Agent wait and a comic

It's now day 6 after sending my manuscript to an agent. I figure the longer the wait, the better because most manuscripts get rejected after reading the first few pages. I think if this agent reads the whole thing, I've got a decent chance of getting a contract. So, I will be patient.

But, while I wait, here's a comic I did. Laugh if you'd like.

Small Favor by Jim Butcher

I've been a fan of Jim Butcher for, hmm, let's see, a few months at least. But in that time I've read all nine Dresden books. Today I found the cover for the next book in the series, Small Favor. Looks cool.

Looking for an agent

I've been looking for an agent for a month or so now, I've sent out 59 query letters, and finally on Tuesday I got a hit. An agent sent a request for the full manuscript.

(Said agent will go unnamed for now to prevent embarrassment just in case the manuscript totally SUCKS. You don't want to embarrass people that might end up representing you.)

So yesterday I sent the manuscript and I get to play the wonderful game of waiting. I posted on a writer's forum the reasons this agent may have requested the manuscript. Here they are:

1. The story is awesome and he will offer a contract as soon as he reads it.
2. He was drunk. Very, very, drunk.
3. He was feeling sorry for all the rejection letters sent out recently, and thought he would send a grain of hope my way.
4. God softened his heart to give me hope so I don't give up.
5. He sent the request for the manuscript to the wrong person.

One of the responses I received in the forum was this:

If its any consolation, I think your reason # 1 is the most likely. Followed by #2, but that's a distant second.

I'm a little nervous, and I'm checking my email constantly (though it took me three days to finish Harry Potter, and that was reading fast). I have no idea it will take to hear back. Often you get rejected within the first five pages or so, so the longer it takes to hear something, the better. Possibly. So here I go, obsessing, until I hear something.

On a side note, I finished the first draft on the first book in another series. So, while obsessing, I can work on editing that one.

In Which I Eat My Words

And boy, are they tasty.

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and wish to, don't read this post.

So, here is where I was wrong:

Snape wasn't evil. In fact, he was so unevil, at the end, Harry tells us that he was one of the bravest persons he knew.

Neville. Yeah, he was willing to die. He did things in the last book that should have gotten himself killed. But I'm glad he survived. He really became the hero in this one.

Mr. Weasley lived. Though, JK Rowling said that he was going to die, but got a last minute reprieve. I like that he lived because I don't think Mrs. Weasley would have been able to go on without him.

Hagrid. I figured he'd go because he would interfere with Harry facing Voldemort alone. I'm glad I was wrong. Hagrid, like Harry, was an orphan and had a crappy life. Hopefully now both can be happy.

Lupin and Tonks died. Very sad. I think they died so Harry could become a father to their kid, the way Sirius became a father figure to Harry.

Snape a vampire. I still think there's something there. Maybe he's just an animagus, but I'm told he's definitely not a vampire.

I said that Ginny would show up and help on Harry's quest. I was wrong, she stayed at Hogwarts. but when the battle happened, she participated, against Harry's will. I'm really glad she survived.

Neville didn't kill Bellatrix, but he killed the snake. That's something. Mrs. Weasley calling her a bitch when she tried to kill Ginny, then going on to kill her, was awesome.

Dumbledore's picture. I said Harry wouldn't get anything out of it, which was technically true. Though it seems Dumbledore could continue to give orders to Snape from it. And he got good advice at the end concerning the Deathly Hallows.

Nope, no unbreakable vow.

I was wrong, Harry was a horcrux.

Snape was following orders when he killed Dumbledore.

My wild theory was wrong.

Hermione didn't tutor Harry. Harry knew what he needed to know. He learned on his own.

Okay, that's it. I was right about everything else :) (If that leaves anything else.)

2008 Movies I'm Excited About

Or, movies coming out in 2008. Not, two thousand eight movies. Anyway. These are movies coming out next year that I'm interested in:

May 16th
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Yes, anything in this series excites me. Loved the books, loved the first movie. I really don't see them screwing up this franchise.

