Thursday, August 7, 2014: Chad Hofmann’s “Helena” and guest blogger @amyjedwards82

Greetings, folks! Welcome to the weekly blog.  This week, I’m reviewing another of Chad Hofmann’s works: “Helena”.  It’s a short story with a very interesting concept: a young man named Jack-o who has the ability to travel to different places and time period, simply by reading a book aloud.  In his quest to return to his own time and place (or his “book”, as he refers to it) jack-o finds himself fighting an evil prince and rescuing a princess.  It’s still a work in progress, but I believe it will be very interesting.

And now, a little something from guest blogger and fellow Tweeter, @amyjedwards82.…

“From Page to Screen: When Film Adaptations Fail You” by @amyjedwards82

Hi, people.  Long time reader, first time blogger.  I’ve been seeing a trend lately: take a popular or at least, well-known book, and create a film adaptation of it.  And why not? Disney has been doing it for years.  The majority of their full-length animated films are based on fairytales (Cinderella, Snow White, even Frozen, to name a few).  So, why not keep the party going? The only trouble is, when the film doesn’t live up to its literary predecessor.

Don’t get me wrong; there have been some good ones.  For example, the film, “The Green Mile” was just as good as the book (or novella, I believe).  So was “Secret Window” and “Fight Club”.  And I’m sure most of you have probably read and seen the entire “Twilight” series.  But, when the film doesn’t live up to the book, its just so disappointing.  My neighbor’s teen-aged daughter has read every “Mortal Instruments” and “Beautiful Creatures” book available.  However, she said the film adaptations weren’t that great (she used other choice words I won’t repeat here).  The film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” is about to hit the big screen, and I don’t think I wan to see it.  Not because it’s sort of a teen movie, but because I read “The Giver” in middle school, and the previews for the film seem a little different from what I read.  Yes, I know this is 2014, and the entertainment industry has to keep up with the times, especially when it comes to movies for younger audiences.  But I personally hate to see a story I’m familiar with get morphed into something else all together.

And this goes for remakes, too.  I’ve seen the original “Clash of the Titans”, and the remake wasn’t too good.  My friends and I sat in the theater after the movie had ended, along with everyone else, staring at the screen.  The credits were rolling.  Finally, some guy in the back yelled out, “Man that sucked! I want my money back! All of it!”  (again, choice words were used, but I’m keeping this clean).  The original film adaptation of “Rosemary’s Baby” was good.  The mini-series remake….eh.  Then, there are some books which I don’t think need to be made into movies.  For example (and you can hate me all you want to) “Fifty Shades of Gray”.  I haven’t read any of the books, and I have no intention of seeing the movie, because I saw it already….when it was called “Nine and A Half Weeks”.  Just my humble opinion.

PS: Dear Hollywood: Can you get off of planet Dystopian please? I don’t think we need another movie about a girl fighting to fit into a futuristic society,

Next week’s blog: Fortune’s Wing 3: Fortune’s Wing Flies Again.  Does the world really need to come to an end?

Follow me on Twitter, @NicoleWoolent, or like the Woolaston Entertainment Facebook pages.  Also, you can follow Amy, @amyjedwards82.   Until next week…

Wednesday, July 2, 2014: The Importance of Supporting Characters

Welcome back, everyone! This is the first blog of the month of July.  This week’s topic: why supporting characters are important to a story.  Much like the supporting cast of a film, the supporting characters in a story help keep the story moving.

Your basic format goes like this: you have the protagonist or main character, and the antagonist, or the person working against the main character.  In Valentine, Val Entienne is the protagonist and Rafferty is the antagonist.  Val goes on a road trip to California to save her father from Rafferty.  If this was all there was to the story, it would be boring and not worth reading (let alone writing).  Supporting characters, such as Veronica, Melinda, and Jacob add important details to the story and keep the story moving.  If you eliminate Veronica from the story, Val would have no means of emotional support in her hometown of Chicago, while she’s on the road.  Without Melinda, Val would never had made any of those pit stops on the way to Cali, and she would never have grown as a character and a person.  And, without Jacob, Val wouldn’t have had any opposition during her road trip.  The story would basically be Val driving from Chicago to Cali.  Boring! Absolutely boring.  Also, there are the characters Val meets and helps during her road trip: the women at Allen House, the owner of the mechanic shop, etc.  Each one helps to make the story more interesting.

Your supporting characters don’t necessarily have to appear in the story long-term. Val’s cousin Veronica is a permanent character in the story, and so is Melinda, and Lola Vencent.  Characters like Lucy, the battered wife Val meets at a motel, and the women at Allen House, are temporary.  They make brief appearances in the story, but they are equally important.

Supporting characters help create the necessary conflicts in the story.  There are three types of conflict (this is story telling 101): man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. self.  In Valentine, more than Rafferty, Jacob poses the most opposition for Val in the first arc of the story.  Jacob is the one following Val on the road, making little attempts to keep her from reaching California.

