Author: Rebecca Demarest

Finally Got Around to the Gods

/ Rebecca Demarest / Leave a comment

I know, I know, I’m a huge fan of Neil Gaiman‘s Dr. Who episodes, and I adored Good Omens, but it took me forever to get around to American Gods, which, according to some people, is a crime. And, now that I’ve read it, I sort of agree.

This book was phenomenal. Seriously eye-opening about the American immigrant experience, but written by a brit. It was a bit mind-blowing how entirely spot-on his characterization of Americans were, in particular with their relationship to religion. We have a young man, just out of prison, who ends up in league with what is left of the old gods, in a battle against the new gods. By the end of the book, things are a bit less clear than all that, but that’s where we start.

As always, the writing is flawless. Gaiman’s got the best voice, and I was engaged and enthralled through the entire work. I don’t want to say too much, for those of you who haven’t read it, but it seriously makes you sit down and think about religion, consumerism, and our modern culture. It should be required reading for every American young adult.

 

On the Misbehaviour of Dieties

/ Rebecca Demarest / 1 Comment

Aaaaand my auto posts failed during the whole hullabaloo of holiday shenanigans, which I’m just noticing now, so, sorry for being absent for two weeks, folks! There’s a new book that has been sweeping the bookclubs, and is even in production for a film treatment (though I’m still not certain whether it is for a TV show or a movie, go figure…) called Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips.This book proposes that greek gods have been alive all this time, if not exactly well, and living it up in a terrible little row house in London. They are not doing so well, waning belief has taxed their powers, and they are all working day jobs (Aphrodite is a sex-line seductress). It’s a cute concept, and I like the fact that they are working dead-end jobs, just like most of the population, it gives it a unique twist.

However, there is something about the book that just rings false. It’s a hard to pinpoint vagueness. It has nothing to do with the writing itself, or the characters, or the plot, but there is just this ephemeral boringness that haunts the page, which definitely shouldn’t be there, what with the hijinks this crew get up to.

Part of it might be the fact that for centuries old deities, the gods are somewhat lacking in depth. They’re flat characters without a lot of oomph to them. Caricatures almost to a one. And since they comprise most of the cast, that hurts the book somewhat. I think that when they put this on film, it will show a whole heck of a lot better than it did on paper, but if you haven’t yet picked it up, I’d wait for that version. Its got a stellar cast that will be able to fill out all these characters quite nicely. (Walken as Zeus, how can that not be awesome?)

It is a tidy little beach read, though, if you’re in need of something like that right now. Otherwise, don’t bother.

It’s My Birthday!

/ Rebecca Demarest / Leave a comment

Today is my birthday, and my wishlist includes one thing:

indiegogologo

People pre-ordering my novel! Or, at the very least, sharing my campaign with the world through facebook, twitter, pinterest, and every other last networking community on the planet. Here, I’ll even make it easy on you. Copy and paste:

My friend wrote an awesome novel and now you can preorder it! It’s only $1 for an ebook! http://igg.me/at/undeliverable/x/1061765

And, if we make it to 2k, everyone gets ebooks of Thea of Oz as well! Let’s see if we can do it!

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have already donated, you’re the best!

Toys in the Attic

/ Rebecca Demarest / Leave a comment

I’ve been in a mood for plays recently, and the next one I picked up was called Toys in the Attic by Lillian Hellman. I’d found it lying in a pile of free old books outside a used furniture store, and thought it sounded promising. Either it would be something cute and fun or deeply unsettling, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s a deeply unsettling story about two old women who are pretty set in their ways and the sudden reappearance of their good-for-nothing nephew with a young bride and oodles of money. Where he got the money, nobody knows, and this set-up throws the balance of power that has always existed in the house completely out of whack. It even manages to drive a wedge between the sisters who have managed to co-exist in the house together for years.

It is a tense, witty, and occasionally funny, exploration of human emotion and trust. I’d love to see someone stage it someday, and, if you like a good play, this is an interesting read. Almost said fun, but that’s not really the case since you end up feeling uncomfortable for a good portion of it–in that good way that comes from a really well constructed scene of conflict.

Hidden in This Post

/ Rebecca Demarest / Leave a comment

In the midst of trying to learn to write my own one-act plays, I turned to the master of snappy, witty dialogue, Aaron Sorkin, and his one-act “Hidden in This Picture.” Sorkin is most known for his television work, including West Wing, and for the fact that his characters are constantly running at the mouth and fit more information into a quarter inch of script than most playwrights could dream about. This one-act is not an exception.

In it, the main characters are trying to film the final sequence of their war film: hundreds of tired and injured marines traipsing over the hillside in what is ostensibly not-America, timed to the setting sun. No retakes possible. But then a cow wanders into the frame.

They try desperately to do something about it, then give up, and eventually just pretend they always meant for it to happen that way and doesn’t just add a certain kind of commentary to the whole piece?

It is Sorkin at his finest, full of interpersonal problems, dry wit, and heavy on the banter. I was laughing my head off by the end of it, and will definitely be taking some lessons away to work with some of my own play projects down the line. I’d love to see this one staged at some point, so drop me a line if you’re doing it!