#IWSG: Favorite Genre

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. We are rockin' the neurotic writing world!

The awesome co-hosts for the October 5 posting of the IWSG are Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox!

This month's question: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

My favorite genre is science fiction romance. When I say that to those who don't know me well, I get strange looks. Science fiction? I answer "yes!" with all the enthusiasm of a true fanatic. Romance is a bonus. Even better, the two have one big thing in common--hope. Hope for the future. With science fiction, the possibilities are endless. Traveling to the moon? Been there, done that. And beyond? Why not? Habitats on planets in our solar system? Sure. Finding Goldilocks planets (where everything is just right for humans) can't be far behind. Building our own worlds, creating our own rules? What's not to like about that?

So many things we thought were fiction back in the 1950s and 1960s are here, now. Many people who work for NASA say it was science fiction (esp. movies like Star Wars and a television shows like Star Trek) that made them see possibilities and gave them the desire to try to accomplish them. 

As I mentioned, adding romance to science fiction is a lagniappe--something extra, an unexpected benefit. Many readers enjoy relationship stories. Watching two people fall in love and create a family gives proof that humanity will continue. That we have a future. 

Whether that future is here on Earth or on a planet far, far away, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that life will continue. We have a future.

Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.

Movie Remake Blog Fest

Today, I join  Alex J. Cavanaugh and Heather M. Gardner in a fun blog fest. With all the movie remakes lately, we're sharing our favorite remake: movie (or television show into movie and vice versa), song, or book – or all three! I'm sticking to movies. 

Star Trek
Yes, some remakes suck. Some are okay. Others are terrific. As a die hard Star Trek fan, I wondered if J.J. Abrams would do it up right when he rebooted the franchise in 2009. Of course, he had great writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. I'm happy to say Abrams brought a freshness (and youth) to a legend.

The crew of the original Star Trek (TV series plus movies 1 thru 6) had great camaraderie, especially after working together for years. The new crew meshed well right from the start--though that can't be said for Kirk and Spock's relationship. With three movies under their belts and a fourth in the making, they have an even better sense of comradeship than the original crew. 

What makes a good remake? To me, it's the characters and the screenwriters.

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
I'm sure some on this blog fest will say SW-7 is on their "it sucks list." Not me. Again, I'm a big fan of the series. Maybe it's hearing my grandchildren (another generation of fans) excitedly talk about that movie that endeared me to the movie even before I saw it. They were enthralled. Like the Star Trek reboot, the filmmakers used incidents from the original then gave them a new look or twist. If the new movie is as good or better, than I applaud J.J. Abrams for bringing legendary films to a new audience.



Would you like to see what remakes others enjoyed? Go to Alex J. Cavanaugh's website then scroll down for the Linky list.

What's your favorite remake?

Movies and the Oscars

Do you enjoy movies? If you're a regular reader, you know that I do. IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase) is my friend. I’ll be watching a movie and see a familiar face. Immediately, I want to know who s/he is and what movie or TV show I know them from. I love the ease with which I can find the information. That aside, I enjoy movies.

When I was growing up, we saw lots of movies on television. I saw few movies at the theater. When I did, it was a real treat. We did go to the drive-in. Dad would pile us all in the station wagon with bags of popcorn we made at home. No running to the concession stand for us. We brought our own refreshments.

Fortunately, I married a guy who enjoys movies, too. He introduced me to James Bond and I introduced him to The Lord of the Rings. I fell in love with action adventure. I can’t say the same for him with fantasy. Even so, he indulges me by sitting through The Hunger Games and Divergent series, and I watched Mad Max. One movie genre we both enjoy is science fiction. Together, we eagerly awaited the seventh Star Wars movie plus all the Star Trek movies.

So last night, we watched the Oscars. Sorry to say, a lot of the movies nominated were unfamiliar. And many movies we did see weren’t even nominated. Oh, well . 

We get a phenomenal amount of enjoyment from a couple of hours in a darkened theater with a shared box of popcorn and a soft drink. Or at home in our living room. Gotta have that bowl of popcorn. 

I know a book lasts longer. I love it when a book I’ve enjoyed is turned into a movie. I’m always skeptical that the movie won’t live up to the book. Most don’t disappoint.

I hope you enjoyed the Oscars. Did you see any of the nominated movies? What about the winners?

