Bloodshot And Nanocybotics
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I recently watched Bloodshot, a movie in which Vin Diesel (bites fist) plays a cyborg. (grins) Yes, this movie is pretty much designed for me.
We became super excited when we saw Vin Diesel’s ‘nanites.’ They are EXTREMELY similar to the nanocybotics in my cyborg romances. There are some variances but they are basically tiny machines that repair wounds and other damage and they looked dang close to how I’ve always pictured them.
How is this possible?
These similarities are possible because we likely based our nanocybotics/nanites on the same existing research and we both increased their capabilities, projecting the most obvious improvements to the technology in the future.
As Bloodshot’s Director, Dave Wilson, shares “The concept of having a microscopic, robotic organism in our bodies that delivers medicine to a particular part of your body, that is not far away. We use that as a base and take a giant, scientific leap.”
Before writing Releasing Rage, I talked to a gazillion scientists about how cyborgs could repair themselves and a few of the scientists had the same suggestion. That suggestion was the basis for nanocybotics.
This is one of the (many) reasons why I’m cool with other writers using nanocybotics and other ‘technology’ in their own stories. I based these technologies on existing research. If other writers read the same research or talk to the same scientists, they would likely have the same ideas. The ideas aren’t truly mine. They belong to the research, to today’s information.
***
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Testing Truth
A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.
***
Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.
When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.
That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.
Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.
But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with the powerful ruler her planet requires.
If they survive their current mission.
Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/testing-truth
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029497
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Bloodshot And Nanocybotics
Something Borrowed And To Be Continued
I finally watched the 2011 romantic comedy Something Borrowed this week. This movie is based on an Emily Giffin book with the same title.
I resisted watching this movie and reading this book based on the premise – A woman falls in love with her best friend’s fiancé. Yes, ouch. There are only two outcomes I can predict with that premise – either the woman ends up broken hearted or a close friendship ends. I like happy endings and neither of those outcomes are happy.
I won’t talk about that in this post. What I wanted to talk about is the ending. Don’t worry. This will be fairly spoiler-free.
The ending is a Romance Novel sexy brother ending amplified.
In what I call a sexy brother series (other writers have other names for this type of series), every story has a couple (or more) with their own romantic happy ever after BUT another intriguing character or couple (or more) is also introduced in their story.
Seasoned Romance Novel readers such as myself (and I suspect you) know that character or couple (or more) will have their own story told next or soon after. This is often implied rather than outright stated.
Why isn’t it outright stated?
Because a gazillion things could prevent that next story from being published. And if the next story isn’t ever published, making a too obvious link between the two stories will hurt our enjoyment of the first story. I can’t recommend to buddies a book 1 that needs a book 2 if the book 2 will never be published.
The odds of a next movie being produced are even lower than the odds of a next book being published. Yet Something Borrowed ends with a very strong link to the next movie, a movie that 9 years later hasn’t happened and likely will never happen.
The link might have been forgivable if it hadn’t been for the message they placed at the end of the movie – To Be Continued…
These three words took away my ability to think of Something Borrowed as a completed story or film. There was no doubt left in my mind. I had watched only a portion of the story.
It was frustrating and completely unnecessary and is a great lesson for writers everywhere. Unless we are certain there will be a next story, we should think carefully before strongly linking stories.
Note: I now self-publish all my stories which means, barring any huge disasters, I’m in complete control over my next stories. I can talk about Power’s story because, if there is any life left in my 40-something currently-relatively-healthy form at all a year from now, Power’s story WILL be written and, soon after that, released.
I still prefer that my stories stand on their own as I know not all heroes or heroines or premises appeal to all reading buddies. And hey, things happen.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Testing Truth
A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.
***
Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.
When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.
That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.
Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.
But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with the powerful ruler her planet requires.
If they survive their current mission.
Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/testing-truth
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029497
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Something Borrowed And To Be Continued
Vivarium And Aliens Thinking Like Aliens
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Vivarium on the weekend.
