Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Original Mr. Grey (2002), Before Fifty Shades of Grey

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.


Writers: (screenplay), (short story), 2 more credits »

Secretary (2002) Poster
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274812/


Adult women are now the largest demographic in gaming By Aja Romano on August 25, 2014

http://www.dailydot.com/geek/adult-women-largest-gaming-demographic/




Congratulations, gamer girls—you're officially at the top of the food chain when it comes to games. A new study released by the Entertainment Software Association has revealed that adult women now occupy the largest demographic in the gaming industry. Women over 18 made up a whopping 36 percent of the gaming population, followed by adult men at 35 percent. 

Teenage boys, who are often stereotyped as the biggest gamers, now lag far behind their older female counterparts, making up just 17 percent of the gaming demographic.

The picture that emerges from the study is one of expansion across the board. More people are playing more games of various genres across more platforms, with social games on mobile and casual games on PCs emerging as huge leaders. 

According to the study, last year saw a significant boom in women over 50—their numbers jumped by a whopping 32 percent between 2012 and 2013. The study also revealed that 59 percent of Americans play games, with gaming consoles present in 51 percent of all U.S. households. 

All of that means that stereotypes are breaking fast in the gaming industry, particularly the longheld stereotype of the adult woman as an outlier who sticks to mobile games and "social" games on Facebook while the more hardcore gamer, the "serious" (male) gamer, goes for console games.

Though this stereotype has long persisted, and even been used as a hiring tactic, the new data suggests there's little if any truth to it—especially not when you consider that the average adult woman has been gaming for 13 years.

Sorry, male gamers of Reddit and 4Chan, but Angry Birds only came out five years ago. 

Unless you want to try to argue that women have just been playing Bejeweled for the last 13 years, the math just doesn't add up. 

And while the total audience for mobile social games is now bigger than ever, the audience for computer and video games is now an even 50-50 split between male and female genders.

Screengrab via The ESA

So what games have women been playing all these years, now that we know they haven't just been wasting time trying to get their Facebook friends to give them free lives on Candy Crush

Casual computer games, mostly. The report ranks online and mobile puzzle games, board games, trivia games, and card games as coming in second to the boom in social games, which more than doubled in popularity between 2012 and 2013.

Meanwhile, action and first-person shooter games continue to be the top sellers in video games, with Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty ranking as the bestselling video games of 2013. For computer games, Starcraft II and The Sims franchise gobbled up the top 10 computer game titles, with Sims titles consuming eight of the top 12 computer game titles sold last year.

The study also took a close look at parental behavior regarding monitoring the gaming activity of their teens and children. The study indicated that parents seemed deeply engaged when it came to monitoring the kinds of games kids played. Additionally, 47 percent of adults who play games with their kids said they do it because they love gaming as much as their child does.

And it's easy to see why. While the study didn't assess the age or gender demographics of specific games, the titles of the bestsellers attest to the diversity of the games themselves: Pokemon XFinal Fantasy XIVNBA 2K14. Bioshock Infinite. World of WarcraftJust Dance 2014.

Whether you play Diablo or Pet Rescue, you can rest assured that you're in good company. 

View the whole study online here.
 
H/T PBS; Photo via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY SA 3.0

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

5 Things Outlander Teaches Authors About Persevering Posted by Arthur Gutch on Tue, Aug 26, 2014

http://blog.infinitypublishing.com/bloginfinitypublishingcom/bid/207609/5-things-outlander-teaches-authors-about-persevering?source=Blog_Email_[5%20Things%20Outlander%20T]

When it was first published in 1991, Outlander became a worldwide best seller. This romantic tale of a woman who fell through time and the Scotsman she falls in love with is filled with authentic details of 18th century Highland life. Fans have followed the pair and their lives for well over 20 years, devouring each new book in the series as it's published.
Author Outlander Persevere

The story of Claire and Jamie is one of perseverance. As a modern woman and a distinctly traditional man, they aren't exactly a perfect match. But their love is stronger than any forces that may stand in the way of their happiness.

Whatever life throws at them, Jamie and Claire never give up, stubbornly standing until they reach their goals. Writers have a lot to learn from Claire and Jamie, and some of the most important lessons have to do with sticking to their goals, or perseverance.

Hit the Ground Running

You've got a goal, so gather yourself up and start strong. Claire lands on the ground in the middle of a battle, and literally is running for her life within two minutes. You may not be in danger of being shot by a Redcoat, but a strong start will give your day energy that can help push you closer to your goal.

