by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 9, 2014 | Blog
I usually keep the conversation light, focused on writing and games and horses and TV shows and movies. But the torture report which was published today (and keep in mind this is a mere 20% of the actual report a 500 page summation of a 6700 page report that is classified) is harrowing, horrific, stunning and a detailed look at how we lost our moral compass and our way after 9/11. I am sickened and furious. Torture was rejected at the very founding of our country by GeorgeWashington. When...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 3, 2014 | About Writing
Most people who know me know that I’m a big proponent of the outline or the story break. I think it helps you meet deadlines and not fall into seductive dead ends that look good at first then you write a hundred pages and realize you’ve been dumped in a swamp. The argument against the outline is that it’s rigid, a straight jacket, confining. But it’s not. If you know the big scenes and the ultimate end of the book there is still plenty of room to move and breath and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 20, 2014 | About Writing
I’m closing in on the end of the first book in the space opera series — THE HIGH GROUND. I knew in a general way what the big action sequence was going to be, but I’m almost there, and it’s crunch time. A general sense wasn’t going to be good enough. I needed specific scenes. So I grabbed the cards, assigned a colored pen to my two POV characters, and another color for my antagonist, and settled onto the floor in front of the board and started tossing up...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 20, 2014 | TV & Movies
Overall I’m really enjoying both ARROW and THE FLASH, but before I sing their praises I need to complain about a couple of things. THE FLASH is squicking me out over Barry’s romantic mooning over Iris. They were raised from childhood as siblings. The research indicates that normal humans don’t fall in love with their siblings, and this rule holds true even when they are unrelated by blood. Basically the studies found the close association creates sexual aversion. And over...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 16, 2014 | TV & Movies
It a rather marathon session I finished watching the second season of ARROW last night. I still really like the show, in particular Stephen Amell — Oliver Queen, Willa Holland — Thea Queen, David Ramsey — John Diggle, and Emily Bett Rickards — Felicity. I also have a soft spot for John Barrowman — he’ll always be Captain Jack from Dr. Who and Torchwood and he makes a fun villain in ARROW. I really, really wish they had a lawyer on their writing staff...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 14, 2014 | Game/Writing
I started a new Dragon Age campaign here in CA on the new XBox 360. For the first time I played the human origin story where you are the child of the Tyrn of Highever. I chose to play a son because I didn’t really want to try romancing Alistair, and I thought I would try to get through the sappy romance with Liliana this time. Anyway, I’m up to the point where you deal with the civil war and I’m finding myself actually giving serious considerations to the upcoming choices....
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 13, 2014 | TV & Movies
This post is filled with SPOILERS about two different films so you have been warned. *************************SPOILERS************************SPOILERS*************SPOILERS*******************SPOILERS*************** This past week I’ve seen two movies that, while vastly different in tone, delivered the same essential message — BIG HERO 6 and INTERSTELLAR. I know people are going “seriously, Melinda? An animated light hearted romp and a deeply serious space odyssey? Yes, really because there...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog
I had a feeling last night was going to be depressing so read and watched Arrow and had dinner with a friend rather than watch the electoral returns. And it was what I expected but more so. I could understand Iowa and Colorado. I could even understand Wisconsin, but Paul LePage, a seemingly insane individual was reelected in Maine? Or this Hice guy who is a fundamentalist preacher who has declared that Islam is not protected under the first amendment — among other equally charming...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 3, 2014 | TV & Movies
I finally set down with the XBox and Netflix and started streaming the first season of Arrow. I finished season one last night after a number of nights of joyful binge watching. I really like this show. It’s got a great look, quite good scripts, a terrific cast and characters I’ve come to care about. It also doesn’t hurt that Stephen Amell is gorgeous and he frequently takes his shirt off. It’s nice to have some eye candy for the ladies. We are so often forgotten...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 30, 2014 | About Writing
On Tuesday evenings I go over to Len Wien and Christina Valada’s house for dinner, and then Len and T and I watch three TV shows back to back — The Flash, Agents of SHIELD and Person of Interest. Len has dubbed it Action Tuesday which is a great name for it. Person of Interest continues to be the best show on television (more on that later), but it was a moment in AOS that caught my attention and made me think again how much easier it is to write a script where shorthand and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 17, 2014 | Game/Writing
So the gamergate spat has finally gone mainstream, and a good thing too since there are now two women in the gaming industry who have been driven from their homes over virulent on-line threats, and the posting of their personal information including their addresses. And Anita Sarkeesian had to cancel her talk in Utah. What is infuriating me is how gamers keep making excuses for this inexcusable behavior, and how many of those excuses are just flat out lies. Let’s start with Zoe Quinn...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 17, 2014 | General
As I’ve mentioned here and on Facebook — I don’t mind spoilers. In fact they add to my enjoyment of a movie or book because it enables to examine the structure and pacing as the writer moves toward the climax. In fact there was a study that indicated spoilers actually added to people’s enjoyment. You can read about the research here in an article in Wired magazine — Spoilers Don’t Spoil Anything. I also think there is a point where accusing a person of...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 16, 2014 | About Writing
I ran up against an interesting problem today while I was working on the space opera. Given the trouble we ran into on Star Trek: The Next Generation I should have seen it coming, but it really hit home today. Contented characters aren’t very interesting and the problems that afflict them are usually of the emotional variety and that’s hard to dramatize. I’ve got two view point characters in this book (I touched on the problems that may cause in my last post) but today a...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 12, 2014 | About Writing
You may not know it but a lot of writers like to set challenges for themselves. Can I write a novel or short story strictly following the fairy tale format? Let me see if I can write an unreliable narrator. I’m going to tackle first person (much harder then you think). So the writing challenge I set for myself with the space opera was having only two view point characters — my hero and heroine, and alternating scenes between them. So I’m closing in on 60,000 words and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Oct 12, 2014 | Game/Writing
So a third prominent woman in the gaming industry has been threatened with rape and death. Now Brianna Wu has been forced to flee her home. You can find one of the many articles here Polygon. This is starting to send me into a headache inducing rage. Yeah, boys, we are entitled in to come into the treehouse. I love video games, but this is starting to make me embarrassed to admit the passion. And what really amazes me is the inability of these boys (I won’t dignify them by calling...
