Hot Villains

Okay, so my buddy Karen mentioned in another post that instead of writing about kicking villain's butts, why don't we write about villains who have kick-ass butts? Hmm ... so it got me thinking about hot baddies in movies (and TV). And it was a little hard. I mean there are TONS of femme fatales, who are fatalistically gorgeous. But most bad guys aren't that attractive. So with some help from my husband and friends, I came up with a list in no particular order. Please feel free to add as you see fit:

1. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), American Psycho: He had like no body fat in this movie. Not to mention the scene where he's naked and wielding a chainsaw. Honestly, if that was the last thing I saw before I died, it really would be just fine.
2. Mr. Blonde (Michael Masden), Reservoir Dogs: What can I say? I absolutely love the James Dean, coolness that a young Masden played in this role.
   
3. Sawyer (Josh Halloway), Lost: Maybe he's not a major villain. But he did flip back and forth from being a bad guy. Plus, I'm a sucker for blonde men, especially the cocky ones who spew pop culture sarcasm.
   
4. Spike (James Marsters), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Blonde. Cocky. Brooding. British. What more can I say?
5. Wah Sing Ku (Jet Li), Lethal Weapon 4: He had an intensity about his character that really scared me and I like men who frighten me a bit (but in a good way). Plus, he had some killer moves.
   
6. Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones), Snatch: British accent. Cocky. Frightens me. Ahhh.
7. Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), Red Eye: (He also played the Scarecrow in the Batman movie.) He's got the most intense blue eyes and a boyish charm that hides a psycho underneath. Niiice.
   
8. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), Fantastic 4: Extremely confident, which can be majorly sexy when he's not trying to kill everyone around him.
   
9. Bullseye (Colin Farrell), Daredevil: Accent and a total bad boy in real life and in character.
   
10. Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), The Mummy: Exotic. Confident. Great pecs. Searching for the love of his life. Who cares if he just sucked out everyone's soul?
    
11. Harry Osborn/Goblin (James Franco), Spiderman 3: Chiseled cheek rich boy with lots of toys and smart enough to almost beat Spiderman.
12. The Collector (Billy Zane), Demon Knight: Polished, charismatic, and with a pearly-white smile that brightens his handsome face, it would be really hard to keep your soul after a night with this character.
13. Zao (Rick Yune), Die Another Day: High cheekbones, full lips, no body fat, and some kick-ass moves. It wouldn't be too bad to lose a fight to this guy.
14. Early Grayce (Brad Pitt), Kalifornia: Totally insane, scruffy, long hair, and killed a woman then brought back her nice red shoes for his girl. Now that is thoughtful.
    
15. Dracula (Gerard Butler), Dracula 2000: Okay, so this move totally sucked (pun intended) but being bitten by a vamp that looks like Mr. Butler ... well ... that wouldn't suck that much.

Okay, now I know that I've missed somebody. Any suggestions???

Too Much ...

Either I'm too distracted with all the merriment in which I've been partaking or just numb (though I'd like to believe it's the first), but I got another rejection for Dark Earth and wasn't upset. No bitterness. No anger. No sorrow. Just a kind of blasé feeling of "oh, well."

Hmmm.

Maybe because their excuse was that they found the premise interesting but they thought I had too much going on: vampires, werewolves, aliens, multiple dimensions, oh my! I was always a little concerned that I had too much going on within the story. But that's the way it came out when I wrote it. The story which inspired me. Also, I hadn't heard that criticism from CPs and some hadn't read this genre before and seemed fine with it. In fact, a few wanted more descriptions and details.

Oh, well.

It's not like I did it just to be different or just to see how much I could pack into one story. The vamps and werewolves were formed from an alien virus. They both reside in alternate realities of Earth and are now wanting to take over our dimension. I was trying to explain their origins from a different view. I guess it could be complicated but I believed that it came together pretty well, especially since I tried not to get to much into the scientific aspects of it. *shrugs* To each, his own. At least she's not saying that my writing style needs improvement or she couldn't get into my characters. It wasn't a horrible rejection, but just a rejection.

What to do but move on to the next and keep on keeping on.

Oh, and drink lots of eggnog.

One of Those Thangs

It's been one of those couple of months where even though positive things have been happening, the negative seems to trump all of that. I'm in a funk. In a bottom-of-the-barrel, no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel funk. Mostly, it's people bullshit, which I really need to learn to deal with better. Just a few snide comments others have made or words people have spewed that is total ... well ... crap. And they know it's a lie but, of course, won't admit to it. And NOTHING gets me angrier than when someone tells a bold-faced lie to my face about something I did or didn't do.

It all boils down to perception. How they see it and their state of mind. Sometimes it's easier to put others down to make yourself feel better than admit the truth.

Doesn't make it right, but at least it helps to see it from their perspective however painful and untrue. Ugh!

I'll get through it. I always do. But my negative state of mind is not helping matters when it comes to writing. I'm stuck again. I had some comments on my first chapter of my latest story and it needs a lot of work, so I'm just wondering whether I should clean up that chapter, which will take a bit, or continue on writing the story. But right now I have no idea of the middle, though I do know the ending. Ugh! My husband suggested plotting the story and writing to it. But I'm so not a plotter. I'm a pantser and the idea of writing to an outline makes me feel like my creativity's encased in a straight jacket—too confining.

Again, I'll get through it with a little help from my friends. :)

On a positive note (which I really should be focusing more on), the cover I designed for Parker Publishing is on their website! (In case you didn't know, in my alternate life I'm a graphic designer.) Vegas Bites Back is an anthology about a pack of werewolves that runs a French Quarter-themed casino in Las Vegas. Top-notch authors have contributed to the anthology so it will definitely be a great read. I'm excited to be a part of Parker Publishing, which is blazing trails in African American and interracial romance and literary fiction. The wonderful Marcia Colette's new book will be out with Parker Publishing next year. I can't wait!