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

poster from IMDB

After much anticipation, my family and I finally saw the new Star Wars movie. The Michigan contingent saw it first. The rest of us, a couple of weeks later. When the 6-year-old Star Wars fanatic found out he couldn’t reveal any spoilers, he refused to talk to us. The 8-year-old said, “You’re going to cry.” No spoiler there. Still . . .

I deliberately avoided any news about the movie after it came out. As much as I wanted to join an online discussion group of science fiction romance writers, I refrained. Talk about sacrifice. LOL Finally, Son, DIL, Hubs, and I went to the show. When the familiar music opener and crawl began, I got chills. Just like I did with A New Hope back in 1977. Much of the movie brought back memories of that first film. Big ships, Stormtroopers, desert terrain, rebels, and villains. Old characters and new.

Old characters: Han Solo, the irresistible smuggler; Leia, without the cinnamon buns over her ears; Luke Skywalker, who wasn’t seen until the end. Like all of us, they’ve aged. The droids are back—C-3P0 and R2D2.

New characters: Finn, a former Stormtrooper who sees the light; Kylo Ren, Darth Vader wannabe; and Rey, a kick-butt heroine and my favorite character. Unlike in A New Hope, we get little backstory on the new characters. But we do get some insight. I wanted to know more, of course.

Oops, almost forgot the new droid BB-8, cute and fast. Hubs, the engineer, and Son tried to figure out how it worked. On the way home, the four of us talked and talked about the movie, each of us taking guesses on where the next movies will go and what surprises are in store for us. 

I can’t say I was as enthralled with this movie as I was with the original three (Episodes IV, V, & VI), but it’s a different time than post-Viet Nam/post-Watergate. Back then, we didn’t know what to expect and were blown away by an old-fashioned Good versus Evil movie. This time around, our hopes were high. I’m glad they put a lid on the trailers—not giving away too much. I loved what J.J. Abrams did with the Star Trek reboot, so I was anxious to see what he’d do with Star Wars. I’m pleased that he’s done a great job.

I’ve mentioned before that I need to watch a movie more than once to “see” everything. I can’t wait until Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens comes out on DVD. Of course, I could return to the show and see it again.

Have you seen The Force Awakens? What’s your opinion? Please, no spoilers.

Space Travel

If you’re a regular reader of my blog or can tell from the banner at the top, I’m infatuated with space travel. I grew up in the early days of NASA, glued to the television set with each space launch. That's why I find the possibility of traveling not just within our solar system but beyond fascinating. However, using current technology, it will take almost a year to get to Mars, our nearest neighbor, fifteen years to reach Pluto. Right now, traveling outside our solar system is the stuff of science fiction.

I’m such a newbie to science fiction. I’m still playing catch-up with the works of Bradbury, Dick, Asimov, et al. I did slog my way through Asimov’s Foundation series, but I couldn’t stick with Dune. Saw the movie, though. Science fiction movies spark my imagination much more than books. For a writer, that's probably blasphemy.

One thing most sci-fi stories assume is the ability to travel through space very rapidly. We use terms like faster-than-light speed, warp drive, hyperspace, and jump space or traveling through wormholes and hyperlanes to explain how to get from here to there in the universe. Possible? Not now. Someday, maybe. Where is Zephram Cochrane when you need him? (For those who don’t recognize the name, Cochrane invented warp drive in Star Trek.)

Speaking of Star Trek (you know I couldn’t resist) . . . When the TV series began back in the late 1960’s, the set designers tried to make things as “high tech” as they could imagine. But look at some of those tools in light of today. I find it amusing that they were using toggle switches instead of touch screens and numbers that “flip” instead of being digital. But many of their concepts have found reality in today’s world. Compare their communicators and our cell phones, phasers (weapons) that stun instead of kill and our Tasers, their replicators and our 3D printers, Spock’s tricorder and NASA’s LOCAD, which measures contaminates on the International Space Station. And many more “futuristic” devices that we now take for granted. Here’s the link to an article you may find interesting. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/10-star-trek-technologies.htm

If devices we thought were too advanced are now possible, why not travel outside our solar system? Relying on our current knowledge of physics, scientists say faster-than-light speed is impossible. What? Impossible? No way.

Here’s the link to the article that sparked this post. http://earthsky.org/space/faster-than-light-travel-are-we-there-yet?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=953cca4e4a-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-953cca4e4a-393789881

Considering the advances in space travel in my lifetime, I think we haven't begun to explore the possibilities. If we can imagine it, why couldn’t travel beyond our solar system come true some day?