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Are you still watching Dollhouse, the very darkly themed Whedon show starring Eliza Dushku as Echo, the brain-wiped human tabula rasa-slave? The last time we saw Echo, she was kidnapped by Alpha, the escaped Active, who then zapped all the personalities she'd been programmed with before all at once into her. The idea was to make her his Omega. As we know, he didn't succeed. Omega killed him and chose to return to her blank state.
Our dubious Knight-in-Shining-Armor didn't quite rescue Echo either. In fact, he took the gray road, agreeing to work "with" the Dollhouse PTB in exchange for...I'm not sure what...and Melon'sDecember's freedom.
The first episode of Season Two started in a confusing manner for me. Ballard seemed to be using the Dollhouse to trap a bad guy (illegal weapons dealer) who he hadn't succeeded to catch during his FBI days. Echo was programmed as his "partner" who had lured the bad guy into marrying her.
This indicated that some time had passed since last season's finale, right, because it takes time for a bad guy to decide to marry some beautiful woman and have a big wedding. Right? If so, then I have the problem of Ballard actually doing unto Echo what he professed to abhor all last season--using her for sex (and other things) without permission. Granted, the sex wasn't with him, but with the weapons dealer, but heck, that's splitting hair.
Sure, he seemed uncomfortable about it and there were some funny moments spliced into the usual gratuitous shots of Echo naked under a male, like the insertion of Ballard doing some push-ups while the bad guy was on top of Echo doing some...umm...push-downs, heh. And yeah, in the end, Echo got the bad guy, with Ballard coming to the rescue when she was in danger, but what is Whedon doing with Ballard's character? He's no longer someone we root for.
Echo's story hasn't grown much, except her telling Ballard at the end that she knows about the "others" inside her. I'm not sure what she meant when she said she was going to look for these personalities. What was the point? Ballard knew they were just composites of people that Topher created. I suppose we could interpret that as part of the Caroline "got to save things/people/causes" personality waking up, but I thought last year's little hints were stronger than this premiere's memory lapses/flashbacks.
The most interesting subplot was Dr. Saunders, who had found out that she was a doll called Whiskey, reprogrammed because of her facial scars. Wow, a tortured angsty doll?! So are we to surmise that a doll who had been given her personality for too long will become that personality? What does that say about the mind? Dr. Saunders rejected her old "life," and was afraid that they would kill her (the Dr. Saunders personality), yet there were some sparks of that Whiskey wickedness showing. She tortured Topher with a zealousness that was totally unlike her Dr. Saunders kind demeanor; she was quite menacing toward Echo, looking at the razor and then taking the lollipop for herself (instead of the usual giving the lollipop to the doll after examination). In the end, she ran away, going into the "real" world. The doll wants to be real.
And what about Topher, our evil geeky smart-mouth genius? Turns out he had a human side, giving his reasons to reprogram Whiskey the way he did. He didn't want Whiskey as Dr. Saunders to be his "yes" sidekick. He wanted someone who would question him, so he gave her a dislike of himself, even his smell. Topher is very strange indeed. Yet, he made perfect sense. Best line: "I didn't make you hate me. You chose to do that." So again, there is the idea being tossed out that a programmed doll could "grow" as a person.
The friction between Boyd and Ballard is delicious. I can't wait to see them at odds even more as the season continues, especially now that Ballard had become Echo's handler. Boyd not gonna like that, no sirree.
That last bit was damning too. Ballard is now part of the Dollhouse, whether he had any good ulterior motive, or not. So who is left to save our Dolls?
(Almost must add--Viktor and Sierra holding hands in the end = glad to see them reconnecting).
So, what are your thoughts?
Remember Carl Sagan on Cosmos? This tribute to him is just fabulous. Someone has a lot of talent!
Isn't it a beautiful video?
I came across this:
Walmartians
Pages and pages of them. I'm skeered.
***EDITED. I blame it on brain damage. I had the right entry but wrong entrant's name. Apologies.
The winner of HARD JED contest is Taylor B., who wrote:
Since it's been TWO freaking years since VHis, I'm now so happy I'm gonna run naked through the neighborhood, regardless of being 8 months pregnant, shouting to all "Jed's story is here, Jed's story is here!"
