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Boob Tube No More

Welcome Guest Blogger Anthony Bruno talking about one of my all-time favorite subjects — please give him a warm MSW welcome and let’s chat about TV!

Back in the 1960s, the phrase “Made in Japan” generally meant that a product was cheap, poorly made, and unreliable. A few decades later companies like Toyota, Honda, Sony, and Panasonic turned that on its head. Japanese products became synonymous with quality and value. Similarly, there was once a time when any type of entertainment made for television was automatically considered inferior, mindless, and second-rate. TV was dubbed the “boob tube,” and some people snobbishly bragged that they didn’t even own a television set, or if they did, they only watched educational programs on PBS. I had some relatives who kept a tiny portable in the closet and only brought it out for “worthwhile” broadcasts.

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Tagged with: Anthony Bruno, crime drama, Justified, Luther, Orange is the New Black, Sherlock, television, The Americans, THE BLETCHLEY CIRCLE, The Fall, The Following, Top of the Lake, True Detective, writing
Posted in Movies and Television, Our Guests & Friends

The Sweeps are Coming …

JUSTIFIED: Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens. CR: Frank Ockenfels III / FX

… And no, I don’t mean anything to do with cleaning. It’s television finale time!

Okay, not quite yet, but they’re getting close, and I’m getting excited. There are a couple of shows that will end before the May Sweeps, and those are the ones I’m talking about today. I really love the competition in the television world — cable TV has really pushed networks to do new and different things, resulting in some amazing productions. These shows — from FX, Fox, and AMC — are three that stand out for me. But those of you who know me, know I love my television! For those of you who are new — basically, I gave up television for three years so I could write while I worked full-time. I’m so glad I can now write full-time and watch TV again!

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Tagged with: Allison Brennan, James Purefoy, Justified, Kevin Bacon, May sweeps, sliderpost, television, The Following, the walking dead, Timothy Olyphant
Posted in Allison Brennan, Art & Entertainment

Christmas Movie Releases

Is it just me or is there a plethora of fabulous movies this holiday season?

Not just over the Christmas break, but the entire Fall schedule has been pretty good.

I saw the latest Bond adventure, SKYFALL, over Thanksgiving break and it was terrific — I really like Daniel Craig in the Bond role after a couple less stellar actors. I took my 16 year old daughter and 11 year old son to SKYFALL, neither of whom had seen a Bond movie before, and they both enjoyed it. Score! I also took the family to see WRECK-IT RALPH (very cute) and my oldest daughter took the youngest two to see RISE OF THE GUARDIANS — and I was sorry I missed it.

And then I learn that a bunch of movies that I want to see were all coming out while my kids are on Christmas Break.

What’s odd for me is that while I love going to the movies, over the last few years I haven’t seen many in the theater, and rarely anything that isn’t a family affair. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed the last week so much–it was a novelty to see three movies (soon to be four!) in one week.

First, JACK REACHER.

There had been an outpouring of venom against Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher. Yes, I agree, physically Cruise isn’t how I pictured Reacher, either. But — get over it folks! The movie was great, I very much enjoyed it, and so did my mom — who is even a bigger Jack Reacher fan than I am. (She’s read all Lee Child’s books twice — I’ve only read half his books.) It’s a good movie with a solid plot that according to those who’ve read ONE SHOT very loyal to the storyline as Child wrote it. (ONE SHOT is one of the books I missed.) And Cruise was good. Would I have liked to see Liam Neeson or another larger-than-life action star as Reacher? Yes. Was I disappointed in the film? Hell no. Go see it and be your own judge. (And you should see it just for the fantastic performance by Robert Duvall. Loved him!)

As an aside, to parlay off B.J.’s terrific blog yesterday about good, bad and ugly reviews … I went to check out some of Lee Child’s reviews and there are people giving him one star because Tom Cruise was picked to play Reacher. Not one star because the book sucked, but one star for something completely out of Lee Child’s control. Like giving one-star reviews because a book is priced higher than you want, but worse. That’s what I call ugly reviews.

