Pandragon Dan

A lot of people like to say how they want their favourite book to be turned into a film and/or a TV series. Which I think is pretty cool – I mean, what can be better than your favourite story being shown on the big screen? However, you don’t see a lot of people talking about how they want their favourite indie book being put onto the big screen. So that’s the subject of today’s Top Five blog.

Now, for myself, I would LOVE it if my books were turned into an Anime series or film, done by either Bones animation studio (who did Full Metal Alchemist) or Production I.G – but this isn’t about me. This is about five indie novels that I’ve read that I think would benefit from having a film or TV show made of their story. For any indie authors reading this, if I didn’t name your book I’m sorry in advance. That doesn’t mean I think your book sucks, I just am only limited to just five!

Also bear in mind this is based on books I’ve read only. So here we go, in no particular order.

1. A Ranger’s Tale by Mysti Parker

(Note: This book has had a different cover since this blog, but I don't have the new front cover, so I'm posting the old one)

The book series that helped me appreciate Romance novels a lot more and made Mysti Parker one of my favourite authors. A Ranger’s Tale is the first book in the Tallenmere series and a brilliant Fantasy Romance. It tells the story of Caliphany (a great character), stuck between her own desires and the wills of her abusive father. She’s also stuck between a romance between Galadin and Jayden and has to make some tough choices along the way.

A Ranger’s Tale has such wonderfully crafted characters and a great story (that actually wouldn’t feel out of place if set in modern times) that I think it deserves to be made into a film so that others can be introduced to this great series. Also, given the rise in popularity of Game of Thrones, I think now would be a great time to introduce a Fantasy story that isn’t necessarily about epic quests and slaying monsters, but personal struggles as well.

Who could we get to direct this film? How about Sofia Coppola of Lost in Translation fame? I think she would do a great job with this film, given that there is a lot of great room for character development in this story. She could direct the film from the point of view of the characters (just like the book) so that we get the individual thoughts and feelings of the main heroes – leading it to an open ended story whereby we can let the viewer decide which of the characters they’d like to support. I think it would also be great for Sofia to show off her skills, taking on a high budget idea like this one.

Naturally, I think all of the Tallenmere series could make great films. But why not start with this one and see how it goes from there?

2. A Stiff Kiss by Avery Olive

This novel I think would make a VERY powerful drama. Seeing as it deals with the feeling of loss and regret (and in some ways, forbidden love), A Stiff Kiss is almost begging for a film adaptation of it. It’s a great teen drama that also has a lot of mature elements to it, making it a great coming of age story. If that doesn’t make for a great film then I don’t know what does.

Now, the obvious choice for a director, giving A Stiff Kiss is a supernatural teen drama, this would probably be Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight and Red Riding Hood, amongst others. However (and at the risk of upsetting some people) I have to say that I do NOT consider her a great director and her films (at least the ones I’ve seen) are just terrible! Red Riding Hood in particular I just couldn’t finish because it was so bland and uninspired. But, of course, that’s just my opinion.

No, I think a better choice would be Joss Whedon. I know he’s mainly known for doing comic book movies (and of course Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly), but Joss Whedon is able to direct the characters in his movies with humanity and wit, so that even if they are super powered heroes, we never forget that they had emotions at heart. Also, he did direct a movie adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing in 2012, so he CAN do other things than superhero stuff. Also, he’s a great writer and director and I think he will have a lot of fun adapting this story.

Sorry if I upset any fans of Catherine Hardwicke with my earlier rant. I’m sure she’s a nice person, I just don’t personally rate her as a director. I also feel that A Stiff Kiss is such an emotional story that it deserves a director that will be able to bring out the emotional content in a way that it deserves.

3. The Plaza by Guillermo Paxton

Never have I been so moved by a novel than this one. The Plaza is a gritty, no holds barred story telling of how the city of Juarez, Mexico has been destroyed by the drug barons. It is a city where the drug lords rule and crime is rampant. Even the police, the ones dedicated to protecting the public interest are just as corrupt as the criminals they are supposed to capture. I even said at the time when I reviewed it that this show deserves to be made into a film or TV show if only to bring awareness to the problem.

I can think of no other writer/director that would have the job of bringing this story to life then David Simon, creator of The Wire and co-creator of Treme. Giving that The Wire alone shows have been praised for their gritty realism and honest portrayal of a city in peril, who better than to bring the harsh reality of Juarez onto the screen. It would be a very bleak series and not one that everyone could stomach – but you can’t really tip-toe around this subject and, personally, I think this would be one of those situations where the more violent and disturbing it is, the more people will come to appreciate the dangers that the people have to suffer.

