Closing the File - A Red Dead Redemption Fan Fiction

The clock ticked by in the offices of Blackwater Police Station, drowned out by the clacking of Archer Fordham’s typewriter. He exchanged brief glances with Edgar Ross, who sat on the opposite desk and cleaned his Browning automatic.

The rumble of footsteps made him pause, followed by a knock on the door.
“Those will be the Marshals,” Ross stood up and re-assembled the Browning, “On your feet, Fordham. There’s work to be done.”
“Sir?”
“It seems that our old friend, Mr Marston, is in possession of cattle bearing the brand of the Macfarlane Ranch.”
“I heard that rumour too,” Fordham remained seated, “I looked into it. Mr Macfarlane had gifted the cattle to Mr Marston. His daughter even admitted to driving them a portion of the way.”
“Was there a bill of sale?” Ross leaned over Fordham’s desk.
Fordham took a deep breath.
“No, sir. I did not see any paperwork. Since Macfarlane’s story was supported by his daughter and the foreman – one Amos Thorpe – I didn’t feel the need to ask.”
“That’s probably for the better,” Ross picked up his bowler hat from the nearby stand, “We’re riding over to Beecher’s hope to serve the warrant. Captain Jackson and his men are already en route.”

Fordham stood up.
“With all due respect, sir, I don’t agree with your plan.”
“Excuse me?”
“Marston has done as we asked. Williamson and Van der Linde are both dead, and Escuella is awaiting execution at Sisika State Penitientiary. All thanks to his help.”
“Fordham, you need to be careful of who you idolise,” Ross pointed at him, “Now get your horse saddled and ready to leave. Marston is a dangerous man and has clearly abused our trust. I intend to close the Van der Linde case file today.”
“No. I’m not going to stab this man in the back, sir.”
Ross twitched.
“You disappoint me. Very well. Agent Fordham, you’re confined to administrative duties until further notice. Additionally, I’ll be informing Washington of your gross insubordination today, and pushing for disciplinary action. Now, perhaps you can make yourself useful and find any case files on the other known associates of the Van der Linde Gang.”
“I did that a while back, sir. Charles Smith and Sadie Adler are out of our jurisdiction. Besides which, they don’t have anything we could use to ensure their co-operation in the same way as Marston. Anyone else was of little value or too well-established to be of any use or interest.”
“That’s irrelevant now. Just have those files on my desk by the time I get back.”
“Yes, sir.”

Fordham watched Ross leave. He reached into his draw and produced the bulky file marked “Van der Linde”. He reached into his jacket for his cigarettes, pulling out a book of matches. In a brief moment, he glanced between the matches and the file.
“Case closed,” He scooped them both up and left the office.

Western Weekends - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

It's been a while since I've done a Western Weekend. Things are quiet at the moment, as I've finished my first year of university and am back home for the summer holidays. So, I figured I'd find some method of procrastination which involves some kind of writing.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a western film by The Coen Brothers. Or to be more specific, an anthology of six western stories, which I'll look at in turn. This may take a while.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Tim Blake Nelson plays an affable, loquacious, guitar-playing, fourth-wall-breaking gunslinger known as Buster Scruggs. He's presented as an archetypal "singing cowboy" akin to Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. But in the morally grey setting adopted by more recent western films, he's essentially a sociopath who doesn't feel empathy for anybody.

The vignette shows some improbable gun-fighting sequences and an almost cartoonish tone, which doesn't detract from the violent and amoral nature of the world being built. The most notable involves Buster refusing to play a Dead Man's Hand at a poker game and being threatened at gunpoint by another player. Since he'd surrendered his gun to a bouncer, he kicks a lose table leg into his assailant's gun to simultaneously throw off his aim and discharge it in his face. Repeatedly. And then he starts a musical number. It presents some side-splitting pitch-black humour.

However, it's also apparent that Scruggs is notorious enough to be pursued by up-and-coming gunslingers who hope to cement their own reputations by killing him.

Near Algodones

James Franco plays an unnamed gunslinger who tries to rob an isolated bank on the prairie. Unfortunately, the jabbering teller is more of a match, attacking with shotguns concealed behind each cashier window and then resorting to a Ned Kelly-style assault using armour made from pots and pans.

