Disability in Orange is the New Black
I watched all of the Netflix Original series Orange is the New Black in one weekend and it was awesome. Lots of interesting characters and many stories. Sharp humor and really believable. For anyone who hasn’t heard about this show, it’s the story of a yuppie white woman in her thirties who suddenly goes to prison for a drug crime she committed ten years before during her rebellious and wild youth. It’s based (loosely) on an autobiography. The show takes the opportunity to explore the lives of women in prison and definitely humanizes that entire population. Disability came up in two cases. One One of the guards is a single leg amputee. I think they played it perfectly. He is totally capable and we don’t see any indication of his disability...
Read MoreIron Man 3: Haven’t We Moved Past These Cliches Yet?
Overall, I did really enjoy the Iron Man 3 movie. I haven’t seen the other two and my first introduction to Iron Man was in The Avengers. I found that his character was really fun and different for a superhero. Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but the bad guy’s disability in this current movie bothered me. In the beginning you’ve got Guy Pearce’s character, Aldrich Killian, who has greasy hair, awful glasses, acne, and a bad limp, walking with a cane. As such, he has no respect from anyone. Tony Stark won’t listen to him and Pepper Potts turns him down for dates, embarrassed that he even asks her. Well, the greasy hair and bad glasses are easily fixed and having a disability didn’t mean that he had to be ugly too. He makes...
Read MoreArmless
I noticed a movie on Netflix the other day called Armless. Can you guess what it’s about? Yup, it’s a “wannabe” guy who longs to get rid of his arms. I always feel nervous about watching movies that are specifically about devotees, pretenders, or wannabes. I don’t trust the people creating it to understand. So today I finally got up the courage to watch it. It’s an indie film and like many modern indie films, it is heavy on the atmosphere and very light on the action or dialog. A subject like this, I think, requires more than just watching a morose man wandering around not being able to tell people that he wants to have his arms removed. It’s more than half way through the movie before people start actually talking about...
Read MoreAuthor Interview: Reprobate by Martyn V Halm
Today’s interview was conducted by DevoGirl, beloved reviewer of dev literature… Reprobate is the first installment in the Amsterdam Assassin Series. Katla Sieltjes is a professional assassin for hire, specializing in hits that can’t be traced. When the novel begins, she is taking out the owner of a shop selling antique Japanese swords, with his own merchandise, when she is interrupted by a blind man, Bram Merleyn, who has come to pick up his order. Katla has a firm policy of not allowing witnesses to her hits to live, but Bram is blind, and totally sexy. She lets him go, but can’t seem to stay away from him. So begins an unlikely but fascinating partnership. How will a cold-blooded killer and a pacifist musician find any common ground?...
Read MoreMovie Review: Young Adult
The movie Young Adult with Charlize Theron was not at all what I was expecting. Being about a YA author, I thought it would be zany and fun, an upbeat comedy. It came up on Netflix and I watched it last night, discovering that it was anything but upbeat. It’s actually very difficult to watch. The main character is struggling with depression and her behavior can be very difficult to empathize with. The only thing that kept me watching was discovering a character played by Patton Oswald who has a disability. The story is that Mavis leaves the big city of Minneapolis to go back home to Mercury, Minosota when she sees her ex-boyfriend’s announcement that he and his wife have had a baby. Mavis becomes convinced that Buddy, her ex, is trapped in his...
Read MoreReview: The Boy Next Door by Annabelle Costa
I love this book. I fell in love with it right from the start, as soon as Tasha began to narrate. She is witty, sassy, and hilarious. At the same time she doesn’t understand love nearly as well as she thinks she does. After some wild years, she’s finally ready to settle down, but she still can’t see that the right guy for her has been there all along. It’s frustrating in the best possible way to watch her screwing up her life. The book has some flow charts at the ends of some of the chapters that are laugh out loud funny. Costa really understands humor, that’s for sure. And she also knows how to reveal an endearing vulnerability just below the humor. It’s a real talent. I’d read anything at all that she wrote! Jason is...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
