Saturday, September 15, 2018

I'm a Fangirl & It's Katie McGarry's Fault


Image result for katie mcgarry

Writing is a form of Art.

The words you paint  and the characters you create should get stuck in the heads of your audience long after they've finished reading them. You should be able to love and relate to the people you meet, both heroes and villains alike. You should be able visualize all the places these characters go, see them so clearly in your mind's eye that it's like your in that place with them, a fly on the wall listening to and watching everything that's going on.  This is true in all forms of Fiction: Adult, Children's, and YA.

I never read YA  growing up.

Actually, I never read REAL YA growing up.  Mystery, History, Realistic, Fantasy, Sci-Fi I'd read all the time. But they were usually things like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Terry Brooks, Tolkien, Robert Jordan(one of the FEW series I never finished--I know, I'm working on it) and if I was feeling particularly geeky I'd grab a couple of DragonLance novels. 

And if I couldn't find those, I'd tackle Sammy Keyes, The Boxcar Children, Redwall, the "Little House" books, The Great Brain--you know, strictly Children's or Adult Fiction.  I did branch out a teeny tiny bit in high school, but that was just to read things like Jane Yolen and Robin McKinley.  

But I absolutely refused to visit the YA section of the public library, no matter how desperate I was for something to read. It wasn't until college that I came across S.E. Hinton and promptly devoured every book she wrote(and consequently bought copies of The Outsiders and Tex which I read so much they're in danger of coming apart).
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I need to get another copy of this soon. The back cover is coming off. 
I never liked Country Music either. 

My dad raised me on 80s Rock and Alternative--Rod Stewart, The Eagles, Sting, The Police, Led Zeppelin--and my mom was all about The Beatles, Enya, and Classical Music. When I got my first Walkman(I know, I'm old) I'd tune it to the radio station that played things like Savage Garden, Matchbox Twenty, Bon Jovi, Smashmouth and 3 Doors Down.

Image result for 3 doors down
These guys were my high school obsession. Country artists? Not so much.  

But I never ever touched the country stations. For some reason I had this insane idea that all songs in that particular genre was full of whiny voices, tinny music, and boring lyrics about tractors and coffee and not much else. 
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One of my current favorite songs--sung by Keith Urban. And yes, it's Country
I KNOW!!!!!

You know what changed my mind about both those things? Katie McGarry.

Now, I never would have heard of this author if it wasn't for the job I decided to take about four years ago at the public library. I started in the General Reference and Fiction Department, which meant that I helped with Adult Non-Fiction, Adult Fiction, and Teen Fiction. 

As in: YA. 

Which I knew next to nothing about.

You can't make any YA reading recommendations if you don't know anything about YA.

So what did I do? 

Checked out as many YA novels as would fit into my bag and promptly began reading them--devouring them, actually--so that when a teen came up to ask me for recommendations I could say more than: "duuuuuuuhhhh I dunno".

One of the novels I picked up was by Katie McGarry. I'm not gonna lie, I picked it cause the cover featured a guy that screamed "dark horse"--something that will hook me no matter what, remember?

I read it in a day and a half.

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I had to get the audio version cause I read it so much!

This story was about teens, yes, but it was open and raw and emotional and these people were in real life (albeit some very dark) situations with real life problems. Needless to say, I became totally obsessed. I cared so  much about these characters that it hurt; I laughed with them, cried with them, fell in love with the guys and rooted for the girls. Every single time Katie McGarry announces a new book, I pounce. And if the wait list at the library is too long, I buy the audio version, cause I'm going to read/listen the cover off it. Especially when they all had quotes like this:
Image result for katie mcgarry 

Katie McGarry is also my kind of author in that she listens to music when she writes. She does what I do: create playlists for themes, characters, and significant events in the plot. Being a fangirl, I found the playlists the posted on her website, and then started listening to the songs while I read(and re-read) her books.

You know what genre a lot of those songs were?

Country.

Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Travis Tritt, Rascal Flatts, Florida Georgia Line, aka some of my new favorite artists. You guys, country music can be really good. Yes, there are still some country songs/artists that I'm not a fan of and will never be; but there are some that I adore. Songs that make me smile, or provoke nostalgia, or provide good writing ambiance. Plus, some of those male voices turn me into a great big pot of goo. There are now two country stations that are pre-set in my car radio, in addition to the other music I listen to.
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"Tequila" by Dan + Shay Don't ask me why this song is on my favorites list. It just is.

Katie McGarry is an artist--one of those writers I really want to be when I grow up. She writes openly, honestly, emotionally. Her plots get tangled up and stuck in my head. Her characters are real, multi-dimensional people that I care so much about.

The  biggest things she did, though, was change my mind about some things--like Country Music--and make me think about others: like being vulnerable and open and it's ok to let people in; and it's ok to be scared of life and you are capable of saving yourself when others are unable to.

But that's what Art is supposed to do, isn't it?

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Friday, August 3, 2018

The Man Who Taught Me To Love The Bard

When I was six years old, BYU put on a production of "Romeo and Juliet." I distinctly remember two things about that performance:

1. I was really mad that Romeo was blonde ( I have a thing about Dark Horses, and dark-haired men, remember?

2. The Question and Answer period I had on the way home with someone who loved the story as much--and possibly more--than I did.

My Grandpa, LeGrand Baker, passed away this week. He was one of the most amazing people I've ever known. He had a snarky sense of humor(which my brother got), an obsession with chocolate(which we all got) and a love of old films(which I got). One of his great loves, which he  also passed on to me, was the Bard.



Grandpa took my obsession with Shakespeare seriously.

Possibly more seriously than anyone else in my family.

He was the only one who knew who I was for Halloween. I can't tell you how awesome it was to say: "I'm Titania/Ophelia/Juliet/Puck,"  and not get a "Oh....that's nice(People Speak for: I Have No Idea Who On Earth That Is)" in response.

He was the only one who could quote back at me word for word whenever I said anything Shakespearean (even the obscure bits).

He was the only one who got excited as I was whenever a Shakespeare production was announced(although he probably didn't jump up and down and squeal...at least, not that I saw).

When I was nine, he gave me a copy of the First Folio for my birthday and I read it straight through in less than I week and I understood it.

We would talk for hours about  the Bard. Seriously, hours. Discussion Topics included:

1.Plot and Character Analysis. Of  EVERY SCENE AND THE ENTIRE DRAMTIS PERSONAE(yes, even the One Liner characters)

2.Oberon and Titania's Relationship; Who is Right and Who is Wrong? IS Oberon a Villain, Or Is This Just A Couple Arguing About Stupid Things?

3. What's Macbeth's Actual Motive? Is It Or Is It Not Than The Way It Is Consistently(and, to some extent Annoyingly) Portrayed;

and(my personal favorite)

4. How Short IS Too Short As Far As An Adaption Goes? Who and What Can Be Cut and WHY--NEVER "JUST BECAUSE" (Humble Brag: I sliced "Hamlet" down to 65 pages with his help and I kept all the iconic lines!).

And the list goes on.


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I was fourteen when I decided I was going to direct Shakespeare rather than just read him.

Grandpa helped me with a lot of the cuts(see Discussion Topics above) and was there for every single performance, usually in the front.

On several occasions, he even provided props(like his three amazing Witch Canes that he made by hand and a cast of Yorick's skull).

He was also my Behind the Scenes Advisor on which film adaptions I should show to my cast(kids 3-15, usually) to  help them understand the story; and encouraged me to stay true to the story Shakespeare originally intended.

Currently, I am involved in two Shakespeare plays--"The Tempest" and "Twelfth Night", two of his favorites(after Hamlet).

For the first time, Grandpa won't be in the front row.

Grandpa won't be handing me flowers after I take my bows.

Grandpa won't be analyzing the adaption

Or the concept

Or each actor's take on the character(and why it worked or why it didn't).

Not physically, anyway.

I won't see him, but he'll be there.

He'll be watching over me every single day for the rest of my life. I wouldn't be the same person I am without him. Grandpa gave me the Shakespeare Flu Bug, and that's not ever going away.

And one day he and I will resolve who made the better Hamlet: Lawrence Olivier(Grandpa) or David Tennant(Me).

Monday, July 2, 2018

Quirky Monday: Shake Your Bushy Tail(And Stay Away From Me)

Ok, y'all we're going to play a game.

 Riddle me this:

I am small.
I am brown.
I chatter in the trees.
What am I?

Give up?

It's a squirrel.

AKA the only animal I am still utterly terrified of.

No joke.

Spiders I can handle; mice, snakes and rats are pushing it, but I can deal.

Squirrels?

Nope.

Not happening.

Not ever.

Period.

The end.
This is not cute. This is panic inducing.
There's even a word for it: Sciurophobia. I'm not kidding, that's what you call being ridiculously, irrationally afraid of squirrels.

And it is all Dr. Quinn's fault.

For those who don't know, Dr Quinn was a tv show that aired back in the 90s on CBS about a female doctor(Jane Seymour) who moved from Boston to Colorado in the 19th century. My great-grandpa used to watch it all the time, and he usually had it on when we'd go over for Christmas or birthdays or whatever. One of my few memories with him is sitting in his house with him in his recliner and me on the floor or in a chair near the tv and watching this pioneer show that I loved(and only found out the title of much later).
Anyhoo, one episode of this show had a rabid dog as part of the plot, and I was a little nervous about dogs and rabies and things, and I happened to voice that fear in the hearing of my uncle Paul.

Now, Paul is an outdoorsman to the core, so he knows about things like this and he looked over at me and said(as near as I can remember and with the best of intensions I'm sure): 

"You know, it's hard for dogs to get rabies--"

"It's usually squirrels."

Now, I don't know if he was totally joking at the time, nor did I really care. The only thing my seven-year-old brain could think of was that my family went camping a lot.

Camping outside.

In the mountains.

With  squirrels.

So many squirrels that there were signs like this:
Cue internal mini-panic attack which has plagued me ever since.

Following that nice little tidbit of information I lived in certain fear that I would meet a gory end at the hands--well, paws-- of a vicious rabid squirrel.

If we went camping, I stayed close to the fire, because squirrels were smart enough not to get burned(apparently).

When we went up the canyon, if there were squirrels in the parking lot, I stayed in the car until they went away(and got  various impatient cries of "Chelsea, just get out of the car!" from various relatives).

Girl's Camp was one of the most stressful weeks of my life simply because the furry monsters were everywhere. And they were going to kill me.

Two years ago my family went to Park City on vacation, and my mom and I were riding up one of the lifts and I saw a squirrel ten feet below me and nearly had a heart attack(and highly amused my mom).

Scuriophobia is not going to go away. I know that. But it can be managed, if I work on it long and hard enough. I'm not as vocal about it as a used to be, so that's progress.

Meantime, it amuses the family, and to some extent myself. I mean, I'm not in a Stephen King horror story, so it's not like I really will die by random rabid squirrel attack.

Plus, it's a fun word to say. Sciurophobia.

How's that for quirky?


Thursday, June 21, 2018

From the Writing Closet: The Ocean and a Piece of Canvas Make Me Peter Pan

My family likes to joke that I'm the oldest because being born first is one of the bravest things I've ever done.

I absolutely agree.

Why? Because I a have a tendency to be afraid of almost everything--heights, rapids, taking off in a plane, coming down in a plane, driving on the freeway, driving period, the dark, water slides, putting my head underwater, squirrels(yes, SQUIRRELS), mice, rats, snakes, spiders, haunted houses, Halloween(I KNOW)--you name it, I react with varying degrees of  mind numbing, body-shaking terror.

