Binge Worthy TV

Lots of folks are stuck at home. Some are genuinely afraid (perhaps due to the media and their government slaves) and others are merely following the laws of their local area. Whatever. Thankfully, most utilities are still working, as is the internet, including streaming media services. So, back to the title of this post. What’s worth watching? Here are some recommendations:

Hubby and I have recently watched Self Made, a not particularly accurate document-drama based on the life of Madam C. J. Walker. Her story is certainly worth telling, and Octavia Spencer does her usual great job in the title role. There are four episodes, so it is sorta like a mini-series. Most of the supporting roles are well- acted, also. Professional critics have pointed out some of the deviations from the real story, but suffice it to say that the “Hollywood agenda” made some changes to the details. Anyway, this is the story of washer woman in the early 20th century, who seeks to better herself via manufacturing and selling hair products.

We also just finished Season 3 of The Good Doctor, which we watched on Hulu. If you’ve not seen this show, it is certainly a good one. The basic story line follows an autistic doctor through his residency as a surgeon in a largish hospital. While the types of cases taken on by the surgical staff stretches the show’s credibility, the characters are quite compelling. The portrait of a young man navigating the rigors of medical residency and the difficulty of interacting with patients and other staffers as a person with autism is really fascinating. We’ve enjoyed The Good Doctor, and we are looking forward to season 4.

One of our favorite television series just dropped season 3 on Netflix, and that’s Ozark. If you liked the modern day morality play, Breaking Bad, then you’ll certainly like Ozark. While it is every bit as dramatic and shocking, there is a different tone in Ozark, as the cast of characters is a bit larger, the production values are quite high, and the setting is certainly a part of the show. Northeastern Georgia subs for the real setting, which is interesting to us, as we live nearby.

Another binge worthy show, and one that is quite relevant to the current pandemonium, is The Last Ship, which is available on Hulu. This story begins onboard a ship (duh) which is tasked with ferrying around an epidemiologist who is seeking the source of a virulent virus. Said virus does “get out” and roughly 80% of the population dies. The ship is both a haven for its sailors and the last hope of a functional military for a nation in crisis. The main character, Captain Tom Chandler, is well-acted by the magnetic Eric Dane. If you’ve not seen this story, it is certainly binge worthy.

As I write this, my county in Georgia has had 15 confirmed cases of the Covid 19 virus, and the local population is roughly 67K. That means 99.994 of us don’t have it. Instead of being grateful for the natural “social distancing” associated with rural life, our governor has “deputized” the local sheriff (weird use of the word, huh?) to break up gatherings and chase down those who want to visit a beauty parlor or buy a shirt. So, we might as well binge watch something entertaining while waiting for common sense to catch up.

Enjoy the recommendations!

Crime Novel Cover Art

Sales of my suspense/crime novel, Victim & Witness have been, well, terrible. Although the adage says “Don’t judge a book by its cover” we know that most folks do make a choice based upon the cover art. So, I’ve blamed the cover artist (me) for poor sales. With that in mind, I redesigned the cover yet again. Here’s the new version, freshly downloaded from my account with Canva.com:

I posted it on a few sites on Facebook, and already I’ve been told that it looks like a book on hiking and not “a crime novel.” That’s fair, I suppose. However, this novel is about a sorta crazy guy who decides to live out some sadism fantasies with a chick he kidnaps and takes into the woods. Hence the path into the woods. Also, I added the caption to clarify that it’s not just about going into the woods, although a cabin in the woods is the main setting of the story.

The graphic at the top of this post is a screenshot of some random book covers associated with the search term “crime.” Some of them are pretty nifty, including an ax (not in my book) guns (only in the hands of cops, who are minor characters in my story) and blood spatters (not in my book, either.) I did notice a lot of cartoonish cleavage, which actually would be somewhat appropriate for my story, but I don’t know any affordable artists who could create an image of Betsy’s breasts.

Here’s cover # 2, which I didn’t like all that much, although a beat up white pick-up truck is an important part of the story:

I suppose it is rather obvious that I based the new cover on the previous one, but I did make minor changes in the typeface to make it stand out more, as well as changing the cover photo. While I prefer art that covers the entire front of the book, there are many books which feature this arrangement. When I designed cover #2, I added the caption “A Crime Novel” because the pickup truck, although rather dilapidated, doesn’t convey menace.

