Musicology Volume Four is now available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon!!!

And then there were FOUR! Musicology’s Circle of Four contestants prepare to battle it out for the title. But before they do, they must endure the seasonal Parents Dinner, Bear und Buggy and unusual mating rituals. Max believes he has figured out who The Kid is when he runs into an old acquaintance. Ruby drops a bomb on Max involving Robbie Sexton, a contestant’s dark secret is ultimately revealed, and the Musicology champion is finally crowned.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here once again to introduce my novelist. As you can see this is release day of her fourth book in the Musicology series Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! As everyone knows a novelist must always befall some sort of disaster before a book can have a successful launch. Today my novelist chose for her fourth book in the Musicology book series to have that disaster be melting the rice cooker on the stove. Now, I found this a bit strange, even for a poodle who owns a novelist but far be it from me to stop her. She just burnt the little plastic legs right off the thing. Artists you see. She claims it happened because she was trying to boil some water for a cuppa and turned on the wrong burner. A likely story I am sure. Anyway, she told me to let you know that in addition to the release of her fourth book in the Musicology series you are in for a real treat. She and I had a good long chat, and she has decided to allow me to take over the blog indefinitely so that she can concentrate on her final book in the Musicology series due out in May and her new novel which she is planning to release later this year. Starting next week, I will be taking my own literary story which I have been penning and post it here on the blog. This will be done in serial style with a chapter a week. My novelist will continue to do the Stream of the Week. Until then, please feel free to check out my novelist’s books listed below. Au Revoir, Gigi.   

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first four installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology:Volume Three, Twist!  and Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: AFTER HOURS (1985)-HBO Max

Once upon a time, independent movies were not boring juvenile diatribes about dysfunctional families. They were about imagination, concepts, and ideas. And this little gem which won Martin Scorsese Best Director at Cannes as well as the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and best director is one of those smart original films. This is not a story about a dysfunctional family. This is not a quirky love story. This is a film about a man who follows a white rabbit down an extremely dangerous rabbit hole better known as Soho in New York City. The film is considered to belong to a subgenre of films called “yuppie nightmare cycle” and it is one of the best of breed.

Let’s start with our Alice, a word processor better known as Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunn). Paul by the way means “small” or “humble”. Paul is also the only character in the story with a last name. One night after work Paul stops at a coffee shop and meets our rabbit Marcy (Rosanne Arquette). Marcy by the way means “god of war”. Marcy is dressed entirely in white throughout the course of the film just like the bunny. The two chat for a bit and Paul is smitten. He takes the bait and calls Marcy who invites him to her loft in Soho which she shares with her roommate Kiki (Linda Fiorentino), an artist who makes plaster of Paris bagels and other intriguing sculptures. Note that at one point Marcy mentions The Wizard of Oz and the difficult struggle for Dorothy to get home. Paul takes a twenty-dollar bill and catches a cab (in those days cabs did not take credit cards). The cab ride is quite harrowing, and his money flies out the window and he is left to fend for himself on what turns out to be an overnight odyssey that may be his last.

A couple of things to note in the film. Firstly, the use of numbers throughout which appear to emulate the mathematics of Alice in Wonderland. They come in the form of phone numbers, addresses, the time on various clocks, sales tax and most importantly the subway fare. Also, three prominent colors are used throughout the story: black, white, and yellow. Items such as a woman with a white and black bangle on her wrist, checkerboard prints in an apartment and of course Marcy in white and Kiki in black. Except for Kiki, every woman Paul meets in the film has blonde hair and blue eyes and wears either yellow or white which is opposite of Paul who has dark hair and brown eyes and changes his shirt partway through from a white one to a black one. Skulls such as a tattoo, a keychain and a belt buckle are littered throughout, and hints of death are woven in as well such as the Terminal Bar where a bartender named Tom (John Herd) and a waitress named Julie (Teri Garr) work. Look for Scorsese in a cameo midway through the story.    

