Stories That Scare the Author

I find that the best story ideas come five minutes after my head hits the pillow. On the one hand, I have enough sanity left that my brain hasn't yet entered Wonderland, but at the same time logic starts to leave the story flows more smoothly. Last night I was thinking up a horror story, which was scary enough to keep me awake, which is always a good sign.

Unfortunatley, I am still working on my rural French, fantasy rom-com story, so this horror story will only be keeping me up for the next few nights.

Now My Rejections Mean Nothing!!

NOOOOOOO!!

Sorry. For the longest time I have been holding on to my rejection letters for stories that didn't get published. Pourqoui? Because there is a litmag called 'The Rejected Quarterly'; which publishes stories that have been rejected five times. Although submitting there must be scary; to rejected from the rejects? That's pretty far into the island of misfit toys.

Well, I checked today and it seems inactive. So now my rejections mean nothing. Goodbye you beautiful little e-zine.

Credit to Digital Artists

     Speaking of the Marvel aesthetic, and how the most interesting thing in their movies is the background, I can't help but think about how digital artists never get credit for making a film more endearing. So often they get blamed for being used in place of actual stories. But there's more than just one film that is enhanced, and even works just because of digital magic.

     Perhaps the best example would be Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Gollum was such a well-done and endearing character. I honestly think that if he were played by an actor it might have ruined the movie. Can you imagine a dirty, bald man walking around in a loincloth instead of the CGI Gollum with oversized blue eyes and overly large smile? Essentially having an insane hobo in Lord of the Rings might have scared children.

     Okay, maybe Tom Hanks could have made a good Gollum, but aside from that, it might be horrifying...

Marvel's Aesthetic

Just some small thoughts today. I think at this point everyone on Earth has seen Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. On the one hand, it was extremely well-done, but on the other, it was a point for point rehash of every hero origin story ever. I know most people have raved about this, but I thought it was just decent because it didn't take any chances, but if I can say one thing about Marvel, is that while their stories are unoriginal, their aesthetic is amazing.

      Whenever the universe is in dangers, there will always be mid-30s,

heterosexual white people to save the day

     Aside from just the generally great set-pieces for Guardians of the Galaxy what really intrigued me was the main 'Good World,' Xandar, isn't like any other sci-fi world I'd seen before. In any civilized home world you either get Coruscant, a civilized, super-Manhattan, you get Blade Runner's L.A., which is a fire-choked, smog-filled hellhole, or you get Naboo, a stylistically beautiful sci-fi world with waterfalls and natural creatures and bad acting. What made Xandar so different and so fascinating is that Xandar was an image of the future of civilization as a giant mall. Nothing in Xandar was natural, the fountains were all artificial, the trees were put in place rather than grown naturally, and while the architecture was interesting it seemed out of place.
     In so many sci-fi movies you can't help but ask why anyone would ever leave the main, super-civilized world. In movies like Blade Runner you can understand why people wouldn't live there, as it is a hellhole, while properties like Gundam, Firefly, and Star Wars assert that most people choose not to live on the main, civilized planet because the outliers are in conflict with the main civilizing world. In Guardians, the setting implied something wholly different: that people like Starlord chose not to live there just because it's so boring. There didn't seem to be any discernible nature on the planet, nothing particularly seedy, you could even go so far as to say that it's a 'child-proofed' planet. It's an interesting thought, and one that makes sense. As our technology prevents death and prolongs death it's natural to think that humanity would do everything to make itself safer as people live hundreds of years longer and are in better health. As such, you can expect thousands of health and safety regulations, everything has a guardrail, a net, and there are no big drop offs or cliffs. Basically, in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, civilization has become Irvine, California: one big gated community where you can get fined if your garage door is open because it's unsightly. So as to the question, "why would anyone ever leave a safe, prosperous place for the dangerous outlands?" Might be answered by Starlord with, "Because it's fucking boring!"
     Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but my original point about Marvel remains: the main plots are the most painfully tired there are, and just because there are a handful of diverse side-kicks doesn't help make the all-white 'Hero Myth' any better. But where Marvel really shines is in the background. If only the stuff in the foreground was half as interesting...

Gary Girod: Master Juggler

Well, I've sent out five short stories to literary magazines and my novel to another agent. Unfortunately, it takes usually a month or more to hear back. What's worse, is that you can expect more rejections than acceptances so it may take an entire season or more to publish. This is why I try to write a ton of stories so that way I always have something going through the loops and getting published. I swear, as soon as something new comes up I will add it to the blog.