So back to the film — a good, solid action movie with great dialogue and classic Lee Child sly humor. Loved the car chase. I went with my mom, the Reacher fan, who enjoyed it, and my 16 year old daughter and 11 year old son who’d never read any of the books, and both enjoyed it. I really hope that Jack Reacher becomes an iconic character like James Bond and survives over many, many years and many, many actors.

Then on New Year’s Eve, my husband and I went to see THE HOBBIT.

I went to the movie knowing that it’s going to be a trilogy. As my daughter, whose read the book more recently than I have, said, “They fleshed out scenes and ideas that were just mentioned in the book.” But, ultimately, the movie was still consistent with the HOBBIT story.

I have mixed feelings about Peter Jackson drawing out the HOBBIT to be three movies. Unlike the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy–three movies for three (very long) books–THE HOBBIT was a short novel, only 320 pages. Surely it could have one movie!

At the same time, I liked THE HOBBIT even with the expanded story. Because it’s an epic story with amazing settings, I see why Jackson wanted to tell it bigger. So while I don’t think it was necessary, I appreciated it. It’s classic, hero’s journey storytelling at its finest with great acting and great cinematography. We saw it in 3D, and the effects were rather amazing. I’m not a big 3D person, but for this film, it was worth the added money and the headache I had after the movie.

And then on Tuesday, for $5 Tuesday at our local theater, I took the kids to see MONSTERS, INC, which was re-released in 3D to lead into MONSTERS U in June.

I love everything Pixar. I couldn’t tell you which is my favorite Pixar movie (I could tell you which one I hated — WALL-E — but I probably shouldn’t.) But FINDING NEMO, MONSTERS INC, all three TOY STORIES–loved them all. My 8 year old son told me he had never see the entire MONSTERS movie, which surprised me because it had been his oldest brother’s favorite movie for years.

MONSTERS was as good the second time in the theater as it was the first. And yes, I cried at the end when Sully had to say good-bye to Boo, like I did the first time and every time I saw it on DVD.

Now there’s one more “big” movie I’m planning to see before the kids go back to school — though I don’t know if we’ll be able to fit it in until next weekend.

Les Miserables.

Kelly, my 16 year old, really, really wants to see it, and while I would have preferred to see the stage version, we ARE talking about Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe and more. It’s one of those movies I’ve heard great things about, and so … it’s just a matter of finding the time. I’d also wanted to see DJANGO UNCHAINED and HITCHCOCK, too. But …

Time. Something I need more of! I’m finishing STOLEN copyedits today (need to get them to FedEx by 4:30 this afternoon, but I’m almost done, yet!) and then I need to get back to writing MAXIMUM EXPOSURE which is due at the end of the month. (MAX is the first book of the Max Revere series! Very excited to be working on something new.)

So after Les Mis, I think my movie going days will be over for awhile … After all, I still have my television and guess what? JUSTIFIED returns on January 8th … Life is good. Very, very good.

What movie do you/did you most want to see this season? Did it live up to expectations?

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, B.J. Daniels, Entertainment, Jack Reacher, Justified, Lee Child, Les Miserables, movies, Pixar, Skyfall, The Hobbit, Tom Cruise
Posted in Allison Brennan, Art & Entertainment

Vigilantes and Other Rogues

What is it about vigilantes, rogue cops, and superheroes that keep us captivated?

This trend is nothing new, though over the last few years the vigilante-as-hero has been on the rise. I look back to Westerns as the rise of vigilante justice. When America was a new country and there wasn’t any real system in place to keep people safe. People were responsible for each other–families for their own, neighbors for their neighbors, towns for their towns. Someone comes onto your land to steal your cattle, shoot them. Someone rapes your wife, shoot him. Someone robs the bank? Hunt them down and hang them.

Standard set-ups in vigilante stories is usually heart-wretching. The hero (or anti-hero) has someone he loves violently taken from him, and he hunts down the people responsible. There’s a clear “good guy” and a clear “bad guy” and no doubt that the bad guys deserve to be shot or hung. As society has grown, laws made, law enforcement spread throughout the land, there’s less need of vigilante justice because there are protections in place. Some people own guns. Some people have security systems. Some people know self-defense. There are security cameras protecting businesses, security cameras on public streets and in homes, cops paid to respond and investigate crimes. A court system that wrings out the bad guys and sorts the truly evil from those who just made a mistake. Prisons to keep them in check.

