There were enough of us home that we decided to go see a movie, and the one thing we all agreed on was Logan Lucky. I am going to try really hard to not spoil the movie for anyone who wants to see it but hasn’t yet, but this is your SPOIL ALERT warning. Read at your own risk.
I did enjoy the movie and don’t regret going to see it in the theater. However, there were two things about the movie that took away from the enjoyment.
First, there were some unanswered questions. You don’t need to have every question or problem answered to have a good story, but the major ones need to be addressed without the audience feeling unsatisfied. In Logan Lucky, the dad started a chain of events because he needed a lawyer to stop his ex-wife, who was sole custodian of their daughter, from moving to another state. And yet at the very end, that is what happened in spite of his success. It just doesn’t add up and play into the character of the very loving dad.
The other issue I had was the introduction of characters at the last minute. I understand that the directors were trying to keep the plot twist quiet, but to have someone that the dad trusted more than the main characters in the movie to help him with the secret twist be someone that we had never seen on screen before is pretty lazy. It is like the mystery writers who run you through a bunch of characters to make you guess who did it, only to find out that it was some random psycho that happened to show up. There is probably a scene somewhere on the cutting room floor that hopefully explains the relationship of this mysterious person. Otherwise, why not at least have him be someone that works as a bouncer in the bar?
There were a couple of other, smaller issues but I don’t want to be picking on what was a pretty decent movie. What I am taking away from this is that in my writing, I will map out my plots and not cheap out by introducing characters to fill a gap that don’t make sense.
Have a good day.
Paula
If you own dogs, you know that old joke about dogs acting like you have been gone for 10 years when you just stepped outside to get the mail. We have two dogs, Paxil, a border collie/ Australian shepherd mix, and Lunesta (Lulu) who is a Papillion. Every morning the routine is usually the same. My husband, who is a saint and can deal with mornings better, gets up lets the dogs out to do their business, does his business and gets the coffee going. This is my husband’s time to relax and start the day slowly. Later when I have to get up, the dogs want to go out again. No matter if I get up in one minute or one hour later.
When it rains it pours and that can’t be poignant enough for right now. Poor Barbuda is pretty much wiped out, all the islands in the Carribean, Florida, Mexico, and of course Texas is still bailing out. Our good thoughts and wishes go out for all of you now and I promise to rearrange my budget so we can give cash as needed.
Why is it so many new novels are—to be blunt—crap? How can we find an author we love with one book, then all the love goes away with the next? What’s going wrong? What’s missing? Where did everything go wrong?How can we learn and do better?
by Duncan M. Hamilton
I have noticed that there are different types of personalities and different ways that people interact on Facebook.
I just finished a book, one I won’t name because I don’t want to be mean. The problem is that the book was really good, at least for the first half. You could tell where the writer either had a deadline or just gave up. I hate that.
Through out my career, I have had people ask me how to trick Google so they could be on top of the search engine. First of all, thank you for thinking I am that smart. But because I am that smart, I tell the truth. It isn’t worth it and it can’t be done. Why would you want to? I can see wanting to make sure your site is optimized the best it can be and I am so glad to help you with that. But as my wise old granny used to say “If it is too good to be true, follow the money.” What you want is your right audience to be able to find you. Including your searches.
One of the things I love to do is go shopping at specialty markets, and Los Angeles has so many great places. The Mexican grocery store down the street carries real bologna, the kind with the red strip around it. My great aunt in Newfoundland used to fry pieces up for breakfast, so being able to do the same for my kids shares wonderful memories. They also have a fantastic deli and bakery. Today I am going to a Chinese market and can’t wait to see what I find there.
by Sophie Littlefield, aka Sofia Grant
Last year I spent some months talking about 
I had a bit of an argument with my computer last night. It was naughty and not behaving the way it was suppose to and I was frustrated and tired. So I put it in time out for the night and rebooted it this morning. Usually works.
Writer’s block is probably the most popular topic in the writing posts on