Anything You Want

Posting from Dallas, Texas. Started a great book last night. "Anything You Want" by Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby. Sure, it's a bit of a dotcom legend now. He started CD Baby for $500 dollars and sold it for $22 million. There are still some good thoughts in this book to anyone starting their own thing.

"If you're not saying HELL YEAH about something, then say no."
"Ideas are worth nothing unless executed"

Like I said, lots of good thoughts. One of the most inspirational is that, in his opinion, starting with no funding is an advantage AND one should not use lack of funding as an excuse not to move forward. I am assuming most of us could use more funding, so it's a valuable lesson.

As for me, after the most tumultuous year I have had in a long time, I am back to doing what I love. I think the main thing I have learned, after being within reach of my dream back in 2002, is to just keep up momentum. It may only be a little momentum, but keep it up. If you find your momentum has died...picking up this short one-hour-read might be a good way to get it back.

Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere out there. I think motivation comes from inspiration.

An example: I was in a slump on my Sanction blog. Life was just in the way. Then I picked up a copy of Mark Millar's excellent "Ultimates 2" graphic novel. It is inspiring in a major way! Sure, some people say not to read while you are in the creating process, but I read to be inspired, not to mimic, copy or steal. Then again, all art has a bit of a mimic in it. As Seth Godin points out in his post on originality, if you create something that is truly unlike anything else, and thus few people relate to it, then you are considered a whacko more often than you are considered a genius. So I seek out inspiration, and when I find it, I use it!

Another example is Arthas by Christie Golden. Very inspiring for my work on "The Matter of Britain" (My Pendragon story).

I watched "Season of the Witch" as well. I loved it and it sets a great tone for fantasy writing.

If you aren't inspired today, seek out the stuff that you know you like. Watch it, read it, listen to it. Repeat until inspiration strikes...then, go!

Tyler Perry

Those days you think about not writing, or not drawing or not dancing, acting, playing music...whatever your niche is, then I hope you think about Tyler Perry.

Check out Tyler Perry on wikipedia and you'll see that he wanted to be a playwright. He moved to Atlanta in 1992 and produced his own musical using $12,000 dollars of his own money. It bombed. He went on producing it for 6 years. At one point he was even homeless. His mother was concerned. People told him to quit. He kept making changes and trying again and now...he's considered one of the most successful media moguls on the planet.

He has been told his movies are not made for Hollywood success. He has bee told there is no genre for his style of movies.

He earned $75 million between 2008 and 2009.

I am guessing he is glad he stuck with it back in 1992 (and the six rough years that followed)

Legacy of the Force

Most anyone interested in anything GGE has to say will also be interested in all things Star Wars. That's not to say 100%. If you are here and not a Star Wars fan, then we welcome you! We just don't understand you.

Anyway, I have been reading this book series entitled "Legacy of the Force". It takes place decades after the last movie (Return of the Jedi being the last in chronological order, not release order). It deals with the children of the Skywalkers and the Solos.

It's pretty good. I love seeing what else goes on in the Star Wars universe. It is inspiring to see how much has grown from Lucas's initial idea for the three movies (which had to start with a single hit film). It does make me wonder how much more that world can support. There is a lot in this series that casual fans might not get. Beyond that, it's 9 or 10 books long. Why not stick with the three-part story arc made popular by the films?

For those of you who wander by to see what we're reading or to participate in the discussion of all that is new and relevant in the sci-fi/fantasy/superhero fiction world, this is a good book. It is especially good if you want to see more Jedi Vs. Sith stuff.

The best part about this series though...it makes me want to create my own "Star Wars" so thirty years from now people might be blogging about my characters.

Star Trek

Been awhile since I blogged. I should apologize for that. I have been spending some time on what the GGE website should look like. Obviously, it should have a link to the blog where we can keep up a dialogue with readers, viewers, aficionados, etc!

I just saw Star Trek and came away with a healthy dose of inspiration. Roddenberry created something so timeless that I watched it as a kid and now I am taking my kids to see it years later. How great is that? What is so enduring about Star Trek? I know the popular line is the positive view it gives of the future, but there has to be more to it than that. Is it the ship designs? the visuals? The hot chicks. It's always had hot chicks.

Would Star Trek had been as successful if it had been a novel first? A comic book? A line of toys? A movie? Did it have to be launched as a TV series. A TV series that was canceled. Something made it grab ahold of people. That's what I want to do!