As in taking a tumble. As in WHHHHhhooooosssshhh! with no bungee cord. As in going splat.
This is very a very bad position to be in, especially if you're a roofer. And especially, if you hadn't planned on it. But really, when had anyone planned on heading the wrong direction?
I've made unwise decisions before, as have you, I'm sure. Sometimes, it's just a mundane one, like looking at the drip edge and waddling along the roof and not checking whether someone had slipped a piece of tar paper under another without tacking it. Twenty years in the biz and you'd think I'd see that amateur mistake. But life is like that. You can check and avoid slippery sawdust and sand; you can tread carefully when it rain. You EXPECT trouble when you see certain things with your experienced eye, and if you still slipped, well, at least you saw it coming, and perhaps, was able to negotiate the least painful way while sliding off your feet.
On Sunday, no such thing happened. I was there and then, suddenly, I was not. The paper under me was solid, and then, suddenly, it was not. And when it took off under my feet, I understood, in that split second, that this wasn't any magic carpet ride, and that there was nothing between me and the concrete poolside below.
There was no time to panic. I didn't even manage a squeak of surprise. All I heard was my partner's very loud surprised curse while I was heading the wrong direction...straight down and with no control over my body. You know, usually, when you're slipping or sliding, your brain is looking for solutions for you. Your hand automatically reach out to brace yourself. You scream, as if to warn yourself or someone around you to save you. You bend your legs to stop the sliding.
Not this time. My brain was still up on the roof. The rest of me...WwHHHHoooshhh. And in half a second it was a WWwwHHhhacK. That was my head. Saying hi to that concrete. Brain was still gaping in astonishment. Me? Well, like I said, I registered the shout from my partner. Everything else was silence.
And in that silence, the WWWwwwwHHHacK echoed really loudly. I never lost consciousness. and then this sound erupted from inside and was torn from my vocal cords. I'm not sure what it was. I'll call it my Spontaneous Moan. Do you remember those ghost stories your nasty older brother or cousin told you about during Halloween, about walking in the dark, with nary a soul in sight, with things brushing up against you, and then this long unearthly moan came out of nowhere? Well, that's how this sounded, coming from somewhere inside me, but not from my brain, somewhere else--perhaps the soul, or even a more primitive consciousness within--rising out of me like some kind of magical portentous thunder.
And my brain? It heard me. Because I distinctly remember that clear thought at that moment from somewhere outside, that "that sounded absolutely scary-horrible and I'd better shut myself up." And immediately, in a flash, my brain was back inside my head and I could hear my partner rattling the ladder against the wooden pool fence in his hurry to get to me. And my brain was registering that not more than ten or fifteen seconds had probably just passed.
My body had already told me that I was in pain. But how seriously was I injured? I mean, would someone dying be thinking so logically? As in..."Ouch, that hurt. Stop that stupid moaning. And wow, wait till the readers read about this on the blog."
I turned. The sky was still blue and yes, I'm breathing. Deep breaths. My partner was walking toward me and calm as the pool waters not five feet from me, I told him, "I'm okay."
As if I'd know! But that was how I felt. Very calm. In pain, but not the kind that makes you go OW OW OW! or #%*&F*#K%!!! or even whimper. Just my brain and me, looking around.
"Is there blood?" I asked, although I was pretty sure there wasn't any.
He shook his head. I think he was in shock. I sat up slowly, gingerly touching myself. It hurt but I was moving. I took inventory. No dizziness. There was a goose egg on my head but seeing that I'd expected a smashed watermelon, a goose egg was good. I walked. No stumbling. I even stretched a little and found that my ribs hurt.
I thought, and this was a silly and odd thing, about my first nasty fall as a kid, down a very long flight of cement stairs, and how my grandma picked up a shoe and started rubbing my goose egg very, very hard with its sole. I remembered how she made me bawl even more, since I expected some loving hugs and reassurances, not a torture mush with the wrong side of a shoe.