Good Afternoon. It is I Gigi the Parti Poodle here once again this time to seize my novelist’s blog by the horns. She is recuperating from taking a class in comedy writing which distressed her so much I required her to take a mental day and I shall be running the ship as it were. I had to do a bit of research for this, but I think it will make for an interesting study on character personalities and their level of happiness. I for one am most joyful if that shaggy little Maltese is in his corner of the room where he belongs. He is an introvert by the way. We suspect an ISFJ or an ISFP. 

My novelist is a big fan of personality types. She likes to use the Keirsey Temperament Sorter for writing fiction because it is easier to compare one character to another than the Big 5 although she thinks that perhaps the Big 5 may be more accurate in real life. So, by that rational, we shall be using Myers-Brigg.

The article I found lists the personality types from happiest to unhappiest. Here is the list:

#1 ESTJ

#2 ENTJ

#3 ESFJ

#4 ESFP

#5 ENFJ

#6 ENTP

#7 ESTP

#8 ENFP

#9 ISTJ

#10 INTJ

#11 ISTP

#12 ISFJ

#13 ISFP

#14 INFJ

#15 INTP

#16 INFP

As you can see the happiest personalities are all extroverts and the unhappiest personalities are all introverts. Also, Judgement personalities tend to rate higher than Perceptive personalities amongst both extroverts and introverts. Small wonder, myself being extroverted, that I would be joyous, and the Maltese would be miserable as he should be. One thing to note however is this article was written in November of 2019 which is to say that it was written before Covid19 took a foothold and lockdown occurred. It would be interesting to do this survey again one year after lockdown to see if those positions have changed. Are introverts now happier than extroverts? Are introverts better at living in the extroverted world than extroverts are living in the introverted world? With all the madness going on one must consider these possibilities.

I for one flourish in both worlds. If I feel I need company I can curl up in the chair behind my novelist as she types being as I weigh not more than six pounds. I can torment the Maltese and let out my aggressions on him when I get bored or when he thinks he has the right to sit on my novelist’s lap. Although I must ponder if I were, horrifying though it may be, how I would fare were I on my own in the world. Who would I manage and control then?  

One interesting point I found in the article was the matter of dopamine. Extroverts have a more sensitive brain reward system. Extroverts’ brains release more dopamine than introverts’ brains when they get food, sex, and social interaction as well as money… like psychopaths who are always extroverts. This motivates extroverts more towards their goals than introverts and they have more positive emotions when they are rewarded. If this is so, are extroverts essentially drug addicts addicted to dopamine? Is this partly the reason for the drive to reopen the world? Are extroverts going through withdrawals and fiending for dopamine because they cannot socially interact as much as they could pre-Covid19? Does this explain human being’s craving Ritalin? The article has a link to a study on the subject.

Well, I thought I did a brilliant job with that. You must excuse me now as I must get back to my writing. I am planning to share with you one of my fictional masterpieces in the future so you can relish in my genius. But before I do, I must tell you that my novelist’s book MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME FOUR, SWEETIE! will be available one week from today on Thursday, March 11^th, 2021.

Au revoir, Gigi

P.S. Here is the description of MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME FOUR, SWEETIE!::

And then there were FOUR! Musicology’s Circle of Four contestants prepare to battle it out for the title. But before they do, they must endure the seasonal Parents Dinner, Bear und Buggy and unusual mating rituals. Max believes he has figured out who The Kid is when he runs into an old acquaintance. Ruby drops a bomb on Max involving Robbie Sexton, a contestant’s dark secret is ultimately revealed, and the Musicology champion is finally crowned.  

