Showing posts with label Raves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raves. Show all posts

Saturday, 23 July 2011

My oh my, it seems I ain't no pantser...

To plot or to pants?
That is a question that did not occur to me when, 3 years ago, I sat down to start writing my first novel. My muse came to me at the tail end of a terribly devastating week, and in order to cope, I simply began to write.  In the very same week, feeling as though I needed to take back control of my world, I  also re-enrolled in university. The degree I enrolled in was Australian Literature and  Communications, and I dedicated myself to learn everything I could about the craft that I had spent most of my life declaring that I loved.

1 year and 300,000 words later ...
I gave the novel to three trusted friends for beta reading. When I say three trusted friends I mean my mother, sister and closest girlfriend. As you can imagine, the mother and sister loved it and had little else to say. Thankfully the girlfriend - who is also a writer- gave much more practical advice and pointed out the novel was far from finished.

She said something about being long winded and entirely missing the point...

By now I was almost halfway through my Literature degree and starting to understand a little bit about the art of novel writing. At last I considered the 'To plot or not' question, and I decided to not.  Off I went, to tackle the third draft of the novel. I finished the draft within a month, decided I hated it and then BAM! Like a lightning strike, I had it! I was not a pantser at all!

To plot or to pants?
To plot, to plot, to plot. So simple, why did I not see it before? Right, now to plot...hm mm...plot,plot,plot....
.................................plot........................................................plot..............................................................
plot damn it, PLOT.........BLEEP BLEEP Bleepy BLEEP BLEEP...............................................................

Plot


PLOT




ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGG

Many months passed like this. I came unstuck. Struck down with writers block, my muse deserted me.

Maybe I am not a plotter?

Maybe I am not really a writer?

Maybe I suck???????? Like big time suck??????

Ok, breathe...
At this stage I was in my third year of uni and trying to study full-time, be a full-time SAHM to Thing 1 and Thing 2 and run a full-time community initiative. In short, I was very short - on time, patience and creative juices. I decided to give it a rest. I sat the book aside. I planned to return to it in March this year.

March came and went.
So did April, May and June.

It looked like July was about to pass by also.

Then I began to plan for my graduation. I invited the folks, I booked the dress robes, I organised a babysitter, and I sat down to draw.

Draw?

I know it seems a strange preparation for a university graduation but it makes total sense to me...
(and I promise this is taking us somewhere)

You see, like most dedicated writers, at every major milestone in my life I have sat down to my trusty old journal and documented the passing - of age, of friendships, of loved ones, of hair styles and of favourite pieces of clothing.  This documentation however, does not always take the form of a story. Granted, sometimes it is a story, but often it is a photo, a song, a poem, a lock of hair, a scrap of fabric (a fingernail once made it in there!), and frequently the documentation takes the form of a drawing.

So I sat down to draw. I didn't plan (because as it should be clear by now, I am not a planner) I just drew. And low and behold - as my dear departed gran would claim- my muse returned.

There she was, the perfect pictorial image of my muse, waving cheekily up at me from the page, as if to say 'Well, what are you waiting for!'

Angel Grace
My muse - and the leading lady in my painfully patient novel- launched herself back into my psyche and kept me awake for two night running. She had me lock myself away in my dungeon and forced my hand like some kind of Chinese torture (I know I'm mixing metaphors, but cut me some slack, my muse is back!)

At long last, I was plotting. And I was loving it. I can be a plotter, I can, I can.

To plot or to pants?
In answer to the question, it would seem I am both a plotter and a pantser. After my revelation - and upon conferring with my muse - I now have a completely re-plotted outline for an entire trilogy, based very loosely around the original idea of my very first novel. And it only took me 3 years of pantsing to get here!


And on top of that, in the very same week,
I have finally graduated from university,
only 15 years after I first started.

Pantser indeed!

Saturday, 7 May 2011

A hiatus...


3 years in the making...
The first draft of my current WIP took all of six months to write. It was rubbish, but in all fairness I was a stay at home mum running two businesses, studying at uni externally and trying to juggle a family that appeared to be coming apart at the seams.

The second draft took 12 months. Again it was rubbish, but much less the filthy stinking rotting sludge of the first and more a discarded food wrapper kind of rubbish. The reasons the second draft took twice as long as the first were numerous. Due to the epic failure of one business and the ginormous stress of the other not being worth the money it could earn, my husband and I decided to sell up and head north. We did that, with two toddlers in tow, and only our dreams of a fresh start to sustain us.

