by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 24, 2012 | Blog
I’m reading Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb right now, and I have to say I really like the world Hobb has created with the ships of magic and the Rain Wilds and the dragons. I was talking to a friend about writers who have created unforgettable worlds. For me there’s Middle Earth and Darkover. Hogwarts is a favorite. George has, of course, created a massive world. I notice that most of these apart from Darkover are fantasies, and you could read Darkover...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 15, 2012 | Blog
The latest Gallup tracking poll indicates that Catholics who attend regularly, and those who attend church rarely have the same opinion and support for the President they had before the great Pill Kerfuffle. My favorite blogger, Andrew Sullivan summed it up far better than I ever could. He said: “If you really oppose abortion, you should back contraception, especially for those women least likely to afford it outside health insurance plans. But the new rigid fundamentalism of...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 13, 2012 | Blog
People, mostly on Facebook, have objected to me pointing out the racial “dog whistles” being uttered by the COP candidates, and telling me I’m wrong, and that racism is fading in this country. Take a look at just some of the comment posted at Fox News regarding the death of Whitney Houston. Those dog whistles are being heard, and they are taken as encouragement by these troglodytes. You can find the link here.
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 10, 2012 | Blog
This is the most brilliant analysis of Romney I’ve ever seen. Courtesy of The Daily Dish. The awkward phrasing (“What the heck is a severe conservative?”) reminded Erick Erickson of this bit from Chris Orr in 2008: Superman was born Superman. It’s Clark Kent that is the invented alias, the pose, the “costume.” And in the way Superman plays Kent–weak, self-doubting, cowardly–we see his critique of the human...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 10, 2012 | Blog
Once again I think the President has walked the conservatives into a trap. He offers a compromise that still allows for women to get their birth control, and has been “sensitive” to religious issues. Both wins for him. Question is, will the Bishops and the Republicans refuse to accept this compromise? If they do again point goes to Obama. They will look like dicks and hostile to women while the President once again looks like the rational adult in the...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 9, 2012 | Blog
I just finished a mystery, THE SNOWMAN, but Jo Nebo. He’s supposed to be Norway’s answer to Stieg Larsson. I’m underwhelmed. I read a lot of mysteries. I really enjoy the puzzle aspect of them, and by nature I like a story that tells me evil will be defeated and it will all come out all right in the end. This book (at least based on the translation) is well written, and there are some nice twists and reversals that I didn’t expect,...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 9, 2012 | Blog
If any other evidence is needed that this howl from the Catholic prelates is politically motivated consider this little factoid. De Paul University, the largest Catholic university provides birth control to their employees in their health plan. Catholic hospitals and universities in the 28 states that already require insurance coverage and availability for contraception have complied and never said a word. So, yeah, this is about the Catholic bishops wanting to pick a fight. And...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 8, 2012 | Blog
If you want to hear Rachel Maddow’s very insightful thoughts on this fertility issue you can check it out here.
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 8, 2012 | Blog
I’ve watched in silence and amazement as an institution that hid the systematic molestation of children for decades has now gone to war with the administration over the requirement that their public institutions — hospitals and universities must provide contraception coverage for women employees. Let’s be clear the church has had no problem paying for Viagra for their male employees, but allow a woman to have control over her own body? Heaven forbid. This is...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 6, 2012 | Blog
I’ve been looking at the boxes of remaindered books that I’ve accumulated, and realized that I have to divest myself of these books. I’m not comfortable selling my books, and thanks to a wonderful suggestion by my friend Ty Frank I am going to be instituting a new feature on my website. If a reader makes a $25.00 donation to any of the charities that will be listed, and will email me proof of that donation I will send them an autographed copy of one of my books. ...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 1, 2012 | Blog
A friend over on Google + suggested that this riff we had going about writing and plotting would make an interesting blog post so I decided to heed her advice, and try to put this in a coherent form. This all began because I got a call from GRRM (George R.R. Martin for those who might not be familiar with that abbreviation.) Anyway, I’ve become a bit of a pinch hitter for George and Gardner on their various anthologies because I can produce a story rather quickly when...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 29, 2012 | Blog
I love writing scripts, and for the most part I have enjoyed my time working in Hollywood, but damn the place can be narcissistic which is why either The Artist or Hugo is probably going to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. In an earlier post I’ve outlined the deep script problems in Hugo, and why I think it ultimately failed. Now I’ll take on the other love letter to the movies — The Artist. From the opening titles it’s a perfect recreation of the films of...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 28, 2012 | Blog
I stayed up too late again last night and watched The King’s Speech. I love this movie and I will get hooked by it every time. Happened again this morning as I was preparing breakfast. Partly it’s the performances. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are simply remarkable in a what is, in many senses, a buddy movie. The music is pitch perfect in terms of eliciting mood, but something else jumped out at me on this viewing. In scripts we have A stories, and we...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 24, 2012 | Blog
I’ve been invited into an anthology in my very frequent role as pinch hitter. When somebody drops out I step in, and usually there is time pressure. All of this is by way of background. The real point of these musings is about the importance of having a deep and complex world (or more than one) in your tool box as a writer. I was despairing of ever coming up with a story in time for the editors, then I was brainstorming with a friend ( I talked about that over on my...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 23, 2012 | Blog
This is what passes for soaring rhetoric from Mitt Romney. “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” Wow, I’m ready to go out and man the barricades now, aren’t you? What does that even mean?
