Wednesday, September 24, 2014

September WEP Blog Hop - Changing Faces



http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/

I thought of writing a story for this prompt, but then realized I really wanted to write about being a novelist and my take on “changing faces.”
Each time I start a new story, I must “see” the characters I’ll be living with for the next year or forever. I must be able to visualize them in my mind to “hear” their voices and listen. Writing from different people’s perspectives in a story makes me go not only into their heads, but I try to see the view from their eyes as well, which means, to me, I have to change my face to theirs and be in their world, not mine. Sometimes this is very easy to do. Sometimes it’s horribly hard and I spend vast amounts of time trying to figure out why I’m not able to mesh with the character.  
One of my favorite parts of writing is when I meet the characters that people my stories. Sometimes I can find an actress/ actor who fits the look completely. Below are Sean Bean, John Hannah, and Winona Rider who were the faces that fit my forthcoming novel, The Seventh Man (due out in October or early November). Sometimes I can’t and the character stays uniquely in my mind. I try not to over describe my characters because I like leaving it up to the reader to fill in the blanks. So, the face I wear while discovering my character might not be the one any of my readers see. This intrigues me, especially when seeing a movie based on a book. I often wonder what the writer thinks of who is chosen and how they fit, or don’t, their view of that face.
Also, I get to “be” someone else for awhile, think like they do, look like they do, feel what they feel and that’s why we read too, isn’t it? To be in another world, to be someone else for a moment.
 That’s what I love about changing faces when I’m writing.  
Sean Bean

John Hannah

 

This look but with blue eyes, Winona Rider
Please visit the other blogs on this hop and enjoy our diversity!



Monday, September 22, 2014

Underrated Treasures Blog Hop




I’m participating in Alex Cavanaugh’s “Under Rated Treasure’s” blog fest today to share a few treasures that I feel deserved more attention than they got when they came out. I’ll be introducing you to a few bands and movies, unless, of course, you’ve already heard of them! HERE are the others participating in this hop! Make sure to click on any and all of the links you'll find here for more information...
First is my all time favorite “under rated” band: FEVER TREE
A 1966 band originally from Houston, Texas, I grew up listening to them because my parents loved them. We had every “record” (LP) they made, but I memorized two of them (Fever Tree and Another Time, Another Place).  You can find out more of their history HERE. Meanwhile, here is a taste of what I loved.



Next we have SUTHERLAND BROTHERS & QUIVER, 1970s, from Scotland. For more of their history, go HERE. I only heard one album, but liked a lot of the songs on it. For a teenager it spoke to the drama of life at the time…


Now, about movies. Here are four that really made impressions on me when I first saw them years ago, enough that I’ve now seen them more than once.
The first one wasn’t a “pleasant” movie to watch, actually stunned me when I saw it at age 11. It left a permanent impression upon me I think because it was the first time I was introduced to the “rape” of a soul.


On lighter, yet no less sensitive notes are the following,
Though I don't totally agree with the review (you can read if you click on the "For Rosanna") link, it does let you know why it's an underrated gem...







I couldn't find a video/trailer for this film, which is sad. but here is a photo...


Hope you’ll check out these under rated treasures and find them as interesting/ fun as I did…



For Images: