When I was working on Kung Fu Theater: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I spent quite a bit of time on YouTube going through videos, deciding which one to post. I ended up going with one of my favorite fight scenes, but I also considered the official US trailer:
Writer-blogger friend Sheila Pierson has bestowed a Liebster Award upon me. Thanks for giving my blog its first award, Sheila!
According to legends that come to us from antiquity, the Liebster is meant for blogs that motivate, inspire, and have 200 followers or less. Its apparent purpose is to summon new followers like some sort of mystical talisman, increasing the power of those of us who are just beginning.
image via Wikipedia
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was an important achievement in Asian cinema. Released in 2000, first in Hong Kong and Taiwan, then later in the Unites States, it became an unexpected international success, garnering critical acclaim and over 40 awards.
Although an international co-production, it introduced Chinese wuxia films to mainstream western audiences and allowed others, such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers, to reach theaters in the US.
It’s one of my favorite movies and a major influence on my work-in-progress, an eastern fantasy novel.
My writer friend Lara Schiffbauer has tagged me for The Lucky 7 Meme. Thanks, Lara!
These are the rules:
1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they’re written.
4. Tag 7 authors, and let them know.
So it appears the Lucky 7 Meme is somewhat like a zombie virus for writer-bloggers, except more fun and with less calling out for brains.
Last week I linked to a video in which a crafty octopus perpetrated a heist, stealing a video camera while it was still recording. I also ran a poll so the people could decide Octopus: Threat or Menace?
The poll is now closed and the results are in. As we can see, octopoids are our friends.
Octopus is pleased.
He is so pleased that today we’re going to explore some links that conform to an octopus theme.
This first link came over Twitter from Debra Eve and showcases the Octopus Table by Isaac Kraus. This amazing work of art weighs 500 lbs. and is perfect for tea with Cthulhu. Thanks for the link, Debra!
image via Twilight Saga Wiki
Today I’m happy to be guest posting at Laird Sapir’s blog with a review of the novel Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer.
And while you’re there, check out the rest of Laird’s site. She’s an excellent human and runs a great blog. You can follow her on Twitter at @lairdsapir.
Book cover image via the Twilight Saga Wiki.
When a brutal and unnatural winter threatens his people, a lone warrior braves a forbidden valley to uncover the nature of their curse.
image by KristerP
In late 2010 I entered a mythic fantasy piece in the 11th Annual Short Short Story Competition hosted by Writer’s Digest. It wasn’t selected as a winner, but writing it spawned other ideas set in the same world, creating a side-project I sometimes work on when taking a break from my novel–an eastern fantasy project inspired by martial arts films.
The Evil From the Deep
It lurks beneath the waves. In the deep.
In the dark.
It writhes in haunted, timeless sleep among the graves of ancient ships. Shining empires crumble and fall and rise again from the ones before, sending their fleets across the sea, extending their reach beyond their shores.
Until they reach too far.
Currently I #amreading Arena of Antares, by Kenneth Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers. It is book 7 in the Dray Prescot series, which first saw publication in 1972 and runs through 53 volumes, though the last several have only appeared in German.
Like the John Carter stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Dray Prescot series belongs to the “sword and planet” subgenre of science fiction and they are similar in many ways. Inconceivable forces hurl a mighty Earthman to a new world more savage than the one of his birth, catapulting him into the middle of rugged adventure. He hits things with swords, leaps from burning airships, arm-wrestles creatures who have more limbs than is proper, and resists the alluring charms of mysterious women–sometimes all at once.
image via ultimateGuitar.com
Years ago, my friend Tom lived across the street. One day he constructed a plywood vault in his garage and sound-proofed the walls and ceiling with thick carpet, protecting the neighbors from the loud music we used to torture out of an array of musical instruments. Our circle of friends got along well with Tom’s mom, and we were allowed to hang out in the garage even when Tom wasn’t home.
Returning from an escapade late one evening, Tom and I approached the vault and found a note impaled to the door by a plastic dart, a desperate message scrawled by one of our friends:
“Good gravy! There’s a freaking possum or something inside. Watch out!”
The note puzzled us. It had to be a joke. Did a wild animal truly lurk beyond the threshold, waiting to descend upon us, savage our flesh, and infect us with vile pestilence?
Mike Schulenberg 