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first three installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, & Musicology:Volume Three, Twist! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! releases on Thursday, March 11, 2021 You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: SAFETY NOT GUARENTEEED (2012)-Netflix

This little sleeper is one you may not have streamed on Netflix yet. Set in Washington state it’s the story of young reporter Darius (Aubrey Plaza) a recent University of Washington graduate who works as an intern for Seattle Magazine and lives a morose life with her widowed father. When staff reporter Jeff (Jake Johnson) reads a classified ad in the newspaper written by a grocery clerk named Kenneth (Mark Duplass) who lives out in a small town called Oceanview, Washington (on the Pacific Ocean) he proposes taking Darius and Arnau (Karan Soni) a booksmart UW student intern with him to get the story and hook up with his old high school flame. The twist is that Kenneth’s classified ad says he is looking for someone to travel back in time with him, he’ll pay them, and he’s done it once before. Kenneth and Arnau stay at a cheap motel as they send Darius out to charm Kenneth and find out if his proclaim is real or false and if he is insane.  

SCREENWRITINGYU FREE CLASS FRIDAY: MAKE SURE YOUR STRUCTURE WORKS

You can sign up for the class here. Class is at Noon tomorrow, Friday 3/5/2021. All ScreenwritingU Free Class Fridays are teleconferences unless noted otherwise.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle once again and let me tell you this has been a most distressing week. My novelist has been taking a ten-day screenwriting class and I have had to man the fort. The Maltese has been up to his usual tricks like sleeping behind the couch and barking when he knows its suppertime. At times, I have had to lie by my novelist’s side in the Barcalounger as she holds her head in her hands and makes use of our foot massage machine. But she has been able to turn her work in on time and is getting to the end of the course after which she will prepare the final touches on her new novel Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! for March publication.  

As for myself, I have been busy on my own writing project which I am hoping to premiere on this blog soon. It is a glorious tale, and I am excited to share it with you. But for now, I am going to hand the blog back over to my novelist so she can talk a bit about her class. Without further ado, here is my novelist.     

For the past week I’ve been taking a ten-day online writing class. The class is designed for writing comedic screenplays. Taking classes as you know are a blessing and a curse. And this one has been no different. Everyday I have a writing assignment due in twenty-four hours. Kind of like Jack Bauer except more daunting. I have a list of over 200 log lines, so I pulled one of the lines and basically built a day-by-day story out of it. The good part is it forced me to come up with a brand-new tale I had never thought of past the log line stage that might be fun to write once I shoot my boss in the back of the head, rescue a child from kidnappers, behead some guy with a saw and find the love of my life bound and dead in a desk chair before the clock runs out.

I have taken more than my share of writing classes over time and am at the point where the only good choice would be to get another degree. But as I write comedic novels (a genre that for some reason doesn’t really exist) I thought this class might be a good refresher. And it does what all classes do which is take me away from my novel writing and turn me into this thing:

I think writers walk on a tightrope between when to block out time to take a class and when to cut the cord and go solo. I prefer solo most of the time. I do think you need both but once one has completed one’s college education the more one focuses on writing and reading instead of classes the better one gets. That said, I in no way regret taking this class. It has forced me to think and act quickly and gave me a couple more things to add to my toolbox, which is the point. As the class is designed to build a scene layer by layer it justifies the tools I have garnered over time and others I naturally work with. I found while taking the course, I had often already put in several of the elements that were eventually taught in upcoming lessons.  

That said, one of the items I gained from the class and have added to my toolbox is the specificities of props. I often put props in my stories automatically because of my acting background (I studied both writing and theatre) and so props are often important. However, this class forced me to punch them up a bit so instead of a pencil cup for instance it becomes for example a pencil cup shaped like a rabbit because of the characters obsession with bunnies or springtime or whatever.

I did get a good price on the class which played a large part in my deciding to take it. And I do encourage other seasoned writers to take courses here and there provided they help and not hinder their ability to get their core writing done. It’s good for the mind and adds more concepts you can use going forwards.

