Susan Abel Sullivan, author
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Novel: WEREDOG WHISPERER
  • Novel: HAUNTED HOUSEWIVES
  • Collection: CURSED
  • eBook: FRIED ZOMBIE DEE-LIGHT!
  • Blog
  • Events and Appearances
  • Short Stories/poems
  • Follow Me
  • Mystery dog?
  • Odyssey Writing Workshops
  • Contact

Love Song for a Vampire

6/21/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
I've recently become a big fan of the TV show THE BIG BANG THEORY which revolves around four nerdy scientists who revel in the minutia of their favorite spec fiction movies, books, and TV shows.

In keeping with the spirit of fellow geekdom, here are the Top Five Dracula movies of all time (in my opinion, of course.)

1. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992) starring Gary Oldman as the Count (pictured above with Winona Ryder as Mina Murray Harker) and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  The most faithful adaptation to the novel.  Although historical details about the real-life Vlad Tepes of Transylvania were added to the screenplay, I thought this was a good use of creative license.  Oldman has acting chops and turns in a marvelous performance as the famous count who never drinks wine.

2. DRACULA (1979) starring Frank Langella.  Directed by John Badman of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER fame.  Langella sizzles with sex appeal in this film based on the stage play.  Ooh la la!  Put the bite on me, baby!

3. TERROR OF DRACULA (1958) starring Christopter Lee.  A Britsh Hammer Films Production. I find Lee a bit wooden in this role, but his character's malevolence comes across forcefully.  Peter Cushing (Governor Tarkin in STAR WARS) as Van Helsing and Michael Gough (Alfred the Butler in the BATMAN movies) as Jonathon Harker round out the cast.

4. DRACULA (1932) starring Bela Lugosi.  A Universal Pictures Production.  Lugosi is the most parodied of all the Draculas, yet his performance is beautiful to behold and he was actually Hungarian, so his accent is real. 

5. NOSFERATU (silent movie era) starring Max Shreck as Count Orlock.  A truly frightening film where the Count is not portrayed as a romantic figure in the least.  Bram Stoker's widow sued the film makers for copyright infringement and won. 

So, who is your favorite Dracula of all time? 










0 Comments

Having a Ball

6/8/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture

I have good posture when I write.  Honestly, I do.  I sit up straight in my chair, I don't slouch over the keyboard or laptop, I prop my mouse arm on my chair's arm rest.  I'm an ergonomically sound writer.

Or so I thought until I injured my right shoulder girdle muscles three weeks ago at a fitness convention.  Writing became an exercise in pain, the injured muscles seizing up and spasming when I wrote.  I became hyperconscious of my posture and found it wasn't perfect like I'd thought.

With a book and short story deadline looming and a month of Group X classes scheduled to teach, I couldn't afford to take weeks off from writing or teaching to recover.  I also didn't want to go spend a fortune at the doctor's to be told: "Don't write and don't exercise and don't teach classes."  (By the way, don't try this at home.  Seek medical advice when you have an injury).

As an exercise specialist, I designed a program of exercises to strengthen and stretch my shoulder girdle.  And I pushed my desk chair aside and am having a ball--literally--using a stability ball (a giant inflated ball used in exercise classes) as a chair.  Being that it's round, it forces me to sit up straight if I don't want to roll off backwards.  And when I pause and think, I find bouncing up and down on the ball to be pleasantly meditative. 

Stability balls: not just for exercise anymore.









2 Comments

    Archives

    March 2019
    March 2018
    February 2018
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Author

    Speculative Fiction writer

    Categories

    All
    Airline Travel
    Alternate Universes
    Andrea Janes Interview
    Annnalee
    Bathroom Humor
    Blogging Vs Writing
    Brown Nosing
    Buy Books For Bo
    Casting Your Characters
    Cats
    Christmas
    Coffin Hop
    Crazy At Casa Sullivan
    Dark Shadows
    Dearth Of Older Characters
    Dinosaurs And Ships
    Doggy Style
    Dogs
    Dreams
    East Alabama Today Interview
    Fainting
    Family
    Favorite Books
    Favorite Movies
    Ferrets
    Fire Batons
    Freak Snow Storm
    Free Books
    Fruitcake Sanctuary
    Fun Wine
    Glamour By Andrea Janes
    Halloween
    Hawaii
    Hobbies
    Hula Hooping
    Interests
    Jonathon Frid; Dark Shadows; Barnabas Collins
    Lions
    Love At Second Sight
    Made-up Words
    Misadventures
    Monkeys
    Moxie
    New Year's Eve
    Off Color Topics
    Pet Skunks
    Procrastination
    Publication News
    Rats
    Rotting Corpses
    Secret Chickens
    Sick And Puny
    Snakes
    Stability Ball Chair
    Stalking Celebrities
    Steiff
    Stephen King
    Story Ideas
    Storytelling Through The Arts
    Super Heroes
    Thanksgiving
    The Best Dracula Movies
    The Business Of Writing
    The Hubs
    The Weredog Whisperer
    The Weredog Whisperer: Luna
    Thrift Store
    Turkey Hats
    TV Guest Appearance
    Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pig
    Were-sharks
    Writer Interviews
    Zombies

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.