The Dastardly Dungeon of Deliciously Devious Drinks

Maggie Maxwell said:

Usually, just reading the book is enough.

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We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I love movies.

Starship Troopers is another where the movie was better.

JJ Litke said:

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I love movies.

Starship Troopers is another where the movie was better.

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But to be honest, that was only because of the unashamedly bad special effects and (mostly future-) all-star cast.

Starship Troopers III was my favorite.

JJ Litke said:

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I love movies.

Starship Troopers is another where the movie was better.

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Don't get me wrong, I love movies. The theater gets a shitton of my money. But sometimes with book-to-movie translations, it's not worth it. Like, I just finished the Percy Jackson series. The movies, allegedly, are terrible. Like, they could have had a 10-movie series, 12 if they did the whole "break up the last book" thing so popular in YA. But they flubbed the movies and only got 2. Harry Potter, wholly enjoyable movies, but not as good as the books. Hobbit status: Betrayed by Peter Jackson fanfic. (Sorry, EFB)

Maggie Maxwell said:

Hobbit status: Betrayed by Peter Jackson fanfic. (Sorry, EFB)

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Well there is definitely something we can agree on! I expect at some point someone will do a reverse director's cut of the Hobbit movies and cut them down into one decent movie. If they were good enough at editing, they might even be able to make some storyline adjustments to bring back more in line with the book.

Maggie Maxwell said:

Don't get me wrong, I love movies. The theater gets a shitton of my money. But sometimes with book-to-movie translations, it's not worth it. Like, I just finished the Percy Jackson series. The movies, allegedly, are terrible. Like, they could have had a 10-movie series, 12 if they did the whole "break up the last book" thing so popular in YA. But they flubbed the movies and only got 2. Harry Potter, wholly enjoyable movies, but not as good as the books. Hobbit status: Betrayed by Peter Jackson fanfic. (Sorry, EFB)

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I think you'd enjoy The Dom's "Lost in Adaptation" youtube series.

Yzjdriel said:

But to be honest, that was only because of the unashamedly bad special effects and (mostly future-) all-star cast.

Starship Troopers III was my favorite.

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Nope, they totally dropped the ball on this one. NO JUMP SUITS. Come on, the single most awesome aspect of the book - totally doable in that era of special effects - and you nix it? Why, for the love of Heinlein, would you do that??

Other movies, *cough*JurassikPark*cough* completely remove an essential plot detail, taking away much of the urgency of the entire movie...

greendragon said:

Nope, they totally dropped the ball on this one. NO JUMP SUITS. Come on, the single most awesome aspect of the book - totally doable in that era of special effects - and you nix it? Why, for the love of Heinlein, would you do that??

Other movies, *cough*JurassikPark*cough* completely remove an essential plot detail, taking away much of the urgency of the entire movie...

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No jump suits was exactly why I liked it. It makes it even easier to make fun of.

Maggie Maxwell said:

Like, I just finished the Percy Jackson series. The movies, allegedly, are terrible. Like, they could have had a 10-movie series, 12 if they did the whole "break up the last book" thing so popular in YA. But they flubbed the movies and only got 2. Harry Potter, wholly enjoyable movies, but not as good as the books. Hobbit status: Betrayed by Peter Jackson fanfic. (Sorry, EFB)

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In complete agreement. ^^

JJ Litke said:

Well there is definitely something we can agree on! I expect at some point someone will do a reverse director's cut of the Hobbit movies and cut them down into one decent movie. If they were good enough at editing, they might even be able to make some storyline adjustments to bring back more in line with the book.

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That cut's already happened! From a few different people, from what I can gather, although I haven't seen any of them, so I can't attest to its quality. Here's one of them:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheHobbit/comments/58q5kb/best_hobbit_fan_edit_best_aspects_from_all_other/

So, the uncooperative character scene from the other day is continuing to mess with me. As I was quitting last night, I realized the scene had gotten up to 2k in the same character POV. Gah, how?? I've been paying attention to each character's screen time in this rewrite. They pretty constantly fall between 750-1k before switching. I kind of like the scene the way it is, but I'm rewriting it today anyway to see if it's better (or acceptable anyway). It will be different. I never know if different is better. My writers gut is underdeveloped in these areas and I don't always trust it.

