Year 5 of an Indie Writer, Week 17 AKA The One With Video

Well, I'm trying something different this week. I'll let you see for yourself.

Wading Into War - Author Read

Eighty years ago today, a private investigator named Benjamin Wade knocked on a door…and was met with bullets. What he does next and how he got there is recounted in the book WADING INTO WAR.

Starting today, I am reading the entire book on my YouTube channel. I have an introduction and the first five chapters ready today. Tomorrow will be the next five, and Friday, I’ll finish out the 18-chapter book.

I’d appreciate some views and comments. This is a first for me, and I discovered I enjoyed it. This won’t be the last story I read, nor will it be the last video I make.

Hope you enjoy.

Here’s the Introduction.



And here’s Chapter 1.

Avengers: Endgame - The 2020 Summer Movie Season Kicks Off This Week

If you've read my post about the summer 2020 movie season--AKA we're basically not going to have a usual one--I suggested we build out own. I developed a list of movies that came out in years ending with five or zero, thus a nice and tidy anniversary number. Other than The Empire Strikes Back (21 May) and Back to the Future (3 July), I'm still making my own schedule, but there is one exception.

Avengers: Endgame came out a year ago this week. It, along with Infinity War in 2018, was and remains one of my favorite movie-going experiences. The crowd reaction, the anticipation, the talking about it afterwards. It truly was a unique phenomenon.

So I'll be re-watching it this Friday evening. Yeah, it'll be at home with just the family, but I want to remember just how awesome that movie was. Then I'll follow up with some of those YouTube clips of audience reactions to help remind me and everyone just how great it is to sit in a darkened theater and experience a movie with a bunch of other people.

I miss theaters and look forward to returning.

Build Your Own Summer 2020 Movie Blockbuster Calendar

A year ago this week, all of us who loved big-budget action movies and Marvel movies were all chomping at the bit and counting the days before the premier of Avengers: Endgame. It was never a question of if the Avengers would defeat Thanos. It was how. Then, on 26 April 2019, we got our answer.

Endgame kicked off the 2019 summer movie season and it was a pretty good one. Over the years, comic book movies and super-hero movies served at tent poles to the summer season. There was more than one year in which I'd mark release dates on the family calendar hanging on the fridge for all to see. The summer movie season is my favorite season of the year.

In 2020, however, it's a different story. Many of the films have been pushed back already. Wonder Woman 1984 got bumped to August. Christopher Nolan's Tenet still hangs onto its mid-July date, so maybe it'll stay. But most of the others will be fall or December movies. Because nothing quite says Merry Christmas like a Top Gun sequel.

What's a movie goer to do?

I've been thinking it over in recent days and I've come up with an idea: Build your own summer movie blockbuster season.

This is 2020, so the some anniversaries--ten years or five years--are easy to calculate. The biggest movie I was already planning to re-watch was The Empire Strikes Back (on VHS!), which turns forty next month. The other obvious one is Jaws which is forty-five in June. Back to the Future is thirty-five this year. Curious, I paged through the various "Movies in [fill in the blank year]" lists and compiled a list of movies that were released in the summer months going back all the way to 1975. I chose 1975 because I can actually remember going to the cinema that year. And I only selected years ending in zero or five.

I'll post the list at the end of this piece, but my guiding idea was movies I'd actually seen. There are a few exceptions, noted with an asterisk. Those are films I've come to watch but didn't at the time of release.

A couple of Disney films popped up. The Apple Dumpling Gang is, perhaps, the first film I saw in a cinema because I have distinct memories of it. Oh! Heavenly Dog and The Last Flight of Noah's Ark are, I hope on Disney+.

The one oddball is 1980's The Kidnapping of the President. That title stopped me and, it turns out, the film stars William Shatner. That's enough for me.

I honestly haven't made my own list yet, but, as I wrote at the beginning of this post, there will be one exception: Avengers: Endgame. I've only seen it twice and, well, having seen those recent posts where someone synced up audience reactions to a couple of big moments in the movie, I want to revisit again. So, already on the calendar for next Friday, 24 April, is Endgame.

Why do this? Well, to build anticipation. I'm no medical professional, grocery professional, or any other kind of worker whose job is deemed essential and has to venture out into the public day after day. My part in this great Coronavirus year of 2020 is to stay home, stay healthy, and stay out of the way.

So I'm manufacturing a movie release schedule to build up excitement to re-watch some old favorites. And, no: I'm not jumping the gun on them. If there's a movie I haven't seen in a long time that originally was released in June or July--say, Jaws or Inception--then I'm waiting until those dates (or the nearest approximation).

Call me odd, call me weird (which my wife does frequently), but I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to returning to a theater when it's all safe to do so. I love movies, and I really love watching them in a theater.

Here's the list, broken out by year and then by month. Enjoy.


