Category: Opinion

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Let Me In (2010)

Bullied at school, neglected at home and incredibly lonely, 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) spends his days plotting revenge on his tormentors and spends his nights spying on other residents of the apartment complex. His sole friend is Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), a strange girl who comes out only at nighttime. Both outcasts, the two form a strong bond. When Abby’s caretaker disappears amid a … Read More Let Me In (2010)

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Spider Gwen… is it good?

Let me just say that I had high hopes for this series. An alternate reality where Gwen gets bitten instead of Peter Parker. Peter dies and Gwen becomes spider… woman. The premise is great, the costume if awesome and the character is pretty good too. The end result is a series that literally flies off the shelves and rarer variants showing up on Ebay … Read More Spider Gwen… is it good?

Schadenfreude is NOT Scary!

I’ve been a huge horror movie fan for a while, but there is one thing that always irked me about a certain ongoing trend in them. I was going to ignore it until I noticed that it was happening in suspense/thriller novels as well. Here’s the deal, everyone has seen these movies. The story starts off with a group of people. These people are … Read More Schadenfreude is NOT Scary!

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Writing Strong Women

Hi Jim, I’ve read a couple of your books and have a question for you… I’ve noticed in your books that you write some pretty tough girls! It seems like you put more effort into the heroines than the heroes. I was wondering if you were a feminist? Thanks, Kelly Ugh… you know I try to avoid taking sides or being labelled one way … Read More Writing Strong Women

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Internet Trolls…

Hi Jim, I’ve been writing for a while, mostly posting my stories on here, but also on Amazon Kindle. Unfortunately as of late, I’ve been getting a lot of rude comments and bad reviews left of my material that I’m pretty certain come from people who didn’t actually read my stories. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I also … Read More Internet Trolls…

No Permanent Death in Fantasy

This is something that has been irking me for some time now. It’s a recurrent theme in most fantasy fiction, in stories, comics, and in movies. No matter what happens in a fantasy universe, there is always a way to bring a character back. No matter what. If the character is popular, there will always be an incantation, or special portal, or some sort … Read More No Permanent Death in Fantasy

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Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly?

Okay… I’m going to try to put a stop to this, because my focus on movie writing lately has taken my blog WAY off topic, almost to the point of Hollywood Advocacy, and it needs to stop. So hopefully this will be the end of it. However, there were some things that I needed to get off of my chest about the effects of … Read More Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly?

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WTF… Tim Burton…

So now it’s been announced that there will be a Beetlejuice 2, and thus there is now even more evidence, that Hollywood has lost it’s touch. I don’t know about this… I’ll wait and see on this one. However, I’ve had some time to reflect on many movies recently and I have reached one inescapable conclusion… I CAN’T STAND Tim Burton! Honestly, to me, he … Read More WTF… Tim Burton…

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Do Comic Books Count As Reading?

A lot of people, mostly older and notably academic, would say no. You’re basically looking at a lot of pretty pictures with some text. It has no real character or setting description, no alteration, nothing. Which is true, but does it really matter that much? On the one hand, you could argue that a picture is worth a thousand words and you’re omitting those … Read More Do Comic Books Count As Reading?

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Please, please, please, Rey Skywalker!!!

So after due consideration, I am flip-flopping faster than John Kerry! I no longer hope that Rey is a Palpatine. I am praying big time that she is the Skywalker we all think she is. Why?   Well it may be obvious, but it’s what really should be. The prime Star Wars stories all surround the Skywalkers, all the evidence points to her being … Read More Please, please, please, Rey Skywalker!!!

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Are Narrative Stories Out of Date

So a few days ago I was reading a the original ‘Little Mermaid’ by Hans Christian Anderson. I was curious about the story after my boys took a liking to the Disney version. I won’t spoil anything for anyone, but I highly recommend reading the original. It is superior in every way to the lax character development of the Disney version. Anyway, more on … Read More Are Narrative Stories Out of Date

A Never Ending Story.

(Aaah aaah ah aaah aaah ah aaah aaah aaaaaah!!) “Good Morning Jim, You’ve wrote many times about how to end a story and where to end it. In your opinion, couldn’t there be a scenario where a story wouldn’t end? Is it not possible to have a serial adventure go on forever? Thanks, Jackson” Hi Jackson, In my opinion, as you asked, no. All … Read More A Never Ending Story.