Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

Sydney Quotes the Movies – Super 8

Published on September 26, 2012September 25, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle15 Comments

I know I am a little late seeing this movie, but I was confused. I thought it was a kids movie about aliens. I didn’t realize it was just a movie with a lot of kids in it.

It was not a kids movie. And, it was really good.

I was blown away by the cast and the acting skills of these kids. This movie covered some pretty heavy material and these kids did an amazing job.

You have a group of kids making a horror movie for a film competition and while taping one night, a car crashes into a military train carrying some questionable cargo. The train derails and the kids find themselves in a horror movie in real life.

“Stop talking about production value, the Air Force is going to kill us.”

“Guys, I have never had a teacher aim a gun at me!”

“I can’t believe we’re breaking into the school. Who does that? Nobody does that. Idiots do that.”

“Kids walking around with there own stereo is just what we need. It’s a slippery slope, my friend.” -Funny ipod reference.

“I think it’s the Russians.”

“I’m just kind of shocked at this entire conversation.”

“I’m thirsty. I’m in a war zone.”

“I’m just doing the best I can to save you.”

“Bad things happened. You can still live.”

It was an intense action packed movie. I would expect nothing less from JJ Abrams and Steven Spielburg, but it was sweet and funny, too. Joel Courtney is just too cute and acted his butt off in this movie. You don’t hear too much about male kid movie stars anymore and this kids is just that. I am looking forward to seeing some of his other movies. I had no idea how good he was, plus, he is the most famous person I have following me on Twitter. How cool is that?

Have you seen Super 8? What kid was your favorite?

Tattoo Tuesday – I don’t like my tattoo.

Published on September 25, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle14 Comments

I know how Marvin feels. I didn’t like one of my tattoo’s, either. I had a great idea and a unique image reference, but my tattoo artist couldn’t quite capture my vision.

The tattoo didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

So, I had a few options. I could have pouted and cried, threatened and accused, or criticized and complained.

And, I did a little bit of all that. But in the end, I realized it was my tattoo. No one else’s. So, I could either cut my wrist off or I could learn to love it. The former wasn’t a viable option. Especially for a writer, I kind of need my hand.

I talked to the original artist and between of the two of us, we came up with a way to covered part of the bad tattoo with another image and still keep the same story and created a better tattoo.

It still isn’t perfect. But, I learned to love my tattoo.

If you get a tattoo and you don’t like it, there are options besides self mutilation (yeah, I get the irony of that statement considering some people think tattoos are a form of body mutilation):

If you don’t like your tattoo or it didn’t turn out the way you envisioned, say something to your tattoo artist. If he is good, he will change it or adjust it to make sure you are happy leaving his shop. His reputation is on the line.
Go to another artist and see if they have any ideas on how to change it or improve it. Fresh eyes may be the key to creating something good our of something bad.
Cover it up by incorporating it into a larger piece (not an option for my wrist tattoo, I have no more skin surface).
Live with it. Your tattoo may not be perfect, but it is uniquely yours. And, it doesn’t change the story behind why you got the tattoo in the first place.

Do you have a tattoo you’re not 100% happy with? What did you do about?

My Weekly Update – Daisies and Dinner

Published on September 23, 2012September 22, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle7 Comments

Daisy Award

One of my lovely critique partners, Kathleen, has bestowed on me an award. Thank you, thank you. I happily accept the Daisy Award. The rules:

Link to the person that nominated you. – done
List seven unusual things about yourself. – done
Nominate some worthy bloggers. – done

I watch Of Mice and Men the other day and got a blog post out of it. Stay tuned.
I watch The Hunger Games two nights ago and am not sure if I liked it or not. What did you think?
I watch The Rite this week and I don’t care for devil movies much, but this one was interesting. Although in Anthony Hopkin’s character, let me know if you saw Hannibal Lecter instead of Father Lucas at times.
One of the four English channels I have access to is the National Geographic Channel and have been utterly fascinated with shows like Locked up Abroad, Doomsday Preppers and Wicked Tuna. Is there something wrong with me?
I had tacos for dinner tonight. We made them ourselves and they were so good.
I finally wrote 1,000 words of original fiction today, the first time in about a week. It felt good.
I got to mark off an item on my restaurant Bucket List. Last night I went to Mr. & Mrs. Bund. Totally exceeded my expectations. My favorite was the Corn Vanilla Veloute w/cornflakes. Weird, but so so good.