Summer Movies for 2020

1975
Jaws - June 20
The Apple Dumpling Gang - July 1

1980
The Empire Strikes Back - May 21
*Airplane - July 2
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark - July 9
Oh! Heavenly Dog - July 11
*The Kidnapping of the President - Aug 15 (Prime)

1985

A View to a Kill - May 22
Rambo: First Blood Part II - May 22
Fletch - May 31
The Goonies - June 7
Cocoon - June 21
*Pale Rider - June 26
Back to the Future - July 3
*Silverado - July 12
Teen Wolf - Aug 23

1990
Back to the Future Part III - May 25
Total Recall - June 1
Dick Tracy - June 15
Die Hard 2 - July 4
Ghost - July 13
Presumed Innocent - July 27
Darkman - Aug 24

1995

Crimson Tide - May 12
Die Hard with a Vengeance - May 19
Batman Forever - June 16

2000
U-571 - Apr 21
Gladiator - May 5
Mission Impossible 2 - May 24
Chicken Run - June 21
The Patriot - June 28
X-Men - July 14
What Lies Beneath - July 21
Space Cowboys - Aug 4


2005
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - May 19
Batman Begins - June 15
War of the Worlds - June 29

2010

Iron Man 2 - May 7
Toy Story 3 - June 18
*Knight and Day - June 23
Inception - July 16
*The Expendables - Aug 13

2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Apr 13
*Mad Max: Fury Road - May 7
Tomorrowland - May 8
Inside Out - May 18
*San Andreas - May 27
Jurassic World - May 29
Ant-Man - June 29
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - Jul 23
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Aug 7

2019
Avengers: Endgame – Apr 26


**BY DATE**

APRIL
U-571 - Apr 21
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Apr 13
Avengers: Endgame – Apr 26

MAY
Gladiator - May 5
Iron Man 2 - May 7
*Mad Max: Fury Road - May 7
Tomorrowland - May 8
Crimson Tide - May 12
Inside Out - May 18
Die Hard with a Vengeance - May 19
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - May 19
The Empire Strikes Back - May 21
A View to a Kill - May 22
Rambo: First Blood Part II - May 22
Mission Impossible 2 - May 24
Back to the Future Part III - May 25
*San Andreas - May 27
Jurassic World - May 29
Fletch - May 31

JUNE
Total Recall - June 1
The Goonies - June 7
Dick Tracy - June 15
Batman Begins - June 15
Batman Forever - June 16
Toy Story 3 - June 18
Jaws - June 20
Cocoon - June 21
Chicken Run - June 21
*Knight and Day - June 23
*Pale Rider - June 26
The Patriot - June 28
War of the Worlds - June 29
Ant-Man - June 29

JULY
The Apple Dumpling Gang - July 1
Airplane - July 2
Back to the Future - July 3
Die Hard 2 - July 4
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark - July 9
Oh! Heavenly Dog - July 11
*Silverado - July 12
Ghost - July 13
X-Men - July 14
Inception - July 16
What Lies Beneath - July 21
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - Jul 23
Presumed Innocent - July 27

AUGUST
Space Cowboys - Aug 4
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Aug 7
*The Expendables - Aug 13
*The Kidnapping of the President - Aug 15 (Prime)
Teen Wolf - Aug 23
Darkman - Aug 24

Year 5 of an Indie Writer: Week 15 AKA Dublin, Rockford, Prine, and Apollo 13

I'm willing to bet that my week went something close to yours. I spent every workday in my writing room doing the day job. I watched some news, but only about an hour a day. I watched a few TV shows. I spent lots of time with the family. And that was about it.

You?

I thought so.

Without much variety and few exterior stimulation, there's not a lot of change day to day. Now don't get me wrong: I am not bored. I do not have cabin fever. I am content to do what I can to flatten the curve. And, as I'm not a medical professional or a grocery store employee, that means staying home. I'm doing my part, as are so many of us. Frankly, it's inspiring to see everyday folks doing what they can to combat this virus. It should be a moment of pride for all of us.

Give yourself a round of applause. But I also have some crime fiction-related material.

Dublin Murders

My wife read all the books by Tana French and loved them. When she heard a television series was being made, she got very excited. When she learned said series was going to be on STARZ, she sighed. We subscribe to a few streaming services, and she was willing to wait to see Dublin Murders at some future date.

Well, STARZ came through. The network offered it's content for free for about a week, and we eagerly jumped on the eight-episode series which combines the first two French novels: INTO THE WOODS and THE LIKENESS.

Taking place in 2006, Rob Riley (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) pick up a case about a murdered teenaged girl. They don't want another child murder case but Rob's driven to solve this one. Turns out, the dead girl was found in the same set of woods a notorious 1985 crime also occurred. The 1985 case involved three younger teenagers who went into the forest but only one came out. This story line corresponds

Rob was that boy, but he's hidden his identity. Now, as the lead detective in 2006, he strives to find the 2006 killer at the same time as he digs into the events of 1985, most of which he can't remember.

Cassie has her own issues stemming from the deaths of her parents when she was a child. Her own demons haunt her, and play directly into the B Mystery, which is the subject of THE LIKENESS. This one involves her going undercover to find who killed a young lady...who looks just like Cassie.

