Good morning, Readers!

I spent all weekend ill in bed. It was an utter waste of a weekend, and I'm pissed about it.  I spent Thursday night, all of Friday, and most of Saturday in bed with a fever.  Sunday I was feeling a little better.  I woke up late, staving, wanting popcorn.  So, a friend and I went to the flicks and watched Tomb Raider. I have thoughts, people.

Genuinely, this film was great.  It had so many elements of the game; so much so that it almost gave me "continually impaled on tree branches" PTSD.  Viewers of my live stream will understand what that means.  I loved the game (review here). The film I loved less, mostly because it took the three things from the game I loved most and scrapped them.

That said, this is a great action film, and Alicia Vikander is a brilliant Lara Croft.  On it's own it's great fun.  It's a really good adaptation of the game.

​I'm just salty about a few things.

If you've played the game, or watched anyone else play the game, you will recognise things so quick it's not even funny.

Like the game, Lara heads off to the lost island of Yamatai, where queen Himiko has been squirreled away hundreds of years before.

The action was spectacular, and so reminiscent of the game that it had me grinning in several places.  From the way Lara was dressed (compare the posters of the film and the game.  They got it spot on.), to many of the action set pieces (the collapsing WWII plane and the subsequent parachuted fall), they grasped the feel of the game so very well.

They also included Matthias, who in the game had styled himself into the leader of the Solarii Brotherhood - a militarised cult determined to restore the storm queen (Himiko), considering it the only way to get off Yamatai.  In this incarnation, though, he's an employee of Trinity (a shady organisation; a proxy, I think, for the Illuminati from the 2001+ films... though it might make an appearance in the Rise of the Tomb Raider game (I've yet to play that one)).

That's more or less where the similarities end; the same queen (though given different titles.  In the game, she's simply the Queen of Yamatai.  In the film, she's the Mother of Death), the same location (Yamatai), the same human antagonist (Matthias) and even the same boat name (the Endurance).

And can I just say I loved how Lara was portrayed in this film?  In keeping with what I loved about her character in the game; she was tough, but not immortal.  She wasn't immune to the danger she faced, or the horrors of necessity.  She kills a man, and behaves believably afterwards.  She feels fear.  She gets hurt.  She expresses frustration and disbelief.  She screams, cries, and does things that seem real to me.  There was one thing that had me giggling, and it was the same thing that made me giggle in the game; after that glass shard in her side, and all that rolling around in mud and whatnot after, it only takes one treatment and a good night's sleep for her not to feel the wound at all.  It happened pretty much in game as well, and it was still silly.  That said, the film was good enough that I let it slide.

While everything was so brilliantly done, the film left out the three things I most wanted to see brought to life.

The biggest was the power of friendship, as corny as that sounds.  One of the reasons I adored the game so much was that Lara went through absolute hell; scaling impossible rock faces, falling down waterfalls and parachuting into forests, facing the immortal Samurai-like Stormguard, and mowing down armed men, and facing a psychotic, scary man, all to save her friends (particularly, Sam).  It touched me on a deeply personal level, because friendship means the world to me.  Finally, here was a narrative that showed how important friendship was, and a heroine who would endure heaven knows what for the sake of friendship.

The movie did not have this important narrative.  That dimmed its shine a little for me.  That narrative meant a lot to me.

Thankfully, however, they didn't throw in a stupid love narrative to replace the friendship theme.  I might have hated the film if they did that.

The movie also did away with the supernatural element.  This disappointed me.  I can understand why they might have done so, but one of the points of the game was that Himiko was looking for a new vessel so she could rule again, and Lara was the only one of the crew of the Endurance who would even consider this as an option... and she ended up being correct.  That was as much about learning to believe and trust in herself as it was about the fun of the supernatural.  But honestly, without the supernatural elements, Tomb Raider is just a female Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series.  There is room for both, I suppose, but the supernatural elements really helped set Tomb Raider apart.  That's gone.  I'm not thrilled about it.  Unlike the earlier attempts at adapting, the film was good enough that it would have supported something supernatural.

It also meant that the film missed out on some of the more horror-like elements that had me sweating bricks while playing.

Lastly, my favourite character from the game was entirely absent.  Conrad Roth was such a brilliant part of the game, and I loved him so very much that I'm really quite salty about him not being a part of the film.  That tough northern bastard should have been there, not least of all because his inclusion in the game provided a touching provenance for Lara's dual pistols.  I adored how Lara came to acquire those pistols, even if it did break my heart at the same time.  Narratively speaking, it was beautiful.

They did away with all of that in this movie, instead tacking on a scene at the end that would be better placed with the shoddy hyper-tacky adaptations from the 00's.

That made me grumble.

I loved Roth.  I was excited to see him on screen.  I did not get Roth.

​I am sad.

Despite my grumblings here, this really was a great film.  It had enough of the game elements to have me grinning, and giggling, throughout.  It was delightful, even if it did call back to many in-game deaths and a shit tonne of frustration.

The action was spectacular, and there were plenty of tense moments throughout.  Matthais in the film was as psychotic as the game Matthais, and I enjoyed that.

Also, Alicia Vikander's abs are life goals for me.  It was nice to see an on-screen Lara Croft that looked as capable as game Lara Croft; she looked like she could pull her body weight around and throw a punch that could do some damage.

Despite the film leaving out the things that I best loved about the game, it was a solid film, and I'm really glad I watched it.  I do recommend it.

Good morning, Readers!

So... still writing.  Still reading.

I have nothing to share.  So... uh... my run this morning was shit.  Got a stitch.  Had trouble breathing.

Oh, about breathing, my lungs are doing that weird post-illness thing where they feel heavy and possibly covered in gunk.  This is weird.  I haven't been ill, other than a terrible headache Tuesday.

So, there's that.

Uh... Last night I streamed Assassin's Creed Origins and it was great.  In the shower following the steam, I only just realised a pun that the devs put in.  One of the side-quest targets, who was an awful son of bitch who did awful things, goes by the name of Severus Brutus.  Severe Brute.

...

Duuuuude.  Great pun.  Slow clap for that.  That's Asterix et Obelix level of Roman name pun (if a little darker.  I mean, Severus Brutus was responsible for some really reprehensible things).

Anyway, it struck me as I was showering, and I got a good giggle out of it.

Um... what else?

Nothing.  There's nothing.  Life is utterly boring right now.

What about you?  Have you more exciting things happening with you?  Let me know!

I'm off to do work stuff.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have been busy writing and editing, and haven't had much head space for anything else.  To that end, I now have nothing to write about today.

I mean, there are a couple of rants, but I haven't the mental energy for them yet.  All my brain power is turned currently towards my current work in progress.

It really will be the shortest novel I've ever written.  I'll be surprised if I even get to 80K words.  I'm split in two minds about this.  On the one hand, I have a strong belief that a story should only be as long as it needs to be.  Any longer and it feels forced.  Readers aren't dumb.  They can tell.  But I'm also feeling weird about this lower than normal word count.  I've got to shake that feeling.  I know it is neither warranted, nor rational.  It does make me think, though.  Primarily, it makes me think about my writing hang-ups.

Of which I have many.

Given the word count, and the youth of one of the protagonists, I would peg this one as a young adult novel.  Odd, for me, given how little of those I've read.  Happily, though, and in large part due to Tamora Pierce's work (specifically The Provost's Dog series... highly recommend), I'm well over the weird prejudice I had against young adult books.

There's a blog post idea to file away for another day.

I expect that I will be finished this one in the next fortnight or so.  There will be much celebrating when I write 'The End' on this one.

After this, I have the second book of The Great Man series, Outcast, to rewrite.  Then the second book in the Avalon series.  It's March now, and if Outcast is as difficult to write as Soldier was, then I expect it'll take me the rest of the year.  However, if it goes smoothly, there might be a chance that I will get them both done (HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!).  Four books in a year?  That's a little ambitious, even for me.  I once managed three.  That was a good year.

Anyway, since I've got so much work ahead of me, I had better go do it.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I've heard a little birdie say that my publisher, Renaissance Press, is turning five!

June will mark the start of the second year I've been with them, and I really, really love them.  They're fantastic to worth with, and I absolutely adore how open they are to things that other publishers usually want to shut down.

Is your novel genre-bending? Does it fall into more than one genre category?  Many publishers would turn it away, because they don't know how to classify it, and therefore how to market it. 

I have heard of publishers who've asked writers to "take out the gay" or "you have a homosexual and a trans-man.  That's a bit much."  That stuff really gets my goat.  I'll write more on that later... one of these days... when I can get the energy to rant about it.

Anyway, Renaissance is open to gay, trans or non-binary heroes and actively encourages it.  That makes me happy.  I'm not gay, trans or even non-binary (though let me tell you how utterly fucking stupid that binary is one of these days), but I do recognise how important representation is.  I also recognise that these people exist in the world, and to not include them is an exclusionary agenda.

But that's a different piece.  What I'm trying to talk about is how great Renaissance is.  I'm really happy to be working with such wonderful people, who are so very open to all kinds of characters.  It's nice to be able to write without idiotic restriction on your characters, and know that it'll find a home.

And they're turning five years old.

Of course, there's a celebration happening.  They're looking for a home for their physical celebration, but in the meantime, they're having an online celebration as well.  From their email:

So, if you love Renaissance Press, let them know!  You might just win a bunch of super cool stuff!

I'm off to work now.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Those of you who know me, know that music has an enormous effect on me.  It really doesn't matter the genre of the music, if it's good, it'll transport me somewhere else, and set my imagination on fire.

A lot of the time, the music I listen to will help set the mood for something I'm writing, or inform a character or scene.  I can't help it.  Music translates to images in my head, which I turn into writing.  I thought that today, I might go through some songs with you, and explain how they relate to my writing or characters, or even the scenes they evoke.

This is by no means a comprehensive list.  Not all of my books or my characters will be included.  We'd be here for the rest of my life if I even attempted it.  So, it's just a few of my more recent works, only one of which, I now realise, is actually published.

I'm going to start with the published book.  Specifically, the protagonist of that book.

Aleksandar actually has two songs, neither of them particularly happy (surprise).

I love this particular cover of Paint it Black. This song is basically Aleksandar's background mood.  As a young man, he was saved by the man who would become the Tsar of Bulgaria, Theodore Svetoslav.  In the time between his rescue, and Theodore's ascension to the Bulgarian throne, Aleksandar falls in love.  His devotion to Theodore is complete.

Theodore's adoration is... less so (for the record, Aleksandar's pureness, even after he is turned, grates on Theodore, who is both enthralled and irritated by it).

Their love affair, spanning hundreds of years, is rocky to say the least, but Aleksandar never strays.

It ends abruptly, when Theodore is assassinated by another vampire clan.

The loss very nearly destroys Aleksandar, and the only reason he has not cast himself on a bonfire is a promise he made to the man he loved—to keep their clan safe.  For hundreds of years, there is no colour in Aleksandar's world.

Then he meets Alicia.

​The second song that instantly makes me think of Aleksandar is this:

This song is both melancholic and intense.  I feel like this is Aleksandar after he meets Alicia... before everything goes to shit.  It speaks to me of Aleksandar's crushing loneliness, the spark of life Alicia injects into that dark world, and how desperately Aleksandar clings to that, however subtly (from the lyrics "Help me make the most of freedom, and of pleasure.").

Alicia becomes the only good thing as Aleksandar's world crumbles around him.  The lyrics evoke the most literal images in my head of Aleksander and his character.  While Paint it Black is Aleksandar's mood before the events of the book take off, this song is the most accurate representation of the Aleksandar we meet in Human.

Dark wolf is the protagonist of my current work in progress.  It's currently called Outworlder, but the title will likely change.  Dark Wolf is one of the two last remaining pure-blood Fomori in existence.  The other is her twin brother, Storm Crow.

Dark Wolf is a tough warrior, who has spent most of her life at war, and witnessed a great deal of grief.  She's stubborn, brilliant, aloof, and has a temper.

I don't want to give too much away about this, since it isn't published (or quite finished).  But I can tell you that this song describes her completely:

This song doesn't describe any one character from the as-yet unpublished Skylark.  But it is emblematic of the bond between Commander Bennejin Skye and the Tahorah of the alien invaders (Tahorah means queen, more or less).

I think this song is a masterpiece, by the way, but what connects this masterpiece to Skye and the Tahorah.  The melody is light, and so, so endearingly sweet.  The brass section intensifies and ennobles the piece, mimicking what the love Skye has for the Tahorah does to the commander.  And then the key change and crescendo of the music... the whole score is sheer brilliance.

When I listen to it, all I can see is Skye and the Tahorah, standing in front of a window provides a sweeping view of space, holding each other.

I love the song and the image it evokes so, so, so damned much.

And that's some small insight into my brain, and how deeply music affects my imagination.  What about you?  What songs remind you of your favourite characters or literary moments.  Sound off in the comments below.

Now I have to go write more.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This morning was great and terrible.

The great part was waking up.  Persephone jumped up on the bed and walked onto my belly.  I'm not sure what she did, or show she managed it, but she placed her weight just so, and my lower back cracked.

Some background: I've suffered from lower back pain since I can remember.  It feels like it's always out of place, and the muscles are so taught back there that my back doesn't crack without considerable help.  Ever.  Once it cracked when someone kicked me.  They hit the shield just so, my lower back cracked, and I was pain free for the rest of the night.  That was great.  This morning, the same sort of crack occurred when Sephy decided to walk on my tummy.

It was great.  I was pain free for the first time in a long time.

That didn't translate into a good run, though.

I knocked another 17 seconds from my 5K run time.  It wasn't as much as I'd hoped, and it was much more of a struggle than I would have liked.  I left the treadmill grumpy.  That's okay, the post-run work out killed my stamina enough that the shitty run didn't matter anymore.  I'm less grumpy now.

But the back pain is back.

Swings and roundabouts, isn't it.

Hopefully martial arts training tonight will go well, and I'll be more satisfied with my athletic performance than I am now.

Today's plan is to write.  I'm actually almost done this one.  It might be the shortest thing I've ever written.  That's either a great thing, or a terrible thing.  We'll see.

I'm off to do work.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

No, but really, there's nothing to see.

There is absolutely nothing I have to say.

No news.

Nope.

Ahem.

So... how are you?

I'm streaming tonight.  Come join me in ancient Egypt and watch me die a whole bunch.  There was a lot of screaming and swearing at the beginning of last week's stream.

My poor neighbours.

​Right, I have work to be getting on with.  Ciao!