May 23rd
Indiana Jones 4
Okay, I've said before that I don't think they should do another Indiana Jones movie. That said, it's still got Harrison Ford and Spielberg is in charge, not George Lucas. Lucas could screw up anything. But, I think this will turn out okay anyway. As long as Lucas doesn't write the dialog. No George, you can't have the dialog. Not yours.

June 13th
The Incredible Hulk
Yeah, I love comic book movies. And, without Ang Lee doing it, it might not suck.

June 20th
Get Smart
The TV series was just very funny, and with Steve Carrell doing it, I really think they'll catch the spirit of the series.

July 18th
The Dark Knight
Batman Begins was awesome, and its sequel will be just as good. The third and fourth Batman movies in the original movies series (Forever and Batman and Robin) just got silly and didn't take the franchise seriously. I mean, can you say George Clooney? Can you say nipple suit? We'll know this franchise has jumped the shark when they bring in Robin. Unless he's got major mental issues and is played by Daniel Radcliffe. Like they said in Batman Begins, he doesn't have the luxury of friends. But yeah, they're going to have the Joker, and they're taking it seriously. I mean, just look at the poster:

August 1st
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
The first one was good. I mean, what's not cool about a guy that looks like the devil making out with a girl that creates fire. I like edgy comics.

October 24th
The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D
Loved this movie, will love it even more in 3-D. Tim Burton is awesome.
November 7th
James Bond (whatever they name the 22nd one)
I like the reimagining of this franchise. It's like Batman Begins. Take a good concept, then take it seriously. I'm looking forward to it.

November 21st
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
If you like Potter, you get it. If you don't like him, you don't.

December 25th
Star Trek
Like Batman and James Bond, this franchise needed a reboot. JJ Abrams, who did a great job on Mission Impossible 3, is writing and directing this one about the early days of Kirk and Spock. Good job, guys. You take this stuff seriously, and the fans will respond. If you treat the fans like they somehow owe you, they'll walk away, like they did with the last movie and the last series.

Happy Birthday to me

Yesterday, the 16th. :)

Potter Theories

So, since the next and last Harry Potter book comes out Saturday, I should post my theories here so I can be held to them once the book is out. This gives me bragging rights if I'm correct, or makes it public record that I was wrong.

Who dies:
Voldemort (duh)
Snape (whether he's good or bad, he killed Dumbledore. I don't think others will forgive him and I don't think he would forgive himself-assuming it was on Dumbledore's orders)
Neville (he's gotten wreckless in his desire to avenge his parents. I think he's willing to die to finish it)
Bellatrix (along with most if not all of the death eaters)
Mr. Weasley
Hagrid (because all of Harry's mentors/protectors have to die so he has to face it alone)

Reprieves:
Harry (He's the boy that lived. I'm sorry, I just think he'll make it)
Ginny (Whether Harry lives or dies she lives. If Harry lives, he's gotta have his hot red-head at his side. If he dies, someone has to carry the torch for him)
Lupin and Tonks (Before they hooked up, Lupin may have died. Now he has to live because them as a couple is just too cool)

Plot points:
Snape is a vampire. There's been a reference in each novel. I just hope she comes out and says it.

Everyone you think is dead really is (Dumbledore, Sirius, Cedric)
Harry is not a horcrux.

Ginny will ignore Harry's wishes and accompany him on his quest to find the Horcruxes.

The final battle will happen at Hogwarts. For one, the books just have to have Hogwarts in them. And two, it was the only real home for both Harry and Voldemort. It's important to both of them.

Kreacher and Graup will be very important in some way. The OOTP movie wouldn't have spent so much time with them if they weren't important. In fact, Rowling said there was one character in particular that was originally cut from the movie. She said they should put this character back or the seventh movie wouldn't make any sense.

It will be Neville that kills Bellatrix.

Draco will redeem himself, at least in some measure.

Harry won't get anything out of Dumbledore's picture. The pictures only have the personality of the person, not hidden information.

Dumbledore isn't a ghost, he was never afraid of death.

Snape made an unbreakable vow to protect Harry. If it was Dumbledore that made the vow with him, I don't know if the vow holds after his death.

When Dumbledore said "Please, Severus" right before Snape killed him, he wasn't begging for his own life, he didn't want Snape to turn traitor. And I think he very much wanted to stay alive to protect Harry. While he spent much of Book 6 preparing Harry to go it alone, I think he still wanted to stand by Harry's side. As he said at the end of Book 5, he never wanted Harry to have to face Voldemort.

There will be many martyrs on the good side. I think several minor characters will go (such as some of the professors at Hogwarts). Several of the Order will go, possibly Mad-Eye. More of the Weasley's could die, but I'll keep my prediction that it will be Mr. Weasley.

Hermione will spend a lot of time tutoring Harry, since he sucks at Occlumency and nonverbal spells.

Wild Theory:
Just came up with it, probably way out of the universe, but I'll put it here anyway. Harry won't be able to kill Voldemort. Snape will come along (maybe because he has an unbreakable vow to protect Harry) and kill Voldemort for him. Then Snape and Harry will have to duel. If this is the case, Harry will have to get better at occlumency and nonverbal spells.

Book Review: Ironside

Ironside, by Holly Black, is the third book in a series of Urban Fantasy novels. Though technically the direct sequel to Tithe, it also has characters from Valiant as well.

So, what did I think of the novel? Well, to tell the truth, the first half was kind of boring. And by boring, I mean, still better than quite a few books I've read, which are excruciating. The novel did pick up, and by the time it got to the climax I was glad I made the investment. It's like some classic rock songs. You have to listen to ten minutes of song before you get to the exciting part (ie Free Bird and Stairway to Heaven).

My criticisms are this: There is a lot of language in it. I think Black uses it to make the characters look more real and edgy. To me, it just got annoying. I don't often use that sort of language myself. I see a lot of paramedics and EMTs, and though they swear a lot, its not as much as the characters in this novel. So, I wouldn't mind some of that toned down. Also, I didn't like the gay romance. No, I'm not gay bashing, I just think guys with guys is icky. Now, I might be a hypocrite, but I can handle girls liking girls easier.

So, would I read another book by Holly Black? Yeah, probably.
Would I recommend this book to a friend? Probably not. I think most my friends would find it too offensive.

Dangers of ER Work

So, I was notified yesterday that I handled a patient Friday that had Meningitis. It worried me a little at first because I fell ill Saturday and Sunday, and I'm still feeling exhausted today. I talked to employee health, and they didn't seem concerned. So, mostly it just pissed me off. It didn't help, either, that the patient was kind of a jerk. But, oh well. I'm sure I'll live. It does bother me, though, that I'm exposed to all sorts of diseases in the ER. And a lot of patients won't tell you they have some major infectious disease. And sometimes when they do, the ER staff don't put up the proper signs warning everyone about it. I almost walked into a patient's room once that was on isolation. The sign that was supposed to be up wasn't there. I'd complain, but people that complain get in trouble for talking too much. Amazing how that works.

Stan Lee's 10 Rules for Comic-book Movies

I saw this today and thought it interesting. Stan Lee explains how comic-book movies work and don't work, and I really think it applies well to how books translate to film, and why they fail. Here's the story:

1. Don't forget what made the comic popular.
"Let's not think about comics for a moment. A lot of times a great-selling novel is turned into a movie, but the people producing the movie omit the very element that made the novel a bestseller. That often happens with comics. So often in transforming it into a screenplay they leave out the elements that made the comic book popular. In the case of Spider-Man and the X-Men, they retained most of those elements. Bryan Singer captured exactly what the comic books were trying to portray — the idea of these superpowered characters who instead of being welcomed by the human race were shunned and hated and hounded. He's a perfect example of a guy who wasn't a fan but was a fast learner. With the films that don't work, maybe the people behind it don't have enough confidence in the original material."

2. But don't worry too much about the fans …
"They care so much that it's important to them that everything is done just right … but it would be a bigger problem if they didn't care. But they are bright and fair and willing to wait, and now, for instance, you can't picture anyone else but Tobey Maguire playing Spider-Man. I think fans are sophisticated enough to know that you have to do things differently for the movies."

