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Well Hi there! Summer was a busy time for me and as a result I took a break. The winter months are on their way and I'll be spending drastically more time indoors as a result. Maybe I'll pick up blogging again. I haven't decided yet. I just wanted to make an update because the last one was in (holy crap) December of last year.

My Spiffy Badge

NaNo Winner's Badge

Whelp, I successfully won NaNoWriMo. Actually, I won it on the 29th but was too busy recooperating from my wordiness to post a blog about it.

Here in Ohio, it is a little less than half an hour from midnight. Congratulations to all Winners and good job to all the people who gave it a go and didn't quite make it. The point is to try and to create and whether you finished or didn't, you did well and, hopefully, had fun.

Though I technically passed the 50k word goal, I still consider my novel to be incomplete. The manuscript will almost certainly need to be edited with a chainsaw and a sewing machine, but that's okay. There's a lot wrong with it (but also a little right!) and I'm proud of it no matter how you slice it. 

I do feel strangely like something is missing now. For the last thirty days I've pretty much been eating and drinking this little competition, updating facebook and twitter regularly with my wordcount, talking about the novel with friends when I'm not writing it, loitering on the forums, ect. 

Today on my break (when I'd usually be scribbling frantically on a scrap of paper to get a few hundred words) I sat and read quietly. 

...

Weird, yeah?

Anyway, I'm still excited about the novel. Regardless of what scenes will need to be cut and what scenes will be allowed to stay, every word helped me learn a little about the six new people now inhabiting (not quietly) a corner of my mind. Hopefully they get along with their neighbors.

And now, onto December.

Deciding On A New Penname

I don't know that I'll get rid of E.M. Jeanmougin, but I do think that I would like a separate name for when I write kids' stories. 

Of course, with NaNoWriMo coming up, I won't be writing many short stories for the month of November, but I would like to write them in the future.

So here's a list of potential names:

Scarlett Crowe

Molly Bubbles

Ruby Riley

Crystal Campbell

These are just off the top of my head, though I'm rather attracted to the name Scarlett Crowe. Always appreciate suggestions, ect.



[I think that is all for now. Sorry it isn't longer.]

Food Poisoning and Quitting Caffeine

To begin with, I'm addicted to caffeine. Not, "I have a little headache, I think I need to sit down" addicted. Not "I'm really craving some Coke Zero" addicted. Grouchy, throbbing head, full-body pain with aching eyes and a piss-poor disposition addicted. This is the sort of addiction that one obtains from routinely drinking two Monsters a day and then calmly chasing them down with a half-dozen Mountain Dews. 


But I'm trying to quit because I don't need the heart-attack and kidney failure that will accompany this sort of diet. So I decided I would stop drinking caffeine.


And it's Abso-Lutely. Hateful.

Now imagine being that severely uncomfortable and then layer that discomfort with a nice sprinkling of food poisoning.  

E.M. SMASH!!!

I don't think I've ever been this angry. I just want to wreck the place up. 


I tried to quench my thirst for violence with video games and Tarantino movies, but there's nothing that can be done. 

I also feel super under-productive this month. Maybe tossing something heavy and breakable over the balcony would make me feel better. Probably not. 

Any suggestions that don't include breathing fire?  




**I would have made this entry longer, but my hands are tired of typing now.

How DO You Pronounce That Wacky Last Name Anyway?

I get this question almost every time I meet someone new. In high school, it was to the point where if a teacher paused during role-call, I just raised my hand and said, "It's me."

Say it with me now:

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "That "Mou" looks fancy. I'm going to say it MOO, like a cow, because that is clearly how it is said." But no. Don't be tempted by that smiling U. It's trying to trick you. So let's say it

One more time:

 

There we go. That's better.

But what does it MEAN?!

Well, I can tell you that it is, without a doubt, French. I think at one time it may have been spelled Jean-Mougin but when the fam moved over to the States they changed the spelling and we've always said it the other way ever since.

As to what it means, tell me if you figure it out. Despite having slept soundly through three years of high school French, I somehow never managed to picked up its origin. I'm sure I could research it online, but I probably never will. 

