Author Archives: A Novel Approach

Outlander Theme Song

From the moment the first episode of Outlander aired on STARZ fans have been gushing about the theme song which so beautifully captures the characters, the time frame, and the culture of the show.

In answer to the question, is the song (by Bear McCreary) available, can it be heard/purchased, I have found it available at Rhapsody.com. It is also available at the iTunes store, search for Outlander – Main Title Theme (Skye Boat Song) [feat. Raya Yarbrough] – Single, by Bear McCreary. (Press play in the player below to hear a 30 second clip, members of Rhapsody can signin and hear the entire song.)

Love at Stake – Vampire Romance from Kerrelyn Sparks

If you are into sub-genre of Vampire Romance then you have probably heard some talk of the Love At Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks. These books have a wonderful sense of humor about them, all take place in one world, with a narrative that benefits from reading them in order, but does not demand it.

Think of it as someone writing a book for each year of the history of a country, and in each book they focus on two different people living in the country during that year, and taking part in the major events. Do you have to know about the events of the previous year for the current events to make sense? Not really. But it does add depth and understanding. And because these are the “major figures” in those events, the leaders and their lieutenants and their families, people you have met in the books will often show up in subsequent books, those who were the leads in a book will be guest stars in a future book, or vice-versa.

The series starts with How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire where the readers meet Roman Draganesti, a charismatic leader of the vampire world who happens to be a brilliant scientist who has, thankfully, invented synthetic blood. This invention is known throughout the mortal world as a scientific breakthrough that made blood-transfusions much easier, but of course for the Vampire community it was life-changing in an entirely different way.

But that is the past, the present and future are what the story is all about, and as it unfolds he meets a woman the reader can not help but hope he can save, and love.

Having established Roman, and his entourage of entertaining, and interesting characters, the series launches with a sequence of adventures and on-going plots that have kept me eagerly awaiting the release of each upcoming book. The only aspect that has begun to wear on me is the titles playing off of movie titles. Where many of them have been fun, and brought a smile to my face, a few have not tied into the plot as strongly as I might have liked and felt a bit unnecessary. These are such great books, I can not help but wonder what titles the author would be giving the books if she were not trying for those plays on words/titles.

According to the authors website, the books are, in order:

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
Vamps and the City
“A Very Vampy Christmas” from Sugarplums and Scandal
Be Still My Vampire Heart
The Undead Next Door
All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire
Secret Life of a Vampire
Forbidden Nights with a Vampire
The Vampire and the Virgin
Eat Prey Love
Vampire Mine
Sexiest Vampire Alive

How To Seduce A Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

Wanted: Undead or Alive
Wild About You
Vampires Gone Wild
The Vampire with the Dragon Tattoo
How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying)
Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire

This series of novels is full of interesting characters who take turns in supporting and featured positions, filling out a world of intrigue, love, and plots that keep readers coming back wanting to know what adventure waits within the pages of the next book. (In this case, Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire on sale Dec 30, 2014.)

Beautiful Bastard

Beautiful Bastard is not a book I ran out and bought… rather I was wandering the hall at San Diego’s Comic-Con International and someone asked if I’d like to get a free autographed book.

I devour books. I love discovering authors I’ve never read before. There are so many out there, so many I know I should have already read, according to my friends who also devour books, that I just love setting aside a night or two — a portion of my weekend, and getting lost in the pages of a book.

I honestly did not know what to expect from this novel. The genre is listed as erotic romance, and I quickly figured out why. That aspect alone is never enough to keep me reading for countless hours, to keep me from setting the book aside and returning to my own life after a few chapters. There needs to be more content, more story, and something interesting going on.

What I found interesting in this book was two main characters who worked together as a productive team in the workplace, and yet pushed one another’s ‘I Hate You’ buttons constantly. There was an antagonism between the characters that appeared to have been there from the moment they met, and set off a chain reaction of encounters that left them unable to say a civil word to one another.

Had they not been so good at their jobs their workplace relationship would also have been a disaster.

The character who gave the book it’s title, Bennett Ryan, is great looking, the kind of guy who fuels the dreams of the girls in the proverbial secretarial pool, and yet he can be so demanding, a perfectionist with a temper, that no one understands how Chloe Mills puts up with him. It helps she demands just as much of herself.