Mary Love said:

So, the uncooperative character scene from the other day is continuing to mess with me. As I was quitting last night, I realized the scene had gotten up to 2k in the same character POV. Gah, how?? I've been paying attention to each character's screen time in this rewrite. They pretty constantly fall between 750-1k before switching. I kind of like the scene the way it is, but I'm rewriting it today anyway to see if it's better (or acceptable anyway). It will be different. I never know if different is better. My writers gut is underdeveloped in these areas and I don't always trust it.

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I used to have issues trusting my gut when it came to writing. Until I started putting back stuff (in draft 7 & 8) that had been cut after draft 1. It's hard because the inner editor tends to be a noisy bitch, but second-guessing myself with creative work always ends badly. (And not so much "Oh, this needs a little more emotional impact" or "This scene doesn't have enough action" but actual doubts about the direction I took a project or whether a character is too stabby, etc.) It takes some practice to really learn when to listen and when to push forward.

[When I was revising the last Southern Gothic novella, one of the chapters I added came out longer than all except for one other chapter. But it's kind of the tentpole on the first act/second act so it's okay. But my inner editor started fussing about the fact that it was so long compared to most of the rest of the book. Boo. I told her to shut up.]

Passed the 290,000 word mark today...

Kind of excited. Last night as I went to bed, I started thinking about how to add in more personality to a character in Novella #1. And his voice came in loud and clear. I've got things to add that will flesh out the focus character and it kind of waterfalls into the rest without making changes to the narrative.
I might just get to that 30K I was wanting.

ION client work, SEO article, and maybe if I'm lucky writing on the to do list today.

I just spent two hours doing graphic design. My own, not for anyone else. Sigh. Not my favorite thing, but I think it came out all right. I made a Call of the Morrigú ad for Ind'Tale magazine (June issue), since I won the cover contest I got a free 1/4 page ad. If I win the monthly contest (hint: Link here!) I get a full page ad in July's magazine!

I also set up an 'all my books' graphic, which needed doing. I'm so glad I have a huge stock of photos I've taken in Ireland to use as backgrounds on these!

Opinions are greatly appreciated!

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Shadowflame said:

Kind of excited. Last night as I went to bed, I started thinking about how to add in more personality to a character in Novella #1. And his voice came in loud and clear. I've got things to add that will flesh out the focus character and it kind of waterfalls into the rest without making changes to the narrative.
I might just get to that 30K I was wanting.

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I love when they talk to you!

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Black-Marlin said:

Passed the 290,000 word mark today...

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Congratulations!!!!

shortstorymachinist said:

Or Howl's Moving Castle. The movie cut SO much out of the book that it somehow wrapped right around to being wonderful again.

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Is the book good? I've had it recommend to me before but never been sure if I'd like it or not.

Maggie Maxwell said:

Don't get me wrong, I love movies. The theater gets a shitton of my money. But sometimes with book-to-movie translations, it's not worth it. Like, I just finished the Percy Jackson series. The movies, allegedly, are terrible. Like, they could have had a 10-movie series, 12 if they did the whole "break up the last book" thing so popular in YA. But they flubbed the movies and only got 2. Harry Potter, wholly enjoyable movies, but not as good as the books. Hobbit status: Betrayed by Peter Jackson fanfic. (Sorry, EFB)

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It's okay, I lurves you (and JJ and Mary) anyway. This just means I get to keep #majestic Thorin, and #sassy Thranduil, and #betterthanus Legolas all to myself! Bwahahaha! Btw, have you seen the "Who the Bloody 'e'll is Tauriel" video? Given your feelings for the movies, I think you might like it. https://youtu.be/0Z7oZB7onK4

greendragon said:

Nope, they totally dropped the ball on this one. NO JUMP SUITS. Come on, the single most awesome aspect of the book - totally doable in that era of special effects - and
Other movies, *cough*JurassikPark*cough* completely remove an essential plot detail, taking away much of the urgency of the entire movie...

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It's so much fun to make fun of them though. Especially Jurassic World. (I can't believe they're making another one! *groan*


Soooo, after sitting at the vet office for nearly four hours and having the beagle poked prodded nd generally humiliated with various things stuck up his butt (which resulted in him pooping in the exam room) I can say that the beagle is fine. Eating the stuffing in his bed just really upset his tummy this time around and we're just going to have to take extra precautions to make sure he never does it again. He is some easy to digest food and stuff from the vet until his innards settle down.

Glad we finally got to go home because there's a thunderstorm starting and it's now hailing.

Yzjdriel said:

While we're on the subject of recs, in a very close third are The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede.