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first three installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, & Musicology :Volume Three, Twist! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: STARMAN (1984)-Amazon Prime

This wonderful little Sci-fi gem from the early 1980’s often gets forgotten or overlooked and I thought it would be a great one to feature. Jeff Bridges earned his third Oscar nomination (and he deserved all seven nominations and the one win he has gotten) stars in the title role as an alien who has gotten stuck on earth and has a limited amount of time he can spend here until he dies unless he can meet his spaceship in a few days and catch a ride home. He takes safe harbor in the home of young recently widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen who is fantastic here) and after looking through a photo album while she is sleeping morphs into a human baby and grows into a living embodiment of Jenny’s deceased husband hoping doing so will help convince her to assist him in his quest.

SCREENWRITINGU FREE FRIDAY CLASS: SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF SUBTEXT

You can sign up for the class here. All SCREENWRITINGU classes are teleconferences unless otherwise noted.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce another one of my novelist’s blogs. Today my novelist is going to discuss one of my most favorite subjects: money. I love the smell of currency. It’s like the fragrance of fresh air intertwined with something dirty. You may not think poodles have much interest in finance. You are grossly mistaken. We need collars, leashes, beds, veterinary visits, food, little stuffed weasels and treats, treats, treats. You don’t think we believe these things grow on trees, do you? Absolutely not. That is why I, much like the great mushers overseeing their dog sled team, crack my whip and get my subservient to bring home a paycheck. Not to mention how much I love to watch my stocks and mutual funds widen and expand much like that dullard Maltese. But enough about my tastes. Here is my novelist.  

This week I read an article about a college student who, last June at the age of twenty took his own life because he believed he had a deficit of $730,000. Perhaps you have heard this story. The money was a negative balance in his investment account. The company he had his investments with was also the investment company known for being a large player in the whole Reddit fiasco where companies that weren’t worth much suddenly had stock being purchased at an unbelievable pace. I see the value in that situation but let’s stick to this part of the story. The young man panicked when he could not get ahold of the company which did not have phone support. Because let’s face it, online chat is so much better when you are trying to figure out why you are suddenly $730,000 in debt.

I could go on for hours about how phone support for Americans regardless of the company should be based in America and follow an around the sun model meaning you should get phone support in America during the morning and through the evening and then at night and the early morning hours like say four AM you should get support in somewhere like say Ireland, especially if you are doing tech support. That is not how most support models are set up. The reason they should be set up this way is a support desk is an entry level position into a company. And it’s a position that helps you learn how said company works and provides a place to start learning the product or technology the company is in the business of making. Thus, you would pull your best and brightest off the desk and start having them work up the ladder filling jobs in house which creates a more knowledgeable employee which in turn helps to create a stronger company and hopefully a stronger economy without outsourcing labor from foreign nations. This costs more in the initial stages and pays off much bigger in the long run provided the company doesn’t waste its finances creating more and more overpaid management jobs, bureaucracy, and a weaker product.

Apparently these financial bozos thought it would be a good idea to have no phone support at all for a financial company no less. People go to business school for four to ten years to learn about the intricacies of the stock market. If it takes that long to understand complex investing why would anyone think a video game and a whole lot of lure would allow a twenty-year-old to cultivate the same knowledge?

Apparently, the company’s logo looks suspiciously like Pied Piper from Silicon Valley and if you watch the show’s entire run you know how that turned out. And this company strives to be the Joe Camel of the twenty first century. Big phallic nose and all. And who is their target customer? Why inexperienced zoomers and millennials of course! Especially college kids who are intellectually bright and financially dim.

I decided to run a little experiment of my own. As you know psychopaths have speech patterns which involve disfluencies (um and uh), subordinate conjunctions (because, so that, therefore, etc.) and repeated words as in saying the same word twice like the-the. All humans do these, but a psychopath does them more frequently. So, I decided to watch a few videos of one of the executives in the company being interviewed because, let’s face it, narcissists (psychopaths are always narcissists) crave attention. I watched four different interviews done at different points in time and counted how many combined disfluencies, subordinate conjunctions and repeated words said executive had. In the first interview which was four minutes the count was 36. In the five-minute interview the count was 28. And in the twenty-nine-minute interview the count was 254. For reference, I clocked a known psychopathic minister during two separate sermons at 100 both times. The sermons were around the same length as the twenty-nine-minute interview. I am not a psychiatrist or psychologist, but 254 sounds suspect to me. His favorite word was “um” and his second was “uh”.  If you want to read more about Wall Street reptiles like this sweetheart, you can read Snakes in Suits: When Psycopaths Go to Work by Dr. Robert Hare.

