W2 - Wendy to the Second Power

Went to ArmadilloCon for the Saturday, took my sweet time and got there around 11am. I missed KD Wentworth's reading, which was too bad since she can be so very funny. I did hear Joe Lansdale read "The Folding Man" and Bill Spencer read "The Empire Gloria" and Sharon Shinn read ?"Black Jade." All were good and interesting, but Sharon's never got to a vivid enough point to hook me. Maybe because it's YA.

Went to the vampire panel, and was more impressed that Paige Roberts has such good quality fake fangs than anything else. They suggested you come up with your own take on vampires, and that it NOT be "they're so dreamy, and they sparkle in the sunlight." The vampires in the novel I've started haven't shown up yet, really. But I know my subconcious will give me something cool & fun about them. For one thing, my vampires get drunk on peppermint oil because it stimulates what passes for their hearts and gets them woozy yet exhilirated.

The panel on using religion in your stories, which I myself have spoken on in year's past, was pretty cool. Guest of Honor Scott Lynch hardly talked, but he did say a few funny things. I really enjoyed the editor and essayist, Matt Cardin, who has a masters in comparative religions and studies it in genre writing. When the talk would get silly, he'd make some useful, academic comment that would ground everything. Oh, but it was sad to see Joan Vinge on the panel. She had a bad accident some years back and is very ditzy and repetitive now. When she taught the workshop for J4 and me, she was such a sharp, great lady. Still a nice person, but challenged...!

There were three parties I wandered into and out of last night in the DoubleTree. That was kinda the highlight of the day for the science fiction/fantasy conference I visited. The Space Squid guys were testing an instant beer chilling device with electricity, tubes, ice, rock salt, towels on the floor... I pointed out my Ravi wine chiller did the same thing in a small size without mixing electricity and water. So next year, Matt and I will have a CHILL OFF!

Got to chat with several folks, local and out of town. Had a problem, as I did last year, with some of the clique-ish folks when being inclusive was always such a goal of the SlugTribe actitivities. But it was a small con, so screw 'em. Chatted up lots of people from all over I only see once a year. Heard from NB, Jr and it looks like he's turned in a script to the producer I introduced him to; a movie based on a NB story would be awesome; and it also reminds me that I haven't reached out to that producer in a while myself... AND that reminds me: this would've been my first ArmadilloCon I could've included my new IMDB.com link. Ehhh. I confess I've lost most interest in cons.

I didn't realize Jay Smooth, videoblogger with www.illdoctrine.com, was coming to SxSW. But here's an interview on YouTube with him. He's fascinating to listen to. He's passionate about his music (hip-hop) and brings into his communications politics, generational issues, domestic violence, racial politics, media, .... Plus, he's the person I've based a key character on in my planned supernatural mystery novel: No-Dog Jenkins, hip-hop entrepreneur of Austin.


For a good, recent example of the awesome wisdom of the man, go hear him discuss his feelings about patriotism, racism and optimism on the day of Obama's inauguration.

After reading several of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books and loving the character and enjoying the tone, I have to say that HBO did not understand much of anything about how important tone is when you're updating an ancient, creaky old theme. Vampires live among us! Done and done and done.

Charlaine, whom I've met at ArmadilloCon at least once, updated it by taking a slice of backwood Louisianna and making Sookie a feisty but not overly educated girl. This HBO series TRUE BLOOD takes the backwoods element and turns everybody into cartoonish, violent, drawling yokels. Oh, and the fun erotic tension in Charlaine's books has been turned into the smuttiest, porny-ish storylines. That whole part of the stories is so pushed forward in this first episode of the series. When you put Daisy Duke short-shorts and porn together, the world will never see clever or insightful stories; they just see smut.

There's also a big lack of ambiance. Sure they drawl. But it all looks like it was filmed on "Downtown Disney Bayou" or something. Some of the problems might come from the fact that so many of the main characters, despite the southern accent, are actually from the UK or Australia. The main character of Sookie is played by Anna Paquin, the little Aussie girl from X-MEN and THE PIANO. They don't write her with good dialog or motivation, so she's bouncing around a lot, rolling her eyes and stupidly walking along down dark roads when white trash murderers have already told her "Ima gonna keel yu."

Read the books. This isn't being a good adaptation so far. I know Alan Ball was The Bomb when it came to SIX FEET UNDER. But here? No so much... I wish I was involved in the adaptations; I'd milk the cleverness and skate over the silly, stale metaphors. Which is what I hope to do with the paranormal mystery series I want to write (and adapt for the screen? people who've read the treatment tell me they want it in a movie). I'm watching this "vampires among us; we're here get used to it" theme closely. And I want them to do it right!

Still catching up on my trip reports. My buddy J4 and I went to Craigville, Mass., for the 46th Cape Cod Writers Conference. They offered a variety of classes, some 5 days long, some just for an afternoon, as well as presentations, readings, box lunch discussions. Craigville, founded antebellum as a Christian Camp, has the historic Tabernacle and several rambling guest houses (including the Seaside Cottage where we stayed) as well as small cottages still run by the United Church of Christ. All interspersed among the flowered lanes and charming summer homes that grew up around the camp itself.

I was told that I did the newbie mistake: took too many classes. I signed up for Mystery Writing with Chris Knopf (M-F 8:30 to 10:00 am) and Screenwriting with Diane Lake (M-F 10:10 to 11:45 am) and took one special afternoon class "Books to Film" with Sue Berger Ramin, editor with David R. Godine, Publisher, and Deborah Kovacs, producer with Walden Media. And I really got to understand why when both my week-long classes gave me two pieces of homework to do every night. A person could shirk the homework, but I came wanting to get every drop of experience from the workshops, so there were some nights (like the Wed night dinner party) when I had to leave off frolicking and go sit in my room and write. (sniff!) J4 only took the screenwriting class, so had a slow morning after each breakfast to get ready, and then all afternoon to work on her homework and her own projects. Oh, and she TOOK NAPS many days too! I only passed out from the heat Monday afternoon, ONE NAP, and never really got to work on my own extracurricular stuff. ( Read More About the Classes and See Photos... )

J4 and I just got back from our Cape Cod Writers Conference and retreat. A long plane ride today, and much unpacking now and reading of emails and voice mails. More details to come...

It was a wonderful experience -- some challenging parts, like how hot Monday was with no AC. But then the temperature dropped AND we got moved to a seaside cottage that overlooked the salt marsh. Very picturesque and breezy, very different from life in Texas. Plus we met an AWESOME group of long-timers in the conference who were gracious and welcoming to us. The food at the place was plentiful but so not great. It had a good price though. I think our room & board (3 meals) each day was around $85.

I got a lot out of the screenwriting week-long class with Diane Lake, and so did J4. Diane exorted the two of us to come to the Maui Writers Conference next year (I've tried to get a group to go to it for 2-3 years now). And I was surprised by how much a fun idea for a supernatural mystery novel started getting momentum, structure and interest from my fellow students in that week-long class. I learned I did a newbie mistake by taking too many classes, and the homework each day sort of ate my lunch. J4 got several naps throughout the week, but I was hiking all over Craigville for this, that and the other!

Anywhoodle, there might be a mystery novel called PINKY BLACK AND THE BITERS in my future... Chris Knopf told all of us who pitched treatments (about 6 out of 22 students) they were all things an agent would be interested in.

More details and photos to come...