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Oh, yeah, Patricia C Wrede is also totally on that! Not just the Enchanted Forest (though they are awesome).

be frank said:

But, um, with my lurking ... I feel like the only person in the world who was kind of meh about The Queen's Thief.

*backs out of the thread before the starts*

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I actually read one review blog who was also meh on it in favour of... I can't remember, Lost Prince or something? Whatever it was called I found the voice intensely boring and the MC intensely typical. No accounting for taste.

ETA ION: I do not have much brain power left for doing the bach, I just wanted to write the equivalent of "that's the kidneys' job and if they don't do it it all goes to hell in a handbasket" which is not a prof tone. I'm getting on drunk on no alcohol.

Shadowflame said:

Kind of excited. Last night as I went to bed, I started thinking about how to add in more personality to a character in Novella #1. And his voice came in loud and clear. I've got things to add that will flesh out the focus character and it kind of waterfalls into the rest without making changes to the narrative.
I might just get to that 30K I was wanting.

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That's awesome!

E.F.B. said:

Is the book good? I've had it recommend to me before but never been sure if I'd like it or not.

Soooo, after sitting at the vet office for nearly four hours and having the beagle poked prodded nd generally humiliated with various things stuck up his butt (which resulted in him pooping in the exam room) I can say that the beagle is fine. Eating the stuffing in his bed just really upset his tummy this time around and we're just going to have to take extra precautions to make sure he never does it again. He is some easy to digest food and stuff from the vet until his innards settle down.

Glad we finally got to go home because there's a thunderstorm starting and it's now hailing.

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In no particular order:
Glad nothing long-term is wrong with poor puppy!

Stay safe!

Read Howl's Moving Castle. I am biased, as it is one of my favorite books ever. But read it

(I'll guiltily admit to not actually not liking the movie that much. I found it to be OK, but give this gal the book every day of the week -- and I say that as someone who came to the book after the movie, so it wasn't adaptation disappointment)

greendragon said:

Other movies, *cough*JurassikPark*cough* completely remove an essential plot detail, taking away much of the urgency of the entire movie...

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Wait, what did they change in Jurassic Park? I loved that movie! Of course, I was a little kid when I saw it. Those Crichton novels were actually the first adult books I've ever read.

I liked the movie version of The Shining more than the novel. The Kubrick ending is utterly unfaithful, but is more delightfully creepy than [spoiler alert!] having the Overlook burn down. Also, offing the guy who saves them in the book with an ax to the chest is epic troll. [end spoilers] Loved it!

In the novel, one of the raptors actually made it onto the boat leaving for the mainland. They had to rush to get to the communication area to warn the mainland before it landed. That entire plot detail wasn't in the movie, and it removed all the urgency of their movie quest.

Whoo! Just hit 22000 characters out of 40000! That's an improvement of about 5000 characters since the day before yesterday. Gotta keep it up!

Moving at the end of the month. You don't realize how much stuff you've collected when you pack boxes and boxes and boxes and...

And that doesn't even include clothes. How the heck did we get so many clothes???

I have moved 29 times in my life. I've finally learned to stop getting more things.

It's midnight, and I just finished killing one of my characters. I was really looking forward to writing this scene, but now I'm just kind of sad. Also searched up all the sad music playlists on YouTube to get in the zone.

For the past two days, my best friend and I have been having conversations that started off with: "How should I kill [Character]?" and "So, I had a great new idea about killing [Character]".

*strokes Character's hair* *cradles in arms* *sobs*

Oh, well. I'll see her again when I edit!

Time to sleep.

Thanks for the recs, people. That list will keep me going for a while, at least.

I'm late to this, and mileage may vary...my first 'read for the beauty of the words' author was Patricia McKillip. Especially her Riddlemaster series, Cygnet duology, and her YA 'The Changeling Sea'. Her later books can be obtuse even for me, but they're still gorgeous.

Just when I was edging up on being done with the big fantasy mms, my MC told me he wanted to try saving a cave full of very nasty brigands who due to die because they were paid to be nasty to MC. 'I want to know who paid them. How did they end up here? Can I do anything about their bad life choices?' Now I see why his lovers both want him in protective custody. OTOH, that's perfectly in character for the little shit. He's like Miles Vorkosigan cloned with bits of skinny Steve Rogers.

I haven't the heart to tell him the brigands are still all going to die, because MC slips up and reveals a secret they can't be allowed to know. Which will make him even more mopey, earnest, and determined to do the right things. I love tormenting that poor man.