Saturday, December 19, 2015

Star Wars Rant! Warning! Contains Spoilers!!!

Warning!!! This post contains some major spoilers about Star Wars Episode VII. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, you may not want to read this rant.

Okay, so, I saw the new Star Wars movie earlier today, and at first, it started off awesome!!! I loved the new characters. I loved Poe and Fin and Rey. And I loved how everyone played off each other’s energy. And when Han Solo and Chewbacca got into the story, it got even better. In fact, as I was watching the movie, I was making silent plans in the back of my mind to try and get tickets for a later show that night and/or the next day. I was already planning on seeing the movie several more times because I was enjoying it so much!!!!!

Now, you have to understand that I didn’t really read anything about this film. I intentionally avoided a lot of Star Wars stuff, just so I could be surprised when I saw the movie.

Well, I got a surprise….and not a pleasant one. Warning. Here comes the spoiler! Han Solo dies in this piece of garbage film. And not only does Han Solo die but he dies at the hands of this whiny, little piece of crap, sniveling, bitch character who’s prone to little temper tantrums, and oh, by the way, this whiny, little bitch character is Han Solo and Princess Leia’s son. What? Are you gonna cry, you little bitch? Oh, do you feel the pulse of the light? Shut up!

Now, before one of you tells me that I just can’t handle the death of a major character, let me tell you something. I was sad when Yoda died, yes, but I understood that it was time for the character to die, and it was important to the story in that it solidified the fact that Luke Skywalker was really the last of the Jedi; he was everyone’s last hope. (Yes, except for Leia, I know.) And it was kinda sad to see Vader die, even though he was a bad guy, because you walk away from the film with a sense of loss and finality about the story. But, I still understood why Vader had to die in the story.

Now, when Obi-wan died, it wasn’t really that sad because, now listen carefully, he actually spoke to Luke at the end of the movie. Several times! “Luke, use the force.” “Luke, trust me.” “Remember, the force will be with you. Always.” It kinda ties back to that whole line of, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.” To me, that always meant that he could continue to help and guide Luke but free of the limitation of the flesh. He was still with Luke, just in a different form. Obi-wan didn’t just drop out of the story, like Han Solo, never to be seen or heard from ever again. Just gone! Just dead as a doornail! 

Even Qui-Gon kinda managed to reach over from the dead, when Yoda explained Qui-Gon had reached out to him during his meditation. So, a lot of characters who seem to die don’t really die, not really, they just advance to a different plane of existence. And, you can see them in the freaking film! Obi-Wan shows up as a spirit in Empire Strikes Back. And then, Vader (Anakin), Obi-Wan and Yoda appear at the end of Return of the Jedi.

In fact, the only thing that kept me in my seat was I kept hoping that we would get to see or hear something that Han was somehow okay but maybe in a different form, like, I don’t know, maybe Leia could have a dream about him and he could come talk to her in the dream and say he was okay and hanging out with Obi-Wan and the gang and they’re all gonna go get drunk in the spirit realm bar and go hell raising and girl chasing. Is that too much to ask??????

And it wouldn’t have bothered me so much if Han Solo had died in, uh, I don’t know, maybe an actual fight. No, he just gets impaled with a lightsaber by some whiny, little brat who apparently has some teenage angst and seems to idolize his grandfather’s mask. As far as what Kylo-Ren’s issues are, exactly, I’m not sure. Apparently, he feels his grandfather was really awesome but doesn’t seem to have any actual vision or plans for the galaxy. I mean, it wasn’t even his idea to fire the “SUPER-LASER” from the really big-ass death star. That was some other guy’s idea, to strike at the Republic, to cut off the Republic’s senate etc. Kylo-Ren’s biggest thing is that, “He can feel the pulse of the light.” Okay.

The young Darth Vader felt that the universe was a place of chaos and disorder, and he believed that peace could be achieved through a dictatorship with fear keeping everyone in line.

In short, when that scene happened, when Han Solo got killed, I literally felt ill. I mean. Literally. I walked out of that theater feeling like someone just kicked me in the stomach. I was mad about it all day, and the only question I kept coming back to was, why???? Why?? It added nothing to the story!!! Nothing!!!! You could just cut that scene out, and the story does not change at all. It’s like everyone involved in this project was just like, “Hey, you know what would be funny? If we just kill Han Solo. Yeah, that would be totally cool and funny. Let’s do it.”