This movie has romantic elements but it is NOT a Romance. Don’t expect a Romance ending.
It is also a SciFi Fantasy. The world and premise have HUGE plot holes in it. They are intriguing but they make no d@mn sense.
For example, there is a huge amount of effort expended for very little payback and I’m almost certain aliens with that amount of power could design a more efficient means of achieving the same results.
If you plan to watch this movie, put logic aside and simply enjoy it.
Because it IS an enjoyable movie. The world is fresh and interesting and it sparked my muse.
Most alien movies feature an alien species that looks excitingly different but thinks very similarly to humans. One of the things I loved about Vivarium is…they flip this. The aliens in it look similar to humans yet they THINK very differently.
And it isn’t due to culture as it is with the aliens in many of my stories. The BRAINS of the aliens in Vivarium are different. They can’t dream, as one example, and it was implied they don’t have the capacity for imagination or creative thought.
Imagine not being able to imagine. Yeah, that freaked me out a bit. Because much of what we do every day is based on creative thought. That’s how we tackle problems we face for the first time.
And sleep for these aliens must be endless darkness. I LOVE dreaming. That is one of the many enjoyable parts of my day…or night. (grins) Dreaming is like watching a movie that has been especially filmed for me.
I am unlikely to craft an alien hero/heroine who has a different type of brain. Why? Because I adhere to Common Ancestor Theory with my humanoid aliens. That proposes that all humanoids and humans come from one common ancestor, which is why my aliens can make babies with my humans. Their genes are extremely similar. That means their brains would be extremely similar also.
But for writing buddies who don’t adhere to Common Ancestor Theory, messing around with the brains of aliens can be an awesome variation in your worlds. It would cast ripples across every facet of your societies and make them excitingly different.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.
That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.
After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.
He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.
Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
* * *
Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.
Book 1: Warlord Sky
Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty
Book 3: Warlord Unarmed
Book 4: Warlord Reunited
Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy
Book 6: Warlord’s Return
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlords-mercy-cynthia-sax/1116524052
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-mercy-1
SmashWords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1020349
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Vivarium And Aliens Thinking Like Aliens
Extinction And Making Viewers Uneasy
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I recently watched the Netflix SciFi movie Extinction.
I almost didn’t stick with this movie. Yes, there were awesome explosions and great invasion scenes but when I watched the main characters, I was uncomfortable.
Everything was a bit…off. The timing of their responses was slightly delayed. The emotions weren’t quite right. The kids seemed determined to put themselves in the most vulnerable positions possible, having to be saved by the parents again and again.
What I believed were annoying ticks or instances of surprisingly bad acting were, in reality, brilliant storytelling decisions. I was supposed to feel that way. I was meant to pick up on all of that.
Those small irritations were all, as I call them, breadcrumbs. The uneasiness I felt was gifted foreshadowing, something I aspire to in my own stories.
I love dropping clues about the big plot twist, giving reading buddies who pay close attention the opportunity to guess what comes next. I love when reading buddies re-read a story to pick up hints they might not have noticed during the first read. That makes me happy.
Does every reader ‘get’ what I am trying to do? No. Does every attempt I make to do this work? Again, no. And it didn’t work for all viewers of Extinction. That’s why there are so many bad reviews for this movie.
But when it works for a reader, for a viewer…stars, it is magical.
(Also, I LOVED that Lizzy Caplan was one of the stars in this movie. I loved her in Cloverfield and the subconscious coupling with that movie made Extinction even more enjoyable for me. It helped guide me in the absolute wrong direction. – grins)
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.
That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.
After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.
He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.
Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
* * *
Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.
Book 1: Warlord Sky
Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty
Book 3: Warlord Unarmed
Book 4: Warlord Reunited
Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy
Book 6: Warlord’s Return
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlords-mercy-cynthia-sax/1116524052
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-mercy-1
SmashWords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1020349
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Extinction And Making Viewers Uneasy
Tolkien And Supporting Writers
I resisted watching the movie Tolkien until yesterday.
