If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then…

There is a debate that rages every year across social media about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. It’s placed at Christmas time, and it seems to get shown around the holidays on various cable channels. I’m not entering the debate, but I enjoyed the film. There’s even one thread I saw about whether it’s a missing Harry Potter film, because Bruce Willis chases Professor Snape around a spooky building. (Not touching that one at all.)

I’m here in my usual corny style to make a different connection. If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then The Playground is a Christmas book. This is one I wrote a few years ago, and I have a deal for you. I don’t usually run deals, but it’s the holidays, so why not?

Blurb:

The hottest new toys of the Christmas season are the Playground Network dolls. They contain a worldwide social network for children. Except the network is controlled by a ruthless businessman with dreams of power.

To reach his goals he turns to the occult. Will our children make up his personal army? Could we have an enemy soldier in every home?

Gina Greybill is a cancer survivor who stumbles into her own brush with the paranormal. She wants nothing to do with it, but may be the only one who can bring down the Playground Network. To do it she’ll have to embrace her new situation and recover the next generation of Playground software.

There is competition for the software in the form of a brutal thug named Clovis. He’s bigger, more ruthless, and more experienced. To top it all off, he has a head start.

The Playground is suitable for mature readers, due to violence and mature themes.

This one is written in the style of a Frank Miller comic, or a Tarantino film, in that three different stories orbit around the main event. They come together at the end to complete the picture.

Clovis and Gina, along with her sidekick, Gupta, make a return to my book world in Viral Blues that published this year. Clovis remains one of the most popular characters I ever came up with, and I got some nice feedback about his return. (Viral Blues is still linked in my sidebar if you’re of a mind to check it out.)

I set up a sequence of free days for The Playground, starting today. If you’re an early visitor, you may have to cycle back through, because I’m on Amazon time here. Pick up your free copy at this link: http://a-fwd.com/asin=B01D6EF6RI

Enjoy your free book, and since I know someone is going to ask, I count Die Hard as a Christmas movie. (Gremlins, too.)

Some days a diamond…

… Some days a rock. I had good intentions for yesterday and today. I got up early and tackled the feedback I received on my short story. This was the one where I dabbled in epistolary style.

The story wasn't quite right, and my volunteers were able to point out some things that really helped. I winced when I wrote it about using italics for the documents. Big chunks of italics are frowned upon, but it is the correct style.

I even have one chunk where there are old letters quoted inside a blog post. The correct style is italics for the blog post, and back to normal for the letters. I hated to do it, because I hoped the section breaks would be enough. They weren't and using the italics was the right thing to do.

There were some clarity issues as well, and I used many of the suggestions people threw at me. It's good now, and maybe some time in the fermenter will let me improve it. Short fiction is a side line, and I have no deadlines for finishing it.

Many thanks to my volunteers, and I'm happy to return the favor if you guys need it.

I'm still ruminating over sections of the Yak Guy Project. I need to touch up some of what I already have, including plants that will payoff later down the trail. I have a study guide on the table beside me and will do some research later today.

I managed to add about 1000 words to an old school science fiction story I've been working on. This is also short fiction, so I'm in no real hurry on it either.

Old What's Her Face said she needed to air me out yesterday, so we did date night early. We went and saw The Hateful Eight. I love Tarantino, but this one was just not that good. He never really has followed the rules, but some good editing could have left a half hour of film on the cutting room floor. I even told my wife that if I introduced an omnipotent narraror 3/4 of the way through a novel, the readers would crucify me. Maybe when I'm Tarantino, I can get away with this kind of thing. (Maybe not) The backstory at the end didn't really work for me either.

We consoled ourselves with pizza and beer at Old Chicago. (Well, I had beer. She doesn't drink.) When we got home, we decided to watch movies on cable.

We watched Pompei, with the actor who may, or may not, be playing John Snow when Game of Thrones returns this spring. It was mediocre, but had some cool special effects. We also watched The Judge with Robert Downey and Robert Duval. For me, it was the best movie of the day.

My takeaway was that I was invested in Downey and Duval, I cared what happened, and it had a wonderful reflection on fathers vs sons. There has to be a lesson there for writers.

Hateful Eight and The Judge both had wonderful actors and good performances. As a writer, I don't have that luxury. They both had great characters; that I can attempt. I love some special effects like in Pompei, and might be able to write some of that too. The place where I can up my game is to try for an emotional tug in the story.

I admit to being a little 'hit and miss' when it comes to the emotional pull. I know what I intend, but does the reader get it at the other end? Yes, some of the time. This is where the Muse could really help me elevate my game.

I didn't post last night, because we were spending time together. This Sunday morning post is intending to make up for that. I have some editing on The Playground in my sights for today. The good news is that tomorrow is a national holiday in the US. Maybe I'll be ready to add some words to The Yak Guy project.

So yesterday was a rock. Maybe tomorrow will be a diamond.