Torchwood Miracle Day: Review

One day, all across the Earth, nobody dies. Simultaneously, death just stops. People still get sick. They still get hurt, still sleep and eat. Just, nobody dies. Nobody CAN die. The happening is joyously referred to as Miracle Day. Only it doesn't just last a day. The next day, nobody dies. And the next. And the next. So on and so forth. And now its really a little concerning, because people are still being born. Such a thing as still-borns don't even exist because babies can't die within the womb. Victims of horrific car accidents survive, in pieces but sentient none the less. A man sentenced to death lives through the agony of lethal injection while sick wards and hospitals fill to the brim with people who should be dead, people who are in frightful pain but who simply cannot die.

This is the concept for Miracle Day.

Miracle Day is a mini-series considered to be Torchwood's 4^th season. However it is the first to premiere on Starz rather than the BBC. For those not familiar with the series, Torchwood is a spin-off of Doctor Who, starring Captain Jack Harkness, an omni-sexual former Time Agent who can't die. Well, technically, he CAN die, very briefly and painfully. Then he gasps and wakes up and walks it off.

Like A Man

Also, he's played by John Barrowman. Ain't he a looker?

There's also Eve Myles, whose name I had to try to spell three times before I guessed right. Her character's name is Gwen and in the first 3 seasons of Torchwood, I'd say she's easily the least likable character. But Miracle Day is a whole different animal than the original Torchwood and Gwen is a different character. She doesn't have all those namby-pamby surface “feelings” that made a viewer want to suplex her through the nearest table. Instead, she has deep-seeded paranoia that causes her to pull guns on innocent passer-bys and perpetually hide heavy cutting knives behind her back. She's the sort of woman who stands in the back of a jeep as it speeds down a beach, just above the surf, and calmly fires a bazooka at the helicopter pursuing her.

And if you think I'm exaggerating, boy are you in for a surprise. 

Look how happy that freaking baby is.

Miracle Day also introduces a few new characters (it has to because SPOILER every one from the original show is dead except for Jack and Gwen and a show starring both of them would be too filled with angst).

The new characters are 1) Rex, who I tentatively refer to as New-Owen, 2) Ester, who I think of as New-Gwen (Old Gwen is still in the picture, but she's really the New-Jack since she is the one playing leader for most of the show), and 3) Vera, who is clearly New-Tosh. Rex and Vera are even a couple. There's also a murderous pedophile played by...Bill Pullman? 

CURSE YOU LONE STARR!!!

In fairness, RTD did an awesome job writing this character and Pullman did a fantastic job playing him. And by that I mean that there are only a few characters I can think of off the top of my head that I have ever actually loathed as purely and full-heartedly as I loath Oswald. 

In that order

I would also say that Miracle Day has a better sense of direction than original Torchwood does. It could be because Torchwood is usually a Monster-of-the-Week sort of show. Miracle Day is more focused. It has a definite destination that it is heading to, even if it circles around itself and gets lost now and then on the way. Hell, with Rex there being all serious and professional you could almost mistake this for an actual Drama. That is, if Gwen and Jack weren't standing in the background giggling like school girls the entire time.

For newcomers, you won't have to worry about watching Doctor Who or original Torchwood because Miracle Day is kind of built to cater to a new audience. You might want to Wiki Jack Harkness or Gwen Cooper before going in, but even if you don't, you'll probably get by okay. For fans of the show, you'll get a nice big chunk of Jack's history, some character development for Gwen and Rhys, and a mini-series that is about on par with Children of Earth.

There's not a whole lot more to say without giving a whole lot away. So here's the short of it:

PROS:

• The cinematography is just generally better than that of the original show. Probably because of a bigger budget.
• Gwen is an actual, engaging character, instead of just a whiny observer.
• The show is focused around an actual plot instead of sex-violence-sex-violence-sex.
• Those elements are still there. Just, y'know, suppressed.
• New characters are fleshed-out very solidly.

• There's an interesting moral dilemma here. Are dead people who just don't die still entitled to the same rights as the living? What actually defines death? Even taking out the bizarre sci-fi element, what changes when over-population starts to occur?

CONS:

• Jack Harkness is the leader of Torchwood. He should be the center piece of the show but for a long time he's barely more than a sidekick.
• Some of the dialogue is a little clunky or runs on too long. I can't remember if it was episode three or four, but there was like a fifteen minute long conversation. That's a fourth of the episode. Too long.
• Certain bits break my suspension of disbelief. For instance, Rex has a hole that goes all the way through his body (lucky he can't die, huh?). I can't imagine making aggressive love like that would be in any way, shape, or form comfortable but it sure doesn't stop him. Also, these people are ALWAYS on their phones. Rex tries feebly to lampshade it by calling them ridiculous but eventually it IS genuinely ridiculous.

