Jordan Summers

To Everyone,

May 2010 bring peace, happiness, good health, and financial stability. Have a very Happy and Safe New Year!!!

Best,

Jordan Summers

P.S. Happy Birthday T!!! May you have many, many more. Love you!

We went out bright and early on Christmas morning to catch Sherlock Holmes at the theater. It’s the movie that I’ve been really looking forward to seeing. I quite enjoyed the interaction between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. Their bantering was hilarious. The movie itself is enjoyable. Not as good as I was hoping it would be, but still quite entertaining. It has a very steampunk look. In fact, the feel of the film itself is steampunky, so if you’re expecting a ‘Sherlock Holmes’ film, then you might very well be disappointed. There are definite nods to the books and the old films, but that’s about it. The movie is set up for a sequel, so I don’t think this will be the last Holmes and Watson adventure we see.

If you like steampunk and aren’t a diehard Sherlock Holmes fan (ie someone who believes that the fiction shouldn’t be played with), then you’ll enjoy this film.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We just returned from seeing Avatar. I admit that I wasn’t as excited to see this film as dh. He’s been looking forward to the movie for quite a while. (I’m really looking forward to Sherlock Holmes.) The special effects definitely live up to all the hype. It’s hard to spot where the real people disappear and the effects take over. Bravo on that one.

The world Cameron created was visually stunning. Very colorful, unique animals and flora, truly impressive. I’d say the movie is worth seeing for the effects and world building alone. You’ve never seen anything like it.

SPOILER ALERT:

The story itself definitely reminds me of Dances with Wolves (ie soldier encounters natives, stays true to mission for a while, begins to sympathize, then goes native, etc.). This aspect is wound around a love story and a pro-environment tale. The movie doesn’t get too preachy, which was a nice change. Several of the characters come off as a tad cliche and familiar (ie you feel like you’ve seen them before in other films). It definitely has more of a love story than I expected. In fact, the relationship is prominent, which was surprising. (As a romance writer I was okay with that. *g*)

SPOILER END

The bottom line is the film is visually stunning, action-packed, and engaging. If you’re okay with the storyline, then you’ll truly enjoy the movie. For the effects alone, it’s worth seeing. We plan to see it again because we have no doubt we missed things on the screen. Like I said, it’s a very big world. There’s a lot to explore on Pandora.

Dh and I made a whirlwind trip out to California this weekend to attend a Christmas Party. It was a very long eight hour drive each way, but it was worth it because we arrived at the Bacara Resort. It sits on seventy something acres of ocean front property. Understated luxury coupled with fabulous amenities makes this resort an ideal place to relax. We want to go back when we can stay a little longer because one night wasn’t nearly enough. We had a fabulous time at the party. It was fun to dress up and meet some of the people dh will be working with at his new job. All and all, the trip was a success. Now I think I’m going to go collapse.

Tomorrow I think we’re going to go see Avatar or as a few people have called it, “Dances with Wolves in Space”. We’ll see if it lives up to that name. Have any of you caught the film? If so, what did you think?

I know I’ve been rather absent from the blog world. I just haven’t felt up to doing much of anything lately. I managed to get almost all of my Christmas shopping finished yesterday. I have two more gifts to buy, but they can wait until after X-mas.

Speaking of the upcoming holiday, man, I am just not feeling it this year. Not in a Grinch way, but more a ‘can’t this wait another couple of months’ kind of way. (Don’t even get me started on the costs of goods. Cripes!) I’m REALLY not ready for Christmas. I know it’ll come whether I’m ready or not, but man, I’m not ready.

Our tree is up, but there are only nine ornaments on it. *ggg* Yeah, we’re going all out this year. Snort.

Am I the only one feeling this way?

I am over at the Sisters-in-Sync site today. Please drop on by and join in the conversation. It’s a pretty good one. We’re discussing series books and what it takes to write them/keep them going.

Despite Christmas being just around the corner, I feel like I’m running in slow motion. I haven’t addressed my cards yet. Nor have I bought more than two gifts (and they were for my editor and agent). I have just over two weeks to get all of it done and I’m trying desperately not to get overwhelmed.

Are there any other slow motion movers out there or am I alone?

I have a very busy social week in front of me. I don’t meet up with friends often, but this week will make up for that. The only day I don’t have something planned is Thursday, so it should be fun.

I’ve decided not to talk about (in detail) how Harlequin twisted the Novelist Inc. statement into making it sound like the organization supports their pay-to-publish branch. Takes deep breath. Suffice to say, Novelist Inc. is AGAINST authors being filtered to DellArte. Every writer’s organization on the planet should be.

While I was at the store the other day I picked up Wild Instinct by Sarah McCarty. Can’t wait to dig in. As you all know, I love me some werewolves.

Scalzi has in four little words explained why writers defended Harlequin’s decision to open a pay-to-publish branch (ie DellArte). Of course he was referring to a different market farce at the time, but I think it still applies.