Dinner

More photos from my dinner last night at Mr. & Mrs. Bund.

The last two photos are of a desert called Lemon & Lemon Tart. It’s a candied lemon skin filled with lemon sorbet and lemon curd and vanilla chantilly. Now I am not sure what all that is, but it was yummy.

Blog Love

My blog love this weeks goes to WordFalls Services and her editing tips. They have been super helpful to me during this month of editing. Check her out.

New Followers and my nominees for the Daisy Award.

Steve Vernon from Yours in Storytelling

The Eye of Faith

Shah Wharton

Next Weeks Schedule

Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday

Wednesday – Sydney Quotes the Movies

Friday – Blog post

Sunday – My Weekly Update

What did you watch last week? What did you eat last week? What did you edit last week?

Character Profiles as a Marketing Tool

Published on September 21, 2012September 21, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle6 Comments

I was watching one of my 4 English channels. Yes, my much anticipated move to Shanghai reduced my tv watching options. Recently, they have been heavily advertising a new show called Last Resort. It stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman(the hot guy from Felicity).

One marketing tool they use in Asia is marketing the show as airing the same week as the US telecast. I don’t really get that one, I mean really, who cares. It’s not like I am calling up my friends in the US to see if they caught the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 400. It’s kind of an expensive call, we stick to important topics.

But, a more effective marketing tool they are using is 15 second character profiles.

The first profile they show is of Scott Speedman’s character, Sam Kendal.

In 15 seconds you learn:

Sam is the XO on the USS Colorado.

He is the morally conscious character.

He spells charm without a c. (not sure what that means)

Committed and Determined

He’s as loyal to his country as he is to his wife.

*Imagine these lines delivered by the movie trailer guy voice.

In an action packed promo, they tell who he is, his motivation and his role in the series. They use images and quotes from him that make you instantly like him, relate to him and want to root for him.

In a clearly action packed type series; regular promos show submarines, bombs, and drama, drama, drama, ABC understands in order to have a successful series long term, the audience has to get to know and care about what happens to the characters.

This is a great tool to use in book promotion as well. A book and a television series are similar in they takes some commitment from the reader and view in order to be successful. If you don’t like a movie, well, you only committed a couple of hours. No big deal. But, most series want you to stick around for at least 20 episodes. In books, you want people to read until the last page.

So, how do you keep people turning the page until the end. They have to either like, hate or at the least, relate to the character. So, why not tell them about your characters early on in the promotion of your book.

My MC Character Profile:

Sierra is smart, funny and reliable to a fault.

But, when it comes to her own happiness, she has a history of putting others needs above her own.

When she meets John, she realize she could easily fall into her old patterns, but she is determined to not let that be her legacy.

*In the movie trailer guys voice.

Use your characters in your marketing to get a head start on letting your audience know why they need to read your book.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an awesome quote like the one used below in every Last Resort Promo.

“I am not going to annihilate 3.4 million Pakistanis without hearing directly

: Greatness of Andre Braugher

from someone whose authority that I recognize.” Marcus Chaplin played by Andre Braugher.

Share three statements about your MC that will make readers want to read your book.

Tattoo Tuesday – Writer Inspired Tattoos

Published on September 18, 2012September 18, 2012 by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle19 Comments

When something significant happens in my life, I like to commemorate with a tattoo. And, my first thought is to get a tattoo that signifies the occasion in art form. So, when I finished the first draft of my first novel, I searched for the perfect image and I couldn’t find the exact image. I decided to get an addition to an older tattoo.

But, I really liked the other writer inspired tattoos. Let me know which one you like.

How do you record your work? Quill and Ink or typewriter.

I love the idea of the punctuation tattoo. I would probably do a exclamation point to remind me to stop using them. I like exclamation points!

This is a good one if you have an issue remembering how to spell or pronounce your favorite word.

There is always the quote that changed your life and made you want to write. Or, tattoo your own brilliant prose. I would wait until published before you do you own words incase they get cut in edits.

This is the one is my favorite. It is simple and to the point.

I think I will ultimately create an image that incorporates all of these great ideas. What writer inspired tattoo do you like the best?