The third draft took a further 12 months to complete while we settled into our new home. It was slightly better but not much. By this time I had found a trusted critique partner and with her helpful comments I quickly made the changes.

The fourth draft was the quickest of all, I completed it in one month. The circumstances surrounding this epic achievement were ideal: I had a deadline, my foray into full time study (who doesn't work better under pressure? ) I had my mother visiting for a month (so a full time quality babysitter that didn't mind if I stayed buried in my work way past the agreed knock off time) and I had one of those rare bursts of creative energy that carried me through (most of the time these bursts of energy tend to peter out after the chocolate runs out but not this time!).

At the end of this month I was happy with the final product and I was ready to set it aside for 12 months to mull it over while I completed my degree. The plan was to launch head first into the final draft/line edit upon graduation. It was a great plan.

Very rarely do things go according to plan.
I graduated over two months ago. Despite the copious amounts of notes scribbled in notepads, saved in numerous word documents on laptop and hard drive, scribed as blog posts and mumbled into the Dictaphone app on my iPhone, the fifth and final draft is nowhere to be seen. In fact it has escaped so far over the horizon that I don't know if I have the energy to chase it down.

The biggest problem, the reason for my procrastination, my excuses for stalling? This blog. Writing competitions. Short story submissions. Secondary projects. Facebook. New manuscript ideas. Other Writers and their awesome blogs that eat into my creative time. All of these things I have pursued instead of starting the re-write.

Also...
There are a few bare faced truths that I have had to face.
1. I hate the manuscript.
2. I think it is complete rubbish.
3. I want to put it on the scrap heap and start again.

Of all of these truths, I have come to terms with the first two.
1. I still love the premise, characters and setting.
2. I am a much better writer than I was when I started 3 years ago.

The third truth is the one I am having trouble with.
I just don't know how can I start again, completely from scratch. Every time I sit down to write, my brain freezes in fear. I panic.  My heart all but stops. I have hit a very famous brick wall.

Writers Block
The trouble is, it is not the words that don't come, my characters are alive and well in my head.  Honestly, they talk to me all the time, asking me when I'm going to get my act together and write their story, telling me tidbits about their day, forcing my hand to scribe conversations they've had with their mother, brother, lover. I have the Who, What and When down pat.

The thing that won't come is the HOW.  And the thing I don't know is WHY are they talking to me and WHERE is the story going?

This is a problem. I have brain stormed, I have drawn charts, I have broken the original manuscript down scene by scene, I have dissected the characters until I am blue in the face. And still I cannot for the life of me work out the best way to tell the story.

What all of this ranting means.
I have not written so much as two words toward the new manuscript. And I have a time limit. You see a set myself a new deadline, to have the final draft ready by my 33rd birthday which falls in three short weeks on the 30th of May. Also, I hoped to be ready for query by my husbands 40th birthday, the 1st of July, only eight very short weeks away. If I don't do something soon, I will miss my deadline. Sure this will not cause too much damage to the greater time continuum but it will damage me. I hate to miss deadlines, I hate to ask for extensions. Besides, I know the chick giving out the extensions, she's not very nice to slackers, regardless of their circumstance.

So this glorious Sunday morning- which is mothers day by the way and yes I was spoiled very much by the gorgeous Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 outdid themselves with hand made cards and gifts- I have decided that I will no longer let anything interfere with the production of the manuscript. 

I am putting all other projects on hold, I am cutting myself some slack and I am going to bury my head in PLOT resurrection. I will not be blogging, facebooking, twittering, short story writing, beta reading or doing anything else remotely unrelated to the emergence of Silken Threads.

Please bear with me, I will be back, I just cannot say when...

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Hungry for more...


Katniss & Peeta - who will you choose?

The Hunger Games

There's no denying I am a huge fan of YA, I also love SciFi and SpecFic and everything else considered slightly nerdy. I have no excuses to offer for being so late to the game. I can only say -
 I am HUNGRY for more!!!!


 
I have just now finished reading the first book in
and I am HOOKED.

Katniss Everdeen is my new teen hero, the Peeta and Gale love triangle has set my heart yearning and if I could sink a lethally spiced syringe into President Snow's fleshy white neck I would do so with pleasure.