Our education system (if I can even call it a system) is run by brilliant individuals who have not figured out that psychopaths want three things: sex, food, and money. That’s pretty much it. Everything else is incidental. A lot of folks want to believe evil human beings want power. No. They want sex, food, and money. Power is just a way to attain these three things. When I hear someone say the creep who harmed them wanted power over them, I rage inside and look at them like they are stupid. Again, psychopaths don’t care if they have power over their mark or not. They don’t care about human beings at all. All they care about are sex, food, and money. If power is a way to take that from you that is the tactic or strategy, they will use. Evil people are always thinkers never feelers despite what some misguided idiots want to believe.

And yet the education system refuses to teach two basic skills to thwart making someone a mark: self-defense and financial responsibility. Probably because most of the education system doesn’t know how to teach these things because they tend to be individuals who are logistical or idealistic who, by the way are likely the most common marks for financial and sexual abuse.

Might I also add intelligent, educated people are notoriously terrible with money. Professionals are some of the worst. You can read about how many brilliant individuals cannot figure out how to pull and not push open the door marked PULL as well as screw up their finances in the famous book The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley Ph. D. and William D. Danko Ph. D.. You can also watch my Stream of the Week below which I re-watched this week and it chilled me to the bone as much as it did on first viewing.

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first three books in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, and Musicology Volume Three, Twist! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will will Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: MAXED OUT: HARD TIMES, EASY CREDIT, and the ERA OF PREDITORY LENDERS (2006)-YouTube

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Gospel of Mathew 7:15, King James Version”. When I read the article about the young man who took his life whom, by the way, my whole heart goes out to, I remembered this important documentary on how lousy we Americans are with credit. That doesn’t mean all Americans suck at handling money and many save and pay off credit cards in full every pay period on time and invest wisely. But a lot of Americans don’t and are easily sucked into financial preditory traps which are much more daunting than I realized. This documentary does a good job of showing some of these traps and how fragile Americans are and how easily it is to get sucked in. It covers not only the individual citizen but our nation’s attitude as well. You may see a few familiar faces in this film such as Louis C.K., Robin Leach and Elizabeth Warren. But honestly, the non-celebrities are more fascinating and their stories more riveting.

ScreenwritingU: FREE CLASS FRIDAY: Analysis of ACTION Movie 21 BRIDGES

You can sign up for the class here. All ScreenwritingU Free Class Friday classes are teleconferences unless otherwise noted.

After Ruby Diamond’s shocking decision, the Circle of Ten results have been revealed. Now Ruby is about to drop another timebomb into Max Buckner’s hands, a dangerous secret that puts the show on a collision course with legal and financial ruin. As Max scrambles to find out which contestant is “The Kid” and save Musicology from scandal, the Circle of Ten start carrying out agendas of their own …especially the resident diva who will stop at nothing in her attempt to destroy every contestant in her path, dominate the competition, and take the Musicology crown. Vote for who you think will win Musicology at www.musicologyrocks.com.

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here once again to introduce my novelist. Tomorrow starts Valentine’s Day weekend and President’s Day weekend. I must say I love Valentine’s Day. Being a gorgeous specimen of the canine variety, I am often showered with many gifts from suitors. There is a dachshund across the street who adores me. Down the way there is a Pardon Russell terrier who finds me mysterious and intriguing and then there’s a black and white Pomeranian who…

Tucker loves you very, very much!    

It’s never going to happen, you unkempt Maltese, so forget it!

I don’t love you in that way. I love you as a friend.

You are friend zoning me? Seriously? You aren’t even in my league.

I think that King Charles Spaniel by the park is cute.