Some of these things I've been able to get under control. Or at least, to a point where my reaction is less than drastic. Usually, this is accomplished with the assistance of family members.  Sometimes the assistance is literal. Other times...."assistance" is my euphemism for "trickery."

Two Christmas' ago, my parents sent my sister Alisse and I on a cruise to Calatina Island and Mexico. Alisse is a planner, and more of a risk taker than I am(at least, I like to think so), and so is my dad, which meant that as soon as we got our interary he and Alisse were looking for ways for the two of us to occupy our time while on Catalina and in Mexico. And one of those things they found was...

Parasailing.

Like, you and a piece of canvas and a harness eight hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean which would result in certain death should we fall.

Sounds fun, right?

Alisse showed me the parasailing excursion package and it was all I could do to keep the fake smile on my face. She was excited; I was not. Then we saw the price and I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"That looks really fun," I told her. "But....I can't afford that, so maybe we could find something else?"

And I walked away a forgot about it.  If I couldn't afford it, then I had nothing to worry about, right?

Flash forward to Catalina Island, January. Alisse and I wake up on the ship and she looks at me and goes: "Hey, make sure you wear clothes that can get wet."

"Ok," I say, reasoning that of course we were on an island so of course we were going to get wet(yes, snigger if you want to; this is my thought process).

So I put on what I deem are reasonable "island get wet clothes"(jean capris, T-shirt) and we disembark and Alisse pulls out her phone, which is fine because we have reception so why not. I don't pay any attention until:

Alisse(pointing her phone at me): Hey Chelsea, so what do you think of Catalina?

Me(understanding she has the camera on, and thinking nothing of it): It's pretty cool.

Alisse: Yeah?

Me: Yeah.

Alisse: Well, guess what we're doing here?

Me(still suspecting nothing): What?

Alisse: We're going parasailing!

Me(thinking it's a joke): No we're not.

Alisse: Yes, we are!

Me(still really hoping this is a joke): No, we are not!

Alisse: Yes! Yes, we are! You said you couldn't afford it, so dad paid for you! Isn't that great?

Me(out loud): No.

Me(internal monologue): No. No, no, no, no no! I had been safe; I had a perfectly logical reason for not going(no money); Alisse knew that, dad knew that; I know they all like to mess with my head, so maybe this is just a joke. It has to be, right? She's kidding, ha ha, very funny. She's kidding. She has to be kidding, right? Right? RIGHT?!

And all this time, I'm following her down the dock and into this little boat(a perfectly safe, well handled boat that does this kind of thing for a living) and we're pulling away from the dock and I realize...she's not kidding.

This is real.

I've been coerced into being attached to a harness.

A harness that's attached to a piece of canvas.

A piece of canvas that will be launched from this boat eight hundred feet into the air.

And if anything breaks, I will fall.

And when I fall, I will die.

And after I die, I will come back as a ghost and haunt my sister for the rest of her days.

I cannot believe she's doing this to me!

We get out far enough to parasail safely. I sit in the boat and people talk to me and I say something, but I have no idea what. Alisse is smiling at me, and I peel my lips back from my teeth and hope it looks real. Two people go in front of us and while they're getting attached Alisse turns to me and says "I paid extra so we can have pictures."

Which means the entire world gets to see yours truly having cardiac arrest eight hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean.

On film.

For all eternity.

Awesome.


Pre-Takeoff. My Internal Monologue "I'm going to die; I'm going to kill her; I'm going to DIE; I'm going to KILL HER..."

I don't say anything. I can't think, I can't talk, my heart is pounding, and I'm shaking. I'm shaking and it isn't from the cold. Two more people go and then it's our turn. I stand up, very grateful that the boat moves with the waves so my shaking body could be mistaken for keeping my balance rather than the utter terror that's gripping me.

As instructed, I sit down next to Alisse, and our guide is telling us where the metal bits of the harness click and hold us into place and making sure we're secure.

I'm not smiling, not at all. I'm gripping the sides of the harness on either side of my head so hard my fingers are cramping up and I'm so grateful my sunglasses are covering the panic that is no doubt alight in my eyes.

Our guide nods, and I hear the wizzzzz of the para cord moving, and then a WHOOSH and I'm moving.

I'm gliding in one smooth movement up into the sky and the boat is shrinking and Alisse is all smiles.

I make myself keep my eyes open as the parachute jerks just a tiny bit, and we're gliding eight hundred feet above the water.

The first thing I notice is the silence. Not oppressive silence like you hear in a horror film, but beautiful, solemn, contented silence.  It's just me and the sky and the sun. Yes, it's a little colder up here, but I don't mind it.  My heart stops racing and the terror ebbs.

Next to me, Alisse has her arms flung wide, grinning like a loon. My hands are still wrapped around the sides of my harness, but I make them uncurl and imitate her. Slowly, slowly I stretch my arms out. The harness grips me in all the right places, keeping me secure. I stretch my arms out further.

And I'm flying, soaring above that amazingly blue water, just me and Alisse and no one else. I can see the tiny white dot of our tour guides boat and birds--birds?!--flying below me. She giggles and looks over at me.

"Chelsea, we're PARASAILING!!!"

"I KNOW?!" I grin back, and it's a real grin; I giggle and it's genuine laughter. Because yes, she did more or less trick me into doing this, but you know what, it's FUN!!!!

I AM PETER PAN!!!!!

I AM PETER PAN!!!(don't ask what my legs were doing--I had other things on my mind)

We look at each other again and squeal as the parachute is lowered, dipping out feet into the ocean before pulling us back to the boat("See?" says Alisse. "I told you wear clothes that can get wet.") and I'm still grinning.

Grinning as I land on the deck.

Grinning as my harness is unhooked and the boat makes it's way back to the dock.

Grinning as I get back onto the island and still grinning when we call the rest of the family to let them know what we've just done.

I did something that utterly terrified me.

And it was AMAZING!!!!




Back in our stateroom, I had an epiphany, and that thought stayed with me long after the cruise, and it's  something I've been thinking about off and on for a very long time. 

Sometimes there are things you need to do which paralyze you with fright: financial things, social things, employment things, entertainment things. 

Sometimes you kick and scream and refuse to do them because it's too scary until Life says "too bad you're doing it anyway," so you do the things that scare you anyway. 

Sometimes, when you do things that scare you anyway, they turn out to be one of the most fantastic things you've ever done in your life. 

So yes, there are still things I am afraid of. There always will be (the sight of a squirrel will send me into mini-paralysis until the day I die). 

There are things everyone is afraid of. 

 But if you take a leap of faith and do them anyway, you will be a much better person for it.

End of the Run. The scariest and most amazing thing I've ever done!

Monday, April 30, 2018

B/V: Matheson, Sian and Xander

Since it's now the end of April and therefore ScriptFrenzy 2018 (and I skived off it this year, thank you adulating), I realized that I left y'all hanging back in February with my B/V character inspiration thingummies. I like to tie up loose threads when I can, so here's the final tidbit for the character inspirations of B/V.

You've met the goodies and the allies, so now it's time for the villains. Here's where it gets sticky. These guys aren't the typical type of villains I write, especially since the story I'm writing isn't the usual type I write. Because there are three of them, I'll start with the least dangerous and work my way up.

First, there's Xander. There is a celebrity model that I really like to have in my head whenever I write Xander's scenes. His name is JD Pardo:
Xander's and Agent with a moral compass. He's Riley's brother and follows the orders he is given with more or less reluctance, depending on what those orders are. Thanks to his moral compass, there are lines he isn't willing to cross. . Maybe--ok, certainly--it's typecasting because JD Pardo's played this type of gray-area character before, not once, but twice. The first time was in Eric Kripke's "Revolution" and the second was in Hulu's "East Los High". Is it any wonder I want to see him do it again?

