tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13240590592328043642024-03-20T01:46:41.550-07:00TRUTH IS NO STRANGER TO FICTIONDave SwavelyDave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-87842365091154026622021-05-29T13:03:00.004-07:002021-05-29T20:27:01.263-07:00The Real Zombie Apocalypse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuHoOK0cYhiSXSS4BDgA_VsWR1LrZp4WyUrO_jQMz5hUUSNw6K9wX3oVAXd-2YlgZObsxF1g9vmOr_VeVoD0kNVkHkAlOgxYPX2Ebi1tfmtJPFeC67Iz914OpxA2x7W4tRTgJt4Ri4d6L/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuHoOK0cYhiSXSS4BDgA_VsWR1LrZp4WyUrO_jQMz5hUUSNw6K9wX3oVAXd-2YlgZObsxF1g9vmOr_VeVoD0kNVkHkAlOgxYPX2Ebi1tfmtJPFeC67Iz914OpxA2x7W4tRTgJt4Ri4d6L/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>I've never been much for zombie movies; in fact, I can count on one hand those I've seen (and none of them completely): parts of the original <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (turned it off after I started to get sick to my stomach from seeing people - though loosely defined, I know - eating the organs of other people); an edited version of <i>28 Days Later</i> (because it was on sale and I was interested in the director and the post-apocalyptic London); the non-subtitled Korean version of <i>Train to Busan </i>(that's right - I didn't understand anything they were saying, but it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on); and now, just recently, I watched some of <i>The Girl With All the Gifts</i> (fast-forwarding a lot after the grossness started, just to see what would happen to the characters).</p><p>I guess I should add that I tried two episodes of <i>The Walking Dead </i>once (mostly out of curiosity, because there was so much buzz about it). I found the over-frequent gory deaths of the zombies disturbing to begin with, but then was really turned off when that kind of pornographic violence was perpetrated by "the good guys" on live humans as well.</p><p>I'm sure I'll lose many of you who like this kind of "entertainment" (if I haven't already) by saying that I don't understand the appeal of such over-the-top gore, unless it taps into some primeval feature of sinful human nature that doesn't exist in me (I have many vices, but that doesn't happen to be one of them...yet). I'd like to know how Christians can possibly justify watching that sort of thing over and over again, let alone enjoying it. But I'm only referring to the gory killing when I say that... while I was perusing <i>The Girl With All the Gifts </i>(which I do not recommend, by the way), I thought of another possible appeal of zombie movies that led me to some real-life reflections.</p><p>I think our interest is captured and adrenaline starts surging when the protagonists in these stories are up against seemingly insurmountable odds (something that other kinds of stories make good use of as well, of course - <i>The Matrix</i> and <i>Lord of the Rings </i>come to mind). The hordes of flesh-eating attackers are nearly impossible to escape, and even more to the point, the real human survivors are almost always a tiny minority compared to the walking dead.</p><p>This also may tap into a deep knowledge inside our hearts, because it actually happens in the real world of humanity (in the spiritual realm)! Do you realize that? Ephesians 2:1-3 describes the state of "the world" (meaning all the people who have not been "born again" by the Spirit, as Jesus says in John 3): "You were <b>dead</b> in the trespasses and sins in which you once <b>walked</b>, following the course of <b>this world</b>, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like <b>the rest of mankind</b>."</p><p>God says that most of the people on this planet are dead yet walking around - the walking dead! Spiritual zombies. They are not in their right minds but under the control of something like a contagious fungus (as in <i>The Girl With All the Gifts</i>, or whatever other explanation might be offered) - or, in this case, someone: "the prince of the power of the air" (Satan and demons, who are very much like the machines and agents in <i>The Matrix</i> or Sauron and the Ring in <i>Lord of the Rings</i>). Like the zombies of lore, those who have not yet been spiritually awakened are dominated by their selfish desires and fleshly passions (much like a passion for flesh-eating) - more like animals than the way humans were meant to live (with a higher purpose and a heavenly mindset). In the real world, those who have been regenerated ("born again") are as different from others as the living humans are from the zombies in those made-up stories.</p><p>I remember noticing that sad dynamic in my father when I lived alone with him for a number of years while I was a teen (my parents were divorced). I had been spiritually awakened through learning the Bible at a Christian school, and so in my immature, halting way I wanted to know more about spiritual issues, talk about them, etc., but he had no such interest whatsoever. He just wanted to do his crosswords, drink his Manhattans, watch baseball, date his girlfriend, and play his horns on the weekend (he was a clarinet and sax pro). The difference between us was so obvious that I actually wondered at times if he was really human, because my human experience included an inescapable concern for God, or at least an inescapable knowledge that He was concerned for me. But nothing like that existed in my dad.</p><p>That spiritual deadness continued until the last few weeks of his life, when he found out that he was going to die from terminal lung cancer and asked me if I would teach him what I had learned about the Bible. As I did, I saw his spiritual eyes opening and his heart warming to the truth of the gospel. He said things that would have never come out of his lips before, like "I've wasted my life; I wish I would have lived for God instead of myself" and "I deserve to go to hell, and I know I can only be saved by the mercy of Christ who died for me." It was amazing to see this transformation, and I had no doubt that he had been made alive by the Spirit of God for the first time - a spiritual zombie changed into the kind of human that God had originally designed us to be, just in time to meet his Maker. (Kind of like what happens in <i>Warm Bodies, </i>a zombie movie I forgot to mention that was very different from the others, though I still did feel queasy during some parts.) </p><p>Notice that Ephesians 2 also mentions "this world" and "the rest of mankind." There you have, in reference to the reality we live in, the additional dynamic where some of us "survivors" (those "still living") are a small minority compared to the waves of spiritually dead people surrounding us. In fact, such spiritual zombies control most of the institutions in "this world," from government to business to entertainment and so on. So we have to band together and somehow stand against all the forces that are trying to destroy us spiritually in this post-apocalyptic setting (post-Fall, that is: the Fall was a world-ruining apocalypse if there ever was one). </p><p>For all of you who have been exposed to zombie stories (and any of you who like them, if you're still with me), perhaps seeing the parallels between the imagined world of those stories and the real world we live in will motivate you to be a hero who is willing to be different and fight against the tide of unbiblical influences and ideas that attack us. They are so prevalent that they can seem to be right, but are really just a product of a world that has been ruined and minds that are enslaved to selfish desires, which feel good at the moment of satisfaction but in the end turn out to be merely myopic and destructive.</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2ciuVHQtl67p11VsltzZChyphenhyphenUZsnWbvLrB4Im3tCaUSL8O64w9br5G9muXiJIrdY0T9hWrAXA9Ire4DgPZ_B-dTYBdSF7vxjMCqn_UeGyJ6tmbaXAEzgW7GYiLNBPX6Z1Ye7fC41XL72p/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2ciuVHQtl67p11VsltzZChyphenhyphenUZsnWbvLrB4Im3tCaUSL8O64w9br5G9muXiJIrdY0T9hWrAXA9Ire4DgPZ_B-dTYBdSF7vxjMCqn_UeGyJ6tmbaXAEzgW7GYiLNBPX6Z1Ye7fC41XL72p/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>From <i>Warm Bodies</i> - one zombie who's come alive telling others how they can too </span>(it's a lot like evangelism)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-85629853483208734492020-06-01T04:34:00.000-07:002020-06-01T04:42:19.904-07:00The Key Moment in Breaking Bad<div style="text-align: center;">
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The key moment in <i>Breaking Bad</i> is in Season 1 Episode 5, which I just finished watching. I know very generally how the story proceeds from here, from what I've seen on news articles, so if you're one of the other few people in the world who haven't seen the show in its entirety and you don't want to hear even very general spoilers, then stop here. But the very general info I know hasn't lessened my interest or appreciation for the episodes I've seen, so I think the important truth I will discuss will compensate for any mild spoiler effect. And if you've seen the whole series, or if you don't plan to watch it, what I'll say here is unquestionably worth a few minutes of your time, because it can effect your eternity.<br />
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I started watching <i>Breaking Bad</i> a couple years ago, but my conscience wouldn't let me continue past the first two episodes, for several reasons: 1) They were the only ones that were free to me at that time and I didn't think it was worth the money to watch a show that had so much evil behavior in it, and 2) The evil behavior. A conscience can be legitimately realigned, however, as I explain <b><a href="http://www.thewaywithwords.net/2015/02/the-es-of-entertainment-7-eliminate.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">here</span></a></b>, and mine has been, because 1) I can watch more of the show for free now and 2) all the things I've heard about it in the last couple years have convinced me that there may be some redeeming value in watching more of it.<br />
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What I've heard includes the widespread view that <i>Breaking Bread </i>is one of the best shows ever produced for television, at least according to secular artistic standards. That interests me as a writer and creator of fiction. But I've also heard (from a <i>Christianity Today</i> article, of all things) that creator Vince Gilligan's religious upbringing bleeds through in subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways. And so far, after seeing the first five episodes, I'd have to agree that both are true, and that at least those early episodes may be worth watching (for adults only, of course, and only if your conscience is clear:).<br />
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The reason I say that is similar to why Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet </i>is worthwhile art, despite its constant depiction of evil behavior and its tragic story arc. In fact, I saw a direct parallel to <i>Hamlet</i> in the key <i>Breaking Bad </i>moment I'll be talking about. Early in the classic play, Shakespeare tells us twice that Hamlet would have gone to Wittenberg to study if the ghost of his father had not appeared to him and called for revenge. I believe this was a hint of why Hamlet's life unravels so horribly and how it could have been avoided, because Wittenberg was where Martin Luther had championed the doctrine of Divine grace over human merit and "salvation by works." If Hamlet had learned that principle, he could have abandoned the pursuit of revenge that doomed him and just about everyone else in the play. (I wrote more about that<b><a href="http://www.truthisnostrangertofiction.net/2017/09/the-good-fight-henry-v-style-pluswhat.html" target="_blank"> <span style="color: white;">here</span></a></b>.)<br />
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In Episode 5 of <i>Breaking Bad</i>, Walter White makes a fateful choice to decline an offer from a rich ex-friend to pay for his cancer treatment, which leaves him with cooking meth as the only way he can make enough money to pay for it (and keep his family out of crippling debt). His motives for the choice are understandable to most of us, because our natures are hard-wired to view receiving "charity" from others negatively. We want to take care of ourselves and not be dependent on others. Plus we've all experienced the impetus to revenge, and that is present in Walter's motives too, because the rich ex-friend married the woman he loved.<br />
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I've always said that many non-Christian artists are very accomplished at understanding and depicting the <i>problems </i>with humanity--they just never present the complete solution (unless they borrow from the gospel story, of course). I can see already from five episodes that <i>Breaking Bad </i>(as its title promises) will paint a very accurate picture of how someone can go from good to worst and provide many powerful illustrations of human depravity (as well as many other human experiences, like family dynamics and dealing with cancer). Perhaps I'll write about some more of them if I continue to watch the show. But for now I wanted to say that whether Vince Gilligan and the other creators of the show know it or not, they tapped into a crucial spiritual truth by that development in Episode 5.<br />
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Not only does God offer us his "charity" (an old word for self-sacrificial love that comes from the Greek word for grace), but he tells us that we'll never get anywhere without it. We'll never get to have a relationship with him and we'll never get into heaven when the next life arrives. Look at what the apostle Paul says about his fellow Jews who were moral and religious but did not believe in Jesus Christ:<br />
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<i>"My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." (Romans 10:1-3)</i><br />
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Paul had said earlier in Romans that the only way to be saved was to receive the gift of God's righteousness procured by Christ through his perfect life and substitutionary death on the cross (Rom. 3:21-26, 4:1-8). That is the ultimate "charity," because it's the opposite of what we deserve for our sins (Rom. 6:23). And to receive it, we must admit that to God and let him do for us what we could never do for ourselves. The principle of grace and the principle of "works" (human merit) are mutually exclusive:<br />
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<i>"At the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." </i>(Romans 11:5-6)<br />
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Walter White's stubborn pride and skewed sense of justice kept him from receiving a gift from an ex-friend that could have preserved and renewed his life. Are you rejecting an even greater gift from the best-ever friend, one that could redeem your soul?<br />
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<i>"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" </i>(John 15:13, in Shakespeare's English:).<br />
<br />Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-81826328571144627902020-03-30T23:52:00.000-07:002020-03-30T23:52:29.602-07:00The Painted Veil - God brings good out of an epidemic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Beautifully filmed, skillfully acted, and powerfully meaningful in many ways...this is an overlooked gem of a movie that I highly recommend, especially in light of the current coronavirus crisis. Because of that crisis parts of the movie will not be pleasant to watch, and it may be undesirable altogether for some, but if you can brave the horrors of a deadly epidemic on screen for a couple hours, you will be rewarded with some great and hopeful examples of how good can and does come from such unfortunate circumstances.<br />
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I suggest that you watch the movie first and then come back to read my spoiler review below, but before you do let me say something about its content, especially related to children. Fortunately I was able to record it to a DVD several years ago when I had that capability, so I was able to make an edited version with the unnecessary sex and nudity cut out of it, and that's what I showed to my nine and eleven year-old daughters. I'm glad I could do that, because it provoked a lot of good discussion and taught them some important lessons about the nature of true love (as opposed to lust and infatuation), repentance and forgiveness, priorities in life, the path to happiness, self-sacrifice, how God can bring good out of tragedy and suffering (as I mentioned), and other issues. It's unlikely that you will be able to watch an edited version (the one company I know who sells them doesn't offer this movie), so I will tell you where the scenes are in case you want to watch it with children and fast forward those parts. The first one is not long after Kitty and Charlie talk at the theater and when you see their shoes on the floor--it lasts about 40 seconds. The second one occurs late in the movie after Walter and Kitty are drinking at the British man's house and return home--it lasts a little over two minutes. You can simply tell your kids what happens in those scenes, like I did--they don't have to witness it in order to know the significance of what's going on.<br />
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For most adults, I don't think what is depicted will be a problem, unless brief views of a women's slip or men's naked behinds are a temptation for you. So watch the movie, thinking about the issues that I just mentioned, and then come back here for some spoiler thoughts from me about it, because I have some interesting insights that you might not catch upon first viewing it--at least my wife and daughters didn't see them until I pointed them out.<br />
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The first and most important insight is about the spiritual and religious subtext in the movie. I say "subtext" because on the surface there is very little religion--in fact, Kitty tells the head nun at the orphanage that she doesn't believe much of anything and Walter says of the nuns, "They didn't convert you, did they?" But even those scenes, which seem initially to dismiss religious faith, contain subtle elements that affirm it. Walter's face expresses disappointment when Kitty says no to the question of being converted, for example--I think he was hoping against hope that something like that would happen to her, because after all revenge was not his only reason to bring her with him to a cholera zone. He clearly harbored hope that she would change and there would be a chance for them to love again; otherwise he would have simply divorced her as he had every right to do.<br />
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Other examples of subtle spiritual content can be found in the final lines of each main character. Walter's last words are a plea for forgiveness from Kitty, which implies that he had been seeking forgiveness first from God as he lay dying. Only by recognizing his sins of pride and bitterness before the Lord could he have seen his need for forgiveness from her. And one of Kitty's final lines in the movie is to affirm (contrary to one of her earliest lines, well before her repentance) that the beauty and fragrance of flowers is still worth it even though they live such short lives. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Though I don't think the filmmakers meant this to happen, that line made me think of what Jesus said in John 12:25: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The second half of that verse is definitely illustrated well in both Walter's sacrifice on behalf of the Chinese people and Kitty's experiences in the orphanage and at Walter's deathbed: "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." They both learn that true "quality of life" lies in giving up your own desires and pleasures for the good of others, and I like to think that they also learned to do so for the glory of God. Like the filmmakers, the author of the source novel (W. Somerset Maugham) was not a Christian, but he lived in a largely Christian culture and unquestionably traded off on Christian themes. Therefore what is depicted about these characters fits well with the Christian doctrines of Divine love (<i>agape</i>), Fatherly discipline, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption. It is no crime against the art or artist to view the events of the film through those lenses, and it can be a wonderful blessing to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-29005617051742178992019-12-30T11:11:00.001-08:002020-01-07T05:21:30.538-08:00A Christmas Carol is Really a Christianity Carol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As we do almost every year at Christmas, our family had the privilege of watching a beautiful movie--<i>A Christmas Carol</i> (the one with George C. Scott). I say it's beautiful because of the content, of course, which follows Dickens' classic novel closely--with the exception of one part that almost all adaptations skip (I'll get to that later). But it's also a beautiful movie visually...I was struck by that watching it again this time. Great performances, too--I wonder if maybe one of the main reasons Scott was put on this earth was to do this project. He was great in<i> Patton</i>, of course, but I'm not sure there's any redeeming value in that movie--I've never had a desire to watch it again after seeing it the first time. This movie, however, is the epitome of redeeming value, of course, and I never get tired of watching it.<br />
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So I highly recommend the movie (at any time of year), but I also wanted to tell you, if you didn't already know (like many don't), that the appreciation for Christmas encouraged in the story is really a metaphorical paean to Christianity itself (and especially the beneficent spirit at its core, of course).<br />
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Whatever his personal moral weaknesses may have been--and the modern-day claims about them are far from unquestionable--Dickens very clearly professed to be a Christian. For a thorough discussion of his faith, see<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Charles-Dickens-Recovering-Christian/dp/1587433206/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MGQW9WAZMDXT&keywords=god+and+charles+dickens&qid=1577731460&s=books&sprefix=god+and+charles+di%2Cstripbooks%2C147&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><b>God and Charles Dickens</b></a></i> by Gary Colledge, but here are a few interesting examples of the overwhelming evidence:<br />
<br />
The final paragraph of Dickens' last will and testament include these words: "<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I commit my soul to
the mercy of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and I exhort my
dear children humbly to try to guide themselves by the teaching of the New
Testament."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last letter he ever wrote contains this: "</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have always striven
in my writings to express veneration for the life and lessons of our Saviour;
because I feel it; and because I re-wrote that history for my children—every
one of whom knew it from having it repeated to them—long before they could
read, and almost as soon as they could speak.”</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The book about Christ
that Dickens refers to is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Life of Our
Lord</i>, a manuscript that he wrote for his children and personally read to
them every year at Christmas time. The book begins: “My Dear Children, I am
very anxious that you should know something about the History of </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Jesus Christ</span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;">. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one
ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who
did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was.” One notable feature
of the book is that Dickens recounted many of the miracle stories from the
gospels and clearly believed they actually happened, which provides an
important context for the visits to Unitarian churches that cause some to question his evangelical faith.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
And in<i> Christmas Carol</i> itself, of course, Dickens puts these words into the mouth of his most admirable character, Tiny Tim ("faith like a child"): his father says after their trip to church, "Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and
thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he
hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might
be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas day who made lame beggars walk,
and blind men see."<br />
<br />
Speaking of church, that's the important part of Dickens' novel that is almost always left out of the adaptations, no matter how faithful they are otherwise. At the end, when Scrooge is converted, one of the first things he does is go to church! Check out the novel--it's there. The great author was not only using his powerful sentimentalist verbal armory to advocate a rediscovery of a holiday--he was saying we all should rejoice in the biblical truths that occasioned it in the first place.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-27162257015081904352018-06-28T10:33:00.000-07:002018-08-08T08:03:53.349-07:00The Novella: A Great Idea Whose Time Has Come<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New Yorker</i> on
October 29, 2012, the Booker Prize winning author Ian McEwan wrote, “I believe
the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Even if that’s an overstatement, McEwan’s<span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>article</b></span></span>
makes a great case that the novella is an important and beneficial form of
literature. So why are works of fiction with a length somewhere between short
stories and novels almost never published, unless they’re by a famous author?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The main reason is that prior to modern publishing
innovations like eBooks and on-demand production, thousands of copies of every
book had to be printed, and novellas were too short and inexpensive for
publishers to turn a profit on them (unless they were by a famous author and therefore
guaranteed to sell enough copies). But those new publishing capabilities have
made the printing cost a relatively moot issue, so the novella is now primed to
become as prevalent and appreciated as its counterparts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8Je_Jr7bQc1Bs9t95UnGQlzPWPvmeltibOhS6InNJbVqMaJ5SpbT400IYG0tgkd0SD_8GpQOATzNN3tX-iNtxoMfPfGtYzEiaEHdPazlB_ZVSbF06hPr5V3Xt59TWxTO_SUWX2GoysJB/s1600/Misc-blog-images-2-min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8Je_Jr7bQc1Bs9t95UnGQlzPWPvmeltibOhS6InNJbVqMaJ5SpbT400IYG0tgkd0SD_8GpQOATzNN3tX-iNtxoMfPfGtYzEiaEHdPazlB_ZVSbF06hPr5V3Xt59TWxTO_SUWX2GoysJB/s320/Misc-blog-images-2-min.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We may be at the dawn of a revolution in fiction
publishing—the “Day of the Novella”—and Cruciform Press is hoping to be a
pioneer in this new age like it <span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://cruciformpress.com/about/"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>has been</b></span></a></span> with short,
practical non-fiction books during the last decade. On July 25 we’ll be
releasing the first three novellas in <span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://cruciformpress.com/truth-is-no-stranger-to-fiction/#comments"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>our
new fiction line</b></span></a></span>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Perhaps you’ve thought of some other reasons why there aren’t
many novellas in print. For example, an avid reader I know once complained that
a short novel is a mere “snack” to her, because she likes to read long epics.
But what’s wrong with a good snack? Krispy Kreme donuts are a snack, and so are
ice cream and Doritos (or whatever kind of chips you prefer)—even Starbucks. So
that shouldn’t be a criticism or reason to abstain from novellas, and they’re
not even bad for your health!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8znRdVAyqA5qhTwcH6SjMkucH7QXMcnV8_MYHs2HvRc8nU7sxO1Wrxx4CbnSz7KOYaPhG40MBzcUPPHG2qvFaxVghtI8T62WqyDSlp6GcKbSEj82PXB7Kfj4EOqqx1sPy5ASttmlT54L0/s1600/Coffee.png" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><u></u><u></u><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmvhyphenhyphenZOTLvy29I7iaaTnv2ttH-D_ec7ZiBv0jvD0MpDdwUivcBuNWqVgjqzaZ-fbwjh7NsWfr5eMFpjp8FLoZy38rXUvZICRaUJEutar0p9wmCQTdVIjRw7zrM8AEMMfukW6ztYzComCI/s1600/Donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmvhyphenhyphenZOTLvy29I7iaaTnv2ttH-D_ec7ZiBv0jvD0MpDdwUivcBuNWqVgjqzaZ-fbwjh7NsWfr5eMFpjp8FLoZy38rXUvZICRaUJEutar0p9wmCQTdVIjRw7zrM8AEMMfukW6ztYzComCI/s200/Donuts.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8znRdVAyqA5qhTwcH6SjMkucH7QXMcnV8_MYHs2HvRc8nU7sxO1Wrxx4CbnSz7KOYaPhG40MBzcUPPHG2qvFaxVghtI8T62WqyDSlp6GcKbSEj82PXB7Kfj4EOqqx1sPy5ASttmlT54L0/s1600/Coffee.png" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8znRdVAyqA5qhTwcH6SjMkucH7QXMcnV8_MYHs2HvRc8nU7sxO1Wrxx4CbnSz7KOYaPhG40MBzcUPPHG2qvFaxVghtI8T62WqyDSlp6GcKbSEj82PXB7Kfj4EOqqx1sPy5ASttmlT54L0/s200/Coffee.png" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We might assume that novellas are somehow inferior to novels
because they’re shorter, but McEwan addresses that issue very well in the
larger section surrounding the quote above:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Composers, including those of the
highest rank, have never had such problems of scale. Who doubts the greatness
of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and string quartets or of Schubert’s songs? Some,
like me, prefer them to the symphonies of either man. Who could harden his
heart against the intimate drama of Mozart’s G minor trio, or not lose himself
in the Goldberg variations or not stand in awe of the D minor Chaconne played
on a lonesome violin?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Strangely, the short story never
arouses suspicion of short-changing, probably because the form is so
fundamentally different from the novel.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I believe the novella is the perfect
form of prose fiction. It is the beautiful daughter of a rambling, bloated,
ill-shaven giant (but a giant who’s a genius on his best days). And this child
is the means by which many first know our greatest writers. Readers come to
Thomas Mann by way of “Death in Venice,” Henry James by “The Turn of the
Screw,” Kafka by “Metamorphosis,” Joseph Conrad by “Heart of Darkness,” Albert
Camus by “L’Etranger.” I could go on: Voltaire, Tolstoy, Joyce, Solzhenitsyn.
And Orwell, Steinbeck, Pynchon. And Melville, Lawrence, Munro. The tradition is
long and glorious. I could go even further: the demands of economy push writers
to polish their sentences to precision and clarity, to bring off their effects
with unusual intensity, to remain focused on the point of their creation and
drive it forward with functional single-mindedness, and to end it with a mind
to its unity. They don’t ramble or preach, they spare us their quintuple
subplots and swollen midsections.</span></div>
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<u></u><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigffUvnLCtiquniOwrX1Ykjr9smEb2SugtkNGn_bEET5pqiU622Z9btcVH6Fe4j-r8GbJbRt45GWLOtwj0nZlJ-MSAiLcbL7q8lvKTivjl31o2EF0_Edjy5Sl-HQ87Pk2-8MbZ5mDzP7U/s200/Old+Man+and+the+Sea.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gEgd2H4coO69R4Ho4m29wqVTxu1UBQyqooNSHU6g5cd1amEI8BtznXt3SxxhYYThJqYVFk1ROvWXF15shRTrS3iIOd_A5V0mJnfRtAkSQuFZIY3Ge0kkiJ8FP9bKR-aDG_Uha6oG13xm/s1600/Christmas+Carol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="327" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gEgd2H4coO69R4Ho4m29wqVTxu1UBQyqooNSHU6g5cd1amEI8BtznXt3SxxhYYThJqYVFk1ROvWXF15shRTrS3iIOd_A5V0mJnfRtAkSQuFZIY3Ge0kkiJ8FP9bKR-aDG_Uha6oG13xm/s200/Christmas+Carol.jpg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUBytWh0WORJvWY1sOkHXKn-YT9NN2mFzZ2o5uZGAoloL28_zRPsqFWeL9vqkv6cbK5N9xQ66AlNrR5k7cwOs_Nzic2MheckCWRjGotxNww97lpZKb7TjfgIwVTSIkKYQgDS-G9_cDuLoT/s200/Dr.+Jekyll.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gEgd2H4coO69R4Ho4m29wqVTxu1UBQyqooNSHU6g5cd1amEI8BtznXt3SxxhYYThJqYVFk1ROvWXF15shRTrS3iIOd_A5V0mJnfRtAkSQuFZIY3Ge0kkiJ8FP9bKR-aDG_Uha6oG13xm/s1600/Christmas+Carol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Novellas not only promote economy and unity in writing, but
