Deconstructing Strong Female Characters

Over at Tor.com, Ilana Meyer offers up some great insights into writing characters of the female variety.  Here’s some excerpts that resonated with me:

They should kick ass but have other talents; they shouldn’t necessarily kick ass because that’s been done to death; they should have agency; they should move the plot forward; they should be assertive but not obnoxious; they should hold positions of power; they shouldn’t be raped or die to give the hero incentive for his quest.

What I think is missing from some of these discussions is: writing a fully realized character of any gender requires one trait above all others, and that is empathy. When a female character goes off the rails, it is often because the author experienced a failure of imagination; while he could imagine all the emotions a man might feel in a similar situation—and Continue reading “Deconstructing Strong Female Characters”

How Rottweilers Show Love – Confirmed

First, go read this article about Three Ways Rottweilers Say “I love you” at RottweilerLife.

20150214_140312

Porthos (shown above using one of his toys as a pillow) leaned into both Terry and I from the first day we met over Thanksgiving weekend.  He still exhibits this behavior and we give him as much affection as he can stand.

early autumn rotts

Lexy purr-growled at us as soon as she figured out we were her new home.   She also loves to lick us.

 

Look West After Sunset Tomorrow Evening

I probably won’t get to see this.  Snow is forecast for this afternoon in the KC metro area and continuing cloud cover for the next couple of days.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed and my eyes on the western horizon as I drive home tomorrow night.

For those of you with clear skies, enjoy a triple conjunction of the bright planet Venus, the red planet Mars and the two-old new Moon.

Whatever you do, just start watching the western twilight sky. Set a reminder on your phone if need be. The planets and moon won’t be up for long after sunset. And the views will be spectacular from now through Saturday night!

Earthsky, “Venus, Mars, moon after sunset February 19

Shared from WordPress

Grist for the Mill: What America’s Next Top Model Can Teach You About Publishing – http://www.kameronhurley.com/grist-for-the-mill-what-americas-next-top-model-can-teach-you-about-your-publishing-career/

Words of wisdom for young and old, models, actors and writers.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Book Review: Testament of Youth by Brittain (4 stars)

Testament of Youth

by Vera Brittain

4 out of 5 stars

Read in January/February 2015

Synopsis (via GoodReads):

In 1914, just as war was declared, 20 year-old Vera Brittain was preparing to study at Oxford. Four years later, her life—and that of her whole generation—had been irrevocably changed in a way that no one could have imagined in the tranquil pre-war era. Testament of Youth is Brittain’s account of how she lost the man she loved, nursed the wounded, survived those agonizing years, and emerged into an altered world. A passionate record of a lost generation, it made Brittain one of the best-loved writers of her time. It still retains the power to shock, move, and enthrall readers today.

My Thoughts:

I heard about this book during the inaugural discussion of The Things They Carried by O’Brien last fall.  The professor leading the discussion listed it as one of the better memoirs written post-conflict (didn’t matter what conflict).  Continue reading “Book Review: Testament of Youth by Brittain (4 stars)”

Movie Review: The Railway Man (2013) 3.5 Stars

The Railway Man (2013)

Watched via Netflix BluRay February 2015

3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot Synopsis (via Wikipedia):

During World War II, Eric Lomax (Firth) is a British officer who is captured by the Japanese in Singapore and sent to a Japanese POW camp where he is forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway north of the Malay Peninsula. During his time in the camp as one of the Far East Prisoners of War, Lomax is tortured by the Kempetai for building a radio receiver from spare parts. This is apparently due to his falling under suspicion of being a spy for supposedly using the British news broadcast receiver as a transmitter of military intelligence. His only intention, in fact, had been to use the device as a morale booster for himself and his fellow prisoner-slaves. The torture depicted includes beatings and waterboarding.

Years later and still suffering the psychological trauma of his wartime experiences, with the help of his wife Patti (Kidman) and best friend Finlay (Skarsgård), Lomax (Firth) decides to find and confront one of his captors who had escaped prosecution as a war criminal. He returns to the scene of his torture after he has tracked down Japanese officer Takashi Nagase (Sanada) “in an attempt to let go of a lifetime of bitterness and hate”.

My Thoughts:

I believe I put this movie in my Netflix queue upon finishing the book Judy back in late November.  The book told a more horrific story of the British POWs held by Japan after the fall of Singapore, but Continue reading “Movie Review: The Railway Man (2013) 3.5 Stars”

Big Read Wrap-Up

The Lansing Community Library completed a successful Big Read of O’Brien’s The Things They Carried with a writing memoir workshop led by the same professor who moderated the panel discussion back in December.  I took copious notes, but sadly no group photos.  The workshop was well attended and I recorded the audio portion (as I can’t always take notes fast enough) and include it here for your enjoyment.  In fact, I’m not sure where I put my notes.

Raw Recording of Memoir Writing Workshop

And, just for completeness’ sake, I’ll include the raw recording of the second group discussion led by a local English professor from the University of St. Mary:

Raw Recording of Second Big Read Book Discussion

I attended all the events and enjoyed all of them. I’m looking forward to the next adult reading program the library cooks up.

Article: Hubble shows Jupiter’s triple solar eclipse

Hubble shows Jupiter’s triple solar eclipse

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/06/tech/hubble-jupiter-three-moons/

It was cloudy here in Kansas when this occurred. Thank Goodness Hubble never needs to worry about the weather.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon