Spontaneous Musings

So tired. Have not been sleeping well. Too hot last night. And achey. Need sleep. I'm probably killing a million brain cells a night. No wonder I feel so foggy and irritable today.

1) I think I may be slowly burning out on the whole pop culture explosion...too much of it, and it's everywhere I look. Realized this while thumbing through EW's double issue featuring lots of bits about up-coming summer movies, tv shows, books, music, etc.

I used to care. Now...not so much. Although a few could turn out to be fun...Jupiter Rising, Guardians of the Galaxy. There seems to be a few unending marketing based trends - ie. one film series takes off like gangbusters, so the film studios keep attempting to copy it. Or a book series/nitch takes off like gangbusters and they try to capitalize on it. Which makes sense...we do live in a capitalistic society - of course they want to "capitalize" on things. Hello.

Currently the trends are : superhero flicks and YA novels made into movies.

I'm unfortunately sort of burned out on both. A few could be good though...

2.) Become a bit obsessed with the Kate Daniels series - five books in now. Finished Magic Bleeds last night, and started Magic Slays this morning. I love the writer's sense of humor and voice. It's a sort of sardonic, snarky, Philip Marlow style voice - except via a badass female character. Kate was raised to be a sociopathic killer, but chose another path - a heroic one. So female urban fantasy noir. There is a romantic relationship in it - but it doesn't take over the series and while it is central to it, it's not...well the main point. If that makes sense?
Urban Fantasy is sort of like Mystery and Thriller series genre wise - the focus is more on action, figuring out the problem, and resolving it. Romance tends to go along for the ride. If noir - it's darker, grittier, and the characters often...damaged, and bordering on anti-hero. When you read urban fantasy novels, you sort of have to do the same thing you'd do while watching Breaking Bad, Justified, The Americans, Buffy ...leave your judgmental moralizing at the door.
Fluffy these aren't. But I do find them quite funny.

There's two more books in the series: Gunmetal Magic, and Magic Rises...until the latest book comes out in July, Magic Breaks. (And the most expensive...these tend to go down in price the longer you wait to read them.)

Curious to see if the writers keep the momentum and quality...often in urban fantasy series or mystery series - the quality starts to dive after about book 5. This tends to be true of tv series as well...not sure why. But for some reason after season 5 or book 5...the writer either starts to repeat themselves or begins to phone it in.

There are exceptions of course, but I've noticed it happening a lot. I blame the editors more than the writers...they stop editing. I have no clue what non-US publishing is like, but US publishing has become mostly about marketing and acquistions.

No one bothers editing or massaging a book any longer - and particularly not after the 5th book. Which is why you can no longer tell the difference between a book that has been self-published and one that has been professionally edited. In fact in some cases the self-published books are better written and edited - because the writer hired someone to professionally edit it for them. (I know my father does that, and I had someone do it for me.) What I'm picking up on - even in this series - are inconsistency errors. Particularly relating to time and numbers. Things a good editor could pick up on. That's the whole point of having an editor - so they can pick up on the things writers miss. Another set of eyes. But do they do that? Apparently not. I keep wanting to write nasty letters to the editors after reading books.

That said...there was a rather nifty comment on the author's website Q&A for Magic Rises (a controversial novel in the series, which I haven't gotten to yet - but the controversy appears to be about the romantic relationship between Curran and Kate.) - wherein the author's stated that:

"they can't please everyone. If they tried, the book would be written by committee and not that interesting a story."

So true.

Fans are weird when it comes to stories - they want the writer to tell the one inside their head. Surprisingly enough it does happen sometimes - which results in obsession. Where the writer magically strikes just the right emotional and mental chords in the reader's head - as if they read the reader/viewer's mind. Of course...being magic, it doesn't tend to last. And they'll eventually hit exactly the wrong chords and piss the reader off. Also, since no one is the same and we're all unique individuals with our own separate views and opinions, the story may strike a chord in one person yet really piss off another. Put these two on a fan discussion board at the same time = kerfuffle. [For an example? See fan discussions of the Buffy comics and well, the last two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.]

3. Watched The Good Wife and ONCE UPON A TIME last night. Both were good.

* OUAT - The Jolly Roger" - focused on Hook. And the actor shined. He really does bring it. By doing very little - he managed to convey the complexity of his feelings. I half fell in love with him in that episode. And for the first time began to ship him and Emma together. The actor sold it. Also lovely twist...regardless of whether or not you are an Ariel fan.

And...the episode had some nifty humor with Henry and his grandparents.


* The Good Wife - continues to impress.
This week we got to see how three characters dealt with Will's death. Alicia was hit the worst, mainly because her relationship with Will had ended on a sour note and was unresolved. She loved him, but was never able to tell him. Now she's furious with herself and the universe because of that. And really angry at Peter - or rather at herself for choosing Peter over Will. Felt a bit sorry for Peter in this episode - also realized that Chris Noth is getting old.

Kalinda is also struggling with it - but in another way.

And Diane has decided to merge Alicia's firm with her's - she wants Alicia back.
A strong, smart, female buddy, who loved Will.

The opening sequence with the two of them drinking in a bar after Will's funeral is one of my favorite moments in the series. "We're like two mistresses at an Irish funeral" and "Who do you think knew him less well? Us or his family?" and "If I should die before you, please stop them from reading Wind Beneath My Wings at my funeral". LOL! Gallows humor at its best.