After the would-be robber is knocked out, he finds himself about to be hanged by a posse, only for them to be killed by an Indian war party. He's left hanging until another cowboy passes by with a herd and cuts him down in exchange for help driving his cattle. Unfortunately, the herd turns about to be stolen, and this Good Samaritan's...goodness...expires when he leaves our friend to be arrested by another posse.

Like the previous story, this one starts with some utterly bizarre imagery from the bank robbery. I like how it plays with the cliche of saving the condemned man by shooting the rope; the cowboy tries this, but misses with his first shot, which scares the horse. This makes it harder to shoot the rope when the man is swinging. It takes a few tries to pull it off. I also love the ultimate tragic irony at the end.

Meal Ticket

Liam Neeson plays a mumbling impresario who's travelling through the various mountain towns. His act is a quadruple amputee orator played by Harry Melling, who recites Ozymandias, passages from the bible, Shakespearean sonnets, and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Unfortunately, the show's popularity is dwindling, and the impresario is becoming increasingly impatient of his charge.

This one doesn't use much dialogue. In fact, Melling doesn't have any lines except in the scenes where he's performing. It's made clear that the orator depends on the impresario to look after him, while the impresario depends on the orator to make money.

It's a grim little story, where show-business is even more cutthroat out on the frontier.

 All Gold Canyon

Tom Waits plays a mumbling prospector who travels to a pristine mountain valley in search of a gold pocket. Most of the story consists of him digging up the meadow and panning for bits of gold before digging deeper.

There's not much to this one. I suppose there's some environmental message which can be picked up; there are shots of the wildlife leaving the valley with the exception of one owl as they sense the prospector approaching. He's pretty much the only character, and the film shows him slaving away in search of the pocket. That said, he seems to show some moral character above his greed; he goes to raid the owl's nest for eggs, but only takes one after being stared down by the owl.

I think they could have cut this one.

The Gal Who Got Rattled

Zoe Kazan plays Alice Longabaugh, a sheltered young woman travelling with a wagon train to marry her brother Gilbert's new business partner in Oregon. Unfortunately, the journey becomes increasingly complicated for her: Gilbert dies of cholera, the hired help demands wages she can't pay, and Mr Knapp the wagon master is forced to put down Gilbert's dog (which promptly runs away when he bungles the attempt).

I think this one should have served as the title of the film. It's the longest story in the anthology and takes up most of the film's running time. It's also the one with the biggest pacing issues. Nonetheless, there's a great action sequence, and a harsh cliffhanger.

The Mortal Remains

The final story follows five passengers on a stagecoach: Jonjo O'Neill and Brendan Gleeson as Thigpen and Clarence, an Englishman and Irishman who are "ferrying cargo"; Saul Rubinek as a French gambler named Rene; Tyne Daly as Mrs Betjeman, a devout Christian lady who is seeking to re-unite with her estranged husband; and an unnamed fur trapper played by Chelcie Ross.

The bulk of the story takes place on the stagecoach, and simply involves the passengers engaging in a philosophical discussion. However, the journey begins to feel unnatural, as Thigpen and Clarence discuss the nature of their work. There's not really much to it, but it does become atmospheric, with the suggestion that the stagecoach may actually be a journey to the afterlife.

All in all, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is an interesting connection of stories depicting a savage world, but I think they could have cut one of the stories. The film is available on Netflix, and I do recommend that you watch it.

I'll catch you on the trail.

Flash Fiction: Bill

John Garrett brushed the dust off his jacket as he leaned against the hitching post. With the midday sun, the burg’s few residents were off the streets. Trying to use what little shade the saloon porch offered, he took the handbill from his pocket and unfolded it:

“William “Waddling Bill” Stanton, wanted for rustling.  $100 reward offered by the Lone Star Cattle Consortium, signed by Circuit Court Judge Erasmus Lauderdale of Prescott, Arizona.”

Stroking his unshaven chin, he pocketed the wanted poster and entered the saloon.

With the shutters closed, shadow filled the interior, except for the dim lamps on the walls, and where sunlight entered through the open door. The bartender’s attention was focussed on the glass he polished with the end of his apron. The floorboards creaked as John approached. In the grimy mirror behind the bar, he could see one patron hunched over in a corner table. The man was pouring a drink from a half-empty bottle of whiskey, but mostly over his hand. His hat was pulled low, so John didn’t see his face.

