THE WALKING DEAD

 My father and I were talking about television series we’ve been watching: True Blood, Game of Thrones. Our tastes are almost identical, not surprising since I’m his daughter. I asked whether he’d watched season two of The Walking Dead, because I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about how much I love this show.

Surprise! He’d never heard of it. How in the world…Zombies! Never seen… What?

*insert eye rolling and face palm *

Dad, this post is dedicated to you.

THE WALKING DEAD is based on the comic book series of the same name. It tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse (start stocking up on survival gear people). The survivors search for a safe haven away from the hordes of the undead.

I like this series because it is character based. Sure there are rotting zombie kills, but I like how the characters are the focal point. The writers of the series take care to write them in a way that we empathize with their struggle. The series wouldn’t be so powerful if the audience didn’t connect with them and care whether they lived or died.

Coming off of the season two finale, I was curious about the ending (no spoilers here, folks). My husband happens to be a huge comic book geek, and he mentioned he had purchased The Walking Dead Comic—95 issues—downloaded into my iPad.

Heaven.

In my opinion, the comic is better than the series in scope of how big they can go with the plot and characters. In comics, you can kill of whomever you choose if it appropriate to the storyline. No actors or contracts, no budget. However, I like the gritty reality of watching the action on the big screen.

The series and the comics are excellent. They’re also far enough removed from each other that if you’ve read the comic the television series still comes off fresh. There are characters in the comic that haven’t made an appearance yet in the series. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a Tyreese appearance.

What do you think? Love the show? Hate it? How does it compare to the comic. What characters from the comics are you hoping to see in the series?

BABY RACCOON RESCUE

We had a bit of excitement at the day job last week. One of my coworkers is obviously part bat. She was parked along the side of the road when she heard a high-pitched mewling. After a swift investigation, she found two baby raccoons lying in the roadway. Her motherly instincts kicked in after discovering one of the little ones had been injured. After waiting to see if Mama Raccoon would return and waving away on-coming cars, she rescued the babies from impending doom.

Guess who ended up coming to work.

Aren’t they adorable?

The cubicles shook from the excitement. Coworkers gathered around the freezer bag the babies were packed in, taking pictures and videos to share.

The baby on top kept trying to climb out of the bag. She had the saddest, little eyes and kept crying for her mama. I wanted to cuddle them so bad, but I kept my paws to myself. If you listen closely, you can hear their cries on the video.

The babies are now at the Barry Kirshner Wildlife Sanctuary and Educational Center where they will receive much love and care. Please check out their website for pictures of the rehabilitated animals cared for by this amazing non-profit foundation. Donations are tax deductible.

ROOFTOP PRINCE-Oktab Bang Wangseja

This romantic comedy is currently airing on SBS. I've been watching it on HULU, which airs about a week behind (I think). This is a wonderfully clever series. It has the perfect blend of funny and tragic—with an emphasis on funny, unlike Love Rain which has been a real downer for the last several episodes.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still addicted to each new episode of Love Rain, but I’m glad I found this series. I admit it is my favorite out of the two shows.

Here is a short blurb:



Source



When Crown Prince Lee Kak of Joseon (Micky Yoochun ) discovers his wife, the Crown Princess, has been poisoned, he puts together an elite team of retainers, Song Man-bo (Lee Min-ho), Woo Yong-sool (Jung Suk-won), and Do Chi-san (Choi Woo-sik) to investigate the motive behind her murder.



As Crown Prince Lee Kak and his men wait to interview a witness, a group of assassins appear and chase them off of the edge of a cliff. They are mystically transported 300 years into the future and land in the rooftop apartment belonging to Park-ha (Han Ji-min) in 21st century Seoul, South Korea.

In the present day Seoul, the Crown Prince meets Joo Se-Na, (Jung Yoo-mi) who has an uncanny resemblance to his deceased Princess. He realizes if he wants to solve his Crown Princesses murder, he must discover how the two eras are connected.

This show is hilarious. The poor Crown Prince and his retainers are absolutely clueless when they arrive in the modern world. They’ve never seen cars, they're alone in a fast-paced world without money, or modern clothing. If not for Park-ha they would be in jail.


I’ve only watched this show up to episode 17 on HULU. I can’t wait to find out how the mystery unravels. I’m hoping for a happy ending, and I’m scared I won’t get the one I want.

Cherie Larkins' BIG NEWS

Many of you already know the treasure that is Cherie Larkins @writercherie from her SHARING OUR VOICES post, but if you've just happened to stumble across this blog you may be a bit intrigued.

Who is Cherie Larkins? What is her BIG NEWS? Why are you so excited?

Well, I’ll let her fill you in on all the wonderful details .

I’m so thrilled for her I had to share. So, please pop over to Cherie's Blog and offer her your warmest congratulations and good wishes on her future endeavors. I know she would appreciate it. 

HOOKED

This weekend I woke up my kids at the crack of dawn for the annual “Hooked on Fishing, Not On Drugs” day. This is an annual event which I’ve missed for the last five years, but I stumbled across the article in the local paper on Friday. I was so excited. My father fished all the time and I always enjoyed the times we went together. This is something I wanted my own children to experience again, even though none of us know how to use a fishing pole.

Kiwi spent the night at her friend’s house (they live in the condo below ours) but came home early specifically to go fishing. My son wasn’t as enthusiastic. We dragged him out of the house kicking and screaming, “I’m an inside person.” He even has a T-shirt with this very sentiment blazed across the front in bright blue letters.

I thought we left early enough, but by 7:30 a.m. we still had to park half a mile away. The lake was packed. People stood crowded along the bank, dodging each others casts into the water. The lake had been stocked with approximately 8,000 pounds of channel catfish. We watched kids pulling out catfish that were larger than they were, but my son was the only one in my family to catch anything.

And he caught me.

Yes, that is a worm threaded on a hook caught in my hair. It took much patience and skill to detangle that darn hook. The same can be said when it comes to writing. We see the word all the time. There is the opening hook in the query letter. It is a sentence intricately crafted to grab the agents’ attention and keep them from hitting the delete button. There’s the first page of your manuscript, which is supposed to hook the reader and entice them into buying your book. There is the cliffhanger ending of your chapter or scene which should keep the person from putting your book down. I’m sure you see where I’m going with this, right?

So, what do you think? How do you hook your readers?