Normally Simon does tend to film a lot of his stuff in real urban areas to get that realistic feel – but I don’t think he’d be able to do this in Juarez for real. The drug barons would probably not let that happen. But I do think that The Plaza does need to be made into a TV show to show everyone what a crisis the city is in. It may actually go some way to solving the problem. I hope.

4. Vaalbara: Visions and Shadows by Michelle Horst

I kinda gave this book a bit of a hard time in my review of it, considering that I was torn between the concepts and thought it was maybe a little too dark for a YA novel, given that it dealt with the destruction of humanity as we know it. But at the same time I also thought that it was a really good story, chronicling the rise of Alchera from a simple nobody, to the one responsible for saving some of the human race so that they can make way for a new perfect world. It kinda had mixed messages, but at its core it was a really great story and, again, another “coming of age” tale.

Needless to say, it would definitely make for an exciting, high budget action film that, as long as they keep the pathos and human spirit aspect, could end up being a great summer blockbuster. As such, my choices for bringing this film to life would either be Peter Jackson or Steven Spielberg. After all, when it comes to creating blockbusters that have heart, who better than those to? You only have to Google their names to see the list of classic films that they have done to know that they would be perfect for this choice. Admittedly, they would probably try to go for a less darker ending and maybe change the emphasis a little for the purpose of making it more of a “happy ending”, but for the most part I think they could do a good job.

I just really hope that Roland Emmerich doesn’t get his hands on this, as he’d just turn it into a high budget disaster movie for the sake of it with little storyline or anything. An adaptation of this deserves time and effort to make it into an enjoyable film that is both dramatic, yet poignant. But if done right, I think it will make an amazing film.

5. One Hundred Years of Vicissitude by Andrez Bergen

Being a huge fan of Studio Ghibli, I think this is one book that would make an amazing Anime film – especially if Hayao Miyazaki got his hands on it.

Why do I think that? Because One Hundred Years of Vicissitude is full of a lot of themes that Miyazaki is fond of. The story is full to the brim of Japanese mythology and history (which he often mixes in), but also intermixes it with the World War and Hiroshima bombings, and Miyazaki is strongly anti-war (so much so that, when Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, he refused to attend the ceremony because he "didn’t want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq") so I think he could do a lot with this.

Not only that, One Hundred Years of Vicissitude has a very strong and interesting female lead in the form of Kohana – and a lot of Miyazaki’s film’s have a strong female protagonist. But not only that, I think the dynamics between her and the character of Wolram would make for a lot of comedic effects.

But the main reason that I think this would work so well as a Miyazaki film is that One Hundred Years of Vicissitude is, for me, a story about personal growth – looking back over your life and learning from the mistakes. Even reading this book, the ending I imagined having music by Mamoru Fujisawa (who has worked on a LOT of Miyazaki films) play over the end to capture the raw emotion of the final scene. I always felt that Miyazaki's films have a lot of heart to them, so this would be perfect for him to direct.

Reading this, it’s almost like One Hundred Years of Vicissitude could have been specially written for Hayao Miyazaki. Therefore it makes sense that he could do a great job with this film.

Those are my choices for the Top Five indie books that could become films. What are your fav indie books that you would like to see as films? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for reading guys. Have a great day!

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PANDRAGON

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Hey guys! Wow, two posts from me in one day. You lucky people! I hope :)

Anyway, I was asked if I would be interested in being part of the Divergent Paths blog tour by my very good friends at Paper Crane Books and, naturally I said yes to it. I always love the opportunity to promote other authors where I can and so I jumped on the bandwagon.

Today I'm joined by the writer of Divergent Paths, Holly Barbo, who took time out to talk a little about her upcoming book and the inspirations behind it. But before we get to that, let's have a little look at the synopsis of the novel.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour schedule HERE.

Blurb

A virulent disease sweeps through the Sawblen Province. The source is unknown. As hundreds fall victim, the healers race to contain it and find a cure before it engulfs the realm, but a would-be healer complicates the situation by concocting dangerous drugs.

While the officials are distracted, a counterfeiter takes advantage of the events. Credentials and money are faked, putting several lives in peril and resulting in deaths.

The Great One's council and sage population hurry to track down the sources of the trouble and right the multiple crises before anyone else falls prey to the events. Rare natives of the planet have important information to impart if the sages can decipher their cryptic message.

