Join us at Bitten By Books today for the EVOLVE Two: Vampire Stories of the Future Undead chat and contest, starting at noon Central and running into the evening. The anthology authors will answer questions and there are Valuable Prizes at stake (no pun intended — including a $50 cash card). You have a better chance at winning if you RSVP here.
Issue #23 of Screem Magazine is now available. It contains my essay “Overlooking the Overlook,” which the editor describes thus: an “Everything you wanted to know about The Shining, but were afraid to ask” article, dissecting Stephen King’s book, Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay, as well as the made for TV movie. Fans of this masterpiece of modern horror shouldn’t miss it! This is the second time I’ve written for Screem–it’s a great glossy mag.
I received my contributor copy of the 2012 Stephen King Library Desk Calendar last night. It contains two pieces by me: Time Keeps on Ticking into the Future and Other Rolands. The front cover is a cool hologram.
I received my Kangaroo yesterday and set it up this morning. I thought it might be more complicated than it was because I wasn’t sure all my cables were long enough to reach when it was fully extended, but they were and it only took a few minutes. Now I can stand up at my desk at home (and sit when my legs get tired). I’m quite sure this will improve my productivity, especially on weekends when I work for hours on end. I’ve passed the 50,000 word point on my work in progress but I have quite a way to go yet.
We watched The Tree of Life this weekend. An intriguing and sometimes frustrating film. If you can make it through the first half hour, you’re probably okay, but that section tests one’s patience, even though there are dinosaurs. The core of the movie features a family led by Brad Pitt who is tough on his three boys, especially the oldest, because he thinks that’s the only way they’ll survive in this world–or the world of the 1950s. Sean Penn plays the oldest boy all grown up, and the general consensus is that the movie encapsulates his reminiscences of his youth, triggered by nothing of consequence. It is a dreamy film with narrative text that doesn’t explain but rather seems to bring to life characters’ thoughts. One of the pivotal events in the film happens early: a telegram advising the family that one of the boys has died, but it takes a while to figure out which one it was and we never really know how he died. In recent interviews, Sean Penn said that the film could have benefited from a more conventional narrative and that he wasn’t really sure what his character was doing in the movie. I would agree that I came away from the film more confused than illuminated, but it kept us talking long afterwards as we tried to suss out its subtexts, so that’s a good thing.
I finally finished 1Q84 this weekend (review forthcoming). It’s being called Murakami’s magnum opus and a book that will make him a prime candidate for a Pulitzer. I liked the book a lot but I wasn’t that overwhelmed by it. I’m now reading Raylan by Elmore Leonard, his novel that expands on the Timothy Olyphant character from Justified. Except it takes place in Leonard’s universe and not that of the TV show, so there are some conspicuous differences. Dicky and Coover, for example, are Crowes, not Bennetts, and the head of their household is a patriarch not a matriarch. Other familiar characters show up, and there are a few scenes that will be familiar from the TV show.
I finally emptied the DVR after our vacation. When we got back, I had 23 hours of shows queued up and, of course, more added every day. I’m now caught up on Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, The Mentalist, Fringe, House, NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds, Survivor, Law & Order (UK & SVU), Blue Bloods and The Amazing Race. I also watched the pilot of Once Upon a Time and found it cute but I’m not 100% sold yet. Jennifer Morrison will keep me watching for a while.