Anyway, after ten or fifteen minutes, I was back on the roof, finishing up my job. Of course, I pointed out to all that someone had kindly retacked the same spot with just one fucking nail and my partner was standing on it. Sheesh. Must I show them again the danger of doing that????! Men. They'll never learn.
The next 24 hours, I was carefully monitoring myself. The goose egg disappeared in a matter of hours, which surprised me. I had developed a headache and neck ache, which didn't. My ribs had stiffened up and I found other slight bruises but everything is a surprise to me because I was expecting much, much more.
I put off sleep, chatting with y'all on Twitter and Facebook, telling you about my little adventure, so that I could see whether my headache would worsen or whether I'd feel nauseous and out-of-sorts, which would indicate serious concussion. I understood the risk I was taking but you know, a two thousand five hundred dollar deductible in one's health insurance is still a two thousand five hundred dollar deductible whichever way you think of it. I wasn't THINKING of that, mind you, but it was one of the reasons, and not the MAIN one, that made me decide to just take it easy for a while. So don't go all mommy on me, okay? I may still go see a doctor and may still take a brain scan.
And oh. Two days later, I'm still trying to remember how I landed. Did I really land on my head? I couldn't have, or I wouldn't have just a goose egg, right? So did I land on my side first, then hit my head? If so, why is there no bruising? And how did I hurt my ribs when my partner said he saw me on my back? The mystery is "killing" me, yuk yuk, yuk.
One last thing. While googling about head injuries, like any silly Internet-dependent Twerp would do, I came across a site talking about children and falling down, how there was an old wife's tale to rub the bump on the child's head hard and that THIS WAS NOT A BAD THING TO DO because it was meant to stop the bleeding, if there were any, and to tell whether the bump is a lump or a concave thing. My grandma knew more about brains than I thought.
And Brain? That was pretty funny how I caught you by surprise the other day. You didn't even manage a squeak!
;-)
I'm having technical difficulties. Let's just say that falling off a roof at my old age is not the adventurous life I'm yearning for.
I'll write more about this little mishap later today but I need to get ready for...yes, work...and you know what? It takes a long time to snap on a bra when you have bruised ribs. Huh. Things I learn.
Back blurb of Virtually Hers is up! Here is the link to the Samhain Publishing page. Publishing date for the e-book is OCT. 6. Print book is sometime next year.
VIRTUALLY HERS BLURB
Virtually, Book 2
In Helen “Hell” Roston’s elite black ops world, failure isn’t listed as an option in the rule book. As the leading guinea pig in a dangerous combination of virtual reality training and a mind-altering serum, though, every day offers a thousand ways to blow it. And the very real sexual chemistry that sizzles between Hell and her trainer is messing with her head even more.
COS Commando Jed McNeil is an expert in mind manipulation games. He’s been chosen to be Hell’s monitor and anchor in the Super Soldier Spy program. Trained to compartmentalize his needs and feelings in an assignment, he’s unprepared by how much Hell affects him.
When the experimental serum gives Helen incapacitating headaches, her pain throws Jed into protect-at-all-costs mode. A position the fiercely independent Hell would rather die than be in. But with a rogue CIA faction out to sabotage the program, Hell has no choice—even if it makes her head explode. It’s trust Jed, or die.
What do you think? I thought the warning label at the bottom of the blurb was hilarious ;-).
For those interested in current results of the poll/survey from a couple of days ago. It's still open, so feel free to ask your friends to play along.
Uber Roofer has seen everything now!
Now you know what they've been up to while you're off to work!
Get This - Survey Results - GlowDay.com
The third question's answers were cut off by the size of the widget. Here are the choices for you to click on:
1) mostly erotica because of the covers
2) only out-of- or unavailable in print
3) always, cos I prefer to read with e-reader
4) seldom, don't like reading screen for hours
Do write your thoughts in the comment section about:
a) whether you'd reread as often if you have all your books in a digital library (do you look at your digital photographs much?)
b) would you miss the covers?
c) would you love the ability to enlarge the font of your reading material?
d) How about the browsing part? You know, playing with books, reading the back blurbs, cking out a few pages...is it any different when you browse, let's say, Amazon? Or do you not browse Amazon at all?
e) anything you want to add
This is my first try at this widget so I don't know whether the results will be shown or not. Let's hope so!