Okay, so the A Mystery plot is pretty good and I found it quite compelling. I enjoyed the camaraderie between Rob and Cassie...until they both started acted in a manner that seemed unlike themselves. And it really put me off. The B Mystery plot I almost didn't care for. The deeper into the B Mystery we got, the more irritated I became. I would've preferred just doing INTO THE WOODS.

And then there was the ending...

Have you seen Dublin Murders? What did you think of it.

John Prine

Up until the singer/songwriter got sick with Coronavirus, I wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup. I don't think I've ever consciously listened to any of Prine's songs.

Unfortunately, Prine died from Covid 19 this week. And then I started reading the remembrances from all over, including Jason Isbell's piece in the New York Times and that of James Taylor. Seth Godin listed lots of song lyrics on his blog, and that got me to YouTube. I started listening to Prince's songs. I listened and then I kept listening. My wife, who knows Prine and his music, had me listen to multiple versions of "Angel from Montgomery."

I loved everything I heard, and he had a great way with lyrics and spinning his tales. I'll be listening to more of his music in the weeks ahead.

Do you have a favorite Prine song?

The Rockford Files

Yesterday, I had a day off and, after lunch and my daily games of backgammon and Yahtzee with the wife, I pulled out my DVD set of the first season of The Rockford Files. I watched the first two episodes, and boy did I enjoy them. The clothes. The cars. The rumpled coolness of James Garner. The big heart. That theme song.

What I really liked and appreciated is how Rockford would think his way out of every situation. He reminded me of Donald Lam from the Erle Stanley Gardner Cool and Lam novels. And the humor was at times subtle and obvious. Really enjoyed both episodes.

I have memories of the show being on back in my childhood, but I don't remember ever sitting down and watching the show. I was probably too young for it. Cut to my adulthood and I never sought out the show. Now that I have the complete first season, I'll be watching it...and then finding future seasons.

Apollo 13 at 50

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 13's launch. Monday marks the anniversary of the accident in space while next Friday is the date of splashdown. If you haven't done it in awhile, you should check out the movie. If not, there will be likely be articles published.

Take a moment and remember what the expertise of all those involved fifty years ago did to get those astronauts back home safe. Remarkable.

Year 5 of an Indie Writer: Week 14 AKA Keeping Calm and at Home

Second full week of physical distancing. For me, this is my third week of working from home. I know there can be a lull or a blurring of days. So far, here at the house, we've avoided that. Part of the reason is our appointment television. When you want to tune in to the new episode of New Amsterdam or The Curse of Oak Island (one of my wife's favorite shows), it helps to know what day it is. Also, I've taken to marking the days on my wall calendar with a big red X. Lastly, my watch tells me what day it is, so there's that, too.

This'll be the third weekend under Houston's stay-at-home order. In order to make the weekend days seem different, we have a different schedule. Naturally, I don't work and my son doesn't attend school. But he and I have taken to driving around--without getting out--and listening to an album. He's discovered quite a lot of music and, since his tastes run similar to mine, it's good to get out and drive.

Our occasional Friday Night at the Movies has been set in stone. Last weekend, we caught Damien: Omen II. Boy, that's 107 minutes I won't get back. Last night, we finished the trilogy. My son is expanding his viewing of classic horror films and now those are off the list.

Reading

I usually read on one of my two ereaders: the Kindle and the Kobo. I like them for different reasons, but I really love the obvious: I can browse on them and download samples. I especially appreciate both devices linking with my local library. I'm still reading Jedi Twilight by Michael Reaves. It's a PI story set in the Star Wars universe.

I also downloaded the Comixology app for my older iPad so now I can keep reading comics albeit in a digital form. I'm partial to trade paperback collections and I picked up the first set of DC's Starman (1994). I've heard good things and now's the time. I'm also working my way through the first volume of Master of Kung Fu. I bought this last year at Houston's Comicpalooza. Really enjoying this.

Music

Now that I'm WFH, I have my collection of CDs readily available to me. I'm rediscovering some albums I haven't heard in forever. This week's highlight: Ska Island. It's a 1997 compilation from Island Records and it is fantastic. I'm not sure why I haven't spun it in a long time, but I've listened to it every day this week. Here's the link.

Writing

Through all the turmoil, I'm still writing and creating. I do it every morning when I wake up. With zero commute, I actually have more time. But I keep the world at bay and never check the news before I get in my daily words. No sense messing with the mojo.

The website project I had always intended to launch this year is still progressing. I want to get more of it finished before I make it public, but the idea of it is even more applicable in this new environment. I'm not sure what we're going to call the After Times (Post-Covid; Post-Coronavirus, etc.) , but it'll be different. Hopefully, the website I'm creating can find an audience.

Well, this isn't a long blog but it's a snapshot in time. Hope you are staying safe and healthy and doing your individual part and staying at home. You may think it's no big deal because you are one person, but if we all do it collectively, we can save lives and help our health care workers.

Until next week...