Dear Hollywood, what the hell?

 

Dear Hollywood,

What the hell?

It's been a while, and, to be honest, I'm feeling a bit disappointed. 

In the last ten years, CGI (3D Rendering) has come leaps and bounds. Compare Avatar (2009), and The Avengers: End Game (2019). For months now, I have been wondering...

Where are the dragons?!

I mean, yes, we had Game of Thrones. But I want a blockbuster movie with dragons. I want to feel the roars in my bones with that sweet surround sound, and have my heart soar to the heavens when they fly up through the clouds. I want to see the scales so up close and personal, I can see my reflection in the movie theater seats.

I'm serious. Where are the dragon riders? My dragon shifters? Dragon eggs with their golden ridges and pearlescent coating?

You can't make me sit through two hours of epic superhero battles and monsters from other dimensions and tell me that there isn't space for an epic battle involving a winged friend or foe with a penchant for fire breathing and burning down towns. 

Obviously, this is a problem that needs to be remedied sooner rather than later. So... without further ado, here is my pitch for one of my novels, Lady of the Primordial Tree.

Betrayal, vengeance, forbidden love, and dragons. 

Sofia spent the first twenty years of her life in a quiet, isolated place where she was taught to do one thing: help women and avenge them.

She attributed the death of her mother to her father, and his mysterious past. So what does she do?

Why, only what any logical maiden in a high fantasy world would do! She runs away from home, goes on an epic quest, and meets the love of her life while fighting a sand dragon that bursts forth from the depths of a desert. Later, she meets a sea dragon, and then we find a beast so large and fearsome that she has to escape before the entire mountain palace she is currently locked up in is destroyed.

Don't tell me that would take an audience's breath away. 

I mean, people liked Dune, didn't they?

I'm just saying, it might be time we pass the baton to a woman writing some highly enjoyable high fantasy romance so we can give the other blockbusters a run for their money.

Frank Herbert decided that the most exotic name he could give his bat-like messenger creatures was  "cielagos", and I hate to break it to you, but that's just short for the Spanish word for bat, "Murcielago." You want some unoriginal Spanish to make things seem more "exotic" I'm bilingual, my name is Daniela. 

We want something new, and we want something good.

Dragons are in their renaissance. Strike the iron while it's hot! Dragon Shifters are also coming in hot and heavy, so there is huge earning potential for hundreds of thousands of Fantasy Romance readers. Please don't let us leave the dragon movies in the Eragon Era. I want to see the hues of red light as light shines through the wings, and the glimmer of scales as they slither through the moonlight. Show me the razor sharp teeth with bits of their last meal. Give me a wicked drake making friends with the misfit young adult who just so happens to be the Chosen One.

There are numerous books who have taken these creatures, and curated entire plots around them. Take your pick, and make it happen.

But please, for the love of all that is holy, GIVE ME A DRAGON, NOT A WYVERN.

(Since The Hobbit could not tell the difference, that movie does not count.)

Sincerely, 

A Concerned Reader and Highly Imaginative Author

Daniela A. Mera is an educator by day and writer by night. Her life has revolved around creating new worlds since infancy, when her mother used to turn down the lights and read from fantastical books til she could hardly keep her eyes open. She lives between Nevada, USA and Hidalgo, Mexico, living out her own fantastical dreams one day at a time. 

Sign up for her newsletter to get updates and free novellas or extra book chapters at www.Danielaamera.com 

The Future Is Near

Anyone else enjoy reading the book before seeing the movie? If I know there's a print version I'll definitely look it up before seeing the flick—and yes, the books are better than the movies, but I love seeing the differences in what played out in my mind vs. the theatrical release. 

When I read, I see the story in my head. Happens when I write too. Which is why I get giddy when someone listens to my audiobook and tells me they could see it happening like a movie! That was my goal as I pried this found-family, second-chance romance, sci-fi thriller from my brain! 

So naturally, The Mars Strain would be my top pick for book-to-movie. There would be shots of Jules and her team in the lab, Zia directing the colony on Mars and trying failing to keep Gates and Hannah in line, Jake sneaking around Kennedy Space Center, under the radar, basically going wherever he wants to go because when you know everyone you can, and also heart pounding action as Jake and Jules transport the Strain to the CDC. It would be amazing! 

It's still a possibility. Never say never! 

What's your favorite book-to-movie?

If Wishes Could Make Movies of Books

 Ooo. Books made into movies. What a double-edged sword. We've all seen books turned into movies, some done badly, a bunch done marginally, and precious few done brilliantly well. So as a reader, I have such mixed emotions about books adapted into movies. As an author who'd like to have a book adapted into a movie, I STILL have mixed emotions. Part of this is because one of my SFR idols had a book optioned. The script was written and approved. Shooting started. (Somewhere in there, I hope she got paid.) She even brought the cast to conferences with her to help hype the production. 

I've never seen it. I don't know for sure what happened, but I can guess the production fell apart somewhere. From what tiny bit I know about the business of making films and TV - lots of projects die before being bought. Tons more get bought and never made. The ones that get made might make it into the can, but never again see the light of day. Who knows where that SFR movie died? What I'm trying to say is that while authors might dream of the money that might come with a movie deal, there's more investment than cash and knowing that it could crash and burn at any time is -- hard.

All of that said, if I could see a single book turned into a movie, it would be the first one, Enemy Within. It's just the book I saw most clearly. The plot feels super focused and the romance tight and to the point. It would be tough, though. The CGI would have to be on point for my bad guys. Of course the technology exists to do the job. Witness Star Wars, the MCU, etc. It's the price point that might be an issue. But yes. That book. It's a fun book and a fun story. If you don't count the dead bodies. 

I mean. Space pirates. Enemies to lovers. Everyone out to get the heroine and not even she knows why? What's not to like out here among the spaceships and bug-eyed monsters?

On the Big Screen

 

Happy Sunday! This week's topic at the SFF Seven is Dear Hollywood: Which of your works would you most like to see made into a movie or miniseries? And what makes it stand out above the rest?

Every writer I know has entertained the idea of what it would be like to see their written work translated into film. We create dream casts, envision set pieces, and imagine watching our words and characters come to life. It's a goal that few writers of fiction get to explore.

My choice is pretty obvious: The Witch Walker series. I would love to see it played out on the big screen, expanding the off-the-page scenes and fleshing out all the characters. It would be pretty cool to show the viewer all the tidbits that go missing in many novels.

It's my top choice because it's my first full-length work, and for right now, it's my baby. I adore this world and characters, and I would love to step into Tiressia's broken empire via a movie, show, or miniseries. I don't think I'd be picky ;)

And, come on. Can we give Henry Cavill some really dark, long hair and some matching scruff and call him Alexus Thibault??? Please?? And Harry Styles as Colden Moeshka? 

A girl can dream ;)

~ Charissa