Cute?!

And she likes me.

She doesn’t even know you exist!

I asked her to go out on Valentine’s Day. We are going to walk in the park and sniff each other.

Good grief! I don’t need those kinds of sordid details!

Maybe someday a dog will recognize your unique beauty.

My unique beauty?! I’m beautiful in all eyes!

Do you mind if I borrow the Lucy Blue Lightning Blueberry Grooming Spray? I want to smell my best.  

Get out of here! Can you believe the nerve of that…? Anyhow. Without further ado here is my novelist.

Happy Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend! First, I must make a confession. I tried to read Harlequin Romances when I was younger. I gave it the old college try. But every single time I cracked open one of these books and began to peruse the pages I’d get a headache. I am not kidding. A nasty headache. This stuff was not for me. Now, don’t get me wrong I am 110% behind a great romance. In fact, I am suggesting one of the best for this week’s Stream of the Week. I love Harold and Maude, The Graduate, 9 ½ Weeks, The Apartment, Rebecca, Chasing Amy, The Painted Veil, Sex Lies and Video Tape, Secretary, Blue Velvet, Paris, Texas, Bound, Leaving Las Vegas, Sweet Hostage, Welcome to the Dollhouse, The Terminator, Kissed, Flower, Vertigo, Boxing Helena and of course Zac and Miri Make a Porno. But apparently my taste in romance is different from the swooning pretty boy adoring stories others flock to.

Which brings us to Bridgerton, the newest girly hit on Netflix and yes, I have watched the entire first season. It has gorgeous costumes, beautiful sets, solid direction, well cast actors. Some of the jewelry looks a little too modern at times but that is not the problem. In fact, at first, I could not figure out what the problem was. But I knew the show had a problem from the first episode.

That doesn’t mean romance stories are bad. But something was wrong with Bridgerton. Then on a Sunday morning after I was two thirds of the way through the series it dawned on me. There is no villain in this story. Now, if you look at one of my favorite Netflix shows Cobra Kai you’ve got a villain. In fact, you have more than one. But in Bridgerton most of the characters make choices based on desperation or some “cleverly” written promise they made to someone. And then these would-be baddies quickly see the error of their ways and their villainy vanishes. Not so with Cobra Kai. Kreese is nasty and he just keeps getting nastier. Hawk is vengeful and he just keeps getting more violent. Tory is manipulative and she just keeps getting more maniacal. Their actions steer the lives of the other characters, compound the tension, and keep things intriguing. Not so with Bridgerton.

Bridgerton is a Gossip Girl-esque style show with someone called Lady Whistledown in the Gossip Girl role who is the eyes and ears of this niche group of aristocrats. And I will say when they reveal who Whistledown is the writer made an excellent character choice. But in Gossip Girl you have villains who become more and more interesting. So much so they started to take the center stage more frequently as the show progressed at least for a few seasons. But as far as its first season goes, there is no villain in Bridgerton, and I believe that’s why the storylines feel flat. There is no Chuck Bass there is no Blair Waldorf or if you want a period piece there is no Valmont there is no Marquise de Merteuil. The villain is what often smartens up a story. It’s what gives a tale it’s verve. Although Bridgerton is a very watchable show it lacks verve.  

I remember taking a class with a writer who penned a screenplay with no conflict. As admirable as this experiment is it does not work. In fact, it defies physics. An object at rest will stay in rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. All stories need an outside force to push it along or change its course. I hope Bridgerton finds that force.

MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME TWO, KID! IS FREE ON KINDLE!