The pros outweigh the cons for me. The first few episodes are kind of weak, but they hold the attention well enough to get to the better ones. I would warn that there's a fairly high amount of adult content, so I wouldn't go watching it if you're easily offended. Also, be aware that it is Science FANTASY. That means it's going to be a little ridiculous at times. Probably no more than the David Tennant years of Doctor Who though.

...Okay, maybe a little more.

But definitely never as bad as “Love and Monsters”.

Ramblings

TO START WITH: (you like those caps? I just bet you do) my DA friend Resuki is hosting a little writing contest on DeviantArt. I wouldn't go submitting your ultimate shining piece of greatness, since it will give away First Publishing Rights. However,  if you have a few spare hours, maybe make a visit over to the prompt and whip something up. It's good practice, if nothing else. Also, there's a few small prizes to be had and Resuki will give you a personal critique, regardless of whether you win.

*You can find the contest HERE

*I already have an entry HERE

*The cat is from my DA Account and is unrelated.

__

I submitted a piece to Rainstorm Press's "Mutation Nation" anthology. Whether it be an acceptance or rejection, it'll be a few months before I hear back from them. I have to keep telling myself this, that way I can stop checking my email every 25.22 seconds. I'm pretty sure that a Writer's Hell would be an empty little room, with a slow-running computer and no windows. There, the Writer be trapped in a cycle wherein she (or he) would continually send submissions to various companies and just NEVER receive any sort of response. Not even rejections. Just various spam mails. That way each time she logged into yahoo, the spam could create a tiny (1) beside the word "mail" and she would have a split-second to feel the tiniest glimmer of hope. Before the messages loaded (on that slow computer I mentioned earlier) and she saw the new message was "Bui V1@gr@ n0w!!!1111oneoneone!". 

I'll probably give myself nightmares.

...I'm pretty sure that I'll never stop over-using commas or parentheses. Oh well.

__

In other news, I played Miss Fortune in League of Legends for the first time today. That's her over there to the right. That swanky chest plate she's sporting gives her +5 to Sexerity.


And +10 to Face-Explosions.

Seriously though, she seems to be massively OP. Also fast. Like really, really, really fast. Delorean Fast. 

I sprinted right into a turret and didn't even realize I was there until I was already dead. Her ultimate is an AOE cone of fiery bullets that pretty much incinerates anything in its path. Fair.

__


E.M.'s Dictionary for People Who Don't Play MMO's And Who Probably Don't Care About Silly Abbreviations: 

AOE- Area of Effect
OP - Over Powered
MMO - Massively Multi-Player Online (here, it refers to turret game)

I'm done now.

What's Sleep?

So lately work has been doing this hilarious thing where they decide to schedule me to work until oh...I don't know...eleven p.m. and then have me scheduled to come back in at 9 a.m. the following morning. Being an insomniac to begin with, I can't actually just go home and go straight to bed. I have to go home, read something, edit something, waste a large portion of my life on Facebook/Twitter/Deviantart/whatever other social network exis- oh! Blogger. And then unwind with some more time wasting. And then maybe write something. 

And then maybe STILL not go to sleep.

Tonight is one of those night's so I've decided to just not sleep (you know, the sort of decision reasonable human beings make).  I figured, "hey, I did this ALL the time in high school. It'll be a breeze." Only now it is almost 7 a.m. and I'm getting sleepy. Going to bed at this point is CLEARLY a trap but staying awake an downing a half-dozen cans of Coke Zero probably doesn't bode well either. 


"And while I ponder about sleeping 
Or not sleeping, 
That lovely nine hour shift 
Just keeps on a'creeping,"


Ah rhymes. How I write thee by accident.


Anyway, I'm off to go look up how many energy drinks it is safe to consume in a twenty-four hour period. 


Bai now. 


("Hey E, how long did you spend looking for a picture of your favorite sort of Monster and then tinkering with the margins to make it look right, only to fail miserably?"


ANSWER: TOO LONG)

Chilled Coffee Now Live :D

Looking for a bit of light reading? Why not check out my new piece?