they are a perfect medium for a generation of readers who have shorter attention
spans and love movies (a screenplay is around the same length as a novella).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I wonder why Ian McEwan omitted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Christmas Carol </i>from his list of examples<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(perhaps because it’s too “Christian” for him?). That short book
by Charles Dickens, in my opinion, is the greatest example of a classic work of
art that has changed the world for good in many ways. For one of Cruciform’s
first three titles coming out next month, I had the privilege of abridging and
annotating Dickens’ novella <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Haunted Man, </i>a
forgotten classic that I hope will also be used by the Lord to bring his grace
and truth into many lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-59841525099494190312018-02-21T04:47:00.002-08:002023-08-08T20:22:47.071-07:00Some good books (including one for fans of the Black Panther movie)Here are a few examples of good books I've read recently. I'd like to have a site just devoted to book reviews from a Christian perspective, because there is a real scarcity of such sites out there. (Are there any at all, in fact? Let me know if you are aware of any.) But I'm too busy to start a new site, and "Voracious" and "VoraciousReader" are both taken as site names (bummer!). So I'll just put some recommendations on this blog from time to time, for movies and music as well as books, and hope somebody benefits from them.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for hardware cowan" height="320" src="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/0/06/Hardware_048.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100115122704" width="237" /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Hardware: The Man in the Machine, by McDuffie and Cowan</b></div>
<b><br /></b>
This is a really cool graphic novel, by African-American creators, collecting a comics series from years ago that only lasted about 10 issues. But it's got great art by Denys Cowan and beautiful coloring (a rather unique look), and the extra bonus that makes this book special is the theme of revenge vs. justice. The hero, who is more of an anti-hero at first, actually progresses in character development as the story goes, with the arc coming to a satisfying conclusion, especially for those who care about the truth. If you like the Black Panther movie and want to check out some more popular art by African Americans, or if you just like a good story with cool art, you can get <i>Hardware </i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hardware-Man-Machine-Dwayne-McDuffie/dp/1401225985/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519214593&sr=1-1&keywords=hardware+cowan">here</a> </b>or <b><a href="https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=hardware+collection+cowan&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xhardware+tpb.TRS0&_nkw=hardware+tpb&_sacat=0">here</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Image result for hardware cowan" height="320" src="http://www.4thletter.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bhm-cowan-hardware-02.jpg" width="210" /><img alt="Image result for hardware cowan" height="320" src="http://www.4thletter.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bhm-cowan-hardware-03.jpg" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for hardware cowan" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCj2KA_jjj2ozbqfbcJRrxHKZSuv5nGqx-R-wkh7PrcbaobTZmC_8IUxwYJIGdwbJNl0JwI1x-MI8Zp9zRfjmoq0Y3oe1xNjDdeDie_UkQA1QtZs4xHbEb-CoL795rsSNuo1XHk38NuZED/s320/Hardware-01-09.jpg" width="221" /><img alt="Image result for hardware cowan" height="320" src="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/1/15/Hardware_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091218194800" width="209" /><br />
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<img alt="Image result for moby dick graphic novel" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GNwIO6dyL._SX364_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="234" /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Moby Dick Graphic Novel, by Chaboute</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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I asked for this book as a Christmas present, because the art looked cool and I've had difficulty getting through the whole original text of <i>Moby Dick, </i>so I thought a graphic novel version would be more doable for me. It was, and I found both my imagination and my soul stirred by this classic tale. It struck me that it's essentially an Old Testament story, complete with portentous prophecies, God's judgment on idolatry (in various forms), and, of course, a whale (but it's not the Book of Jonah). Melville's religious syncretism bleeds through at times, but so does the biblical truth he was steeped in, and there's much more of the latter in the story. French creator Chaboute doesn't bring out even close to all of the Christian elements of the original book, but he can't be faulted for that because of the abridgment. Some of it is there, though, and that along with the beautiful art--effective in black and white--makes this a worthwhile read. You can get it <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moby-Graphic-Novel-Herman-Melville/dp/1506701493/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519215907&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=moby+dick+chaboute">here</a></b>.</div>
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<img alt="Image result for moby dick chaboute" height="320" src="https://i2.wp.com/i.imgur.com/XgPg7Jlm.jpg" width="235" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1jzsN1OIlzLnP0HQEH97aDaAod-oNtXrH4bF4oDqzwDw3dpkzSup_SUu0m94yvMbFBw2-UKOk11WhiWCHRUwPZHh1RAYMs_2ugvkB8AlxteNIeHuFyi-Dmhs47Mbc1_HVqIZ_ITwAH4cdCcD_UoW58t_Kwe3055z1-yWjuMoONPnLn3tjbE_QEMXyDI9/s261/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="193" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1jzsN1OIlzLnP0HQEH97aDaAod-oNtXrH4bF4oDqzwDw3dpkzSup_SUu0m94yvMbFBw2-UKOk11WhiWCHRUwPZHh1RAYMs_2ugvkB8AlxteNIeHuFyi-Dmhs47Mbc1_HVqIZ_ITwAH4cdCcD_UoW58t_Kwe3055z1-yWjuMoONPnLn3tjbE_QEMXyDI9/w237-h320/images.jpg" width="237" /></a><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW856t0Q2IpVGqjrlksAlg76goTbsSrsO9n-GdoonQilNOJXfAiz77UVZ_nvgEZSCKYeruGTygKFeVGnGkK48R1-JEg07ohB8eTBA6FYVbViVuT2VzF5bEDBjlvC36k5__z3OL9Unz4U3TRQUfpFtYbaIYTMOy5vo5DaGLI80p_m631zhjSbQJYZ59BjU2/s800/moby-dick-chaboute-4.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="800" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW856t0Q2IpVGqjrlksAlg76goTbsSrsO9n-GdoonQilNOJXfAiz77UVZ_nvgEZSCKYeruGTygKFeVGnGkK48R1-JEg07ohB8eTBA6FYVbViVuT2VzF5bEDBjlvC36k5__z3OL9Unz4U3TRQUfpFtYbaIYTMOy5vo5DaGLI80p_m631zhjSbQJYZ59BjU2/w493-h345/moby-dick-chaboute-4.webp" width="493" /></a><br /><br />
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<b>Monstrum, by Donald James</b></div>
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This is a "normal" book (not a graphic novel) that I bought at a thrift store because I thought the cover looked good and it sounded like an interesting premise...a future Moscow ravaged by civil war and a serial killer who may be more than he (or she) seems. The author is a historian who is an expert on Russia, so all that happens in the novel is probably possible. If you can stand the constant profanity (Russian style) from some of the characters and the anti-hero's often anti-heroic actions, an illustration of God's grace emerges eventually as He uses an unlikely and undeserving tool to save the country. Along the way, twists and turns keep you turning the pages. You can get it (for really cheap) <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monstrum-Donald-James/dp/0679457704">here</a></b>.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-18873473116514612732017-09-06T00:24:00.000-07:002020-01-07T08:54:19.162-08:00The Mystery of Mystery NovelsThe mystery of mystery novels is how to find a good one! I love Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe stories from the 1940s (The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, etc.), but I can only re-read them every couple years when I've forgotten the plots, and so in between I've been searching far and wide for other good ones (mostly in libraries and used book stores). As in most categories of art and entertainment, I've only found about one in a hundred that I like. I usually stop reading them shortly after I start, because they just don't draw me in enough, they're not my kind of thing, or they have too much offensive material. But once in a while I find a "keeper," so I thought I could save you some time searching yourself by telling you about a few that I liked...<br />
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<strong>Gone Tomorrow</strong> by Lee Childs is one of his many Jack Reacher novels. I've read several others in the series, and they have pulled me in, but I was not pleased with the total product, partially because of uneven quality but also because Jack Reacher is so often amoral and immoral. <em>Gone Tomorrow</em> is consistently good and mostly unoffensive, except for the one brief but totally unnecessary episode of fornication toward the end. Fortunately it is not described graphically...but why do authors have to throw sex into every story?! Do they think that a relationship can't be good or complete without it? Anyway, the story is very interesting, the hero has some good qualities, and the cover is soooo cool-looking! (Yes, the way a book looks is important to me, and yes, I know I'm weird that way.) [The next Reacher book, <i>61 Hours</i>, is also very good, if you can stand the fact that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.]<br />
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<img alt="Image result for the good guy koontz" class="irc_mi" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/The_Good_Guy_book_cover.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px; color: #1a0dab; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" width="211" /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
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<strong>The Good Guy<em> </em></strong>by Dean Koontz was a good read. I've tried several other books by Koontz and have only finished one (<em>The Husband</em>, which was underwhelming, especially at the end). But I thought <em>The Good Guy</em> kicked some derriere...probably largely because of my Christian sensibilities... the main character is actually a good guy, for goodness sake, and that was refreshing in this age of the anti-hero. I have to admit the end was a bit anticlimactic, but at least it was satisfying, and the ride to there was great. Check this one out.<br />
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<strong>Shutter Island</strong> by Dennis Lehane kept me turning page after page to find out what in the world was going on...it was certainly successful by that standard. But it also raised some interesting issues about mental health, psychiatry, and even psychopharmocology that I enjoy mulling over. I tried a couple of his older private eye novels (<em>A Drink Before the War, Prayers for Rain</em>) but can't recommend them because the protagonists are so depraved and the ultimate "lessons" are so nihilistic or hedonistic. But though <em>Shutter Island</em> definitely shared some of the nihilism, it is more well directed at the depravity of man and his hopeless attempts to cure "mental problems" without God.Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-31919979473607123542017-09-06T00:11:00.000-07:002020-01-07T09:02:06.177-08:00The Good Fight, Henry V Style! (Plus...What if Hamlet had gone to Wittenberg?)Shakespeare's work, as much as any other, embodies what I mean when I say "Truth is no stranger to fiction." His plays are are filled with illustrations of biblical principles, two of which stood out for me recently as I revisited a few of my favorites.<br />
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First, <i>Henry V</i> provides a wealth of insight into how we can "fight the good fight," as Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18, and how we can motivate others to do so. When I think about the spiritual warfare we face, Shakespeare's words in Henry V often come to mind... "Once more unto the breach!" Here's that part of the play, with King Henry leading his troops at the battle of Harfleur:<br />
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Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;<br />
Or close the wall up with our English dead.<br />
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man<br />
As modest stillness and humility:<br />
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,<br />
Then imitate the action of the tiger!<br />
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<img alt="Image result for henry v movie once more breach" class="irc_mi" height="259" src="https://www.just-shakespeare.co.uk/uploads/4/1/8/1/4181397/3204300_orig.jpeg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px; color: #1a0dab; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" width="320" /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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Then later, at the battle of Agincourt, in the famous "St. Crispian's Day" speech, notice especially the different ways that Henry motivates his troops, and imagine that God is using these ideas to engage you in the real ongoing battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil...<br />
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WESTMORELAND.<br />
O that we now had here<br />
But one ten thousand of those men in England<br />
That do no work to-day!<br />
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KING.<br />
What's he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland?<br />
No, my fair cousin.<br />
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow<br />
To do our country loss; and if to live,<br />
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.<br />
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.<br />
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,<br />
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;<br />
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;<br />
Such outward things dwell not in my desires;<br />
But if it be a sin to covet honour,<br />
I am the most offending soul alive.<br />
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.<br />
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour<br />
As one man more, methinks, would share from me<br />
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!<br />
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,<br />
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,<br />
Let him depart. His passport shall be made,<br />
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.<br />
We would not die in that man's company<br />
That fears his fellowship to die with us.<br />
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.<br />
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,<br />
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,<br />
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.<br />
He that shall live this day, and see old age,<br />
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,<br />
And say, "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."<br />
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,<br />
And say, "These wounds I had on Crispian's day."<br />
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,<br />
But he'll remember with advantages<br />
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,<br />
Familiar in his mouth as household words,<br />
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,<br />
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,<br />
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.<br />
This story shall the good man teach his son;<br />
