I need a new direction

I haven't written that much this year and I think the reason is I am bored of what I've been writing and I have run out of ideas for stories. I am tired of writing about gods and goddesses and soul mates and I think the topic has become a bit stale. Lots of other books and films have come out in the same area and I think the market has become a bit flooded with stories of demi-gods.

I am toying around with an idea for a science fiction story. I don't know if it will become anything or not. I need to find some inspiration. I need to get an idea that makes me want to write again. It'd come to me eventually.

My top ten favorite moments from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was full of wonderful, unforgettable characters and stellar writing. I'm still a huge fan and have moved on to the world of Buffy comics. Buffy inspired me a lot when I was younger. I was constantly in awe of its writing. Yeah, it didn't always have the best effects, but I didn't watch it for that. I watched it for the snappy dialogue, the humor, and Spike. Angel can go to hell!

My top ten moments...

10. Evil Angel in season two...

Evil Angel was a great big bad. I loved the radical change in his character: how he went from quiet and brooding to violet, manic stalker with a crazy cackling laugh. Highlights include: sneaking into Buffy's room and watching her sleep, harassing Buffy's mother on the front steps of her house, the death of Jenny, and of course: his death. Who can watch that scene and not tear up? That music! Dear god...it was perfect...

9. Buffy reveals she is a slayer to her mother

The argument Buffy has with her mother at the end of season two is one of the most well written and well acted scenes in television history. The frustration in Buffy and the confusion and panic in her mother is just so well played. Also, side note, the scene that came before it between Joyce and Spike was pure gold:

Joyce: Have we met?

Spike: You hit me with an axe one time and told me to stay the hell away from your daughter.

Joyce: Oh.

8. "I may be dead. But I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you." Buffy to the Master after her return from the dead. I love how the camera panned up to her as she said that. And the bit before that when they played the theme song and she was kicking butt was cool too.

7. Spike is a fool for love...

The episode in season five that shows us Spike's origins is a great episode. It does a good job of fleshing out his character. The best part is the bit at the end when Buffy throws his cash in his face and tells him "You're beneath me" and then walks off. Spike collects his money and starts to get teary, which is a big deal for a vampire, but being him he quickly launches into a murderous rage. He goes to Buffy's house to kill her but when he finds her crying alone on the back door step he puts his gun aside and asks her "What's wrong?" and then slowly, awkwardly, puts his arm around her.

6. Buffy quits in season one...

When Buffy hears a prophecy that she is doomed to die if she fights the Master in season one she tearfully quits and tries to get her mother to agree for them to both flee town. After her mother refuses, Buffy eventually finds the courage to face the Master, which goes terribly and ends with her breathing down her neck "You're the one who sets me free..." before he sinks his teeth into her neck. I love the close up of Buffy's face moments before he bites her and the tears in her eyes.

5. Conversations with dead people...

This episode in season seven is one of the most terrifying episodes out of all seven seasons. In the episode Dawn, Willow and Buffy are each tormented by their past: Buffy deals with a vampire who was a school mate, Willow talks to the First, and Dawn is trapped in a house with an angry ghost. To be honest I'm still not 100% sure what Dawn speaks with: it's either her mother's ghost or the First fucking with her.

4. Spike tells Buffy he has a soul

At the end of season six Spike almost rapes Buffy so he goes off in search for his soul. When he comes back at the start of season seven he is ranting and raving and talking to himself. He eventually reveals to Buffy what he did and hugs a stone cross and as he starts to smoke asks Buffy: "Can we rest now? Can we rest?"

3. Glory thinks Spike is the Key

In season 5 Dawn is created and the big baddies are after her because she is a key that can unlock the doors between worlds. Glory's minions think that Spike is the key and kidnap him. Glory holds him captive and brutally beats him up but he never reveals that the key is Dawn. Instead he makes fun of Glory's ass and then somehow manages to break free, despite being half beaten to death, and stumble his way out the door.

2. The beginning of Dark Willow...

Another highlight of season five is when Tara, Willow's girlfriend, is brain raped by Glory and left child-like and rambling. Willow goes dark and packs a bag full of knives and goes to Glory to get revenge. Glory asks "What's this? bag of tricks?" and Willow's bag opens and knives rise out of it and she smirks and says "Bag of knives"

1. Chosen

There are so many awesome moments in this episode. Willow uses her powers to active all of the other slayers in the world. I like how she flops over on her side afterwards and goes "That was nifty..." There's Anya's shocking death, Buffy's speech as all of the slayers are activated, and best of all Spike's sacrifice: the holding of the hands, the flames licking their fingers, and the final touching moment between Spike and Buffy. Some people think that Buffy didn't love him. But I think she did.

New Harry Potter film franchise announced

Lately, I've had the urge to re-read Harry Potter. My copies of the books have been read so much, loved so much, that the pages are brittle and thin and stained with age. When I heard on the news that they are going to be doing a new series of films set in the Harry Potter universe but based around a different character I screamed in shock and delight and happiness for about five seconds.

Most of the internet and the people I've spoken with about it think it's a grab for cash on JK Rowling's part and they're pretty unimpressed about it. Yes, the film company does have dollar signs in their eyes. The Harry Potter generation has grown up and their kids are into the Hunger Games and Twilight. They want to re-capture their glory years. But I don't think JK Rowling is being involved in this to make more money for herself. She is richer than the Queen and the first author to become a billionare. She does not need anymore money. She has so much money she doesn't know what to do with it. She's donated a lot of it.

I think the reason JK Rowling is returning to her wizard world is because of her failed attempts to dip her toe into the world of adult fiction. Her first try, the Causal Vacancy, got terrible reviews because everyone thought it was going to be as fun and gripping as Harry Potter with lovable characters and a wonderful, rich world. It was the total opposite and people were disappointed. So JK tried again but under a pen name to get less judgement. Her book was a modest success...and then she was ratted out to the media and her book soared up the charts and she was swimming in cash that she did not want or even hoped would not get.

JK Rowling doesn't have to and doesn't want to write for money anymore. She writes for the enjoyment of it. She will never be able to escape the shadow of Harry Potter and I think she has come to peace with that. It makes sense then for her to go back to that world and flesh it out a bit more...I mean, why not? I think her decision to set the films 70 years before Harry was born is a great idea because it introduces us to a new time in the wizard world to explore. And having it in New York is going to be interesting too (I am curious if that part was her idea though and not pushed on her to capture the American market)

One of the things that made Harry Potter so delightful for me was its setting in England. I am interested in seeing American wizards and maybe even an American wizard school!