“Whiskey.” John placed a quarter on the bar. The bartender filled the glass he had been polishing and pushed it along. John unfolded the wanted poster, along with a dollar bill, weighing them down with the glass on the counter. The bartender shook his head and walked away. John grabbed his arm, and pointed to the sketch on the poster. He said nothing, but glanced over John’s shoulder, towards his other customer.

John heard the sound of a toppling glass. He grabbed the Remington in his holster. In the mirror, he could see the patron scrambling for his gun.

Gunfire and shattering glass resounded through the room. John inhaled the powder smoke and tried to keep sight of Bill, oblivious to the irritation to his throat. He pressed against the bar. His heart raced as a wild shot embedded in the wood. He fired at the vague human shape enveloped in the smoke. There was a cry of pain, and silence.

“Did you get him?” The bartender emerged through the clearing smoke. The bounty hunter saw the vacant frame behind the bar. Looking back towards the door, he sighted the blood trail leading outside.

“He won’t get far.” John cocked the Remington and walked out.

“Find him. You’re paying for all this.”

Video Game Retrospective - The Operative: No One Lives Forever

I've been feeling nostalgic, and have been interested in revisiting at a sadly overlooked gem from 2000; The Operative: No One Lives Forever, a first-person shooter with a strong "Swinging Sixties" aesthetic developed by Monolith Productions.

You assume the role of Cate Archer, an operative for a spy agency known as UNITY. A former cat burglar and UNITY's first female operative, Cate has been relegated to the mundane assignments. However, an apparent leak within UNITY has resulted in the systematic elimination of many field agents. Thus, Cate is reluctantly given several high profile missions, bringing her into conflict with a mysterious terrorist organisation called HARM and one of their world domination schemes.

Gameplay is your typical first-person shooter action, but there is an emphasis on stealth (on some missions this is mandatory). In fact, stealth is encouraged because it exposes the player to some finely-crafted conversations between the guards. The casual dialogue paints your enemies as "punch clock" villains who are just doing their jobs and have lives outside their professional ones. One of my favourite conversations is a guard lamenting the fact that he's missing The Man From U.N.C.L.E when he's on duty, and his friend starts a chat about their favourite contemporary thrillers on TV. Shows like Mission: Impossible, The Saint, The Avengers (the Emma Peel one, not the Marvel one), the then-recent finale of The Fugitive, and the recently-advertised The Prisoner.

It's the game's humour which made it stand out. As well as the aforementioned chats, there's optional intelligence items which further emphasise the "punch-clock" aspects of professional villainy. Or there's the code phrases disguised as bad pickup lines and Cate's snarky response, after which her contacts are always apologetic about using the phrases. A lot of the story revolves around Cate dealing with a lot of casual sexism (particularly from her handler, Mr Smith), but it's nice to see that many of UNITY's informants don't share Smith's attitude.

I love the array of characters too. Cate has a strong student-mentor relationship with Bruno Lawrie, UNITY's past-his-prime top agent who recruited her many years ago. There's also an array of colourful villains. The most memorable of these is Magnus Armstrong, a violent Glaswegian demolitions expert who captures Cate on several occasions but refuses to kill a fellow Scot without a fair fight.

The game was followed by a sequel, A Spy in HARM's Way. That's also a good game, but with a slightly different sense of humour. There was also an interquel called Contract Jack, in which you play as a freelance hitman working for HARM. I haven't played that one, but I've heard it wasn't very good and prompted Monolith to discontinue the franchise.

Writing this, I have to lament the fact that you can't get these games because of a copyright issue. Monolith was acquired by Warner Bros Interactive. The publisher, Fox Interactive, was acquired by Vivendi, which merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard. And nobody knows who owns the rights to the game, so there's been no re-release. It's not even on Steam or Good Old Games. I think that's tragic, because it's a great game.

I hope this can be sorted soon.

Until then, happy writing.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future - Wrap Up

Looking over the Back to the Future films, I'd say it remains a pretty solid trilogy, even if the second and third films feel closer to each other than the first.

Something I do realise is that Marty doesn't really develop over the first film, but it's his parents who get the bulk of the character development, and it's a pretty fine development so it's not an issue. His fear of perceived cowardice introduced in the second film could have been tacked on in response to this.

Each film has plenty of jeopardy, but things always seem to work out in the end.  This actually gets mentioned in the third film, with Marty asking "Why do we have to cut these things so damn close?" Despite that, I still love the tension in the scenes.

