Susan Abel Sullivan, author
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Inspiration from Recreation

12/31/2015

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The writing life is predominantly about putting your butt in your writing chair and doing the work. 

However, taking some time to actually live life gives you something to write about.  The word recreation comes from the root words of re and create meaning to re-create or to create again.  So participating in recreational activities is not goofing off, but bolstering your creativity.

I took some time off yesterday to visit the Jax Zoo in Jacksonville, Florida with the hubs.  The bright sunny day with a high of 85 degrees had me wondering if I'd slipped into a time warp and skipped ahead to May or June. 

We admired the giant tortoise named Goober (a children's book title if I ever heard one) and discovered that some elephants are quite hairy--perhaps a throwback to their wooly mammoth ancestors? 

But my "aha!" moment of inspiration arrived when we stopped by the vulture exhibit.  One of these large birds was sunning himself beside the viewing area with his wings extended.  And I realized that my fictional school for the supernaturally challenged didn't have any vultures. I snapped a photo to remind myself to work vultures into the novel, either as a pet, a school mascot or even a were-vulture. 

But wait, my muse wasn't done yet.  The next exhibit contained fruit bats.  I'd never been able to find them during previous visits, but yesterday I finally noticed them hanging against the back wall of their area.  One bat was awake and grooming itself like a cat!  I didn't know bats did that! How cool, especially since my novel-in-progress has bats and vampires. 

So going to the zoo gave me not one but two new bits of fun inspiration to weave into my novel. 

And if you're still not sure if you should take a break from work to go do something fun, just remember Jack Torrance from Stephen King's The Shining typing pages and pages of:  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Now go out there and recreate, after all, tomorrow's a holiday.


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The Force Awakens

12/18/2015

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With the anticipation of a giddy teen, I saw STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS this afternoon in 3D.

My review: LOVED IT!

I even felt chills near the end (I won't say which scene due to spoilers) which is a difficult emotional/physiological reaction for films to evoke in me.  The only thing more significant than chills are tears and it just wasn't a tear jerker kind of movie. 

I went into the movie theater with high hopes and was not disappointed in any way.  THE FORCE AWAKENS lives up to all its hype.  The special effects didn't smother the story like they did in the last three Star Wars movies.  The plot harkened back to the very first Star Wars film: A NEW HOPE. 

The wait for the next installment will be agonizing, but I have been inspired by THE FORCE AWAKENS to get my novel-in-progress finished and out into the world.  Like George Lucas, Disney, and J.J. Abrams, I'd love to bring joy to millions of children and adults through my writing.  For me, the act of writing isn't complete without an audience (or readership.)

 And having a movie or movies made from my works wouldn't be half bad, either.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS--Go see it. :-)
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Star Wars Anticipation

12/16/2015

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Hello, my name is Susan and I'm a huge Star Wars fan.

I saw the original Star Wars movie the summer of 1977.  I was only fourteen and had to beg my mom to take me to see it since I couldn't drive yet.  Seventeen Magazine had featured the film in their movies column with a photo of C3PO.  Horror movie lover that I was, I thought he was some sort of metallic skeleton and wanted to see the movie on the basis of that alone.

Boy, were my assumptions ever wrong. 

Back in 1977, movie theaters were still huge.  The "Big Screen" was literally a BIG screen.  Gargantuan, actually.  Most movie houses only had two large theaters that could probably seat a thousand people or more.  Lines would often form outside the theater and worm down the sidewalk to wrap around the theater for the most popular movies.  You couldn't buy tickets more than half an hour ahead of time and the internet wouldn't be reality for twenty more years, so if you wanted to guarantee yourself a seat in a popular movie, you had to show up ahead of time and wait in line to buy your ticket.  The age of multiplex theaters with numerous small-screen theaters was still a few years away. 

Seeing a movie on such a big screen was literally a larger-than-life experience.  You felt totally immersed in the world of the film you were seeing and for me, I'd "fall" into the world I was watching, something that doesn't tend to happen with smaller theaters or when watching a movie on TV because I'm constantly aware that I'm watching a movie instead of feeling that I've fallen down a rabbit hole into a different world.

The original Star Wars absolutely blew me away in every respect: film making, story, special effects, music, costuming, and acting.  I was totally gaga for Luke Skywalker and could relate to bossy Princess Leia. 

Star Wars influenced the first novel I ever wrote when I was in college and made me a life-long fan of movie-music composer John Williams. I used to disco dance to Meco's Star Wars at school dances and Big John's Teen Disco in Pensacola, Florida.  My high school marching band played the Star Wars theme in one of our half-time shows.  I choreographed a baton-twirling solo to "The Throne Room/End Credits" music from the movie's soundtrack.  I had a Star Wars movie poster on my bedroom wall, as well as a Star Wars calendar.  Even now, at the age of 52, I have an official Star Wars light saber that looks and sounds pretty darn real when you turn it on. 

So yeah, you could say that I'm ridiculously excited about seeing The Force Awakens this weekend at the movie theater.  The early reviews are touting it for an Oscar nomination and the prediction is that it will be the biggest box office turnout of the 21st century.  When I heard that the Disney company had bought the rights from George Lucas, I did a happy dance with high hopes that they'd do the next three films right.  Based on the early reviews, it sounds like they have and will.  All I can say is I can't wait for the weekend to arrive.

"May the Force be with you!"




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