Gareth S. Young - - 1000 Trillion Suns

Storytellers have been around since the dawn of time. Whether they daubed their tales on cave walls or passed on family histories around fires, the Storytellers have long been highly valued in society. The ability to talk or write and relate information is no longer rare in society. However, the ability to weave such wondrous tales that they inspire the listener to greatness, or draw such dread as to have them worry a sleepless night away, is rare indeed. Without readers though, none of it matters. Civilizations have become extinct and their languages along with them, leaving information and stories behind that we may never understand. Without the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphics would just be a collection of pictures carved into stone and a whole aspect of a mighty Empire may have remained a mystery to us. An unread book is no better than a fly swatter if there is no-one who will read it. And if you're not speaking in the language of your readers; if readers require a R...

Okay, I don't really rule but I am the recipient of the Versatile Blogger Award (see picture above for further proof). I'll admit, I didn't enter any competitions to win this award and I wasn't the sole recipient (surely an error...ahem) however, I've very grateful to have received it and my thanks go to a wonderful new friend I made on Twitter: Angela Goff who runs the Anonymous Legacy blog. Now apparently there are some rules I'm bound to now that I've greedily accepted this award, and the associated adulation...don't worry I'll wait for the adulation. Here are the rules: 1. In a post on your, blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award. 2. In the same post, Add the Versatile Blogger Award. 3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog. 4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself. 5. In the same post, include this set of r...

Those people who get to read the unadulterated, first draft, grammatical nightmare that you call a story are no longer called friends or buddies or, dare I say, chums. No, these people are now Beta Readers, like Beta testers in the computer world. There is little reward for this task except maybe a small thank you on the inside cover of the book but they do get to have an influence over the writer of a book. I'm sure there's been more than a few over the years who've told a friend, "I told her to write that line." or "That scene was my idea." And a little bit of vicarious living never hurt anybody...I hope. Where do you find these hard-working and noble Beta Readers, those select few who are both smart enough to give you useful comment and available enough to spend some time on your new WIP? Well, usually it's friends. Sometimes close friends whose opinions you've grown to respect...or at least put up with. It's a huge ask but some of them ...

As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted... 2012 is going to be a bumper year for movies and hopefully they'll live up to the hype. There's three I'm really looking forward to but first I'm going to continue my rundown of other movies to look out for: The Amazing Spider-man - A reboot already? New director, new star and a second go around for the old Webhead. The original trilogy lost steam, the third movie was a massive disappointment but Andrew Garfield (despite being much older than the character) looks right for the part and seems genuinely into it. Emma Stone is currently one of the best young actresses in Hollywood so, I hope this one goes well but I know there's less excitement about it than there was for any of the original trilogy with Tobey Maguire. Neighborhood Watch - A high concept comedy with Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill. When they're given good stuff all three of these guys are hilarious...the sadly though they all ha...

I told you I'd be back! (said in best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) As a movie fan there's a few reasons to optimistic in 2012. Sure, box office was down in 2011 but I think that's because there was no Avatar propping it up. Movie goers are also sick of paying $6 for a drink and triple the price of admission to see the movie in 3D. I mentioned Avatar a moment ago and it has been the only movie where 3D has really made it better in my opinion. The movie was still terrible but boy, it looked good. So, yeah 2011 didn't blow me away but 2012, if the trailers are anything to go by, will be a peach. Okay, I'll be the first to admit that originality might not be front and center since most of the most anticipated movies of the coming year are sequels, prequels, reboots or re-imaginings of previous fan favorites. However, what is exciting is the fact that Hollywood has lined those movies up with sure-fire fanbait directors and casts, luring us back with promises of bette...

I didn't get out to the movies as much as I wanted to in 2011 so I'm still waiting to catch up on a couple of releases on DVD. That being said, I saw enough to be able to compile a couple of lists so, that's really all I need to be going on with... The Good (in no particular order) 1) Mission Impossible 4 - The last movie I saw in 2011. Plenty of action and stunts, some excellent set pieces,  cool gadgets and a splash of humor made this the best in the series so far. I would definitely go see another one with this team. Great live action debut for the Pixar man Brad Bird as director. 2)  Captain America: The First Avenger - Another glut of comic book movies in the first half of 2011 saw Cap and his shield come out on top. Eye-popping action, a group of Howling Commandos, a great bad guy in Red Skull and all anchored by an earnest performance by Chris Evans in the lead role. Also, we mustn't forget the feisty and gorgeous Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. We should ...