Except, the system doesn’t always work. It’s a good system, but no system is perfect. Sometimes, innocent people end up in prison. Other times, bad guys are let free on technicalities. Sometimes, the bad guys are never caught. We all know a personal story, something that happened to us or to a loved one where justice was not served.

And that’s why vigilante stories remain popular. Westerns, Robin Hood, THE EQUALIZER, DEATH WISH, and others. It’s why superheroes have always been popular, but we’re seeing a resurgence. It’s why shows like JUSTIFIED and PERSON OF INTEREST and ARROW become popular. Why we can root for the anti-hero because he’s meting out justice when the system has failed.

In LOVE ME TO DEATH, the first Lucy Kincaid book, I tackled vigilante justice. A group of vigilantes were targeting convicted sex offenders who were released from prison early. Statistics show that sex offenders are the most likely to reoffend; these are predators who take pleasure in hurting those weaker than them. As I wrote the book, I was having a hard time seeing what was wrong with what they were doing–these guys were bad news, and they were going to hurt another woman or child. Why not kill them? In fact, when I was looking for a new agent in 2010 and LMTD was written, I used it as my WIP for the new agents I was interviewing. One agent didn’t like it–the first victim in the book, Roger Morton, was a bad guy and he was shot in the head. The agent commented that no one is going to feel bad about him, or the other victim who was a convicted rapist, and she didn’t see how readers were going to care about solving these crimes. She only read the first third of the book, and I can see why she would think that. But isn’t that one of the great hooks in stories? To see these crimes as justified … and then when do they step over the line?

Even Lucy is torn. From LMTD:

In the back of her mind, Lucy realized that she was relieved they were off the streets. But she couldn’t accept cold-blooded murder. If vigilante justice ruled, anarchy would soon follow.

“The system is far from perfect. But your way is not the answer. It’s premeditated, cold-blooded murder. That makes you as much a monster as they are.”

In most vigilante stories, the hero (anti-hero) is torn because of this exact idea–that they, too, are monsters. Monsters hunt monsters. They can justify it because they’re saving innocents and taking down bad guys, but it takes its toll on them, even superheroes. It’s what makes them compelling characters–alpha, damaged, brutal, compassionate.

Why do you think vigilante stories are so popular and compelling? What’s one of your favorite characters from film, television, or literature?

Good news! I found out yesterday that STALKED, the latest Lucy Kincaid thriller, is debuting at #10 on the New York Times bestseller list. Thank you to all my readers who helped put Lucy on the list. AND our own Laura Griffin’s SCORCHED also hit the NYT extended list, the first time her Tracers series has made a showing. I am SO thrilled for her because her series rocks.

To celebrate that Laura and I are on the same list, I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate to the on-line bookseller of your choice. One lucky commenter will be our random winner–check back on Sunday for the announcement. Whoot!

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, Arrow, contest, Crime & Punishment, gift card giveaway, Justified, Laura Griffin, Love Me to Death, Lucy Kincaid, New York Times bestseller, Person of Interest, publishing, romantic suspense, Stalked, Tracers series, vigilantes, westerns
Posted in Allison Brennan

Thrills & Chills

I’m preparing for my RWA workshop: Thrills & Chills. Writing Romantic Suspense and Thrillers. Normally, I don’t do a lot of preparation for workshops because I only give a few of them, and I’ve given them multiple times so I can practically do it in my sleep. However, T&C is new. I presented it at the Arizona Dreams RWA conference and realized I had far too much information to share in a one hour time slot. So I’m focusing on the one thing that truly separates suspense from all other genres: stakes.

There are three things that work in tandem to create a good thriller: character, pacing and stakes. As our own Toni McGee Causey has often said, “Story = Character + Conflict.” I need to touch upon character (and some character pitfalls to avoid), and definitely need to discuss pacing (essential to a thriller, so I will spend a bit more time on this), but because I’m limited to a one hour workshop, I want to focus on stakes.

Stakes are different in suspense novels because there is someone at risk. It may be as localized as a psychological thriller where there’s only one person truly in jeopardy (usually the hero or someone she cares about), or a broad thriller where innocent people are at risk. Since crime thrillers are the easiest to analyze and extrapolate into other types of thrillers, and because I write them, I’ll be dissecting the stakes of key movies and television shows.

