Old Favorites: Best Classic Movies

Growing up, my family instilled in me a love of old movies, especially the black and white classics. They may not have had the tech and special effects we have now but the stories stuck with you, even the silly ones. Some of them are among my favorite movies ever.

I tried to pick a single favorite and failed miserably. Heck, I can’t pick a single favorite ice cream flavor. I tend to have a range of favorites. So, here are just a few of my all-time favorite old movies (for the purpose of this article, we’ll “old” or “classic” as pre-1975):

When is Getting Stuck the Best Thing?

I tend to write the way I live (or maybe I live the way I write), a sometimes-awkward hybrid between planning and winging it.

Writers often define themselves as either  plotter (planner) or pantser (that sometimes flaky person who considers herself spontaneous). While I’m no longer a die-hard pantser, I’m also not entirely a plotter. I’m somewhere between. A plantser, if you will.

What if Money Didn’t Matter?

Recently, a friend shared this video on YouTube. It asks such a simple, beautiful question.

A question we rarely ask ourselves with any seriousness.

What would you do with your life if money was no object?

Novel Wishes and NaNoWriMo Dreams

Baby Stepping Through NaNoWriMo

NaNo’s over. Time to paaartay!

National Novel Writing Month is over for 2012.

Whether you rocketed past the finish line or were miles away, you wrote words that didn’t exist before November 1.

Even if you never got past the first sentence, you made something happen. Seriously. Pat yourself on the back.

Celebrating even a tiny success can motivate you to succeed further.

I’m a huge believer in baby steps. Some people get jazzed by lofty goals. The mere idea makes me want to puke in my mouth a little.

Doing the Write Thing for a Good Cause

Fundraising Anthology for a Fellow Writer

Recently, we talked about how much goodness we can do for one another when the chips are down. When something as big as Hurricane Sandy strikes and people respond with generosity and kindness, the whole world hears about it.

But when a storm strikes in the life of just one person or family and others pour out their love, we don’t always get to hear about unless it’s someone close to us. Or unless you factor in the power of social media.

A Tale of Two Closers

How Does Major Crimes Sharon Raydor Stack up to The Closer Brenda Leigh Johnson?

The first season of TNT’s Major Crimes has wrapped and the question for The Closer fans is can we love Sharon the way we loved Brenda Leigh?

I’d venture to say “no” but for all the right reasons.

Buttoned-down Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) couldn’t be more different from spitfire Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) but they are identical in their passion for the mission, to protect the innocent and bring the guilty to justice.

How Sympathetic Can a Zombie Be?

Zombies Were People Too

The 3rd Rot & Ruin Book

I recently read Jonathan Maberry‘s Rot and Ruin series, the story of four friends who’ve grown up in a zombie devastated world. As they try to find their place in this world, they have to choose between safety, an illusion crafted from stagnation and denial for many of the survivors, and freedom in a land where everything wants to kill them.

While the novels deliver all the shambling, flesh-hungry zombie terror you’d expect, it also packs a huge emotional punch. Good horror makes you care about the characters but Jonathan Maberry makes you care about the monster too.

How Much Should Be Left to the Imagination in Fiction?

Some time ago, I came across this TED video with J.J. Abrams talking about what drives his creativity.

He talks about the Mystery Box, the idea that what we don’t need to know every detail about a story to enjoy it. In fact it’s what’s left to the imagination that really makes the story. The monster we don’t see. The conversation we see but can’t overhear. The closed door.

Do Horror Writers Give Themselves Nightmares?

horror: hor-ror (noun)

1.  An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.
2. A thing causing such a feeling.

Do you ever have nightmares after watching a horror flick or reading a horror novel? Maybe just a case of the heebie-jeebies? Do you find yourself making double sure all the doors are locked when you’re home alone at night? Do you check the closets and under the bed? For a split second before you turn on the light in a dark room, do you hesitate, afraid to reveal the monster that might be lurking?

Oh sure, some of you are saying “Suck it up, you big baby. Horror never gives me nightmares.”

To you I say, “You haven’t been working out your imagination enough.”

What if Your Favorite Feel Good Movies Were Recut as Horror?

Have you ever wondered what your favorite feel-good movies would be like if they were recut as horror movies?

Okay, maybe not.

But I bet you will after this.

An uncle plots to murder his brother and nephew, then take over the kingdom. But, you know, it’s a Disney movie…so it can’t be that scary…