The Fun of Midsummer Fairies

All right, so my new release A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S FLING is a not a paranormal (it's a straight-up romantic comedy) BUT the play from which it steals borrows its title (Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream) is all about supernatural creatures. Namely: fairies.

I played a fairy once in A Midsummer Night's Dream; it was one of the great pleasures of my life. And one of my favorite parts of writing this book was deciding how I was going to have my fictional people portray Shakespeare's fairies. The wonderful website Pinterest was great for this, and I happened to have a pretty great costume designer character in my book so I could let my imagination go wild.

And I did. :)

Here's how the fairy looks are described in the book:

All four of the actresses playing Titania's handmaidens now had soft, pastel colored hair of various shades -- a soft lilac for Cobweb; an icy, silvery blue for Moth; a peachy orange for Mustardseed; and a soft blend of pale green, blue and violet for Peaseblossom. Elaborate headdresses of flowers and feathers, twigs and seashells crowned their heads.

Their costumes were also a tactile delight of texture, some with scaled black leather, some with shredded silk pieces; one had an amazing corset that looked like wood. The most incredible, though, was Moth's. Somehow, with clear sea glass beads knit with wire, the designer had fashioned a dress that actually seemed made of water droplets for the Moth character.

If you want to check out my Midsummer fairy looks and other fun pictures that provided inspiration, check out the book's Pinterest board.

There's more info about the book below if you're curious. Even though it's not a paranormal. ;)

 Blurb:

After dating her childhood sweetheart Max on and off for years, aspiring actress Nicola Charles is finally ready to move on. It’s time for her to focus on her stage career and stay away from Max–before he can break her heart again.

Max regrets hurting Nicola, but he wants another chance. So when his play loses its leading lady, giving Nicola the part seems like the perfect opportunity to win back his old flame.

But the course of true love—and a theater production—never do run smooth. As Max fights to reignite Nicola’s love, the onstage antics can’t rival the bedlam backstage: a neurotic cast, a prickly crew, and an evil diva of a director who’s got designs on Max.

As Nicola and Max battle to keep the drama onstage, Max can’t help wondering if their romance will end with the last performance. Or have the two of them finally captured what they’ve dreamed of all their lives? True Love.

Available now:

* Amazon * Paperback * Barnes & Noble * iTunes * KOBO * ARe * 

Ta,

Beth Matthews

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Reviewed: "Maleficent"

From our Contributor Beth Matthews (writing as E. D. Walker), reposted from her blog:

Over the weekend, I went to see Maleficent with two of my girlfriends. Maleficent is basically Disney’s Sleeping Beauty repurposed and told from the POV of the villain, Maleficent. In this version, however, we find out WHY Maleficent decides to curse an innocent baby. The story starts with a war between the human world and the fairy world of which Maleficent is the protector (and she has some bad ass wings to do that protecting).

She’s a strong fighter, but a bit naive. She falls in love with a human man, Stefan, who then exploits her feelings to chop off her wings while she sleeps and thereby claim the human kingdom for himself. Maleficent, in her rage and grief at this betrayal, then shows up years later to curse his newborn daughter. But it all goes wrong when she starts to care about the child Aurora herself.

So…I liked this movie but didn’t love it. The visuals were amazing, especially in fairyland. I thought Angelina Jolie did pretty well, although I think she was better after Maleficent turned “evil.” In the early parts when she was supposed to be innocent and naive it almost seemed like she didn’t know how to play those scenes. Elle Fanning was pleasing but vacant as Aurora, and that character isn’t a character so much as a MacGuffin to drive the plot. Sharlto Copley wasn’t given much to work with as evil King Stefan but I think he did well in the part. Especially as the king descends into paranoid madness, certain that Maleficent is coming for him at any minute. Maleficent’s charming crow henchman Diaval, played by Sam Riley, was easily my favorite character. He stole every scene he was in. Loved him. (He was also the only character who called Maleficent on her shit, which was great. I love when a stern, no-nonsense character has a friend who’s not afraid to talk back to them.)

The story itself felt a little thin and seemed to default to montage when I would have liked a bit more meat to scenes. I suspect at least part of this, though, is that they cut significant portions? I don’t know that for sure, but it just felt like a lot more stuff had been shot than was shown on screen.

OK, so obviously this isn’t one of my fangirl squees. Why am I writing this blog then?

