613 Media — Telling the Story

Hang in there. I will discuss the finished version of “The 11th Demon: Children of the Bloodstone” right after something else I must tell you.

I rarely gush about movies. But, when my wife, Sherry, who doesn’t care a thing about movies tells me on the way out of “Up” that she wants to see it AGAIN, I’m impressed. This past weekend, Sherry, Casey, and I went down to Austin, Texas to see our son, Sean and his wife Jennifer. We had a great visit and on a whim, decided to go see the new Disney/Pixar movie “Up” on Saturday morning. Over the past few years, I have watched each new Pixar movie with a mixture of eager anticipation and dread. When will they mess one up? So far, I have never been disappointed. But, Up was in a different category. When it was first announced that the main character was an old man with a walker, critics immediately began predicting that this movie would be Pixar’s inevitable flop. So, I didn’t get too excited about it. I was planning on going because I go to any and all Pixar movies. Period. No argument. I can’t say that for all Disney movies in general. Now that John Lasseter of Pixar is the chief creative officer at Disney, I’m less hesitant to go see new movies. Thank goodness he nixed the abysmal sequel factory!

So, there we sat and within the first seven minutes I had already laughed more and cried more than I had since the Lion King. I was mesmerized. I had no idea the movie was about love. Let me tell straight out — this is not a KID’s movie. Kids will love it. Kids should see it. But, it is the best adult movie you will see in a long time. We laughed so hard I missed half the dialogue. I cried so hard my shirt was wet. And yes, I am a man! But, I am in touch with my emotional side!

What this movie is ultimately about is the love and regrets we experience in life. And, finding a way to let the love we have and the love we have had outweigh the regrets we drag around in life. I cannot possibly recommend this movie more highly. It is wonderful! It is awesome! It is astounding! Take the person you love most in life and go see it. And, if you can possibly make it happen, go back without the kids and see it a second time. Then, go home and start making a scrapbook!

Now, I have officially finished the final rewrite of “The 11th Demon: Children of the Bloodstone”. So far it is the longest of the three books and, dare I say, the most adventurous. I am very pleased with how the story turned out and the characters you will meet in the pages. I have always maintained that if your characters are well developed they will force the story to stay true. There were many times I fought with my characters and tried to wrench the story in another direction. But, hopefully my stubborn and pig headed characters have pulled the story back to where it was supposed to go and I have avoided the danger of contrivance and mediocrity. We shall see. I plan on letting it ripen a few more days and make one more pass to check on sentence structure, grammar, and spelling and then get if off to my agent. So, soon, I hope I can tell you it is on its way to being published.

In the meantime, I give “Up” four thumbs up! Go see and laugh and weep and live!