I just have one question for the people who put this film together. You do understand that the point is to sell tickets and entertain people, right? Not flip off your fans with this giant middle finger of a film.

I mean, seriously, that’s how I felt. I felt like this film was just a giant middle finger to all Star Wars fans. Oh, do you like Star Wars? Oh, here’s a giant middle finger in your face! Blam!!!

I mean, let’s just go off topic for a minute, shall we? Let’s talk about the Star Trek films. Now, I don’t know that much about the Star Trek films, but I do remember when Spock died. Now, that was really, really sad. But he sacrificed himself to save everyone else on the ship. If I remember correctly, he went into this radioactive room and fixed something that saved everyone else. And then he told Jim, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”

I mean, that broke my heart, but it was beautiful. And for crying outloud, at least they gave Spock a funeral! “Out of all the souls I encountered in the universe, his was the most…human.”

Even Darth Vader got a Viking style type funeral, where Luke Skywalker burned his remains!

And then, when Queen Amidala died of…what was it….despair??? Yeah, you don’t die from despair. You don’t die from despair…I don’t care how freakin’ sad you are. You don’t die from despair. (Anyway, I’m not going into all the things that bugged me about the prequels.) At least she got a funeral at the end. We had a moment to bury this character.

What do we get with Han Solo? He gets impaled with a light-saber before falling off a bridge.
And then the movie wastes no time in grieving for the guy. Oh no, let’s just move on here! Nothing to see here! Now, let’s have some light-saber fight between Kylo Ren and Rey. And what was with the chest pounding???? Is Kylo Ren part gorilla or something??? Does he think he’s King Kong or Tarzan or something? “Me bad guy. Me kill Han Solo.” Yeah, great, thank you, Tarzan. You gonna cry again, you little bitch? Are you gonna throw another temper tantrum with your light-saber??

I read one review the night before I saw the movie, just to make sure I wasn’t going to see Jar-Jar Binks step in poop. (I’m not even going to justify that character with a comment.) And the reviewer said that Kylo Ren brought rage to ever single scene he was in. Uh….what????? Now, I admit, the character started off kinda cool. The scenes between Poe and Kylo Ren were totally awesome! And I loved how he stopped that laser blast in mid-air. Awesome!!!!!

Oh, my God, and how cute was that little droid? I think his name was PB8, I think. The thumbs up with the lighter was totally cool!

I mean, the whole movie was just so freakin’ awesome until they took a major left turn.

Like I said, the entire movie rocked until the scene where Han died. And then, you’re just like WTF?????? And I couldn’t believe the movie had the nerve to just keep going. Like, okay, here’s the next scene, where Rey and Kylo Ren get in a light-saber fight. Ooo, aren’t you impressed? No, you have some explaining to do, movie!!! You need to go back and address this whole Han Solo just got impaled with a light saber scene here. Can we have a moment of silence or something? Can I have a moment to mourn a character who has existed in my head for almost forty years now? For crying outloud! Star Wars came out in 1977! And in case you didn’t know this, Han Solo is a little popular with people. Just a little. Now, if you’re gonna kill the guy, can we have a second to process this???? I mean, you just kicked me in the gut and flipped me off? Can I have a second to try and grapple with this scene?

What?? Was I supposed to just know this already???? What? Is this my fault that I didn’t read every article and blog out there about the rumors around Star Wars???

I saw this movie almost twelve hours ago, and I’m still furious about it!

I keep trying to tell myself that maybe it’s not true. Maybe Han Solo will rise out of the ashes, dust himself off and say, “I feel terrible.”

But, even if that were true, and he really does live somehow in the sequel, they should have done something to give us a glimmer of hope. Like Leia saying something to Rey like, “He’s not dead. I can feel it.”

In conclusion, I started off really loving this movie! I was laughing! I was cheering! I was awe-struck! I was, in short, totally impressed with what they had done with Star Wars. I was ready to get back in line and see it again. I mean, seriously, when I was watching the movie, the thought kept crossing my mind, “Man, I wonder if they’re sold out for tonight’s shows. I need to see this again!”