My novel Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! is FREE on Amazon now until Sunday, 2/14! Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE PIANO (1993)-Pluto

One of the most original and sumptuous romances ever filmed, Jane Campion’s magnum opus garnered three academy awards as well as one Golden Globe, three Baftas, eleven Australia Film Institute awards, five Los Angeles Critic’s Association awards, two National Society of Film Critics’ Awards, three New York Film Critics’ Awards, the Writer’s Guild of America best screenplay, National Board of Review top ten film and best actress, best actress at Cannes and the Palm d’Or. This extraordinary film set in the mid 1800’s is about a mute Scottish woman named Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter in her brilliant academy award winning performance) who expresses her emotions through her piano. She has a ten-year-old daughter named Flora (Anna Paquin in her academy award winning performance). Ada’s father marries her off to a man she has never met named Alisdair Stewart who lives in the craggy New Zealand forest and Ada and Flora go to live with him. Not understanding Ada or for that matter women at all, Alisdair insists she leave her precious piano on the shore because it is too heavy to bring back home. He ends up selling the piano to his neighbor George (Harvey Keitel) who sees Ada’s disappointment in her new life and talks Alisdair into having her give him piano lessons of a most peculiar kind.   

SCREENWRITINGU FREE CLASS FRIDAY: HOW TO WRITE A CONTAINED MOVIE: AN ANALYSIS OF ALIEN

You can sign up for the class here. The class starts at 12:00 noon PST. All ScreenwritingU classes are teleconferences unless otherwise noted.

MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME TWO, KID! IS FREE ON KINDLE WEDNESDAY 2/10-SUNDAY 2/14!

After Ruby Diamond’s shocking decision, the Circle of Ten results have been revealed. Now Ruby is about to drop another timebomb into Max Buckner’s hands, a dangerous secret that puts the show on a collision course with legal and financial ruin. As Max scrambles to find out which contestant is “The Kid” and save Musicology from scandal, the Circle of Ten start carrying out agendas of their own …especially the resident diva who will stop at nothing in her attempt to destroy every contestant in her path, dominate the competition, and take the Musicology crown. Vote for who you think will win Musicology at www.musicologyrocks.com.

MUSICOLOGY VOLUME ONE, BABY! FREE LAST DAY TODAY!

MUSICOLOGY VOLUME TWO, KID! WILL BE FREE WEDNESDAY 2/10 UNTIL 2/14!

Greetings. I am Karen and I am a novelist. Today I am introducing my owner Gigi, a parti poodle who will be taking over the blog this week. Gigi is a fledgling writer and has been working diligently on a story of her own. She asked me if she could write the blog this week for writing practice. I said certainly especially since I have been busy getting my next book Musicology Volume Four, Sweetie! ready to release in March. I thought it would be good preparation for her as she has shown an uncommon interest in the written word for a poodle and I could use the break. This was all decided on the condition that she would behave herself and not harm Tucker the Maltese. So, without further ado, here is my poodle Gigi.

Good afternoon. I am Gigi the parti poodle, canes lupis familiaris. I am the owner of a novelist and am studying to be a writer myself. I thought I would let my poor bedraggled novelist take a break and I would write this week’s blog. I must tell you this is most exciting. How often does a poodle like me get to express her point of view? This week I have been going over a long list of log lines from which I will choose one to turn into a book. This is not an easy task. My novelist taught me to make a list of ideas, one must create such a list one idea at a time. Thus, I followed her lead. She challenged me to come up with one logline every time she took the Maltese and me for a walk. I have to say it has been cold since my professional sheering and my novelist puts me in this rather stylish grey sweater with a skull on it which fits me well. But the point here is since we walk almost daily, I now have a bevy of ideas from which to draw my masterpiece.

The problem of course is narrowing it down to one artistic concept. It is important the idea I choose is one I am willing to stick to. We poodles have such short attention spans you see. But I think it is important to be knowledgeable about the subject one is writing so being a dog I have a unique view of the world. I see it from a much lower level than humans. And yet I can climb up to heights much loftier than my size. I can squeeze my way into places humans do not fit. I can smell things with far more accuracy, and I can hear things that are further away.

Because I sit on my writer’s lap in the evenings watching television series and films, I understand the shows you humans like to watch. Some are marvelous and some are dreadful. But I have learned much from both types and believe myself confident in embarking on the journey of canine writer.