Why?
1. I didn’t know it was an absolutely wonderful romance and the romance (with a happy ever after) is the heart of the movie.
and
2. Many movies about writers get this wonderful career so very wrong. They give us what non-writers think writers do and that can be frustrating to watch.
I was a dumb a$$. Tolkien is a wonderful film. I smiled. I cried. I highly recommend it, especially to other writers and people who love writers.
One of the things I absolutely LOVED about the movie was it shows how one person emotionally supported her writer.
Edith, Tolkien’s love interest, gives him a safe place to talk about his stories. She supplies him with story prompts, often starting the story for him. She is super okay when he takes the story in his own direction. She pushes back when she thinks he isn’t reaching deep enough (the discussion about language being important because it has meaning). She points out when he’s being Mr. Grumpy Pants and not writing the stories inside him (Oh boy, did I feel that one! The Dear Wonderful Hubby often has to push me into the writing cave as I become very grumpy when I’m not writing.).
This relationship isn’t without errors and mistakes ARE made. But Tolkien is articulate about his feelings and he points out when he doesn’t like the way she supports him. For example, Edith tells him to tell her a story and he gets huffy, replying he can’t perform on demand. She then switches to another tactic. She starts the story for him and he takes over that story, makes it his own. THAT works for them.
The movie shows that a supporter can be an important, often essential part of a writer’s team. Would Tolkien have become a great writer without Edith? I don’t know. I DO know his stories would have been extremely different.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I have a very similar Supporter-Writer relationship. He is the person I tell ALL my story ideas too. When I have story issues, he’ll suggest different solutions and that usually allows me to find my own solution. And he’s okay with that. He knows simply by listening, he’s being a valuable part of the writing team.
But our relationship was and still is a work-in-progress. He tries different tactics to support me. I tell him what works for me and what doesn’t and he adjusts his ‘tool box’ accordingly. Well over two decades of trial and error later, he is skilled at supporting me. I don’t know what I’d do without him. The Dear Wonderful Hubby is now a key part of my writing process.
Do you need a supporter like the Dear Wonderful Hubby or Edith to become a great writer? Of course not. You can write awesome stories on your own. But if you have someone who is willing to take on that role, it might be worth the training and the mistakes to nurture them.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.
That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.
After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.
He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.
Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
* * *
Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.
Book 1: Warlord Sky
Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty
Book 3: Warlord Unarmed
Book 4: Warlord Reunited
Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy
Book 6: Warlord’s Return
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlords-mercy-cynthia-sax/1116524052
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-mercy-1
SmashWords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1020349
Topics: Movie Reviews, Writing Tips | Comments Off on Tolkien And Supporting Writers
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom And Character Growth
Spoiler Alert: This post will talk about scenes from Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. If you haven’t seen these two movies, you might wish to avoid this post.
I love reading or hearing about genetic engineering. I also love dinosaurs. So I greatly enjoyed both Jurassic World movies.
I didn’t expect to see character growth yet I did…in ONE of the characters. Owen’s character arc was a mess. I didn’t find it at all logical. The relationship arc was also a mess. The break up between the two movies didn’t fit with either of their characters and it felt like lazy writing.
But Claire’s character arc? WOW. It was impressive.
At the beginning of Jurassic World, the first movie, Claire is completely corporate. She likes to be in total control, prefers things neat and tidy and organized, views the dinosaurs as assets, rather than living beings. Facts and logic are valued by her. She wears suits and high heels, has a short neat hairstyle, perfect makeup, perfect nails.
Her relationships with her subordinates are cool and emotionless. When her nephews come to visit, she puts the job first. Her main goal is to advance in her career. She is living for herself.
Then the Indominus rex, a newly genetically designed dinosaur, breaks loose. This disaster forces her to realize she never truly had control. It was an illusion. The more she tries to regain the control she thought she had, the more danger they are all placed into. She finally relents, accepting the chaos.