But when they killed Han, I could not get out of that theater fast enough when the credits started, and I have no plans to see it again. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ll buy the DVD, and that was going to be a no-brainer when that hit the shelves! I mean, I even bought the prequels, and I wasn’t that huge of a fan of those movies, even though I did like the costumes.

So, that’s my rant. I might have a drink tonight, and I don’t really drink.


Monday, December 14, 2015

Free weekend for Trained for the Vampire #1

Hi everyone!

Well, Star Wars is just around the corner. Can't wait to see the new movie! In celebration of the new Star Wars movie, I decided to do a FREE weekend for Trained for the Vampire #1 Part One.

It should be FREE from Friday 12-18-15 to Sunday 12-20-15.

So, check it out if you haven't gotten it yet.

Peace and Love!
Gail Starbright

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Getting ready for Christmas.

Hi everyone!

Well, we fried the turkey this year, and it came out great. It didn't explode or anything. Trying to get ready for Christmas, but it's so hard to find time. Still working on sequel to SS book. Well, I guess that's it.

Have a great day!
Gail

Monday, November 23, 2015

Turkey Day is Coming!

Hi everyone!

Well, I just got my turkey the other day, and he's thawing in my fridge right now. We're gonna try to fry a turkey this year. Everyone keeps warning me to thaw it out really good or it will explode!!!! Hopefully that won't happen. That would be bad. Also, been getting lots of work done on my sequel to the SS book. It's really rough right now, but it does seem to be coming together...so far.

Anyway, I guess that's it. Have a great day!

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Just saying hi!

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing great! Not much is going on with me. Just working on a couple of new stories. I'm also trying to write a sequel to my SS book. I've had a lot of people asking for a sequel to that book, so I'm trying to move the story forward. Well, that's about it. I hope you have a great day!

Peace and love,
Gail

Friday, November 6, 2015

FREE DAY November 7th. Saturday!!!!!

Hi everyone! Don't forget Trained for the Vampire #1: Part One will be FREE on November 7th.
Have a great day!
Gail Starbright

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Free Day Coming Soon! November 7th.

Hi everyone!

Not much is going on with me. I've just been trying to clean up my house and shred all my "important" mail. You know, the credit card offers, etc. Man, that stuff can really pile up if you let it. I have this box of papers and mail that either needs to be filed, shredded or just thrown away. I'm ready to just throw it in a barrel and burn it. Anyway, don't forget, Trained for the Vampire #1: Part One will be FREE on November 7th.

Have a great day!
Gail

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Free Day November 7th!

Oh, I almost forgot, Trained for the Vampire #1: Part One will be FREE on November 7th!

Internet Working!

Hi everyone!

We had a bad storm pass through here and had lots of flooding. My house was okay, thank goodness, but it knocked out my cable and internet service. I hope you had a great Halloween. Well, not much is going on.

I hope you have a great day!
Gail

Monday, October 26, 2015

More Star Wars Pics!





More Star Wars Pics! Can you tell I like Star Wars?


Star Wars Pics



I made this costume a long time ago for one of the new Star Wars movies. Those pleats took forever!!!!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Five Star Review for Trained for the Vampire!

Hi everyone! So, I was at work today, and on my break I decided to see how Trained for the Vampire was doing on amazon. And....I got a five star review!!!!
I send positive vibes to the awesome reviewer who gave me that review. Thank you so much!!!
And I also send positive vibes to anyone reading this post. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Well, not much else is going on here.
Peace and Love.
Gail Starbright

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Free Day!!! November 7th, 2015

Hi everyone! Good news! I downloaded firefox on my computer, and it didn't blow up! After I did that, I was able to change the size of my pictures on my website. It may not be perfect, but my website is a little better. It also looks better on my phone. I decided to do a free day for book one again. So, November 7th, 2015, Saturday, Trained for the Vampire #1: Part One will be FREE!!!! Have a great day!

Friday, October 23, 2015

Star Wars!!!!!