Genre: Science fiction, fantasy

Release Date: August 28, 2012

Add the book to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15805919-divergent-paths

Buy links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | iTunes

About the Author

Holly Barbo's world is shaped by her love of her family, the beauty of the natural world in Northwest Washington State and an irrepressible creative drive.

Living where the scenery is incredible with a rich abundance of wildlife "is so special and soothing that it feels like a quiet kind of magic," according to Barbo. She is drawn to creating stories where there is just a bit of something unworldly, perhaps it is magic or psychic skills. Her stories are mostly in non-urban settings and usually have some focus on nature, building a discordant drama inside the peaceful frame.

Social media links: Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

GUEST POST

Hi Dan! Thank you for asking me here!

I would like to share with you how I came to write Divergent Paths. When the Sage Seed Chronicles series developed in my head I already knew what book three and four would be. What I wanted to do is to build a bridge between The Founders, which is the prequel, and those other books. There were elements that needed to be tied together for the overall story to make sense.

Since the sages are very long lived I wanted the reader to feel the continuity of that yet have big blocks of years between the first few books of the series. After this book the series runs in tight sequence. But because there is a time difference of six centuries between the first book and Divergent Paths and five hundred and fifty years to the third book the information and story development was critical.

Characters that were young in The Founders were very old in Divergent Paths. That also meant that I needed more young ones introduced. Ree is a new sage here. She will remain throughout the rest of the foreseeable books. I also wanted to establish a few natives of the planet that will play a part in later books…in particular the elusive and enigmatic Lyrix.

The Founders (book one) was about rectifying a damaged societal structure caused by the climate change when an asteroid hit the small world. It was natural to wonder what happened at that impact site. Weaving together Ree, the Lyrix and the place where the asteroid hit is how I started the story.

I am a believer in standards based credentials for our jobs. If people were trained through an apprenticeship and schooling for every job some areas of our society would be more safe. For instance would you want to go skydiving with a parachute you had put together yourself? Would you be comfortable having your butcher performing brain surgery? Probably not on either. You want people who are trained for specific jobs and have a license. I took three such examples from my background and wove them into the story. My father was a doctor so medicine and the pharmaceutical theme was a natural. I grew up next to an architect and have worked in homes that had some building elements not up to code. Those experiences gave me my second area and for my third I used inventors I have known and how they need to completely test their inventions to make sure they perform as they were intended. The last problem area was introduced because of current events and the uneven monetary system.

Solving the problems that arose from the four areas I just mentioned gave me the ability to firm up and clarify some story areas for my population on Ose. I completely enjoyed the “bad” or misguided characters with the the series of events they set in motion and loved enriching the fabric of this unique world. Each book can stand alone but together they build and add richness to the story of the sages.

It has been fun sharing with you.

Book Trailer:

Rafflecopter link (click here for some pretty cool gifts that can be won!

Thanks to Holly for taking time out to join me and for the interesting blog post. Be sure to check out Holly's work and the rest of the blog tour!

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PANDRAGON

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Hey guys, I'm back with another Page Turner Book Tours blog tour entry! Today Iwe're looking at the first book in The Empire series (a sci-fi novel) and I asked the author to take time out of her busy schedule to give us a little talk about her work.

But first, let's find out a little bit about The Empire series, just to wet your appetite!

The Empire (The Empire series)

"It will be interesting to discover which will make you beg. Will it be the pain or the pleasure?"

How do you tame a man without breaking his spirit?

The galaxy is under siege from alien invaders. The Empire is the only force that stands in the gap, trading the freedom of its citizens for a tenuous security.

Amidst this chaos, Lt. Adrian Stannis is a brilliant scientist trying to stay out of the limelight. He hides on a research vessel plying the Outer Rim and finds peace of a sort with Kali Mirren, a psi-enabled humanoid. But his days of anonymity may be coming to an end. Someone has discovered his secret and is determined to make him pay for his treachery. He must finish the project he abandoned years ago, one the Council deems essential in its fight against the aliens, but things are never that simple where Adrian is concerned.

Is he more man than machine, or have years hiding behind a mountain of logic eroded his humanity? Can he learn to love and will he be able to survive the tangled web of political expediency and psychological manipulation that surrounds him?

Will Kali be able to save him from himself, or is there a mystery surrounding him that may explode in their faces?

Everyone wants to know the truth, but will it set them free?

Amazon UK

Amazon USA

Barnes & Noble

About Elizabeth Lang

I'm a science fiction writer who started off life as a computer programmer with a love for reading, especially science fiction, fantasy and mystery.

