Housekeeping
By Kathleen Bolton | May 21, 2007 |
A blog is a constantly-evolving entity. At least this one is. We have a few things to update you on in our quest to provide fiction writers useful information, inspirations, and entertainment.
We are pleased to announce that Jason Starr will be contributing to WU. Jason is a best-selling author of noir and crime fiction, and finds time to write screenplays. Fans know and admire his pitch-perfect dialogue and ability to milk tension from every scene. His upcoming release, THE FOLLOWER, is no exception (Jason sent me an advanced copy–me so lucky!); it had me laughing out loud and biting my nails at the same time. Jason’s first post will go live on May 24.
We’ve also invited writing coach Dave Duggins to guest blog with us. Dave is webmaster and blogger of the terrific site Voidgunner, an online magazine Space Suits and Sixguns, and he contributes a column to Creativity Portal. We know he’ll be a great addition to the team.
We’ve also been neglecting our movie analyses. But now that summer is upon us, we’ll be dissecting popular releases and unearthing gems of writerly knowledge for discussion.
Finally, regular WU readers know of my penchant for European electronica music. So it was with great sorrow that 2007’s Eurovision winner WAS NOT
VERKA SERDUCHKA, Ukraine’s answer to reviving the maligned polka genre. They were, however, following in the great tradition of European stagecraft that began with ABBA and never died. Eurovision fans will always fondly remember last year’s winners, Lordi, the monster-masked headbangers of the now-classic anthem Hard-Rock Halleluja (I knew Lordi had it nailed when wings sprouted out of the lead singer’s back at the penultimate chorus). Still, Verka’s cheerful idiocy secured them second place in the prestigious festival.
This year’s winner, Marija Serifovic from Serbia, possessed a heartbreaking voice to match her KD Lang vibe. Still, I’m disappointed that the entry from Bulgaria didn’t get more respect as they embodied all that is good and right in contemporary European alternative music: ElitsaTodorva’s weird ululating vocals, ethnic instruments (Stoyan Yankulov played a freaking mouth-harp–it was awesome! Watch the clip HERE), and a zesty sense of stagecraft. You can’t have too many lightning bolts and lasers at a Eurovision contest.
They wuz robbed.
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
Looking forward to your guest bloggers!
So right about Bulgaria!