Right now, I’m analyzing season one of NCIS — it’s one of the best paced television shows out there. I’m identifying the core story, the midpoint, and what’s at stake. Stakes here vary in every episode, from “small” (i.e. preventing someone from getting away with murder–there’s no threat to anyone else) to “huge” (i.e. stopping a terrorist attack.) Because this is all done in 44 minutes, the pacing needs to be perfect, and the stakes need to be clear.

For example, in “YANKEE WHITE,” Season One, Episode One, the viewer knows nothing about the characters or even much about the show. The set-up: we’re on Air Force One and the Naval Officer assigned to the President dies after having lunch with the President. Immediate high stakes: is the POTUS in danger? At the midpoint, after a lot of investigation and work (and planting of clues that are important at the climax), a critical thing happens: NCIS manipulates the FBI and Secret Service and gets the body and the physical evidence. This raises the stakes because IF they don’t solve the case (which many people think is natural), the President could die. Without this key evidence, they wouldn’t have been able to solve the case. The midpoint in ALL shows and books is a critical juncture that clearly identifies the stakes and problems. The midpoint usually gives the hero a different direction to pursue (hope) or reveals that he was wrong all along (despair.) The midpoint often reveals key character: for example, in the above, Gibbs asks Kate (then a secret service agent assigned to the president) if she’ll stall when Air Force One lands so he and his team can take possession of the body. She says no, she won’t defy a direct order. She says she’s sorry, and Gibbs says, “Never say you’re sorry.” This is such a key character trait and important for the series, as well as what Gibbs was actually doing.

In movies and novels, there is a bit more room to move around and create escalating stakes. In writing STOLEN, I have three layers of stakes, and it’s only the first that my hero knows about. When one is solved, a new threat is revealed. I also realized last night while I was writing that there was a ticking clock — another great pacing trick for thrillers.

I’m also using LAW & ORDER: SVU, GRIMM, CASTLE, JUSTIFIED, SHERLOCK, LUTHER, SUPERNATURAL and BONES. Yes, far too much for a one-hour workshop which is why I’m putting all this in a handout. I rarely do handouts, but I felt after the Arizona conference, that a lot of what I wanted to share could be read by attendees after the workshop, and therefore I spent too much time on examples and not enough time on solving story problems.

For movies, I need to focus on what people have most likely seen that best illustrate what I’m trying to show. THE MATRIX is a great example, and one of my favorite hero’s journey movies. THE AVENGERS, FINDING NEMO, THE DEPARTED, STAR WARS, DIE HARD, NORTH BY NORTHWEST and THE MALTESE FALCON. (FINDING NEMO is a thriller in many ways–a father looking for his missing son. Good thriller material!)

NORTH BY NORTHWEST and DIE HARD are two good examples of how to incorporate a romance into a fast-paced thriller. And CASTLE and BONES are clearly romantic suspense more than straight thriller, so those need to be analyzed as well. (Just don’t get me started on how they screwed up the relationship in BONES! Argh!)

To effectively do this, I need to re-watch all these movies … what a hardship!

What movies do you think are great examples of escalating stakes and all-is-lost moments? Or, what movie are you most looking forward to seeing? (I already saw THE AVENGERS twice — FABULOUS movie. And I’m looking forward to the 2013 Prequel to MONSTERS, INC!)

Tagged with: Allison Brennan, Bones, CASTLE, Entertainment, Grimm, Justified, Law & Order, Luther, NCIS, pacing, Romance Writers of America, Sherlock, stakes, Supernatural, television, The Matrix, thrillers, workshops
Posted in Allison Brennan, Writing & Publishing Tips

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Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-four romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband and five children.

Maximum Exposure
February 4, 2014

Two years before the events in Notorious, Max travels to Colorado Springs to investigate the disappearance of a college student. Frustrated over the lack of interest from both friends of the victim and campus authorities, Max tags along with the leader of search and rescue and his dog through the beautiful and deadly Rocky Mountains in the hopes of finding answers. Every answer she finds leads to more questions--questions neither the police nor the college want Max asking.
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