The original cover was done via blending together two different stock images, which should have been perfect, but somehow it doesn’t work as I had hoped. By the way, I used that same blending technique on the cover for Dirtball, with different stock pictures, of course, and I think it really helped sales!

The main image for cover #1 is a cabin, in the woods, beside a lake, which is one setting in the novel. Blended at the top is a dark haired woman, wearing bondage gear, which is also a part of the story, as the perpetrator holds his victim in such gear for a while. When I was writing this story, I used a two-fold plot line, wherein the story switches between the plight of the victim and those who are searching for her. So, there is some dramatic irony in that the reader knows exactly where that beat up old white pick up took the “victim,” but the the cops are trying to develop leads. There is suspense, of course, and as the case develops, there are some legal ramifications.

Beta readers seemed to like the story very much, so I’ve been a bit baffled as to why it hasn’t sold well, nor have many Kindle Unlimited readers logged any reading, which is how authors are paid for KU. And contemplating poor sales figures brings me back to those lurid covers. Maybe I do need a cartoon.

Handcrafted: A Woodworker’s Story

Everyone has a story. Once upon a time, ordinary people seldom had the opportunity to tell their stories. Nowadays, self-publishing has made telling stories much easier. Even better is a bit of fame.

Clint Harp is a regular on the HGTV show Fixer Upper, as he is shown building tables and other items, usually with just a few strokes of a pen by the talented Joanna Gaines. After a few years of appearances on Fixer Upper, Harp has become a well known artisan, and his business has grown along with his reputation.

I’m like most readers in that I enjoy a “rags to riches” story, and Harp’s autobiography is very much such a story. From his earliest recollection, his family had very little money, and his folks moved frequently. As a teenager, he found friendship and some stability in school and in church. With the help of student loans, Harp managed to graduate from Baylor in Waco, Texas, and that is where he met his wife, Kelly.

Without giving too many details, or spoilers if one can have those in an autobiography, Clint went through a number of jobs, including a stint as a missionary in Europe, before ending up back in Waco, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and trying to follow his dream to become a furniture craftsman. The Harp family struggled with finances, and they maxed out credit cards as they had trouble buying groceries and keeping the power on in the workshop. Still, he persevered.

Apparently Waco is like a lot of smaller towns, where folks do a lot of networking. In the south, it isn’t just who you know, but who your friends know, also. And, his friends kept telling Harp that he needed to meet Chip Gaines. Eventually, Harp was able to connect with Chip Gaines and his wife and business partner, Joanna. Some of the early projects were a stretch for Harp’s woodworking skills, but he worked very hard and put in insane hours getting everything done right, and on time. The furniture and home design of Harp Design Company and Magnolia Homes symbiosis was just beginning when Fixer Upper began filming for in Waco, and Clint was featured in many of the shows. As the show became more and more popular, Harp Design Company grew more profitable.

Handcrafted is not a how-to book. There are only a few details about making furniture, but there is an inspiring narrative about how a struggling young couple kept on trying to make their dreams come true, while dealing with the problems that life throws at all of us. In sharing his story, Clint Harp is certainly engaging in a bit of self-promotion, but many readers will certainly enjoy the gems of wisdom in the book, and most anyone would find his determination inspirational.

 

Free for Three Days promo

I’ll keep this short and sweet (if you like freebies, that is.) All of my Kindle titles are free for three days: November 29, 30, and December 1. After that, they go back to their full rather inexpensive price. Why do freebies? In the hopes that readers will download them, read them, and like them well enough to write a brief review or mention the title to a friend. Anyway, here are the links:

Last chance for a freebie

Free until midnight!

For you Kindle readers, my debut novel, Once Upon a Dirtball, is a science fiction story with a romantic subplot. Here’s an excerpt from a reviewer on Goodreads:

“Once Upon a Dirtball is a science-fiction adventure with some romance. I was leery about buying this book since it only had one other review but I am glad I gave the book a chance. The plot line is a bit slow moving but very detailed. Fighter pilot Trina McQueen gets kidnapped and sold into slavery on a planet that has no technology so the chance of escape is pretty low…I really liked this book and found it extremely unique. Yeah being kidnapped by aliens and sold into slavery isn’t a unique concept but Pilar Savage puts enough different details into her book to make it a very original story.”

There are probably a lot of fans of science fiction who haven’t given Once Upon a Dirtballa try, because it has so few reviews. So, science fiction fans it’s going to be free only until the end of July 16.