Accept the Inevitable

The only way Claire can escape the clutches of the evil Black Jack Randall is by marrying Jamie, so she accepts her fate and deals with it. When your job changes and you have fewer hours to write, when your children get out of school for summer, when something happens to your writing situation that you simply can't change, accept the inevitable. And then do what you can to adjust your work around it.

Use Your Knowledge

Claire finds herself living in a castle and has to do something to prove herself useful. She uses her hobby of learning about plants to transform herself into an herb women: someone who can doctor people with medicinal herbs. Use your own knowledge when you need to get through tough parts of your book.

Is your character being chased? Does she have a difficult decision to make? Add a scene or two that only you could write with your own particular knowledge. You'll add a touch of authenticity to the book, as well as getting through a tough scene that was stuck in place.

Learn to Adapt

Claire learns to live 200 years in the past by adjusting and adapting her actions to fit in. She uses her knowledge and skills in ways that would seem natural in the 18th century, and she learns to enjoy the life she's created. You can adapt your lifestyle to accommodate working toward your goal by changing your schedule, changing your favorite hobby from television watching to writing, and even taking advantage of small breaks to get in 100 words at a time.

Never Give Up Your Goal

Claire falls back through time at the end of the first book and comes back to modern life. The second book opens 20 years later with her putting her plans into place to go back to find Jamie again.

In the years between the two books, she's given birth and raised Jamie's daughter. She waited until the daughter was grown before acting, but she never gave up her goal of moving back through time and reuniting with her one true love.

Keep your determination just as strong. If you have to write your book 100 words at a time, that's what you have to do. Life is never perfect, and every project gets hit with at least one or two bumps. Keep your goal in mind every day and you'll eventually reach the finish line, those lovely words: The End.
 
Keep the Faith and may the Force be with You!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Yay Keanu and OMG for the author rights. Really?! / Keanu Reeves TV Show ‘Rain’ Greenlighted

Yay Keanu and OMG for the author rights. Really?!
http://www.inquisitr.com/1422752/keanu-reeves-tv-show-rain-greenlighted-actor-to-portray-half-japanese-half-american-assassin/

Keanu Reeves TV Show ‘Rain’ Greenlighted: Actor To Portray Half-Japanese, Half-American Assassin

Keanu Reeves to produce and act in 'Rain' TV show
The Keanu Reeves TV show Rain was recently greenlighted. The show will allow the Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure star to showcase his many talents. The actor will star in the hour-long series, which he will also executive produce.

The handsome 49-year-old actor has appeared in minor roles on the small screen in the past, but the Keanu Reeves TV show Rain will mark the first time that the Beirut-born actor and producer has taken on a leading role in a television series.

Rain is also the first project from Los Angeles-based Slingshot Global Media, reported Deadline.

Keanu Reeves’s TV show will be based on the best-selling John Rain book series by Barry Eisler. The author of forty books, Eisler recently changed the titles of his John Rain novels, according to his author profile on Amazon. Eisler eloquently explained his decision to rename the books.
“Why have I changed the titles of the Rain books? Simply because I’ve never thought the titles were right for the stories….
The sad story of the original Rain titles began with the moniker Rain Fall for the first in the series. It was a silly play on the protagonist’s name, and led to an unfortunate and unimaginative sequence of similar such meaningless, interchangeable titles: Hard Rain, Rain Storm, Killing Rain…
Now that I have my rights back and no longer have to make ridiculous compromises about these matters, I’ve given the books the titles I always wanted them to have–titles that actually have something to do with the stories, that capture some essential aspect of the stories, and that act as both vessel and amplifier for what’s most meaningful in the stories.”
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Barry Eisler himself has a fascinating background. The author upon whose novels the Keanu Reeves TV show is based was once a CIA agent, a technology lawyer and an executive. He has a black belt in judo and has earned numerous awards for his writing.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Keanu Reeves will not be involved in the Point Break remake. Reeves starred as FBI Special Agent John “Johnny” Utah, alongside Patrick Swayze as Bodhi, in the original 1991 flick.

The upcoming Keanu Reeves TV show project is so new that the Internet Movie Database doesn’t even have any information about it yet. However, fans looking for some insight on possible plot twists and characters would be well advised to check out Barry Eisler’s novels.

The Huffington Post reported that the beloved Matrix actor will portray a half-Japanese, half-American assassin in the Keanu Reeves TV show Rain.

[Image by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc via IMDb]

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1422752/keanu-reeves-tv-show-rain-greenlighted-actor-to-portray-half-japanese-half-american-assassin/#CTWTLoUwwy7rTwRG.99