Release Day for Scorpius over at The Popculturedivas!

Join me at The Popculturedivas for the launch of my second novel, Book 1 of the Dragonsfyre trilogy.

2012 Movie Madness Challenge - May Report

Time for my fifth status report for the Movie Madness Challenge.


Here is my code for the films:


New to me - N
Repeat viewing - R


I'll also be including how I viewed the films:


DVD
VHS (yes, we have a lot of those, and a VCR)
Network TV
Pay TV
Internet streaming video
In theatre

Captain America
DVD
N

The Producers
DVD
R

Machete
DVD
R

The Avengers
In theatre
N

Dr. Zhivago
VHS
R

Supernatural, season 7
Network TV
N

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons
DVD
N

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Total movies for May - 7


Total movies for 2012 - 38


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twelve films away from Movie Fanatic status.

Now that the intense schedule of getting Book 1 of my new Dragonsfyre series released has eased off, I look forward to my Movie Madness Challenge numbers moving up towards Movie Master status.

25 Movies: Movie Newbie


50 Movies: Movie Fanatic


75 Movies: Movie Critic


100+ Movies: Movie Master

5 on Friday - Set 120

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Because I was lucky enough to enjoy a fabulous concert with my BFF Connie last night, I wanted to share some of the goodness with you. 

1 - I Believe - Nikki Yanofsky


Adored opening act Nikki Yanofsky, who hails from Montreal.

2 - Lullaby of Birdland - Nikki Yanofsky

3 - Regresa A Mi (Unbreak My Heart) -  Il Divo

4 - Te Prometo (Falling Slowly) - Il Divo

5 - She - Il Divo

5 on Friday - Set 119

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

I've had a rather interesting week, and by that I mean as-far-as-acupuncture-is-concerned-what-seems-alarming-or-horrible-is-good kind of way. Let's just say intense detoxing is not for the faint of heart, and leave it at that.


Or, I can take you along for the ride.

1 - I'm So Tired - The Beatles

2 - Dizzy - Tommy Roe

3 - Ache -  No Doubt

4 - Die Another Day - Madonna

5 - Wasn't That a Party? - Irish Rovers

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today

Join me at The Popculturedivas to find out about my relationship with creative obsessions. 

5 on Friday - Set 118

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Okay...my manuscript is now delivered to the editor.


After shooting the Scorpius book covers and book trailers two Saturdays ago, and taking part in Free Comic Book Day last Saturday, I'm most definitely looking forward to a weekend where I can catch my breath and get some rest.


What better way than to look back at a time in my life when my whole future still beckoned to me? Let's go back to when I was a young girl and my parents and aunt & uncle often listened to bossa nova. In fact, my uncle is a musician and plays this fabulous samba/jazz fusion style on his guitar with a rich, buttery tone. Over the years my aunt has learned to play jazz flute alongside him.

1 - Chovendo Na Roseira - Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim


I can't describe the feeling this piece gives me. It transports me to childhood, and I'm filled with all the sensations of knowing a sophisticated adult life waited for me one day, one as dreamy and serene and hopeful as this song. Even the fact that it's in a different language always appealed to me.

2 - Aqua de Beber - Astrud Gilberto

3 - Look Around -  Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66

4 - Ela é Carioca - Joao Gilberto

5 - O Morro Nao Tem Vez - Stan Getz with Luiz Bonfá

The Serialists - Scene 96

FINAL INSTALLMENT


My heartfelt thanks to all who have followed this tale along the way.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


To recap this dark fantasy story so far:


As a small boy of seven, Scorpius was fetched from the nursery where he'd been raised to live among the nobility - fetched not by his family, but by a falconer to serve as his apprentice.


Scorpius soon learned that a close encounter with a dragon was preferable to the cruelties of the nobles he'd once hoped were family. His master did whatever he could to shield Scorpius from the world outside their cottage, but the falconer was merely a servant who must obey his own masters.


An attempt on the life of a young noble while on a hunt sent the falconer and his apprentice on abruptly different paths, bringing Scorpius into the service of Lord Thibault's noble house.


We now continue with Scorpius at age nineteen.


You can follow the progress of this story arc by clicking on the Works in Progress link just under the blog header. The Serialists - hosted by Alice Audrey - appears on Wednesdays.

Scene 96

“Is there a particular reason you’ve brought Lord Thibault’s man here, rather than your son?” Razlava said, turning to Pruzhnino.


“He’ll provide escort to your retinue as you depart the duke’s estate, Your Grace,” the chancellor said.


Both Pruzhnino and the chancellor looked at Scorpius. The unspoken questions hung in the air like an arrow sprung from its bow but not yet landed. Would Scorpius reveal himself? Would Razhlava claim a bastard grandson whose dark coloring spoke of scandal successfully hushed up for almost two decades?