Always enjoyed him. Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze. Here's a video of him dancing a very romantic number with his wife.
I'd planned to spend the weekend reading the entries to the Hard Jed contest but hadn't been able to because of roofing work in Orlando. So give me a couple of days before announcing the winner, 'kay? Since they were all so good (and funny!) when I went through them the first time, I want give each of the entries proper attention!
Today is going to be filled with must-do activities. I have to rewrite some of the back blurb for Virtually Hers because I didn't quite like the second paragraph. I also have to work quickly to get the final FINAL edits for VHers back to my editor. It's mostly more a matter of making sure certain inconsistencies are corrected.
Like I mentioned on Facebook, it appeared that I've become the Hyphen Queen while working on this book. Not only that. Apparently, I also never noticed things like Super Soldier Spy or Supersoldier Spy or Super Soldier-spy or Super Soldierspy as I wrote, rewrote, revised, and edited this story a 1000 times these past years.
Copy editors are wonderful people because they notice these things, and point them out, and ask questions about connections, and make me wonder whether I even know the first book of the series ;-). Anyway, it's just startling how I just write and write and write and not care about details like...oh, SymBios 2 or SymBios II or Sym-bio Two, even during my own rereading process! I suck.
And, to make things even More Thrilling, tomorrow is the deadline for certain tax filings for my business and...oh, why bore you with details of running numbers and head-desking numerous times through the day? I just live on the edge of excitement, that's all.
So. Monday begins.
I shall breathe in. Breathe out. And get everything done!!!!!! Wish me luck. Hope your Monday is not quite so exhilarating.
Tomorrow, remind me to tell you a bit about Catch McMillan, whom the heroine calls Cat. ;-)
Did you see Oprah's Kick Off Party with 21000 of her fans dancing to Black Eye Peas? That was awesome! Put a smile on my face.
Why don't I have 21000 who would do the Jed Jiggy-Wiggy, huh?
Happy Weekend!
I thought TODAY was 09/09/09 and was all planning to look for something GREAT or MEANINGFUL happening. Ha. So me. I'd never make a good astrologer, no matter how I try. No wonder I celebrate my birthday the whole month ;-).
09/09/09 did turn out to be quite a good day for me. I have wonderful news about VHers print book (good for readers too!). Deets later, when I have more info. But it put a smile on my face.
So, what happened yesterday that would be considered an Event for you?
You know the band AC/DC, right? They have a popular song/album titled Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I've never paid attention to the lyrics and usually just hum this particular song when I hear it on the radio. I've always thought the lyrics went...
Dirty feet and thunder cheeks
Never thought anything about how ridiculous they sound since I'm not paying attention anyway. Of course, I should have wondered more at the puzzled amused glances I'd gotten throughout the years from the guys working at the job sites. Today, I was properly corrected by a Very Serious AC/DC fan, mainly because he's tired of listening to my howling out "dirty feet and thunder cheeks" while his favorite song is on.
My point is...maybe because of all my babbling about VHers coming out soon and NOT being clear, or maybe some of you just saw the cover pic and assumed, or you heard something different from what I'd been saying...I wonder whether some of you realize that VIRTUALLY HERS is coming out as an EBOOK this October???
In the contest commentary, quite a few are saying they're going to drive their postmen crazy. This makes me think that either there's a misunderstanding or that you're going to wait for the print format to come out. Nothing wrong with the latter, mind you, but I wanted to be sure.
So. In case, there's some confusion:
VIRTUALLY HERS is coming out as an Ebook this October. It will be available from the Samhain website, as well as Fictionwise, Mobipocket, Amazon, Allromanceebooks and BooksonBoard. I'm not familiar with all the formats available for e-readers and electronic gadgets, but I've downloaded ebooks straight into my computer without any problems.
