Soledad's Journal

It's been some time since I last posted anything about daily life. But again, this summer has been fairly busy. Not with outside activities - aside from the trip to Hamburg and the two weeks when I had to escort the kids to summer camp, I've been mostly at home. But yeah, the indoor activites were rather packed.

Summer pico lasted two months this year, and I organized most of it, the first two weeks while school was still going on. I know it sounds strange, but yeah, it could be stressful at times, to get the daily posts online early enough, so that people on the other side of the globe can still get their excerpts up. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it immensely. That's what I miss from my life most: the continuous exchange with other writers, the inspiration that discussing plot twists and characterization and writing methods mean. I so envy those writers who are part of a writing group. I miss pico during the rest of the year something fierce. *sighs*

So, I decided that due to the lack of such a writing group, I'll post progress reports and excepts to my journal. If no-one is interested, fine. It will still help me keep track on my own progress. And who knows, a few people actually might get curious and check out the finished stories.

In that spirit, a bit of progress report. The 4th installment to "Sleeping Dragons", my AU/crossover version of Torchwood's Season 2, is going along apace. I'm up to writing Chapter 4 - only Ch 1 has been posted so far. I decided to post one chapter a week; that way I might keep up with the writing. If I can't, well, people simply will have to wait.

Excerpt from Chapter 4:

( Read more... )

Unfortunately, I only have about a week of leave left. I wanted to do something about the Elfhelm story - hopefully finishing it during the summer holidays, as only a couple of chapters are left to translate/rewrite... whatever. Then the Olympics interfered. I only watched athletics and the canoe runs, but even so, too much time was spent in front of the telly. Ah, well, at least we won 8 gold medals, 4 silvers and 4 bronzes, if I'm not mistaken. Not bad for such a backward little country as ours.

Recently, I also bought "The Silver Throne", the last installment of the Narnia Chronicles. Wasn't very happy with it, I must admit. I loved the films, they were gorgeous, but the cheap TV-series version was very forgettable. The only thing I liked in it was Tom Baker as the Marsh-wiggle. He was absolutely hilarious. I hated the kid actor playing Eustace in this version, though. He was flat and boring.

Currently, I'm taking a break from Sherlock and watching Season 3 of Heroes, one episode a time because I can't take more of it at once. This is the most ridiculously idiotic premise I've ever seen, but some of the characters - and the actors playing them - are fantastic. My favourites are Nathan and Mohinder - so wonderfully failed. I hate Hiro, though. He gets on my nerves with his stupidity. I'll have to go back and re-watch Season 2, which I only skipped for the parts with Nichelle Nichols. I'll never become a fan of the series itself, I'm afraid, but I like the charcters - well, most of them - so it isn't a complete loss.

I watched "Prince Caspian" on German TV yesterday. To my surprise - I found the books terrible infantile and boring, though I gave them a hones try and read them in three different languages, hoping to find out where their charm lies - I liked it a lot. So, perhaps I will buy the DVDs - the local supermarket sells them as a boxed edition. I mean, good fantasy films are so rare, I need to build a good stock. *g*

Also, I watched some of the "Star Trek - Phase II" fanvids on YouTube lately. They are really good. In any case every bit as good plot-wise as the original series. Granted, the actors are amateurs, and it shows (although the guy playing Kirk gets the Shatner mannerisms down to the iota), but the special effects are good, and the whole thing clearly is made with love. I wish I didn't have to watch them on the computer screen - my eyes don't appreciate it - but one of them from time to time will do, I guess.

Edit: Went looking for the Narnia movies. They were sold out. Typical.

Edit #2: Found the first three movies as a boxed edition in the Alexandra bookshop. Watched "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" today. Liked it quite a lot.