Jess McAlister

The Woman in Black Trailer

2011-08-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

The Woman in Black Trailer (International) - IMDb:

'via Blog this'

I think Daniel looks like a young Patrick Dempsey LOL first time I saw it I had no idea that he was Harry Potter.

I am now feeling a bit cougarish because I was purving on Harry Potter LOL

Kill Bill: Vol. 3 (2014) - IMDb

2011-08-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

Kill Bill: Vol. 3 (2014) - IMDb:

'via Blog this'

It will be very interesting to see if this 'rumor' proves true. I loved the first two volumes and would adore more in the series.

However I read that it would not start production till 2014. That kinda sucks because according to the Mayans - the worlds gonna end before then LOL

Starting Again - Take 2

2011-08-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

I have changed my majors in Uni to include Media & Writing.

So I thought I would take the time to talk about one of my units. We have to write, produce, direct, sound edit and edit a 90 second film set around the theme 'remix'.

It is not as easy as I thought it would be.

I have a new healthy respect for anyone that can make book trailers and other mini films. Because we have a new teacher who is not prepared/aware to teach us the basics I was very lost with what software to use.

I tried iMovies and Windows movie maker. But without a bit of a guide I was very lost to begin with. Then I discovered Vegas Movie Studio.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/moviestudiohd

I am going to use this program , I will blog about how it went next week. If you are interested in this kind of software OR in making your own book trailers then I suggest having a look at the film clip down the bottom titled -

Learn as you go with easy tutorials

Scrivener

2010-11-07T17:13:00.001-08:00

I have downloaded the free Beta 1 edition of Scrivener. It will be interesting to see how I go with it, I have already started a short story with it and I like how you can name the different pages

I have a beginning and alt beginning and its nice to see how they are separated.

I plan to finish the Dead Red Heart short story on there and see what I think :)

It is not very expensive, I believe it retails at $35-40 dollar, I am thinking that it will be worth the investment and I already ask a few authors on Vision writers group and I have good feedback.

Fantasy at its Most Confusing

2010-11-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

I bought Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson yesterday.

I opened it full of anticipation of a great read, it sounded interesting and it had good reviews on the back cover, I never thought to look at the first chapter or read the authors introduction.

As I am reading the authors intro I am still thinking, ''Hey I'm a fan of fantasy, I don't mind reading something difficult, I don't mind reading books with alot of characters".

But the moment I started reading I was slapped in the face with Erikson's style. It is V-E-R-Y different from what I normally read. I will go as far as saying it is something that I will never read. The opening paragraph which is suppose to snare a readers attention, instead made me feel alienated and confused.

The opening paragraph is about a weather vane, but instead of crisp and clean details, the author uses many many descriptive words so that the reader is left floundering. I actually finished the paragraph thinking. 'what the' surely all that descriptive prose was not just about one object.

I kept finding myself going back and rereading sections. I even flicked through the rest of the book and read parts, but it seemed that he never got into a lighter read, one section had a lot of head hopping and I think that is what he warned about in his introduction.

I respect authors that try something different and I am not criticizing him as a author, I am simply making a statement about how hard this is for me to read, and how this style of book is the most confusing for me to read.

I believe that he could of gathered alot more fans if he had simplified his writing, but as an artist, he cannot change who HE is for us.

No possible way LOL

2010-11-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

There is no possible way I can finish NaNoWriMo this year. There is a couple of reasons for it,

A) I am not used to writing that fast and really struggled, it was taking me 1.5-2 hrs to write about 500-700 words. I tried breaking it up and writing two and three times a day but there was not enough hours left in the day LOL

B) I have to print out all my study notes for Uni, and I need to participate online with other students, as well as do my Uni readings, impossible to do with the full on writing schedule.

so my decision is this:

I will still continue to participate and write but it will be fitted in around my schedule, even if I can write 25,000 words it will be better then nothing. OR I have a short story competition that I want to submit to which is due December 1st. I might use that for my nanowrimo word count so that I keep things positive.

Ugh! I hate failing.

Harder than I thought!

2010-11-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

UGH!

Nanowrimo is harder than I thought. I just can't seem to let loose and write heaps. I usually like to take a long time writing my paragraphs so that I don't have to re-edit to badly.