Razlava bowed his head in acknowledgement of their dismissal. He stretched out his hand for his granddaughter’s.


This was it. Scorpius must choose.


Somehow this moment felt like all the others, those blinks of an eye where everything in Scorpius’ world had turned upside down. Why had he supposed that being given a choice would make any of it easier?


Turning swiftly to the chancellor, Scorpius knocked the advisor’s hat to the side as he made his reverence. For one terrible moment the close-cropped Sibian hair revealed itself before the chancellor replaced the hat with shaking hands.


Scorpius bowed low before the chancellor, raising his head to lock gazes with the shaken man. Turning elegantly to direct his bow to Pruzhnino, he likewise gazed up at the duke to see something even more out of character than the sweet nothings he’d been saying to Lady Aerthrudha—fear.


Well, he’d seen fear—real fear—on the faces of those slaves chased and brought down upon the hunting field by this noble, who had never claimed his own daughter’s child at the nursery all those years ago.


If Scorpius was really free to choose, how could he reach for a life that brought him into arms’ length of this man? How could Pruzhnino and the chancellor ask him to do it?


“With respect, Your Grace, my Lord Chancellor--duty calls. In fact I am sworn to protect my Lord Thibault, your son,” he said, sweeping an arm towards Pruzhnino. “I shall find another of the duke’s men to escort Your Grace and Lady Aerthrudha from the estate. One man is as good as the next, I’m sure you will find.”


The chancellor found his voice. “Send the guard down to the stables. No need to keep His Grace and the lady waiting.”


Bowing crisply, Scorpius said, “Certainly, my Lord Chancellor. Your Grace. Your Grace. My lady.”


Striding from the drawing room, Scorpius took only a few steps before he broke into a run, taking stairs three at a time until he regained the ballroom. It only took a glance and he knew his master was not there.


Looking left and right, Scorpius forced himself to stillness, listening for Lord Thibault’s telltale laugh. Wandering back to the staircase, he recalled his promise to send another in his place and dispatched a slave to the stables.


Suddenly he heard it. His master’s unbridled delight in his Sibian bride-to-be carried down the corridor and over the gallery railings. Scorpius followed the sound until it brought him before the dukessa’s door.


Lord Thibault turned and stared, his grin half-frozen on his face. Scorpius’ heart chilled even in the warmth of the dukessa’s drawing room at the thought of never seeing his master again.


Crossing the floor towards one another, Scorpius and Lord Thibault collided in the center of the room in a back-slapping embrace. When they released their hold, his master grabbed Scorpius by the face and kissed his forehead.


Scorpius fell to one knee and kissed Lord Thibault’s hand. “I believe in you,” he said. “In what you’re doing. And I shall serve you, my lord.”


Yashtii joined them, kneeling beside Scorpius to embrace him. The dukessa swept close and stood beside her son.


Then a member of Yashtii’s kinsmen fell to his knees between Scorpius and his master’s intended. Retrieving something from inside his tunic, he took Scorpius’ hand and dropped the dukessa’s dragon ring into his palm.


All the Sibiu gathered there drew around in a circle and began humming a mournful tune. Looking up into Yashtii’s face, Scorpius watched her nod solemnly, a tiny hint of a smile tugging at one side of her mouth.


Offering it back to the dukessa, Scorpius knelt there with the hair on his neck stirring as though the breath of the dragon blew through the drawing room. Lord Thibault’s mother took Scorpius’ hand in hers, lifted the ring with delicate fingers and placed the ring back upon Scorpius’ hand.


The Sibiu finished their song. His master bid him rise and join him as they waited for his father the duke to arrive to hammer out the marriage bargain.


Scorpius wished Lady Aerthrudha all the happiness in the world, truly.


Looking down upon the dragon ring, all at once the spectre of dragon’s fire which had haunted him all of his life blackened and shriveled, floating away like so many embers. He placed his ringed hand on the pommel of his sword, gazing upon it, knowing for the first time what it truly meant to belong.

© Julia Phillips Smith, 2012

Free Comic Book Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day! Huzzah!

If you are in the Halifax, Nova Scotia area I hope to see you at one of three comic shops as I stop in for the festivities.

Thanks to:

Giant Robot Comics

Quantum Frontier

Monster Comic Lounge

for inviting me along for the ride.

If you stop by, these three comic shops will be giving out coupons for a FREE download of my SAINT SANGUINUS ebook, exclusively for Free Comic Book Day.

A Dark Ages vampire superhero origin story, SAINT SANGUINUS is looking forward to hanging out with readers who like their heroes to be larger than life. 

5 on Friday - Set 117

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.





It's all Scorpius, all the time with me this month. Just receiving my critiques from readers, for a next-to-last polish from me before I send it to the print editor. After which will come THE final revision, and then it will be released.


YAY!


And in the meantime, working with Andy Miller, my designer on the book cover, and Caroline Ruyle, my online editor on the book trailer.


And working two overtime shifts a week at my day job.


Definitely not sleeping. Who has time for that...LOL...zzz...


So here's some Scorpius music. I have two You Tube playlists which get a lot of use when I'm writing about this character: my Vivaldi playlist, and my Renaissance playlist.


I previously posted a set of Scorpius music, which you can find HERE.

1 - La spagna quarta recercada - composed by Diego Ortiz - performed by Ernst Stoltz


This is the musical heart of my Scorpius character.



2 - Vedro con mio diletto (I will see with delight) - composed by Vivaldi - performed by Sonia Prina with Il Guardino Armonico



3 - Italian Song with Variations - composed by Diego Fernandez de Huete - performed by Nicanor Zabaleta



4 - Gypsy Baroque, Uhrovska collection - performed by Ensemble Caprice



5 - In Trutina (In the balance) from Carmina Burana - composed by Carl Orff - performed by Sylvia Greenberg with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Thursday Thirteen - 246 - 13 Things About Shooting the Book Covers and Trailers for My Upcoming Dark Fantasy Release

1 - Last Saturday I was back on set with Charlie Mac Productions, directing the shoot for the book covers and book trailers of my upcoming dark fantasy release.


L to R: Caroline Ruyle, the Director of Photography with talent Bobby Rossong.



2 - I've been writing my Scorpius tale with Richard Armitage as the model for the character.


As he is rather inconveniently shooting The Hobbit in New Zealand at present, I went in search of a local model who had that certain indefinable something that whispered Scorpius to me.


On The Cassidy Group website, I found a head shot for Bobby Rossong.


I stared at the picture and heard the whisper.


Then I emailed my producer and asked for Bobby. 

3 - My mom asked for his measurements as the wardrobe mistress, which The Cassidy Group provided.


I then scoured the thrift stores for pieces that would start out as one thing and end up as late-medieval / early Renaissance-like costumes.

4 - These are the pieces that make up the costume for the Book 1 cover, when Scorpius is a youth apprenticed to the falconer.

The transformed clothing--now a tunic and rustic jerkin. I designed the costumes, disassembled the clothing and described to my mom in detail what I needed.


She then put the costumes together.

5 - Woo hoo!

Scorpius!

Falconer's apprentice, from Book 1, which is set to release at the end of the month.

6 - Since we had Bobby for the shoot, even though books 2 and 3 are works in progress at this point, we shot all three covers and all three book trailers while we had our Scorpius.

Shown above is the 'before' version of the Book 2 costume.

7 - This costume was the most difficult one, with much swearing and pricking of fingers by Mom.


But it's also the coolest one, if you ask me.


For Book 2, Scorpius enters adulthood and serves Lord Thibault as his personal bodyguard.

8 - Notice the completely awesome reproduction Norman sword he's wielding. From Darksword Armory out of Quebec, where the dagger for the Book 1 cover was also sourced.  

9 - The original pieces for the third costume, taking place when Scorpius has matured and serves the Lady Elysande as her Chamberlain.

10 - This one was a bit complicated, but still wasn't as hard to deal with as the faux leather.

Scorpius...moving up in the world.

11 - The shoot began against white screen, for easier manipulation in post production.


As opposed to the green screen live action shoot we did last spring for my debut novel book trailer, we decided to go for a stills shoot this time out.


In a bit of super-fabulous timing, just after wrapping on this year's shoot, my producer Tara MacDonald got word that the book trailer for SAINT SANGUINUS won an Award of Merit in the Best Shorts Competition out of La Jolla, California. 

Here's a look at that one:




Grateful thanks to producer Tara MacDonald, DOP Luke Hudgins, Editor Doug Woods, PA and Stills Photographer Caroline Ruyle, Actors Scott Baker, Stevie Cooper, Bernie Matthew, Brennan Handy and Brad Smith. 

12 - Just because my mom wasn't busy enough during the week leading up to the shoot, she also decided to become craft services, and provided the homemade lunch for cast and crew.


...mmm... 

13 - And because it's me, of course there was a need for manacles on this project. This is Tara with the manacle kit: extremely heavy manacles, duct tape to attach the chain to the grip stand, twine to close the manacles and pink scissors to keep it light.

The Serialists - Scene 96

SECOND LAST INSTALLMENT


Join me next week for the conclusion to this serialized adventure, first posted in the spring of 2010.


