Jason Fried gives a TEDtalk about productivity, offices, and why involuntary interruptions are the enemy of work.
This is why, even though I’m a full-time writer now, I still have to go to the coffee shop to meet my daily word count goals.
Photos from day three of the book trailer shoot
StandardFrank Woodward posted pics of day three of the book trailer shoot. They’re here. You can see Jim and Marissa in character as Ray and Annalise, and Charlie Talbert who’s playing Wally, a character from book 3.
I wish I could have been there. It looked like a helluva lot of fun.
Guess what I found in my email inbox?
StandardA notice that “A Glimpse of Darkness”, the several-thousand word short story co-written by me with several other urban fantasy authors is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. If you’re a Kindle reader, check it out.
Randomness for 11/22
Standard1) 10 Great Time-Lapse Construction videos.
2) 10 Great Animated Gifs from Detroit Metal City.
3) Tardis socks, with a link to the knitting pattern included.
4) Tintin in the Lovecraft world.
5) Grandmas discover PhotoBooth. Video.
6) “Not much between the temples.” Thank you, Not Always Right, for documenting the Awful.
7) Speaking of independent movies with super-awesome special effects: BIRDEMIC: The Most Epic Scene Ever Filmed! Video. Wyrd folks, don’t miss this inspirational video!
Book trailer wrapup post, snow, and happiness.
StandardIn fact, I returned home yesterday afternoon after picking up my son at my wife’s work. It was snowing then and it’s snowing harder now–it’s not accumulating on concrete but it is on lawns, roofs, cars, etc and it’s really beautiful. I know some of you live in very northern climates and hate the snow–it’s dangerous, too–but I find it gorgeous and peaceful. Later, if it sticks a little more and this cold I seem to be building to goes away, I’ll be heading out with my wife and son to cardboard sled down the hill behind our home. (Yeah, it’s good to see them again.)
As a followup to my Los Angeles trip, there needs to be an English word that means “work that is fun but also satisfying,” because that’s what I did this weekend. The book trailer shoot, (see day one and day two with photos of the main characters from books one and two, as well as the ghost knife prop, sets and production process) was exactly this sort of thing. It was work, it was fun, and it was very satisfying to do. Writing is like this, often.
The guys at Wyrd are doing a great job. Seriously. When they asked me what I wanted in the trailer, I wrote a script that seemed cool and somewhat ambitious. They took that and ran with it, making the shots more complicated, adding effects, motion, conflict, all sorts of things. Honest-to-God, I was amazed at what they’re doing. The actors have been terrific, the footage is beautiful, and the work everyone has been putting in is profoundly humbling.
But! “Fun, satisfying work” needs a word of its own, so we can describe some of the best moments of our lives and better tell young people what they should be striving for.
What should the word be? Is there one in a foreign language we can steal borrow, or do we need a portmaneau?
Added later: To followup on Shecky’s comment on my main blog, I will now be promoting the word “vocate” as a verb form for vocation.
Here’s a photo of me with Annalise Powliss.
StandardDay two of the shoot was much more sedate. Not a lot of night shooting and there was no running pell mell along an insanely steep slope. Unfortunately, heavy rains postponed a shot of Annalise throwing a green ribbon and burning a guy down to his bones. You can probably guess how much I’d have wanted to see that. Instead they got shots of Charles Hammer breathing fire, Ray’s iron gate spell activating, and Ray and Catherine fleeing from a bunch of Washaway pets.
I got to play one of the Washaway pets. I feel like Alfred Hitchcock. :-) The only problem was that I was advancing with the other pets toward Ray Lilly, and when he pulled back and threw the ghost knife at us, I busted out a huge grin. Couldn’t help it. I don’t think it mattered because the shot wasn’t the keeper the director was looking for, but I had to remind myself to have fun on the inside only. Inside only!
I’m sorry I can’t stay for tomorrow’s shots, which will include some effects shots of characters going through windows and other fun. It’ll also be the first call for actors playing characters from Circle of Enemies who I would have loved to meet and get pictures taken with. The characters’ names won’t mean anything to you guys because the book isn’t scheduled until next summer, but Wyrd has been doing such a great job that I wanted to see how they handled things.
As for myself, I’m holding up pretty well, pain-wise. My left leg is pretty swollen, but the aching has gone way down. And as much as I wish I could hang out for the third day of the shoot, I miss my son and my wife. It’ll be good to see them again (and get back on a sensible schedule so I can get back to writing. Jesus, these film people never sleep). Hopefully, once I get back to my real life I can start responding to comments, answering email, the whole deal.
I’ll put the picture of me and “Annalise” behind a cut, but you can see more at the set. Continue reading
Because YOU demanded it!
StandardQuite a few people, including RETRACTED, have suggested that Jim Freivogel, the actor cast as Ray Lilly, is better-looking than the guy they pictured in the books. Me, I’ve always tried to establish him as a handsome dude, but you are the readers and your will must be obeyed!
So without further preamble, I present the location manager actor who has taken over the role mid-production (ladies, please position yourselves by your swooning couches): Continue reading
Here’s a photo of me with Ray Lilly.
StandardGot back from yesterday’s shoot at nearly one a.m. and now I’m about to head out again. Last night I met the actors who are playing Ray and Catherine Little, and they were both great people. Poor Marisol Acosta didn’t have much more to do but run through the woods from a glowing light overhead, but Jim Freivogel had a brief little scene where Ray cuts through the gate of a lock with his ghost knife, and wow is it more involved to shoot that then to say “Ray approaches the gate and cuts through the lock with his ghost knife.”
Marisol is much better-looking and ten times kinder than Catherine is in the book, but just as smart. I was lucky enough to have a chance to talk to her for a while. I linked to a picture of Jim earlier and many people thought he was much more handsome than they’d pictured Ray, but he seemed spot on to me: he’s tough, slender, very physical, and has great intention. I’ll put the photo behind a cut, but you can also see that he’s a good-looking dude, and not just because he’s standing next to me.
Today I meet the actress playing Annalise, although heavy downpours mean they can’t shoot an outdoor scene of her killing a guy. I hope to get a picture w/ her in full wardrobe and costume, just as I did with Ray and Catherine.
As for me: we left the house at 8am yesterday and returned at nearly 1 am. It’s now 7:30 and we’re about to head out again. I’m tired but my pain is at reasonable levels.
And now, the picture of me and Ray: Continue reading
L.A. followup
StandardI’m here in L.A. Wifi is spotty and I don’t expect to have a lot of computer time. I can barely keep up with my emails, let alone read anyone’s blogs.
I spent much of the day talking about what Annalise’s tattoos will look like, and looking over the many copies of the ghost knife the prop guy made. Also Annalise’s ribbons.
Tomorrow is the first day of shooting, and they expect things to run very late. I expect to push myself very hard as money guy/production assistant’s assistant.
And I should have been asleep two hours ago. G’night. I expect to post again in a couple of days.
8 things make a post
Standard1) In a few hours I’ll be flying to Los Angeles (and hopefully collecting a complimentary TSA handjob) for a short weekend jaunt. My book trailer is shooting this weekend. I won’t be there for all of it–I have to return to Seattle Sunday morning to do the parent thing–but I’ll see two days out of three, meet the actors, hang out on the set, eat the food (“You paid for it.”), and so on. I expect to be helping out, too, moving stuff or holding bounce cards, except…
2) My pain levels have been startlingly high lately. I’m not sure what to make of it. My legs were feeling better for a while there, but suddenly they’ve been aching almost constantly and my knee wakes me up in the middle of the night. Hopefully, they’ll have someplace for me to sit if I need it. I’m packing Tylenol.
3) I’m also packing my camera. Expect pics.
4) A signed copy of Child of Fire and Game of Cages are available on Patrick Rothfuss’s blog for his annual charity auction. Check it out. There are a metric butt-load of great books available there, and not only in that one post. I wish I could be one of those authors who contributes 25 signed hardcovers but, you know…
5) The new Green Lantern trailer looks pretty bad. I say this as someone who always thought GL was kind of an interesting idea, but never understood the enduring appeal.
6) My SFWA Handbook arrived… barely. Check out this envelope:
Yikes. That book wanted to be free!
I’ve skimmed the book trying to find articles of interest and it doesn’t seem that there’s much there. No big.
7) As I mentioned before, I’m not online as much as I used to be now that I don’t have a day job. Poor neglected blog! ::pets blog:: I’m on Twitter less and reading other blogs less. On the up side, more writing is getting done. So that’s all to the good, right?
8) Should I bring copies of my books to L.A. with me? I don’t have much space in my carryon.