Abigail – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Abigail.

Story

A remake of the Daughter of Dracula, they make a good effort to update the story and add some fun twists. The pacing was good and the references to other books and movies were a nice bonus.

Score: 1

Characters

It’s hard to balance this much blood, violence, and atmosphere while still giving the large cast of characters time to breathe. Not only do we get to know the characters but even like them, despite the fact that they were all willing to kidnap and maybe torture a child. The actors did a fantastic job at making horror action tropes into real feeling people.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue feels like it belongs in more of a mystery or action movie and that’s a good thing. The horror is built with atmosphere and intercharacter tension as much as the vampire.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects were minimal and practical which worked really well. The quantity of fake blood was awe inspiring.

The music was perfect. I’ll never hear the nutcracker the same way and the rest of the score did everything it could to enhance the action.

Score: 1

Fun

Bad guys getting destroyed by monsters is a fun relaxing night for me. (I might be weird.) This was perfect and it even gave me the “Final girl gets pissed and fights back” trope that I love so much.

Score: 1

Overall

If you like old-style slashers and watching bag guys getting ripped to shreds, this is a lot of fun. It’s a smart horror that knows enough to reference its influences and do its own thing. Coupled with a great cast, it’s a perfect film.

Final Score: 5* Stars out of 5


*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

Allegiance to the Truth?

Hello my Friends, Family, and Fans,

Last week I made the foolish mistake of commenting on a comment. The original post was a variation on, “Always punch Nazis,” and the comment was something along the lines of, “Come and punch me.” I decided to be snarky and say, “Wow. Admitting to being a Nazi… wow.”

I should have ignored it. He and the other people who commented didn’t want to have a discussion, they wanted to be angry. They seem angry that people call them Nazis or dismiss their beliefs because they’re associated with Nazis. (At least that’s what I get.)

I tried to reason with them and say that they just have to keep hate groups out of their protests and that’s all there is to it. (Before you ask. Yes. If I’m ever in a protest and the person next to me flies a Nazi or KKK flag, they’re going into the trash, and the flag too.)

This is obviously an extreme example, but it illustrates a trend. I like to be right, I also like to know the truth, but most of all I hate false information. It often gets me in trouble like I said in this post. The misinformation itches like a rash and I need to say something.

Unfortunately, people don’t see correction as a dislike of misinformation, but as a personal attack.

The want to be precise is something that runs in my family. Persnickety is a family hobby and it’s both frustrating and understandable. Sometimes you just want to get to the message and when people nitpick the details, it feels like they are purposely missing the point. (I also realize this is all a trait of neurodivergence but that’s a whole other post.)

Hank Green is a Youtuber I’ve been following for almost twenty years and I’ve always had a great respect for his dedication to the truth, to the point of making correction videos when he gets things wrong.

He posted these two videos recently discussing the truth and the quest to have an allegiance to the truth. Basically fact checking yourself and making sure you’re not just accepting things that fit into your bias. They are extremely entertaining to watch and I love that he is able to admit when he was wrong.

With the American elections last week, the upcoming Canadian federal elections, and the upcoming Ontario provincial elections; we need to be on our toes to avoid getting caught up in bias, falsities, and outright lies.

In this age of near infinite information at our fingertips, it’s important that we check to make sure we aren’t propagating false information.

But what do I know?

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Happy Birthday Jason Johnson

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans,

Today is Jason Johnson’s birthday. He’s one of the main characters in The Gates of Westmeath series written by Jen and I. With the books set in the early 2000’s, he’d now be in the second half of his forties. We chose that time period to have the characters fit in what I’d already written in The Copper Tarnish, which almost seems silly since the crossover characters have had so much more development outside that still unpublished book.

We chose today’s date in honour of my Mom who passed away in 2008. She was my biggest supporter and harshest editor. She helped me with some of my earliest stories, before I knew I wanted to write professionally. She never got to see me finish a novel or publish. I’d like to think she’d be proud and love the stories Jen and I have created. I still miss her.

Happy Birthday Mom and Happy Birthday Jason Johnson!

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

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Carved 2024 – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Carved.

Story

The story is ridiculously simple and follows the usual teens being hunted by supernatural creature. Instead of the older obsession with vilifying sex, POC, or queer characters, it has a heavy handed message about cannabis. Other than the deaths and violence, this is Disney PG with nary a kiss. Oh and the Black queer characters do die fairly fast. The ending also seemed too easy.

Score: 0

Characters

Overachieving theatre writer who’s in charge of her little brother with a disability. Hunky boy and various other tropes. The characters are flat and the majority of the actors are obviously going through the motions. Peyton Elizabeth Lee, DJ Qualls, and Wyatt Lindner do an excellent job with what they were given, but the rest of the cast felt like they were in a different movie.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is terrible. Trying to be serious but quip like Bruce Campbell, and failing at both.

Score: 0

Visuals and Music

The death scenes and special effects were okay but not creative. Lots of carving people like pumpkins.

The music was okay but derivative.

Score: 0.5

Fun

This was terrible and I almost gave up. I think if the main actress wasn’t so good I would have.

Score: 0

Overall

Some horror movies are so bad they attain cult status but this one can’t even manage that. It deserves to be forgotten for simply being boring and formulaic. Save yourself the trouble and watch anything else.

Final Score: 1 Stars out of 5

Top 5 things I’ve learned about publishing

Hello Readers,

In honour of this past weekend having been Can-Con I thought I’d write about writing.

I’ve been published now for just over 8 years and there’s a lot I didn’t know about the industry that I wish I did.

