In case any Waking Moon readers were wondering which Iron and Wine song was playing the first time Paulie visits Jack at the theater…it’s this one.
(Source: Spotify)
Bella vs. Katniss: Looking for Kickass Girls in Fiction
Wattpad brings you a guest post from T.J. McGuinn, author of The Waking Moon, our newest featured story:
When I was little, I was a daddy’s girl. I loved doing errand runs with my dad, even when he went to boring places like the hardware store. Even though I wasn’t into sports, I’d wear a Raiders jersey and watch football games with him, dancing around and high-fiving whenever our team got a touchdown. And even though I hated to ride roller coasters, I would always suck it up and go with my dad, so that he wouldn’t have to ride them alone. But more than anything else, I’d go with him to see action movies—loud, explosion-filled stories that I never would’ve watched on my own.
For me they were “guy movies.” The heroes were strong. They never showed fear. They always kept their cool. And there wasn’t a bind too tight for them to escape. And these heroes were always men.
The women in the films were always beautiful. But that was it. Beyond the perfect curves and gorgeous hair, they didn’t have much going for them. They couldn’t find their own way out of a shoebox. They ran away from bad guys in impractical footwear. They wore very little and screamed very loud. And I hated that I was supposed to identify with them.
Then Terminator II came along. According to its backstory, the Linda Hamilton character, who’d spent the first Terminator movie running around in a pink waitress dress, had spent several years in a mental institution getting really buff and really tough. Now she was strong. She never showed fear. She always kept her cool. And there wasn’t a bind too tight for her to escape. Throughout the movie, I put myself in her place. I imagined I could be that strong, that cool, that tough. It was then that I understood why guys like those movies so much. And why I never did.
(Source: wattpad)
The Ruins
When I was in high school in Colorado Springs, we’d sometimes venture through the scraggly meadow to the ruins of an old gold smelting plant, where, it was rumored, strange things went down at night. It was an eerie place covered in graffiti, always abandoned in the afternoons when we would go exploring. The very last time we went, I discovered the body of a decapitated black labrador retriever. Its head was still there, but placed apart from the body. We forever lost our curiosity for The Ruins that day.
I’ve heard the field has since been leveled and condos built in its place. But thanks to the archival wonders of the internet, I found these amazing photographs. Kudos to the photographer.
In the turbulent midst of writing The Waking Moon, my Pandora kicked this song on and blew my mind. It was as if these guys had been eavesdropping on my thoughts for months, and they were telling the same story I was inventing in this short, beautiful song. And when I got up to favorite the song, I couldn’t believe the name of the band. Those who’ve read the book will know why.
Oh, and it also happens to be the most precious video I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It makes me cry every time.
Welcome
Thanks for visiting my newly-minted website, where I’ll share the latest news about my novel, The Waking Moon, as well as other thoughts, inspirations, and ramblings. You can find photos and films and songs that wandered through my mind as I wrote the book. I’ll share tips and advice for young, aspiring writers. And there may be the occasional rant.
If you have a question for me, about writing, The Waking Moon, love, or life, send it to: TJMcGuinn@gmail.com. I’ll post questions and responses here. And you should take them with a grain of salt.