From the outside looking in they seem like two people who ought to be able to respect one another, and find a way to get along — and yet he particularly is always antagonizing her and purposely trying to force her, emotionally, ten feet away, as if he is afraid she will burn him if she gets too close. And that was where my interest came from.

I had worked with people that for the life of me I could never understand why they were always bickering. Why they were always picking fights with one another. They had no relationship beyond what we could see, and it was as if they were purposely trying to guarantee the other person would never get close enough to truly see and know them.

Hidden beneath the snipping and anger, are fears and complexities of emotion. In a book that is a fast enjoyable read, two characters explore what it is to risk their heart, after avoiding it in every way imaginable, and a few most consider unimaginable.

This may not be the great American novel, but it is several good hours of light entertainment. Two million people read it BEFORE it went into print for a reason… because there have been times when we have seen irrational behavior among perfectly rational adults and had no idea what was going on under the surface, and behind the scenes. This novel offers one possibility.

No, I regret nothing
Neither the good I have done, nor the bad

Outlander – Sassenach

Have you read the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon? Are you reading Outlander now, excited about the new TV show starting up tonight on STARZ? Are you just now picking up the novel and wondering if it is too late to start? Or has it been a decade (or more) since you read the first book in the popular series and you want to refresh your memory?

STARZ Outlander Season 1 Promotional Photo

As I’ve mentioned before, Outlander did not hit my radar as a novel when it first came out. When the show was announced I was interested, from the moment it was mentioned I was curious since I enjoy time travel and love stories that rely on the characters to get the audience caught up in the action and the drama.

A friend convinced me the books are worth the page count (the copy I have at hand of Outlander right now is 850 pages) and I totally agree. The book fills those pages with story, scenes I get caught up in… and yes, want to see fill my tv screen.

Here at PopArtsPlace we avoid giving away plot points in our PopArtsPlace.com/now articles… we like to talk about the general concepts, tempt you into getting caught up in shows, point you in the direction of what we are loving, highlight the strengths and draw your attention to places where we feel entertainment is excelling.

I am toying with the idea of doing a separate page discussing changes made to the story and characters in the Outlander series ‘along the way’, if there is interest, and if I feel I have something valuable to offer that would make such a page worth being made.

With the joint podcasts we do with ComicBookPage’s John Mayo we do include spoilers, after warnings, labels, and cautions that listeners should turn off the podcast if they are not prepared to listen to a spoiler filled discussion. That is where we dive into the details, discussing characters that have been merged, or removed from stories, plot points that have been dramatically changed, endings that have been altered between one medium and another, that kind of thing. Our Podcasts about tv shows are typically done at the end of a season, right before a season begins, or after a major turning point — in other words when something significant has happened and there is a decisive ‘reason’ to talk about the show.

It can be fascinating to talk with authors and discover that they considered from the moment an idea first occurred to them that it was “too big” in some way for the screen, that it had too many characters, too many threads, too much of something for them to feel they could contain it in a two hour movie, and so they turned to the format of a novel. Other times you might hear that the visual impact of a movie screen or the episodic nature of a television show simply felt like the right medium in which to tell a story. That a novel would not have the impact, or even a series of novels would not allow them to explore the life of the characters in the way they wanted to.

As a result I do not find it surprising when a story moves between mediums that characters disappear, that minor (or sometimes seemingly major) plot points fall away, rather I am often intrigued to see what held so much power and strength, what resonated so strongly with every collaborator in the project, that it remains in tact from one incarnation to the next.

Because I do not expect the STARZ series to be a word for word adaptation or following of the novel(s) I do not feel my experience of the show is spoiled by having read Outlander. If, however, you want to have no idea what is going to happen in the first episode, do not pick up the book before you watch it!

If you want to keep in step with the episodes, the plan here is simple — post an article an episode letting viewers know where in the book the show has progressed to.

Season One Episode One of Outlander, titled Sassenach, covers the first three chapters of the book Outlander. (Technically the episode ends about a page and a half into Chapter Four.)

Outlander airs Saturdays at 9 PM ET/PT on STARZ. Love the books and show? Share that love with other fans on the Starz Outlander Facebook Page

A few links that may prove useful:
Outlander on IMDB
Outlander on Goodreads
Outlander Series on DianaGabaldon.com