This Week’s Final Cut in Moives show (04/18/08): Batman Begins

Click here to listen to tonight's show.

On this week’s show, I'll be discussing Batman Begins (to prepare for The Dark Knight's release in July), real men, the four types of people in the world, what it takes to be a hero, and other science fiction & fantasy news. (This one's got a lot of rants, so it should be interesting, provocative, and even slightly controversial.)

The show will air from 2:00-3:00am & pm and re-air throughout the week at the same times on http://www.adastraradio.com/.

Missed last week's edition of The Final Cut? Don’t worry, you can catch the re-run from 3:00 to 4:00 am & pm (just after this week’s Final Cut) at http://www.adastraradio.com/. Just click the "Listen Live" button on the top right hand corner.

The Ft. Myers News-Press Did an Article About Me!

I'm quite excited! The News-Press posted this article by Amy Sowder about me today, if anyone wants to check it out:

"Michelle Weston wove through the aisles of Barnes & Noble at Coconut Point. Her eyes scanned the categories and alighted upon the desired spot. She beelined for a book and snatched it off the shelf. 'It's here!' she said, delighted." For the rest of the article, click here.

It hasn't affected my Amazon rank, yet, but I'm hoping it will get people to come to my book signing this Saturday (Borders, Gulf Coast Town Center, Ft. Myers, 2-4. Be there so I don't have to do another blog about vulnerability.)

Special thanks to Amy Sowder, who wrote such a nice article and endured an interview with me high on coffee for about two hours!

The Innocence of 5-Year-Olds

I spent some time with my nieces, Ella and Ava (ages 5 & 3, respectively), last night, and as is tradition, they asked their Aunt Selle (that's me) to come play with them. I usually try to indulge--playing pretend can be fun. (I especially like the game, Hide Aunt Selle in the Closet, because it means I can get a nap.)

Before we started playing, Ava disappeared and Ella and I played on the front porch.

"What are we playing?" I asked.

"We're playing 'People,'" said Ella.

Interesting name.

Ella pointed to the seven multi-colored glass lanterns on the ground. "Those are our students, and we are going to teach them to fly."

Right. But hey, I write about guardian angels, so I shouldn't have had any trouble imagining lanterns as people or teaching the lanterns to fly. (In all my years of life, I never thought I'd write that sentence.)

Ella pulled out a pink feather and started pacing back in forth in front of our pretend students, her blond hair bouncing as she talked. "And today," she announced, "we're going to learn to fly with our magic feather..."

Someone has seen way too much of Disney's Dumbo.

"...and you have to make a wish when you fly with the feather," Ella continued, "or your wish won't come true."

Don't forget to remind them to make it upon a star...

Every now and then, Ella instructed me to teach the class. After I played along and sang a few Dumbo songs (Yes I have them memorized. I'm an auditory learner. Once I hear it, it sticks. Ask me to sing you some commercial jingles sometime.), I instructed Ella to tell them the rest.

"And now we're going to tell you a story about the feather," continued Ella.

Fearing my "cool aunt" status at stake, I feverishly skimmed through my memories of Dumbo so I could keep up. I can do this, I'm a fantasy writer.

Ella began telling a story about a flying elephant with a magic feather that it got from a black bird. Once the elephant began flying, she turned to me to continue the story.

Wouldn't it be cool if Dumbo encountered a dragon during his flights?

I couldn't help it. Dumbo always bored me as a kid (except for the Pink Elephant song, which freaked me out).

"And then," I began, "the elephant encountered an animal he had never seen before." Ella's blue eyes grew big with excitement--a reaction I love when I tell a story. "It was huge," I continued, "and it looked like a lizard but with wings!" I turned to Ella. "Do you know what it was?"

Ella nodded. She stood up straight and proudly stated, "A flying squirrel."

I seem to remember the lanterns laughing at me.

he Difficulties of Life Without MLB Extra Innings

Budget cuts have forced the Weston household to go without cable/DSL for a while. This is great for my writing, but it is horrible for my baseball addiction. I've been forced to watch my New York Yankees on MLB.com's gameday--when I've been home when they've played, which is another story altogether.

Tonight, I got my first chance to watch a baseball game at my brother-in-law's house. He does not have MLB Extra Innings, so I was stuck with whatever was on TV--ESPN Monday Night Baseball with the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians playing at the fly-infested dung hole that used to be called Jacob's Field. (What's up with this "Progressive Field" mumbo jumbo. It's The Jake! Not Progressive Field. )

Basically, Boston & Cleveland are my two of my most hated teams this year.

This put me in an interesting position. Do I cheer for the Yankees' hated rival, Boston, or do I cheer for the team that beat the Yankees in the playoffs last year (due in part to the fly- infested dung hole) and failed to beat Boston in the ALCS?

Answer: I cheered for the game. When I saw a gorgeous play (like when Coco Crisp tried for a bunt single and was thrown out-he he he), I cheered. When Varitek connected, I cheered. When the Yankees box score came up showing them beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I cheered. Baseball is baseball and good baseball deserves a good cheer.