All in all, they're all films I can watch any time.

And before I go, I'd like to share this video of Tom Wilson, who wrote a song about questions he's often asked about his role in the films:

Happy writing.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future Part III

I think most people would have made up their minds about Back to the Future Part III after seeing the trailer for it at the end of Part II. Any longtime readers of this blog know that I love westerns, so I definitely made up my mind.

Picking up where we left off, Marty McFly and Doc Brown had returned to 1955 to destroy a sports almanac so Biff couldn't use it to become Donald Trump a despotic billionaire. Although their mission is successful, Marty becomes stranded in 1955 after the DeLorean is struck by lightning, sending Doc back to the Hill Valley of 1885. He arranges for a letter to be delivered to Marty, stating that he is content to stay in the past and work as a blacksmith, but provides instructions so the younger Doc Brown can repair the DeLorean and allow Marty to return to 1985.

Unfortunately, plans in this series have a tendency to get complicated. While Marty and the younger Doc are recovering the DeLorean from an abandoned mine near an old cemetery, they discover Doc Brown's grave. Seven days after he wrote his letter to Marty, Doc was shot in the back by Buford Tannen, a notorious gunman and Biff's ancestor.

Although he was given strict instructions to go straight back to 1985 and destroy the time machine, Marty decides to back to 1885 and save Doc. Unfortunately, he rips the DeLorean's fuel line, meaning they can't accelerate to the 88 miles per hour needed to time travel. Worse, he falls afoul of Buford Tannen and ends up getting challenged to a showdown. He also meets his own ancestors, Seamus and Maggie McFly.

A lot of people weren't keen on the changed setting, but I'm fine with it. While I wasn't keen on Marty's change of character in the previous film (which they keep here), I'm glad that they try and develop that. It's also nice to see the film explore Doc Brown a little more, when he talks about his background and love of Jules Verne. He even becomes romantically involved with the local schoolteacher, Clara Clayton, although that does have ramifications: He initially saves her life by stopping a runaway buckboard from going into Shonash Ravine, which both Doc and Marty know as Clayton Ravine (indicating that she was originally destined to fall in). When Marty returns to 1985, it's been renamed Eastwood Ravine (yes, Marty went under the name "Clint Eastwood").

I think my favourite moment is a brief one, the day after Marty was challenged by Doc Brown. He'd taken a picture of Doc's tombstone in 1955, but now his name is blank. However, he's being measured for a new coffin, indicating that it could soon be his grave rather than Doc Brown's. He immediately says "Great Scott!" (Doc's catchphrase), while Doc replies "I know, this is heavy." (Marty's usual catchphrase)

Overall, I think this is still a good film. The action and the humour are still on top, and it wraps things up nicely.

Wait a minute, do ZZ Top have a time machine as well?

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future Part II

You'd think a story as tightly-written as Back to the Future wouldn't leave much space for a sequel, let alone two. But they still went for it.

Back to the Future Part II picks up immediately where the previous film left off. Marty is back in 1985, and his adventure in the past has had an effect on his family: His father's now a self-confident and successful science fiction author; his mother is physically active; even Biff is nicer, running his own auto detailing business.

As Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc shows up and takes them both to the Hill Valley of 2015 to stop their future son from getting involved in a robbery with Biff's grandson Griff, setting off a chain of events which would bring down his entire family. The plan is successful, but Marty ends up buying an almanac of sports statistics with the intention of betting on the results in his own time. When Doc lectures him, Jennifer is mistaken for her 2015 self by the police and taken to her futuristic home. While Doc and Marty try and get her back, Biff borrows the DeLorean to give the almanac to his younger self in 1955.

When Marty and Doc return to 1985, they find that Hill Valley has become a lawless dystopia where Biff is a corrupt billionaire and married to Marty's mother. In order to restore the previous timeline, they go back to 1955 to recover the almanac. However, it's the same night that Marty went back to 1985, so they also have to take care not to interfere with those events and create a time paradox.

Once again, the film shows the tight writing of the previous one. Although I wish we had more of the stuff 2015 boasted in 2019, instead of the alternate 1985 which the film seemed to more accurately predict.