Because you should still see this movie. If you’re a woman or even if you just have a daughter, go see this movie. Because, for once, Hollywood has a girl positive movie out where a woman has agency, where even if she makes a mistake she still gets to redeem herself. Women aren’t used as sexual objects, they aren’t vilified, they aren’t fridged for manpain, they aren’t relegated to the background, they aren’t token characters.

To read the rest of this review and her companion piece "It Doesn't Hurt When I Watch Maleficent: Feminism & Filmmaking", hop over to Beth's blog.....

Armed Forces Day: SF/F Style

Hi all,

So, whilst looking for inspiration for this blog I discovered that today is Armed Forces Day not just in the US but in many countries around the world.

In honor of today and the brave troops who serve their country so faithfully I thought it might be kind of fun to think about some of the great fictional soldiers we've seen in SF/F throughout the years.

5. Wedge Antilles (and all the other brave X-Wing pilots from Star Wars)

Wedge and the other members of Rogue Squadron are the unsung heroes of the Star Wars universe. While Luke and Han were off having grand adventures, taking down shield generators and facing the Evil Emperor himself, Wedge and his pilots were busy doing the really heavy lifting of a major space invasion. 

4. Captain Steven Hiller from Independence Day (Played by a very young Will Smith)

I remember when this film first came out everyone was a little dubious: "The Fresh Prince as a fighter pilot? Really?" But Will Smith earned his leading man chops with this film and created a wonderful military character with Captain Steve Hiller. One of my favorites parts of ID4 is how they portrayed Steve: yes he's goofy and charming but when he's in the air he is all business and the baddest of bad asses in the sky. I enjoyed how the filmmakers showed that the pilots and other military personnel could get the job done but still have engaging and lively personalities in their off-duty hours.

3. Corporal Dwayne Hicks from Aliens (Played by the fabulous Michael Biehn)

I'm a total Hicks/Ripley shipper, so I love him for that, but even apart from he and Ripley together he's just an awesome character (and soldier) in general. Some favorite Hicks moments: In the briefing room when Hudson derails Ripley's with his smart-assing Hicks is the one who slices through all the bravado and shit-talking to cut to the chase: "What are we dealing with here?". Another great moment is when Ripley basically thrusts command at him as he's next in line after the two superior officers are killed and injured; there's this great acting moment where you see Hicks' total reluctance--and yet Hicks accepts the responsibility. Never once after that does he waver in his duty or his bravery. Never once does he shirk that responsibility to his men or the civilians under his care. And, later, when Ripley is nearly hysterical, insisting that Newt the little girl is alive, that they can rescue her, Hicks doesn't argue with Ripley. He agrees, unblinking, to go to the aliens' den to find the innocent little girl. Hicks is brave, loyal, vulnerable, and a totally awesome military hero.

2. Ranger Mako Mori from Pacific Rim (Played by Rinko Kikuchi)

Mako is one of my new favorite military bad asses. Get her in the cockpit of a hi-tech fighter robot and she will not only kick some serious ass--she'll save the world. Mako's inclusion on this list is because of what a wonderful female character she is. Vulnerable without being weak. Strong without being a hard ass. Feminine without being the love interest. I can't wait to see more great ladies like Mako in my SF/F Armed Forces to help represent the many, many brave woman who already serve their countries so well.

1. Captain America/Steve Rogers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Comics (Played by the adorakable Chris Evans)

OK, so if we're talking about great soldiers in fantasy stories it's pretty much a given that Steve Rogers will be on the list, especially as portrayed by Chris Evans (who's just fantastic in the role). Because Steve is a great soldier not because of the super serum that makes him into Captain Hunk--I mean, America, Steve is great because he's a good man. I could wax rhapsodic about this character forever but, for now, let's just talk about a few great Steve moments from the movies...

Before the super serum, he's asthmatic, sick with about every disease you can imagine and about a foot shorter than he needs to be to qualify to enlist. So what does this brave, under-sized, sickly little punk do? He goes to a dozen different cities and continually tries to enlist just to see if he can find somewhere that will let him enlist and fight for his country. Later, he throws himself on a grenade to save other people. He crashlands a plane while still inside just so he can save others, even though that's what ends up leaving him a CapSicle swept out of time from everyone he's ever loved.

In his best incarnations, this character embodies not just what we hope for in a good soldier (bravery, strength, self-sacrifice) but what we, as Americans, truly hope for from our country: loyalty, justice, kindness, a sense of service to something greater than ourselves--and the fortitude to fight for those qualities whatever the cost.

Of course, no fictional heroes could ever compete with the real life servicemen and women who are out there, even now, fighting far away for the liberty and safety of their homelands. I just want to offer heartfelt thanks to all former and current soldiers. Thank you all for your bravery, for your sacrifices, for your service.