---> Chilled Coffee <--- It's a link, yo.

It's a mere 400 words long. Hope you enjoy! 

Oh, I've also got this little sister blog: Purely To Whine

And my friend Clay has a new blog: Are You Frustrated?

* You've earned the achievement: LINK STORM! *

Movie Review - Paul

Before I start, I want to say one thing; "Paul" is like a roller coaster and, much like a roller coaster, it should come with a warning. 

You should not ride "Paul" if you suffer from:

• Vulgar Language Sensitivity 
• Over-Abundant Nationalism or 
• Underwhelming Enthusiasm for Sci-Fi References 

 Or if you are prone to:

• Being Offended By Religious Jokes, 
• Being Offended By Sexual Jokes, 
• Being Annoyed With Slapstick Humor 

*Or if you have Feelings that are easily Hurt.

If none of the above symptoms apply to you, you will probably enjoy Paul. You'll especially enjoy it if you are a fan of popular Sci-Fi, including (but definitely not limited to) Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, and E.T. Or if you have Simon Pegg's other movies chilling on your DVD rack.

Like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz", "Paul" is a veritable reference-palooza. It is a movie that is hanging so many Lampshades that it will almost certainly fight in the shade and it likes to subvert popular tropes almost as frequently (if not more frequently) as it utilizes them.

The characters are well-developed foils to one another, each of them unique but all with lovable characteristics. As the voice of Paul, Seth Rogen has the Jerk With a Heart of Gold angle down pat and its hard not to like this loud, abrasive life form from another planet. That's even factoring in that (spoiler) he accidentally crashes his spaceship on the head of golden retriever in the first five minutes of the movie. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as an artist and a writer are fun and easy to relate with and there's an equality between them that doesn't exist in their other movies. 

In fact, even if you aren't a rabid Sci-Fi fan, you may still like this movie, just for Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and the voice-acting of Seth Rogen. Oh, and did I mention Jason Bateman? How about Bill Hadder or Blythe Danner or one of the other dozen cameos? Seriously, they're everywhere. And every actor is doing exactly what he or she needs to be doing in order to make the movie an enjoyable experience.

The only complaint might be with the complexity of the plot. That is to say, it isn't really complex. Not at all. But maybe that's the way it should be. After all, this is a movie about growth-of-character, birth-of-inspiration, and love-of-comedy. And there's certainly more than enough of that to go around.


Plus it's only $1 out of Redbox. Just sayin'

Zeon's Message Live!

Hey guys!

Just got home from work to find a lovely surprise. Zeon's Message (a short story about an elf and a gremlin and their daring attempt to escape from a scary cave) went live today. It's my first paid piece to be published so I'm very excited. You can find it here: Kids'Magination, Issue 3.

AVAST!

Ahoy there me maties! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So don't be forgettin' to be droppin' yer "g"s and enunciatin' yer ARRRRRRs. Take'a swing'a that grog and shiver yer timbers!

Have a great holiday, me hearties.

Yo-Ho!

Ah Coffee

Dear Coffee,

I am writing this letter to tell you how much I appreciate you. I know that I have not always paid you as much attention as Coke Zero or that plain-Jane, Water, but I can assure you that you are just as important, if not more-so. We may not see each other everyday, but you are always there when I need you. Please keep sharing your mornings with me?

Love,
E.M. Jeanmougin

Accepted

At about the same time I submitted "Zeon's Message" to Kids'Magination, I also submitted a piece called "Chilled Coffee" to Flashes in the Dark. It will be appearing on the website on 9/27/2011 and I will provide a link at that time. Flashes in the Dark is exposure only (in other words, no pay), but at the time that was all I was really looking to do. I'm working on a new piece to try and submit for an anthology. Wish me luck! :3

Signing xD

Signing my contract with Kids'magination. The new issue comes out sometime in September. I'll post a link here, on the sidebar, and probably also on Facebook when it is out. :)

Small Update

Heard back from Kids'Magination the other day. If all goes well, my short story "The Goblin Queen's Jubilee" should be in an upcoming issue. That's IF of course. Still very exciting!

Testing 1 2 3...

Finally getting serious about submitting to publications. I'm especially a fan of online publications. Most of them ask for a website or blog along with a submission, so I've decided to go ahead and create a blog. That way I can have a link at the end of my name. :D Many thanks to anyone who follows me. <3