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,<br />
From this day to the ending of the world,<br />
But we in it shall be remembered,<br />
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.<br />
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me<br />
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,<br />
This day shall gentle his condition;<br />
And gentlemen in England now a-bed<br />
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,<br />
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks<br />
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.<br />
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<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-ctbtn="2" data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi6lpiz0cfcAhXsm-AKHaG6BqAQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fchathamlibrary.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F08%2F03%2Fmidday-movie-henry-v%2F&psig=AOvVaw07a2ZqgjAwzU2u_8kyg8ST&ust=1533067853963014" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwi6lpiz0cfcAhXsm-AKHaG6BqAQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi6lpiz0cfcAhXsm-AKHaG6BqAQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fchathamlibrary.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F08%2F03%2Fmidday-movie-henry-v%2F&psig=AOvVaw07a2ZqgjAwzU2u_8kyg8ST&ust=1533067853963014" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #1a0dab; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><img alt="Image result for henry v battle" class="irc_mi" height="203" src="https://chathamlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/8c78f-1989henryv2.jpg?w=654&h=333" style="background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); box-shadow: 0px 5px 35px rgba(0,0,0,0.65); margin-top: 10px;" width="400" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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As you read that, did you notice all the different ways that Henry motivated his men? (If not, go back and see if you can identify them...it's fun!). He did so by the promise of reward, the shame of cowardice, personal satisfaction for the present and the future, leaving a legacy to the next generation, friendship and community with others, redemption from past sins, and a sense of great accomplishment. I love all those aspects of the speech because they all reflect <em>biblical</em> motivations that the Scriptures provide for us as well! That's why you should "fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience," as Paul told Timothy.<br />
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Secondly, revisiting <i>Hamlet</i> reminded me of a pet theory of mine, which is about how Shakespeare and the Reformation are more related to one another than a cursory observer might think. I would love to write a paper/article on this issue sometime, if I ever become disabled or otherwise end up with the time I would need to write everything I want to! But I'll give you a little taste here...<br />
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The Bard lived in a post-Reformation England, of course, and although he dabbled in Roman Catholicism (a "rebel heart" manifesting itself?), he no doubt was influenced by the brighter lights of the Protestant movement (and perhaps inspired to some of his biting satire by the darker parts). One of the most interesting examples of this, that almost no one is aware of, is in the beginning scenes of Hamlet, where he makes the point at least twice (it might be three times, I can't remember right now) that the young prince of Denmark was headed to school in <em>Wittenberg--</em>yes, the same German city where Luther had taught--before his evil uncle talked him into staying at the castle. The implication, to me at least, is that if Hamlet would have gone to Wittenberg, he would have learned about the grace of the cross and all the tragedies in this tragedy would have been avoided! In case you think that's too much of a stretch, I would add that Horatio, who represents the moral compass of the play (notice he's the only character who remains pure), was already enrolled in the school at Wittenberg and had spent the previous year there. It's all in the play...check it out some time if you don't believe me!<br />
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<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-ctbtn="2" data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjpv4iy0sfcAhVpT98KHRlyBzkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjohnstrickland.org%2F2017%2F10%2F10%2Fapproaching-wittenberg-from-the-east%2F&psig=AOvVaw3iDwKoC5vLSpS_SN2IxYDV&ust=1533068145446689" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwjpv4iy0sfcAhVpT98KHRlyBzkQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjpv4iy0sfcAhVpT98KHRlyBzkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjohnstrickland.org%2F2017%2F10%2F10%2Fapproaching-wittenberg-from-the-east%2F&psig=AOvVaw3iDwKoC5vLSpS_SN2IxYDV&ust=1533068145446689" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(26, 13, 171); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; color: #1a0dab; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><img alt="Image result for door at wittenberg" class="irc_mi" height="202" src="https://paradiseandutopia.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/wittenberg-church-door_fjenkins091404_125t.jpg" style="background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border-image: none; border: 0px rgb(26, 13, 171); box-shadow: 0px 5px 35px rgba(0,0,0,0.65); margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-65392935524498056652017-06-26T20:11:00.000-07:002017-06-26T20:15:45.778-07:00The Best Dickens You've Never Seen<div style="text-align: center;">
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I've been thrilled lately to find that my three youngest daughters actually enjoy watching Dickens with me, so I'm taking advantage of it whenever possible. Over the last month or so we've done <i>David Copperfield</i> (BBC version with Daniel Radcliffe), <i>Great Expectations</i> (BBC version with Gillian Anderson), <i>Oliver Twist</i> (BBC version with Tom Hardy), and <i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i> (a BBC version where they finished it). You might notice the "BBC" theme in that list...I find that I almost always enjoy their versions better than bigger budget Hollywood versions, and that includes non-Dickens material, like the long <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> version with Colin Firth that we also watched recently, happily choosing it over the shorter theatrical one. I'd like to write some things about that great classic sometime, but the Dickens' story we watched this past weekend is the most fresh in my mind right now...<br />
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Some observations about the 2009 BBC version of <i>The Old Curiosity Shop</i>, in no particular order:<br />
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<li>There are only 31 reviews of the movie on Amazon.com, so apparently it is relatively unknown among the Dickens film corpus. Which is a shame, because I think it's great! But that's one of the purposes of this blog--to introduce others to some "lost treasures" I've had the privilege of finding.</li>
<li>Toby Jones chews some major scenery (and a hard-boiled egg, shell and all) as the villainous Mr. Quilp, whose evil comes back on his over-sized head, of course (this is Dickens, after all).</li>
<li>Terrific casting for the lesser characters (like a pre-Hobbit Martin Freeman as an opportunistic puppeteer) and nice little touches like Sally Brass's slightly visible mustache.</li>
<li>Speaking of casting, one of the reasons I like the TV versions better is that Hollywood would have cast actors for Little Nell and Jacob that are as attractive as supermodels, but the ones here--though not unattractive--actually look like real people. It's less distracting and more involving.</li>
<li>The scenery and set design are so beautiful... I love the rich warm colors in most of these British period pieces, and in almost every scene of many of them. <i>The Old Curiosity Shop </i>was particularly beautiful to look at, from the bustling city and town streets to the English countryside, with the darkly symbolic but gorgeous snow in the later scenes.</li>
<li>The 90-minute run time of this adaptation was welcome, because it's nice to have a Dickens experience that don't last over six hours like <i>Bleak House </i>and <i>Little Dorrit </i>(great as they are), and this particular novel is one that actually benefits from some streamlining.</li>
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I personally liked the changes the writers made in the story (mostly for streamlining purposes, and to reach an emotional payoff in a shorter time), but I'm glad they didn't remove the themes of the gravity of sin and the glory of redemption, which were central to Dickens. Nor did they shy away (as <i>Bleak House </i>and <i>Little Dorrit </i>unfortunately did) from the overt references to those gospel truths and their Divine Source. In the novel, the guilty grandfather says after his repentance, "Aye! Thank God! I have prayed to Him, many, and many, and many a livelong night, when she has been asleep. He knows." And when he follows Little Nell into the next life, his body is laid "in the church where they had often prayed." In the movie, there is less time to develop Dickens' powerful illustrations of human redemption, but they are still captured well by the writers in climactic moments that combine together disparate events in the longer novel.<br />
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When the Grandfather finally comes to his senses and sees the destructiveness of his addiction, he cries out "Forgive me!" to an unconscious Nell and then adds under his breath, "God forgive me." Then later when she is awake but dying, she graciously volunteers "I forgive you" before he even begins to seek it from her, providing for us a picture of initiatory sovereign grace, even as her death itself echoes the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ by serving as the efficient cause of the personal redemption of her Grandfather, and others as well. Even the gradual conversion of the careless Dick Swiveller occurs according to biblical principles--he is won over by the character of a good humble woman and a call to a cause greater than himself.<br />
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Speaking of biblical themes, I was fascinated in perusing the novel after watching the movie to find a section in which Dickens comments briefly on an idea that he explored later in much more depth in his novella <i>The Haunted Man, </i>which is that even the greatest evils in this world (like the death of an innocent) ultimately have good purposes in God's plan. (Perhaps this was also a lovingly ironic stab at his readers, many of whom had complained bitterly at his decision to let the dear girl die.) So I'll leave you with this favorite paragraph from the book, in which Dickens philosophizes after he recounts Little Nell's funeral and says that the mourners had "with tranquil and submissive hearts turned away, and left the child with God...."<br />
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"Oh! it is hard to take to heart the lesson that such deaths will teach, but let no man reject it, for it is one that all must learn, and is a mighty, universal Truth. When Death strikes down the innocent and young, for every fragile form from which he lets the panting spirit free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of mercy, charity, and love, to walk the world, and bless it. Of every tear that sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves, some good is born, some gentler nature comes. In the Destroyer’s steps there spring up bright creations that defy his power, and his dark path becomes a way of light to Heaven."Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-73113609393181456922013-12-08T20:07:00.000-08:002016-06-30T03:51:23.501-07:00If Kaleidocide Was A Movie (Main Characters)<em>Kaleidocide</em>, the second Peacer novel and a sequel to <em>Silhouette, </em>was released on December 10, 2013. I wanted to share what some of the characters and places look like in my imagination (or close to it, anyway), and what those things might look like if Macmillan Films is able to develop one for production.<br />
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Luke Evans would be a great casting choice for Michael Ares. He's British, is the right age, and looks cool in sunglasses. The fourth picture below fits what Michael would have looked like hanging out at the cottage in the vineyards, while talking to someone in his net glasses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYbAAiL1xSY2r5-bDfZJ5D2dlr609jbl8NJA4izg1gaRfcgLyndQbzzMLByOh-UzH1Ycfme01KW0uzn7G0GdvcO2Hymm-4ua6gkHR2SdzPIUo-WcsIkVSJ0v-AdoLkDn5jTr6kaDRiNX0/s1600/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYbAAiL1xSY2r5-bDfZJ5D2dlr609jbl8NJA4izg1gaRfcgLyndQbzzMLByOh-UzH1Ycfme01KW0uzn7G0GdvcO2Hymm-4ua6gkHR2SdzPIUo-WcsIkVSJ0v-AdoLkDn5jTr6kaDRiNX0/s320/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qt9-I1X_c8ySv8BaeD3OZ1rWAs_DOulfi8Pw6QvmptCYUf1WxSdlEcMHN-qxOZGWsI9Usc5s4LglyiI9ZE2vPnP6zUH5ZXnpdeVVojhsg8NhofKwidAxZZSqq4_GTomAg2rSZ9R3ntsm/s1600/Michael+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qt9-I1X_c8ySv8BaeD3OZ1rWAs_DOulfi8Pw6QvmptCYUf1WxSdlEcMHN-qxOZGWsI9Usc5s4LglyiI9ZE2vPnP6zUH5ZXnpdeVVojhsg8NhofKwidAxZZSqq4_GTomAg2rSZ9R3ntsm/s1600/Michael+3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdE_rc-8KZCM0kiARMuW5JaR47rlxPRgVQ7sYHxlWxfb0tAew08Fsvmp1zROt-odQ_O53HOqLzG1vVImUnicxgN_mjXu-klqDUY9Y4cRXWEkhAZkx2-iuy2UmA2YKLr-iiCDVPwf0pRRo/s1600/Michael+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdE_rc-8KZCM0kiARMuW5JaR47rlxPRgVQ7sYHxlWxfb0tAew08Fsvmp1zROt-odQ_O53HOqLzG1vVImUnicxgN_mjXu-klqDUY9Y4cRXWEkhAZkx2-iuy2UmA2YKLr-iiCDVPwf0pRRo/s320/Michael+2.jpg" width="196" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3R3FwsEtvBzOvRiS4mgvufrUcSAWUcyx0ixPxB8QH0H-XGip0CxNXHxgVwHtXd8BbngTSwAPv3UcfxhQN1vcDWMYUjSQS_K4GHUkgia7vpPWzcgUNyHM096WPvkd4fDRdaln67KEb2Sg9/s1600/Michael+Glasses+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3R3FwsEtvBzOvRiS4mgvufrUcSAWUcyx0ixPxB8QH0H-XGip0CxNXHxgVwHtXd8BbngTSwAPv3UcfxhQN1vcDWMYUjSQS_K4GHUkgia7vpPWzcgUNyHM096WPvkd4fDRdaln67KEb2Sg9/s320/Michael+Glasses+4.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
