Going Away

Hey folks,

So as you may have deduced (after all my posts about my thesis being passed in and passing and me passing out), I’m graduating! I’ll be away next week at school, culminating with receiving my MFA on Sunday, June 29, sometime between 3:30 and 4pm. Feel free to clap in my honor during this time.

K, the clapping part is a joke, but the rest isn’t. Since I’ll be in class and doing all sorts of other fun stuff next week (like thesis reading, genre dinner, experimental agent-pitching, etc.) I won’t be posting. And then I’m treating myself to the first week in July away from the blog.

Yes, that’s right. I’ll be gone for two whole weeks. Now, I know you might want to cry, but try to refrain. I’ll be back the second week in July with more writing madness and animated movies.

Until then, watch Frozen (and the Lorax, which I saw for the first time last Friday), and have a great couple of weeks.

When next we meet, I will be a master…well, have a masters degree.

-Mary

MCS #20: Fantasia

Fantasia (1940)

Ok, so this movie bored me to tears when I was a kid. It was music and picture with no story or dialogue, and I was a kid.

Now, I appreciate it a bit more, and I’m sharing my two favorite Fantasia moments this week.

First: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

It was the closest to a story, and it featured Mickey Mouse.

Second (and possibly most importantly): The Sound Track

Come on, this guy was adorable. I think I can attribute my interest in musical instruments to this guy.

Check out the rest of the Fantasia shorts on YouTube. They’re all there.

Writer’s Lockbox…?

Umm, well plot.

Also, different types of music make for great soundtracks to different types of writing.

Last week: The Emperor’s New Groove

And join me next time for Fantasia 2000.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

MCS #19: Emperor's New Groove

Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

IMDB blurb
Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his ex-administrator Yzma, and must now regain his throne with the help of Pacha, the gentle llama herder.

Unfortunately, I can’t post the entire movie here. Would if I could because this movie is hilarious. If you have not watched, go do. I know I say that about a lot of these, but I mean it for this one. Observe a teaser.

Now tell me you don’t want to see the rest of this movie?

Honestly, I love this movie because it isn’t about love at all. It’s about a spoiled emperor learning to be a better person and the peasant man who helps him along the journey. It’s also about the laughs and a llama.

That’s really it. I don’t have anything bad to say about this movie. It’s hilarious and heartwarming. It’s a guide on finding friendship. Just don’t try it at home.

Oh, also, Yzma = win! That is all.

Writer’s Lockbox

This movie is very historically inaccurate. While no one cares about that because it’s a kid’s movie, the world won’t be so forgiving for writers, especially ones of historical fiction. Make certain you are as historically accurate as your project requires.

Last week: Dumbo

And join me next week for Fantasia.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

Sharing. Broadway.

I’m sharing this week. The Tony Awards were this past Sunday, and I discovered a new musical—A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. And because I’m just the sharing type, I’m going to let you all discover it, too.

That is just awesome.

Have a wonderful week, peeps!

-Mary

MCS #18 - Dumbo

Dumbo (1941)

IMDB Blurb
Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.

K, I’m getting to this post the night before. It’s been a long week. So this will consist of some highly informative bullet points.

-Babies don’t come from storks.

-Don’t let your mean, if jealous, girlfriends name your kid.

-Don’t pull a baby elephant’s ears, especially if the mother is present.

-Don’t make a flying elephant dependent on a feather.

-Do be proud of your children when they do something awesome.

Writer’s Lockbox

Mute main characters are difficult. It’s doable, just difficult.

Thank you for your patience with this abbreviated post.

Join me next week for The Emperor’s New Groove

-Find me on Twitter @desantismt.

Writing about Death

I know, so cheery, right?

Cheery or not, it’s a topic a lot of fiction writers have to deal with. Characters die, and like with the characters who live (most often the protagonist and at least a few of his peeps), their deaths need to mean something/get the reader to respond emotionally.

In terms of recent literature, Rue’s death in The Hunger Games is hailed as one of the most moving. Here’s a twelve-year-old girl, dying. Here’s Katniss, sitting over Rue’s body singing and, unknowingly, inspiring a revolution. There’s a conversation—all the things they didn’t say wrapped up. The goodbye is drawn out and tear-jerk worthy.

These types of death scenes are common. Today, though, I present the other side of the coin—the sudden death.

They say fiction is like life. Sometimes in life we get the chance to say goodbye. And sometimes we don’t. Sometimes, we just find/are told we’ve lost a loved one. There are no last words. There’s no “one last time.” There is just a sudden whole where there was once a person.

It kills.

And I argue that this kind of death can be just as moving in fiction. There is no grand “I have to tell you/always remember/just know” speech, but there is a well of emotions. There is the protagonist’s inner struggle. “If I’d moved faster/if I hadn’t asked them to come/if I’d just….” There is blame, which is always something that produces tension. Even more, there is the wonder. What would that character have said if they’d gotten the chance? We’ll never know because they’re just gone, much like Sirius Black.

Note: This kind of death scene is made even worse when the protagonist doesn’t have time to mourn, when a character is killed in battle, for example.

K, I’m done being depressing now. Keep this alternative death in mind while writing, and go do something cheery.

Mary

-@desantismt on Twitter

MCS #17: Donald in Mathmagic Land

Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)

As the title suggests, this Disney animated short is about Donald Duck learning about the history, use, and application of mathematics.

I watched this before fifth grade. So when we watched it in fifth grade and then had to write a report on it, I felt ahead of the game in that way only experienced by eleven-year-old children who have unintentionally done homework before hand. Granted, I’d only watched the movie, not written the paper, but to me, that was all academic. Literally and figuratively. I wish I still had the report. I drew the absolute worst cover for it. I decided that, since the movie was about math and various games that use math, I would draw a bunch of different games for my report cover. I had a blue and red chess board and a terrible rendition of an air hockey table. That’s all I remember.

But yeah, parents, let your kids watch this. It’s a fun and engaging way to learn about the history of math. It also features classic Donald Duck. Who doesn’t love classic Donald?

Fun fact, did you know Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy?

Less fun fact, both of my parents can do amazing Donald Duck impressions. I cannot, and I wish to know what cruel fate of genetics kept me from receiving this skill. *sigh*

Other less fun fact, my family owned a pool table when I was growing up, and I thought it was awesomely cool when Donald learned about the math involved in billiards.

But I digress. Watch the movie.

“Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe”—Galilei Galileo

Writer’s Lockbox

Writers can do math, too. That is all.

Last week: Cinderella III

Join me next week for Dumbo.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog