terminator

the day the princess died

Orphan. Adoptee. Refugee. Rebel. Mother. Survivor of genocide. General.

Leia isn't awesome because she loves Han or because (**spoiler**) she's Luke's twin or because she's the mother of Kylo Ren or because of her famous hair or because she rocks a metal bikini and kills Jabba. 

Leia's awesome because Star Wars changed everything about science fiction and movie-making and the way women are heroes, too.  Ah, George Lucas.  Without Leia, would we even have Starbuck and Six, Sara Conner, Aeryn Sun, River Song, Zoe Washburne and River Tam, Janeway, Ellen freaking Ripley, I mean even Katniss?  

I listened to Don McLean singing American Pie twice on Tuesday because it was, in a weird way, the Day the Music Died.  We love Princess Leia.  Personally, I LOVED the CGI that brought back Peter Cushing as Tarkin and gave us young Leia at the end of Rogue One.  But it's all the more heartbreaking that she's gone right after we heard her promise Hope.  

And now her mother, Debbie Reynolds, too, which takes me back another stage of life, LOUDLY singing while spinning around light posts. (Hopefully when it was raining because otherwise I looked weird carrying that umbrella.)  

It's nice when famous people use their fame to care about things that matter in the long-term instead of jumping onto whatever trendy political bandwagon is available.  Bipolar is not an easy battle, and fighting against the stigma and shame of mental health could easily be considered her greatest accomplishment.  

Goodbye, Carrie Fisher. Thank you.

 

 

Note: Edited because Jeff Caddick is a genius and pointed out that Uhura came first. Nyota Uhura is also amazing but pre-dates Leia.  I had given credit in the wrong order.


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starred reviews, one two three four five

The only "reviews" The Senator's Youngest Daughter has had so far come from my pre-readers (all family and friends), so I'm sure the emailed notes and scrawls in manuscript margins have been tempered with love.  

I looked back just now at my Amazon reviews of the fiction I've recently read.  Chances are, the authors aren't reading my review, but honestly... they wrote what they wanted.  It's their own book.  So why does my opinion as a reader matter?

(Han shot first!)  

I bet each author's personal review would be five-star:

I wrote exactly what I wanted.  I had some great ideas, and I got some helpful feedback from others to make them even better.  I'm offering you, reader, exactly the best I can do.  Five stars, self.

It would be silly to think that anyone wouldn't love their own creative work.  Maybe you don't love everything you write for work or school, but those are things others asked or required you to do.   When you do it for yourself, the final product should be precisely what you want.

So, my review for myself on The Senator's Youngest Daughter is:

Good job accomplishing something you've talked about forever.  You made me laugh so hard!  We have the same sense of humor.  All your characters remind me of people I know and dearly love.   

 

While not technically "reviews," my wonderful and loving pre-readers gave me invaluable feedback.  Along with about ten thousand "I don't get this" and "What?" and "Reword" notations, here are some of my favorite comments:

  • Good job on the explosion.  It was surprising, and I was sucked in.
  • I've decided [he] is a reverse Scarlet Pimpernel.
  • Ha! Atlas Shrugged!
  • Do guys wear diamond earrings? I am so naive.
  • I really hate [him].  Good job.
  • BOO! I am sobbing like a weirdo.
  • This gives me a Terminator flashback. Linda Hamilton is so buff.
  • And the triumphant music swells!
  • This is "Where is the rebel base? Tell me or I will destroy your planet."
  • Why does everyone call everyone else "stinker" in this book?
  • Could [she] be skeptical, incredulous, doubtful, stupefied, dumbfounded, cynical, etc., etc. without rolling her eyes?  I’m beginning to think she needs to see an ophthalmologist.

If you do me the honor of choosing to read The Senator's Youngest Daughter, I do hope you take the time to leave me a review.  Just remember I'm a person, and I will cry really hard if you are mean.


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