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Naomi Watts would make a great Lynn, and here she is pregnant, like Lynn is during the events of <em>Kaleidocide... </em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiFs0Et_i7bg4SZY89mFmcTMIUDMy1XKn1NvokKukmcssNrKgpFQnUwlZSjsqyTYXCLwbOS0RLQzBYs7bu4tVwmFEO7g7G8wtv6jguBFkpJDME2UJSvWxzVIR1Tme7-F9gmOR6F5ibDTC/s1600/Lynn+Pregnant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiFs0Et_i7bg4SZY89mFmcTMIUDMy1XKn1NvokKukmcssNrKgpFQnUwlZSjsqyTYXCLwbOS0RLQzBYs7bu4tVwmFEO7g7G8wtv6jguBFkpJDME2UJSvWxzVIR1Tme7-F9gmOR6F5ibDTC/s320/Lynn+Pregnant.jpg" width="135" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTVFEdwhGg6pOS4iGOAhjDNd5xhL99ZXXOCbxcpGVFBM30-cU1_GlDyvYOn3pFyBQH24qHJ0y0KGc87saif99T0Q06ChR9Ps4aZ5Klg-IY0H3uIJ-Ai3UcJZw_8CJ_PJ9Dbd3OoyGccF4/s1600/Lynn+Pregnant+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTVFEdwhGg6pOS4iGOAhjDNd5xhL99ZXXOCbxcpGVFBM30-cU1_GlDyvYOn3pFyBQH24qHJ0y0KGc87saif99T0Q06ChR9Ps4aZ5Klg-IY0H3uIJ-Ai3UcJZw_8CJ_PJ9Dbd3OoyGccF4/s320/Lynn+Pregnant+2.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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I based the character of Terrey Thorn on a younger Russell Crowe, as he portrayed a character with a similar name and role in the movie <em>Proof of Life. </em> He's too old to play the part now, however, so Simon Baker might have to fill in...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfji25At30Aaofdat44ZvlHxbOT9y0I6-HK5XBmUacFJ0hKXsR2tyKlwlGNTP0-ArmkJnEPpOSRJynhA25SDGu3hbhrPa740ZFDkklouTpCf-7shNXYbXIB-N7odBgYOmgmI8Ntj6EGurV/s1600/Terrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfji25At30Aaofdat44ZvlHxbOT9y0I6-HK5XBmUacFJ0hKXsR2tyKlwlGNTP0-ArmkJnEPpOSRJynhA25SDGu3hbhrPa740ZFDkklouTpCf-7shNXYbXIB-N7odBgYOmgmI8Ntj6EGurV/s320/Terrey.jpg" width="250" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qu6V5cKBnGaFq7107jJ2zolWnZnOQlNpgFsYKl7pYCnf5YFuB3LMeC0WoOpI17s93vOEo5ZemW3esQBOb8OO51lnyB_AF1ZWzcgRSRWNdWvonnhYgHgskZH_gobrsLWWEr_r0N8ebN6A/s1600/Terrey+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qu6V5cKBnGaFq7107jJ2zolWnZnOQlNpgFsYKl7pYCnf5YFuB3LMeC0WoOpI17s93vOEo5ZemW3esQBOb8OO51lnyB_AF1ZWzcgRSRWNdWvonnhYgHgskZH_gobrsLWWEr_r0N8ebN6A/s320/Terrey+2.jpg" width="183" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAF26IeoiEHPHU5lKPoWSdCwXVu5sIGYqNXWwR1Ij4WCFyKbOU5Z0k0906H32oUEcrDIW2TUDY-hOUgsTdpqDzDQrJANSrhjv30IVT6FB9BFIOKTwZACFZRxxe3yp3flGjBzsi9R-SXKc3/s1600/Terrey+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAF26IeoiEHPHU5lKPoWSdCwXVu5sIGYqNXWwR1Ij4WCFyKbOU5Z0k0906H32oUEcrDIW2TUDY-hOUgsTdpqDzDQrJANSrhjv30IVT6FB9BFIOKTwZACFZRxxe3yp3flGjBzsi9R-SXKc3/s320/Terrey+4.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6_HOJ7BWu0zXI_7sL0XBx3FGyCGD1-yZh21koXJBqQX0ojtVn-S6ggBvnm4cH239WhcmwPOk6YF1xMXeKHYRG8boS7iEtifayVU4L1NipSVuozsdmeyF5V52H8h6n8ojyXUEwBfmIaga/s1600/Terrey+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6_HOJ7BWu0zXI_7sL0XBx3FGyCGD1-yZh21koXJBqQX0ojtVn-S6ggBvnm4cH239WhcmwPOk6YF1xMXeKHYRG8boS7iEtifayVU4L1NipSVuozsdmeyF5V52H8h6n8ojyXUEwBfmIaga/s320/Terrey+3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Terrey's team of Japanese cyborg triplets, or the "Super Sheilas" as the Aussie protection man calls them, might look something like this...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDqRAptYtsVnGDKEty_be0hXlvIOFLWPCe9TmHrT6ovj94JB7xDQ8DlH0ZvjHeMOSWkd7vBanLG795ZPv00hPBVEv_W5OzkS5G42WU4Vu7eDL8IUByMg6xhRcGErTvVmrsa0mJumad-a1/s1600/Triplet+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDqRAptYtsVnGDKEty_be0hXlvIOFLWPCe9TmHrT6ovj94JB7xDQ8DlH0ZvjHeMOSWkd7vBanLG795ZPv00hPBVEv_W5OzkS5G42WU4Vu7eDL8IUByMg6xhRcGErTvVmrsa0mJumad-a1/s320/Triplet+3.jpg" width="183" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmke2z1yHxSeW_CK5-NnJymZYGfgWx15EZwfPR_zLLBEFjD61WQ_K8UOQcXoUfIbPA939DpIsiHUPFChJxjSNcWzO_TWZpd13A230Ii3AiUVRl-xdGAcvF3b7SgMyhuSsTaN4Z6pO6pTIO/s1600/Triplet+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmke2z1yHxSeW_CK5-NnJymZYGfgWx15EZwfPR_zLLBEFjD61WQ_K8UOQcXoUfIbPA939DpIsiHUPFChJxjSNcWzO_TWZpd13A230Ii3AiUVRl-xdGAcvF3b7SgMyhuSsTaN4Z6pO6pTIO/s320/Triplet+2.jpg" width="152" /></a></div>
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The Chinese general Zhang Sun could be played by action movie legend Chow Yun Fat...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ydumokOkjEIVOSdZh6_8g8j765lcMYDcK8rpFB2iC-UsvQYcMBBl-9oTdSM9195ZDuREE-xBbUDCRBKLagE-4Pj5q4S_guKu6bRnJ_XhXXbEJhYKnt7xQO1swxZJYaOFLTxfueRhTNee/s1600/Sun+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ydumokOkjEIVOSdZh6_8g8j765lcMYDcK8rpFB2iC-UsvQYcMBBl-9oTdSM9195ZDuREE-xBbUDCRBKLagE-4Pj5q4S_guKu6bRnJ_XhXXbEJhYKnt7xQO1swxZJYaOFLTxfueRhTNee/s320/Sun+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRL9PMkbXD8TUsXnFDe4iz_rqmN8vfgjns9TF5wExdo688txSp_nq4xTZpht_yrYd3bQIyt3FYs2BlOKPlwZTd9D_hHmgOTrG4_Jy2yprT_0dyYXpt3CeTBUeHQQ3xFP5kP7sqdC6Fmu3Z/s1600/Sun+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRL9PMkbXD8TUsXnFDe4iz_rqmN8vfgjns9TF5wExdo688txSp_nq4xTZpht_yrYd3bQIyt3FYs2BlOKPlwZTd9D_hHmgOTrG4_Jy2yprT_0dyYXpt3CeTBUeHQQ3xFP5kP7sqdC6Fmu3Z/s320/Sun+1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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And finally, Angelee is a beautiful young lady of Korean-Japanese descent, like the one in these pictures (and she's even wearing the same swimsuit and shawl as in the novel)...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgrHZyToGT5AyueEte97BJ7TxyPka4XnjQ50LzmmIGhPFUVVawwzqfMK7HduQRuR2N9JddxkICLTfASfuvgBGYAYPkXNdsiirBCxmWdLwcbICPVy4v3SrB-jddqrtEULs65NWM7as4qhyphenhyphen/s1600/Angelee+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgrHZyToGT5AyueEte97BJ7TxyPka4XnjQ50LzmmIGhPFUVVawwzqfMK7HduQRuR2N9JddxkICLTfASfuvgBGYAYPkXNdsiirBCxmWdLwcbICPVy4v3SrB-jddqrtEULs65NWM7as4qhyphenhyphen/s1600/Angelee+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTaGxIubqPr3DOTRo53mpatJrDhRkoVwl7xIrA4JRqlfyBczbqRfmmxTUll-G7j7c0oC8PpM3ObVeSV-5ElloMxzrqLfJko0E0OjdL27JMdM1ugnC_R4WMv3UcwYJL5ig9VXaH8RB8Il/s1600/Angelee+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTaGxIubqPr3DOTRo53mpatJrDhRkoVwl7xIrA4JRqlfyBczbqRfmmxTUll-G7j7c0oC8PpM3ObVeSV-5ElloMxzrqLfJko0E0OjdL27JMdM1ugnC_R4WMv3UcwYJL5ig9VXaH8RB8Il/s320/Angelee+2.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-16391610408533315102013-11-20T13:01:00.000-08:002013-11-20T13:13:00.040-08:00If Kaleidocide Was A Movie (Weapons and Locations)<em>Kaleidocide</em>, the second Peacer novel and a sequel to <em>Silhouette, </em>will be released on December 10, 2013. In anticipation of it, I wanted to share what some of the characters and places look like in my imagination (or close to it, anyway), and what those things might look like if Macmillan Films is able to develop one for production.<br />
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Here are some of the weapons in the book. The handguns are the double-barreled "boas" that Michael wears, which can be switched between "killer" and "stopper" rounds as need arises. Below that is the Alliant "Trinity" that he used in his assault on a power plant in Taiwan, which he relives as a holographic memory in a couple chapters of the book. The Trinity is called that because it has three barrels, for killer rounds, explosive rounds, and a razor-sharp monofilament grappling line that can carry Michael through the air and also carve up anything in its path.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweIwvbCllxsFUjis6CUsYJanEYX7bU4hyD0CJDbfsG4n3GRNAqHsErVO3mqhbVAD4Tz9qqXtY0cehSsnRYl2pzVNdBzhHqA82hyphenhyphenfc19BKmU0UsEzWhMSn1XBXy0hmtSmyF9HbsYh2qo6v/s1600/Boas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweIwvbCllxsFUjis6CUsYJanEYX7bU4hyD0CJDbfsG4n3GRNAqHsErVO3mqhbVAD4Tz9qqXtY0cehSsnRYl2pzVNdBzhHqA82hyphenhyphenfc19BKmU0UsEzWhMSn1XBXy0hmtSmyF9HbsYh2qo6v/s320/Boas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrXw9kNubb57mmNtNRdWzP349mqAJaKF_FUpF1vIz-lpe903z0MvnIaii5FmbLBH6f8o6LR9Y6gcTRdaelpclKAax2Z13oB1ouFYO0oIVLZgpLhFV8kPBT68141eXCGqk08qvde286hfL/s1600/Firehawk+Helicopter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrXw9kNubb57mmNtNRdWzP349mqAJaKF_FUpF1vIz-lpe903z0MvnIaii5FmbLBH6f8o6LR9Y6gcTRdaelpclKAax2Z13oB1ouFYO0oIVLZgpLhFV8kPBT68141eXCGqk08qvde286hfL/s1600/Firehawk+Helicopter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHUEnut-VT0Wfmn0jWXjJWLt2OHtOVIRQWcZ3IL_FSlLFqNPctLPyoN0imkp24X89yHJsXaTuJmLoEH7n9Nl0rcHFwrwhXsDWyY_Z7Y2k0s-U4nOIjmwVInepl1IOkOtpufblXlNoWFKB/s1600/Trinity+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHUEnut-VT0Wfmn0jWXjJWLt2OHtOVIRQWcZ3IL_FSlLFqNPctLPyoN0imkp24X89yHJsXaTuJmLoEH7n9Nl0rcHFwrwhXsDWyY_Z7Y2k0s-U4nOIjmwVInepl1IOkOtpufblXlNoWFKB/s320/Trinity+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Here is what Michael and Lynn's home on the highest point of Stags Leap in Napa Valley might look like, with some of the views from the house. (There is a secret base in the mountain under the house, complete with a hangar bay for the aeros, hidden by a hologram at its entrance.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZvtnISzfxu_paIPlsSp_3Uhyhj3FYrt1E952RFJ73DsLjrWxkNY8v2rITKbwEQSVwRpfTGGtVi9OZU7N8-yzVImCOQKAw1R_n-Bzpa71L9d91lbKQy8zE22taYI3haMGEMEiCabI921A/s1600/nicholson_main_web_img_1737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZvtnISzfxu_paIPlsSp_3Uhyhj3FYrt1E952RFJ73DsLjrWxkNY8v2rITKbwEQSVwRpfTGGtVi9OZU7N8-yzVImCOQKAw1R_n-Bzpa71L9d91lbKQy8zE22taYI3haMGEMEiCabI921A/s320/nicholson_main_web_img_1737.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oDEYp1NxhLEwaobU3AxbUp__pTgM8o7rG3pQhKHnwjFzz1tlCgfLZXB__sK6Qvnb1yo6ZHQX7DqkAPkkiiXCS60wwLec_zn0vErcfhyphenhyphenN6418bWJg8fIdPGkcqxVONM4MR93gEVshbJDQ/s1600/442b62d7-d7cf-4dd2-a186-123618bc294b_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oDEYp1NxhLEwaobU3AxbUp__pTgM8o7rG3pQhKHnwjFzz1tlCgfLZXB__sK6Qvnb1yo6ZHQX7DqkAPkkiiXCS60wwLec_zn0vErcfhyphenhyphenN6418bWJg8fIdPGkcqxVONM4MR93gEVshbJDQ/s320/442b62d7-d7cf-4dd2-a186-123618bc294b_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And finally, this is the actual interior of the Marin County Jail, built into the hillside at the Marin Center, where a climactic action scene begins. At the bottom is an exterior view of the hexagonal top of the jail, with the skylights in the center. Imagine the cyborg Min standing on the floor of the jail as the enemy assault team arrives, and then blasting open the skylight windows high above and leaping out of them to engage the helicopters in a ferocious battle!</div>
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Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-713666416230392062013-10-21T21:40:00.000-07:002013-11-08T15:50:16.652-08:00If Kaleidocide Was A Movie (Secondary Characters)<em>Kaleidocide</em>, the second Peacer novel and a sequel to <em>Silhouette, </em>will be released on December 10, 2013. In anticipation of it, I wanted to share what some of the characters and places look like in my imagination (or close to it, anyway), and what a movie might look like if Macmillan Films is able to develop one for production.<br />
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Here are some characters that I hesitate to call "minor," because they're all so important to the story, but they are not as central as some others I'll get to in a future post. First, Korcz and Stephenson would look something like this (Stephenson especially, because I based him, visually and in some other ways, on my friend Paul, who is in the picture below with his wife Trish).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKmXMkazmMtqU-KrLmpuFJeH5JEmgVH2TIDzLY6xU6jKIW9WIEGYlbwFcloCFd9_RjsmNtzZsfI9GtHdCuClqZ3dPeAmIcdU17gk5OnC3484LcY7IGhhncVbTA1_VcCy7V_mn_3Ted-Kr/s1600/Korcz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKmXMkazmMtqU-KrLmpuFJeH5JEmgVH2TIDzLY6xU6jKIW9WIEGYlbwFcloCFd9_RjsmNtzZsfI9GtHdCuClqZ3dPeAmIcdU17gk5OnC3484LcY7IGhhncVbTA1_VcCy7V_mn_3Ted-Kr/s320/Korcz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here's what Tyra (the "cupbearer" in the story) and Tara (Michael's ex) might look like. For Tara it was hard to find a picture, other than one of Vanessa Williams, because she is African American with blue eyes (and incomparably beautiful, of course).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj680fiUrIdOdNmT19rz2NPGEekCvS3HyvVJUziiC5pholhy-AwtEtXSXmINIDx2Bzf91vgvHaxDly_eQKIZ006btY7NrnAS3Wjk7iOd2BunNWcIXM2XXxMb2xg6ui9-k2j7LKpwgq-XB7f/s1600/Tyra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj680fiUrIdOdNmT19rz2NPGEekCvS3HyvVJUziiC5pholhy-AwtEtXSXmINIDx2Bzf91vgvHaxDly_eQKIZ006btY7NrnAS3Wjk7iOd2BunNWcIXM2XXxMb2xg6ui9-k2j7LKpwgq-XB7f/s1600/Tyra.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMCFIk2MvLeGXMlier-TWlQdK4b2P-vIeky3s3TLEFSSmq96RHGhWvCBhnVvgFQKE36q1mLieZbLPmH11udcMb-9QpuI-gGKUZazx7SSZXqSTUdAxOsgtk_b0cdYgQxStYf14dIgKmg_s/s1600/Tara.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMCFIk2MvLeGXMlier-TWlQdK4b2P-vIeky3s3TLEFSSmq96RHGhWvCBhnVvgFQKE36q1mLieZbLPmH11udcMb-9QpuI-gGKUZazx7SSZXqSTUdAxOsgtk_b0cdYgQxStYf14dIgKmg_s/s320/Tara.png" width="216" /></a></div>
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Stanford Glenn is a high-ranking American leader who lobbies for access to the Sabon antigravity technology and seems to know more about Michael's predicament than he is letting on. Idris Elba is great in everything he does, so he would be great in this role too...<br />
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Next, what would Saul Rabin's "ghost" look like? How about these "almost real" photos of Clint Eastwood, who would fit the role so well, to capture the artificial intelligence construct that keeps alive the dead man's memories and knowledge (and some of his political machinations)...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHXU7kW-BJFpR74eFkPhQQ3T1Dvk1V5CroEGn2KfHCB-DDUXrTQkxTsnVgmqCLvnSSBVjG-XrJAmbQEFNHEnitc-zLqb6dS_p3iBKxLUB-zrzkE8ofJU2ih4Yb_pUwU05q7ohJiRzmzRD/s1600/Saul's+Ghost+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHXU7kW-BJFpR74eFkPhQQ3T1Dvk1V5CroEGn2KfHCB-DDUXrTQkxTsnVgmqCLvnSSBVjG-XrJAmbQEFNHEnitc-zLqb6dS_p3iBKxLUB-zrzkE8ofJU2ih4Yb_pUwU05q7ohJiRzmzRD/s320/Saul's+Ghost+1.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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Finally (for this post), the seven-foot Chinese cyborg Min is very difficult to find a visual representation of, because there are no seven-foot Chinese cyborgs in reality, of course, but also surprisingly there are none in comics or movies either. This was the only picture I could find that somewhat approximated the way I imagine him. He wouldn't wear a heavy leather coat in the climate of the Bay Area, but he does have two swords similar to this one that he can pull out of his back to wreak havoc on enemies when the ammo for built-in guns is depleted. (Like it says in the novel, this gives new meaning to the term "shoulder blades.")</div>
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Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-3054983139293778982013-10-14T09:51:00.002-07:002013-11-20T13:07:08.387-08:00If Kaleidocide Was A Movie (Oakland and Marin)<em>Kaleidocide</em>, the second Peacer novel and a sequel to <em>Silhouette, </em>will be released on December 10, 2013. In anticipation of it, I wanted to share what some of the characters and places look like in my imagination (or close to it, anyway), and what a movie might look like if Macmillan Films is able to develop one for production.<br />
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In this series of posts, I'll start with more minor characters and settings, and work my way up to the main ones. So here is what the ruins of Oakland might look like, in an early scene where the Japanese cyborg triplets fly some Firehawk helicopters into the city to smoke out an assault team waiting to ambush Michael Ares...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYsQ2EGV__inOCHAu1SdrxT9QzT_0A60eYMGLR0XnVYoj78CE9lc-Kntw-_okDC3OqDUPPu9mKv3TCf2aexJE-fCy7-5sxGW5zYKNOSE_XudQejynYdvznzv0BjjKT1bHvaA0e9WlEVsD/s1600/Oakland+Ruins+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYsQ2EGV__inOCHAu1SdrxT9QzT_0A60eYMGLR0XnVYoj78CE9lc-Kntw-_okDC3OqDUPPu9mKv3TCf2aexJE-fCy7-5sxGW5zYKNOSE_XudQejynYdvznzv0BjjKT1bHvaA0e9WlEVsD/s320/Oakland+Ruins+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is one of the Firehawk helicopters that the cyborg triplets fly into the ruins to take out an enemy assault team. And below it is what the enemy helicopters they encounter might look like. They are called "Sikorsky Primes" and are painted a teal color to channel the ancient spirits of the <em>xing lu cai se</em>, or kaleidocide, initiated by a militaristic ruler of China named Zhang Sun.<br />
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Finally (for this post), here are some views of the Marin Center (including the entrance to the jail that is built into a hill) where a later action scene occurs, and a picture that is something like the huge car carrier that Michael's double and Lynn make their escape in by using the cars like remote-controlled missiles (you have to read it!:). The carrier in the novel would be a more futuristic version, of course, and even bigger.<br />
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<br />Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-86948860940955116002013-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:002013-10-14T09:24:25.960-07:00One Helluva Day! (Review of Day One, by Nate Kenyon)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Talk about a bad day! (And a good book) John Hawke never had a worse one, what
with the killer AI sending every machine in sight, and even the cops and the
military, to kill him (and a large percentage of the rest of the population).
But the worst part is he's separated from his family, and doesn't know whether
they've survived some very human evil. And this is the best part of the story,
in my opinion, very much like the movie version of World War Z where the danger
to the main character's family is the "macguffin" that drives the plot, and
rather effectively. I'm sure Kenyon plotted and started this novel before he saw
that movie, so it isn't a ripoff, but another effective version of the same
hook. And the action is good, too. As a writer myself I especially liked how he
introduced us to the characters' pasts while the disaster was starting and
escalating, to keep our attention early. A few flaws, I thought, but definitely