I must admit, however, that toward the end of the game, I was cheering for the Tribe. (I'm still a Yankee fan at heart.) And FYI, Jeter is back, the Yanks are winning 8-7, Mariano Rivera is pitching to B. J. Upton in the 9th with 2 outs and no one on, and Boston is down 4-3 in the 8th. *happy sigh* Life is currently beautiful--except the lack of TV thing.

P.S. Rivera just struck out Upton for a Yankees win. I'm switching to the Boston/Cleveland game...

M. B. Weston’s Events for the Week: 04/14/08

Here are my author and radio events this week:

• Saturday, April 19th, 10:00am-12:00am: Young Writers of Naples meeting. Barnes & Noble--Waterside Shops, Naples, FL.
• Saturday, April 19th, 2:00pm-3:00pm (and throughout the week at the same times): The Final Cut in Movies radio program on Ad Astra Radio. This week's show is still a surprise, so stay tuned.Click here to listen, and then click the blinking "Listen Live" button on the top right.
• Saturday, April 19th, 2:00pm-4:00pm: Book Signing. Borders Books and Music--Gulf Coast Town Center, Ft. Myers, FL. (I can sign books the same time my show airs because the show is pre-recorded...)

Creating Fantasy Takes Research

I used to joke that creating fantasy was easy because it didn't require any research. That changed last weekend when I gave a talk about "Making Make-Believe Believable" at the Naples Press Club Writer's Conference, and I decided to bring all the books I used to create my fantasy world. (Or to "Surround the Extraordinary with the Ordinary" as I put it.)

For those of you who aren't familiar with The Elysian Chronicles, my main character, Davian, is a special operative guardian angel. (Think "Roman soldiers with wings" meets "Navy SEALs" or "Green Berets.") When I prepared to write A Prophecy Forgotten: Book I of the Elysian Chronicles, I wanted to take the special operative culture and add it to my Elysian military. That meant research. Last weekend, I gasped at the pile of books I've read in order to create a guardian angel special forces culture:

• Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces by Tom Clancy, GEN Carl Stiner (Ret.), and Tony Koltz
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to The US Special Ops Forces by Marc Cerasini (Idiots and Dummies books were made for me!)
• Inside Delta Force by founding member, Eric L. Haney (I used a lot of this to create a whole novella about Davian's RSO Training days.)
• Marine Force Recon by Fred J. Pushies
• U.S. Army Special Forces by Fred J. Pushies
• US Navy SEALS by Hans Halberstadt

[Here I am at the Naples Press Club Writer's Conference holding up Shadow Warriors, Tom Clancy's non-fiction book about the US Army Special Forces.]

Of course, it's not enough to read about Special Forces. I also need to understand warfare in general, hence:

• The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Best book about warfare I've ever read, and it had made me a phenomenal Risk and Hold 'Em player.)
• Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden (for dialogue as much as anything)
• FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual (Everyone should read this just in case.)
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Vietnam War by Timothy P. Maga, PhD
• Battles of the Medieval World by...a bunch of people. (I'm still working on this one.)

And I need to know about weapons and armor if I'm going to create my own, hence:

• Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 BC to 2000 AD by The Diagram Group
• The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare by Chris Smith (just to see what the costume designers were thinking when they designed the weapons and armor)

Since part of Out of the Shadows: Book II of the Elysian Chronicles takes place at The United States Naval Academy...

• United States Naval Academy: Annapolis by Linda Foster w/ pictures by Roger Miller (amazing pics, by the way)
• Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy by Pete Souza
• Reef Points (2006-2007)
• Brief Points (3rd Edition) by Ross H. MacKenzie

And Book III of the Elysian Chronicles will take place in Norway and draws on Norwegian Mythology and folklore:

• Lost Worlds: Vikings by J. M. Clements
• Nordic Gods and Heroes by Padraic Colum
• Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood
• Norwegian Troll Tales by Joanne Asala
• The Troll with No Heart in His Body and Other Tales of Trolls From Norway by Lise Lunge-Larsen
• Say it in Norwegian
• DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: Norway
• Insight Guides: Scandinavia

And of course, you can't write fantasy without knowing classical mythology, legends, and mythological creatures.

• Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You by Holly Black
• The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythological Creatures
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology
• Bulfinch's Mythology (which includes all sorts of cool stuff!)

I've also done a few interviews with USNA graduates, Navy pilots, Air Force airmen, and US Army soldiers, and I've visited the Naval Academy as well.

So, the moral of the story is: Don't decide to write fantasy because it sounds easier than writing historical fiction. Oh, and don't pile all of your hard cover books into two bags and try to carry them to where you're speaking all by yourself. You'll throw your back out--especially if you already have a bad foot.

A View From Inside the Back of a Police Car: Michelle's Road Adventures Continue

It's usually not good to start a road trip on only 4 hours of sleep--especially if it's the 5th nigtht in a row of only 4 hours of sleep. The last time I only had four hours of sleep before a road trip, I pumped diesel instead of gas into my Toyota Camry, which my family will not let me live down. It's about a month after the diesel experience, so it would only be fitting that today would give me fodder for yet another humourous story.