Link to excerpt:

Excerpts of Once Upon a Dirtball and Victim & Witness now available

Imposters (television series)— a brief review

The ensemble cast is amazing.

The lighthearted yet slightly dark comedy Imposters is really one of the best television shows that hubby and I have watched lately. First, there is the rather original plot, wherein a lovely female con artist marries and then leaves her victims, after cleaning out their bank accounts and maxing out their joint credit cards. But, that is just the beginning. As the victims meet and unite in their efforts to locate their mutual nemesis, the plot thickens considerably. Not since Jennifer Garner won fame with her different costumes and swift moving plots on Alias, have I seen this many costume changes. Spoilers are not fun, so I will stop there, but the two seasons available are amazing.

Each character is well acted, and the writing is simply wonderful. The plot does twist and turn quite a bit, the settings change, and the villain(s) become more and (in some cases) less villainous. The best stories are a matrix of elements, and Imposters has a long list of such attributes: Characters that engage the viewer, check. Suspense, check. Clever dialogue, check. Organic but outlandish plot twists, check. Humor, check. Cute tag lines that continue to crop up in the dialogue, check. A diverse cast of good actors, check.

I’m not quite sure how hubby found this hidden gem in the Netflix library of television shows, as it has few reviews online, but I’m so glad he did.  If you want to be wowed by a fantastic plot and solid acting, while laughing at least once or twice per episode, do yourself a favor and seek out the series Imposters. It’s really a great little show.

SlingTV—Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

As a “cord-cutter” and a football fan, finding a way to stream college games has been getting better, but after watching the buffering symbol instead of watching the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide in the National Championship game, I cancelled my subscription to SlingTV. Oh, if you want to watch “Vintage Flip” on demand (which is one of my favorite HGTV shows, by the way) then all is well. But let lots of fellow fans try to see the national college championship, and there are many, many technical issues.

We tried everything— change computers, different web browsers, modem reset. In the end, we switched between listening to WSB radio, which worked great except for the visuals, of course, and trying to at least see some of the instant replays. Even if the interface had worked, the evening would have been disappointing, as hubby’s beloved Bulldogs lost, but we didn’t see much until the end of the game. Perhaps a few fans dropped off, because the stream got better during the forth quarter and overtime.

I think SlingTV is a good alternative for folks who might want to see some mainstream news or some obscure shows, but for sports, which was the only real reason I signed up, it is lacking. In September, I’ll be looking for a new way to stream college football, and YouTube TV may be my next attempt to feed my need for live sports.

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Writing reviews can be difficult, because what each reader wants differs. I love a good story or a good essay, with what I term “food for thought.” Often, I am disappointed, but not always. Of the authors I have read, one who seldom disappoints is Lois McMaster Bujold. I am a huge fan of her Vorkosigan novels, and apparently other folks like them, too.

As she is getting older, and as publishing has changed rather a lot since she got her first contract in the mid-1980s, she has been experimenting by putting some items on Amazon’s Kindle platform. No doubt she will get some money, and perhaps win some new readers. Bravo!

Probably, Sidelines: Talks and Essays by Lois McMaster Bujold will mostly appeal to fans, however. This volume is a collection of pre-written speeches, “Afterward” essays, travelogues, and blog posts. Each one is prefaced with a short intro that puts it into “context” which is helpful. There were times that I had to use the “define this word” function in my Kindle app (which does not happen to me very often) because Bujold is really smart, and times when I laughed aloud, because she is also quite adept at incorporating humor into her writing.

My absolute favorite part is when Bujold describes her favorite fan letter, penned by a lady who was reading the first Vorkosigan book, Shards of Honor, and was so engrossed that she did not want to stop reading while doing an errand at her bank. So, this fan is standing in line, reading Shards, and when she finally got up to the teller, she was informed that she could not get any change, as all the money had been taken by the bank robber. Turns out that the bank had been robbed while the reader had her nose in the book, and the reader failed to notice. Asked by a security guard for her description of the robber, the fan was a bit embarrassed, so she simply said she could not remember any details.

For me, Bujold’s works have been a pleasant way to spend some time, but in the future, she may well be one of the authors who elevates science fiction into what will be known as science fiction literature. Indeed her work is already the subject of a scholarly book by Edward James. As for Sidelines, it is certainly food for fans who want to know more of the stories behind Bujold’s many stories.