a certified page-turner. [Parental Info: Some R-rated profanity and gore, but no
significant sexual content.]Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-20366354417130485092013-07-17T11:39:00.004-07:002013-10-26T22:06:45.335-07:00If Silhouette Was A Movie (Main Characters)Now that I have finished <i>Kaleidocide,</i> the sequel to <i>Silhouette</i>, and sent it off to the publisher, I have some time that I can do something fun that I've wanted to do for awhile. Macmillan Films is trying to get a movie deal for <i>Silhouette</i>, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.<br />
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No better place to start than with Michael Ares, the main character. He is from England, so how about Luke Evans, who looks something like the Michael of my imagination... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVnfDN6HyvM1Nr3ZvUDb1COAGv5FXfeSMq6S-548p569LHMOuHQ7rac-QWoDuBJsgoEO_w6TzBsZaoRu257j_3U3pIaMk8idRPPHJkl88-ccdNQEuvKvmyVesNXSmw7bZO20S0JbC4bye/s1600/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVnfDN6HyvM1Nr3ZvUDb1COAGv5FXfeSMq6S-548p569LHMOuHQ7rac-QWoDuBJsgoEO_w6TzBsZaoRu257j_3U3pIaMk8idRPPHJkl88-ccdNQEuvKvmyVesNXSmw7bZO20S0JbC4bye/s320/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKrHVRj4K2t0ls7hBRVo8DPAjmkavibWP8bAObyTqF2YgTa_pcLNawSBNDVk8v_S8PT9OdnZae5GQJmaGWc3wuBNru9CGkhv1SxzZneks5VYnmqFEx8lGzT4oKAhWtJsi_UGHAGU6RWm/s1600/Michael+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKrHVRj4K2t0ls7hBRVo8DPAjmkavibWP8bAObyTqF2YgTa_pcLNawSBNDVk8v_S8PT9OdnZae5GQJmaGWc3wuBNru9CGkhv1SxzZneks5VYnmqFEx8lGzT4oKAhWtJsi_UGHAGU6RWm/s320/Michael+2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vQdCwQ4bm6jkF1qsBulk9DAZvVrvvBnTERCdxr1maWi8vbxckt8JX2mVVGf9b8Mr5BZi5yGMjDbZ4gcOpCWbg6ryyb_149oqjG7aOzhPV-I9PCBaT2e5WQk68CwUlBmTVe9gQpjiBkAO/s1600/Michael+3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vQdCwQ4bm6jkF1qsBulk9DAZvVrvvBnTERCdxr1maWi8vbxckt8JX2mVVGf9b8Mr5BZi5yGMjDbZ4gcOpCWbg6ryyb_149oqjG7aOzhPV-I9PCBaT2e5WQk68CwUlBmTVe9gQpjiBkAO/s320/Michael+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGrOap19wYoinWwv4eLFH7PP00n_Ge-1P8KESuXlei8wX_j01NyU-cxZouma8pD5VYYalA11sMn0-Gb43WyYlW7rOgs2bpm8dq8Qrw_S26JoT5VuWHXFQqRqc6YsSjCUyAAmKmd4pp6g6/s1600/Michael+Glasses+1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGrOap19wYoinWwv4eLFH7PP00n_Ge-1P8KESuXlei8wX_j01NyU-cxZouma8pD5VYYalA11sMn0-Gb43WyYlW7rOgs2bpm8dq8Qrw_S26JoT5VuWHXFQqRqc6YsSjCUyAAmKmd4pp6g6/s320/Michael+Glasses+1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s6uCRgYYUdFoxNhTyyPdRdkcVpxs7mMeuMRejSCQf4EPxESzI6bN1NdIjHiEdhyphenhyphenTxV8rH6lfTLjvIbQdBFf6jp3gcW1pR7-dXU0HYVk-dt6epOna3FI94UoPp_b2-zpWY43aXwpfl2T-/s1600/Michael+Glasses+6+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s6uCRgYYUdFoxNhTyyPdRdkcVpxs7mMeuMRejSCQf4EPxESzI6bN1NdIjHiEdhyphenhyphenTxV8rH6lfTLjvIbQdBFf6jp3gcW1pR7-dXU0HYVk-dt6epOna3FI94UoPp_b2-zpWY43aXwpfl2T-/s320/Michael+Glasses+6+(2).jpg" /></a><br />
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And then for Michael's wife Lynn, how about Naomi Watts...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHHZr9IwAZv9Z0Qg7NPP6rN1O-nP9VVqbFakkKmDSOMNl1M69np-dbimEjUpn-EbfX4tGbB461MJy7hqrZB1fLMhgE11a7cBWIs2quB_S3YmJTFsaEMZMExovUUeBA8nkxMzonod6q7zJ/s1600/Lynn+4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHHZr9IwAZv9Z0Qg7NPP6rN1O-nP9VVqbFakkKmDSOMNl1M69np-dbimEjUpn-EbfX4tGbB461MJy7hqrZB1fLMhgE11a7cBWIs2quB_S3YmJTFsaEMZMExovUUeBA8nkxMzonod6q7zJ/s320/Lynn+4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRHlAAB4fSMb0F4IFAIky24neISNJNdcNYfEjrpVmccqY_4VSzYylv6jcDrGVxsjuYWCVYHoXlHRmjtOFPwJWY1gFxLcCbWkzdlLRiQpsrEJXzVfRh5j6N57rstopz7WaPJjPb82ULRC8/s1600/Lynn+5.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRHlAAB4fSMb0F4IFAIky24neISNJNdcNYfEjrpVmccqY_4VSzYylv6jcDrGVxsjuYWCVYHoXlHRmjtOFPwJWY1gFxLcCbWkzdlLRiQpsrEJXzVfRh5j6N57rstopz7WaPJjPb82ULRC8/s320/Lynn+5.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35B_NfH-ZJ7QcBsozTsM_KWQvmNMsjdGks8EOOruU_OfAd2iI5SDkU5Al7clnaKKk-4wOW7LU4kXhb7sq8ZPjsJPKUOR06mo0Qb4TSsmosIL7K0wCQtWqLfmamWNqOiDYxnKOgL9KyZEP/s1600/Lynn+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35B_NfH-ZJ7QcBsozTsM_KWQvmNMsjdGks8EOOruU_OfAd2iI5SDkU5Al7clnaKKk-4wOW7LU4kXhb7sq8ZPjsJPKUOR06mo0Qb4TSsmosIL7K0wCQtWqLfmamWNqOiDYxnKOgL9KyZEP/s320/Lynn+2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItyPSzmOXKj1DQKS8tPNnXPOxrtuNNsdL5ixdHiF2AAH8Q-2-rBu4g_wG8-3QKdS5tnwrYRxyh7e8Pot3hs-yq8qPMtzrJBUUi2zaOrM1MrSeNDgR79DdQFElVtJAYX8lLw7txPTzjFjP/s1600/Lynn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItyPSzmOXKj1DQKS8tPNnXPOxrtuNNsdL5ixdHiF2AAH8Q-2-rBu4g_wG8-3QKdS5tnwrYRxyh7e8Pot3hs-yq8qPMtzrJBUUi2zaOrM1MrSeNDgR79DdQFElVtJAYX8lLw7txPTzjFjP/s320/Lynn+3.jpg" /></a><br />
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Michael and Lynn are both in their thirties, Michael is ex-military (special forces) and Lynn was raised in an orphanage at the Presidio founded by Saul Rabin's late wife Kathryn. The glasses Luke Evans is wearing in the pictures could easily be the net glasses that Michael uses throughout the book, and Naomi Watts is not only beautiful, as Lynn is, but could also embody the domestic and innocent parts of the character's nature.<br />
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Interestingly, the two actors also have the same color eyes as the characters in the book.Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-18011384424194289992013-07-12T17:46:00.001-07:002021-05-31T12:02:53.231-07:00WORLD Magazine Q&A<span style="font-size: large;">An excerpt from my interview with Marvin Olasky:</span><br />
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<a class="enlarge_img" data-lgh="472" data-lgw="576" href="http://www.worldmag.com/media/images/content/576_576_/swavely.jpg"><img alt="Dave Swavely" data-credit="Photo by Art Cox/Patrick Henry College" src="http://www.worldmag.com/media/images/content/300_300_/swavely.jpg" /></a><figure><div class="credit gry2 font size1 right">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by Art Cox/Patrick Henry College</span></div>
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Dave Swavely is the pastor of a Pennsylvania church, the father of seven, and the author or co-author of several nonfiction books and one new novel, <em>Silhouette</em>. </div>
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<strong>Pastor and writer. Do those two callings go together?</strong> The discipline of writing, having to think through the way you’re using words more than when you just talk, is good for my trade as a pastor. Fiction published in a secular market gives me the opportunity to make connections that I wouldn’t otherwise make with people who are uninitiated to the Christian faith. <br />
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<strong>Which calling came first: pastoring or writing?</strong> When I was a little boy, I began to write. If somebody would have asked me even when I was very young, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would have said, “A writer,” and I actually also said, even, “A novelist.” I majored in creative writing. I didn’t believe I was called to be a pastor until I became one after college. <br />
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<strong>Let’s talk about your futuristic action/mystery novel, Silhouette. It’s published by a big New York house, Macmillan, and doesn’t have much about Christianity—although the main character is starting to sense that he’s missing something.</strong> He’s being exposed to Christians, liking some of the things he sees but mostly disliking Christian ideas—yet Providence behind the scenes is working in his life. <br />
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<strong>It’s set in a post-quake San Francisco, which has become a city-state ruled by a semi-benevolent dictator, so it and the draft of your sequel have some violence and sexual (not explicit) situations.</strong> Any good literature will contain both the sacred and profane, because life is full of both. Authors get shot at from both directions. In the Christian publishing world you can’t have too much of the profane or they won’t publish you. In the secular publishing world you can’t have too much of the sacred, or they won’t publish you or they’ll try to cut it out. It’s hard to write about the sacred and profane, to have a place for it to be published and read in today’s market, and also to do it in a way honoring to the Lord, where the profane serves the purpose of showing how great the sacred is. <br />
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<strong>The bad news makes us understand more our desperate need for the good news?</strong> Experiencing the bad news through the characters shows how great the solution is and how much it’s needed. <br />
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(For the rest of the interview, click <a href="https://wng.org/articles/a-decades-dream-1617309894">here</a>)</div>
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Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-62135323781737088532013-05-31T19:43:00.002-07:002013-05-31T20:00:07.007-07:00Truth in Dickens' Fiction (and a great movie version of it)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbTUMEeTnItJk2PlxBZBxqiQI2OKtCb3cVEqCsRpgi8bv9Y7O4YzkUHTEIiJ1ddEcX-4sjo1Q1HDpajeU1DyxLUay_VE3OVEYd1TLhWKfgxiFxbbv7wf_n4XojO0j9AvGNYjlnxk2zB0K/s1600/7116713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbTUMEeTnItJk2PlxBZBxqiQI2OKtCb3cVEqCsRpgi8bv9Y7O4YzkUHTEIiJ1ddEcX-4sjo1Q1HDpajeU1DyxLUay_VE3OVEYd1TLhWKfgxiFxbbv7wf_n4XojO0j9AvGNYjlnxk2zB0K/s320/7116713.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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I just love this DVD! Some Dickens novels I read first, then check out the movies,
but some I watch first so I can have a picture in my mind of the characters and
places, and then enjoy the nuances and details of Dickens' depiction. This one
I've watched several times without reading the novel yet, and it's one of my
favorites ever. Tom Wilkinson narrates Dickens' semi-autobiographical tale (an
"exaggerated" and "edited" version of his life, we could call it), Daniel
Ratcliffe plays the young David, Bob Hoskins as Mr. Macawber, Maggie Smith as
Betsy Trotwood...what's not to like? And the rest of the characters and settings
are just right too. <br />
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As a Christian, the icing on the cake for me is Dickens'
propensity for illustrating God's sovereign providence, even over evil acts and
persons, which "causes all things to work together for good" (Romans 8:28). Some critics have
said too many coincidences come together in Dickens to be believable, but I
believe like he did that it happens all the time, though we may not see it from
our limited vantage point. The fictional narrator is able to see it, however, so
we can too as we watch the events unfold through his eyes. <br />
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An example is the
terrific scene where Miss Trotwood tells off Mr. Murdstone and his sister,
saving David from a fate worse than death. She can "peg" the abusive husband
because she endured one herself in the past, and she has the passion and resolve
to stand up to him for the same reason. The hand of providence used her past
misfortune to insure a bright future for David, and provide a greater measure of
redemption and meaning for her own life as well. Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-32638947919896761842013-04-30T19:40:00.000-07:002013-04-30T19:56:17.113-07:00Echoes of Eden Review and Recommendation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92h2wtky4xWlo1IcGOOH-WZSJmhrgcKeMiuJbg1JhJzHgt5DRtcni4ssQp56V0PoMnMqw-RHgYkAiirfWfMDagNIfla7BCXU2zpKqqzYQr_JHdsYnpn5HIAKVfb5c1a_IhUr_xJVqZfXr/s1600/767525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92h2wtky4xWlo1IcGOOH-WZSJmhrgcKeMiuJbg1JhJzHgt5DRtcni4ssQp56V0PoMnMqw-RHgYkAiirfWfMDagNIfla7BCXU2zpKqqzYQr_JHdsYnpn5HIAKVfb5c1a_IhUr_xJVqZfXr/s320/767525.jpg" /></a>This is one of the better graphic novels you've never heard of. My friend Marvin Olasky's writing kept me interested throughout, and the art and production are nice. A fictional story with intrigue and action, but also with much true information about the uncanny connections of world religions that "echo" the story of Eden in the Christian Scriptures. Interesting issues to think about while the story develops, but not too "preachy." Highly recommended for those readers who like some truth with their fiction. <br />
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You can purchase it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Eden-Marvin-Olasky/dp/1936164248/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367375784&sr=1-1&keywords=echoes+of+eden+olasky">here.</a>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-11674179799342353922013-04-06T11:54:00.002-07:002013-04-06T11:54:25.608-07:00If Silhouette was a Movie (Other Characters)Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for Silhouette, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want. This is my final post in this series--next I will do some posts with pictures for my second novel, <i>Kaleidocide</i>.<br />
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Harold Harris, who is a "net jockey" and leader of the squatters who have taken over the Red Tunnel, might look something like this...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVfeawpPEyHYffCJScpVyTzPDpOmchsWyXJ82Be_jbrMxgipwXmLJpEdMaQyHYq2y2sT8tWpNKiChv_gnRPgn4nE8EYW4RXMRFtP5LohJFWboBZTAUXwKOyKT2zDeElPr6fnzQTbj8cVv/s1600/Harris+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVfeawpPEyHYffCJScpVyTzPDpOmchsWyXJ82Be_jbrMxgipwXmLJpEdMaQyHYq2y2sT8tWpNKiChv_gnRPgn4nE8EYW4RXMRFtP5LohJFWboBZTAUXwKOyKT2zDeElPr6fnzQTbj8cVv/s320/Harris+4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRY7MnBj80FxL7YIA2OvJepFsKt5N-Xj-MK5EOLdGd3l_n8PzD_Zzx5JgtP1ZSdXAQxy7tQvlBbw9_HHDCsnSDWVx9lm1MucF6HqDW1MGIJop3IMe-DV5ErtXXHea8SmxUuUTONMsyPjT_/s1600/Harris+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRY7MnBj80FxL7YIA2OvJepFsKt5N-Xj-MK5EOLdGd3l_n8PzD_Zzx5JgtP1ZSdXAQxy7tQvlBbw9_HHDCsnSDWVx9lm1MucF6HqDW1MGIJop3IMe-DV5ErtXXHea8SmxUuUTONMsyPjT_/s320/Harris+5.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATClUYkyWX89OLwuWNswkBkNbygkBanP4UU8cktAR_DK2EI5sZw02INtzcRYI0_o5OiG0ge7mjaS5xG1WSNeaJ31ZgYWXWv8PD6xm5efGLvva_1UffTSTFcI0O9EI35xr9gtIyNirONPk/s1600/Harris+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATClUYkyWX89OLwuWNswkBkNbygkBanP4UU8cktAR_DK2EI5sZw02INtzcRYI0_o5OiG0ge7mjaS5xG1WSNeaJ31ZgYWXWv8PD6xm5efGLvva_1UffTSTFcI0O9EI35xr9gtIyNirONPk/s320/Harris+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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A Korean tech named Kim helps Michael with his investigation, and then ends up in a Blade-Runneresque chase through the streets of San Francisco, being pursued by Michael, Paul, and their remote-controlled "falcons." Kim's wife, Angelee, plays a significant role in the sequel (see my next series of posts).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8isDd9989uJgct5HlimkW-EEyOyljvyRRaHc5byQqkzb0_Bi8FSj3UxWM-HB0y26Tt1OI8c4jRo-24AuWOTk1e5kAlGJ2zu5gj_CMliOGjPGhWNT_mvB4IqLw8EJ24KxzQAA4uagT11Ar/s1600/Kim.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8isDd9989uJgct5HlimkW-EEyOyljvyRRaHc5byQqkzb0_Bi8FSj3UxWM-HB0y26Tt1OI8c4jRo-24AuWOTk1e5kAlGJ2zu5gj_CMliOGjPGhWNT_mvB4IqLw8EJ24KxzQAA4uagT11Ar/s320/Kim.jpg" /></a><br />
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At the "summit" meeting of world leaders that Saul Rabin hosts toward the end of the novel, one of the guests is Stanford Glenn, who is one of the most powerful men in America, which is declining and decentralized, but is still very influential in the world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1gt17WGGvp58QAY4Y10Vwju70bJFqUv9YGCpobdE0E7MVlk1iT4FxwnbD7hCud3J6oPmM26-hQ-QjSi7rapHm5XMDTcKkjNqlS2cNwcXMsNYfoj3QbD8Wn_VbBXbkijuyvoDDe8ZFUZ9/s1600/Stanford+Glenn.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1gt17WGGvp58QAY4Y10Vwju70bJFqUv9YGCpobdE0E7MVlk1iT4FxwnbD7hCud3J6oPmM26-hQ-QjSi7rapHm5XMDTcKkjNqlS2cNwcXMsNYfoj3QbD8Wn_VbBXbkijuyvoDDe8ZFUZ9/s320/Stanford+Glenn.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmir988mXSSofUnssZh7j8e2Pm3vSfl-a8N5JrK4l_r-yvG01zr-Jc-0G7KXmzHKlYxyppwNtDF9sytgayRKmPDBP51J-EA7UJhHaIPmAC9AalUZfTXJB4aFHC6bjpW-kYtDoIHwVpkHD/s1600/Stanford+Glenn+2.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmir988mXSSofUnssZh7j8e2Pm3vSfl-a8N5JrK4l_r-yvG01zr-Jc-0G7KXmzHKlYxyppwNtDF9sytgayRKmPDBP51J-EA7UJhHaIPmAC9AalUZfTXJB4aFHC6bjpW-kYtDoIHwVpkHD/s320/Stanford+Glenn+2.png" /></a><br />