However, there is one glaring issue in this film; Marty doesn't like being called chicken, which results in him being goaded into fights or shady business deals. It's something which wasn't addressed in the previous film. In fact, it almost contrasts the Marty of the previous film. He'd been rejected at a school dance audition, and Jennifer was persuading him to send a tape to a record company. My best guess is that he's picked up more courage since his trip to the past, becoming more comfortable with his newly improved family. Nonetheless, it still detracts from what is otherwise a great film.

Also, that kid in the diner is Elijah Wood.

Franchise Reviews - Back to the Future

Time to look at the first film in the franchise, Back to the Future. We have a film which combines science fiction, comedy, action, and coming-of-age.

Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly, a teenager living a somewhat bleak life in the town of Hill Valley in 1985. His father George (played by Crispin Glover), is timid and meek, constantly bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen (Played by Thomas F. Wilson). His mother Lorraine (played by Leah Thompson) is an overweight alcoholic. Marty himself is struggling in high school, but his supportive girlfriend Jennifer (played in this film by Claudia Wells) encourages him to follow his dreams to become a rock star.

Christopher Lloyd plays Marty's best friend Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown, a mad scientist who has recently unveiled a new invention; a time machine built out of a DeLorean. During the demonstration in a shopping mall car park, the pair are accosted by Libyan terrorists, whom the Doc conned into acquiring the plutonium needed to power the time machine. After the Doc is gunned down, Marty tries to escape in the DeLorean and accidentally triggers the time machine, leaving him stranded in the Hill Valley of 1955 without the plutonium needed to make a return trip. He encounters a teenage George being bullied by a teenage Biff, and stops him from being hit by a car being driven by Lorraine's father. Which prompts Lorraine to become infatuated with him.

Marty eventually finds the younger Doc Brown, and convinces him that he's from the future. They devise a plan to get Marty back by powering the time machine with a bolt of lightning set to strike the clock tower in the town square. Unfortunately, Marty's saving of George has jeopardised his own existence, so he has to get his parents together. That, in turn, results in him repeatedly antagonising Biff.

You'd think that Marty trying to get back to his own time would be a simple enough story without the need to incorporate the other plot threads. However, they've managed to produce one of the most tightly-written scripts I can think of. Every minor detail or conversation in the film is important. For example, Marty is walking through the square with Jennifer when they encounter a campaign to not repair Hill Valley's clock tower after it was struck by lightning in 1955. Marty uses the flyer he's given to determine when he and the younger Doc Brown can use a bolt of lightning to power the DeLorean.

Even the minor details come back full circle. Marty watches the time machine's demonstration at the Twin Pines shopping mall. Doc explains that the farmer who used to own the land wanted to grow pine trees. When Marty goes to 1955, he runs over one of the pine trees while escaping from the shotgun-wielding farmer who mistook him for an alien. When he returns to 1985, the mall is now called "Lone Pine".

I love the comedy in this film too. One of my favourite moments involves Marty convincing George to ask Lorraine out. When George initially refuses, Marty poses as an alien using his radiation suit and a Van Halen tape. And speaking of music, Alan Silvestri's score compliments the film nicely.

Sorry, I've not really reviewed this film but rather gushed about it. It's a classic, and since I'm reviewing all the films, I felt obliged to do a piece on this one. It never struck me as a film that needed sequels. But I'll talk about the first of those tomorrow.

Franchise Reviews - The Back to the Future Trilogy

Great Scott! I've finished my first year!

I've handed in all my first year assignments, so now I'm looking for ways to pass the time over the third term. I've got a novelette that's probably due for another revision, and I'm also looking at making a pirate-themed setting for the new edition of the Savage Worlds roleplaying system.

But I also might do a bit of blogging. It's a bank holiday weekend, and I figured I'd do another Franchise Review series, since I haven't done one of those for a while. And I found the Back to the Future trilogy on Netflix.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be looking at the cinematic adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, wherever (or perhaps whenever) they may be.

#NaPoWriMo: Final Thoughts

Well, I've done it. I managed to write a poem every day for National Poetry Writing Month. As I predicted, writing a poem every day for a month offered more flexibility than National Novel Writing Month did.

I started writing poetry last year for a few Twitter prompts, and have also had university assignments which have involved writing both strict form and free verse poems. I tried both over the course of the month.

Of course, choosing what form to write in can be a pain. With strict form, you have a structure to work with, but you can't always convey as much emotion when trying to fit the poem to the form. For example, I tried writing a ballade, but struggled to fit the form and published something else instead. With free verse, you can dedicate more time to emotion. However, it's very easy for the poem to become structured, even if it doesn't follow a strict form. I made fun of this in my final piece, discussing the advantages and disadvantages while switching between strict form (specifically ballad and terza rima) and free form.