I am still working on finding my voice. This is something I do not struggle with when Fedex, USPS, UPS or even OnTrac comes to the door. But when I am engaged in creating my prose, this becomes more harrowing. I am told my bark is much bigger than my diminutive size, a statement I find most insulting if I am being honest. One should not judge one’s bark by the size of one’s frame. Just the same I am experimenting with ways to bring out my own inimitable style. As I am a cultured creature and descended from one of the brightest breeds of dogs, I think I can safely say I will bring a literary voice to the table as none have before...

I am Tucker and I am a…

Get out of here, vile mutt or I shall bite your ear like…!

Gigi! You promised me you wouldn’t harm Tucker!

This is MY blog! It is not his blog! It’s mine! You promised me! This was supposed to be my week to take over! He should be…!

Tucker, you need to go back to your pillow now. Gigi is doing the writing this week.

But I just wanted to make an appearance. I am cute and cuddly and make good appearances.

Tucker, just…please.

My feelings are hurt. Gigi hurt my feelings.

Okay, well…Gigi, could you apologize to Tucker?

Not a snowball’s chance!

Gigi is sorry, Tucker. How about you come with me and you can curl up while I read.

I still feel hurt. I do not thing Gigi apologized to me. But I will go. I like curling up. It is comforting.

Good riddance! As I was saying, I believe I will bring a unique literary voice to the annals of literature…can you believe that insipid fluffball! Trying to steal my thunder! Self-serving little…anyway, thank you for your ear and I look forward to presenting my work to you in the future. Au revoir!

MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME ONE, BABY! IS FREE ON AMAZON THURSDAY, 2/4 UNTIL SUNDAY, 2/7!

MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME TWO, KID! WILL BE FREE NEXT WEEK STARTING WEDNESDAY, 2/10!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: KEITH (2008)-Tubi

Todd Kessler co-wrote and directed this underrated realistic sleeper that is not your typical high school romance. This is the third choice in my Valentine’s movie series. We first meet Keith (Jessie McCartney) playing a game of pool with Al (Michael O’Keef) a man old enough to be his father. Keith tells Al he has figured out his concrete goal. When Al asks what it is, he tells him a girl. And when Al asks what Keith intends to do, Keith with a twinkle in his eye and verve in his voice says, “I’m going to have fun with her.” The her in question is Natalie (Elizabeth Harnois), who as Keith says is “smart, beautiful, popular” a “classic TGFY” (Too Good For You). Natalie is a hardworking likeable girl who is bound for Duke university on a tennis scholarship with a stellar grade point average. The question is why is Keith going to have fun with Natalie and what is the secret at the center of his cryptic plan?

SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS: BOYS OVER FLOWERS (2009)-Netflix

This tremendously well-done romantic Korean television soap opera for the older kids is a genuine must see. Lower class Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) inadvertently rescues bloodied and beaten student Lee Min-ha from committing suicide by delivering his dry cleaning right before he is about to jump to his death at the Shin Hwa High School and grabs him in midair stopping him from plummeting to his death. Jan-di’s heroic act is awarded with a scholarship to the prestigious prep school. But there is a dark side to her reward: the F4. The F4 is a gang made up of the four wealthiest boys in the school: Goo Joon Pyo (Lee Min-Ho), Yoon Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun-joong), So Yi Jung (Kim Bum) and Song Woo Bin (Kim Joon) who drove Lee Min-ha to try and commit suicide in the first place and now have it in for Jan-di especially the leader of the pack Goo Joon Pyo.   

SCREENWRITINGU FREE CLASS FRIDAY: HOW TO WRITE CAUSE MOVIES

You can sign up for the class here. All ScreenwritingU classes are teleconferences that start at 12:00pm PST unless otherwise specified.

MUSICOLOGY VOLUME ONE, BABY! IS FREE ON KINDLE WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3RD UNTIL SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7TH!!!!

MUSICOLOGY VOLUME TWO, KID! WILL BE FREE NEXT WEEK!