The Capitol is so not the kind of place anybody would want to live, the Games are a sick twist in a warped dystopian nightmare life and District 12 sounds as depressing as soggy socks in a snow storm, but man alive - sign me up!

Like any great work of fiction there are faults to be found and criticisms to be made, but I am going to surpass them all. My blood is still pumping from the exhilarating adventure of the Games and I am still gripping the edge of my seat in a hovercraft flying high over segregated landscape of Panem to come down to a level where I may want to shoot that feeling with a silver arrow through the heart.

Now that I have that off my chest 
 I am off to seek out the second book in the trilogy,

Happy Reading

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

The Editing Process - How to make paper piles.

Finally dear readers
Today we begin chapter 2 of The Writing Book. Originally the plan was to achieve one chapter of Ms Grenville's book per month. I do not choose to dwell on how long it has actually taken. I suggest neither do you. Let's move onwards. By now you should have a nice sized pile of  little stories, snippets of action, conversations and dialogue or simply random thoughts. I know I do!


I would just like to take this moment to say how excited I am by my progress. Jax appeared out of nowhere, threw me full force into her world and then blew up the dock we were hanging out on. This character lept of the page and took over my life but now I have regained control. Although I can't wait to see where she takes me next I have asked her to be patient and first let me deal with Silken Threads.


Anyway...today will blossom from Kate Grenville's 'The Writing Book' exercise: Chapter 2 - Making Piles.


We will be exploring  my current WIP Silken Threads

The Big Cut
In chapter 2 Grenville asks us to make piles of all the exercises we have completed from Chapter 1. Now I have done this with Jax and set them aside. Seeing as I am now back on track with Silken Threads I decided to continue forward from this point, and seeing as I have 100,000 words already, I figured pile making was as good a place as any to start.

It has been painful, it has been wicked and  surprisingly, it has been inspirational. Although I reached a devastating revelation a few weeks ago, where I thought Silken Threads was a no-hoper, I have been given a new lease of life and I am surging ahead.

In three weeks I have cut the MS to pieces. Literally, I printed it out, took out some scissors and started hacking. It was cathartic. What I ended up with was not, as you may be now imagining, a pile of shredded paper, but five neat character profiles and the idea for six interconnecting novellas!

I know right?
So I have my piles, now what do I do with them?  Next Grenville suggests looking at the similarities in the text, in other words, seeking out the underlying themes. Seeing as I am working with an almost complete manuscript, my themes are pretty well established, so instead I broke down the entire manuscript into individual scenes. Yes, I did that.

I have 211 individual scenes!
You would think that is a lot of action. Amazingly I found my first big problem - it's not.
A large portion of the scenes are inactive and do not move the plot forward - this in itself is a huge revelation, but of the good kind! At last I have somewhere to start!

The next step...
Now that I have these piles (and large gaping holes in the plot!) Grenville suggests I work out some sort of order: to arrange what I do have in a way that allows the underlying themes to shine through. Taking a deep breath, I am now about to plunge myself into the crazy, chaotic world of PLOT MAPPING. Yep, I going to get out my sticky notes and my markers, I'm going to set up my pretty pink pin board and I am going to create an ARC to be reckoned with.

I will be back sometime in the not so distant future to report back - if I don't resurface sometime in the next week, please don't panic, I am probably just getting my groove back!
copyright 2011, TBell

Monday, 18 April 2011

The love affair we call writing...

Over the weekend I was fortunate to spend time away with the girls. Amongst the clouds in a mountain chalet we talked, laughed, cried, drank and ate. My cheeks hurt from smiling and my heart is warm with the kind of love only girlfriend's can supply (my liver is a tad sore too but don't worry mum, it's water all the way from here).


A wonderfully nurturing child/husband free weekend was had by all and amongst the tears and laughter a few insights and epiphanies were revealed...

On Sunday morning one of my favourite girl's, MermaidMeg, sat us down and gave us all a tarot card reading: some were funny; others spot on and mine - well take a look for yourself.

Tarot Reading - 10 card spread.
1. The Signifier - Ten of Swords - The darkness before the dawn.

2. Crossing CardThree of Swords - A painful state that does not allow for blindness to continue.

3. On The Surface - Three of Cups - Seeking emotional connections / new beginnings.

4. Crux of Issue - Four of Pentacles - Let fears of self go to unblock creativity and allow confidence to flow.

5. Past - Queen of Wands - The superwoman - Let go of the ideal.

6. Future - Ace of Pentacles - The release of past energies will make way for success and prosperity.

 image sourced tarotoftrees.com
 7. Development - Death - Something must come to an end, new life by letting go of old.

