Because this was too good not to share 
From zefrankenfriends
You may have noticed a new logo gracing the right side of the blog. That’s right, I and several authors from Contact – Infinite Futures have joined forces with Felicia Day, Tim Daly, Dark Horse Comics, Think Geek, Joss Whedon and many others to support Can’t Stop the Serenity.
Check out the books we’re donating!
Alien Revealed by Lilly Cain is an erotic alien romance set against the backdrop of a greater galactic war that’s arrived on Earth’s doorstep.
Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley is a futuristic romance about a space captain who gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to transport a high-ranking and beautiful passenger.
Liar’s Game by Kait Gamble is the story of a ragtag crew of prison escapees led by “deceased” captain Aurelia Popkiss, who finds a mysterious stowaway on board her ship.
Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau is a sci-fi F/F romance – but when you’re a liar and a thief, falling in love means risking more than just your heart.
Sparks in Cosmic Dust by Robert Appleton is about four strangers – whores, criminals and outcasts – who are offered the treasure of a lifetime.If they can survive to claim it.
Stellarnet Rebel by J.L. Hilton is the post-cyberpunk sci-fi story of interstellar bloggers, alien freedom fighters, sex, violence and video games. EPIC Award finalist for best sci-fi ebook of 2012. SFR Galaxy Award winner for Best Non-Traditional Romance.
Winter Fusion by Anna Hackett is a science fiction romance released as part of the anthology, A Galactic Holiday.
What is Can’t Stop the Serenity that you ask? CSTS is where fans of Firefly gather for charity viewings of Serenity and other events to raise funds for Equality Now and other worthy causes.
Global Donation Tally:
2012: $110,465.98
Equality Now: $95,512.34
Other Charities: $14,593.64
Interested in joining the fun and helping out some great causes? Check the site for a local event!
Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. - Wikipedia
First episode: January 22, 2010
Final episode: November 30, 2010
Network: Syfy
Why on earth did it take me so long to watch Caprica? Oh, I know. Because like most awesome sci-fi TV shows it was cut down before it got a real chance. So I put it off, like so many other things, in favour of stuff that won’t end up disappointing me. Like work.
So this Easter I decided to sit down and watch all nineteen episodes. It’s more impressive than it sounds, believe me. I barely have time to read and write as much as I’d like let alone watch an entire series. Currently, I’m eleven eps in and it hasn’t been half bad. The writing is good. The story is intriguing. The acting good enough to keep me interested.
The world building is wonderful and builds up toward the conflicts that are prevalent in Battlestar Galactica. It explains the origins of the Cylons and the human struggles that lead up to their creation.
I can see how fans of Battlestar could have been less enthused about Caprica. The former was more about space battles and all-out war between humans and cylons where the latter is about the people and their clashes with race, religion and family.
I’m dreading it ending. I know it’s going to be yet another series that I’ll want more of.
*Spoiler Warning*
I have to admit it took some prodding for me to start watching Once Upon a Time. It was the urging of a friend that finally got me to sit down and watch it. Thankfully, she knows me really well and knows stories that play with traditional fairy tales = love (to me). There’s just something about subverting what we think we know about these characters that tickles me. And Once Upon a Time does that.
Or at least it did.
In the second season the writing hasn’t been as tight and it has left me more than a little disappointed, especially on two points.
You learn as a writer that it’s important to maintain a manageable cast of characters. If you don’t some get left behind leaving viewers/readers wondering what the hell happened to them or worse confused about who’s who.
In the first season there was a central cast that the show focused on: The Charmings (Snow, Charming, Emma, Henry) and their interactions with a select few residents of Storybrooke, Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen, Regina. They all received intriguing backstories and motivations and their stories were all interwoven in a plausible way. I kept coming back to find out how one character was related to another and to see how the writers had evolved them to make the stories work. It was wonderful.
In the latest series new characters are thrown in what seems to be a random, need-them-right-now-for-the-plot kind of way. Some come without histories and others, even more frustratingly, with but because they disappear into the ether their stories have no resolution. What happened to characters that we’ve come to know if the first season? Jefferson? Archie? August? Kathryn? Ashley? Marco? Victor? What about the newer ones like Aurora, Mulan and Anton the giant? Don’t tell me we watched an entire episode about his life before Storybrooke only to never see him again.
Another thing that’s been dragging for me is the adage ‘good will always triumph’ being touted at every turn. Why create characters that are so different from the ones we’re used to and then stick to that? We all know that the original stories are much darker than they are now. Why not explore that a little? Change it up! Keep us guessing! If we know who will win every story arc why are we going to bother?
One thing they have gotten right, to a fashion, is their willingness to kill off characters. Even main characters like Graham and Cora. But why stop there? It’s as good a way as any to close off loose endings, add tension and motivation to the remaining characters not to mention keep viewers on their toes.
I hope that the rest of this series brings it all together to become that fun and interesting viewing experience again. But at least I can learn what works and doesn’t in storytelling by watching it.
I’ve been stewing over this since I stayed up until 3am last night hate reading a book in the hopes that the hero would redeem himself.
Red flags started to fly the moment I started reading the book. It opened with the hero seeing a picture of his ex-mistress and he proceeds to expound on how she not only cheated on him, but stole from him as well. But damn if the sight of her didn’t make his libido skyrocket. So he begins to devise a plot that gives her two choices: get back in his bed or lose everything.
Leery, I kept going. I knew it was going to be all about misunderstandings and anticipated a hella good grovelling scene after he realized his mistake. But when that moment came he blamed the heroine for being framed in the first place when he was the one who fell for another character’s manipulations and jumped to all sorts of conclusions. By this point the story was beyond redemption for me because everything that went down could have been sorted out with a conversation or two but because of the hero’s attitude it was impossible. The heroine, of course, takes it in stride even though his arrogance left her near destitute with twin demon toddlers (whose temperament she delightedly describes as being ‘just like their father’). In the end he takes responsibility of the kids and openly admits he loves the heroine. She happily accepts even though she has a few doubts and they live happily ever after. While I was left cold.
What the hell? A story that had tropes that I responded well to in the past left me angry and totally unfulfilled.
But why?
At first I thought maybe I was being a bit tetchy but after a visit to Goodreads to see what others were saying about the book I found I wasn’t alone.
There are things that are to be expected when there’s an alpha male hero in a story. The heroine will be drawn to him, just like every female in the vicinity. He’s commanding, wealthy, handsome. He’s self-assured and with that comes an air of entitlement and even a little arrogance. He knows what he wants and he takes it. He is the guy every guy wants to be and the guy every girl wants to be beneath. And in the end it’s the love of the heroine that tempers him.
It’s a fantasy that I’ve enjoyed many times. Who wouldn’t want to daydream about someone with the money to grant nearly every one of your wishes and who will take charge so you don’t have to?
But some heroes take it to another level. Where protective becomes controlling. Dominant becomes domineering. And all of a sudden this character becomes completely infuriating.
So where’s the line between Alpha and Asshat?
