Editors Note: Migrated from Original Blog – 2022-12-31

I found last weeks class to be the best so far of my current level. Until then, I was finding myself to be somewhat out of it, probably part of the problem being the late hour (8-10:30pm after a long day of work) and the other part that I just really miss my former A-E level classmates. I completely recognize the fact that in the real world of improvisation, I need to learn to work with as many types of people as possible, so this is perhaps better for me…but doesn’t mean I can’t wax nostalgia for my friends.

Homework from the class ended up as Horror movies, so I went through my generous collection of DVD’s in that genre, and settled on the original version of The Amityville Horror. Not the scariest movie in the world, but I am rather fond of the character progression…slowly slipping into insanity…ala The Shining. Fun stuff. And the red flashing eyes? Stuff of, well, late 70’s legends.

And on a geek note, it had Meeno Peluce in a supporting role as one of the children. 80’s television trivia…look it up.

But I digress.

Tonights class, the last before we take an extended holiday break, will focus on horror as a genre. I look forward to seeing what people in the class do with it…hopefully nothing TOO stereotypical (ie. Zombies, Dracula). Following this, we will get two genres to research for our return class. Now, on to my writing. I have honestly not had time to put more than a few words down on paper or a screen, but I do have two complete stories ready in my head…one short story and one fan fiction of indeterminate length. Now, Fan Fiction? you ask. Call me a geek, call me disturbed if you will, but I have become addicted to Harry Potter fan fiction. You can find plenty of great stories at www.schnoogle.com, and branch out from there. I have said many times to many people that was disappointed that JK Rowling has stated she will only ever write seven books in the series, because she has created so many different options for branching stories that it could keep what I call The Potterverse going for years to come.

To me, it’s the equivalent of JRR Tolkien writing an extra sentence saying “…and Frodo whispered to Sam, ‘I’ll be back’ “, and leaving you totally hanging. Wouldn’t you be pissed off? Ideas came to mind. I thought it may be acceptable if Rowling wrote the seven books, then licensed out the rights to the stories, ala Lucasarts with the Star Wars books, keeping executive control over her universe. I’d be cool with that. But people think that’ll never fly. This is why it’s so cool that there is so much of this fan fiction out there. People giving their own take on back stories, Alternate Universes, theories on how it’s all going to end…it’s all in there. Plus you have all kinds of reading and writing levels portrayed. Stories that a grade three student could handle, and also stories that are so NC-17 that it would make Tom Savini cringe in disgust. Whatever you are looking for…you’ll find it. I know I have a long time to wait before Book Seven reaches the shelves. So, I figured for a writing exercise I would take a crack at it; but I didn’t want to just steal other peoples ideas…that would be boring. So, for a purely fun exercise I am going to write my own take on what happens leading up to and after book six. It may be good, it may be shit. It doesn’t matter in the end…it’s the writing that works. The non-fanfiction short story I have on the go actually excites me…I hope to start on that tonight if I’m not too late after class.

Which reminds me…I must leave now. Have a good night. I’ll try to write more often.