3. … Or the mythology.
"Jim Cameron originally had planned to do Spider-Man many years ago, and he told me that he thought it would be better if the web came out of the hand organically rather than through a web-shooter. So there are two great filmmakers, Cameron and Sam Raimi, and they both felt it would be better the way they did it."

4. Spend the money!
"Captain America — that was terrible! Didn't expect me to say that? Well, it was terrible. It was a very low budget movie, a quickie; everything about it was not as good as it should have been. Whoever played the Red Skull was pretty good, and the guy who played Captain America … he tried his best, but it was corny; it just wasn't well done."

5. Think: A party!
"Spider-Man movies are my favorites — my second favorites are the X-Men movies. These superhero movies are so different from the average cops-and-robbers movie. I mean, you have colorful characters, you have great special effects, it's like going to a party! On the other hand, Ang Lee's direction in Hulk was brilliant, but they made it a little too heavy. I wouldn't have played up the business of Bruce Banner having been such a mistreated young man. It was a little too depressing. Same with Daredevil — I really enjoyed it, but again I thought they really made a little too much of his suffering. To me, Daredevil is a more enjoyable fun type of character in that he always had a wisecrack."

6. Remember: The villain makesthe story.
"Think how important he is in the comic book itself. Once you've established the hero, you need a villain who seems to be some way superior to the hero so it looks as if there's no way the hero is ever gonna beat this guy. And that's what makes it fun! How is the hero gonna survive? How's he gonna triumph? — I love Dr. Doom. I love Doc Ock. I love all of them."

7. Keep it simple.
"I thought Daredevil was better than most people. But maybe because I have a very simplistic mind, I would have only had one villain. Either the Kingpin or Bullseye. I thought having the two of them detracted from each other."

8. Keep it suspenseful.
"Look at Heroes; it's successful, week after week, because it keeps you in suspense all the time! Strange things happen, and you don't know why they're happening — but they're very interesting things, and you want to know what's behind it all. It's interesting to me that now you're seeing things you haven't seen before on television. In Heroes, you're seeing people with these superpowers but they're done very realistically. They seem to be these people you would meet in everyday life, and you wonder how did they get their power? It keeps you in suspense, and that's the perfect formula."

9. Hire actors who care …
"I'm a big name dropper, so I'll tell you — I had lunch with Robert Downey Jr. some time ago because he wanted to discuss his character for Iron Man. Just listening to him talk, here's a guy who cares about the role he plays. He wanted to know everything about Tony Stark: How did I feel about him? How did I think he should be portrayed? I'm sure he's spoken to a hundred other people about it, so by the time you see him on the screen I'm convinced you're gonna be looking at Tony Stark."

10. … Even in the smallest parts.
"If you have any influence with the Motion Picture Academy, I kind of wish they would give an award for the Best Cameo of the Year. I don't think I'd have much competition, certainly for the most cameos."

Book Review: The Blue Girl

I finished reading The Blue Girl, by Charles deLint today. I've never read anything by him before, and that always makes me nervous. It's a large investment in time, and a not insignificant investment in money. I'm glad to say that I enjoyed this book. I don't think I ever had an impending sense of dread about the ending, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Okay, what is it about. Imogene Yeck is the main character. She has just moved to Newford and has decided to start fresh. At her old school she ran with the rough crowd and was never afraid of hurting someone who threatened her. Now, she's trying to live the clean life.

Things get weird when the school's ghost starts appearing to her. Then, her invisible friend from when she was younger turns up, and he's not so invisible. If that weren't enough, she is also confronted with faeries and a darkness from the dawn of creation. She combats these problems with her best friend, Maxine, perhaps the least popular girl in school. And she does so with her thrift store goth appearance.

Oh, and this isn't much of a spoiler, as the Blue Girl, Imogene actually turns blue. For me, that's too cool.

So, to the important questions:

Would I recommend this to someone else? Yes, if you like urban fantasy, faeries, or good young adult, read it.

Would I read another book by Charles deLint? Yes, the hard part is picking which one.