So while Riley's got a brother in with the Agency, Jason has the same problem, only it's his sister, Sian. I saw several films that helped inspire the model for Sian--someone who can exhibit quiet inner fire and fierce independence one minute("Beyond the Lights") and warm sweet sisterly regard the next("Belle"); and also an actress I greatly respect for her talent and get all giddy when she does another movie. Sian's model is Gugu Mbatha Raw.
While Sian isn't exactly and Agent per se, she definitely has loyalties leaning that way thanks to things that happened with her and the Agents in the past(and it isn't what you think!). Sian is a baddie, but she's not the worst.

The biggest baddie of them all is Matheson.  In my head he's got one of those faces that can freeze into and emotionless mask; and makes you twitch every time you watch him do something because you know it's wrong, but Matheson knows he's in the right and nobody can tell him otherwise because it's necessary to do what he's doing for the greater good(twitch, twitch, twitch).

Naturally I need someone in my head who can pull that kind of facial expression off, and can still be bearable to watch(because there are some people who think they can do that face thing, but they totally can't and it hurts to watch--which is not a good thing). He's in both "Hawaii Five-O"(the 2005 reboot) and "Salvation"(which is FABOULOUS!!!); and not only do I like seeing his face I love hearing his voice: Ian Anthony Dale is Matheson's model. 
Not gonna lie, writing Matheson gives me the creeps. It's fun to write him but his motives are so eerie because they make perfect sense--if a little twisted. He's the head of the Agency, intent on making everything safe, and controlled, no matter the cost. Matheson's convinced he's saving lives, but is he going to end up ruining them instead?

So there you have it y'all--the entire B/V Cast Models. Phew! Maybe if you're lucky, I'll give you a peek into the soundtrack(cause I have that too!).






Friday, February 2, 2018

B/V: Lanae and Michael



I know,  I know, it's not NaNoWriMo anymore, but I haven't blogged in a while(ok two months) and I tend to leave things unfinished--which is sad. Currently, I am in the umpteeth revision of my Robin Hood project and not writing anything new; but I realized I never finished introducing y'all to the peeps in B/V--so I'm going to remedy that starting now. Indulge me.

You've met all the protagonists, so here's their allies--cause boy do these guys ever need allies. They're brother and sister, and they were the ones who started the rebellion in the first place. Well, the guy started it, and his sister joined not long after.

The leader of the Resistance is Michael--someone who thinks just enough to decide what the question is before getting the answer. He's also the only one who can reign in Deac if need be. Michael is the one who's got a lot of the answers, but not all of them; and he's only fault is that he stays in the shadows and sends other people out to do the dirty work. Which isn't necessarily a fault per se, but it does slow things down just a little bit as far as taking the Agency apart goes. Michael's model has changed several many times--probably because he's one of those awesome characters that you have to prod with a toothpick to get him to talk to you. But I think I finally pinned one down: Adam Beach.

I saw him in the trailer for "Windtalkers" back in 2002, and thought he was fabulous(though I have yet to see the movie). I did see "Cowboys and Aliens" plus the episode of the "Hawaii Five-O" reboot that he was in, and for some reason he became Michael in my head and he's kind of stuck. (Side note: He's also Slipknot in "Suicide Squad", another film I have yet to see.

Confession: I started writing this while in the middle of my investigation into the CW series "The 100"(I lost interest so didn't watch past the second season--BUT I read all the recaps, because, you know, librarian day job) so the model for Lanae is from the cast of "The 100"(the second season). Lanae's model is  actress Luisa D'Oliveira:


Lanae is the yin to Michael's yang, and she's the one person who can calm him down or pull him out of a funk if need be. She's tough as nails but also really warm and caring when she needs to be--and in some of the situations that Jason and co. get into, they really need a nice listening ear. 



So yes, both of these celeb models are from films I've only seen trailers to(except one) and a tv show that I watched for like a second, but they made enough of an impact on this writer to make them models for some of her characters, so I'd say that all worked out pretty well.