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Stan Glenn appears in the second book, and so does another guest at the summit meeting. General Zhang Sun is the militaristic ruler of China, and seems to have an animosity toward Michael, from which flows the primary plot of <i>Kaleidocide</i> (and the reason for the title, in fact). So this is a good way to end this series about <i>Silhouette</i> and transition to another one about the sequel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWccFZTQhj2G6taQeaS3LFbB0jgXZO-G_Nu29uGPdyp6gLIZEwxhcOFhMPRwW2bHOgZiueWKc5BCWOmmDwzvc5cHHUQTKQgdgE4F52rFpzpj0uoIJHqWZMCuvv1wvQ_YWzPN3g54W_IG1/s1600/Sun+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWccFZTQhj2G6taQeaS3LFbB0jgXZO-G_Nu29uGPdyp6gLIZEwxhcOFhMPRwW2bHOgZiueWKc5BCWOmmDwzvc5cHHUQTKQgdgE4F52rFpzpj0uoIJHqWZMCuvv1wvQ_YWzPN3g54W_IG1/s320/Sun+2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNr7k1h6zWWI2JK9LMbsrVZGWdQFztXN4wvIDdukXWuk2LbGiFQO14QjvzavtaFE-Gtj0YpeKuU5U_MJ4UeC1Gtki6lT7L23fdaxWb-HABW_TSVk_6ONI1H9_wuRxjLg2PhtPlsvXptwtr/s1600/Sun+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNr7k1h6zWWI2JK9LMbsrVZGWdQFztXN4wvIDdukXWuk2LbGiFQO14QjvzavtaFE-Gtj0YpeKuU5U_MJ4UeC1Gtki6lT7L23fdaxWb-HABW_TSVk_6ONI1H9_wuRxjLg2PhtPlsvXptwtr/s320/Sun+1.jpg" /></a><br />
Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-85473069717554843902013-04-01T11:29:00.000-07:002013-04-03T09:08:15.134-07:00If Silhouette was a Movie (Locations)Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for Silhouette, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.<br />
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The novel is set in the San Francisco Bay Area in the future, after a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the city, like the quake that did so in 1906. The damage might look something like this...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxYxRXuzMaHqonWe4puu80hCNfX8iE3iUGevvv6YcVU1Yg_ZmURwRU8zIzY0_DWGINcnOVOJ3pPcbzzyHE45hMkS0eeqIEDWilOPpnSenrarGisScoUaEjDdKaS5zexBIxhU19duiE50N/s1600/sanfran1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxYxRXuzMaHqonWe4puu80hCNfX8iE3iUGevvv6YcVU1Yg_ZmURwRU8zIzY0_DWGINcnOVOJ3pPcbzzyHE45hMkS0eeqIEDWilOPpnSenrarGisScoUaEjDdKaS5zexBIxhU19duiE50N/s320/sanfran1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Former police chief Saul Rabin formed the Bay Area Security Service and rose to power by being the one man who could establish order in the ruined city, with the help of his force of "peacers" who have been given a license to kill. Much of the city was rebuilt, and BASS erected their huge "castle" at the summit of Nob Hill and a network of underground passageways like the "Red Tunnel," which in the novel has been invaded by squatters who are protesting the company's dictatorial policies. Imagine the building below about three times bigger, and you will have some idea of how the castle would loom over the city.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2GsorXshQFEoeLoT4whZ2t_0xOx9k_vakVHnMlQxh1RbWLsiAB_IdtgkMd2qs5U_5OakAz-UzxI-GgXLzxWNFwO6a0GFHS54MhwhE8hgwBB74Kb-JVAeZamLPRGM3lFOhseDBZJNLHfy/s1600/The+Castle+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2GsorXshQFEoeLoT4whZ2t_0xOx9k_vakVHnMlQxh1RbWLsiAB_IdtgkMd2qs5U_5OakAz-UzxI-GgXLzxWNFwO6a0GFHS54MhwhE8hgwBB74Kb-JVAeZamLPRGM3lFOhseDBZJNLHfy/s320/The+Castle+1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYTqjrtJGMaxV5cevJPhI906QzV-yaKkwFCTXywFdkWYnOZI74y88SFzFZ8SdP_1sMPAuWNyAhIVxUtkUwv-IAUfDB9x4tw9o2M4P6hGVZzSyd-4Ui1Ru-g_iJ9XF-fBsckY2k7ybFWce/s1600/Red+Tunnel+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYTqjrtJGMaxV5cevJPhI906QzV-yaKkwFCTXywFdkWYnOZI74y88SFzFZ8SdP_1sMPAuWNyAhIVxUtkUwv-IAUfDB9x4tw9o2M4P6hGVZzSyd-4Ui1Ru-g_iJ9XF-fBsckY2k7ybFWce/s320/Red+Tunnel+1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Saul Rabin also converted the ruins of the historic Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, next to the castle, into a high-tech jail. He repaired the gothic facade and named it the Grace Confinement Center, which seems oxymoronic, but he explained that "it <i>is</i> grace--they could be dead, but they're only locked up."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvvvAMIv5zpMyp8i1mG4TcSoxahc7xR75I7Tk72lUeEtKJnFv2y2rBHoLXsxVE3UMpgn_Rwho2TeJ8de86vi1-3XqLjjq4q4hO3CpfzWW4cqJpYvHgf7KoDUx31RRMMvyWDeaGuA8kFMN/s1600/Grace+Confinement+Center+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvvvAMIv5zpMyp8i1mG4TcSoxahc7xR75I7Tk72lUeEtKJnFv2y2rBHoLXsxVE3UMpgn_Rwho2TeJ8de86vi1-3XqLjjq4q4hO3CpfzWW4cqJpYvHgf7KoDUx31RRMMvyWDeaGuA8kFMN/s320/Grace+Confinement+Center+1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinANVej5fGu37XXVB9LlOdpFWsQdyl_hm6KY9fTDDpyy1iFsp-etmHfm0CL5XjwXK5gMCCQ2y1icg8pEGnxHrgQEHElWk2owMB7PiH5wcqzSAq7l36wGkDpDJs2IRzq6VeFm8EG8Jyrkc-/s1600/Grace+Confinement+Center+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinANVej5fGu37XXVB9LlOdpFWsQdyl_hm6KY9fTDDpyy1iFsp-etmHfm0CL5XjwXK5gMCCQ2y1icg8pEGnxHrgQEHElWk2owMB7PiH5wcqzSAq7l36wGkDpDJs2IRzq6VeFm8EG8Jyrkc-/s320/Grace+Confinement+Center+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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During the story, Michael Ares and Paul Rabin visit a place called "Chinatown Underground." The Chinese citizens who remained in the city constructed it when they razed and then rebuilt the ruined buildings of the former Chinatown, to accomodate the growing population of refugees from China, because that country had become so much more militaristic in recent years under the leadership of General Zhang Sun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GoWoQ0lPanPNkJRQmf0AtrJ9NSJmMRVUrVdk69e4464XoIVB-yXLTV0OjSxWCMMWIIwwCwXrgszVX5BrQBXPDk29R3B3GrfAi1OAxsTSdJvgAEJ6_60aqjRT1qD45-hhtNVY9-hqFksk/s1600/Chinatown+Underground+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GoWoQ0lPanPNkJRQmf0AtrJ9NSJmMRVUrVdk69e4464XoIVB-yXLTV0OjSxWCMMWIIwwCwXrgszVX5BrQBXPDk29R3B3GrfAi1OAxsTSdJvgAEJ6_60aqjRT1qD45-hhtNVY9-hqFksk/s320/Chinatown+Underground+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Finally, the former military base called the Presidio was rebuilt to house an orphanage, the pet project of Saul Rabin's wife Kathryn. Lynn Ares lived at the Presidio after her parents were killed in the earthquake.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsm-CexEq1q6mxSWQBSIjvMWNWdM7VSZmH-q_kOr97asKk_ms8ixcpDqiK57YRjGt4SUbZMwMgJSlTets6c-RkGVfi57iWAr1nSDApWhpPAyVxYOUPxSAt7hilI8N9Pti8ivx8HK5LMNpX/s1600/presidio.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsm-CexEq1q6mxSWQBSIjvMWNWdM7VSZmH-q_kOr97asKk_ms8ixcpDqiK57YRjGt4SUbZMwMgJSlTets6c-RkGVfi57iWAr1nSDApWhpPAyVxYOUPxSAt7hilI8N9Pti8ivx8HK5LMNpX/s320/presidio.jpg" /></a><br />
Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-71073584483585294422013-03-20T20:38:00.001-07:002013-05-19T20:27:41.181-07:00If Silhouette was a Movie (Weapons and Vehicles)Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for Silhouette, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.<br />
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Let's take a break this time from the characters and take a look at some of the cool future technology in the novel. If there was a movie, these would all be designed by the filmmakers, but here are some pictures that are similar to how I imagine them...<br />
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Michael and the other peacers are armed with futuristic handguns called boas, which have caseless ammunition and can fire either "killer" or "stopper" rounds. (A version of the latter can be found in Masamune Shirow's short story in the Appleseed Databook.) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxKJmgdfcDbcnFOpiuJ2gENl5DDGCRBJlaRy9jAYZp1gkgrJKMoehvFORiIj7X-1qEjsbtGMAvjquaW-qdBRl4u_wxGDe9I1ff1V3CjR6zK-vzfUa0prV3ZSUlhRcfqn2WwitoDtpsZX3/s1600/Boas.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxKJmgdfcDbcnFOpiuJ2gENl5DDGCRBJlaRy9jAYZp1gkgrJKMoehvFORiIj7X-1qEjsbtGMAvjquaW-qdBRl4u_wxGDe9I1ff1V3CjR6zK-vzfUa0prV3ZSUlhRcfqn2WwitoDtpsZX3/s320/Boas.jpg" /></a><br />
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An interesting note about this picture is that the first proposed cover for <i>Kaleidocide</i> (the sequel to <i>Silhouette</i>) had a gun that was not futuristic enough, so I sent this to the designer to suggest what Michael's guns might look like. The designer somehow photoshopped the gun on the cover so it looks like one of these now.<br />
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And now for the Firehawk helicopters, co-opted from a U.S. military force on Treasure Island and used to enforce order by the Bay Area Security Service in the early days before the aeros (flying cars) were developed. In my mind they look something like the picture below, and they are featured in a cool action scene in the early parts of the second novel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsadgGhjdn31ikRgc2LwyikeaPITH1oA0tZST31EzbfLI7Ruv_PIB3bJ4ageo2LeSW6WZlaIIEs6gQV8VjO8NjakdN87vxgA1KaLYzmt7vWCSLLz27xO_oGfQfCAcif6-ccB2hXUYY_sU/s1600/Firehawk+Helicopter.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsadgGhjdn31ikRgc2LwyikeaPITH1oA0tZST31EzbfLI7Ruv_PIB3bJ4ageo2LeSW6WZlaIIEs6gQV8VjO8NjakdN87vxgA1KaLYzmt7vWCSLLz27xO_oGfQfCAcif6-ccB2hXUYY_sU/s320/Firehawk+Helicopter.png" /></a><br />
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The aeros that BASS has developed using their patented Sabon antigravity technology are a significant part of the world I've created in the series, but I didn't want to put these pictures at the top of this post because they are not very impressive. But they're something, so here is what a parked one might look like, and its interior...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmDu1cV5Th5-KR6DwhMwdrYNCFdg9vUdquxJNjIY6joGk8cX-kW8dEoG3o5aHiFG4JbTyb2Poar0ASjcL9SZURcg2pmawsoPzaRyROe4yFCqZBXBatt9f7K5EejP-XWEJrRRSyw-GLqsw/s1600/Aero.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmDu1cV5Th5-KR6DwhMwdrYNCFdg9vUdquxJNjIY6joGk8cX-kW8dEoG3o5aHiFG4JbTyb2Poar0ASjcL9SZURcg2pmawsoPzaRyROe4yFCqZBXBatt9f7K5EejP-XWEJrRRSyw-GLqsw/s320/Aero.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOBc3OS1q8ePGzgegdAvsAfyn5NWlpW2OONZvBhzYW2109YjiLFlEPnqZF6yGhkPOySs9sPp0ApWB77TMgVng55j79aMDG8IJtMO2Q48lfDKh00xHT1OSf3i4K8J1wZII8I2yVhaaopQk/s1600/Aero+interior.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOBc3OS1q8ePGzgegdAvsAfyn5NWlpW2OONZvBhzYW2109YjiLFlEPnqZF6yGhkPOySs9sPp0ApWB77TMgVng55j79aMDG8IJtMO2Q48lfDKh00xHT1OSf3i4K8J1wZII8I2yVhaaopQk/s320/Aero+interior.jpg" /></a><br />
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And here is (kinda) what they might look like patrolling the streets of San Francisco...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnSJvk9_ppICXR8kdzzXBwtzheczBIjxYmie6cb4Y86djNg5lBh3e-Ys-5Va0tDMyQ6NN_qC_lIGkFqp2d2y1YPERaN6HKYcMn-vpPFaucFMQFvwkLI9afQJdpocg8dWxzB7gsihdSNr_/s1600/aero+3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnSJvk9_ppICXR8kdzzXBwtzheczBIjxYmie6cb4Y86djNg5lBh3e-Ys-5Va0tDMyQ6NN_qC_lIGkFqp2d2y1YPERaN6HKYcMn-vpPFaucFMQFvwkLI9afQJdpocg8dWxzB7gsihdSNr_/s320/aero+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZDGxDcF3xQes9iZ93T7a3kX3iyWGED9IkPowTUkfdNy55sewSsixz4PenfPcbKcPSH9WiVKyHkcrlHz0IV1hT697DCn4kc1CKxC4aJ-cVpFrM2JZs6yTHhnbr3CTIWTM0RAPJRJvHYeE/s1600/aero.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZDGxDcF3xQes9iZ93T7a3kX3iyWGED9IkPowTUkfdNy55sewSsixz4PenfPcbKcPSH9WiVKyHkcrlHz0IV1hT697DCn4kc1CKxC4aJ-cVpFrM2JZs6yTHhnbr3CTIWTM0RAPJRJvHYeE/s320/aero.jpg" /></a><br />
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I know that's pretty weak (they're from a Men in Black video game), but this last one is even weaker (that's why it's last:). BASS forces also use small flying robots called Falcons to search for and apprehend perps. I couldn't find anything that was really like what I imagined when I wrote the book, but here are a couple pics from the web that could be mixed together to make a decent design for them...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbc_zj5xS78YKEV7RHubU9a3mEymVI4Yox18npghKSVEkf3jtBGvbHfkcEp_9VQWr2DiWmv63jbp3bvhsKNl48OuFTRItZpjFTwGhzxjdN3GETjmhk8GrABFjLk76JXoDkRnIBb0V19Z5/s1600/falcon+1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbc_zj5xS78YKEV7RHubU9a3mEymVI4Yox18npghKSVEkf3jtBGvbHfkcEp_9VQWr2DiWmv63jbp3bvhsKNl48OuFTRItZpjFTwGhzxjdN3GETjmhk8GrABFjLk76JXoDkRnIBb0V19Z5/s320/falcon+1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XBOlDt455he5uVRQqr7Y9xYRoKjv39ykhjYVWsgfBTaxhv8zJZG4H9miINpTyaLrymmPwiKZOYnrTjoymwZpMIMd5yX5X3PcIgTtZzI7YG4l7OrUCd1I3MT1sNJA2U867YAXH_RuLIvl/s1600/Falcon+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XBOlDt455he5uVRQqr7Y9xYRoKjv39ykhjYVWsgfBTaxhv8zJZG4H9miINpTyaLrymmPwiKZOYnrTjoymwZpMIMd5yX5X3PcIgTtZzI7YG4l7OrUCd1I3MT1sNJA2U867YAXH_RuLIvl/s320/Falcon+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Finally, here is what one of the "bugs" might look like. Another new application of the Sabon antigravity technology owned exclusively by BASS, a swarm of them are sent into the Red Tunnel to map the squatters' defenses before Michael leads a raid to forcibly evict them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrrr8pfsNLWjG9wNVoOQCekkc_tNigq8N2Dk9dcAGXWVL_4Wwl14MYoQwY85JYnMuagfN7cS1YOsX7msVN_Rh_scu4-j4B6cHiE0zQ2frqrj7uScAgSxQuXB4L13TzhvEiowaVwqnkh2Z/s1600/Bug.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrrr8pfsNLWjG9wNVoOQCekkc_tNigq8N2Dk9dcAGXWVL_4Wwl14MYoQwY85JYnMuagfN7cS1YOsX7msVN_Rh_scu4-j4B6cHiE0zQ2frqrj7uScAgSxQuXB4L13TzhvEiowaVwqnkh2Z/s320/Bug.jpg" /></a>Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-64201307664975494972013-03-14T22:29:00.000-07:002013-03-14T22:36:10.694-07:00If Silhouette was a Movie (BASS Leaders -- Saul, Paul, and D)Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for <i>Silhouette</i>, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.<br />
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Saul Rabin is the enigmatic dictator of the post-quake San Francisco Bay Area, who some admire as the savior of the city while others loathe and fear as a fascist tyrant. When I first wrote the book, I didn't imagine Saul as any known person, but after it was published the following occurred to me. What if a horrible earthquake left Dirty Harry as the only one capable of restoring order in the city, and he ended up ruling it, and getting some religion in his old age because of his wife (which may be a good or bad thing)? That is basically the idea behind Saul Rabin, as we can't tell whether he is a good guy or bad guy or both. How appropriate it would be for Clint Eastwood to play Saul, especially after his interesting and polarizing forays into politics! (Mayor of Carmel CA, speech at Republican Convention, etc.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIif44nmM0nNx6wvl0mUJvB8Uvlh73eYbxQSXxmTq5NTXZJhgU6qmHijRXjA0twEaTlsra3Qlu-6GRpZYPL7ibUV3wOTxxI370kD9WrRbXj3bkeXjqNaJ80VLrD0e-BK0R3ZOEHmXicJt7/s1600/Saul+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIif44nmM0nNx6wvl0mUJvB8Uvlh73eYbxQSXxmTq5NTXZJhgU6qmHijRXjA0twEaTlsra3Qlu-6GRpZYPL7ibUV3wOTxxI370kD9WrRbXj3bkeXjqNaJ80VLrD0e-BK0R3ZOEHmXicJt7/s320/Saul+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRELKeO_cZgriioM2Tp7Drpphu1_WReZitk2qIKiHtnQPwNQCWfwkXQ7sSiI9AgFNpTziN9fcapUAszfRes_CG3pSS7fYCpbBRlP7jdHfTAhSf-qEsvClpFDUdd3WAX2oK-nGyrC7Ad4Np/s1600/Saul+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRELKeO_cZgriioM2Tp7Drpphu1_WReZitk2qIKiHtnQPwNQCWfwkXQ7sSiI9AgFNpTziN9fcapUAszfRes_CG3pSS7fYCpbBRlP7jdHfTAhSf-qEsvClpFDUdd3WAX2oK-nGyrC7Ad4Np/s320/Saul+4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LpjURIyjaX7TjkJK40SKjByKxbTeMAxk5FWbXCkE11_37I7sIh0u_sCuQVB61-iIi5iVO7cARdtEU2P7Tbz9wdUjz8O_yqp4XzQ8sO9Fw0JNkRCWBo8qNq_cEdALJgR4Kfyt-QuALqpK/s1600/Saul.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LpjURIyjaX7TjkJK40SKjByKxbTeMAxk5FWbXCkE11_37I7sIh0u_sCuQVB61-iIi5iVO7cARdtEU2P7Tbz9wdUjz8O_yqp4XzQ8sO9Fw0JNkRCWBo8qNq_cEdALJgR4Kfyt-QuALqpK/s320/Saul.jpg" /></a><br />