There's also the issue of content. With thirty days' worth of poems, I tried to find different things to write about. Some of my earlier works had been re-workings of poems I'd written previously, either from Facebook prompts or homework tasks. In fact, I read out my first two pieces at an open mic night at the beginning of the month. That was fun.

A lot of my work ended up being what I'd like to describe as "rhythmic rants", but I suppose that gave me a lot to work with.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. I might try it again next year, I might not. Depends on how I feel.

Happy writing.

Meet the Author - JM Sullivan

Today I'm delighted to welcome JM Sullivan to the Writer's Block, who is launching her latest novel, Second Star, and has come to answer some questions.

1) First of all, tell us a little about yourself and what you write.

Hello everyone! My name is JM Sullivan. I'm an author and also the host of Twitter’s #AuthorConfession game. When I'm not writing or hanging out with my writing friends, you can find me at home reading and watching movies or attempting to bake with my family. Most of the time though, my head is in the clouds imagining twisty versions of my favourite fairy tales, because you guessed it, I am a retelling writer. I love retellings because it's fascinating to me how many unique takes can be given to the stories that we’ve grown up with. Whether exploring the origin of a villain, changing the setting, or putting it in a whole new time period, giving a small spin to a familiar tale can breathe completely new life into it and make something totally unique. For me, that’s as close to magic as I think I ever need to get.

2) Tell us about the new book

Second Star is a futuristic retelling of Peter Pan, set in space. It's a dual POV story that follows the lives of Lead Hand Mechanic Peter Pan and Captain Wendy Darling as they try and save their crews from Neverland. On a search and rescue mission from the London Brigade, Wendy’s path crosses Peter’s on her mission to retrieve Captain Hooke and his long lost crew. Before she finds the Roger, Wendy meets Peter, who tells her the upstanding Captain is not all he pretends to be. With this new information, Wendy must decide who to trust to save her crew-and she must do it quickly before darkness consumes them all.

3) What authors would you say have influenced you?

I think that I'm influenced at least in some way by all of the authors whose works I love. Getting lost in their worlds makes me want to make my writing strong enough to be able to do the same to my readers, and I think I draw off of the different parts of each of their writing styles that I love the most. But, if I had to give a specific name, Marissa Meyer is an incredibly talented writer, whose retellings are absolutely seamless in meshing old favourites with characters and world building of her own. I’ve said it jokingly before, but seriously, she is the kind of writer I want to be when I grow up.

4) What kind of atmosphere do you like when writing?

Ideally, my picture of a perfect writing session is in a calm, quiet environment with some mood music playing to match my WIP and a cup of hot coffee beside me. In reality, that hardly ever happens (I am typing this as my kids are running around the room and playing make-believe), and I have to adjust. Really, as long as I have my laptop, some music, and caffeine, I can generally make it work.

5) What's the strangest thing you've done as research for a story?

Strangest? Hmmm. I don’t know that anything I have done for research can be called strange in itself (although, my Google search history might raise some brows), but I have done quite a variety of things! From studying related stories to taking kickboxing for fight scenes, I try and apply as much of my real life experiences to my writing as I can. If it’s something I think I can use, I make a mental note and try and work it in when I get back to my story.

6) If your book was adapted for screen, who would you want to cast?

It’s funny that you ask this, because I actually have made a fan casting, and I even have a nice aesthetic! If Second Star was to be made into a movie, I think these actors/actresses would do a phenomenal job:

-Wendy Darling: Mandy Moore
-Peter Pan: Stefano Masciolini
-James Tiberius Hooke: Eduardo Verastegui
-Elias Johns:  Channing Tatum
-Jensen Michaels: Nicholas Hoult
-Marisa DeLaCruz: Shannyn Sossamon
-Arielle Dawes: Katherine McNamara
-Aidan Boyce: Freddie Stroma


7) Finally, what's the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Tell your story. Get the words on the page. It may not be pretty at first, but you can always go back and fix parts that don’t work.  To be a writer, you’ve got to take that first step. Until it’s out of your head and on paper, you won’t have anything.

Thank you for joining us today, and I wish you every success with Second Star.

Happy writing.