JamesSavik

Successful sequels require strong characters and a significant change in setting & plot to differentiate the sequel from the original. This is a necessity because the new story must stand on its own. This is where Hollywood falls on its face with sequels. Prime example: Heinlein's Starship Troopers is a favorite science fiction novel and was made into a feature film in 1997. As a film, it was very successful and made quite a lot of scratch. Since Hollywood bought the rights, they decided to cash in on the franchise. They hired some writers and a whole new cast and did Starship Troopers II: Hero of the Federation which sucked raw balls. Not to be outdone they did Starship Troopers III: Marauder which still sucked balls but was not quite as bad as SST II. Heinlein only wrote the original story. Everything else was ripped off from his original ideas and regurgitated (as cheaply as possible) to cash in on the rights. The point is that simply because you CAN do a sequel doesn't mean that you should. Ask yourself: Is it contrived? Does the story flow naturally or is it a reach? [this is where Hollywood falls on its ass] Are you trying to clone a hit? Ask Hollywood- it can only rarely be done and usually fails. Did you plan a series or sequel to start with? Did you leave room and open questions from the first story? Are the characters and setting strong enough to support a continuing story line? Often Hollywood does low-budget sequels with a new cast and invariably screws up any possibility of the sequel succeeding. Can you be consistent in the new storyline? If the original story was a coming of age story, is the character a young adult in the sequel? Does he/she use the lessons learned in the first story line? Did they grow? Is that growth consistent?

If you want a complex literary character, Holden Caulfieled is a raging pussy compared to Brian Kellum of the Brian & Pete Series by Dewey. Nobody does angst better.

Why don't you two just get a room and get it over with?

How Twilight Works by the Oatmeal sums it up nicely. Annoying to me- as I have a story by the same name. Many think my Twilight is fan fiction and write to bitch about it not being about vegetarian vampires. Days later they write back to say that my Twilight is a more interesting story. Fooking Hollywood formula scripts. If is wasn't an ass-fest, no one would have even noticed the movies.

In Mississippi, this guy is normal. I don't want to be normal. I hope for better.

"redneck hell" would be somewhere that rednecks are uncomfortable. Somewhere where there is no college football, NASCAR or Bass Pro Shops. Someplace with a lot of sophistication where people use a lot of big words and drink 5$ a cup coffee. "the gay mecca USA" can only be San Francisco "the middle of nowhere" is relative to where you define no where's boundaries. Once the boundaries have been established, calculating the middle of no where requires a few simple first order differential equations.

Mark- You aren't a post whore. You are promiscuously conversational. See the difference that the right words can make? JS

When America finally sinks, I plan to swim to Australia. It's a long haul but I'll be in beach shape once I get there.

>>Homosexuality is Abnormal Yeah, well "normal" lives in a fookin' trailer park and thinks wrestling is real. Normal is mediocre. Normal is average. Normal is a bloke with hairy plams and acne on his back and arse. Normal is a crackhead smoking a rock and jerking off in a junk car. Normal is a hooker with six kinds of clap and a pimp named Leroy. Normal is a republican senator on a business trip that hasn't touched his wife in a decade trying to do the nasty in an air port crapper. Normal is a shitload of things I'm glad I'm not a part of. So take your normal and shove it somewhere dark and smelly you wanker.

How to use the semicolon: by the Oatmeal

I took this quiz by the Oatmeal and got this alarming result: Also new at the Oatmeal: Why I would rather be punched in the balls than call customer service OMG... this is the story of my life: Why it's better to pretend that you don't know anything about computers

The Android's Dream By John Scalzi ISBN: 978-0-7653-4828-9 Rarely have I found a book to be as funny. In fact, I laughed my ass off at the novel method of "murder" used to set up the plot.

I suppose it is as good a reason as invading Iraq to give Sadam a neck-wedgie.

after much deliberation, decides to sleep in.

there is another form that I like to apply to would be/over-hyped Hollywood epic that falls on its face: crap-ta-cular.

Shush! It's a secret. The colors makes them ideal for coding all sorts of various projects.

Jensen: You need this: Fallout Protection It provides quite a bit of practical information that you'll need. It takes a lot of research to get it right. The genre is filled with people who have failed to do proper research and produced a lot of rubbish.

Yes. I've also read the Fountainhead and am now reading some of her less well known works.

Next on my Pile: Anthem by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0-452-28635-2 American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 by William Manchester ISBN: 0-316-02474-0

MARINE- the Life of Chesty Puller by Burke Davis ISBN: 0-553-27182-2 Chesty Puller joined the Marines in 1918. He chased bandits in Haiti and Nicaragua (horse-thieves and child-rapists that would later become the legendary Sandinistas under Commie-stodge Ortega). He fought all the way through WWII in the Pacific from Guadalcanal, the Palaus and Cape Gloucester. In Korea he was at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir. Puller was one of the "Old Breed" Marine officers that knew how to fight and win. He had little patience with officer/politicians. He made quite a lot of history. He was at the Battle of Edison's Ridge on Guadalcanal which turned the tide and of particular interest is his work in Korea and afterwards. To this day, he's the only man that has ever won five Navy Crosses.

Once you go trackball, you won't go back. You'll get none of that carpel tunnel nonsense and have finer control over your cursor once you get used to it.

trackball!