . maybe Newts is burger heaven.  

The Action Movie

So, last weekend I watched the movie Safe House.  You know, the one with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds.  I did my homework before the movie and looked up its rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Of course, the bar isn't necessarily raised high for action movies, so a 54% rating and a splattered tomato is the perfect sign of a decent action movie.

I want to say that an action movie at least in the 40% range or above I think is at least worth checking out, except for maybe The Expendables, that movie was just bad.  So, at 54% I took the risk.  It was a good risk . . . for 54% of the movie.

The movie started out quick.  The action scenes were crisp and the acting, video-game intense.  So, what happened after 54% of the movie passed by with vicious fury?  Well, I'll tell you what happened.  Have you ever played a video game and you got to that tricky level in which you wish you bought the strategy guide to aid you to the next level.  That level in which you just can't seem to get to the next, so you happen to face the same adversaries and baddies over and over again, until you are just running through the motions until the point where your character dies and you're throwing the remote for the hundredth time.  This is the same ill-fate that seems to befall most action movies.

It's a recycled gauntlet of torture . . . for the viewer.  And you wind up going through the motions with the actors as they carry you through one similar action scene after the other.  It wears on you.  You want to care for these characters, but you can't.  You want to root for them to live . . . but it's repetitiveness makes you wish there were commercials.

So, what is the action movie to do?  Simple.  Build your story with characters.  Not brutes with guns, who only know how to shoot a gun.  Give us real feeling.  Develop the protagonist.  Make them seem somewhat human at least.  An action scene is just an action scene if there is no heart.  But an action scene with characters that we can invest in . . . well,  that's movie magic.   

Why Madagascar Takes the Cake!

I'm a movie fanatic!  I really love a good story.  That said.  Is the story for Madagascar 3 all that deep or some mind bending oh my gosh we'll be debating the importance of that message for the rest of our lives kind of story.  No . . . no, it isn't.  So what is.  Is it kitty fare hyped-up on a kilo of cat nip so all five of your senses are operating at max potential.  YES!  Yes, it is.  That is of course . . . if you're watching it in 3D.

I have come to the realization that 3D movies done proper is like riding that new roller coaster at your local theme park for the first time.  And watching that same movie in a 2D format is like riding that other ride . . . you know the one.  The one where you know all the turns, the flips, and the jolts.  The one in which you only bother to raise your hands in the air and give a whoop like you're having a good time is when you flash by the camera on the final turn, only to be disappointed that the person in front of you covered half of your face.

The 3D screen is like playing Time Crisis 4 (with an actually working gun, mind you), and the 2D screening of a legit 3D movie is like playing classic pong in the 1970's (you don't really know what your missing until you actually see there are fake bullet-ejecting guns and a foot pedal to reload.)

So, I already hear some chatter.  Like, what about the biggest opening movie ever?  The movie that is now the top grossing superhero movie of all-time?  Well, that was good too.  But.  I still give Madagascar the edge.  Maybe it's because it's the most recent movie I saw in theaters.  Maybe.  But I doubt it.

So, then what is it about this movie beyond the T2 shades that pushed it to be my favorite summer flick . . . so far?  Was it the vibrant colors?  The MI6 penguins?  Was it the talking lion with his perfect pentagonal mane and his crew of friends?  Was it the break-neck pace?  In retrospect, I think it was everything.  The movie brings you to such euphoric heights that it practically leaves you breathless!