8. Response from others - Ace of Cups - Outpouring of feeling, upsurge of raw emotion.

9. Hopes and Fears - Ten of Cups - On going contentment and permanence in the realm of the heart.

10. Outcome - Two of Cups - The beginning of a new relationship or project, renewal of one that has undergone difficulty.


What this means to me...
At first glance this reading appeared to be about my personal relationships with actual real humans. I contemplated for a moment running off to have a wild, passionate affair with an incredibly handsome man that would cook, massage and serenade me (all in that order) but then I remembered I loved my husband, our children and our life together - and considering my question was directed at my writing career - I was forced to look deeper.

Now I think many a writer would agree with me when I say writing a novel is like embarking on a love affair. It is euphoric one moment and the next you are swept into the depths of despair only to be lifted up again by a chance encounter with a new character or a stunning moment of clarity. My journey as a novice novelist would slip into this descriptive concept without missing a beat.

As you may be aware, I have struggled recently to attempt the fifth edit of my MS. The reason I have struggled is because I have decided after 3 years work that I do not like the final product. This is a somewhat crushing revelation and  I have even contemplated (deep breath) giving up!

And I am loath to say I have also flirted with new characters in entirely new worlds. These flirtations have given me the rush I was missing, the glow of first love, but alas I found myself staring out over the mist covered mountains and yearning for my first love.

With that in mind
I took a second look at the Tarot reading. I think it is clear that I am indeed wallowing in the depth of darkness and it has come as a great sigh of relief to know the dawn is coming (insert here a song and dance routine from a really bad but nostalgic 90's music video).

I was already beginning to toy with a new concept for the old manuscript and I have even spent the last month breaking the story down scene by scene and re-plotting several characters journeys.

My MysticTarot has given me faith in pursuing this course of action and I would like to say, as a writer, to all other writers, you have to take inspiration where you can get it - oh and having a little faith in yourself helps too.

Monday, 11 April 2011

To blog or not to blog?

The Quest
You aim to become a published author. You intend to do this by finishing your first manuscript and then either self publish or query agents/publishers (or simultaneously do both).

 I "plan" to finish my first YA paranormal series, The Silken Threads, and  then self publish the first three books in e-book format while simultaneously querying agents/publishers.

The Quandary
Your days are too short to do all the things required of you as an author in these new technological times? You need to write; blog; interact; write some more; edit; network; research; comment; be funny and engaging; and perhaps you have to work or parent or occasionally sleep.

Although, I cannot say my days are too short. My days are looooong. I rise with the children, long before the sun wakes, and I retire long after the moon shines. Most nights I get six hours sleep: not too shabby for some, pretty poor for others. I make lists and I schedule routines. I achieve an awful lot in one day. But...

I never seem to achieve what it is I set out to do.

Take this blog for instance.
I have three days a week to write. I aim to do a short blog post on each of those days to kick start my writing day. I even went so far as to declare my intention in the banner line of this blog! Do I end up writing a blog post on each of those three days? Nu-uh.

Today is Tuesday, I am only just now posting Mayhem&Madness!! Where did Monday go? Lost in the madness I assume.

The Query

Do you or do you not continue down this blogging path?

You call yourself a writer. You have several writing projects on the go, non-fiction and fiction alike, and you have numerous other writerly activities happening in the sidelines: blogs; websites; critique partners; writer's group; book club; competitions etc... 

You have taken the first steps toward a writerly career and now you need to finish your books and sell them.

To do this in today's market place  you know  you must secure a loyal following of like minded writers and readers to support your journey and for you to likewise support theirs. You have taken the first steps to do that but now you are faltering.

There are so many other things that need doing, like the final edit of Book 1, and more often than not these things take priority over the blog. And sometime you get stuck in the wide world of webbing that is social media and you find your entire day has been eaten up by a big hungry blog spider.

How do you break through the cycle?
How do you get better at juggling all of these things?

I don't have an answer to provide you that you don't already know. I too am stuck in the webbing.
I am tempted to suggest giving up on sleeping, or eating and cleaning.

Unreasonable solutions aside, the best I can come up with is this:

You practice.
You write.

