Torchwood: Children of Earth ---*spoilers*

Oh my goodness. What a ride this mini-series was. Five nights of packed action with me going 'no!', 'wow', 'holy crap'. Oh yes, I do have an extensive vocabulary.

I loved the arc, the story, the race against time, and the absolute anguish of these characters. It was bloody brilliant. No wonder Torchwood: Children of Earth was a smashing success as reported in SFX.

If you haven't watched Torchwood series, do so. Season 1 took a little getting used to - the style more than anything. I got more into it as time wore on and it was the latter half of the season and then season 2 that stood out more for me. The characters are not cardboard cut-outs. And the ending of season 2, oh goodness.

Now the ending of COE, again not what I expected. And really the two characters that have kept me going with this series left standing - good old (literally) omnisexual Cap'n Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper. I wonder if there will be more to this series or if they will just have Jack meeting up with the new Doctor...

Torchwood is a spin-off from Doctor Who, with the character of Jack. In fact it's an anagram, and when Doctor Who was being relaunched, to keep it quiet they used the name 'Torchwood'. Clever, eh.

So back to COE. We have children suddenly stopping all at the same time in the street, all around the world. Then they speak in unison 'We are coming'. Next is 'We are coming...back'. OK so these aliens, have been here before. In fact they have been named the 456 (the frequency they used back in 1965). Then 'We are coming tomorrow'. But of course they mean to London and to a specifically built environment they transmitted details for.

The fact that they have visited before sets off in motion a kill order for Captain Jack, and just when they find good news in the team (that Gwen is pregnant), they realise that Jack has a bomb in him. Now Jack can't die - but still can he escape being blown up from the inside out?While not much remains, he does return, gruesomely though quite quickly.

See Captain Jack was there in 1965 when these aliens had dealt with Earth before. And what did they want then - 12 children in exchange for an antivirus to a nasty flu. This time the 456s want 10% of the children of the world. Not much eh? And what do they want them for - they're used as drugs. So the 456s are alien junkies. And the British government wants

to cover their past dealings with them.

Lots of dodging authorities, getting caught, people dying including Jack's lover, Ianto. But the saddest was the sacrifice Jack has to make for the sake of the millions of children - his own grandson. And he has to live with it for an eternity. Absolutely crushing. So Jack leaves Earth leaving a very pregnant Gwen with her husband Rhys. For the last part of day 5 I couldn't stop the waterworks - sensitive soul that I am.

I really hope to see Captain Jack and Gwen again.

Fantasy art - Chris Howard

I've always admired the visual arts and the ability of artists to create fantastic looking worlds. I came across this blog entry by artist/author Chris Howard, which shows how he used the iPhone's Brush app to create the below image. Fascinating.

You can find Mr Howard's art portfolio here.

Reward books

I have finished my current reward book, Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Book 3 of The Twilight Saga). I know there have been people who have been critical of these books, but like Harry Potter for younger readers, these books have brought the tween/teenager age group back to reading. So I'm all for that. I personally enjoy these books showing the angst of a teenage girl in love. Questions are thrown up if not by the central character but by other characters to make her think if this is the course she wants to be on - to be with a vampire. 

So the next reward book is..... drum roll.

The Flame and The Shadow by Denise Rossetti.  It is Book 1 of the Four-Sided Pentacle series. It has the most gorgeous cover art. 

Here's a little teaser of the book taken from Denise site:

"There cannot be one...without the other.

   Some are drawn to the light. Some are drawn to the dark. Some desire both.

   Grayson of Concordia, known on countless worlds as the Duke of Ombra, is a mercenary, a sorcerer of shadows whose soul is consumed by darkness. For Gray, the savagery in his heart is manifest in an entity he calls Shad. He has long resisted Shad's enticements, but when he's hired to kidnap a grieving fire witch, he seizes the chance to restore his soul—no matter the cost.
   Devastated by a shattering loss, Cenda's fiery heart has turned to ash. Doggedly, she has worked to master her powers and go on living, knowing she can never be whole again. When she encounters Gray, though, her will is no match for the dark fascination he exerts. But Cenda's newfound love and passion may not survive the terrible discovery of his betrayal..."

Denise is another Aussie writer, whom I was privileged to meet at the RWAustralia conference in 2003. It has been a pleasure watching her success grow.

~Yia

Reading Challenge

I've been doing the monthly reading challenges for Harlequin community users. Not very successfully I might add. Oh, yes, I am reading more than I have for awhile, but my reading for one book seems to be in fits and starts at the moment. I read a couple of chapters of one book, then go to another. Currently I have 4 on the go. But at least I'm reading, right?

Well I've reached 42 books for the challenge so far this year and this month, for the first time, I read all the books in the challenge. Woohoo! It's here I'm not sure if non-Harlequin community users can see it though. So I managed to get 10 books done this month (some have been lingering for a long long while though), and covered the letters for the word, Fatherhood.

I'm using these challenges to keep myself reading, get my TBR down (the never-ending battle) be aware of the market out there, as well as reading in a range of types. This month, I finished an autobiography, a graphic novel, some short stories, a Nocturne Bites, four HM&Bs, a non-fiction book, two paranormal romances, a children's and one crime.  And each book I read helps Harlequin's pledge to donate one book to the National Centre for Family Literacy.

So you if you are on the Harlequin community boards, it's never too late to sign up for the challenge. 

~Yia

June Challenge Done!

I finished the challenge & just crept in with my goal of 25K words. So am pretty happy that despite the month I've had that, I've achieved it. It made me realise that I had chosen a realistic goal for me. 50K would have been too much. So I worked with my schedule, my health & in the end it worked out.

There was a total of 10 days that I didn't do any writing for one reason or another and I'd like to improve on that next time around. Even if it's only a sentence, just so it's not a zero count.

To all my fellow 50kers, great going. And thanks for the words of encouragement. And thanks to Diane and Sandie for organising. You ladies are champs.

Another happy smile today.

Yia!!

Going to the conference!

Yes, I'm definitely going to the RWA conference in August. Woohoo! All thanks to a grant from Arts SA. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It has really made my week, month, well year! I can't wait to meet everyone I know from cyber space in person (Bootcampers, HT and Web teams,  Romaus loop et al) and meet other writers I don't know yet, and have the opportunity to pitch to agents and a publisher. 

It really is very exciting. So I have my happy face on!

A big thank you to everyone who helped me with my application - writers are just the best!!!

~Yia...

Challenge Update - week 3

Not a good week this week as I mentioned yesterday. I only managed 1072 extra words for the week. Still it's better than zero. I do have a busy week coming up, so I'm trying to think of times I can snatch for writing. I did write 700 words one evening during commercial breaks. So may have to do something again like that. It gives my shoulder/arm a rest, but also gives me a burst to want to keep on writing. Keeping the story fresh.

Total so far:

Happy writing!

Happy reading!

Happy week!

~Yia