Dissecting Fight Scenes (Luke vs. Vader)

For the past couple months, I've been doing a series on fight scenes and how to make them more effective:
Part One (Will Turner vs. Captain Jack)
Part Two (Black Widow vs. Hawkeye)

And, in case you don't have time to read those other posts, what IS the secret to a really great fight scene?

Character! 

Fight scenes, really good fight scenes, are all about character.

Today we're going to talk about probably my favorite fight ever...

Luke vs. Vader from Return of the Jedi.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: a fight scene without character stuff is meaningless: it's just pretty choreography, and this scene, even though the fight choreography isn't wicked intense (like in, say, the mediocre prequels with their lava battles and such) is still a totally riveting scene. Luke is trying to redeem his father; Vader is trying to push Luke to the dark side and, meanwhile, the Emperor is just being a jerk to everyone in a sort of "Let the best minion win!" kind of thing.

If Luke wins, the Emperor wins because he'll have pushed him to the dark side.
If Vader wins, the Emperor still has his trusted right hand henchman.

This is one of the few fights I can think of where the stakes are this high, and the outcome of the fight is actually really crummy for the two combatants no matter who wins. Conflict! Character! Story! Awww, all the ingredients for a really great fight.

But, of course, one of the best moments of this fight is the moment where Luke stops fighting, where he throws away his lightsaber and says "No, this isn't who I am". His line, "I am a Jedi. Like my father before me" is one of my favorite parts of the movie, and it's a really powerful choice. Story-wise, character-wise. Sometimes choosing not to fight can say everything you need to about your character.

The moment Luke chooses not to fight he wins. Because this isn't really a lightsaber duel, it never was. The duel is just a physical symbol of the greater struggle for Luke's soul. Luke surrenders in the lightsaber duel but triumphs in the larger battle. Even if the Emperor had killed him Luke would have won by staying true to himself. But then that choice to step back, to surrender, ends up saving not only Luke but Vader as well, when Luke's bravery inspires his father to turn from the Dark Side and save himself as well.

You know you have a really great fight scene when the choice not to fight is just as riveting as the actual fight itself. :)

Ta,
E.D. Walker
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr

Happy St. Patty's Day--Win a Free Book! Win Two!

 Hi all,

I thought in honor of St. Patty's Day it might be fun to give away a free copy of my YA romance HEIR TO THE UNDERWORLD which actually has some Celtic gods and legendary Irish figures in it running around causing mischief.

As a bonus, I'm also throwing in a copy of my other fantasy novel THE BEAUTY'S BEAST, which isn't related to St. Patrick's Day at all but it just released this week, and is available now at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

It has a werewolf. Werewolves are good, right? ;P

You can win your choice of an ecopy OR a paper copy of each book. 

US only, please. Sorry, international folks. :(

For your chance to win just drop a line in the comment thread and tell me: ancient Celtic god vs. Werewolf? Who would you rather have romancing you under the stars?

A happy St. Patty's Day to those who celebrate! To those who don't...Happy Monday! ;)

Dissecting Fight Scenes (Black Widow vs. Hawkeye)

Last month on the blog, I started my series about fight scenes, and today (and in honor of Valentine's Day!) I continue that with...

Black Widow vs. Hawkeye in Marvel's The Avengers

(Fight starts at 2:02)



OK, I admit I might have picked this fight because I love how much ass Black Widow kicks. I love her.

But really let's talk about the fight choreography in this because Black Widow actually fights like a girl. And I mean that in a good way. Most women can't compete with men when it comes to brute strength, which is why most fighting styles that work for women (like Brazilian jiu jitsu, etc) are all about someone physically weaker defeating someone stronger. BW doesn't just square up to Hawkeye and punch him. She tries a sneak attack, she uses the environment and the available weapons to attack him. She's flexible physically and mentally. And when he's got her in a lock and is about to stab her she bites him. Which is how real, I'm fighting for my life combat works: no such thing as "cheating". (I'm looking at you Will Turner...)

Now let's talk about the character stuff going on. Hawkeye and BW are partners. They have history and, at this moment, he's been brainwashed and he's working for the bad guys. So Black Widow is trying to incapacitate him without killing him, and Hawkeye is trying to kill her because he's got a mission.