Being in computers, I found my writing skills deteriorating so I decided to take up writing. It became a joy to create characters, stories and worlds and writing soon became a passion I couldn't put down. As a writer, I like to explore, not only the complexity of characters but the human condition from differing points of view. That is at the heart of the Empire series, of which 'The Empire' and 'The Rebels' are the first two of a four books series.

You can connect with Elizabeth Lang at the following places:

Author Page on FaceBook

Blog

Twitter

Website

Ok, now you know a little about the author, let's get to the interview shall we?

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was a senior systems analyst, which is a glorified name for an experience computer programmer, working in a company that developed insurance software. I love travelling. My ideal job would be to write and travel the world.

2. What made you want to become an author?

I did some writing as a youngster but loved reading more. As a long time systems analyst, I found my English skills deteriorating, and for someone who used to be a whiz at spelling and word games. That was a rude awakening. That’s one of the reasons why I started writing seriously, to maintain my writing skills, though I never considered myself a professional. It was more of a hobby. The author part was quite accidental.

3. Who are your favourite authors?

My style of writing is complex ensemble pieces with grand themes as well as intimate settings, so not surprisingly my favourite writers are Tolkien, David Eddings, Piers Anthony’s earlier series, Gordon R. Dickson, Anne McCaffrey and Barbara Hambly.

4.Tell us a little bit about The Empire.

The short tagline would be:  With security comes a price.

The Empire is about a peaceful man caught between an alien invasion, a growing rebel conflict and an Empire that is falling into tyranny. Sort of like between a rock and several hard places. It’s about the choices people make when they feel they have no choice.

The hero, Adrian Stannis, would rather spend his days in a research facility in the furthest ends of the galaxy, away from all the melodrama, but that wouldn’t make much of a story (though he highly disagrees with that).

He may be a mild-mannered scientist (a term he also objects to), but unfortunately his greatest achievements have been turned into the most devastating weapons, and the Empire wants those weapons.

His greatest supporter is Kali Mirren, a psi-enabled humanoid who was banished from her home world. In her isolation, she found the one person on the ship most like her people, Adrian, and she is determined to save him.

5. What inspired you to write this story? Did you draw on any real life examples?

As a computer specialist, I found my language skills suffering. That was one of the reasons why I started writing. My inspiration was a life-long interest in people and what makes them tick, specifically, what causes them to make the decisions they do and how those decisions are perceived by others.

Real life examples…I didn’t have any when I started writing, but what is happening in the world around us with the terrorism and violence has definitely seeped into my writing.

6. What are your main ambitions for this book?

My main ambitions for The Empire, and the entire series, other than to entertain, is to make people think about the choices they make and to perhaps see things from the perspective of those we identify as villains.

7. This one may be a bit clichéd, but still relevant. What advice would you give for any would be authors?

Write, write and write some more. Hone your craft and learn to take criticism objectively and develop a thick skin. Don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t like your work or worse yet, hates it. It isn’t possible or realistic to please everyone. Someone out there will not like your work. Accept it, learn from it if you can, and move on. Don’t let it discourage you, but also don’t ignore any constructive criticism.

One of the strongest admonitions I heard from a sci-fi writers convention was, ‘be professional.’ With the influx of new writers, there is no manual on how to be a professional writer. It’s very different from being an amateur because there is a pre-established relationship and responsibility between a writer and the readers, or even reviewers, that still remains regardless of any changes in delivery medium for stories.

Enjoy your writing. Don’t do it if you don’t enjoy it because it will show in your writing. But at the same time, if you put it out for people to download and especially to buy, remember that this is a commercial, as well as an artistic market. If you’re lucky, many people will have your tastes in fiction. If the only people who appreciate or like your work are you, your family and your ten friends, don’t blame the readers. You’re not paying them to read your work. That is not their role.

They buy a book, they expect to be entertained. You publish a work, whether self-published, indie publishers or traditional publishers, make it good or run the risk of turning people away.

Improve your skills as a writer. Understand what works, what doesn’t and why. Learn your genre and your market. PR and marketing skills are essential for any successful writer.

That’s a lot more advice than I intended but I hope it helps.

Thanks to Elizabeth for a great interview! And now the fun part! To be in with a chance to win some amazing prices as part of this blog tour (including a Kobo mini!) follow this link and follow the necessary instructions!

THE EMPIRE BLOG TOUR PRIZES

Be sure to follow the rest of the tour through Page Turner Book Tours. Click on the pic below to be taken to their page.

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PANDRAGON

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