5. Publishing is a hurdle not a finish line.

Everyone who writes dreams of the big publishing contracts with advances that will let you quit your job and become the next Stephen King. It isn’t that easy unfortunately (and it wasn’t for Mr. King either.) Most new authors don’t get advances or if they do they’re very small. Even older more established authors don’t get advances anymore.

Once the book is out there’s all kinds of things that have to be done and there’s the next books to think about. It’s a constant cycle.

4. Everyone is underpaid, understaffed, and struggling.

Rarely do authors make enough money to live off and that’s fairly well known but the same can be said about everyone else involved. The majority of small presses are volunteer or owner run. The medium sized ones aren’t much better off and rely on staff that can wear multiple hats.

The same goes all the way down. Booksellers, printers, designers, typesetters, artists, and editors. All of them have multiple jobs and does it out of passion, not for lots of money. (I can’t speak about the big 5 but I’d assume like any corporation that the CEO’s and stockholders are well paid and that’s about it.)

3. A publisher doesn’t sell your book, nor does a distributor.

WIth a few exceptions where a publisher has lots of faith and extra cash, they are in the business of making the best book possible, not selling your book. They will promote and some publishers do events where your book is for sale but it’s your job to push the book.

The same with any distributor, they distribute and will occasionally promote but it’s your job to sell the book.

One of the reason’s it seems that every tik-tok star is getting a publishing contract is that a lot of book selling is really selling you. (Not ideal for a curmudgeonly introvert like myself.)

2. Books don’t last forever.

Books have a shelf life or life cycle. They are born and they hopefully sell and then eventually they die. Big named books being an exception as usual. Most publishing contracts have a 5 to 10 year clause that says if your book doesn’t sell the rights return to you. (If your contract doesn’t say you get the rights back after your book is out of print, insist they change it.)

Series have longer lives because the first few get a boost with every new release.

1. Everything costs money, sort of.

If you are self publishing, you’re paying for everything. If you get a publisher they pay for as much as they can. With a publisher the money should go toward the author.

That’s mostly true, but it’s not always true. Sometimes you need to pay an editor to make sure your book is good enough for submission. Sometimes you need to pay for graphic design work for promotion, and if you’re going to sell your book solo at events, that’s your responsibility.

But just because you aren’t paying for things doesn’t mean they don’t cost the publisher which is why they can’t throw around advertising money like the Big 5.

*Warning* There are a lot of companies out there promising to make your book a best seller. They promise to do everything for a large sum of money. Best case scenario you don’t make your money back. Worst you lose the merchandising, film, and even the copyright to your own books. Writer Beware is an excellent source if you’re approached by these predatory companies.


Thank you for reading and check out some of my books!

Éric

Come say hello at Can-Con 2024

Hello Readers!

This weekend is the wonderful Can-Con: Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature.

Jen and I will be in the vendors room (FREE to the public, masks are optional) most of the time, selling awesome coffee and crochet.

Here are the vendor’s room hours

  • Friday 5-8
  • Saturday 10-6
  • Sunday 10-4

Jen will be on the “”The Pros of Being a Ghost (writer)” panel on Saturday morning (Nov 2nd) from 10:00-10:50.

Éric will be at the booth and chatting with people.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Bookflix series: Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.


Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

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Amazon Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
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Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!

Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2001 film Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge.

Story

A simple revenge story which spends a lot of time trying to find the plot.

Score: 0

Characters

Extremely consistant with the last one, to the point where it feels like the mom didn’t learn anything. The characters are young and make some silly mistakes but it does make sense.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Cheesy and trying way too hard to be relevant to modern audiences. The dialogue is just as quippy as the first.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals are good, especially when they use practical effects.

The music does its job and also ties in well with the first.

Score: 1

Fun

There were a few times that I wanted to scream at the characters but beyond that I really enjoyed the movie, as did the kids.

Score: 1

Overall

Simple and adorable. A lot like the first, it’s geared to younger audiences and is a lot of fun.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Discussion Questions for Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Download the printable Discussion Guide

  1. It is said that Kennedy has been practising and taking martial arts lessons. How does that show in both her confidence and abilities when fighting the monsters?
  2. Kennedy has obviously been trying to integrate herself more into the Aetherborn Community. How well has she succeeded?
  3. Jason has changed his leadership style from ‘brooding and aloof’ to ‘happier and hands-on’. How do you think this will be received by the Community as a whole? Are there any indications of that in the text?
  4. In this book, Kennedy and Jason have a lot going on. Do you think that the monster attacks are adding stress or acting as stress relief?
  5. Lilah’s behaviour appears manipulative and controlling. Do you think this comes from her caring about the couple or about appearances?
  6. A major theme in the book is family relationships, especially healing. Which pair or character do you relate to the most and why?
  7. Repatriation of cultural artifacts is a heated topic. Do you believe that the living descendents have a claim to ancient artifacts?
  8. The person creating the monsters had their reasons. What do you think of those reasons, and were their methods justified?
  9. There are multiple examples of creation (eg. the lace, the dress, new fertilizer, museum replicas, etc). How does this help to create a more well-rounded setting? Why?
  10. Do you have a favourite secondary character? Who do you wish got more attention in the story?
  11. Suppose Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers became a movie or a TV show. Who would you pick to play the roles? (You can check out our dream casting for ideas) What aspects of the book would you want to see more of? What would be the most difficult part of filming?

Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!

49th Shelf Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Indigo Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Archambault Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Amazon Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Rakuten Kobo Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
Apple Books Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests

Add it to your “Want to read” on Goodreads here!