Sometimes supporting characters change positions during the course of the story.  They start out as antagonists, but an event occurs and things change.  Lola Vencent is a perfect example of this.  She and Val start out as enemies, due to a misunderstanding, but later they resolve their differences and become friends.

Next week’s blog: book reviews! Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me: woolent@hotmail.com.  Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and WordPress.  Or, you can leave a question or comment on the Guestbook.  Please check out the new Book Review Page on this site.  Until next week…

Wednesday, June 25, 2014: Everyone Struggles

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Welcome to the weekly blog.  This week’s blog is going to be a personal one.  I recently met a woman named Dawn, who told me about her God-daughter, Tashema Dawson.  Late last year, Tashema published her first book, Legunda’s Fictional Pack: The Ultimate Choice, with a company known as Xlibris.  Now, let’s back track for a moment.  I’ve talked about Xlibris before.  If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, and read the first posted blog, you’ll learn exactly how I feel about Xlibris.  They are a publisher that is strictly “print-on-demand”.  They are not in the business of selling books, like a traditional publisher.  They make money by overcharging authors to print books, and then setting the prices of those books so high, they don’t sell.  Now, let’s come back to the present…

Dawn told me Tashema is feeling frustrated, because she is unable to get her books into bookstores, and it isn’t doing well.  She would like to publish a second book, but her confidence is waning.  I assured Dawn I knew exactly how Tashema felt, and to tell her not to give up.  I had worked with Xlibris before, but I had switched to a new publisher.  I told her about the money I had wasted with Xlibris, and how I hadn’t seen any results either.

This made me think of all my fellow writers, artists and musicians.  There are so many talented people in the world, who are just looking for an opportunity to show the world what they’re made of.  But, there are too many people who seek to destroy the  dreams of another, or who just want to take advantage.  Believe me, I know this all too well.  So, I want to tell you a story:

Once upon a time, my mother and I were caretakers for a house in Newport News, Virginia.  We lived rent free.  Then my Uncle Donald suggested we move to Georgia, where the rest of the family was currently living.  So, we gave up most of our furniture, and I was forced to give up my beloved cat (on the day of the move, btw) and moved into Donald’s house with him and his girlfriend.  The six months we lived in his house, were the worst six months of my life.  Donald and his girlfriend constantly fought and argued, and both of them turned out to be liars and were completely insane.  Donald snapped one night and kicked everyone out of the house, leaving my mother and I homeless.  We managed to scrape together enough money to get a motel room, but we couldn’t stay there long.  Luckily, Mom contacted her aunt in New York, and we drove up there to live with her.  We spent the next few years, trying to get back on our feet.

During that time, I continued to write, and eventually published Fortune’s Wing and Valentine.  My Uncle Glen, who is also a writer, contacted me and offered to get me into Dragon Con: an annual sci-fi/fantasy convention in Atlanta.  Glen said I’d be able to sell copies of my books there.  So, I spent money ordering books and airfare, only to arrive in Atlanta and learn none of this was going to happen.  Glen hadn’t made any arrangements at all, and said I should have done my homework concerning the convention (even though he contacted me about it).

Still, I kept writing, and published Fortune’s Wing Second Flight.  I spent money on a marketing campaign with Xlibris for the American Library Association’s annual convention, which turned out to be nothing more than a large room with my book, and thousands of others, on a shelf, going completely unnoticed.  Even with this, I kept on going…..

Three years ago, Mom and I learned our land lord’s house was in foreclosure.  We would have to leave the apartment we were renting from him.  My Uncle Arthur contacted us about an investment he had made in Iraqi dinars, saying he was about to cash in.  He said we could come and stay with him, and we could actually afford to quit our jobs (which we did), because he would give us a portion of his money.  So, back to Georgia we went.  It turns out, his house was in foreclosure, he wasn’t working because he had been sitting around counting on his investment to save him.  In the end, we ended up back in New York, and he ended up losing his house.  To this day, he still hasn’t cashed anything in.

Somehow, during all of these events, I have managed to keep writing, and have published five books, taught myself to play guitar, and continued to draw.  Despite all of the things I have been through with my family; all of the time and money they have made me waste, the fact they have left me homeless (twice), I know I have to keep going.  I’m not telling you this to gain your sympathy, I’m telling you because I want all of you to understand we’ve all been through something.  Everyone struggles.  I’ve found more support through strangers than through my own family.

My message to everyone reading this blog, is to never give up.  No matter what your situation is, keep going.  If you’re a writer, keep writing.  If you’re an artist, keep creating your art.  If you’re a musician, keep making music.  Don’t ever give up, no matter how difficult things become.  One day, you will succeed.  If you’re reading this, it means you are alive; you’re here, and everything you do, matters.

Until next week.

Next week’s blog on woolastonentertainment.com will be a personal one. I just learned about yet another writer who has been frustrated by Xlibris, a print-on-demand publisher, who I consider to be a rip-off. I’ll tell you all about it next week.