The novel-length version is set to release by the end of this month. I just shot the book cover and book trailer on the weekend.


On Thursday I'll be posting a sneak peek at the shoot.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


To recap this dark fantasy story so far:


As a small boy of seven, Scorpius was fetched from the nursery where he'd been raised to live among the nobility - fetched not by his family, but by a falconer to serve as his apprentice.


Scorpius soon learned that a close encounter with a dragon was preferable to the cruelties of the nobles he'd once hoped were family. His master did whatever he could to shield Scorpius from the world outside their cottage, but the falconer was merely a servant who must obey his own masters.


An attempt on the life of a young noble while on a hunt sent the falconer and his apprentice on abruptly different paths, bringing Scorpius into the service of Lord Thibault's noble house.


We now continue with Scorpius at age nineteen.


You can follow the progress of this story arc by clicking on the Works in Progress link just under the blog header. The Serialists - hosted by Alice Audrey - appears on Wednesdays.

Scene 95

“My darling girl,” Razlava said, kissing her forehead.

“Grandfather,” she said, her voice tight with unshed tears.


“I do hope you have enjoyed your stay here,” Pruzhnino said in a tone Scorpius had never heard coming from Lord Thibault’s father before.


Lady Aerthrudha released her grandsire’s hands and curtsied deeply before the duke. “A peek inside the heavens could not have been sweeter.”


“My dear,” Lord Thibault’s father said, bending to sweep the lady’s fingers up to his lips, “my House will be the poorer for the loss of such a luminous guest as yourself.”


Scorpius stood seeing and hearing, yet none of it seemed to make its garbled way past the memories which swarmed foremost in his mind. He saw the image of the pale slave girl tiring of being run down in the hunting field, finally turning to meet her fate at the hands of Lord Dirske. Now Duke of Razlava.


Someone joined him, brushing beside him as if to hold him up.


“Remember what I told you,” the chancellor said.


Scorpius glanced sideways. The duke’s advisor wore a grim expression, yet he nodded and flicked his head forward as if to coax Scorpius toward the nobles.


“You may be every bit a lord in your own right,” his master had said on the stairs.  “It will all be up to you, Scorpius. Make yourself known.


“Make yourself known to the Duke of Razlava, with whom my father wishes to form an alliance.”


Scorpius shook his head, no.


“We can yet secure an alliance with this House if they claim you,” the chancellor whispered.


“No!” Scorpius whispered hotly, as both dukes and the lady turned to regard him.


“Problem, my Lord Chancellor?” Razlava said.


Scorpius fought the urge to leap forward, sweep Lady Aerthrudha from her grandsire’s reach and flee before it was too late.


The chancellor stepped forward slightly, grasping Scorpius by the elbow and pressing him closer to the rival dukes. “No trouble, Your Grace,” the chancellor said. “We were discussing our duties, only.”


Scorpius glanced sideways at the chancellor. Duties. What duty did he owe this House, other than to Lord Thibault, to whom he owed everything?


“I never thought to help you search out your family when I brought you here,” Lord Thibault had said on the stairs. “I just wanted you for my man.”


A cascade of memories assaulted him, filled with laughter, brotherly embrace, meeting blade with blade.


Razlava turned back to Pruzhnino, smiling the same hard smile he’d once used at the falconer’s cottage. “Dutifully, I sent my granddaughter here, and dutifully I fetch her back again.”


Lord Thibault’s father nodded sadly. “Time seems so strangely to fly, does it not? Seems too short a time has gone by for this to be your granddaughter, and not your daughter, the gods show their mercy.”


Razlava took a tiny step backwards. Thrusting his chin forward, he said, “I thank you for your memories of her.”


“Lady Aerthrudha is the spitting image of her, don’t you think?” Pruzhnino said, stepping forward to grasp the maiden softly by the chin.


She gazed intently into Pruzhnino’s eyes. “Do you think so?” she asked. “No one ever speaks of her. My mother.”


Scorpius’ gut hollowed out inside him. He could barely get his breath.


“What could she have been, other than a beauty?” the chancellor said. “Seeds don’t drift far, only far enough to bloom.”


“Some seeds drift, my Lord Chancellor,” Razlava said. “Some seeds only produce chaff.” As he spoke, he stepped slowly toward Scorpius, looking him up and down.


“My dear,” Pruzhnino said, cupping his palm gently on Lady Aerthrudha’s cheek, “you may be sure your mother held every man under her spell. Including me.”


“Would that my daughter had been your choice of bride, then, Pruzhnino,” Razlava said, stopping before Scorpius and gazing down in haunted distraction.


“Who could say if that would have saved her." Pruzhnino took the maiden's face in his hands and kissed the tears away.

© Julia Phillips Smith, 2012