There is NO way that I can do that this time and manage to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I think that Nanowrimo is going to take me completely out of my comfort zone and shake me up.

Its good to be challenged though.

On another note. I started Uni yesterday. Well I was suppose to LOL but I have had issues with enrolling so all my course notes are late. I will have to start printing tonight. I expect that the next few weeks will be very very hard trying to juggle both Uni and Nanowrimo.

I almost forgot, I also want to write another short story for an anthology. Its due date is Dec 1st. To begin with I didn't know what I was going to do but I had a few great ideas last night, so it will be great to finish that in time as well.

I might need to have my head read after all this LOL!!!

It has been ages

2010-10-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

I am starting NaNoWriMo today YAY!

It is going to be so hard, but I am really looking forward to the challenge. I am going to keep repeating this over the next few weeks when things look like doomsday is approaching.

Other news is I submitted to my first anthology, it was the After the Rains anthology at FableCroft, here is the link http://fablecroft.com.au/about/submissions I of course submitted my story at the last moment.

I am sure that I will be rejected, it is my very first short story that I have submitted ever, so all I hope to glean from the situation is some kind of feedback, even if its negative LOL

The editor was very nice and replied within an hour, stating that she would get back to me in a few weeks, I found this encouraging as I have heard stories of some people wondering if their story was submitted as they had no reply in over a month.

I cant criticize though, it must be incredibly insane to be the editor of one of these anthologies.

I am off to start my NaNoWriMo story, - - - SCARY LOL

I am so not internet savvy sometimes

2010-06-06T21:02:00.001-07:00

It just took me 20 mins BUT I was able to add a progress meter for my books word count LOL

I envy those that understand internet jargon and can effortlessly do things with codes and what not...

OMG Soooo Funny

2010-06-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is so witty, I am VERY VERY impressed, I found it on Nalini Singh's blog who got it from Julia Quinn's Facebook.

You gotta love how stuff travels on the internet :)

Back to Writing.

2010-06-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

Another essay down so I am gonna do some writing today :)

I hope to get the entire scene that is in my head written down, so I am not giving myself a word limit to try and write to, should by pass the 500 easy.

I have found that I have stopped trying to stress over getting the book finished quickly and I have started enjoying the act of writing.

Off to write.

Essay Day.

2010-06-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

I have had to do an essay all day so I dont know if I will get to write, even if it pop it up and do a hundred words LOL

but I am at such a crucial scene that I want to wait till I have the time to just write it all out in one go :)

Getting late, think I need Zzzzzzzzzzzzz's

How Inspiring.

2010-06-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

Today I had a total ''Moment" :)

I started writing a scene that was very clear in my mind and I became totally absorbed. I only planned to write my 500 word limit as I have an essay due. But before I knew it I was interrupted and over 2 hrs had flown by. I ended up writing 2125 words and I could of kept on going.

But I made myself be all mature and I stopped to do more critical stuff. ugh!

I joined the Yahoo Group for Changeling Press, I hope to get a feel for what they are all like. It could prove hazardous to my credit card though because I already have seen a good review and bought a book LOL (okay 2 books)...

I am feeling so much more confident :) I can really 'see' where the book is going and how its going to end. I'm off to update my journal.

Starting Over :)

2010-06-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

I have got 6950 words written so far of my story, I have had trouble finding myself inspired to write with the full University work load.

I have decided not to be stress and not to set myself goals that are unachievable - So my new plan of attack is to write a minimum of 500 words a day, anything over that is just gravy..

If I can stick to this routine then I would be finished by the end of next month. But I have decided that I am going to be all mature and not send it straight off to a publisher expecting instant success LOL

Instead I am going to leave it, sitting there in my files and start on another book. I have a different series that I want to write. I will finish that short story and then go back to the first book and do a complete re-edit and re-write. I know that this will make the story much more better for when I do submit it.

I have chose to submit it to Changeling Press. I think it fits what they are looking for. On their submission page they ask for stories that think outside the box, that Smash the Box.

I think it is safe to say that my story is outrageous enough to fit with them. But I don't want it so unusual that it is super unrealistic. Its a fine line that I have to ride, so the story doesn't sound silly.

I am off to update my diary. I have found keeping a Journal and physically writing in it about my whole process really helps.

good luck to me.