August 25, 2014
One of the drawbacks of the school holidays is that the choice of films in the cinemas is restricted to blockbuster action movies targeted at teenagers, or animations aimed at children. There's little depth or humour, and when these are used, there's a tendency to batter the audience over the head with them.
On the face of it, Guardians of the Galaxy is no different, and my expectations of it were low. I looked forward to 90 minutes of fairly mindless action and noise with caricatures instead of rounded characters. I soon reviewed my opinion. The film has a delightful streak of whimsy that makes it more than a little bonkers and sets it apart from the norm. It's based on the Marvel Comics characters. None of them are superheroes and only the villain is wholly predictable. Stereotypes and clichés abound, but they are subverted by pure silliness. Even the 70s music was bearable.
My favourite character was Groot, who reminded me of Terry Pratchett's librarian of Unseen University in the Discworld novels. The librarian was turned into an orang-utan by a spontaneous burst of magic. All he ever says is 'ook' but the reader knows exactly what he means. Make sure you keep your seat during the end credits. Marvel Comics films usually include a final treat to reward those who watch to the finish, and they've outdone themselves this time.
Guardians of the Galaxy is one action film I could happily watch more than once.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
August 18, 2014
I've had one of those weeks where I feel I've been rushing around without really getting anywhere. I think everyone has them from time to time. They're frustrating because you think you've achieved nothing, but is that really true? I've made a list of what I've been doing since last Monday.
I've written: blogs - 3
tweets - 6
notes for features - 3
doggy diary (the things my bichons get up to) - 2 A4 sheets
Discord's Appren...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
August 11, 2014
Twiction Addiction has accepted another two of my tweets in response to its regular prompts. The most recent one went online on 9th August. So far, I've submitted tweets on paper, custard, collar and congregation. Not only has the man behind Twiction Addiction, Mark Connors, invited me to be its featured author for October, he's also introduced me as "the fabulous Karla Dearsley". I'm dead chuffed. Now, all I have to do is live up to it.
Check out @TwictionAddict to read lots of twiction fro...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
August 4, 2014
Having recently been to Florence, I took the opportunity on a sunny afternoon to sit in the garden and read E. M. Forster's
A Room with a View. I watched the film again the night before I went away, and I'm glad to say that it's very faithful to the book. That's quite remarkable, especially for a novel of that period (early 1900s).
Usually, novels have to be pared down for the screen, but Merchant-Ivory's adaptation has kept every character and scene. Practically every line of dialogue in ...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
July 28, 2014
It's been almost too hot to think. It's hard to plot stories or craft beautiful sentences when you're wilting. Not that I'm complaining. Who knows how long the lovely weather will last? I would encourage everyone to avoid spending all day at their computer, if they can. Slap on the suncreen, don your sunglasses and possibly a hat, and set your chair up in a shady spot outside.
You can write just as well with paper and a pencil. Should the piece you intended to work on become a sluggish tri...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 20, 2014
Researching a novel can be fun or frustrating, but it's always time consuming and, all too often, the facts that you find the most fascinating never make it into the finished work. That doesn't mean that the hours spent checking websites, hunting out books and talking to experts are wasted.
The more background information you have, the more confidently you can write. You'll know your characters better and won't have to waste time rewriting because you've placed them in impossible situatio...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 14, 2014
When you go on holiday, it isn't unusual to see people taking photo after photo, barely taking the time to focus. In fact, they're so intent on getting the shot that they don't even really look at the things they're taking photos of. When they look at them afterwards they probably have trouble remembering that they were there.
Writers are always told to carry a notebook with them, and I second that, but there's a danger of becoming like those photographers. Somehow a balance needs to be found...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 5, 2014
There'll be no blog next week. I shall be hard at it carrying out research, interviewing people, trudging around the heart of the city... okay, I'll come clean, I shall actually be eating ice-cream and sampling the local vino. Who could pretend that visiting Florence will be anything other than a joy? However, I shall be taking my notebook and camera and hope to return inspired by acres of art, wonderful architecture and glimpses of characters who could people any number of works of fiction, ...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 1, 2014
I have a few publication dates coming up for various bits and pieces, so at the risk of jinxing things and causing delays, here they are.
TwictionAddict has four tweets of mine. Two are on the prompt 'collar', due online on 6th and 29th July, and two are on the prompt 'custard' (a subject close to my heart), due online on 9th and 31st August. Read them as they come out, or save them all up for a commercial break or the next time you're waiting at a bus stop.
Alfie Dog Fiction is running...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
June 23, 2014
In my search for free to enter competitions, I came across The World's Best Birthday Ideas competition for humorous birthday verses. The closing date isn't until 30th June 2014, so there's still time to enter. I did, and you can read my effort at
http://www.great-happy-birthday-ideas.com/made-it.html.
On another subject, my efforts to write in another language have gone off at a tangent. One language doesn't translate exactly to another. If language is an extension of the way people think,...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