I spoke at Varsity Lakes Middle School today for their "Extra, Extra Read All About It!" event designed to encourage kids to read. It's about 43.28 miles away from my house (MapQuest is the greatest invention known to man!!!), and I woke up at 6:30 to complete my Final Cut in Movies news updates. I made the drive without coffee, following MapQuest exactly, and I turned down a road with a big sign that said Varsity Lakes Middle School.

The problem? Two other buildings are on that road--unmarked. One is a library, which looks like a small school, and the other is a high school. I got a little nervous because I couldn't tell if the library was Varsity Lakes Middle School or the high school was Varsity Lakes Middle School, but middle schools don't have Tennis teams, so I was thinking of turning around and heading back to the library buildings. As I turned my head, looking for signs, my car veered--ever so slightly--to the edge of the road...

...which happened to be the only edge of asphalt on the entire street with a pothole. My tire fell off the road, and the sharp edges of the pothole ripped a 2-by-4 inch hole into the tire. (I'm not making it up!)

The air left my tire immediately. I'm told I'm lucky I wasn't driving fast.

I pulled over and called the school. The receptionist first told me that there were no other buildings on the road until I described one to her and she said, "Oh, that's the high school." Then, she told me I was about quarter-of-a-mile away from Varsity Lakes Middle School. (Do I need to go further, or have I made my point about Lee County signage?) I grabbed a copy of A Prophecy Forgotten and some pamplets out of the car and proceeded to walk toward Varsity Lakes. Of course, they didn't have a sidewalk, so my heels were sinking into the sand that we Floridians pretend is dirt. It was probably a very funny picture, come to think about it.

Before I go on, please understand two things. First, I'm a goal-oriented individual. If I really want to get something done, I don't let much stop me. Second, getting somewhere on time is very important to me. It's professional, it shows the person you are meeting that you care about his/her schedule, and it's just the right thing to do. As I was walking, I began to worry about getting to the school on time. Now that we are all on the same page, what I did next will not seem so insanely stupid.

A random truck driving away from the school stopped next to me, and the driver asked if I needed a ride. Please understand, he was clean cut and the truck was brand new (I think it was a Ford 350 or something like that) and spotless. So I did what any respectable author on a schedule would do. I said yes and hopped in.

(I know. I know. Twice in a week now, I've put myself in an incredibly dangerous situation. I know. If any teenage young ladies are reading this, don't ever get into the car of a complete stranger. It's insanely stupid.)

The nice man dropped me off in front of the office, and I arrived on time. (Yay!) I spoke to the kids and managed to make it so I didn't have to read from my book (you know how nervous I was about that). Then I returned to the Media Center where I met the school's deputy named Andrew Penny (I hope I got that right). (We actually met before the event, but I didn't have time to go into that in the blog.) Officer Penny just happens to be a science fiction/fantasy fan, and we had some great conversations about how the 300 actually wore armor and other really cool things. He volunteered to help me change my tire, and he said he'd drive me to my car.

My mystery-genre-loving heart skipped a beat. My moment had arrived. I had, in my hands, the chance to fulfill the dream of every author who has ever wanted to write adventure or detective stories.

"Can I sit in the back of the car????" I asked. (I have a lot of weird things that I really want to do. For instance, I want Roger Clemons hit me in the ribs with one of his fastballs, just to see what it would feel like, but I don't think he'd go for it. It's because I believe Major League Baseball should let pitchers retaliate, but I want to know what it feels like before I--never mind the baseball tangent. On with the story.)

Officer Penny said yes, and I got to ride in the back of the police car! (I'm easily entertained.) During the ride, the poor guy had to endure all of my questions:

• "What's the plexiglass in front of your head for?"
• "Is it bullet proof?"
• "What happened to the seat belts?"
• "So have you ever done a 'brake test'?"
• "If the car falls in the river, I can't get out, can I?"

I also tried shaking all the bars to see if I could get out (I couldn't.), and I pretended I was in handcuffs to see if I could flip my arms under my legs and bring my hands forward. (I couldn't.) Come to think of it, the deputy probably wished he had a hyperactive 7-year-old named Tommy in the back seat instead of me high on two cups of coffee...

Another deputy, a sergeant, arrived as Officer Penny was starting to change my tire, and I started asking him questions.

• "What sidearm do you use?"
• "Why do you have a shotgun in the back of your car?"
• "Would you rather use a shotgun or your sidearm?" (A stupid question. The shotgun, but I wanted confirmation.)
• "What's the hardest thing about being a cop?"
• "Can I go seventy...um...two...miles an hour on this tire once it's on?"

When I got back to Naples, my husband met me at Sears so they could put four new tires on the car. (Two of them were almost bald--I have no idea how I made it alive to Alabama and back.) So there you have it. Michelle's costly mistake for this month *sigh* --except that the car needed new tires, so it was kind of okay.

I would like to give special thanks to:

• the nice guy who took me to the school and introduced himself but I forgot his name because I was kind of nervous
• Officer Andrew Penny, who changed my tire so I didn't have to call AAA. And who let me ride in the back of his cop car!