VIRTUALLY HERS, the print format, will be available some time next year (2010). I'll let you know the actual date as soon as I have the information.
*****
Are we all straightened out about the what-what? ;-)
Now it's your turn: What song lyrics have you unknowingly mangled through the years? Betcha it wasn't as bad as "dirty feet and thunder cheeks" for "dirty deeds done dirt cheap!"
They say patience is a virtue. I tell you, they lied. Patience will eat the soul up, torture you with happy smileys, then spit your spoonful of hope out like a very naughty angry child.
But I digress. I'm not a bitter person, dwelling on pain and trauma. I'm a very, very happy uberauthor who wants to share her joy with her GlowGirls. This is my thank you to all of you who have given me support and encouragement in my darkest moments.
I've been good. I've been PATIENT. But now I'm going to kick Patience to the curb and shake my bootie. Why? Because it's a month a way, friends.
Flame wars abound. Romancelandia bloggers hotter than cats fighting on a hot tin roof. Everything makes them mad, and I mean, everything, and everyone is calling each other mean.
"Ur mean!"
"Ur meaner!"
"No, ur the meanest of the meanest! And ur not even a real blogger!"
"Come and say that to my face, u PMS meanie!"
"Oh! Haterz! Ur all haterz!"
Hence, the nice snowy weather here ;-). Chill out, my Glow Babes, here, have a juicy hamburger and Aunt Jenn's sweet ice-tay. It's flaming hot out there.
You're not alone. I'll be on the roof staring at you barbequing fools. Think of me.
For those who are interested, Big Bad Wolf's sales reached 600 copies end of Aug. June and July were the slowest months but then it started to pick up in August. Hopefully, VHers will generate some more interest. My goal is to try to sell 800 copies by end of year. Highly unlikely, but hey, it'd be cool if it did happen.
Overall, I'm pleased with what I've accomplished. The royalties are paying some of my bills, so hey, not complaining here!
Can't wait for VHers to come out next month so I can see more royalties ;-).
VIRTUALLY HERS is coming out in a month!
I'm sending out the e-ARCs one by one, slowly, because my puter can't handle many big files going out or coming in. This is a warning to some of you who are getting it in their email. Believe me, I know* how frustrating it is to have someone who thinks sending ten photos in their original size into your mailbox at once without any warning is okay. Not fun, if you're one of those people who use OE or Thunderbird. And not very nice, if you have a medium-sized web account which can't handle huge files.
So, if you have changed your mind about getting the e-ARC file, please let me know.
****************
So what GENERAL questions would you like me to answer about Virtually Hers? Hee.
If you've read this blog for the five years it's been around, you know I'm an avid Michelle Kwan fangrrrrl. I've celebrated every one of her achievements/wins as if they were my own, so much so that my buddies call her my girl when they see her on TV. I think I even blogged an MK and Writing Week one year ;-).
I've watched her since she was eight. That was almost two decades ago. She never fail to move me whenever she's on the ice and these last three years, because of injuries, she'd been off the public ice. I've missed her.
Her skating evokes emotions that puts her performance on another level above everyone else's. This year, she formally retires from competitive figure-skating. This is her swan song, performed in Korea, appropriately titled Winter Song. I'm just happy that she's back, skating painless and still giving her all whenever she's out there.
I don't know why her skating affects me that certain way. I just know it's something I've strived for whenever I write--to be able to make my reader pay attention to the in-between details, to enjoy the power of emotions through words, and to be immersed in a unique story. It awes me that what she does inspires me creatively, that her art could reach out from within her and make me (and thousands of others) tear up, and finally, give me that extra push to work harder on my love of story-telling.
Competitive figure-skating hasn't been the same for me since she left. I hadn't realized how big a void she left till I saw her step on the ice the other night. With that special blend of Kwan Magic, the last three years' horrendous nightmare of contorted legs touching the top of heads to get those few extra "points" disappeared. At least, for five glorious minutes.
And that* is the difference between craft and art.
(Volume on video very loud. Volume control is beneath the video screen)
MAY 07