As Claire works with Owen to help save the people in the park, the situation gets messier and messier. Her clothing and physical state gets messier also. This outward change reflects her inward growth. She sees the dinosaurs as living beings. She puts people first. She is willing to sacrifice everything, including her life, for others.
In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we see how much the experience in the first movie changed her. Claire has founded a charity to help protect the dinosaurs. She owns practical shoes/boots, dresses neatly but more casually, has grown her hair long. Her relationship with her subordinates is much warmer. She brings them coffee, thinks of them. One of her first acts is to appeal to a politician’s emotions, something she would have never done before the disaster.
Claire shows yet again she’s willing to sacrifice everything for others. She is more in charge in the second movie, more confident, more protective, and more ready to take on the permanent care of other people (like Maisie).
Over these two movies, Claire’s character has progressed from someone not many people would cheer for or like to a character who is very much a heroine we can rally behind. That’s great character building.
This is SO notable that she went from not even appearing on the first movie’s poster to appearing as though she’s saving Owen in the poster for the second movie.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Movie Reviews, Writing Tips | Comments Off on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom And Character Growth
Mary Shelley – The Movie – Writing Insights
Spoiler Warning: This post will contain some spoilers for the movie – Mary Shelley. If you haven’t watched this movie, you might wish to stop reading now.
Mary Shelley is, of course, a movie about Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein, the book that started the science fiction genre. She was a teenager when she wrote that book and that’s the part of her life the movie dwells on.
This is NOT a documentary. Some artistic liberties have been taken as should be expected with any movie based on real people/events.
I tend to dread movies about writers because, if they’re realistic, they’re deadly boring (staring at blank pages isn’t very exciting – grins), and, if they’re fantasy, they make writing far more action-packed than it is.
This movie, however, gets so much right; I had no choice but love it.
One of the first moments that got my attention was how Mary’s father criticized her writing for being derivative. She was copying other writers’ voices, as many of us do when we first start writing. Her father tells her to find her own voice, to write stories in a way only she can.
It took me quite a while to find my own voice. Like Mary, I copied other writers’ voices. But that feels like wearing someone else’s clothes. It is awkward and unsustainable. Once I found my own voice, writing became much easier and more natural.
I now tell stories only I can. Even if another writer followed the same plot, her story would be different than mine because our voices are different.
I loved how we’re shown how Mary gathered the inspiration for Frankenstein. It isn’t a flash of genius as many movies depict it to be. She picks up bits and pieces throughout her life.
Mary’s mother died soon after childbirth. That prompts a fascination with death, with science, with medical knowledge, with the human body.
Mary is an outcast. She doesn’t fit into society. Frankenstein’s monster is an outcast also. He doesn’t fit into society. The situation might be fictional but the emotions are real. They are Mary’s emotions.
Dr. Frankenstein brings his monster to life. Mary gives birth to a daughter. She creates life.
Mary attends a demonstration showing how electricity can ‘reanimate’ a dead frog. That was the missing piece, the ‘science’ she needed for her story.
She collects bits of her story from her experiences and from the world around her. And then all of those pieces fall into place to create Frankenstein.
Once she has written the story, she hands it to her first critic—her husband. He reads it, praises it, and then asks her to change the story to one that is more ‘hopeful.’ What if the being Dr. Frankenstein created was an angel, a perfect being, and not a monster?
Oh my goodness. I think every writer has received critiques like that, critiques from people who might be talented but who don’t understand what we’re trying to achieve, the story we want to tell. Mary, to her credit, doesn’t take this terrible advice and leaves the being as the monster he was meant to be.
This movie covers other female and writer-related issues. Before she is published, for example, she struggles with her identity as a writer. Can she call herself a writer if she hasn’t published anything? After she has written Frankenstein, she receives rejection after rejection after rejection. People (i.e. male publishers) question that a young woman could write a story like Frankenstein.
I enjoyed Mary Shelley. I wished I had seen it in the theater, surrounded by other writers. That would have been an awesome experience.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Mary Shelley – The Movie – Writing Insights
