Leave Vader alone!

I've always wondered why the original Star Wars trilogy can't be left alone. Those movies are three of the best films ever made (unlike the prequels, although "Revenge of the Sith" was better than a lot of people give it credit for). Yet every time "Star Wars" makes the news, George Lucas is making yet another edit. I'll admit, the Special Edition films that came out in the 1990s were a substantial improvement. I especially loved the revamped Cloud City scenes and the Wampa. However, his later edits prove that if you sharpen a knife too much, you'll weaken it, and the "Star Wars" knife has finally been broken, as you can see at the link below:

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/nooo-george-lucas-makes-more-changes-original-trilogy-191605319.html

The best and most dramatic scene in the series ruined! Ruined I say! Why couldn't he have added a scene with Jar-Jar getting fried to death by the Emperor for the Blu-Ray release instead?! He would have become a trillionaire!

Let this be a lesson to all of you in writing, film, art, heck, any hobby/profession whatsoever. If the thing ain't broke, don't fix it!

No More Movie Reviews

In order to focus on "Black Swan Origins-Nineveh" and "A Valiant Effort", I am no longer doing movie reviews. I may do them again in the future (and by that, I mean distant future), but for now, I'm not writing them. Between working two jobs and writing two novels simultaneously, I am too exhausted to review films, anyway, so something has to give. Sorry.

First Trilogy now "Black Swan Origins", Completed Two Drafts of First Book

My "Battle for Cassandra" miniseries has been expanded into a short novel, which has been renamed "Black Swan Origins: Nineveh." It's still going to be episodic, but it is now the first part of a trilogy, along with "Fionnuala" and "My Sister's Keeper." Lammy's role in the series has been expanded, and many new characters have been added whom are awesome. In particular, the female gangster formerly known as "Bambi" keeps my eyes glued to the page.

I have also typed fifteen pages of "A Valiant Effort." I've been reliving a lot of my memories as I wrote it. I just covered the part where I did an unofficial photoshoot at the Osiauri Wrestling Festival. Georgians love black people. Being an African-American there is like being a blonde in Africa. Everyone wanted their picture taken with me and once I was even asked for my autograph. All the girls thought I was handsome, which was awesome (they behaved themselves, though-Georgians have thankfully remembered God's prohibition against sex before marriage). I would have been honored to marry a Georgian girl. Sadly, we were invaded before I could get to know any of them well enough.

I am waiting to here back from my friends and family regarding "Black Swan Origins: Nineveh" before I start the third draft. I can't wait forever, though; I will start by early Septembet regardless of whether or not they finish. I want the third draft done by late September and the final draft done by December. It's really short, so it's definitely doable.

"Battle for Cassandra" draft 1 complete, will be first part of trilogy

I finished the first draft of "Battle for Cassandra", which I will rename "Nineveh." It will be part of a trilogy with "Fionnuala" and "My Sister's Keeper." It is quite, frankly, amazing! Some revising is needed of course, but the basic plot is great.

Before "Fionnuala", Cassandra's nemesis terrorized her in Nineveh, doing everything in her power to try to kill the young girl. Of course, after reading "Heart of Flesh", you all know that Cassandra graduated. However, you don't know how, and it's a very complex story involving gang warfare, treaties and alliances, deadly spell-casting duels, and Lammy's legacy. I decided to make it the first part of a trilogy because most of the characters that star in "Fionnuala" and "My Sister's Keeper" are Nineveh graduates, becoming Cassandra's best friends and worst enemies. In particular, I get to give more time to Max's archnemesis, showing how, even in her early teens, she considered no deed too wicked to perform.

Writing Tip #16: Recycle!

We all have those stories that will never see the light of day. Either because they are too derivative, too offensive, too lame, or simply too awful, they lie on the hard drive, simply waiting to be deleted.

But wait! Is that dark lump merely coal that needs to be pressed into a diamond (rather than "you-know-what")? Don't be too hasty in deleting bad stories. There may be scenes you can use, characters you can rescue, spells that can be revamped, settings which can be remodeled or get a major landscaping job. For example, I once wrote a book called "Karah and Jesse." It was actually completed before "AIR WARS", although it was begun after I started that series. It was, quite frankly, a crude knock-off of "West Side Story." My own little brother, who loved everything that I wrote, grabbed it, ran out of the room, came back, and yelled, "Hey Michael, this story suuuuucks." Suffice it to say that a novel is bad if you have a gangster named Bambi. I never considered throwing it away, but I wanted to bury it in a box in the darkest corner of my parents' attic.

However, after I completed "Heart of Flesh", I noticed that many characters from "Karah and Jesse" were either resurrected as newer, original, and more tasteful. Cassandra assimiliated Karah's traits into her personality, and Nikki, who was Karah's best friend, reappeared as Schyla. Raf, a Hispanic gang leader with a chip on his shoulder (sound familiar, lol?) was scrapped, but his chip was given to Max. Cody, the cousin of Jesse, came back as Cassandra's female childhood nemesis and the older sister of her crush. I even found a place in Nineveh for Bambi, although her name was changed immediately. If I had buried the manuscript, the Nineveh stories would not have been very good at all.

So there you have it. Recycling is good, so do it!

"Innocent" edited and resubmitted, Max's archnemesis evolves

I finally revised my favorite short story, "Innocent." I got comments from my most trusted critics that, though the plot was good, the style was very difficult to follow due to all the flashbacks, so I condensed them into one to make it easier for people to read. Although I love experimenting with new and different ways to tell stories, my goal is to be read, not to showboat.

While working on "Battle for Cassandra", I discovered the first stage in the evolution of Max's archnemesis. After sustaining an injury that should have ended her career as a warrior permanently, she undergoes an experiment that makes her nearly impossible to kill. She is also assigned the task she must complete for her next stage in evolution: she must destroy someone's soul. Her sadistic mentor pushes her to exceed limit after limit of cruelty and violence, so I now have a better understanding of why she can torture Max so easily later in the series. It's getting to the point where I might have to reign her in a bit to keep MYSELF from getting nightmares, much less my readers. Fortunately, since she doesn't become completely unhinged until book three, I have plenty of time to make sure that she is portrayed in a terrifying but tasteful manner.

"A Valiant Effort" Progress, a tragic villain in "Battle for Cassandra"

I have typed up to the part where I toast Koba, my Georgian host father, in "A Valiant Effort." He and my host mother are the most loving and hospital people that I have met and I consider them as close to me as my real family. What I did was actually a cultural faux-pas; in Georgia, the father is supposed to do the toasts. However, Koba was very gracious, not even mentioning it until I asked him if I had made a mistake and simply shrugging it off after I fervently apologized. That's what I love about Georgians so much; they are extremely patient and understanding.

In "Battle for Cassandra", I discovered that the villain has an eating disorder. Due to always comparing herself to her slender and flawlessly beautiful best friend, this girl has serious body issues and struggles with bulimia. The saddest thing is that she is actually very attractive herself, but doesn't believe it. I didn't set out to address this topic in my work, but now that it has shown up, I want to treat it as seriously as it deserves. Like the other subjects which I cover in my work, this issue may not be very popular in Christian circles, but honestly, I don't care. Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone in order to bring healing to a wounded and suffering person. After all, that is what Christ did for us, so it is the responsibility of all Christians to do the same for others, whether they want to face up to it or not.