And you blog about practicing and writing in a funny engaging way that will entice like minded readers and writers into following your journey and hopefully they will stick with you long enough to eventually buy and read your book- when at last you get it up and out there!

Just know -- you are not alone...

Happy Blogging

Sunday, 27 March 2011

Is self publishing the new agent slush pile?


Is Self-publishing the new Slush Pile?
There is much debate in the literary world about e-books vs. paper; self publishing vs. traditional; quality vs. crud and so on and so forth.




3 big ticket news items
Three things happened in the publishing world recently that fired this debate further:
- self publishing guru and author Amanda Hocking excepted a traditional publishing deal;
- traditionally published bestselling novelist Barry Eisler turned down a reported $500 000 dollar deal to go it alone, and
- the federal judge rejected the Google book settlement.


Is it possible?
Is it possible that both traditional and self publishing can co-exist in a complementary relationship? The above news items indicate a definitive yes. Each path suits a particular need; one path can lead to the other and around and round the publishing wheel we go. But - will self publishing will emerge to take on the role of the agent in the first round of queries?


In times gone by...
The steps you once would take to become published were:
• You write a book
• You fine tune it to the best of your ability
• You research agents, publishing houses and competition that suit the genre
• You send out queries, the first 3 chapters or enter competitions
• You wait
• While you wait you start to write another book or perhaps fine tune the first one
• You wait some more
• After a very short /very long time you land an agent, publisher or win a comp
• You start on the rewrite
• Your agent sends the novel around to be optioned by publishers
• You wait
• While you wait you blog about waiting and other publishing things
• Sometimes you land a deal, sometimes you find a new agent, sometimes you write another book
• You wait some more for covers, pre-releases, reviews so on and so forth
• 12 to 18 months after landing the deal your book is released
• Glory lands at your feet, you jump for joy and then you get back on the wheel.


The future of publishing as I see it
• You write a book.
• You fine tune it to the best of your ability.
• You have a few friends, critique partners and beta readers fine tune it further.
• While others are reading first book, you write some more.
• You interact on social media about the experience.
• You e-publish the first book via one of the many platform services available.
• You set realistic and affordable price for e-book ($0.99 to $2.99).
• You try not to think about the realistic and affordable price.
• You reassure yourself - everyone else is doing it.
• You make it available on Kindle, iPad, Kobo & Nook.
• You target a few book reviewers and offer them free arcs.
• You see the dribbles of sales come in.
• You get excited.
• You do the whole process again with the second book.
• More sales dribble in.
• You blog some more.
• Sales increase.
• You get excited and madly publish another three books.
• You get a bit of a cult following.
• You start making reasonable money.
• A few agents notice you on Twitter.
• An agent or two likes you on Facebook.
• A big name agent blogs about you.
• You consider traditional publishing.
• You query a few agents.
• Agents respond positively.
• Your name is already known so you land a traditional publishing deal.
• You don't really know the first thing about traditional publishing so....
• You land an agent to help you out along the way.
• You become a mega-success old school style.
• You decide you like traditional publishing but you miss the freedom of self-publishing.
• You consider self publishing as a side project.
• Your side project is a huge hit and your traditional published deal sky rockets because you are so damn popular.
• You have landed feet first in your very own Utopia.
• The beginning meets the end and the end becomes the beginning.
• A perfect circle.
• You get back on the wheel.

Agents and traditional publishers do not get lost in the new order.
These entities are still necessary because:
1. People still love paper books (well, some people), and
2. Authors want to write, not publish (well, some authors).
The way I see it is that writers need to make it happen for themselves. Get out there and get noticed. Climb out of the slush pile.

Self-publishing platforms could become the new agent slush pile.
Agents will look out for new talent in a new way. Publishers will look for new writers that already have following and proven track record. Traditional publishing will fine tune the best of the best and make them the GREATS.
 That's the way I see it. How do you see it?

*for an awesome post on the numbers and money making side check out ex- literary agent and new author Nathan Brandsford


**note -I am yet to attempt of the above mentioned publishing options. This is just me making sense of the world as I see it and putting together all the info I have gathered over the many months I have been researching the best way to publish my first, second, third and fourth novel. Watch this space though...

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Two Things Every Writer Needs

Yesterday
I posted about my
inability to write.

My first MS,
with whom I have spent the better part of three years in a dramatic love / hate relationship,
is currently languishing
in a bottom drawer
crying out for some much needed TLC.

You see
the last time we spent quality time together
it all ended in tears.
The break-up of all break-ups.
The MS haughtily took itself to a quiet corner to sulk
and I, ashamed as I am to admit it,
took solace in the world of another.

The new MS idea almost ended my first meaningful MS relationship.

Don't get me wrong,
I did try.
For 6 long torturous months
I tried.

I have dug deep,
 tried reconciliation,
counselling,
self help books,
 the works
but...

each time we sit down together
each time we think we have it all sorted,
the new MS sidles up to listen in.

The new MS is well meaning,
full of inspiration,
full of big ideas,
but the new MS is not helping.

Yesterday
I thought we had hit rock bottom,
I thought there was no way to pick up the pieces.

That is until I spoke up.

I stepped away from the MS's
and I went to my peeps.

The Two Things Every Writer Needs

1. Someone to tell you what you WANT to hear
2. Someone to tell you what you NEED to hear.

My bestie (and critique partner) took the brunt of it
(that's what happens when you drop by at wine o'clock).
She listened,
she asked appropriate questions,
she considered
and then she agreed.

I felt great.
I had secured my
No 1. Someone to tell you what you WANT to hear


Later, over another glass of wine and dinner
The Cat  -husband not animal - asked how my day was.

Now usually I regale The Cat with stories, funny incidences
 and the drama of spending the day with 
Thing 1 & Thing 2. 

Instead he found himself nodding uncertainly to
 my incensed ramblings
 about how the old MS and I had fallen out of love
 and the new MS that was flirting with me at every opportunity.

I detailed the tears,
the laughter,
the fights,
the jealousy
and finally I admitted
the guilt.

The Cat cleared his throat, folded his arms and sat back,
"So, you're giving up?"

My stomach dropped, "No!"
I shook my head vehemently, "No no no."

I tried to explain how suffocated I felt by the first MS,
how needy it had become,
how it was stifling my creativity.

The Cat nodded in understanding.
I sighed in relief.
The Cat hugged me close,
"It's OK to admit defeat. If it's too hard, then it's too hard"
I nodded gratefully...

Hang on...
 "No. That's not what this is. I'm not giving up because it's too hard!"

 Cat annoyingly raised one eyebrow.
 (How? how does he do that?).
"Are you sure?"

Am I sure. Am I SURE.
I snatched up my glass of wine and stomped away.
AM I SURE. Huh!

Dinner was eaten in silence.
Half way through Cat
commented on my choice of wine.
Three quarters done
and Cat complimented the dish.
As I finished Cat collected the plates and loaded the dishwasher.
Cat poured us another glass of wine.

The Cat is a lovely husband.
He knows me, hairy armpits and all.
He has my best interests at heart.
Maybe he has a point.

Am I sure?

No 2. Someone to tell you what you NEED to hear.

Today I am back on track.

MS no 1 has been given a new lease of life.
She has three months to get her act together.
MS no 2 has agreed to wait patiently in the side lines.
Her time will come.

May 30 - my 33rd birthday - MS no 1 TBC.
A deadline.
Accountability.
I owe it to myself and to my wonderful support network.

I am so grateful to have two people who know me so well.

What in this writerly world are you grateful for?

Friday, 25 June 2010

Tomorrow, When the War Began - A movie at long last

Since I myself was a teen in high school, I have been a fan of John Marsden's 'Tommorrow' series.
I have religiously collected and read all 7 books in the original 'Tomorrow' series and also collected and read the 3 final novels from the  'Ellie Chronicles'. When I say read, I mean over and over again.
I don't know what it is about the story, but every time I immerse myself in the books, I almost always end up reading all ten again in quick succession.

In my opinion, 'The Third Day the Frost' is by far the best and I was so excited to find the movie trailer on youtube and to learn the first three novels in the series are being made into motion pictures. These movies have been considered many times before, but have never gotten off the ground! Finally at long last someone made it happen.

I  cannot wait to now watch all my favourite characters come to life on the big screen. Although I am also a little apprehensive. Like with all novels, sometime the movie does the readers imagination justice, other time it fails hopelessly. In this case with three movies scheduled and a possible series spin-off, I dearly hope they hit the mark.

Check out the trailer below, so far it looks pretty good.





And before the release date, do yourself a favor and devour the books first