A-Z Challenge: The Final "Z" Post

For my "Z" post for the A-Z Challenge, I leave you with a few classic "Z characters." Let's see if you can name them.  We'll start with the easiest one first: 

Hint:  The Walking Dead is filled with them

Hint:  The Mask of ???

Hint:  from The Fifth Element

Hint:  Rhymes with Dot

Hint:  Ben 10 villain

Lastly, I'll leave you with something unusual.  No, this frog doesn't start with the letter Z, but I thought the footage was cool.  Enjoy. 

Have a great week!  I need a break.  You?

Mina B.

A-Z: "Y" is for "Thank You" & "Your" Characters

It's the second to the last day for the A-Z Challenge and today's letter is of course for the letter "Y." Before I begin my post, I'd like to give a shout out or a "Thank You" to the band of bloggers that hosted this excellent challenge which turned out to an awesome networking opportunity. Today, I will be making my rounds to these fine folks to make sure I'm following them and to say thank you.  Below is the list of these awesome peeps:

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird), Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas),
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh), Life is Good (Tina Downey), Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons), Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins), The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence), The QQQE (Matthew MacNish), Author Elizabeth Mueller(Elizabeth Mueller), Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson), No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow), Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp), & Coming Down The Mountain(Karen Jones Gowen)

Okay, so since my theme for this challenge is all about likable characters, I decided my post for "Y" should be about "your" favorite characters.  It could be the ones you write about, read about or even the ones you enjoy on film.  

I read a post this week that prompted this post.  It was from USA Today & New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley and it was titled Character and Control.  If you get a chance, I recommend reading it.  There are some interesting perspectives on this subject.  Ashley writes about how she lets her "characters tell the story" and goes even further to explain how her process works.  (For those interested, I interviewed Ashley nearly two years where she spoke about one of her highly acclaimed characters, Lord Ian Mackenzie.)  At the end of the day, everyone has their own process, which brought me to my next series of questions.  

Plot, suspense, pacing etc... are without a doubt imperative, but what happens when you have characters that are not likable? Or better yet not memorable?  Do you let your characters tell your story?  Or do you prefer to control them?  What's your process and what works for you?


Mina B.

A-Z Challenge: "X" Characters & Fred

A-Z Challenge again and this time...its the letter "X." I tried to think of one character that stood out, but there are so many, I'd thought I'd pick several X characters and then in one word describe them. Let see if I hit the mark.  Want to play along?  

Xena: The Warrior Princess

Spirited

Xander from Buffy

Goofball

Charles Xavier a.k.a Professor X from Xmen

Wise

Xenophilius Lovegood 

Bizarre

X-10:  The evil villain in A Human Element.  
Check out my character interview with the twisted X-10.

Unhinged

Xtra credit:  Here's a story my son, a first grader, Xander a.k.a. Xman recently wrote.  He has a wicked mind and I have no idea where he gets it.

Title: Attack of the Caterpillars

All this time alien caterpillars were on Earth. 

And then the alien caterpillars tried to destroy us.  

But we killed them all and sent them back to space.  

And we lived happily ever after.

Triple XXX Threat:  Fred.  Oh, how he loves car rides!

Put the car in drive, Mom!

Remember to stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.

A-Z: "W" is for "Wednesday" Addams

Okay so I had to post this one for "W" for the A-Z Challenge.  I can't tell you how much I adore "Wednesday" Addams; the young, sadistic female offspring of Gomez and Morticia Addams. Aside from being extremely intimidating and incredibly ballsy, her uniqueness comes from her anti-social behavior and morose tendencies.  I can't get enough of her.  You?  What I love most about her is she is all about her family--despite how creepy they are.

What's the one thing you love about Wednesday?  Do you have a favorite episode?  Find Season 1 Addam's Family here via you tube.  Is there another character other than "Thing" that you love from the series?  Did you love the movies?  What about Christina Ricci?


I have a character (Timid Tabitha) that's a bit odd like Wednesday from my Children's books.  The quirkiness is the draw for me.  You?


We have three more letters left in the A-Z Challenge?  How am I doing?  (Now she asks, huh?)


Mina B.  

A-Z Challenge: "V" is for "Vendetta"

The A-Z Challenge continues this time with the letter "V."  And since I just blogged about a comic book, why not highlight another iconic character V from Vendetta?  There are so many awesome aspects about this character it's mindboggling.  