But this fight, beneath the surface, is also deeply personal despite the brain washing. These people are great friends (in my headcanon they're also lovers but we can leave that for now). We just had a scene where Loki pinpointed that BW's greatest fear is Hawkeye hurting her, killing her. And five minutes later we have a scene where Hawkeye is trying to do just that. (A+ writing, Joss Whedon)

The choreography of the fight even mirrors this preoccupation with the intimacy between BW and Hawkeye. A lot of this fight is close quarters, face to face, hip to hip. The ending is basically an embrace between them--a grunty, I'm trying to kill you with my knife kind of embrace, yes, but still: they're in each others' arms. Even the fight itself is underlining the intimacy between these two people. Especially when you consider that Hawkeye is primarily a sniper. He doesn't usually fight face to face, he shoots people from far away--but not with Black Widow. 

And what finally breaks the fight up? Hawkeye pulls her hair and then she bites him. Those are intimate actions, personal. No weapons, no fancy kicks or arrows. It's still about the two of them.

Basically, the takeaway from this fight is that you can (and should) use the choreography of the fight itself to underline what's going on beneath the surface, what the characters are feeling, what the dynamics are between them. Have cool choreography, yes, but use it to help you tell your story by elaborating on character, theme and subtext. That punch isn't just a punch it can also mean "I love you. Come back to me."

Ta for now,
Beth Matthews
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Dissecting Fight Scenes (Will Turner vs. Captain Jack Sparrow)

If there's any genre that tends to be action-packed, it's got to be Paranormal Romance. Something to do with all those vampires and werewolves wandering around? All the angsty vampire hunters and swordsmen for hire. As such, I thought it might be fun to talk about what makes a good fight scene for me.

OK, so...you want to know what the secret is?

CHARACTER.

Fight scenes, the good ones, are still all about character. Turns out I have a lot to say about this so I'll be doing this as a multi-part series over the next couple months.

First up, lets look at one of my favorite sword fights of all time...

Will vs. Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

 

This fight scene is fabulous because it's not just a fight, it's great character introduction. This fight tells us SO MUCH about their respective characters: Will is a fantastic swordsman but he doesn't seem to have much actual combat experience--as evidenced by the fact he tells Jack he's "cheating" when Jack brings other weapons into play. Will has a naive notion that a pirate who's running for his life should still abide by the rules of fair combat. The fight also shows how good Will is, though. He may not have much practical experience, but he knows what he's doing, and he's pretty damn good at improvising (grabbing the hot sword, the bit with the chain, etc).

In this fight, we also learn that although Jack is a pirate, he actually goes out of his way not to kill Will--basically begging Will to move at the end of the scene so he won't have to shoot him. So, though Jack is a pirate, he's still a good man. Which is basically the message of the first film. And we see it acted out in the very first big fight of the movie. Good job, screenwriters. A+

So, to sum up, this scene may be a fight, but it's also all about character. We learn everything we need to know about Jack and Will in this fight, and we manage to do all this while watching a pretty kick ass fight scene. Win win. :)

Next time: Black Widow vs. Hawkeye in Marvel's The Avengers.

Ta for now,
Beth Matthews
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Paranormal Playlists

I'm one of those writers who usually likes to listen to music when I'm writing. I also craft playlists for my books that help me get into the world when it's time to write or do revisions. And every book usually ends up having it's own song. That one song on the playlist that just becomes inextricably linked with the book in my head.

Sometimes it's difficult, though, to find the right music for a given book. Today, I thought it might be fun to play you guys some of the songs that evoke a paranormal/fantasy feel to me.

"The Lady of Shallott"--Loreena McKennitt


I love McKennitt's voice. All of her stuff is really good for writing. This song in particular puts me right in a world of knights and fair ladies. Dragons and daring deeds to be done. Also, it's really pretty. :)

"Go Big or Go Extinct"--Ramin Djawadi (Pacific Rim soundtrack)


Now for something totally different. This is the kind of music you play when you need your characters to kick a little ass. I love this whole score. (In fact, I just love Pacific Rim period.)

"I'd Lie For You and That's the Truth"--Meatloaf


This one is more for a wild, Indiana Jones-esque adventure type of fantasy. But I love it. And the video is ridiculous amounts of fun. This was the "love theme" for my latest time travel story which is, funnily enough, a twisty, romantic, action adventure story.

"Gunpowder and Lead"--Miranda Lambert

Now this is the song you play when you need some inspiration for your kick ass, take no BS urban fantasy heroine. 