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Saul's son Paul could be played by Clint Eastwood's son Kyle, who is primarily a musician but has also acted in films. Not only do Clint and Kyle look like father and son, obviously, but Kyle looks the part otherwise. Paul is tall and friendly looking, handsome but not as much as Michael or Darien. In these pictures you will also see a dark-skinned lady representing his wife Liria, who is mentioned in the book (and plays a role in its sequel).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT6atjQRyoytorcdvm4UBA6EVf3NdzP8eEvYE-OoY2tUowQ0fF-C4Ah0mnaCZD8GtHAMhwWwn3aCAtz76TjJe4oOMuptOa1dPGSnF9FoORG8fPvBN8z6G34GvNFaZyhMTTD54WXaEHVZ6/s1600/Paul+Rabin+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT6atjQRyoytorcdvm4UBA6EVf3NdzP8eEvYE-OoY2tUowQ0fF-C4Ah0mnaCZD8GtHAMhwWwn3aCAtz76TjJe4oOMuptOa1dPGSnF9FoORG8fPvBN8z6G34GvNFaZyhMTTD54WXaEHVZ6/s320/Paul+Rabin+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXvoc6VvlE2LYGcLXGVSu3EmqG5NcAkB2fGiq0yJPQUCtkMuKWBW4o5V_rXQKBWb2XUyNK8RhwGSNw95gExNTsg3gxVwiUjGGwM6FDi3qUk10N1UHlA_vB1mZthWnBXUDt3rL6MGWbUyF/s1600/Paul+Rabin+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXvoc6VvlE2LYGcLXGVSu3EmqG5NcAkB2fGiq0yJPQUCtkMuKWBW4o5V_rXQKBWb2XUyNK8RhwGSNw95gExNTsg3gxVwiUjGGwM6FDi3qUk10N1UHlA_vB1mZthWnBXUDt3rL6MGWbUyF/s320/Paul+Rabin+4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqMfpMPBcz9uw_f2eCidt6uVXorEVCO465qIQnlKYhbDewT2Ro4nvsSX37eexszIbcEa91pKNqU1yx9wxlv8vOv9sO5KuD16sHtWwGkBPhFK4mGbdDQDxTPdamwSjQCol09ZviLj1kVnH/s1600/Paul+and+Liria+Rabin.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqMfpMPBcz9uw_f2eCidt6uVXorEVCO465qIQnlKYhbDewT2Ro4nvsSX37eexszIbcEa91pKNqU1yx9wxlv8vOv9sO5KuD16sHtWwGkBPhFK4mGbdDQDxTPdamwSjQCol09ZviLj1kVnH/s320/Paul+and+Liria+Rabin.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxyNsZ9lWim8iF5JBdtiZDB4m2BbV2-dmPANs6PvXNjqO6hu-xhC1y_Mj-4wbVHvzmm9kcjnExDTdja8oxnsPS0eoadzrIjWuNsVfjWFsW9-ygRKhniKq4PPvaXRx5ub2nQSsgq8QP757/s1600/Paul+and+Liria+Rabin+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxyNsZ9lWim8iF5JBdtiZDB4m2BbV2-dmPANs6PvXNjqO6hu-xhC1y_Mj-4wbVHvzmm9kcjnExDTdja8oxnsPS0eoadzrIjWuNsVfjWFsW9-ygRKhniKq4PPvaXRx5ub2nQSsgq8QP757/s320/Paul+and+Liria+Rabin+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Darien Anthony, known to his friends as "D", was the third in command at the Bay Area Security Service prior to his untimely death. He was a former pro athlete with a significant amount of charisma (described as "BASS's smiling face for the media). So NFL player Hank Baskett fits the part...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKsFhlZMcocttJ0KTh5PbqOkTQfWeMpgccX55jLslSGG2GEfzm08iw1AQjzLTtZRhi16NhFVMrUNV36efpkTSMuQPLfFCmH1qggLx3UI7TThiahtlpykAvcx8GwOFgGceKNYi7-RU-6uP/s1600/Darien+Anthony.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKsFhlZMcocttJ0KTh5PbqOkTQfWeMpgccX55jLslSGG2GEfzm08iw1AQjzLTtZRhi16NhFVMrUNV36efpkTSMuQPLfFCmH1qggLx3UI7TThiahtlpykAvcx8GwOFgGceKNYi7-RU-6uP/s320/Darien+Anthony.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEFbA85PcW777vzLjeYpxWg-uXdmYNxO5raPNTehLceB5zQmY5VyMyqXBYEvpXcvwRy5S-U1RblVRlUULuUK2dRi6qQHz1ghE_280I7TFrsjjtzcMoH7wGPApvfmt4baNtkrQcOD0NkNT/s1600/Darien+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEFbA85PcW777vzLjeYpxWg-uXdmYNxO5raPNTehLceB5zQmY5VyMyqXBYEvpXcvwRy5S-U1RblVRlUULuUK2dRi6qQHz1ghE_280I7TFrsjjtzcMoH7wGPApvfmt4baNtkrQcOD0NkNT/s320/Darien+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-49637249341293825842013-03-14T11:40:00.000-07:002013-03-14T21:52:44.571-07:00If Silhouette was a Movie (Michael and Lynn)Now that I finally finished the full initial draft of <i>Kaleidocide,</i> the sequel to <i>Silhouette</i>, and sent it off to the publisher, I have some time that I can do something fun that I've wanted to do for awhile. Macmillan Films is trying to get a movie deal for <i>Silhouette</i>, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.<br />
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No better place to start than with Michael Ares, the main character. He is from England, so how about Luke Evans, who looks something the Michael of my imagination... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVnfDN6HyvM1Nr3ZvUDb1COAGv5FXfeSMq6S-548p569LHMOuHQ7rac-QWoDuBJsgoEO_w6TzBsZaoRu257j_3U3pIaMk8idRPPHJkl88-ccdNQEuvKvmyVesNXSmw7bZO20S0JbC4bye/s1600/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVnfDN6HyvM1Nr3ZvUDb1COAGv5FXfeSMq6S-548p569LHMOuHQ7rac-QWoDuBJsgoEO_w6TzBsZaoRu257j_3U3pIaMk8idRPPHJkl88-ccdNQEuvKvmyVesNXSmw7bZO20S0JbC4bye/s320/Michael+(Luke+Evans).jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKrHVRj4K2t0ls7hBRVo8DPAjmkavibWP8bAObyTqF2YgTa_pcLNawSBNDVk8v_S8PT9OdnZae5GQJmaGWc3wuBNru9CGkhv1SxzZneks5VYnmqFEx8lGzT4oKAhWtJsi_UGHAGU6RWm/s1600/Michael+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKrHVRj4K2t0ls7hBRVo8DPAjmkavibWP8bAObyTqF2YgTa_pcLNawSBNDVk8v_S8PT9OdnZae5GQJmaGWc3wuBNru9CGkhv1SxzZneks5VYnmqFEx8lGzT4oKAhWtJsi_UGHAGU6RWm/s320/Michael+2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vQdCwQ4bm6jkF1qsBulk9DAZvVrvvBnTERCdxr1maWi8vbxckt8JX2mVVGf9b8Mr5BZi5yGMjDbZ4gcOpCWbg6ryyb_149oqjG7aOzhPV-I9PCBaT2e5WQk68CwUlBmTVe9gQpjiBkAO/s1600/Michael+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vQdCwQ4bm6jkF1qsBulk9DAZvVrvvBnTERCdxr1maWi8vbxckt8JX2mVVGf9b8Mr5BZi5yGMjDbZ4gcOpCWbg6ryyb_149oqjG7aOzhPV-I9PCBaT2e5WQk68CwUlBmTVe9gQpjiBkAO/s320/Michael+3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGrOap19wYoinWwv4eLFH7PP00n_Ge-1P8KESuXlei8wX_j01NyU-cxZouma8pD5VYYalA11sMn0-Gb43WyYlW7rOgs2bpm8dq8Qrw_S26JoT5VuWHXFQqRqc6YsSjCUyAAmKmd4pp6g6/s1600/Michael+Glasses+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGrOap19wYoinWwv4eLFH7PP00n_Ge-1P8KESuXlei8wX_j01NyU-cxZouma8pD5VYYalA11sMn0-Gb43WyYlW7rOgs2bpm8dq8Qrw_S26JoT5VuWHXFQqRqc6YsSjCUyAAmKmd4pp6g6/s320/Michael+Glasses+1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s6uCRgYYUdFoxNhTyyPdRdkcVpxs7mMeuMRejSCQf4EPxESzI6bN1NdIjHiEdhyphenhyphenTxV8rH6lfTLjvIbQdBFf6jp3gcW1pR7-dXU0HYVk-dt6epOna3FI94UoPp_b2-zpWY43aXwpfl2T-/s1600/Michael+Glasses+6+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s6uCRgYYUdFoxNhTyyPdRdkcVpxs7mMeuMRejSCQf4EPxESzI6bN1NdIjHiEdhyphenhyphenTxV8rH6lfTLjvIbQdBFf6jp3gcW1pR7-dXU0HYVk-dt6epOna3FI94UoPp_b2-zpWY43aXwpfl2T-/s320/Michael+Glasses+6+(2).jpg" /></a><br />
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And then for Michael's wife Lynn, how about Naomi Watts...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHHZr9IwAZv9Z0Qg7NPP6rN1O-nP9VVqbFakkKmDSOMNl1M69np-dbimEjUpn-EbfX4tGbB461MJy7hqrZB1fLMhgE11a7cBWIs2quB_S3YmJTFsaEMZMExovUUeBA8nkxMzonod6q7zJ/s1600/Lynn+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHHZr9IwAZv9Z0Qg7NPP6rN1O-nP9VVqbFakkKmDSOMNl1M69np-dbimEjUpn-EbfX4tGbB461MJy7hqrZB1fLMhgE11a7cBWIs2quB_S3YmJTFsaEMZMExovUUeBA8nkxMzonod6q7zJ/s320/Lynn+4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRHlAAB4fSMb0F4IFAIky24neISNJNdcNYfEjrpVmccqY_4VSzYylv6jcDrGVxsjuYWCVYHoXlHRmjtOFPwJWY1gFxLcCbWkzdlLRiQpsrEJXzVfRh5j6N57rstopz7WaPJjPb82ULRC8/s1600/Lynn+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRHlAAB4fSMb0F4IFAIky24neISNJNdcNYfEjrpVmccqY_4VSzYylv6jcDrGVxsjuYWCVYHoXlHRmjtOFPwJWY1gFxLcCbWkzdlLRiQpsrEJXzVfRh5j6N57rstopz7WaPJjPb82ULRC8/s320/Lynn+5.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35B_NfH-ZJ7QcBsozTsM_KWQvmNMsjdGks8EOOruU_OfAd2iI5SDkU5Al7clnaKKk-4wOW7LU4kXhb7sq8ZPjsJPKUOR06mo0Qb4TSsmosIL7K0wCQtWqLfmamWNqOiDYxnKOgL9KyZEP/s1600/Lynn+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35B_NfH-ZJ7QcBsozTsM_KWQvmNMsjdGks8EOOruU_OfAd2iI5SDkU5Al7clnaKKk-4wOW7LU4kXhb7sq8ZPjsJPKUOR06mo0Qb4TSsmosIL7K0wCQtWqLfmamWNqOiDYxnKOgL9KyZEP/s320/Lynn+2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItyPSzmOXKj1DQKS8tPNnXPOxrtuNNsdL5ixdHiF2AAH8Q-2-rBu4g_wG8-3QKdS5tnwrYRxyh7e8Pot3hs-yq8qPMtzrJBUUi2zaOrM1MrSeNDgR79DdQFElVtJAYX8lLw7txPTzjFjP/s1600/Lynn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItyPSzmOXKj1DQKS8tPNnXPOxrtuNNsdL5ixdHiF2AAH8Q-2-rBu4g_wG8-3QKdS5tnwrYRxyh7e8Pot3hs-yq8qPMtzrJBUUi2zaOrM1MrSeNDgR79DdQFElVtJAYX8lLw7txPTzjFjP/s320/Lynn+3.jpg" /></a><br />
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Michael and Lynn are both in their thirties, Michael is ex-military (special forces) and Lynn was raised in an orphanage at the Presidio founded by Saul Rabin's late wife Kathryn. The glasses Luke Evans is wearing in the pictures could easily be the net glasses that Michael uses throughout the book, and Naomi Watts is not only beautiful, as Lynn is, but could also embody the domestic and innocent parts of the character's nature.<br />
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Interestingly, the two actors also have the same color eyes as the characters in the book.Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-34020450120698975792012-10-23T20:51:00.001-07:002012-10-31T23:18:03.276-07:00Silhouette Prequel Online!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZPdignnJFoOaWeaTM-M6M5RabOX3dAhWNvuTLPIhQ7UACwMZHuhwXCTzMeu7ZIZRG6-BeayeSuNZHFbt0ztQvVVD_BhU6LHCQcLpf-ocdDajN6XZsWnZujqGvilXSDLx7YMuolY_KaAw/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZPdignnJFoOaWeaTM-M6M5RabOX3dAhWNvuTLPIhQ7UACwMZHuhwXCTzMeu7ZIZRG6-BeayeSuNZHFbt0ztQvVVD_BhU6LHCQcLpf-ocdDajN6XZsWnZujqGvilXSDLx7YMuolY_KaAw/s200/4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Macmillan has published a prequel to <i>Silhouette</i> online at their web site! It's called "Unmasked" and tells the story of a Michael Ares adventure that takes place a couple years before the events depicted in the novel. It contains the same kinds of exciting action, future tech, interesting characters, and moral conundrums that you'll find in <i>Silhouette</i>. To read the story, click <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage_New.aspx?isbn=9781250001498">here</a>. For a sample of the novel itself, visit its Amazon.com page <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Silhouette-Peacer-Novel-The-Series/dp/1250001498/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334767420&sr=8-2">here</a> and click on the book cover "To Look Inside." <br />
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Here's an excerpt from the middle of the prequel story:<br />
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After making a few turns, including a wrong one that ended in a blank wall, and some winding steps downward, I found the camera that was watching the squatters’ hidden tunnel entrance. While Aaron had it temporarily looped, I located it on the wall near another dead end. It was a clear strip stuck to the concrete, about the size of a Band-Aid or a stick of gum, and the tech informed me that it was equipped with night vision as well, and a proximity alert. While its owner couldn’t see me, I explored the floor near the dead end and discovered the tunnel entrance, its outlines hidden by tiny holo projectors near the corners that looked similar to the camera on the wall, but were even smaller. It would be interesting to find out how they opened it from this side (probably by remote), but that wasn’t the reason I was here right now.<br />
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I crouched on top of the tunnel entrance, turned my head slightly away from the camera, and told Aaron to release the loop. Then I stood and moved slowly past it, like a squatter emerging from the tunnel. I could almost hear the proximity alert beeping in the killer’s ear—assuming Reyes was correct in her theory, and this wasn’t just a wild goose chase.<br />
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Then I crouched near the end of my little hallway, so I was able to make use of either corner, depending on which way the perp came. I moused the arm of my glasses to arrange the camera feeds, so I could tell which entrance he used. Then I told Aaron to watch the perp, and waited.<br />
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The masked man didn’t move from his seat in the Plaza, which I expected, because if he was the killer, he would be waiting until someone emerged from the fountain. He would be watching the same camera feeds I had in my glasses, to see which doorway I exited. But he continued to not move for such a long time that I started to think this was a wild goose chase.<br />
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Then he stood up and moved toward the fountain.<br />
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“Bingo,” I said to Aaron, and without explanation told him to unplug and give me some privacy. He did, after telling me which entrance the perp was using, and from which direction he would approach my position. I maximized that camera view at that entrance and watched as the man pulled a handgun while entering the fountain. It looked similar to the two boas I wore on my belt, which were the weapon of choice for many peacers, but I couldn’t tell for sure.<br />
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Still crouching, I leaned on the corner to the side he would be approaching and placed one of my boas on the floor so that the sight pointed in that direction. Then I accessed the sight wirelessly in my glasses so I could stay behind the corner, but see around it. I switched the other boa from killer rounds to stoppers, and held it ready to fire around the corner.<br />
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The gunsight’s view was looking down a long corridor that eventually reached another dead end (this was the “basement” of the fountain), but there was an opening in the right side, with steps leading up. I could see the far end of the bottom two steps, and knew this was an ideal setup because the perp would have to step off them when he entered my line of fire, the laws of physics guaranteeing that he would be at least slightly off balance when I fired on him. My idea was to knock him down and perhaps disarm him with a few stopper rounds (they were very good at that), then question him, and if he was a peacer, try to untangle the ethical knots that would present. If he was some other kind of criminal, it would be very simple—arrest him and lock him up in the cathedral that was also on top of Nob Hill, which Saul Rabin had turned into a high-tech jail after the quake. And if the masked man resisted arrest, I would shoot him with the killer rounds in the other boa. (That was the legal kind of murder in our new world order.)<br />
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Any notion of simple went out the window when I saw a proximity alert flashing in one of the tiny windows from the other perimeter cameras, and soon realized that a couple of lovers had been strolling by and decided to walk into the fountain. They were heading in our direction and could easily overtake the perp, which would complicate things considerably, so now I knew for sure that I needed to take him down as soon as he arrived, and before the couple could be caught in the fray...<br />
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To read the whole story, click <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage_New.aspx?isbn=9781250001498">here</a>. <br />
Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1324059059232804364.post-29583477362753301732012-10-20T22:10:00.001-07:002012-10-23T20:18:32.278-07:00The Stars My Destination<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tonova.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/the_stars_my_destination_graphic_novel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="847" width="640" src="http://tonova.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/the_stars_my_destination_graphic_novel.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<i>The Stars My Destination</i> has long been one of my favorite all-time novels. It's the basic plot of Counte of Monte Cristo set in a future world, but other than that it's oh-so-unique--especially the clipped, frenetic writing style...I'm not sure anyone has ever even approximated it. Bester wrote this, <i>The Demolished Man</i> (also great), and a bunch of short stories in the 50s, and then he found himself adrift in the drug-addled sixties and wrote some weird stuff that wasn't nearly as good. But this novel is as golden as golden-age gets!<br />
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The graphic version of the novel (pictured) is out of print and very hard to find. Howard Chaykin's art is a great complement to the classic text. This is one of my prize possessions...I re-read it every year or so, and am producing my own homage to Bester and Chaykin's "kaleidoscopic" style in the novel I'm writing right now, which is called <i>Kaleidocide</i> and is a sequel to <i>Silhouette</i>.Dave Swavelyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10903342933814792279noreply@blogger.com0