I am so excited about the new star wars movie! Can't wait to check it out. I already bought my tickets and requested the day off from work, so I should be good to go. I have no idea what to do with my website. I never got an answer from yahoo about what browser to use, so I don't know. I'm thinking about doing another free day for book one soon, but I'm not sure when. I'm also trying to work on a new book. Well, that's about it.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Trained for the Vampire update!

Hi everyone!

I hope you're having a great day today. I just got an email from amazon today, and book two is up and running on amazon. Book one is supposed to be free today, Wednesday 14, 2015, but I just checked, and it's still $.99. But, I'm not sure at what time amazon starts those free promotions. It's almost 1AM here, so I'm not sure what time zone amazon is in, either. But, I did check my account, and it did say it was "scheduled" for a free promotion on October, 14. So, I don't know...be on the lookout for that. It should be soon. Also, me website is a bit of a mess right now. I'm trying to clean it up a little and make it more phone friendly, but I hit a snag last night. I couldn't change any of the picture sizes, which is why my two covers are huge on my website right now. Apparently, I couldn't change the picture sizes using Chrome. I need another browser, according to Yahoo. How dumb is that? I'm not even sure where to get another browser. I don't even remember where I got Chrome or how I got it on my computer. I just remember that Netscape stopped working on lots of websites. Why do they do that? Why do they keep changing stuff?
Anyway, Trained for the Vampire #2 is up and running on amazon for $2.99! I know it's more than the first book, but it's a lot longer and has lots of hot, hot scenes. I hope you guys like it.
Peace and Love,

Gail Starbright

Monday, October 12, 2015

Trained for the Vampire #2 loaded!!!!

Hi everyone! I just finished loading Trained for the Vampire #2 on amazon! Also, the first one, Trained for the Vampire #1 will be FREE on Wednesday 10-14-15. So, grab it while it's free.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Trained for the Vampire update

Hi everyone! Just fyi, I haven't loaded book two just yet. I wanted to wait and see what book one looked like on my kindle...and I'm glad I did. I goofed a little bit on formatting. I read in the amazon instructions about putting a 10pt space between paragraphs. Well, I thought they meant for the entire manuscript. So, the spacing looks a little odd for book one. It's not bad, but I was going to try and fix it for book 2. But I need a little more time to fix the formatting issues for book two.
Anyway, have a great day!!!! Book two coming soon!!! Like a day or two.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

And....I'm back!!!

Okay, so I suck at blogging and social media, but in all fairness, I have been really busy lately. Doing what, you may ask???? Well, I've been hard at work on my latest book, Trained for the Vampire!!!!! It's a sexy vampire book that I decided to publish through KDP select on Amazon. I just uploaded book one tonight. Now, I think I did it right, but I am not the most tech-savvy person on the face of the planet. So...if it comes out upside down on your kindle, that was my bad. Now, I'm actually on vacation right now but I just work on my writing when I'm on vacation, and I've been working all day today. So...I'm kinda wired on caffeine and excitement. I can't believe I uploaded part one of my book tonight!! Oh, and just fyi, part one is a little short. I did that so people could sample my work for $.99 or maybe a promotional price of free and see if they like the idea or not. Of course, I'm sure some people will be like, "Say what??? This book is too darn short! One star! Bad author, bad. No treat for you." Oh, and how weird is it that people actually pay for reviews!!! What?!!!! I saw something on the internet about amazon suing companies who sell reviews. How crazy. I may not be rich or famous or making "Hunger Games" money here, but damn, I never paid anyone for a review. Of course, maybe that's what I'm doing wrong. Maybe that's how the world works. I don't know. I'm sorry I go dark for long periods of time, but honestly, I'm just working my day job or hard at work on a story. Okay, so, new book coming soon! Trained for the Vampire: Part One was just uploaded tonight and should be on amazon in a day or so. I need to read part two for the millionth time before I upload it. And damn, what is with these websites that charge a crazy amount of money for editing services. I found this one site that only wanted $5,000 for editing services. That's all. And, oh, by the way, I have no idea what these people's credentials or qualifications are. I mean, just because you say you're an editor doesn't mean it's true or that you're good or that you're worth $5,000. Holy cow. What are you going to do? Dip the story in gold???! Okay, so, new story coming! Trained for the Vampire! Okay, I'm done.