Based on the original comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, V for Vendetta surfaced back in the early 80's in Warrior, a British anthology comic published by Quality Comics. The setting as most people know deals with a futuristic UK, where after a nuclear attack, a new totalitarian government forms and thrives, using iron-fisted and violent tactics to rule. After years of oppression our unique hero, V, emerges, sparking an everlasting fuse that threatens to overthrow the government and finally unite the people with the promise of freedom. 


On of my favorite parts is the speech from our famous character V. Have you seen it?

What do you think about this character?  What aspects of him did you like or dislike?  Did he come across as a hero or a fanatic?  


And what happens when a literary character takes on a bigger meaning outside the world of fiction?  Have you seen how there are anonymous clips via the internet where anarchists are using his image to convey their own political message?  Like it or not, this character has spread like wildfire and I doubt we've seen the last of him in film, comic books or elsewhere.


Mina B.

A-Z: Urkonn from Whedon's Fray comic series

Alright, let's face it...there aren't that many fictional characters that begin with the letter "U" --ones I want to discuss anyway.  And so for my A-Z Challenge today, I wanted to highlight a character that is a part of Joss Whedon's comic world.  Are you familiar with Fray?

The Fray is "an eight-issue comic book limited series about Melaka Fray," a future slayer living in the 23rd century.  The call for a slayer has been made after centuries of a slayerless world.  My character feature is for Melaka's stand-in watcher/trainer--a demon named Urkonn.  

Aside from being a demon, Urkonn has his own backstory, which I found intriguing.  As Melaka's trainer, he relentlessly prepares her for her worst nightmares, including betrayal from those she trusts.  

Urkonn used unorthadoxed methods to train Melaka that ultimately led to his demise.  I highlighted him because I liked his interactions with the slayer and wanted more. 

What do you think about Urkonn?  He looks like a bad a**, huh? Were you (are you) a Buffy fan?  Have you read any of Whedon's comic books?  

On another note, can someone tell me why Joss Whedon doesn't have a website?  I mean, for the love of Peter, he's on Facebook.  Good grief.  

Mina B.

A-Z Challenge: "T" for Sweeney Todd

I'm doing the home-stretch with the A-Z Challenge here, minions!  Whew!  I'm tired.  Anyway, my character feature for the letter "T" is "Sweeney Todd" from Thomas Peckett Prest version of The String of Pearls.  Today, I wanted to highlight this all-time favorite of mine--a classic character that is so devious, twisted and downright demonic, it's no wonder he's referred to as The Demon Barber.

To give you an example of the true art of illustrating characters, here's a sample of Prest's initial description of Todd:

"The barber himself was a long, low-jointed, ill-put-together sort of fellow, with an immense mouth, and such huge hands and feet, that he was, in his way, quite a natural curiosity; and, what was more wonderful, considering his trade, there never was seen such a head of hair as Sweeney Todd's. We know not what to compare it to: probably it came nearest to what one might suppose to be the appearance of a thickset hedge, in which a quantity of small wire had got entangled. In truth, it was a most terrific head of hair; and as Sweeney Todd kept all his combs in it--some said his scissors likewise--when he put his head out of the shop-door to see what sort of weather it was, he might have been mistaken for some Indian warrior with a very remarkable head-dress. He had a short disagreeable kind of unmirthful laugh, which came in at all sorts of odd times when nobody else saw anything to laugh at at all, and which sometimes made people again, especially when they were being shaved, and Sweeney Todd would stop short in that operation to indulge in one those cacchinatory effusions. It was evident that the remembrance of some very strange and out-of-the-way joke must occasionally flit across him, and then he gave his hyena-like laugh, but it was so short, so sudden, striking upon the ear for a moment, and then gone, that people have been known to look up to the ceiling, and on the floor, and all round them, to know from whence it had come, scarcely supposing it possible that it proceeded from mortal lips."

In that snidbit alone, you get an eerie and striking sensation about Todd and you know that tale promises to be a riveting one.  Prest paints such a vivid picture in my mind that I have an instant image of what Sweeney Todd is like.  He even lets us know what the patrons think of the strange barber.  

Have you read The String of Pearls?  Tim Burton's movie and Johnny's Deep's portrayal of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street, was different, but equally thrilling.  Want to know more about the original tale, here's my creepy classic review.

Mina B.