"I See Fire"--Ed Sheeran (From The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
 

"If this is to end in fire, Then we should all burn together...If we die, we shall all die together..."
Ugh, I LOVE this song. LOVE. IT. I suspect it will become "the song" for the Robin Hood story I want to write. I love all the Lord of the Rings music, but this is probably my favorite from any of the movies.

What about you guys? When you're reading do certain books have "soundtracks" in your head? Do you have any favorite music that just screams paranormal/SF/F to you? Share in the comments! :D

Ta,
Beth Matthews
website
facebook
tumblr

p.s. If any one is interested in the playlists I did for my books, I wrote about that a little bit before on my own blog:
Heir to the Underworld playlist
The Beauty's Beast playlist

Getting to Know You...

Hi guys, I'm Beth Matthews. This is my first post at Paranormal Romantics, *waves* and I thought a fun way for you readers to get to know me would be if I started off telling you about some of my favorite paranormal romances.

As the divine Benedict Cumberbatch would say: Shall we begin?

INDEXING by Seanan McGuire
 
Indexing is about a crack government team that runs around our modern world trying to stop “mimetic incursions”; that is, they’re trying to stop fairy tales from manifesting in the real world. But I’m not talking about the Disney versions of fairy tales--nope these fairy tales are the full-on Grimm. Grimm-er even than the Grimms. And sometimes the fairy tales fight back. McGuire does humor and team dynamics really well. They banter, they bicker, sometimes the team is about ten seconds away from killing each other (and that’s literally…) and yet in the end they are family. They will fight for each other. This one is a bit more of an ensemble piece, and the romances don’t really get going until the end. But once they do there are not one but TWO romantic subplots. With KISSING. So I feel just fine including this story on my list. ^_^

SUNDIAL by Carrie Lofty

This one is a time travel novella, but the interesting twist here is that the hero and heroine are both out of their time. She’s an Australian from 2007, and he’s a New Yorker from 1987. Yet they’re both stuck together in Italy in 1958! I really enjoy the way Lofty plays with time travel in this story. She said she was inspired by the Terminator movies in that time travel is not some fun jaunt back to the past: time travel is scary and difficult and you probably won’t come out entirely intact even if you do make it back to your own time. The romance in this one is also deeply passionate and wonderful. And Lofty makes excellent use of the glamour of 1950s Italy as a setting. I drool when I read descriptions of the heroine’s 1950s wardrobe. It’s also a younger man/older woman story which is, I must admit, one of my favorite tropes.

PSYCOP SERIES (starting with "Criss Cross") by Jordan Castillo Price

This series of books revolves around a cop, Vic, who’s also a medium. He sees dead people. Lots of dead people. This series is M/M romance and Vic’s love interest Jacob is very dreamy. These books are sort of paranormal police procedurals and they are addictive! I burned through the first 8 stories (they are a mix of novels, novellas and short stories) in a few weeks. These books get a little gory for my taste, but the hero is so likeable in that Sherlockian, head down, oh my God you’re a hot mess kind of way. The world building of the ghosts and other supernatural nasties is also wonderful and really nuanced. And the romance is super sweet with really hot love scenes.

 DRAGON BOUND by Thea Harrison

This whole series (Elder Races) is really excellent, and one of my favorite parts is how Harrison continually uses unusual mythological creatures as her main characters and then she writes them wonderfully. In this, the first book in the series, the hero is a dragon-shifter. (The heroine is also a shifter, but that’s a spoiler so I can’t tell you what kind. Sorry! ;P) And what I really love about the hero is that he actually feels like a dragon. He admits he used to eat people. He has the dragon hoarding tendencies. He’s strong, arrogant, fierce. He feels otherworldly, definitely not a human in dragon-shifter drag, and I love that. The whole series is really wonderful and different, including the novellas that are released from Samhain. But Dragon Bound is still my favorite.

TITHE by Holly Black

Last but certainly not least, one of the first books to get me hooked on paranormal romances. The “paranormal” in this book are fairies, and what I love is that these are evil, scary fairies. Even the “good” fairies are…not so good. The details and world-building in this are also really intricate and evocative, and Black’s writing is lyrical and delicious to read. The hero, Roiben, is also quite, quite yummy. Another fun thing about this book is the power play between the heroine, Kaye, and Roiben. Early in the book Kaye learns Roiben’s true name, which means that when she uses his true name, he has to do what she says. But sometimes he obeys her in a way she doesn’t expect. The interplay between them is wonderful, and the romance is very intense but lovely.

So those are some of my favorites. What are yours? :)

Ta! ;)
Beth Matthews
http://bethmatthewsbooks.com/
@IAmBethMatthews