My eldest daughter has been visiting for the past couple of weeks, bouncing back and forth between her father's house and mine. This weekend she's staying with me. It's the first extended one-on-one visit I can remember having with her since probably before she went off to college, and now she's 25. It's a treat for a parent to find out how your kid turned out (particularly if the kid turned out well!).
We've had several family dinners while she's been here. And yesterday I went with both of my daughters to see "The Avengers." I've never been a comic book fan -- I'd rather read the words and let my brain draw the pictures inside my head -- so I wasn't all that familiar with the characters, other than the Hulk, who had his own TV show back in the '60s. (And speaking of the '60s, when I hear the phrase "The Avengers," I don't think of comic book superheroes -- I think of John Steed and Emma Peel.) But the movie was surprisingly good.
I also must admit that I haven't seen much of anything else Joss Whedon has been involved with. Yes, it's true -- I've never watched "Buffy" (gasp!). Just not that into TV these days. But I was impressed with his work on "The Avengers." Whedon has done a masterful job writing characters who work well together as a team, even though they have nothing else in common and, really, when push comes to shove, don't like each other very much. (If you have not yet seen the movie, when you do, you must stay all the way to the very end. There is a final scene after the credits finish rolling which you are sure to recognize, if you have ever sat through any sort of work-related "bonding" event.) This mismatched team of heroes reminded me of nothing so much as a dysfunctional family, with griping siblings who rip each other to shreds but who band together when outsiders threaten any one of them.
Speaking of dysfunctional families, "The Avengers" comic books make Thor and Loki brothers. That's not the case in the Norse pantheon, in which Thor is one of Odin's sons, while Loki might be more accurately called a Giant. But the movie follows the comic books, and it's clear that while Thor has some love for his troublesome brother, he also wants to make sure he pays for his mischief.
Loki in The Pipe Woman Chronicles is a Giant, not a god. He lives to cause trouble wherever he can get away with it. And it's never a good idea to trust him. Which Naomi might eventually figure out....
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A couple of newsy things: You might have noticed a new cover in the slide show to the left. Fissured is still on track for publication at Amazon August 18th, and to promote it, I'll be participating in the Orangeberry Summer Splash event in late August. Dates and links are now up on the "Tour Dates" tab.
I've also got a guest post up at the Indie Exchange this weekend. Feel free to stop by if you'd like to know about the question I most dislike answering.
And if you have an e-reader that's not Amazon-spawn, watch this space next week for good news about Seized!
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I'm Lynne
Cantwell, and I approve this blog post.
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